In her brown long boots, Imina strode forward with long, graceful legs, stopping in front of Adam. Without a hint of courtesy, she sat down.
Thud!
A bulging coin pouch landed on the stone table, making it tremble.
"Here's 61 silver coins and seven copper coins. The 100 healing potions you gave me have all been sold. This is the full amount."
When Imina mentioned the coin count, her throat twitched slightly, though her expression remained as cold as ever.
"So fast? It's only been one night." Adam glanced at the pouch, surprised.
Imina blinked, her amber eyes glinting with an unusual spark. "You've been holed up here, so you have no idea how popular your healing potions are in the North Market."
"Except for the odd taste. They've got a bit of a fishy stench."
At this, Imina turned her head, glancing at the weakened ogre strapped to the stone chair, its vigor sapped.
This was, without a doubt, the most profitable business she'd ever seen. All it took was drawing blood from that ogre, and then… countless healing potions could be made!
Well, thinking like that was a bit disrespectful to the alchemist before her, but the ogre's blood was endlessly renewable.
Compared to herbs that needed to be gathered and processed, it was practically cost-free!
Adam noticed Imina's gaze and gave a faint smile.
He could guess what was on her mind.
Speaking of which, this ogre had come into his possession thanks to Imina acting as a middleman, pitching it to him.
Originally, Adam had planned to use the last two baskets of herbs in his item box. But after encountering this ogre, it struck him: if a Hanging Spider's venom sac could be used to craft alchemical potions, could the blood of an ogre, with its innate regenerative abilities, also work? To his surprise, it did.
"A correction: they're not healing potions. They're alchemical potions, specifically called 'Regeneration Potions.'"
Adam reminded her, reaching for the coin pouch. He tugged at its base, spilling all the coins onto the stone table.
Clink! Clink! Clink!
A pile of silver coins, mixed with a few copper ones, gleamed under the sunlight, shimmering with a flowing silver sheen.
Imina's eyes instinctively followed the rolling coins on the table.
"As per our agreement, eleven silver coins are your commission. The seven copper coins are a tip for your legwork."
Adam slid a portion of the silver coins toward Imina, then gathered the rest back into the pouch.
From the start, Adam hadn't been focused on making money. His true goal was to rapidly build his reputation, thereby luring Leinas, who desperately sought a cure for her curse-ravaged, rotting face.
Given her situation, she'd seize any glimmer of hope!
In the future, Leinas would join the Empire's "Four Knights." driven by her desire to cure her curse. She'd even publicly declared that if her curse could be healed, she'd unhesitatingly turn against the Bloody Emperor.
Imina looked at the coins in front of her, a faint smile softening her cold demeanor.
"How many potions do you have left? I can take them all." Imina said, her amber pupils gleaming.
"You're that short on cash?"
Instead of answering directly, Adam countered with a question.
"Of course I am." Imina replied, leaning back slightly, her tone calm.
As a half-elf born from a union between a forest elf and a human, she was never fully accepted by either elves or humans.
At least money never betrayed her.
"You're probably being watched too, you know." Adam said with a smile.
"So what?"
Imina tilted her chin defiantly. "I'm just a middleman. The real trouble's on you."
"Your 50 gold coins weren't spent in vain. This is a noble district, just a central plaza away from the Imperial Palace. Even if someone wants to cause trouble, they wouldn't dare act here."
"So let's make it even bigger." Adam said, smiling.
"What do you mean?"
Imina blinked, caught off guard.
"You shouldn't be worrying about whether I have enough potions. You should be asking if the ogre's blood supply is enough."
Adam pointed to the weakened ogre strapped to the stone chair. "You don't really think an ogre's regenerative abilities are infinite, do you?"
"I'll figure it out."
Imina gritted her teeth, nodding firmly.
She'd stumbled upon a rare chance to make big money, and she wasn't about to let it slip away.
"Then I'll leave it to you, Miss Imina." Adam said.
As a local, this half-elf Imina was far more adept at navigating the Empire than he, an outsider, could ever be.
Speaking of which, this half-elf's future was rather grim.
By his calculations, in about two years, she'd join a worker team called the "Foresight." driven by the motto of "earning as much money as possible."
Worker teams, essentially adventurers unaffiliated with the Adventurers' Guild, operated without constraints, taking any job they pleased for the right price.
The result?
She and her team became insignificant casualties in the clash between the Baharuth Empire and the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
Imina and her team's leader were used by one of the Five Worst on the Sixth Floor, the Starving Fox Insect King, as breeding grounds, their bodies filled with insect eggs to serve as nests for the swarm.
Another member, a priest, was subjected to Ainz's memory manipulation experiments, stripped of all memories and reduced to a hollow shell.
The worst fate befell Arche, a girl from the "Foresight." Her body was meticulously divvied up.
Her vocal cords were given to Entoma, one of the Pleiades maids. Her head went to the Silk Hat Demon. Her arms were split among the Deadman Struggler, and her skin was taken by Demiurge.
Talk about efficient distribution!
A cold glint flashed in Adam's eyes. This wasn't just a matter of tragedy.
It was the irreconcilable conflict between the living and the dead of the "Great Tomb of Nazarick" from the very start.
"Hey, what's with that look?"
Imina suddenly felt a chill in the air. For a moment, she sensed a dangerous aura emanating from this alchemist.
Her eyes flickered with shock and doubt, realizing her initial judgment of Adam might have been wrong.
"Nothing."
"I just need you to do one more thing. Look into adventurers or worker teams with members who've suffered severe injuries or disabilities."
"Spread the word that I've developed an even more potent alchemical potion and am offering to treat them for free."
Adam's expression softened, his voice gentle.
"N-no problem." Imina replied, cautiously studying Adam. No matter how she looked, he didn't seem particularly formidable.
But that feeling just now, it wasn't a mistake.
Imina didn't linger. She pulled her black robe back on and nimbly vaulted over the wall, vanishing from sight.
The Grand Arena.
In a lavish room adorned with an array of exquisite weapons, the Empire's greatest merchant, Osk, stared silently at a single potion bottle on his desk.
After a long pause, Osk finally spoke. "Is the identification information on this potion accurate?"
"Pharmacists from various workshops across the capital have examined it, and their conclusions align. It's an alchemical potion made primarily from ogre blood."
"The specific techniques are unknown. Due to this potion's emergence, many potion shops in the capital have suffered significant losses." reported a middle-aged man dressed as a butler, his voice low.
Osk seemed unconcerned about the losses to the potion workshops. After a moment's hesitation, he asked, "Does the Martial Lord know?"
"He knows."
The butler's voice trembled slightly.
***
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