The Genius Perfumer of the Fallen Cult - Chapter 31

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Genius Perfumer of the Fallen Religious Order Episode 31

Marseria added calmly.

“Brother, it was a deal that shouldn’t have been made, but it was still a deal nonetheless. How could I do something so faithless? It’s as I told you. This time, the temple has come to write that recommendation letter for a legitimate candidate chosen directly by the temple.”

“…Priest, I’m fine with that. I can get the necessary recommendation letter from anywhere. But then, what do you plan to do about the orphanage’s finances now? I looked into it, and this manor barely cleared its debts. When a manor gets bigger, maintaining and repairing it costs more than just a penny or two. And there are children here too…”

“I believe Varin’s guidance will provide.”

A faint look of shock crossed Luciano’s face.

What she meant was the cheerful notion that there was no immediate plan for the orphanage’s finances.

“Priest… Sigh, might I at least see the face of this perfumer candidate you’ve decided to write the recommendation letter for?”

“Brother, I appreciate your concern, but that matter…”

Just then, a knock was heard. Before anyone could say anything, the door cracked open slightly, and through the gap, small cream-colored hair spilled out as a voice said.

“It’s me.”

“Prim!”

Priest Marseria jumped in surprise and quickly rushed over to fling the door wide open.

Fortunately, Prim was sitting in one of the chairs placed throughout the corridor. Behind Prim, Rozien stood with an expression that said he didn’t know what all this was about but would stay with her regardless, gripping the back of the chair while looking at Priest Marseria.

Luciano approached from behind Priest Marseria and looked Prim up and down appraisingly.

“Priest, who is this child?”

“Ah, Brother. Well…”

“My name is Prim. I’m the one who’s supposed to receive the recommendation letter the Priest will write.”

Luciano’s eyebrows rose slightly.

His gaze quickly gathered information. The defensive look in the eyes of the boy standing with her, the thin legs of the girl who didn’t stand up even when seeing an adult.

‘A child who can’t walk?’

An orphan who couldn’t walk had dreams of becoming a perfumer, and that soft-hearted priest had taken pity on her?

Luciano looked at the girl who was about the same age as his son and clicked his tongue inwardly. Thinking of his son, he wasn’t entirely without sympathy himself.

However, he couldn’t lose his position as heir to the trading company because of that sympathy.

‘I barely managed to find a talented one…’

Of all times, the recommendation letter had to slip away now!

By now, all the other temples’ recommendation letters would have found their owners too. He pretended to be calm, acting as if he was only worried about the temple’s finances, but he was getting anxious about whether he could secure a recommendation letter at this point.

“I’m Luciano… that’s my name. I came to ask the Priest if I could get a recommendation letter for next year’s perfumer qualification exam. I have a perfumer candidate I’m sponsoring. A very talented person.”

Of course, saying he came to “ask” was just a nice way of putting it – he had come to buy it with money.

Prim recalled the perfumers who had received sponsorship from the Aurum Vena Trading Company.

‘Among those people, there weren’t many perfumers who properly succeeded. Was this time’s perfumer one of them?’

What came to mind were perfumers who had all acted insufferably arrogant, boasting about receiving Aurum Vena’s sponsorship, only to eventually burst into tears in front of her.

As she remembered, there was exactly one who hadn’t done that.

“Oh, Prim. Don’t worry about it. This person has enough ability to get recommendation letters from other places too…”

Priest Marseria hurriedly waved her hands and stepped between Prim and Luciano.

However, Prim grabbed Priest Marseria’s hand to stop her words.

Luciano’s wealth, the Aurum Vena Trading Company’s wealth was real. If she could just receive his financial support now, many things would change. First of all, she could fill the currently empty fragrance bottles.

He was reliable when it came to treating those he decided to sponsor. Even now, wasn’t he personally running around trying to secure a recommendation letter for the candidate he had chosen?

He probably came to solve this while he was here lending money to Lord Sanbertal.

And for him, sponsoring one person or two people wouldn’t make much difference.

If only she could show him her potential.

“Uncle Luciano, what’s your reason for sponsoring perfumer candidates?”

The good thing about being a child was that you could ask somewhat sensitive questions freely. At Prim’s question, Luciano shrugged once and said.

“Well, we make money, so we want to use that money to sponsor excellent perfumers and contribute to the world. Those perfumers create beautiful fragrances, receive divine blessings, and ward off demons, don’t they?”

It was a very theoretical answer.

“Can sponsored perfumers freely create whatever fragrances they want to make?”

“Mm, of course. But since they’ve received our money, shouldn’t they make the fragrances we want at least once a year?”

“What kind of fragrance do you want, Uncle?”

“What?”

The conversation that had been flowing smoothly creaked for the first time. Everyone looked at Prim. Even with all eyes on her, Prim calmly repeated.

“What kind of fragrance do you want, Uncle?”

Rozien unconsciously squeezed his eyes shut.

When strangers looked at Prim, they only saw a well-behaved child who didn’t show much expression, was passive, and quite shy.

That was partly true. Prim usually stayed still as if she didn’t know how to move, like a frog frozen solid in the depths of winter.

However, the moment she made a decision, she shot out like a cannonball. Before anyone could catch her.

It was the same when she was adopted by Baron Corvus, and when she stubbornly insisted on doing perfumery after being adopted.

It was the same when she took on the curse in his place in the past, and when she said farewell afterward.

How much effort had he put in trying to bring back that cannonball that had already been fired?

But thinking that far, Rozien suddenly became detached. He had already used his chance to hold Prim back, so now he just had to follow whatever she did.

“Ahem, why? If I tell you the fragrance I want, can you make it?”

“Yes.”

Luciano’s eyebrows remained raised as he looked back at Priest Marseria. His expression asked why she wasn’t quickly stopping the child.

However, Priest Marseria just clasped her hands together and smiled brightly.

“You don’t know how talented our Prim is. Brother Luciano, if you see that talent, you’ll surely be amazed.”

“Ah, no, Priest…”

Wasn’t humility supposed to be one of a priest’s virtues?

Luciano opened his mouth, somewhat bewildered. However, he didn’t find it entirely unpleasant.

Even though this wasn’t the only temple that sold perfumer exam recommendation letters for money, the reason he had come all the way to this remote area to buy one was because he knew this priest used the money from selling those recommendation letters to care for orphans.

He knew how much she loved the orphans.

“You’ve been ‘sponsoring’ our orphanage all this time. I’d like to make what you need as a token of gratitude.”

Hearing this, the girl suddenly seemed rather endearing to him. Regardless of the girl’s skill or talent, wasn’t she saying she wanted to repay him for everything so far?

“Well, if I had to say what I need recently…”

Luciano carefully went through the information. What a merchant needs isn’t the merchant’s own preferences, but the customer’s preferences.

“A fragrance that wakes people up, I suppose.”

“Sleep?”

One of the Aurum Vena Trading Company’s biggest customers was the Elector of Castellanza Territory.

Among the seven elector families who could elect the emperor, it was a secular family rather than a religious one, and though they had narrowly failed to become emperor in the election ten years ago, their power was tremendous enough.

So tremendous that they could make their first son, who put everyone to sleep whenever he opened his mouth, the heir without any complaints.

“For example, imagine I’m… a teacher giving lectures at Academia, and whenever I speak, people fall asleep. How troublesome would that be? It would be nice to have something that could wake them up.”

Luciano looked down at the girl who was listening intently to his words, and feeling inexplicably pleased, he casually added.

“If you make it well, I’ll pay you for it.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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