“Trading for an alchemy furnace? You know alchemy?” The Manager looked at William with interest.
This man had a decent aura, but as a novice Soulmancer, did he really know alchemy?
It sounded like a joke.
Any pills he concocted would probably just be for sale in the ordinary human world, at best curing some common diseases.
And yet, he had come to Mystic Attic to buy an alchemy furnace?
Currently, there was indeed an alchemy furnace in Mystic Attic, but it was the Manager’s personal item, used for casually concocting a few pills for fun.
Sell it?
That was absolutely out of the question!
“Don’t worry about whether I know alchemy!” William was here to buy an alchemy furnace, and even if he didn’t know the craft, couldn’t he buy it as a collectible?
What kind of business sense was this!
The Manager, Thaddeus Philopoeia, was a senior alchemist specializing in alchemy at the Pantheon Guild. Although his power level wasn’t very high, he held a revered position within the Guild, with many Pantheon Guild members learning alchemy from him.
As he spoke to William, his gaze suddenly fell on Alice, specifically on the jade dragon sinew on her wrist.
Thaddeus swallowed reflexively.
Alice noticed this unusual gaze and the sound of swallowing, instinctively crossing her arms in front of her chest.
This man…
Wearing a felt hat, with a shaggy beard and bean-sized eyes, plus that swallowing sound and his odd look, he was like the creepy guys from the rumors.
“Little girl!” Thaddeus completely ignored William and greeted Alice with a smile.
“What… what do you want? Don’t come any closer!” Alice pointed at Thaddeus, becoming increasingly wary.
His smile made him look even more like a creepy guy!
“I…” Thaddeus coughed lightly, trying to appear dignified and respectable. “Little girl, do I look like a bad person to you?”
Alice nodded vigorously but then remembered she was a formidable person herself. She gave him a stern look and warned, “Take one more step forward and you’ll face the consequences!” 𝘳.𝑐ℴ
Alice was famous, but not everyone recognized her, especially people like Thaddeus, who focused only on alchemy and was unaware that the formidable person from the 13th Bureau was this young girl in front of him.
Alice’s performance just now indeed didn’t seem very impressive.
“Little girl, don’t misunderstand! I just wanted to ask what you need,” Thaddeus said, somewhat excitedly, his gaze lingering on Alice’s wrist like a thief eyeing his target.
William, standing nearby, was speechless. Did Alice mistake that person for a pervert?
Even if he was a pervert, it seemed unnecessary for her to cover her chest like that…
Finally, Alice regained her composure and coldly stated, “I want an alchemy furnace!”
“An alchemy furnace?! Yes, yes, I have a top-quality one inside. Why don’t you come in and have a look? If you don’t like it, I can go back to the Guild and find another one for you,” Thaddeus chuckled. “As long as you give me the string on your hand, not just one alchemy furnace, this entire shop will be yours.”
Thaddeus clearly wasn’t cut out for business, showing his eagerness all too plainly and making wildly disproportionate offers without even discussing the deal properly.
Even if Alice didn’t know the value of the string on her wrist, Thaddeus’s behavior would have clued her in.
“This string?” Alice raised an eyebrow, “Are you dreaming? You think I would exchange my treasure for your shop?”
Thaddeus inwardly cursed his miscalculation.
He had thought Alice, with her low strength, wouldn’t know the value of the string, only to find she was quite discerning. This complicated things.
“Cough!” Thaddeus coughed heavily. “Little girl, you may not be very powerful, but you’re quite impolite! If you want an alchemy furnace, you need to offer something of comparable value. Honestly, I have my eye on that string you’re wearing.”
While he didn’t know the shiny string on Alice’s wrist was a dragon sinew, his intuition told him it was a valuable item.
Alice, who came from a wealthy background, might not have done much business herself, but she was no stranger to valuable items. She gave Thaddeus a dismissive look. “I haven’t even seen your furnace. How do I know if it’s any good? As a buyer, shouldn’t I check the item first?”
“Go ahead, come inside!” Thaddeus, still fixated on the string, failed to notice the small wooden sword hanging from it, the real artifact.
Alice, mindful of her identity as an unparalleled expert, walked into the shop with her hands clasped behind her back. William followed her at a leisurely pace.
“You two together?” Thaddeus glanced at William.
“Yes, I’m buying the alchemy furnace for my use,” William said, further reinforcing Alice’s formidable image. A Demi-God like him wouldn’t be interested in the alchemy furnace inside.
William’s usual tool for alchemy was a Celestial Furnace, far too high-end to give to Alice.
Despite his fondness for her, he wouldn’t offer it for her use.
The furnace inside would suffice for Alice, who had just begun learning alchemy. Making one himself would result in an overly high-quality furnace, not conducive to her learning process.
“Ha, Is it you who wants to use it? Even if I sell it to you, I doubt you’d be able to use it,” Thaddeus, lacking business savvy, blurted out, seemingly unconcerned about driving his customers away.
Alice, unaware of Thaddeus’s strength level and seeing him as just a regular employee, found his excessive talking annoying. “We’ll buy whatever we like, it’s none of your business!”
“Hey, Thaddeus, are you really planning to sell your own alchemy furnace?” A bystander in the busy Mystic Attic remarked. Some recognized Alice, but chose not to disclose her identity.
A super-strong person incognito, the onlookers pretended ignorance, watching how Thaddeus would handle the situation with Alice, potentially leading to an interesting development.
“Sure, I can sell it, but it depends on what this young lady offers in exchange,” Thaddeus replied casually, usually secluded in the Guild for alchemy research, he sought a breath of fresh air and human interaction.
“Can we come in and have a look?” asked a customer, eager to join the excitement.
“If you’re interested, come on in. I’m selling my Soft Cloud Furnace today. If you want it, just offer something valuable in exchange, and if I find any of the items appealing, we can make a deal.”
The situation took on the air of an auction, drawing in both those who recognized and didn’t recognize Alice, all converging inside to be part of the excitement.
𝑖.𝘤ℴ𝘮