The chubby woman’s cranky mood and almost hostile attitude towards him took Severin by surprise.

He knew she wasn’t all too pleased about his elixirs’ ability to stay in effect even inside the dispelling array located inside the Society’s basement, and his targeted advertisement probably didn’t help either. But he had greatly underestimated how big of a deal it was not only to her, but to the Adventurer’s Society as a whole.

But saying it out loud only made things worse.

Magda had to visibly hold herself back when she asked him rhetorically if he hadn’t also been present when she had explained to Emily of the importance of the Society’s standardized evaluation procedures.

Severin didn’t feel that helping Miriam advance her rank a little bit sooner would put anyone’s life in danger, but he understood where she was coming from. Only because of this understanding did he decide to endure her ensuing complaints until he finally promised that he would at least try to think of a more acceptable solution.

This, of course, didn’t mean Severin intended to stop his advertisement of the product, much less halting its production and sale.

Instead, he was thinking along the lines of establishing another exclusive contract with the Society.

The best-case scenario would be a mutually beneficial deal between him and the Society, which made the stat-boosting elixir an integral part of the evaluation process itself, making its consumption-and therefore its purchase-mandatory.

At this point, however, such a deal was unfortunately not possible, even if Magda's employers would not laugh right in his face just hearing the proposal.

The rules stipulated by the System simply didn’t allow him to make any deals that would allow another party to ignore the maximum carrying capacity of his items, nor could he sell his products at a discount to non V.I.P., without having to make up for the price difference from his own pocket; both conditions, he firmly believed, were necessary to facilitate a deal of this nature.

Luckily, not even Magda expected him to come up with a solution right this moment; it was something he’d have to think about in more detail later and it certainly wasn't something he would put off the upcoming trip for. If anything, it confirmed to him that his decision to leave the mountaintop for a few days, maybe weeks, probably was the right one after all.

After what felt like a small eternity, the mollified woman let up on Severin and he could finally make some preparations. Not that there was actually that much for him to take care of before leaving, but at this point, time was running short.

As a guest, Severin didn’t have much of a say as when to depart, and since apparently the event Timothy and Miriam wanted to watch would start in just a few days, the leave was scheduled for mid-morning the next day.

Severin gathered his two [Employees] and informed them of his decision to join the trio on their trip to Malcos’ capital city while also sharing his reasons for doing so.

Contrary to his expectations, Emily made no fuss about wanting to join him. Instead, she wanted to stop him from leaving altogether, but the promise of some pocket money she could spend on food while he was gone silenced her objections almost immediately.

It was actually the dwarf who had a harder time accepting Severin’s words.

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Not because he knew that such a portal once it was established would bring its own share of problems, such as his brothers’ spies, but because just the existence of such a portal itself was simply too absurd for him to accept.

Even now that he had a pretty good understanding of the System and its capabilities, the thought that it could create a magic pathway as Severin described was too outlandish.

Sure, both portal and wormhole magic were a thing, but there was a reason why there was no such connection even between Rhenia and Malcos, two kingdoms that were located relatively close to each other; and it was not because of their political differences.

Only after seeing the various portal designs offered in the shop firsthand did he start to believe that Severin maybe wasn’t just making fun of him. But even then, he wasn’t totally convinced.

Because one thing still bothered him.

“At that price, really? How is that even possible? If that’s truly the case, why would you even consider paying for it yourself? Countries would pay you multiple times the amount! What am I saying?! Even most guilds probably would! Maybe even some individual rich people. Merchants. Nobles. Some retired big-shot adventurer. You get my point. And none of them would probably even care where it led to, either.”

The more Bandur said, the more Severin’s expression twisted. It was the first time since his employment that the dwarf commented on Severin’s business related decisions, much less going so far as to openly voice criticism, but Severin had to admit that the dwarf was completely right.

Only now did he realize that there hadn’t been a good reason for him not to consult Bandur during his decision making; not with the System guaranteeing confidentiality. Somehow, he didn’t realize that he wasn’t on his own anymore. There now was another adult, one whose knowledge regarding many things in this world was inevitably greater than his own.

He quickly tried to think things over.

Though as of right now it was probably impossible to approach any other parties for cooperation, at the very least Markus, or one of his trusted aids and associates, might very well be willing to stem the cost of his endeavor as long as he framed it appropriately. Especially when something like contract magic could guarantee everyone’s sincerity.

Maybe it truly wasn’t too late to get his money back.

Severin, in a conscious effort to better himself, asked Bandur for his opinion on how to proceed from here on.

As it turned out, the dwarf not only agreed with him, but in reality was even more optimistic than Severin in that regard. In Bandur’s opinion, the whole thing would easily be resolved favorably as long as he ‘just asked the ‘walking muscle mass’ to introduce him to the right people.’

He then handed Severin an amulet that seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

‘Just in case.’

That was the only explanation Bandur offered, but despite his offhanded behaviour, the dwarf’s expression was serious enough to give Severin a good idea as to what this item represented; enough so for him to hold his tongue and not make sarcastic remarks regarding the amulets clichéd design, representing a small but ornate double-headed hammer.

After solemnly promising he would return the amulet safely upon his return, the only other thing Severin could think of was to remind both of his [Employees], not just Bandur, not to shy away from making liberal use of the blacklisting feature during his absence.

Severin then headed to his room and went to bed early.