As the woman walked around the shop and examined a few things, she was pleasantly surprised by the order. However, when she stopped to view the listed pills for sale, her expression quickly darkened.
"Ridiculous…! Why are the prices all over the place…?! Does he know how much he's throwing away?!" The woman said as a hint of disbelief and outrage crept its way into her tone.
She then continued, "I have to put a stop to this at once."
While her clothes, hair, and eye color were different from reality, her overall features made her unmistakable.
This woman was not just another guest of the Mystical Realm Palace. She was the individual Izroth hired as his official financial advisor, Fang Qiu!
"Welcome, Administrator Aurora. It is my pleasure to meet you. I am the head manager, Opal." Opal approached Fang Qiu just moments after she entered the Mystical Realm Palace. Opal properly greeted her and gave a polite bow.
Fang Qiu's in-game name was Aurora, and she was currently listed as an Administrator of the Mystical Realm Palace. This meant that her authority level and access to the Mystical Realm Palace were beneath only Izroth himself!
When she logged onto RML, the first thing she did was add and contact Izroth. This was so that they could take some time to go over everything and develop a middle ground of sorts. But, just thinking back to the message she received from Izroth gave her a headache.
His exact words were, "I made you an Administrator, so do what you want. If you need any assistance, just ask Opal."
While it made her job much easier to have full control, Aurora had the urge to secretly strangle Izroth. Suppose she was someone with bad intentions. With the authority granted to her as an Administrator, she could clean out the entire Mystical Realm Palace and walk away with a small fortune!
Was it he just that trusting of others? Or, was it carelessness? Aurora did not know what to think anymore. One thing was for sure, this was her first time dealing with a client like Izroth.
"We have been expecting your arrival-" However, as Opal spoke, she was quickly cut off by Aurora.
"I want everyone cleared out in less than five minutes. As for a reason—tell them that we have to perform some important renovations. After that, I will need a place to work and access to the Mystical Realm Palace's complete financial history, active and idle inventory, employment information, material suppliers…" Aurora started to list a multitude of things as Opal listened intently.
After Aurora finished speaking, Opal replied respectfully, "I will take care of it at once. If you require a place to work, the conference room on this floor is unoccupied."
Opal did not question Aurora's intent. Not only did Aurora hold a higher position than her, but Opal was also instructed beforehand by Izroth to follow her commands as if they were his own.
"Then, have what I requested delivered to the conference room in paper form by the time I return," Aurora stated as she walked towards the stairway that led to the second floor. Since it would take a while to familiarize herself with the various system commands of the shop, she felt that it would be faster to do things the way that she was used to.
She then continued, "I am going to inspect the remaining floors."
…
A few moments later, Opal did as commanded and cleared the customers out of the Mystical Realm Palace. While some were reluctant, in the end, no one wanted to risk being blacklisted and complied.
Meanwhile, Aurora had just completed her inspection of the remaining floors of the Mystical Realm Palace. Upon doing so, she received a general idea of the shop's operation procedures, or rather, the lack thereof.
If Aurora had to use one word to describe the Mystical Realm Palace's current state, it would be individualistic. Everyone was doing what they wanted to when they wanted to without any real direction or instruction.
While it was not wrong to give the craftsman the freedom to work on something of their choosing, it was not a sustainable management method and failed to maximize efficiency. This was the major problem that Aurora had to address—or so she thought.
Aurora arrived in the conference room not too long ago, and as she looked through the documents on the table, she could not help but release a long sigh.
"This is utter chaos. How can anyone run a business this way?" Aurora sighed as she massaged the temples on the side of her head. Just from reviewing a handful of documents about the financial history, Aurora discovered that Izroth could have doubled, or possibly even tripled his profit!
"The good news is that the foundation is not unsalvagable. But, numerous big and small adjustments need to be made. The prices need correcting, and I will have to implement a rotating inventory to increase value." Aurora muttered to herself as she sorted through the documents.
In simple terms, rotating inventory's purpose was to have specific things available at certain times. Not only would this allow the Mystical Realm Palace to stretch its already limited stock, but it would incentivize players to visit the shop multiple times a week for different products. By creating more foot traffic, in the process, the ceiling amount of potential profit increased.
Over the next several hours, Aurora spent her time implementing changes throughout the Mystical Realm Palace. There were some things that she left untouched for the moment, such as the craftsmen, as it required a separate approach. However, when it came to nearly everything else, it had been reorganized in some way by Aurora.
"That should do it. It is a bit troublesome that I can't make the price differences too drastic. Though slowly making the changes throughout the week should keep us on schedule." Aurora said as she stretched her arms.
She then turned to Opal and continued, "Opal, get ready to re-open the Mystical-"
…BOOOOOOOOM! Oooooooom!
Out of nowhere, a deafening sound erupted throughout the Mystical Realm Palace as the entire shop shook violently. This caused Aurora and Opal to cover their ears as an oppressive aura washed over them.
"What's happening?!" Aurora questioned, but her voice was drowned out by the ear-piercing noise.
After what seemed like an eternity later, the sound and shaking slowly faded away and calmed down. When it stopped, Aurora and Opal removed their hands, which covered their ears.
"What was that?" Aurora asked as she looked towards Opal for an explanation.
Opal shook her head and replied, "I am uncertain. However, the source seems to have originated from the room that the Palace Master resides in."
Since Opal was directly tied to the Mystical Realm Palace, it did not take her long to pinpoint the source.
"It came from within the shop? Are the safety restrictions not in place?" Aurora frowned. From what she knew, shops in RML were considered safe zones by default and generally unaffected by external events.
"Safety restrictions are in place," Opal confirmed.
To be safe, Aurora sent a message via the system to Izroth to check on his situation. But, she did not receive a notification in return even though it clearly showed him online.
"I'm going to check on the situation. I want you to investigate the other floors and make sure that everyone is alright and accounted for." Aurora said as she stood to her feet and left the conference room.
…
'As I thought, the commotion was felt everywhere in the Mystical Realm Palace.'
Izroth was alone, and the chains that were sealed in Isolated Space were nowhere to be found. As he was going over his system messages, Izroth heard a sudden knock on the door.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
This was the only room in the RML where no one but him had direct access.
'Hm?'
Izroth informed Opal not to let anyone disturb him unless it was an absolute emergency. Though, of course, the whole Mystical Realm Palace undergoing intense tremors was undoubtedly an exception.
Izroth walked over and opened the door. What, or rather who greeted him was none other than Aurora.
But, when Izroth saw her appearance, he could not help but comment, "Aren't you living up to the name Ice Queen a bit too well?"
Izroth could immediately tell that Aurora was, in fact, Fang Qiu. But, why was her appearance so fitting to the nickname she did not enjoy? Is this what it meant to act coy?
Aurora nearly coughed up before at Izroth's first words. Who was living up to that ridiculous name?! Ice Queen your head!
In truth, this appearance was not Aurora's choice. After she picked the Elemental Mage class, she acquired the rare Ice as her primary element. However, unlike other Elemental Mages, Aurora's case was somewhat unique. She could not learn a secondary element due to her affinity with the Ice element being unnaturally high. It even went so far as changing her hair and eye color, as well as making her skin cold to the touch. Of course, when Mariposa found this out—let's just say that Aurora was close to erasing and remaking her character.
"If you have the energy to make such jokes, then I assume you are fine," Aurora stated as she lightly pushed her glasses up and restrained herself.
Joke? If there was one thing Izroth found difficult getting used to in this world, it was the inhabitants' bizarre sense of humor. Though he had to admit that Zi Yi was quite good at telling jokes.
Izroth and Aurora spoke regarding the events that just transpired and her handling of the Mystical Realm Palace's affairs. As for the explanation given by Izroth… An "unexpected" occurrence took place during his creation process. Naturally, Aurora believed that he was referring to pills.
It was not that Izroth wanted to intentionally hide Empyrean's existence from Aurora, just that explaining every little detail held no real purpose.
When Aurora shared the changes she made to the Mystical Realm Palace with Izroth, he had no issues. Since he entrusted her to manage the Mystical Realm Palace, he did not plan on tying her hands. Not to mention, when it came to the inner workings of running a business, Izroth had no interest. Therefore, it was better for him if Aurora was confident when managing the day to day operations.
"The event is starting in a couple of hours. Have you made preparations?" Aurora asked. Given that Izroth's reputation was tied to the Mystical Realm Palace, earning good results in the event was bound to draw in people from all over RML. After all, this was not a local world event like the Protectors of Amaharpe—but a genuine world event!
"Everything of concern has already been taken care of. Now, the only thing for me to do is wait patiently." Izroth responded with a carefree expression.
[02 Hours and 10 Minutes remaining until the World Event begins!]
