Damn It, What the Hell Is This Potion?!
'Why is business so good?!'
A line from some movie came to mind.
Unlike the chicken joint set up as a front, I actually wanted to make money here, so it wasn't all bad.
But my plan to quietly approach a regular I suspected of being Beastfolk had become hard to carry out.
The shop was so packed it was hard to build any rapport with customers.
On top of that, most customers came back regardless of species, which made it hard to single out Beastfolk who had nowhere else to buy potions.
It wasn't even an elixir. It was the kind of Lowest-Grade potion that screamed "this guy's the weakest of us all," yet it sold absurdly well.
Well, it made sense.
Last time, to check why my potions were so popular, I bought and drank a potion from the shop next door.
Wow.......
It was genuinely disgusting.
It tortured my tongue so much that I thought even someone bleeding from the stomach might hesitate to drink it because of the bitterness.
It was a taste that made me understand how customers felt.
"Star, do you happen to have any antidote potions? Potions from other places feel like they poison you instead."
"The antidote potion is in preparation. Please wait just a little longer."
"I'll look forward to it. Your potions are always the best, Star."
Star. That was the alias I went by in the black market.
It started when a customer said such an outstanding potion couldn't be called a recovery potion like the ones from other shops, and since it had a star drawn on it, they should call it a Star Potion.
That got twisted and twisted again, and now everyone believed my name was Star, so they called them Star Potions.
When really, I'd only drawn it to remember how many stars the recipe was.
'How would customers react if they found out it was a grade mark, not a logo? And they react like this even to a one-star potion.'
While I was mulling over which potion to release next, the bell on the door rang.
-Ding-a-ling
"What kind of person are you? What did you sell me?!"
Someone kicked the door open, his voice brimming with excitement.
He was a man who reeked of mercenary so strongly that even an owl mask couldn't hide it.
"What the hell is it?!"
Judging by his tone and ragged breathing, he seemed to have come for a refund because the potion's effect was no good.
I'd seen someone like him back when I worked part-time at a convenience store.
A piece of work who shoved a triangle kimbap with a big bite taken out of it in my face and demanded a refund, yelling, "This isn't the tuna mayo I wanted!"
Even though he'd picked it out and paid for it himself.
This customer was probably the same type.
So I prepared to deal with him the way I dealt with those people, with my soul half checked out.
"Damn it, you! What the hell is this potion?!! It's so good it's killing me!!!"
Huh?
"The potions I bought in the black market before tasted like squeezing maggot juice out of a corpse seven days dead. But sweet cherry pie? How did you do it?"
I just followed the recipe?
"And it works this well with no side effects! Kehahaha, damn, alchemist! I like you!!!"
The customer I'd expected to cause a scene bought potions up to the purchase limit and left.
He didn't smash anything or try to pay whatever he wanted, unlike those troublemakers.
If anything, people who'd been heading to other potion shops after hearing the commotion turned their steps this way. He was such a helpful customer that I felt bad for mistaking him for a problem case.
Thanks to the mercenary customer's booming promotion, this week's potions sold out in no time.
Taira, who'd been sorting coins beside me, spoke as if she found it unexpected.
"I didn't expect you to just let someone go after he was that rude, spitting right in front of you. I thought you'd sentence him to death for insulting the imperial family."
"He's an actor I hired."
"Ah, as expected."
"It's a joke.... What? As expected?"
"If it was a staged act, that's entirely plausible. So the potion you researched in three days wasn't selling well for nothing. I had no idea you were drawing in customers this way."
Taira still didn't seem to believe in the potions I made.
Even when I kept telling her to try one, try one, Taira looked at the potions the way I'd looked at Young Lord Lawrence's drugs—like they were something revolting.
Hmph. Later, even if she begs for one, I won't give it to her.
"What, do you have something to say?"
"No, my eyes are just tired because of the mask."
"You have to wear it even if it's uncomfortable. Without that magic tool, your identity would be exposed."
Right.
Even though there was an owl mask I could borrow for free, the reason I'd spent money on this mask was that it changed my eye color to black.
As befitting a fantasy world, people had all sorts of eye colors.
Blue eyes, green eyes, red eyes, and so on.
But gold was a color only the imperial family could possess.
That was why, as a member of the imperial family, I had to insist on this mask that changed my eye color.
Because even if I covered my whole body, the moment my eyes were visible, I'd be caught.
Of course, there were potions that changed eye color too, but this magic tool was cheaper than the ingredient costs.
"We've sold all the potions we brought this time. Let's go look around the black market."
"The time I agreed to act as your escort... there are 30 minutes left. How about heading this way?"
Taira naturally guided me toward the information shop.
What was she, an office worker packing her bag 30 minutes before quitting time?
She tried to use every minute as efficiently as possible.
I didn't have a particular shop in mind, so I went along with her lead.
"Could you walk just a little faster?"
"Now, now, aren't you showing your hand a bit too much? What we're doing right now is browsing the black market."
"Are you not interested in browsing the information shop?"
Ever since I'd brought Taira to the black market, the wall between us seemed to have crumbled.
Unlike before, when she avoided conversation, we could at least banter back and forth now.
If this were a game, wouldn't there have been an effect where the padlocked Affection stat unlocked?
"A very pretty lady just walked past. Let's hurry and follow her up ahead."
"Even if I looked, half her face would be covered by an owl mask. So what."
"Her chest was quite large, you know?"
"Now that I'm a little curious about. But since you're right next to me, I don't really need to look."
Despite her urging, I walked slowly.
I stopped in front of shops along the way to examine their wares.
The things I was looking for in the black market were small, so I had to check each shop carefully.
One of the things I was looking for was medicinal herbs.
I'd thought that since this was the black market, I'd be able to get herbs for potions easily, but that wasn't the case.
According to a merchant, nobles disliked buying herbs through merchants.
Because if the purchase records for ingredients got out, people could deduce the recipe.
Noble alchemists usually grew their own ingredients.
But I didn't have time to cultivate anything.
Maybe if this were an ordinary management game, but I was on a deadline.
So I had to get supplies through herb merchants.
But since alchemists were self-sufficient, merchants had stopped dealing much in herbs.
They said it was only because this was the black market that I could even get this much.
But there was something even harder to find than herbs.
Namely, Beastfolk byproducts—one of the reasons I'd visited the black market.
I searched with my eyes peeled and still couldn't find any.
Which made sense, since Beastfolk byproducts were things like claws or feathers.
Who collected and sold their own nails or hair?
Besides, I was the only one trying to buy them.
Because the only person who knew how to make potions from byproducts was the protagonist.
'That's why, in the main story, I raised Affection and obtained them directly....'
The only Beastfolk around me was Taira, who wanted to kill me.
The only way to ask her for fur without getting torn apart by her claws was to save her younger sister and become her benefactor.
I needed to find her soon.
I stopped by the auction house every time I visited the black market, but there were never any Beastfolk in the catalog.
At this rate, I might die before Taira's younger sister even appeared at auction.
[Status Window]
Name: Leoport Sean
Status: Third Prince
Race: Human
Health: [■■■■■■■▨▨▨]
Mana: [▨▨▨▨▨▨▨▨▨▨]
Perks: [Status Window], [Past Records], [Churu Physique]
Before I knew it, a third of my health gauge had hardened like stone.
If it passed the halfway point, even walking would become difficult, like when I'd first possessed this body.
Maybe because my pace had slowed while I looked at the Status Window.
Taira pressed close behind me and pushed, as if telling me to hurry up.
The pair of body parts touching my back were too round to be palms, and too soft to be fists.
The moment I realized what they were, my eyes widened on their own.
"Whoa, wait, what are you doing?"
"Don't you like it? Let's go faster."
Subjected to reverse harassment in the middle of the black market street, I had no choice but to quicken my pace.
***
No matter how I thought about it, it had felt less like browsing the black market and more like escorting Taira on her way.
Well, still, the sensation against my back had been nice.
Without Taira there to guard me, I returned to the potion shop, where I could stay safely.
It was also the place where I'd agreed to meet up with her again after her free time ended.
But there was a customer in front of the closed shop.
An elderly man dressed neatly in fine clothes, who looked connected to the nobility.
Even if he was a noble, I didn't have any potions set aside for them, so I said firmly,
"Unfortunately, this week's potions are all sold out."
"Ah, I haven't come to buy a potion. I came looking for you because I have an interest in you, Star."
The part about being interested in me rather than the potions suggested something troublesome was about to come up.
Still, since he didn't call me Leoport, it didn't seem the imperial palace had caught on and sent him.
"What is it?"
"Do you also make potions for a specific person?"
He was asking whether I could manufacture a potion tailored to a disease with no cure.
"If I set my mind to it, there's nothing I can't make."
"That’s a relief. My employer wishes to commission you. Given their high standing, mistakes will not be tolerated. Would that still be acceptable?"
A noble? That made me a little reluctant.
I was confident in my skills, but since I had to hide my identity as a prince, I wanted to avoid nobles I might run into here and there if possible.
"What are the symptoms of the illness?"
Out of courtesy, I planned to ask about the type of illness and then decline, saying it would be difficult.
"It's a skin disease. Would treatment be possible?"
Huh?
A skin disease. That brought one noble to mind.
One of the few nobles who appeared in the main story.
Making the cure was tricky, but if the treatment succeeded, he was a person who provided wealth and ingredients.
Commonly known as a moneybag NPC.
I'd planned to visit him later once I had the ingredients ready, but I never expected him to come find me first.
To confirm whether my guess was right, I asked a few more questions.
"Please explain a little more. How did the illness come about? Has the cause been identified?"
"That part is difficult to discuss here."
"How can I give a definite answer when I don't even know the exact symptoms? If I fail, the reputation I've built so far would fall. And if he's a noble, if I fail, couldn't I lose my head as well?"
He clicked his tongue as if displeased.
But the fact that a noble was seeking out a black-market alchemist whose identity he didn't even know meant he was that desperate.
"It's a skin disease caused by a drug. Red rashes broke out on the face, the skin cracked, and the symptoms have spread below the neck. That is all I can tell you at this time."
Symptoms that perfectly matched my memory.
Found him. My money source.