“Where did you get these?”
That day, a man known as Jed the Pharmacist—one of the Kiluri executives—sat face-to-face with a pair of strange women.
Among the four factions that ran the desert town of Cutlass, the Kiluri controlled forty percent of all food, alcohol, and daily necessities. They had various departments, and the Pharmacy Department, led by Jed, had been making profits by buying up materials collected by the Hogroth members and processing them into medicine, which was then sold to adventurers and wealthy residents.
After one such deal, Jed had received an odd report: Unknown young women had come by to peddle potions.
Generally, the Pharmacy would buy raw materials, but not medicine. Sometimes, however, adventurers in dire straits would come by with homemade remedies to sell, and Jed’s people bought what appeared usable at ten to twenty percent of retail price. These weren’t offered to general customers—instead, they got hefty markups and were sold to poor residents of Cutlass.
But the young women had dropped off what appeared to be low-grade potions, completely free of charge.
Even lesser quality recovery potions could restore health points, close wounds, and completely heal shallow injuries in a few days. Not only that, they could also cure most illnesses when supplemented by just a few days of bed rest.
In a world where having greater aether made one less prone to illness and injury, recovery potions were the most common type of medicine. But even the lowest-grade ones cost one silver each, typically. Here, where they were luxury items, they cost three silver a bottle.
This was, first of all, due to the scarcity of materials. Countries and regions with abundant flora had no shortage of such items, but this was a monster-infested desert. What little existed was difficult to forage. Not only that, alchemists capable of brewing such potions were rare. It wasn’t because there were few alchemists in general but rather because most of them would rather work in safer regions with abundant resources.
There weren’t any specialized alchemists in Cutlass. The rare few who came here were second-rate or had skeletons in their closets, and even such inadequate individuals were fought over by each faction. They also worked arduous hours to meet demand, and of course, their products were far more expensive than what low-ranking adventurers and the impoverished could afford.
Therefore, most of what circulated in town were items the Kiluri had imported from places like the Kal’Faan empire, many of which deteriorated from exposure to the desert climate during the monthlong journey here. Yet these women’s potions showed no signs of deterioration at all.
“What merchant would reveal their suppliers?” asked one of the women sitting on the couch across from Jed.
Jed, being a fellow merchant, smacked his dark, balding forehead and laughed theatrically. “You’re not wrong...”
On the table between them were high-grade potions—with a recovery factor that rivaled Level 3 light sorcery. Even imported ones that had lost about thirty percent effectiveness from deterioration still fetched five small gold, several times the standard price, in Cutlass.
And these showed no signs of deterioration; it was as though they were freshly brewed. The women had proven the potions’ effectiveness by providing a sample to a servant who’d been nearly dead from severe sunburns. Low-grade potions with no signs of deterioration could be procured locally, but how had these two acquired fully effective high-grade potions in the desert, where materials should’ve been unavailable?
She’s so young.
Jed’s gaze narrowed slightly as he looked at the young negotiator: a pale-skinned Mercenian woman, a rarity in this town. While a scant few existed, one this young and beautiful was a hard find, even in the Reezan-run pleasure districts. She’d initially had her hood up but had lowered it when negotiations began, surprising Jed with blue eyes and light-golden hair fit for a noble. She was still a girl, looking to be about fifteen years of age, but he knew she might be younger still depending on her aether.
It was hard to believe someone like her, still ostensibly a child, was a high-level alchemist. And even if she were, without materials, how could she have crafted these potions?
There had to be some sort of secret to all this.
Had she used magic to import fresh materials? Was there a method to transport potions across the desert without impacting their effectiveness? Perhaps she’d used magic to protect the potions from deteriorating?
There had to be something he could steal.
An intimidating aura suddenly emanated from the girl’s companion, and Jed nearly choked. This other girl—probably a guard—was the only reason he was bothering to negotiate with someone so young in the first place. She was standing behind the blonde, with her hood pulled low over her face, consistently making the danger of her presence known while keeping an eye on the surroundings.
As a resident of Cutlass, Jed, too, had killed, stolen, stripped others of their dignity, and subjected people to horrors worse than death. He’d done so countless times. People here didn’t hesitate to kill. They knew that it was steal or be stolen from. They would even sell their own dignity to survive.
Yet, even to him, this guard seemed to be in a category all her own.
The moment he’d laid eyes upon these two, he could tell they would be trouble. He had guards, and even the children of this town knew that laying hands on a Kiluri manager would get you and all your loved ones murdered. Even still, Jed couldn’t help the feeling forming in the pit of his stomach—that these two would be the death of him.
“Now then, back to business,” he said at last. “If you can promise to deliver these regularly, I can pay you four small gold for each. Fair?”
“Mm, that’s fine,” the blonde replied. “I look forward to a long and mutually beneficial partnership.”
“Yes, of course...”
Jed paid them two large gold coins total for five high-grade potions. With that, the girls left.
He would’ve paid a traveling merchant no more than one small gold per potion, though a potion in good condition would sell for over one large gold. Four small gold was an exceptionally high price.
Still, it was a small price to pay for the profits these girls could bring him.
The room still smelled of sweet tea, generously brewed with sugar yet ultimately left untouched on the table. Paying it no mind, Jed gave an eerie smile.
“Don’t underestimate the Kiluri, little ones.”