I'm The Wrong Guy In The Wrong World : It's An Otome Game?

After returning from the forest with mushrooms, herbal plants, and sweet tubers, I saw a row of carriages stopped in front of the mansion. There were more than usual.

I remembered the previous plan—Alric had gone to the Eastern region's city to buy new equipment and prepare for the monster-clearing expedition near the iron mine I had discovered.

The location was at the foot of the mountain, in the eastern forest of Lucien territory.

"They arrived faster than I expected…" I muttered quietly.

"It seems... there's another noble as well, Young Master," said Bernicia, pointing to one of the carriages parked not far from the main gate.

I directed my gaze to the emblem on the carriage—a symbol of balanced scales.

My right eye narrowed. "The Vance Family."

That symbol was familiar. Vance was one of the influential merchant noble families from the Eastern region.

"Hm... we'd better enter through the back door," I said softly. I led Alex and Bernicia in a detour to enter the mansion through the back gate.

Once there, we headed straight to my Alchemist room located in the rear warehouse. We placed the harvested items directly on the worktable.

"Alright. Today's work is done." I stretched my shoulders, then reached into my pocket and handed Alex and Bernicia five silver coins each.

Five silver coins… enough to pay a servant for a week.

"Thank you, Young Master." As usual, Alex bowed respectfully.

"Y-Young Master... are you sure it's okay to give me this much?" Bernicia asked hesitantly, staring at the coins in her hand.

"Just take it. Consider it a bonus. You two worked hard today. Now, go take a bath. You're both filthy... especially you, Alex."

I waved them out of the alchemist lab.

Apolo commented in his usual flat tone.

"Exactly... time to get cleaned up." I casually walked toward my room.

As I passed through the central garden, I came upon a surprising scene. A girl with bright wavy red hair—about the same age as Bernicia—was sitting with my stepmother, Ossana Lucien. Not far from them, my ten-year-old stepsister Alira was playing with some servants.

What caught my attention was that all three had similarly red hair. They looked like a harmonious family.

I hid behind a pillar and activated my right eye to zoom in my vision.

What are they talking about?

[Creator, activate long-distance hearing?]

Gaia's suggestion startled me a bit, but I activated it right away.

A soft voice began to emerge faintly, then grew clearer.

"Auntie, why didn't you tell me earlier that the debt collectors came here?" the girl asked—her voice gentle but firm.

"I didn't want to burden you, Elyra. We've handled everything," Ossana replied calmly.

Elyra Vance.

I remembered that name. One of the daughters of the Vance family, the most influential merchant nobles in the Eastern region. Ossana was apparently a distant relative of the Vance family. After marrying Rey's father as his second wife, their relationship must have remained close—close enough for Elyra to call Ossana "Auntie."

Interestingly... Elyra treated Alira with great warmth. Like a real older sister. Their faces even looked similar, along with their matching red hair, as if the same blood flowed through them.

"Hey." A sharp voice sounded from behind me.

Reflexively, I turned. The long-distance hearing effect still active made the voice feel deafeningly loud—as if shouted right in my ear.

It was Alric. "What, are you a high-tier stalker now?" he said casually, his tone flat but sharp.

"Well, I was just gathering intel," I replied, deactivating the hearing system. "So, how did it go? Everything smooth?"

"Come to my room. We need to talk."

Without waiting for a response, Alric turned and began walking. I followed, our footsteps echoing quietly through the stone corridor.

When we arrived in his room, we sat across from each other. A servant brought hot tea, and the serious discussion began.

Alric explained that the journey to the Eastern Duke's city had gone without incident. No bandit attacks, no significant obstacles, so they returned earlier than scheduled.

He also discussed the arrival of the Vance family—especially Elyra.

"That family has helped us more than once," Alric said. "When debt collectors applied pressure, Elyra secretly intervened, saving Mother's reputation... and this family's."

He looked at me seriously. "That's why I feel it's time we open a cooperation opportunity with Elyra. And since you discovered the iron mine… I want to hear your opinion."

I sipped the tea slowly. "Do as you please," I replied casually.

Alric raised an eyebrow. "But... what about the contract you made with the previous debt collectors? Wasn't there an exclusive agreement?"

I raised one finger for emphasis. "Yes, there's a five-year exclusive distribution contract. But... there's no written statement about quota or volume I must provide."

I put down my cup. "The official contract only activates once they deposit the full investment—five thousand gold coins. But so far, they've only given one thousand. The remaining four thousand? No news."

"So... if we suddenly bring in a new investor?" Alric inferred.

"Their own risk for being late in fulfilling the initial investment." I nodded calmly. "We're not fully bound until the agreed funds are transferred."

"Hm." Alric grunted briefly, seeming to digest it all. "So, there won't be any issues if we make a contract with Elyra now?"

"In fact, it could accelerate the mine's development. Besides, the Vance family's distribution network is far broader than those greedy local lenders."

Alric gave a faint smile. "By the way… Rey," he said slowly, his tone softening. "I heard from Alex… you gave him a training artifact, right?"

I responded with a knowing smile.

Click! I closed Alric's door after a discussion lasting over an hour about mine management plans, and taught him how to use the training artifact bracelet.

In truth, that item was from The Singularity—a weapon for subduing heavy-class Aliens, which works by increasing the user's internal gravity several fold.

But in this world, it could be disguised as a weighted training tool. Seeing how rapidly Alex progressed after using it, the item seemed effective as a strength training device—by doubling the user's body weight.

Like monks from classic stories who trained by carrying buckets of water up and down mountains. Only this time, the training was gravity-based technology. And disguised as a magic artifact, no one would suspect it wasn't of this world.

I exhaled deeply and returned to my room to bathe and clean up. That intention had been delayed by the long discussion with Alric.

After bathing, I went straight to the Alchemist room in the back warehouse. Earlier, I had told Bernicia I'd skip dinner with the family tonight.

Click! The door creaked open as I entered the room.

"Apolo, activate space shielding. Ensure no one can spy or eavesdrop on us."

< Space Shield : Active >

"Gaia, send the equipment."

[Understood, Creator.]

A few seconds later, various basic sugar processing tools appeared from the void. While not high-tech by my original world's standards, these primitive versions were still far beyond anything in this world.

Several humanoid Mecha units appeared and began moving around the room. They were controlled directly by Gaia. These units weren't combat types, but utility mechas used for tasks like cleaning and maintenance.

[Very well, it seems I'll assist directly here, Creator.] One of the mechas with golden-yellow glowing eyes stepped forward.

"Alright, Gaia. Let's begin the experiment."

I walked to the bag containing the herbs and tubers we'd gathered earlier. I had secretly stored extra sweet tubers into my Inventory.

I picked one and examined it closely.

In my original world, in tropical regions, sugarcane was the main source of pure sugar. But in subtropical and colder areas, another plant took its place: Beta vulgaris, known as Sugar Beet—producing sucrose in tuber form.

Interestingly, similar tubers grew in this world too... but as far as I knew, they were only used as flavor enhancers in soup. No one had realized their extraordinary potential as a source of pure sucrose.

But that would change tonight.