Chapter 2: Shopping

 In the morning, following her usual routine, Aresia strolled through the garden to admire the blooming flowers while waiting for her private tutor to arrive for her lessons.

As Aresia will soon to enter the Royal Academy, her mother, the Duchess, had excused several tutors, allowing Aresia to relax during this time at the family’s estate.

However, her rest was short-lived, as within just a few days, the young Aresia was transformed into the older Aresia, despite being the same soul it is hard determining whether she is the same person.

With no need for lessons, Aresia decided to visit the garden and then made her way directly to the family’s library.

Aresia’s father, Duke Rogest, held significant power and influence as a Duke. He not only governed a substantial territory but also commanded the Gryphon Legion, one of the five legions of the Holy Lotean Empire.

The name “Gryphon Legion” didn’t stem from the presence of actual gryphons but rather from the Rogest family’s historical control over the legion. The griffon, the family’s heraldic symbol, was well-known.

At present, it was the Gryphon Legion’s turn to guard the Emperor, and because of this Duke Rogest spent most of his time at the imperial capital. Other family members took shifts at the border, seldom returning to the family estate. While the Duke and his family had a castle in their territory, they primarily resided in the Duke’s mansion within the imperial capital. He regarded the collection of books in the library as a way to assert his social standing, and these books were proudly displayed in the Duke’s mansion’s library.

The library in the Duke’s mansion was extensive, containing not only various ordinary books but also precious magical tomes. Some of them were the Rogest family’s legacy, while a smaller portion was the personal collection of the Duchess.

In this world, strength equated to status, and if a noble wasn’t powerful enough, they might even lose their title. Heirs without magical or warrior talents could have their inheritance rights revoked. In noble marriages, besides the social status of the partners, the evaluation of their talents was crucial.

Aresia’s mother was a high-level mage, while her father and older brother, although they possessed some magical aptitude, had relatively low talent. They weren’t well-suited for becoming full-fledged mages. Instead, they had strong physical attributes, resembling the talents of warriors, and they had both embraced knighthoods.

The magical books in the library, often reads by the Duke’s daughter, reflected her family’s strong magical background. Although she wasn’t exceptionally talented, her magical abilities were above average for the nobility. While the imperial law stated that individuals could only enter magic academies at fifteen, private tutoring and self-study weren’t forbidden. This was common among the nobility, and the common people were the ones who had to wait until the age of fifteen to begin their studies.

Aresia delved into the library and explored magical books without any hindrance.

Aresia was gathering basic knowledge about magic in this world.

Aresia felt embarrassed as she realized that her previous self was not inclined towards studying. Private tutoring sessions focused more on improving her grace, etiquette, and cultural refinement, such as dance, posture, and music lessons. Consequently, her magical studies had been somewhat neglected. Moreover, the person teaching her the basics of magic was an ordinary, low-level mage, who emphasized discipline and formality. As a result, the foundation of magical knowledge for the Duke’s daughter was rather average.

In this world, nobles were more interested in clothing, jewelry, and dance rather than wielding wands and using magic in combat. They were not particularly fond of the latter.

In contrast to the pursuit of magical power, the education of young nobles in this world leaned more towards them becoming wealthy and finding strong husbands.

If it weren’t for the imperial decree requiring nobles with magical talents to attend magic schools, many nobles might not have allowed their children, especially daughters, to attend, even if it were the prestigious Royal Academy.

Although Aresia had the memories of the Duke’s daughter from this era, she couldn’t be certain if the knowledge regarding magic was entirely accurate.

Aresia had found herself in a world where magic was highly developed. In contrast, in her original world, magic was not prevalent. Mages there studied magic to seek the truth and benefit society, not just for combat purposes.

The magic in this world can even be said to be in its infancy. For the people in this world, magic is just a kind of power.

The more she read, the more Aresia realized the difference between the two world.

At the same time, she also discovered that the original idea of spending money to buy potions to treat herself was impossible, because the potion science had not yet developed to the point where they could produce a potion that could cure the loss of the Grand Sorceress Soul.

Fortunately, according to what she read in a book, there is actually no difference between the two worlds. This world is more like the ancient times of her world. She is back here now, or she has travelled back thousands of years in time. Years ago, or she came to a parallel time and space where the timeline was earlier, and all the species she knew existed in this world.

It’s just that in her world, Aresia has not found any history about the Holy Lotean Empire, so she prefers that this is a parallel world with a different development.

But no matter what the situation is, even though the nature of the world is quite different, all her knowledge about magic is also universal in this world.

This is a good thing, because it means she could gather the ingredients to make the potion herself. For several days, Aresia spent her evenings reading books and trying to understand the magical level of this world. During this time, her family members didn’t even show up.

This was partly because her father, the Duke, and her older brother were both serving in the Gryphon Legion. They had only recently returned for a brief visit. Her mother, on the other hand, had been away from the capital for a while, tending to affairs in the family’s domain. If it weren’t for the impending workloads, she might have chosen to stay with her daughter who’s soon to attend Royal Academy instead of making the back-and-forth trips to the domain.

Aresia had practically set up camp in the library, and while the servants of the Duke’s household found her behavior a bit unusual, they just think of it as Aresia is preparing for school.

The maids had grown accustomed to Aresia always going to the library, and the sudden stop of the activity made them feel somewhat uneasy.

“Is Miss Aresia not going to the library today?” one of them asked.

Aresia shook her head. “No.”

She had already gone through the books related to magic in the library and hadn’t found anything particularly necessary.

“Prepare a carriage; I’m going out,” Aresia said.

Having her custom-made clothes completed, Aresia chose a simple and understated outfit from a pile of elegant dresses. She refused the company of the maids and opted to sit alone in the prepared carriage.

The steward stood by the carriage and inquired about her destination. The masters were not present, and he needed to ensure the safety of Miss.

Aresia didn’t hide anything and told him, “I’m going shopping near the magic guild.”

Originally, apart from the coachman driving the carriage, there were two guards accompanying Aresia. When they heard she was going to the magic guild, the steward called four more guards to accompany her.

The magic guild itself wasn’t particularly dangerous. The streets near the magic guild were filled with various shops, including adventurer’s guilds, warrior’s guilds, and other professional establishments. The presence of adventurers and other professionals in this area made it relatively rowdy, and conflicts were common. The steward was concerned that they might run into trouble.

The carriage, adorned with the crest of the Rogest family, rattled on as the guards rode their horses alongside it. The carriage had been magically enhanced to provide a smooth and comfortable ride. Aresia couldn’t feel any bumps or jolts as she sat inside.

The capital of the Holy Lotean Empire was Holy Lotean City, a thriving metropolis and one of the oldest cities in the entire empire.

The entire Holy Lotean City was impressively organized, with several expansions over the years to accommodate nearly a hundred thousand residents. The city’s layout was well-planned, with each area clearly mark. The Emperor’s Palace located at the center, closest to the imperial palace was the noble district where the nobility resided known as the upper city area. Surrounding that area was the middle city area, home to wealthy individuals with titles and various professionals, the professional district. Beyond that was the lower city area, the commoner district where ordinary citizens lived and also the largest area of the city.

The carriage from the Rogest Family traversed wide streets, moving from the noble district to the middle district, and soon it entered the streets where the various guilds are located.

Upon reaching this area, the atmosphere changed entirely. The streets were crowded with people in various professional attire, many of whom were carrying weapons. Their voices were louder and more resonant than ordinary citizens.

Various Guilds gathered on this street and over time it became known as Guild Street. Stalls were not allowed here, so there were only some shops located between several major guilds, and the shops that could be opened here were basically related to professionals.

Aresia had told the butler that she was going near the magic guild, but in reality, she was heading for the magic materials store next to it.

This store was a key part of the Holy Lotean City, serving as the magical guild’s industry. Most of the magical materials that could be found in the city could also be found in this store. The store offered a discount for the employees of the magic guild, which included Aresia’s mother, the Duchess. Although Aresia herself wasn’t an employee, she had her mother’s emblem, which entitled her to a discount. She received a 5% discount.  

Previously, the original Duchess had never needed to rely on this discount to save money, but Aresia knew that she needed to be frugal. Although her mother had never encouraged her to be careful with her spending, she knew the research of magic could be quite costly.

When it came time to pay, Aresia pulled out the money from her money pouch, which had been gradually accumulating. Her mother had started giving her an allowance when she was five years old, increasing the amount each month.

By now, she was receiving a monthly allowance of 200 gold coins. It was a generous sum for a young girl, and her financial matters were managed by the Rogest family, leaving her to accumulate her wealth. Her savings had grown significantly, and her money pouch contained over ten thousand gold coins.

The purchasing power of gold coins was considerable. The average person might not earn one or two silver coins in a month of hard work, and one gold coin could be exchanged for a hundred silver coins.

Although the value of gold coins wasn’t tremendous, slightly higher-grade magical materials could cost several hundred to thousands of gold coins, and rare items were even more expensive. Aresia hoped the money she brought would be enough to purchase a set of materials for brewing a soul elixir.

She didn’t want to ask the Rogest family for money. There were two reasons for this: she didn’t want to give anyone else a reason to buy the materials, and she didn’t want to rely on the estate’s funds. She had to adapt to her new identity, and she couldn’t simply spend the estate’s money.

Nevertheless, she couldn’t deny that the Rogest family’s wealth had become her own. Despite her reluctance to admit it, it was indeed an inheritance from her previous self.

So she planned to make a money on her own. Now she was preparing to seize an opportunity, and the means to do so had presented itself.