Lionarch City
The yearly knights' initiation tournament would actually be held in the Logress Kingdom territory, but the rules stated that every squire who wanted to be knighted had to be in service of one of the seven kingdoms and join the tournament under their recommendation.
Hence, before they could participate, every squire would need to receive a proper invitation letter from a king of one of the kingdoms.
Therefore the plan was, impress the king, receive the letter, go to the Logress for the tournament, win it while finding the sword and the girl during the process.
It sounded easy enough on paper at least.
Tomorrow, all the squires would gather in the Lionarch Castle's courtyard to be presented before the king for assessment. Since he didn't have anything to do for today, Emery decided to kill some time by visiting the city.
There was never a time of quiet in Lionarch City, as it was located on a huge port. In fact, it was the home of one of the two largest ports in the south of Briton and the fastest way to access the three large kingdoms across the sea Celtic, Belgae, Germania, and of course the rest of the world. Thanks to that, merchants were thriving here and the streets were always filled to the brim with merchants selling their wares.
Carts and traders came in and out to restock or to barter their goods. Rich merchants garbed in luxurious and exotic daily wear walked around the streets accompanied by armed guards.
Emery decides to drop by in a particular shop, the largest shop he could find in the city of Lionarch. It was the same shop he went into the last time he came here with his friend Lanzo: its the Lionarch Apothecary.
Just like his first visit, the shop was fully guarded. Armed mercenaries stood at the ready, their eyes constantly scanning the crowd for potential threats.
Emery pushed the door and walked inside. This time, the fat owner wasn't standing behind the counter, only his young assistant stood there watching the door with slight boredom.
Upon seeing Emery, his eyes lit up and he gave Emery a warm welcome.
"Good day, sir, anything I can do to help you?"
Unlike before, this time Emery came wearing a tunic and cloak made of hand-made luxurious linen, given to him courtesy of the Quintins. It was no surprise he received preferential treatment unlike before.
He walked around and looked at the ingredients lining the shelves with interest. The last time he came, he had so little coin and he was only able to grab a bunch of them for analysis and contribution points.
The shop clerk watched Emery look around for a few minutes before chiming in. "Anything that interests you, sir?"
Emery turned around and looked at the young assistant.
"I would like to sell some potions. Can you help me?" Emery asked.
His face changed for a second and Emery was able to notice the disappointed expression right before the assistant flashed a cordial smile.
"Sure, sir. Please come to the counter."
In the last two weeks, Emery set aside some time in the middle of his routine to concoct some potions and supplies for later. After all, it paid to be prepared and he never knew when he might need some healing paste, strength paste or cleansing potion.
Emery took out one bottle of the three items and opened his mouth to ask.
Before Emery could get his question out, the assistant said with a straight face. "One coin."
Emery scratched the back of his head. How similar was this man to the fat man he encountered before?
He tried to show another bottle of potion, and the answer remained the same, just like the assistant's expression. Though he was a little bit taken aback when he saw the blue potion, he only smelled it before saying. "Two coins."
Emery had asked about all the potions he had on hand and he felt it was time to complain about the treatment.
"The last time, my half-done low quality cleansing potion got an offer of five coins from the owner. How could this perfected one be worth less?"
He was about to call out the man for trying to fool him, but he decided against it and held his tongue for now.
That question sounded like nothing, but it was enough to startle the young man's composure. With a surprised expression, he asked.
"You… cleansing potion… five coins…? Are you him?"
"… what do you mean?" Emery stared at him in confusion.
"Merlin. Are you Merlin?"
Emery was caught off-guard by the question, but he answered quickly and shook his head. "No, I am not him, but yes I know him. He is my friend."
"Sir, please wait, don't go anywhere!" The assistant ran to the back and entered the storage room, shouting a muffled name.
Not long afterwards, the fat owner Emery saw before came out from the storage room door and walked to the counter. He looked at Emery up and down before asking. "Yes, you… you were there, you are his friend, aren't you?".
Indeed, last time, Emery did come here together with Lanzo. It seemed the fat man's memory was quite good.
When the store owner saw the blue potion, his expression betrayed his interest. He mentioned how the potion that was left by Merlin before was proven to be very effective.
"Actually it's very important as it concerns the lives of many" he added
The fat owner mentioned that very recently, the war between Rome and the neighboring Gaul kingdoms leads to a pandemic outbreak across the sea. This cause medicine for disease to become even more popular. The blue potion Emery left behind was tested by the apothecary association and among many, his seems to be the best one to stop the pandemic.
"I have been waiting for Merlin's return for weeks. Tell me, when will he come back? I need more of his potion."
Emery smiled and took out the few blue-colored cleansing potions he carried with him in his pouch. As he placed each bottle, the owner rubbed his hands together, while his eyes were glimmering with excitement.
He looked at the fat owner and asked the same question he had asked the last time he came.
"So… How much would you buy this for?"