Chapter 228 I Wonder What That Container Is Called?
Since Sophia was released from Victoria earlier than expected, she arrived at the building where the salon would take place right on time. Since the salon wouldn't open for about 2 more hours, the employees of the Sophia Merchant Guild were following the instructions of the Grandchester Young Marquis's servants to display the sample products.
Sophia entered the waiting room arranged by Elizabeth, quickly changed her clothes, and called out to Catherine, who had come with the employees.
"Thank you for your help again today. How much should I thank Lady Orson...?"
Sophia met Catherine's eyes in the mirror and expressed her gratitude politely.
"Lady Sophia, I'm the only one here, so you don't have to worry about it. Actually, all the women in the village have noticed. Of course, the maidens and Mrs. Cordelia have too."
"Huh?"
With a cheerful smile, Catherine looked at Sophia's face, then touched up her makeup and fixed her hair.
"However, until Miss Sara tells the truth, I won't bring it up. It's an unspoken agreement, you see."
"I should have made Sophia look older."
"Well, up to about ten years more is fine, but beyond that, it would take a lot longer for hair and makeup, so I wouldn't recommend it as a maid."
"Is that how it is?"
"You shouldn't underestimate the changes in skin."
"Won't it be solved if we ask Ms. Amelia (Pharmacist Girl) to help?"
"If it can be solved, then both Lady Sophia and Ms. Amelia will be rich. No, Lady Sophia is already rich."
With her hair stylishly arranged and a hairpin decorated with magic stones, she looked like a wealthy merchant. Sophia stood up in front of the mirror and looked at herself closely.
"How do I look?"
"You look beautiful, but you don't look like a merchant. The merchants I know are either the mistresses of nobles who start businesses after being dumped, or women who rise through their talents from selling goods."
"So, you mean there aren't any young women?"
"Probably not many would see Lady Sophia as a true leader of the merchant guild. It's quite rude to say, though."
"That's not rude at all. Does that mean I'm just a pretty face and people are underestimating me?"
Sophia smiled at her reflection in the mirror.
"You have the same smile as when Revi-sama was in the form of the Little Prince. Usually, when you have that kind of expression, it means you're planning a terrible prank... It's amazing how much you two look alike even without blood ties."
"Don't worry. I'm just going to dance with everyone. I might even be the one making them dance."
"Please, don't overdo it."
"Leave it to me!"
"That's the least trustworthy answer, you know? You don't need to look so alike in that way..."
Catherine shrugged in disbelief.
As Sophia was doing the final checks on the products after returning to the venue, Chloe suddenly jumped in.
"Oh? Who are you? You look a lot like Sara, but I thought her mother had passed away?"
"Nice to meet you, Lady Chloe. I am Sophia from the Sophia Merchant Guild."
"Ah, so you're Sophia. I heard about the merchant guild connected to Sara, but I see now."
It seemed Chloe recognized Sophia as a relative of Sara.
"Are you participating in the salon, my lady? I thought minors wouldn't be allowed since there will be alcohol served."
"Yes, I'm not an official participant. But I called Chris to demonstrate the chess set made by Sara, so I'm just joining for the beginning."
"I see, that makes sense. I deeply appreciate your cooperation, Lady Chloe."
Sophia thanked Chloe and took out a small bottle of body cream that was nearby, handing it to Chloe.
"This is a freshly made body cream. It's expensive, so this bottle is 1 Dallas, but the scent is very strong, so if you apply it to your neck, it gives off a subtle fragrance. I heard from Miss Sara that the idea for this product came from you, Lady Chloe. Please take one. This is a limited edition rose scent. It's rare, so we could only make a small amount."
"Thank you! You're such a nice person!"
Chloe immediately opened the bottle, sniffed it, and smiled brightly.
"Did you like the smell?"
"Yes, it smells really nice."
'Hmm. Chloe is so easy to please. But I worry she might get kidnapped because she's so easily lured by things.'
Maybe it was because of her physical age, but she found herself looking at Chloe like a concerned aunt.
Just then, Elizabeth entered the venue with a group of noblewomen. Sophia quickly stepped aside and bowed her head.
"Sophia, don't stay over there, come here."
The Young Marquis and his wife didn't know Sophia's true identity, but they assumed she was a relative of Sara's from her mother's side based on her appearance. They had heard that Adelia's family was part of a foreign merchant guild, and they thought it was likely that either Marquis Grandchester or Sara had scouted her.
"Understood, Lady of Young Marquis Grandchester."
"Hehe, just call me Elizabeth, it's shorter."
"Yes, Lady Elizabeth."
Sophia walked over to the group of noblewomen, accompanied by a handsome young employee. This young man was Marius, a spy for the Commerce Guild, or rather, for Kojimo.
Marius pushed a wagon filled with products that would appeal to women, following Sophia as they approached the group of noblewomen.
"You might have seen her yesterday, but this is Sophia."
As Elizabeth introduced her, all the noblewomen turned to look at Sophia.
"I am Sophia, the master of the Merchant Guild. I hope to be in your favor from now on. Here is a token of our acquaintance."
Sara handed the pouches in wooden boxes to the ladies-in-waiting.
When the women opened the pouches, inside were delicate, metal tubes about 10 cm long. They were intricately designed, with small jewels embedded in them.
"What is this?"
Tne of the women asked Sophia.
"This is a new product from our merchant guild called lip cream. When lips get dry, they can peel, and in severe cases, they can crack or bleed. This cream is meant to protect your lips from that dryness."
"So, is this the container? It looks like a strange shape."
The woman said, examining the lip cream container closely.
"Actually, if you remove the lid and twist the bottom, the contents will slowly rise up. So, you can apply it directly to your lips like this. It's also good as a base before putting on lipstick."
Since there were no standard containers for lipsticks or lip creams from the Sarasa era in this world, Sara quickly consulted Teresa the Blacksmith Girl to make it.
"How interesting! And this design is wonderful!"
"Actually, this small jewel is a light attribute magic stone."
"Eh!"
The noblewomen were surprised by this statement and all looked at the lip cream containers in their hands.
"That magic stone is a very small light attribute magic stone. And the container has a magic circle built in to activate light attribute healing magic. If you channel your magic into it, you can heal small wounds a few times."
"I can't believe it's a light attribute magic stone!"
Then Sedrick whispered in her ear who that woman was.
Sophia smiled and took a small blade from Marius, lightly cutting her fingertip. The noblewomen watching gasped in surprise.
"Lady Berners, can you take a look?"
She gathered a bit of magic into the container of lip balm, and the magic stone started to glow, quickly healing Sophia's cut. In less than a minute, the cut vanished completely, leaving only a drop of blood as a stain on the handkerchief.
"If you place the container near the wound and channel your magic, the healing magic will activate. Of course, once the magic stone runs out of power, the effect will disappear, so it's up to you all to decide when to use it. If you get it appraised in the royal capital, you'll understand the quality of the magic stone."
Everyone wore blank expressions. It was a magic stone of about 0.5 carats, but since it was made by Sara, its purity was very high. If the whole container was appraised, it would quickly show it was real. Just the magic stone alone would likely sell for no less than 100 dollars, but as an item that can activate healing magic, the price would surely go even higher.
"I hope you like it."
Sophia bowed again to the noblewomen.
"It's really lovely, and I'm very fond of it. I want to continue working with the Sophia Merchant Guild."
"Does your store only exist in the Grandchester territory? If you open a shop in the royal capital, I'll support you."
"Earlier at the tea party, we received that music box... I think it was called a Spieluhr, right? The Sophia Merchant Guild sells those too, doesn't it?"
The women crowded around Sophia, speaking to her eagerly.
Thanks to Sedrick, Sophia was able to respond to each of them politely without mixing up their names.
Actually, Marius didn't know that the gems embedded in it were magic stones. He thought it was just a fancy cosmetic container and reported to Kojimo that the souvenirs for the noblewomen were insignificant items.
'This is bad, I need to quickly inform Sir Kojimo with more details.'
Marius was feeling very anxious, but he had the sense not to show it on his face. Of course, Sophia noticed that Marius looked a bit pale and secretly smiled to herself.
By the way, the metal used for the container was surprisingly β titanium, which is a titanium alloy.
Teresa the Blacksmith Girl was desperately searching for materials to develop Sara's weapon. She wanted to use a lightweight material so that even small Sara could handle it easily, but she also had to avoid sacrificing strength. However, no matter how much she searched, she couldn't find anything good, and when she returned to Maiden's Tower feeling down, Alicia the Alchemist Girl suggested, "Why not check out Master Paracelsus's book?"
Teresa the Blacksmith Girl, who wasn't very good at reading and writing, hesitated in front of the pile of books, but seeing her struggle, Thomas helped her look for useful books.
As a result, the outcome was very significant. Teresa the Blacksmith Girl discovered types of metals and their properties when combined into alloys that she had never seen or heard of before.
She immediately told Sara about this, but upon hearing it, Sara held her head in her hands.
'Mr. Paracelsus has more cheats than I do.'
However, it must have been surprising for Paracelsus to hear that Sara would immediately use that technology for business. By the way, it was Alicia the Alchemist Girl who suggested embedding magic circles into metalwork, and she was happily developing products together with Teresa the Blacksmith Girl.
Sara only intended to make a simple lip balm container, but before she knew it, an extravagant product had been created, complete with healing magic embedded in the intricate design.
'With this quality, it might be just right as a souvenir for noblewomen.'
Sara thought, impressed by how beautiful and high-performing the product turned out to be. Including the lip balm inside, this could be considered a collaborative work of the 3 maidens.
As a side note, Fran, who witnessed Teresa the Blacksmith Girl chatting closely with Thomas at Maiden's Tower, felt a great deal of jealousy and hurriedly began preparing a proposal. However, Fran's mother, Tonia, quickly stopped him in a panic.
"Fran, proposing out of jealousy is really embarrassing. Do you have the confidence to be a husband who can support Teresa while she focuses on her work? Looking at you now, you seem to only be a distraction to Teresa's job."
Tonia really loves Teresa, so she would welcome a marriage if it happens because a child accidentally comes along. However, she absolutely won't accept her son getting so possessive that he disrupts Teresa Girl's work.
Serious Fran decided to wait until Teresa finishes making Sara's weapon before proposing. He continued quietly making distillation furnaces so he could propose at any time, and he would soon have his own workshop and become independent right at the start of the new year.
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