When Leo opened his eyes again, the back of his head was still throbbing with a dull pain.
He found himself sitting on a hard wooden chair, his hands tied behind his back, a cloth stuffed in his mouth, and a black blindfold over his eyes.
From the sounds around him, he could sense someone walking about.
“Mmph... mmph...”
Leo struggled a bit, and then he heard the footsteps stop, followed by a gentle voice:
“Don't be nervous, Mr. Leo.”
“I just want to have a chat with you.”
The blindfold was removed, and the blinding candlelight made Leo instinctively squint his eyes.
Standing before him was a man who appeared to be around thirty-seven or thirty-eight years old. He wore a dark green silk robe with an exquisite gold brooch pinned to his collar. He had a lean face and a smile playing on his lips.
Leo recognized him.
To be precise, anyone in Windrest City who had anything to do with alchemy recognized him.
Conrad Vane, one of the largest wholesalers of mana potions in the North. He owned three alchemy workshops and a distribution network that covered half of the Western Region.
Rumor had it that he started out as an alchemist in his younger years before transitioning into business, carving out a territory in the highly competitive potion market through sheer business acumen and ruthless methods.
Previously, Leo had only seen him from a distance once at the guild's annual meeting. He had never imagined he would come face-to-face with such an influential figure under these circumstances.
“Mmph, mmph, mmph!”
Leo squirmed desperately, trying to speak, but the cloth in his mouth was stuffed so tightly that he could only let out muffled whimpers.
Conrad glanced at him and tilted his head toward his back.
A black-clad attendant walked over and deftly yanked the cloth out of Leo's mouth.
Leo gasped for air. Just as he was about to demand answers, Conrad beat him to it: “Mr. Leo, I won't beat around the bush with you.”
“Over the past month, you're the only one in the market consistently supplying mana potions. Everyone else has run out of stock, yet your goods keep flowing. Care to explain?”
Leo's lips twitched, and his eyes quickly scanned his surroundings.
This was a small parlor. The furnishings were simple yet refined. In the corner stood a half-man-tall safe, its doors tightly shut and its surface embedded with several alchemical locks.
Aside from Conrad, there were two black-clad attendants standing on either side of the door. Their postures were relaxed, yet they were ready to strike at a moment's notice.
“I...”
Leo swallowed hard, his mind racing.
He absolutely could not reveal the secret of the eggs. That was his only leverage to turn his life around. Once made public, those large workshops would swoop down like vultures and pick him clean, leaving absolutely nothing behind.
“I... I just improved the formula to increase the efficiency of the materials. The amount of Moon-glow Herb juice used is sixty percent less than the standard formula, which is why my inventory has lasted longer...”
Conrad stared at him, his gaze turning cold. Then, he nodded to the attendant by the door.
The attendant walked up to Leo expressionlessly, drew a thin-bladed dagger from his waist, and pressed it against the base of Leo's right pinky finger. He slowly applied pressure, the tip of the blade resting against the skin.
Leo felt every hair on his body stand on end.
“Wait! Wait! I'll talk!”
His voice trembled violently, and a fine layer of sweat instantly broke out on his forehead. “I'll talk! It's the eggs!”
Conrad tilted his head slightly. “What?”
“The eggs! The eggs sold at Silver Sand Lake!”
Leo spoke as fast as a machine gun, terrified that a split second of delay would cause the blade to sink deeper. “I accidentally found a few Silver Sand Lake Eggs and noticed mana fluctuations on the shells. After trying to purify them, I discovered that the mana concentration of the extract from the eggshell powder is over thirty percent higher than that of Moon-glow Herb juice!”
“I used the eggshell extract to replace the Moon-glow Herb juice to brew mana potions. The effect is completely sufficient, and even slightly better!”
“That's why I've been able to supply them continuously!”
He spat everything out in one breath, his chest heaving violently.
Conrad fell silent for a couple of seconds. Then, he made a gesture, and the attendant sheathed his dagger and stepped back to the door.
“Eggs.”
Conrad repeated the word, his tone carrying a subtle hint of amusement. “Silver Sand Lake Eggs.”
He stood up, walked over to the seemingly ordinary safe in the corner, and pressed his hand against the door. Several alchemical locks clicked open simultaneously in a neat sequence.
Leo's eyes widened.
He saw dozens of silver-white eggs neatly stacked inside the safe, each of them gleaming with that familiar, warm silver luster under the candlelight.
Conrad took one out, turned back to Leo, placed the egg on the table, and slid it in front of him.
“Is this it?”
Leo's lips trembled as he gave a shaky nod.
“Good.”
Conrad smiled with satisfaction, then gestured to his attendant.
The attendant stepped forward to untie the ropes on Leo's hands, then took a clean beaker and a few basic alchemical tools from a shelf, placing them on the edge of the workbench.
“Prove it to me. Perform a purification right here.”
Leo rubbed his wrists, looking at the silver-white egg on the table, and then at Conrad.
He stood up and walked to the workbench.
The purification process was not complicated. He had done it dozens of times already and could perform it with his eyes closed.
Every step was smooth and precise. Although his fingers were still trembling slightly, he made no mistakes in his movements.
About half an hour later, he carefully poured the resulting light blue extract into a clean test tube and held it up to Conrad.
“This is it.”
Conrad took the test tube, held it up to the candlelight, then brought it to his nose and sniffed gently, his brow arching slightly. He set the test tube back on the table, glanced at the remaining eggshell fragments and separated egg white and yolk on the workbench, and let his gaze linger on the pile of silver-white powder for a moment.
Then, he turned to face Leo.
“Leo Tinskin.”
His tone was still as gentle as before, but for some reason, Leo felt a sudden chill run down the back of his neck. “Who else knows about this?”
“N-no one!”
Leo shook his head like a rattle. “I discovered it myself and haven't told a soul! Even when I was buying the eggs, I did it secretly. No one knows what I'm using them for!”
“I see.”
Conrad nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer.
He gestured to the two attendants by the door again. One of them turned and walked into the shadows of the room, retrieved a leather coin pouch, weighed it in his hand, and placed it on the table in front of Leo.
The pouch was loosely tied, revealing a glint of gold from within.
“You did well. You were very honest, which I appreciate.”
“This is what you deserve.”
Leo stared at the bag of gold coins, a weak sound escaping his throat.
He was about to reach out for it when Conrad suddenly slid a slender silver blade from his sleeve, which flashed under the candlelight.
Pfft.
A very faint, muffled sound.
Leo looked down to see that the silver blade had sunk into the left side of his chest, grazing the edge of his heart with elegant precision.
It hadn't pierced his heart, but it was enough to make blood gush out, soaking his brand-new dark grey robe.
Conrad let go of the hilt, took a step back, and pulled out a snow-white handkerchief, unhurriedly wiping the few drops of blood that had stained his fingertips.
“Don't worry, you won't die.”
His tone was nonchalant. “This is just to make your experience tonight look more authentic. Coerced by an underground organization, resisting, and then escaping with injuries—this story will be easy to explain to anyone.”
Leo's body began to go limp, and he slid down from the chair. His back hit the floor, and blood seeped steadily from his wound, quickly pooling into a small, dark red stain on the ground.
Conrad stood up, looked at the completely unconscious figure on the floor, and turned to walk out.
He pushed open the door, and the night wind rushed in, blowing the hem of his dark green robe. Standing at the doorway, he gazed at the outline of the shop wrapped in dark grey cloth in the distant square, a meaningful smile playing on his face.
Silver Sand Lake, eggs, and that young merchant named Isha Val.
Interesting.
Rate on N.U.
