"What does my accepting the commission the day before yesterday have to do with when I found the person? If it wasn't for waiting for the 'Serpent of Fate,'
"You can choose not to listen."
The fat pharmacist Darquese choked on his subsequent words, his face muscles twitching as he said: "Go on."
Klein stated flatly: "I've received news that
*I got this news from the magic mirror,
"Really?" Darquese couldn't control himself again, his eyes wide open as he blurted out a question.
Klein nodded almost imperceptibly: "My source is reliable enough."
"But I can't confirm it..." Darquese said hesitantly.
"Because it involves an important
The fat pharmacist was startled, took a step back, and looked around warily, afraid that someone had heard the conversation.
*Is this something you can just say on the street? He knows we're from the School of Life, he knows the old man is involved with an important Sealed Artifact... I only knew about it during the last contact...* Darquese gradually began to believe the information provided by the adventurer in front of him.
Klein glanced at the owl that had flown down from the roof and landed on the fat pharmacist's shoulder, and said: "You can pay the reward now."
"I can't confirm it. It's not like I believe everything you say..." Darquese said stubbornly.
Then, he saw the adventurer's gaze across from him turn extremely cold.
The fat pharmacist shivered, and hastily muttered: "Alright, I'll reluctantly consider the commission complete."
He reluctantly pulled a large handful of cash from the hidden pocket of his Witch Doctor robe, and counted out 100 pounds to Klein.
Although he was a Beyonder, his Sequence was "Pharmacist" plus "Beast Tamer". The enhancement of his physical abilities didn't fully translate to direct combat; he might not even be a match for an ordinary person holding a revolver. As for his tamed Beyonder pet, it was also a creature without much combat power. The man in front of him clearly looked like an experienced adventurer with many connections, and was most likely a Beyonder as well. Even he and the owl combined probably wouldn't be a match, so he had no choice but to go along with whatever the other man said.
*I worked so hard to save this money...* He lamented in his heart.
Being a "Pharmacist" was indeed very profitable, especially in the overseas colonies. The place was filled with pirates, sailors, and adventurers. The population was mixed, and official organizations were lax in management. He could sell some illicit drugs without worrying about anyone coming after him. The customers from the Red Theater alone, in the last two months, had brought him more money than he had earned in the entire previous year.
However, as a Beyonder, his expenses were also huge. His previous savings had been mostly consumed by his promotion to "Beast Tamer". Later, he raised a pet, painstakingly helped it buy formulas and mix potions, and bought defensive Charms and other items for himself. The money he could actually save was only a few hundred pounds.
Klein took the cash, used the opportunity of counting it to verify its authenticity, then pocketed it and turned to leave.
Seeing his back disappear at the entrance of the alley, the fat pharmacist Darquese's expression instantly darkened.
"It's too dangerous here...""Too dangerous...""I must leave as soon as possible!" He muttered softly as he went back into the herbal medicine shop, entered the inner room, pulled out a brown suitcase, and quickly stuffed various clothes and neatly folded cash into it.
Finally, he poured out the small bills and copper pennies of various denominations from the cash box with a clatter, stuffed them into his pockets, grabbed the high-priced identity documents, picked up the brown suitcase, and walked out of the Folk Herbal Medicine Shop.
Looking back at the various potion materials that were still unsold, the chubby face of Darquese twitched visibly.
He took a deep breath, suppressed his heartache, locked the door, and rushed straight to the alley entrance, hailed a rental carriage, and headed to the Bayam passenger ship ticket company.
"Too dangerous, too dangerous, the old man has been captured...""Has been captured..." He sat in the carriage, muttering to himself over and over again silently, trembling slightly.
In this state, he finally arrived at the ticket company. As soon as he paid the fare, he almost ran into the hall and queued up at the window for the passenger ship to East Balian.
Inhale, exhale... Inhale, exhale... Darquese took deep breaths, following closely behind the queue of ticket buyers, moving forward step by step.
"Buy the nearest sailing," he emphasized to himself.
Moving forward in fits and starts, Darquese gradually calmed down.
His expression twisted for a moment, then quickly smoothed over, twisted again, and smoothed over again.