Vans was crushing a few herbs in a mortar, moving in slow circular motions. The pressure was light, he gently ground the herbs. He added a bit of water and continued the motion until he obtained a green paste. He poured the paste into a cauldron filled with water, heated it for a few minutes, then applied mana as the liquid cooled. Once it was cold, he poured some of the potion into several glass vials.
Each handful of herbs produced roughly two hundred vials of potion. Each vial could be sold for up to five copper coins, which would amount to one thousand copper coins, or one hundred silver, or ten gold. However, five copper coins was the price apothecaries would charge. He would have to sell for less, perhaps three or two copper coins. Even so, he would still make a large profit from selling the potions, especially considering that Victor had obtained the rest of the herbs for free. Still, he had great confidence in his product, so he believed he could get at least four copper coins.
Vans finished another cauldron of potions, placed all the vials into wooden boxes, then stored the boxes inside his item bag. He left the mansion and headed toward a potion shop. He did not know the city, but Sandra was guiding him. She knew of a potion shop where the seller was ill tempered and seemed to dislike the job, the service was terrible. When it was time for the evaluation, the seller called the alchemist. She was a very beautiful woman. Vans was interested the moment he saw her. She was the complete opposite of the seller, delicate and very gentle in her words.
She took one vial and used a spell to analyze its contents, then randomly selected another and repeated the process four more times.
"Who made these potions?"
"I did."
"You are very skilled and managed to accomplish something I cannot. Please, allow me to become your apprentice."
That was unexpected.
"I am sorry, but I no longer accept apprentices. I only make and sell potions, nothing more."
She looked disappointed and insisted once more before finally seeming to give up on becoming his apprentice. She agreed to pay three copper coins per vial. Vans wanted more, but he accepted the offer.
Potions, even the expensive ones, are relatively affordable. They are items every adventurer uses, so if the price is too high, many adventurers will stop buying them and may even avoid missions that require their use. Furthermore, there are many alchemists, so whoever sells cheaper can win the customers. The law of supply and demand speaks louder. Even though this potion was not produced by any other alchemist, as far as anyone knew, it still needed to remain accessible to mages. Vans understood this and did not complain about the price.
The shop's alchemist handed him twenty four gold coins for the potions. He would have preferred silver coins, but he did not complain. He accepted the money, and before leaving, she once again asked to become his apprentice. He refused again. She did not like the answer, but she had to accept it. The disappointment on her face was not directed at him, but at herself, as she did not consider herself worthy of being the apprentice of someone like him, which was why he had refused all three requests.
The man from the shop asked why she wanted to become his apprentice. She demonstrated how pure the potion was and explained that she could dilute it and profit even more. The eight hundred vials could easily become more than a thousand and would still be better than the potions she was capable of producing.
"He is that good, then," the man said.
"He must have some technique that makes his potions like this. Perhaps he is a court alchemist from some country."
Vans entered a confectionery and bought some sweets for himself and Sandra. She liked them. Then they went to a restaurant, and there he asked if she wanted to work at the shop.
"I do not know if Victor and the others will want me. Honestly, so far I have not done much to deserve the payment and..."
"Stop thinking like that. You are amazing, and no one would dismiss you for that. If you have not done more, it is because we did not ask for more. Besides, they liked the food you prepared, so they will definitely offer you the position of cook, especially now that we have more people and therefore greater demand for food."
Both at the confectionery and at the restaurant, he paid with gold coins.
Vans entered an alley that was not on the way back to the Duke's mansion.
"We are being followed," he said in an almost inaudible tone.
Two men appeared. The alley had no exit. One of the men laughed at the situation. Vans showed no expression. Sandra looked frightened, but she remembered how Vans had defeated the bandits before. Vans remained calm. He moved quickly, used his item bag, and took out two vials of paralysis potion. He threw one vial onto the ground. The two men laughed. A third man appeared behind Vans, a rogue. His movements were very fast, but Vans had already expected him. Vans threw the second vial at the man, and all three fell to the ground.
Sandra began to feel unwell and nearly collapsed. Vans caught her and gave her the antidote. The potion took effect upon contact with the skin or when inhaled, and it evaporated quickly. Vans was immune to it, since he had suffered many accidents with that potion. Enough accidents to build immunity against certain poisons and debuff potions.
Sandra recovered.
"Let's go. They cannot follow us or rob us anymore," Vans said as he took Sandra's hand. Her face turned red, but she said nothing and did not pull her hand away. Vans turned and said, "The effect will wear off in two hours. Until then, I want you to think about how wrong it is to rob people. And I want the rogue to think about how embarrassing it is to lose to an alchemist," Vans said proudly. He did not realize he was belittling himself as well. It made sense, alchemists do not usually fight, yet he was still diminishing himself.
Sandra wanted to ask something but hesitated. Vans noticed and asked her to speak.
"The others say you are weak, but both times you defeated the bandits, so you are not weak. Yet you are still called..."
"They are right. In a real fight, I cannot do much. I can use magic to defend myself and perform a few basic attacks. I do not know how to use offensive magic. I only learned to use my mana to create potions and focused on that. Both times I used potions. The first time I used acid that I created to clean some utensils, and now I used paralysis potion. Even if I am fast, that is all I can do."
"But you are strong, since you can do that."
"I appreciate the compliment, and it makes some sense, but compared to the others, I cannot do much. That is why Niko says those things. I do not mind, she has always been like that with the people she likes."
Sandra kept thinking. She did not understand the phrase, the people she likes.
At the Baronet's mansion, Niko was eating cookies with tea when the cat shaped golem began making noise. She stood up and called the others. The golems on the grounds indicated the location, it was in one of the plantations. The four of them went there. The Baronet was informed but remained in the mansion with his wife and daughter.
They walked slowly, without making a sound. Two men were in one of the fields. They opened a vial of potion and poured it onto the soil where corn seeds had been planted. Niko raised her right arm and used wind magic. She created a small whirlwind that turned into a wall of wind and trapped the two men. Victor raised a protective barrier around them, it would serve as a prison. They struck the barrier, but it was useless.
"What are you doing here?" Victor asked.
The two men remained silent.
"At times like this, Vans would be useful to analyze what they poured," Niko said.
"May I torture them?" Eris asked.
Victor thought for a moment before answering.
"You may, but if they die, Niko will use magic to revive them. I only want you to stop when they answer or beg to die for good, but even then I do not want them to truly die," Victor said. He sounded firm in his decision, but it was part of the plan. It had already been decided that they would only inflict some pain to force the bandits to confess, it would be a light torture.
Eris took a claw from her item bag, placed it on her right hand, and entered the barrier. One of the men drew a dagger and stabbed her in the chest, but she did not scream or show any expression of pain. She calmly raised her arm and struck the man who had wounded her, cutting off his right arm. Niko then used healing magic, and a new arm grew.
"I can do this for many hours, but your body will begin to pay the price. Healing magic causes great exhaustion."
The man was terrified and began to speak.