In Leo's alchemy workshop, he sat at his desk, humming a light tune.
The reason was simple: his life had been quite comfortable lately.
He had replaced his glasses; the new frames were made of sterling silver, unlike his old, cheap brass wire ones.
Over the past few days, when his colleagues from the Alchemists' Guild saw them, they couldn't help but steal a few extra glances.
It wasn't because the glasses were exceptionally expensive, but rather because Leo's overall aura had changed. His old work robe had been replaced with a brand-new dark grey one, making him look exceptionally sharp.
“Leo, did you land a massive order recently?”
Leo didn't answer the question directly. He merely pushed up his new glasses and gave a vague, evasive reply.
A massive order?
Perhaps.
He was indeed incredibly busy lately, with his workbench piled high with orders.
Due to a sudden surge in internal commissions from the guild—all specifically requesting the mana potions he brewed—his standing within the guild had shot up significantly.
Even those high-ranking alchemists in the guild, who usually kept their noses high in the air, were now treating him with a newfound respect.
Leo didn't say it aloud, but he was absolutely thrilled.
Watching them desperately try to curry favor with him to get their hands on his formula, he couldn't help but shake his head.
There was no new formula. It was nothing more than taking the extract purified from the shells of Silver Sand Lake Eggs and mixing it proportionally into a standard mana potion base.
To put it plainly, that was how the alchemy trade worked: once the materials were right, everything else fell into place.
Leaning against his workbench, he unscrewed a newly purchased pewter canteen to take a sip of water, his gaze sweeping over the row of newly added alchemical apparatuses in the corner.
If this were a month ago, he wouldn't have even dared to dream of such things.
Back then, he was still worrying over a private order worth a measly three gold coins, having to budget meticulously just to buy a single vial of Moon-glow Herb juice.
But now?
Just from last week's shipments alone, after deducting costs, his net profit was nearly forty gold coins.
That was forty gold coins. Before, it would have taken him a full five months of hard work to earn that much.
At this thought, Leo set down his canteen and pulled a tightly locked wooden box from his drawer. He opened the lid, revealing rows of silver-white eggs neatly arranged inside.
There were about twenty left.
He had secretly scoured all of Windrest City to buy them up, with the average price of each being less than a single silver coin.
He picked up one of the eggs and held it close to his eyes.
“My beauties.”
Leo muttered to himself in a low voice, “You are worth far more than Moon-glow Herb juice.”
Giving the egg a light kiss, a grin spread across his face. He placed it back into the wooden box and was just about to lock the drawer when he suddenly heard an unusual commotion coming from downstairs.
“Leo Tinskin!”
Someone was pounding on his door!
Leo's hand froze in mid-air, his expression changing instantly.
He had lived in this small building for nine years. His neighbors all knew he was an eccentric who kept his head down to brew potions, so none of them ever bothered him.
It was definitely not a neighbor!
Setting the wooden box aside, he tiptoed over to the window and peeled back a corner of the curtain to peer down.
Two ponies were parked at the entrance of the alley. The riders hadn't dismounted, but judging by their saddles and attire, they were certainly not legitimate merchants.
Three men in dark short robes stood at his doorstep. The one leading them was hammering on the door with his fists.
“Open up! We know you're in there!”
Leo's eye twitched. He recognized the man pounding on the door.
The man was a well-known underground broker in Windrest City, specializing in handling certain “special” procurement business for several large workshops.
In other words, he acquired black market materials for high-level alchemists whose supply lines had been choked off by the guild.
When people like this came knocking, there was usually only one possibility.
They wanted his raw materials.
In an instant, Leo's mind raced.
They must have caught wind that he possessed a new material to substitute for the Moon-glow Herb and wanted a piece of the pie.
Gritting his teeth, he turned around, pulled two silver-white eggs from the drawer, stuffed them into his breast pocket, locked the remaining ones back into a hidden compartment, and then walked to the door. Taking a deep breath, he pulled it open.
“Gentlemen, what can I do for you?”
The leading broker grinned, revealing a gold-trimmed front tooth. “Mr. Leo, I hear your business has been booming lately.”
“Our boss wants to talk to you about a potential collaboration. If it's convenient, why don't you take a walk with us?”
Leo took half a step back, forcing a smile. “What collaboration?”
“I'm just an ordinary alchemist. All my orders are assigned by the guild. There's really nothing to talk about.”
“Guild orders?”
The broker's smile turned cold. “All the mana potions on the market have run dry, yet your goods are still flowing out. And you're telling me you're relying on guild orders?”
“Mr. Leo, you're not taking us very seriously, are you?”
He took a step forward, and the two burly men behind him closed in as well, the three of them blocking the doorway.
“Our employer said that as long as you're willing to hand over the source of your raw materials and the refining method, the price is negotiable, and you'll even get a monthly cut. But if you refuse...”
The broker didn't finish his sentence, but his hand pressed against his waist, where the hem of his short robe bulged with the distinct outline of a hard object.
Leo felt a layer of cold sweat break out on his back.
He knew what these people were capable of. Although Windrest City seemed peaceful on the surface, the disappearance of one or two disobedient alchemists every year wasn't news at all.
“I...”
He opened his mouth, his tongue dry, almost on the verge of saying “I agree.”
Just then, a rapid succession of footsteps suddenly echoed from the entrance of the alley, followed by a thunderous shout:
“Nobody move! City Lord's guards!”
Before Leo could even react, the faces of the three men in dark short robes went pale.
The broker looked back to see seven or eight guards in standard leather armor pouring into the alley. The leader had a longsword slung at his waist and held aloft a token from the City Lord's mansion. From their aggressive stance, this was clearly no routine patrol.
“Run!”
The broker barked in a low voice, and the three of them spun around to bolt toward the other end of the alley. However, the guards were faster. Almost the exact second they turned, two guards leaped over the low wall lining the alley, cutting off their escape from the side.
“Thump!”
With a dull thud, the broker was sent flying backward by a shield bash, instantly knocked silent.
The remaining two burly men still tried to resist, but the guards' overwhelming numbers left them no chance. In a matter of moments, they were pinned to the ground, their faces pressed against the bluestone slabs. Their arms were pinned behind their backs, and iron cuffs snapped shut with a sharp clack.
Leo stood at his doorway, his eyes wide as he took in the scene.
“Mr. Leo Tinskin?”
The leading guard captain walked up to him and said in a gentle tone, “We are from the City Lord's mansion. We received a tip-off that this gang intended to illegally coerce a legitimate merchant. We happened to be passing by, so we took them down.”
“Are you alright?”
“I-I'm fine...”
Leo stammered a reply, his mind in complete disarray.
How could the guards from the City Lord's mansion just happen to be passing by this secluded alley?
But there was no time to overthink. The three underground brokers were being dragged away by the guards, and a crowd of onlookers was already pouring in from the mouth of the alley, making it increasingly congested.
Leo glanced at the blocked alley entrance, then back at his own half-open wooden door. Gritting his teeth, he squeezed into the crowd, slipping through the gaps in the flow of people toward the other end of the alley.
He had to run.
Regardless of whether the guards had actually just happened to pass by, tonight's incident was a major disturbance. As a minor alchemist with no background, getting dragged into this kind of vortex meant there was no telling how many more people would come knocking on his door in the future.
Leo kept his head down, weaving quickly through the crowd. He turned down two streets, left the main road, and slipped into an even quieter alley. Just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief—
A sudden pain flared at the back of his head.
And everything went black.
Rate on N.U.
