Chapter 13: An Ability Beyond What Was Seen (1)

Patrick discovered a red flag fluttering atop a spire while on his way to the Sailden Trading Company.

“Have they found someone?”

It was the signal he had promised with the Eye of the Moon.

For now, he had to stop by the Sailden Trading Company to collect the payment for the recipes sold up to yesterday.

Upon confirming the flag, Patrick immediately turned his steps toward the Sailden Trading Company.

“……Hm?”

He was nearly there when he saw someone emerging from the company.

“That man… he’s Secretary Raphael under His Majesty the King. I heard the palace also bought the recipes. So, it’s finally come to this.”

If the royal palace had taken an interest, Raphael’s purpose could only be one thing.

“He’s here to find the person who made the recipes. I need to report this to His Highness first.”

Patrick, quietly observing from an alley, waited until Secretary Raphael completely disappeared from sight.

Then, after cautiously scanning the surroundings, he entered the Sailden Trading Company.

Paleman, who had been tidying the shop, hurried over the moment he spotted Patrick.

“Perfect timing! I was just waiting for you, Sir Patrick.”

Paleman led him into his private room.

“So, it seems the royal palace is finally searching for me.”

The first words out of Patrick’s mouth startled Paleman, who asked in surprise,

“How did you know?”

“I just saw the royal secretary visiting and leaving. Did he, by any chance, threaten you to reveal anything about me?”

Of course, Patrick knew well that Raphael’s personality was far from threatening.

He asked that on purpose, pretending not to know the man.

“N-No, of course not! But His Majesty the King did tell me to convey that he dearly wishes to appoint you as a royal chef.”

Paleman had never expected that selling the recipes to the palace would lead to such trouble.

In truth, his courage reached only so far—especially since the palace kept pressing for answers, leaving him in a tight spot.

If he happened to utter Patrick’s name to the palace, he would have to pay a penalty of 100,000 gold.

It was a crucial secret the Sailden Trading Company absolutely could not disclose.

“You didn’t tell them about me, did you?”

“O-Of course not! How could I possibly do that!”

As the recipes grew popular, the company’s sales had skyrocketed.

At this point, with no telling how many more recipes might come, it would be madness to throw away such a lucrative product.

True, he could report Patrick’s identity to the palace for a reward, but there was no guarantee of that either.

“You must never speak of this.”

“I assure you, I won’t. By the way, what brings you here today… Ah! You’ve come to collect the payment, haven’t you?”

Paleman went behind his desk and pulled out a bag he had prepared in advance.

“Here we go!”

Thud—!

The bag was quite heavy.

“That seems like quite a sum.”

“It’s no joke. Are you sure you can carry it?”

“How much is it in total?”

Patrick stepped closer and opened the bag.

Inside, gold coins were piled high.

“After deducting my 30% share, the total comes to 16,065 gold.”

In Korean currency, that would exceed 1.6 billion won.

Of course, Paleman earned about 6,900 gold after taking his share.

Considering that 10 gold was roughly a commoner’s living expenses for a month, it was an enormous profit earned in just a few days.

“More than I expected.”

“Indeed. Any restaurant in the royal capital that doesn’t use your recipes now is doomed to fail. Have you perhaps come up with another recipe?”

So far, only one new recipe had been released in addition to the previous three.

The restaurants were eagerly waiting for the next one, and Paleman’s eyes gleamed with anticipation.

“I do have one more. It should sell for around 120 to 130 gold.”

Patrick took out a parchment containing the fifth recipe and handed it to him.

“Oh-ho! Another one!”

The parchment almost seemed to reek of money.

Overjoyed, Paleman poked his head out the door, waving the parchment.

“Mer! Mer!”

When he called, Mer, who had been attending to customers, hurried over.

“You called?”

“Take this and have it copied right away. Be very careful not to lose it.”

“Understood!”

Mer quickly hid the parchment as if it were second nature and dashed off.

After that, Patrick tightly fastened the gold bag and rose to his feet.

“You’re leaving already?”

“My business here is done. I have other matters to attend to.”

At that, Paleman grew worried about whether Patrick could carry such a heavy bag.

“The bag… how will you—”

Whoosh—!

But Patrick easily lifted it with one hand.

“It’s not that heavy. I’ll take my leave now.”

With that, Patrick exited the Sailden Trading Company.

“……”

A single gold coin weighed about 5 grams.

Sixteen thousand gold coins amounted to roughly 80 kilograms—far too heavy for any ordinary man to lift alone.

Patrick immediately boarded a public carriage and headed toward the eastern outer district.

When he arrived at a tavern called Blue Sunset, he was allowed inside without any inspection this time.

Regina, head of the Eye of the Moon’s Canel Kingdom Royal Capital Branch, greeted him warmly.

“It’s been a while.”

“Let’s get straight to the point. Who did you find?”

“A magician named Caldein Flavan. Surprisingly, he’s quite nearby.”

“Where exactly?”

In response to Patrick’s question, Regina handed him a parchment filled with information.

Patrick began reading, but stopped when his eyes reached Caldein’s affiliation.

Caldein Flavan

Age: 41

Affiliation: Canel Kingdom 13th Mage Division, 3rd-Class Member

Residence: Blue-roofed house east of Ziggasis Temple, northwestern royal capital

“The Kingdom’s 13th Mage Division?”

“So it seems. Took quite some effort to dig that up, though.”

To have tracked down someone belonging to the Royal Mage Division, of all places, was no small feat.

It was no easy feat, of course. She must have gone through the official records of that division, which was far from a simple task.

“This is good work nonetheless. I’ll settle the first payment now.”

Patrick placed the bag on the table and opened it.

From the pile of gleaming gold coins, he carefully counted out 150 gold and handed them to Regina.

“You carry all that gold around with you?”

To Regina’s eyes, it looked like at least fifteen thousand gold coins.

It was strange enough to see someone lugging around a bag filled with gold heavy enough to crush most men.

“I had my reasons for keeping it with me. How long will it take for the others?”

Among the names Raion had requested, there were still the merchant Fordman and the half-dwarf Dike left to be found.

Judging by how only Caldein had been located so far, it was clear the rest wouldn’t be easy.

“As of now, we haven’t found any trace of this Dike individual. As for Fordman, we did learn he’s a wandering merchant. He was last seen in a northern village of his homeland, Clarman Territory.”

“Is that so? Then tracking him will be difficult indeed.”

“Our Eye of the Moon can find anyone as long as there’s even a trace to follow. You needn’t worry.”

“I’ll leave it to you, then. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

After finishing his business, Patrick stepped outside, heading back toward Taron’s Palace.

---

Meanwhile, Raphael had returned to the royal palace, feeling troubled.

He wasn’t one to flaunt authority, but he had assumed that invoking the King’s name at the Sailden Trading Company would make things simple.

However, the owner, Paleman, had stubbornly refused to reveal the recipe’s creator.

“Your Majesty the King… Secretary Raphael has returned.”

He had spent several days searching for the recipe’s author before finally coming back to the palace.

Inside were not only King Laskan, but also Queen Elina.

“Come in,” the King’s grave voice commanded, and Raphael entered with a bowed head.

From Raphael’s uneasy expression, King Laskan could already tell things had not gone well.

“So, the results aren’t good. What happened?”

“My deepest apologies, Your Majesty. I visited the trading company that sold the recipes and requested the information politely. However, they insisted that the recipe’s creator wished to remain anonymous and firmly refused.”

At Raphael’s report, Queen Elina’s brows twitched in irritation.

“Did you inform them it was by order of His Majesty the King?”

“Of course I did. Yet they remained unyielding, no matter what I said.”

“His Majesty personally wishes to bring that chef into the palace! And you couldn’t even make a proper attempt? How dare you call yourself a servant of the King—!”

Her fury rose sharply, but King Laskan lifted a hand to stop her.

“My Queen, I understand your reasons, but that’s enough. This was born of my desire, so how can I fault the secretary alone?”

“Your Majesty…”

Offended, Queen Elina called out softly but said nothing more.

In the silence that followed, King Laskan turned back to Raphael.

“Go once more and request politely. Tell them this—if they reveal who the chef is, we’ll simply ask to meet, without causing any commotion. And if any trouble arises in the process, we’ll compensate them fully.”

He wanted the request to be made with utmost courtesy.

Raphael understood the King’s intention and bowed deeply.

“Secretary Raphael, by Your Majesty’s command, I shall make another attempt.”

“Good. You may go.”

When Raphael left, Queen Elina still looked displeased, her gaze turned elsewhere.

“My Queen, are you still upset about my words?”

“I wouldn’t know, Your Majesty. Do as you wish.”

“I know full well that you spoke out of concern for me. But still, I cannot use royal power to intimidate the people.”

King Laskan gently patted Elina’s shoulder in reassurance.

---

At that time, Raion was deep in training inside his workshop.

Through various trials, he had discovered new, practical ways to enhance his abilities.

He found that he could extract and collect pure substances from ores that were otherwise filled with impurities—ores he had originally used just for training.

Thanks to that, pure metals like iron, copper, and zinc were piling up in one corner of the workshop.

“Status!”

With his shout, a familiar window appeared before his eyes.

[Status Information]

Name: Raion Canel

Age: 12

Occupation: 3rd Prince of the Canel Kingdom / Regressor / Arcane Sorcerer

Abilities:

Synthesis (合成) — Level 7

Decomposition (分解) — Level 8

Extraction (抽出) — Level 7

Emission (放出) — Level 3

Engraving (刻印) — Level 3

Formation (形成) — Level 5

Analysis (分析) — Level 9

He had been focusing on increasing the levels of his abilities, and the progress was clear.

The abilities involving minerals were improving rapidly.

However, Emission and Engraving, which required the use of magic, showed only minor growth.