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I had surprised him more than I had expected. The Merchant was exploding with happiness and at the same time with disbelief. I guess he got more out of it than he could had ever thought.
“Without a doubt, I can make more of these, but not without a price. Also, you said you were going to pay me for making this potion, right? You don’t want to violate the contract we made and receive a punishment from it, I hope?” I said.
“O-Of course… I wasn’t going to scam you or something! So your name is…” asked the merchant.
“Name’s Blake. Just call me like that.” I said.
“My name is Eustace Alfredo Silverplate… It is nice to meet you, Blake…” said Eustace, his stance, personality, and even his politeness suddenly had a big shift as he began to see me with more respect due to having showed him what I was capable of.
We shook hands as he sat down once more, he still was coping with it, he couldn’t believe this was real life.
He then began to look into his reserves and took out several gold coins, giving me a small leather bag with coins.
“Here’s four hundred coins for your work, this is what an Alchemist would be normally paid to make a dozen of Potions, but those would only be Normal Grade, what you made is Unique Grade, above Normal and even Rare Grade… These potions with such quality are often bought by royalty, boy!” said the man, his eyes seemed to have turned into $ shape.
Four hundred gold coins seemed like a fair trade, I had calculated the price before, he had supplemented me with the materials, and even more, Erika’s father also helped me with telling me the estimated price of the potions. The materials I used were roughly around 300 Gold Coins, he will probably get a thousand if not a bit more out of it.
Also, I drank all the other potions I got out of these materials, so I believe it is more than fair. Pursuing more money will enrage him, and my goal as of now is to gain his trust.
My future might depend on this.
I was also glad he wasn’t scummy enough, within my expectations there was the small thought that he might try to kidnap me and turn me into an alchemist slave. It was a possible thing he could do, after all I was a serf kid who nobody would ever care aside from my parents, who had no strength, nor money.
But he seemed to have some moral codes at the very least, even though he had accepted the bet with me as a potential slave.
These contracts are interesting, they can even force people to act more decently. I should perhaps force him to make another one with me, if possible.
But forcing the situation even more could make me look suspicious.
“This money should be enough.” I said.
“Of course! That’s more than you will ever earn in your lifetime…” said the merchant while laughing.
“What are you going to do then, do you have more materials? I can make more potions. I need money to make my family citizens and then purchase a house in the main city… Most likely, I will also bring my friend’s family with me.” I said.
“Hmph, you got big dreams, Blake… Well, for now I am going back to the capital. I will travel around the Kingdom for the rest of the year, but you’ve got talent. I am going to come back next year, probably in the Spring… If I can meet you again, I think I will have some commissions for you.” He said.
I suppose he wasn’t going to bring me to the capital, that was one of the question. He is not as generous as I thought, or perhaps he doesn’t want to invest too much on me. He is a realistic person. I suppose that if he can see that I’ve survived another year, he’ll commission me again.
Probably, he will slowly supply me with money over the years until I gain his trust and he’ll help me more, but for now, this is more than enough. I suppose I could invest the money I got and buy more mana potion ingredients with it, make more mana potions, and sell them.
“I see. I am very grateful for your help; I’ll be waiting for you next year… By any chance, are you selling more ingredients to make mana potions?” I wondered.
“Not at the moment, they’re often sold inside the capital in apothecary stores, and they’re not cheap. There are more things that can be sold other than potions, you know? Sometimes it is best not to invest too much. Unless I can see that this potion can actually sell, I won’t ask you to make more…” he said.
Yes, he was very realistic as a man, I can understand his point of view. I guess I shouldn’t have expected much either. This is enough for me now.
With this money, I could make my entire family into citizens, but that’s about it. We wouldn’t have enough money to even buy a small house in the duchy, or anything of that sort, so it would be wasted money.
It is better to save it for now and slowly accumulate more gold coins. But who said I can do this trick to only one merchant? I will try to find others that could be looking for alchemists to work with.
I am also a proficient Crafter, and I am pretty sure I am very good at Forging as well, but who would believe a five-year-old kid like me that I have so many talents? It will take some time.
“That’s a pity. Do you know of any other merchant around here that might sell them?” I asked.
“No, they’re all just selling low-grade potions and don’t have more materials. I think they’re shady too, don’t go showing your talent to anybody, a serf kid like you could easily get kidnapped…” Eustace replied.
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