The title that Axel received was merely nominal. Queen Wisteria did not want to burden him with duties or obligations, nor did she wish to bind him forcefully to their Queendom.

As a Nominal Duke, he enjoyed the benefits of the title, which conferred honor and commanding power over Witcheria's army, second only to the Queen. However, he did not receive any land, buildings, castles, or civil responsibilities.

"As you saved our dimension, it's now our turn to return the favor," Queen Wisteria claimed.

Following the ceremony, a celebratory banquet-cum-ball was held to honor Axel's new title and the success of rebuilding the three major forces.

As the event's central figure, Axel could not skip it, unfortunately. Thus, he found himself seated in the place of honor, dressed in stiff noble clothing gifted by the Queen, quietly receiving well wishes and congratulations from various noblewomen of Witcheria's court.

Maintaining appearances was already exhausting.

The only silver lining was that none of them attempted to flirt with him.

It was well-known that he was married to Princess Teruria, and any attempt to seduce him, despite that fact, would certainly warrant charges of lèse majesté.

"Are you having fun, Duke Axel?"

Just as the tide of greetings began to wane, three figures approached him—three beautiful ladies wearing elaborate dresses, each in their own distinctive colors.

Seeing them, Axel could only manage a wry smile, fatigue evident on his face.

"Please don't tease me, Princess Penelope. This is nothing but tiring." Axel shook his head. "If given the chance, I would have skipped this event entirely. I'm not suited for these kinds of gatherings."

The first princess smiled, shifting in her pale yellow, bubbly dress. Her attire, combined with her dignified posture and well-defined features, was nothing short of picturesque.

"Well, you'd better start getting used to it. You married into royalty, so this will soon become a common occurrence for you."

"That's not reassuring at all..."

Behind Penelope, another beauty, dressed in a peach-colored gown of similar design, stepped forward with a smile. "Congratulations on becoming a duke, Sir Axel. You look dashing in those clothes," she said. The figure was Nina.

"C-Congratulations..."

Further to the side stood a shy beauty clad in a lovely royal-blue evening dress.

Axel couldn't help but notice how she—the fourth princess, Gwyneth—dressed in a more "adult-like" manner compared to the other two but chose to remain silent.

"Thanks, you two," he replied cordially. "And the three of you look lovely in your dresses." He offered the compliment as a courtesy.

With the three as a starting point, more noble ladies joined in to chat with him, making the experience even more exhausting. As the conversation reached a peak, several of them invited Axel to dance.

He remembered a few steps from long ago, but he was no dancer. Thankfully, the ball's dance was elegant and not too hectic, making it easier for him to improvise. Mixing elements of tango and salsa, he managed to complete one dance.

Without his enhanced stats, it might have been impossible to pull off.

He partnered with Penelope first, then with Nina, and finally with Gwyneth, dancing for exactly one song each. Thereafter, a line of noble girls formed, eager to dance with him as well. His novelty in dancing seemed to attract a significant number of curious ladies.

Axel managed to maintain his fake smile for a few hours until the ball concluded.

Nighttime arrived.

Axel lay in bed inside the castle, staring at the ceiling, utterly exhausted.

Although he wanted to return to his camp as soon as possible, it appeared that the witches managing the teleportation array were unavailable. They had indulged a bit too much during the banquet and had drunk themselves into a stupor.

As a result, Axel could only return the next day, when the witches had recovered.

"So many things happened..."

He whispered, recalling all of the events he had experienced, not just for that day but throughout his entire stay in Witcheria.

[Want me to summarize them for you, Contractor?]

Navi, who was becoming increasingly cheerful, chimed in.

Axel understood the reason behind Navi's newfound cheer. It was Mimir's presence. Ever since he had succeeded in turning her into the System's second System Spirit, Navi had been trying everything possible to bridge the gap between them.

Now, they were considered close enough to be called "friends."

However, he still had a long way to go, making Axel smile wryly.

"No thanks. I don't even want to recall it, if possible." He sighed, placing a hand over his eyes.

He couldn't even remember how many times he had nearly died during this little expedition. "But the rewards were definitely more than enough to compensate for it."

10 trillion colts!

With it, he could finally start his plan!

He didn't hesitate and immediately purchased the comprehensive recipe for the tonics, which cost him 8 trillion for the entire set. Using one of the Recipe Upgrade Tickets, he successfully created an upgraded version.

He attempted to upgrade to this new version, but it didn't react. It seemed recipes could only be upgraded once. He had no choice but to give up.

However, one issue remained.

It was that it wasn't a "Crafting" recipe but a "Concoction" one.

In short...

"I need to hole up in the lab when I get back..."

He was grateful that the tonics had only one overarching recipe for all types; otherwise, Axel would have been forced to waste most of his upgrade tickets. Now, he still had nine remaining.

Without much thought, he upgraded the recovery potion and mana potion recipes, unlocking the "true" Greater Recovery Potion and Greater Mana Potion recipes. Although he couldn't create them at that moment, he checked the contents just in case... and was shocked.

"So they're basically the same, after all..."

The Greater Recovery Potion required a few more ingredients, but the main ingredients remained unchanged. The additional components mostly served to enhance stability and healing effects. Realizing this, Axel finally understood how his standard potion recipes led to such an upgrade.

After that, he used five of the recipes for items he typically sold in large quantities: the Random Magic Accessory Recipes (Ring, Bracelet, and Necklace), the Low Quality Sword, and the versatile Holy Light Armor.

As for how he made those selections... it stemmed from his practice of gradually hiking the prices of each item he sold. This approach aimed to increase the item's value without discouraging buyers.

Among those, the five items mentioned above had nearly reached five times their initial price, yet their demand remained strong.

In short, they were the items that yielded him the most profit margin.

Now that he had their upgraded versions, he was sure to earn even greater profits down the line!

As for the three remaining upgrade tickets, Axel planned to save them for future use, in case he encountered a recipe that was even more deserving of an upgrade.

"Good..."

With a light heart, Axel closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

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