Chapter 96
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 96
Chapter Title: There It Is
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"Understood. Is there anything else you need?"
"Not right now."
The man sitting across from Ian flashed a grin as he gathered the documents from the desk.
The lengthy discussion that had dragged on since morning finally wrapped up in the afternoon.
The person seated before Ian had been introduced by Leona—a representative from a trading company.
They were set to handle production, distribution, and delivery of the crisis detection potions on behalf of Ian's group going forward.
Ian had decided to supply the defense force directly with goods, but Louise couldn't produce that massive volume on her own.
Even if they hired staff and set up a large workshop, managing it all personally would likely force Ian to retire from mercenary work and run a full-fledged trading company dedicated to it.
Entrusting it to others meant less direct profit, but the scale was far too big for Ian to oversee himself.
The trading company representative reviewed the document Ian handed over and spoke up.
"The recipe isn't all that complex."
"Others will figure it out soon enough."
"Don't worry about that. We'll handle it."
Above all, the issue with this potion was how easy it was to reverse-engineer.
Producing it in such massive quantities meant anyone could deduce the ingredients from the purchases.
Within a few months, various alchemists would crack the recipe, and the market would flood with copycats.
A recipe that would spread soon enough anyway—Ian had simply decided to release it openly.
He'd registered the patent at city hall.
The concept of patents existed here, of course.
Whether they were strictly enforced was another matter entirely.
They usually weren't, and the sense of obligation to respect them was pretty weak.
But in certain situations, they were upheld with ironclad rigor.
It all depended on who held the patent.
In short, a patent from some powerless little workshop could be ignored without a second thought.
But no one would dare crank out counterfeits of military supplies from a major trading company.
Since this rep had come via Leona's introduction, they clearly had connections to the defense force as well.
If they managed it here, other outfits would have no choice but to pay the recipe usage fees quietly.
"Thank you. Call on us anytime if you need anything."
The talks had been ongoing for a while already, so the consignment contract wrapped up smoothly without issue.
With the long discussion over, the two gathered their contracts and stood.
"All done?"
Louise, who had been sitting nearby with a somewhat bored expression, rose to her feet as well.
Louise hadn't really needed to be there or had much to say, but as the potion's developer, she'd sat in formally.
It was tedious, but alchemists had to endure such things occasionally—no helping it.
With that in mind, Louise stretched grandly.
Ian checked the time briefly.
Too awkward an hour to call it a day's work.
He'd cleared his entire schedule for the contract, leaving nothing else pressing.
Then, a sudden idea struck Ian, and he turned to Louise.
"So, Louise. Shall we go check out the shop now?"
"The shop?"
Louise puzzled over which shop he meant for a moment before realizing it was hers.
Prime real estate on the first floor of Clock Tower Square—her shop.
The one that had been popping up in her dreams nightly lately.
Fresh energy surged through Louise's weary body from the boring wait, her eyes sparkling.
"My shop?"
"Yeah, we agreed to take a look sometime... Now's as good a time as any. I handled the first floor basics, but you'll need to see the lab yourself to decide."
"Great! Let's go right now!"
Ian smiled at Louise's excitement.
But the trading company rep, watching the exchange, murmured with a hint of concern.
"The shop... You don't mean that place in Clock Tower Square, do you?"
"Oh, you know it?"
"Yes. Word's already spreading that Louise's workshop is moving in there..."
"Rumors?"
Ian and Louise both tilted their heads quizzically.
It wasn't some huge secret that the shop was there, sure.
But rumors about a shop that hadn't even opened yet? That was odd.
The man pondered briefly before offering Ian and Louise cautious advice.
"You might want to hold off on going now..."
"Huh? Is there a problem with the shop?"
"Not a problem, exactly... It's just gotten really famous lately."
"...?"
Ian and Louise exchanged confused glances, still not getting it.
"How long will the construction take?"
"The shop should be ready to open within a month."
Ian and Louise chatted as they walked the streets together.
Despite the rep's advice, the two had decided to visit the shop today anyway.
They had to stop by at some point regardless.
If possible, now—right after the invasion, with some free time—was the perfect window.
Ian and Louise slowly made their way toward Clock Tower Square.
Louise turned her head, surveying the slightly chaotic city. Labyrinth City was bustling with post-invasion cleanup.
Ian followed her gaze, scanning the streets.
Normally, the end of an invasion brought a festival-like vibe, but not this time—some strange tension lingered.
As they walked those streets, Ian chatted briefly with Louise.
This had been Louise's first invasion too.
Hard for a newcomer to Labyrinth City to adjust easily.
"Nothing much happen during the invasion?"
"I'd only heard stories, but it was way worse than I imagined..."
Labyrinth City was famous among alchemists—nobody hadn't heard of it.
The place to get the widest variety of monster materials cheap. But that also meant the city with the most monster outbreaks.
Most alchemists fixated on 'variety' and 'cheap,' tuning out tales of monster invasions. They didn't hit home for outsiders.
That's why some alchemists came all the way here, endured one invasion, got spooked, and left.
Louise felt a chill too, having experienced her first monster invasion.
She hadn't fought, staying at base, but the battle noise reached even there. It was a full-on war.
"To think the potion I developed would see use like that..."
"It helped us wrap things up with minimal casualties."
"Glad it helped, at least."
Louise let out a belated sigh, recalling her shock when the potion she'd made recently got designated as military supplies.
Soon after, Ian and Louise arrived at Clock Tower Square.
A huge crowd filled the plaza.
"Kinda a lot of people today, huh?"
"I didn't hear about any events..."
The square was always busy, but today was extreme. The streets were jammed solid.
Not just passersby—it felt like they were gathered, waiting for something.
The problem: that crowd blocked the path to Louise's shop.
"Excuse us. Coming through."
Pushing through the throng, the pair realized people were clustered in front of a certain building.
"This is it... Why's everyone crowding here?"
"Huh? This the place?"
Louise gaped at the mob in front of her shop and blurted out.
"Did something happen to my shop?!"
At that instant, every eye turned to Louise.
Overwhelmed by the sudden attention from the nearby crowd, Louise flinched and clung to Ian's side.
"Your shop?"
"Are you Louise from the workshop?"
The people in front of the shop swarmed, encircling Ian and Louise.
Nearby folks tentatively addressed her.
"Excuse me, are you Louise of Louise's Workshop?"
"The one who made that potion?"
"Y-Yes... I made it, but that's..."
Before Louise could finish, a small cheer erupted around them.
Questions immediately poured down on her.
"When does the shop open?"
"When can we buy that potion?"
"If you have any extras, sell them now! I'll pay triple!"
"W-Wait... What the heck is going on...?"
Louise flailed in panic amid the encirclement.
Ian, weathering the barrage of questions, realized these were folks desperate to buy the crisis detection potion.
Word of invisible monsters infiltrating the city had surely spread everywhere.
City hall and the defense force announced all monsters eliminated, but would that fully ease people's fears?
A potion that let you see them? Anyone would want one for emergencies.
Seemed like every local had turned out.
"Louise! We're from Claire's Workshop..."
"Eastern Alchemists' Association! We'd love to have you at the next conference..."
"Entrust distribution to our trading company!"
Not just citizens—everyone from all over had swarmed in.
The pair finally squeezed into the shop after sunset.
"Hire more staff, please..."
"...Yeah, we will."
Louise belatedly grasped that opening day would be the real deal.