Chương 380: Retracing the Path We Came From

"The Demon Lord?"

Roland looked at the lizardman Giss in surprise.

In Black Iron City, only the high-ranking demons in the Upper District can be addressed as "Demon Lord".

The culprit who collaborated with Tiger Head some time ago and teleported her underground, the demon prince Bal Zelen, is a high-ranking demon.

Seeing Roland's surprised expression, the lizardman Gis gritted his teeth and, for the sake of the tip, continued speaking.

"Yes, boss lady, that's the technique of those devilish men."

"In our Black Iron City, there are two kinds of lords: the gray dwarf lord and the demon lord. These two don't get along."

"You're now working for the dwarven lord of the Grey Gold Merchant Guild, how could they possibly sell to you?"

Roland asked tentatively.

"Are there similar goods on the black market?"

The "similar goods" mentioned here are actually the new brewing equipment itself, just disguised by a different name.

As a result, Gis shook his head very firmly.

"Boss lady, you can't buy goods from the black market."

"If any new brewing equipment does leak out, it's most likely just a trap set by those devilish lords. They're either planning to rip off customers or they've tampered with it. Don't fall for it."

"I understand, I accept your suggestion."

Roland placed the small purse containing silver coins in front of the lizardman Gis, with an extra half-full purse as payment for the information.

Giss took it with high hopes, opened it, and quickly lowered his voice to express his gratitude.

"Thank you for your generosity, boss lady. Please feel free to let me know if you need any intelligence in the future."

"Alright, now you can have a few drinks at the tavern to avoid arousing suspicion. I'll cover the bill."

"Oh, thank you, thank you."

Giss's face was beaming like a chrysanthemum as he grabbed a large wooden cup filled with murky, bitter wine and found a corner seat to sit down.

Although the wine at the Revolving Goldfinch Tavern wasn't as good as what you'd find elsewhere, free alcohol is better than nothing than continuing to face the dreadful life in the dark underground.

……

The tavern is open from 10 a. m. to 1 a. m.

At this point, the clock tower in the city center had stopped ringing. Roland determined the time by using the magical clock inside the tavern, then drove the guests away and closed the tavern.

Because the number of customers is so small, the tavern doesn't have a heavy hygiene burden.

With Laura's current apprentice-level magic, she finished cleaning up with a few cleansing water balls and three minutes of Mage's Hand.

After finishing the finishing touches, Roland lifted her skirt and went upstairs to the second floor.

The Revolving Golden Sparrow Tavern does not offer accommodation, so there are not many rooms on the second floor.

Aside from the office where Miss Durra once worked, there is only one main lounge and one secondary lounge for employees.

Instead of returning to her bedroom to rest, Roland went to the secondary lounge.

This place has been converted into an alchemy laboratory, equipped with a set of inexpensive second-hand alchemy equipment.

The alchemy equipment originated from a novice alchemist who had no choice but to switch careers, and it cost three gold coins.

After receiving the funds from Dura, Roland bought the second-hand alchemy equipment.

After learning about the new brewing equipment today, an idea kept swirling in Roland's mind all night.

Since the quality of winemaking is directly related to the degree of contamination of the raw materials, are there any other ways to remove the contamination?

The answer is yes, and it has always been in her own hands.

That is—the Stabilizing Potion.

To talk about this legendary potion, we have to go back to the time when she first traveled through time.

At that time, Roland was just an ordinary nun. In order to treat civilians who had been corrupted by magic, she found a formula for stabilizing magic potions in the system.

This item later attracted the attention of Princess Elizabeth III, who inadvertently provided Roland with the initial funding.

Subsequently, the Roland Group was established, creating a legendary business path.

Stabilizing potions are now ubiquitous on the surface of the world, used to treat various magical contaminations, making Roland Corporation and Elizabeth's Wayne Company incredibly wealthy.

As Roland reminisced about the past, she selected the materials needed for the first version of the stable potion from the materials shelf next to the alchemy table.

Currently, she is suffering from the erosion of spatial turbulence and can only exert apprentice-level magic power. Therefore, using the simple initial formula will have a higher success rate and can also save some costs.

After arranging the materials by category next to the alchemy crucible, Roland sighed, conjured a cleansing water sphere to wash her hands, and then unbuttoned her shirt.

The initial version of the stable potion recipe was great in every way: cheap, simple, and effective.

One of the ingredients is so special that it must be produced by Roland himself.

Otherwise, at best the alchemy will fail, and at worst it will explode on the spot, splattering sticky alchemy slurry all over your face.

Roland unbuttoned her clothes and picked up the large glass bottle with practiced ease.

Ten minutes later.

"Sigh~ Time goes around in circles."

"I didn't expect it to be another case of starting from scratch. I hope this time some little devil princess won't cause trouble again."

Roland sighed and placed a large bottle of milk used for alchemy next to the crucible.

She rested for a while to relieve the soreness in her chest, then buttoned her clothes back up.

His gaze then shifted to the bottle, and he raised an eyebrow.

The liquid in the bottle shimmered with a soft, luminous glow, and as the surface rippled gently, tiny sparkles of light appeared.

A rich, intoxicating milky aroma quickly spread, filling the entire alchemy laboratory. The scent of life enveloped everything, making everyone feel relaxed.

A mere bottle of milk has acquired an almost divine, untouchable quality.

Roland was a little confused.

Something seems off. It wasn't like this before we were kidnapped and taken to the dark underground; at least it wasn't as sophisticated as it appears now.

If this were taken out for appraisal by unsuspecting people, it would probably be mistaken for a product of a legendary creature like a dragon or unicorn.

"What's going on?" Roland muttered.

"Right, it might be related to the system."

She quickly summoned the system panel, and the skill interface opened. Except for the Faith Points balance column disappearing due to a malfunction, everything else remained unchanged.

Roland checked several times but found nothing amiss, so she had to give up and focus her attention back on making the potion.

"Never mind, it's a good thing that the quality has improved, as long as no one discovers this secret."

So far, she has kept her secret very well, not even to her friends in the church, so there is no need for her to worry about the improved quality.

Roland adjusted her mindset, activated the fire element magic crystal at the bottom of the alchemy crucible, and began to put in the alchemy materials one by one.

The intermediate alchemy skill obtained from the system is very useful; crafting simple, original, stable potions went very smoothly.

Half an hour later, Roland held two bottles of high-quality, shimmering, stable potions in her hands.

Roland wiped the fine sweat from her forehead, her eyebrows curving into a beautiful arc, and the corners of her mouth turning up.

"Great, now we can try purifying the brewing ingredients to brew truly pollution-free alcohol."