I believe you should recognise my name
"Woah…" Resting her tired body on the luxurious chair brought yesterday, Aina closed her eyes. In the end, though, her attempt to calm down failed. With all the noise around, it was impossible to relax even a little.
"Thank you for your service and come again!" Barely a few meters ahead, her master was joyfully attending to the customers at the stall. With the rumours of the insanely cheap pills thoroughly penetrating every corner of the city, the shopping hall suddenly became the most prosperous building in the entire city!
'I don't even want to know what kind of insane sums did he earn…' Baffled by the scale of the event happening right in front of her face, Aina refused to think about it at all. But after only a few moments, she forced her tired body up, eager to replace her master.
'It might not be much, but I still need to do something. No matter how insane he is, I still need to earn my keep.' Slightly tightening her fist, the girl moved towards the counter of the stall.
"I will take over. You can have some rest, Master." Despite everything that happened prior, Aina felt a strange shrill travelling down her spine. 'Was this the first time I truly called him…' Barely stopping herself from sending the man a glance, Aina hid her face by moving it towards the next customer. Only for her eyes to widen up a bit, before an uneasy smile appeared as she looked towards the alchemist.
"Sure. On that note, though, I need you to write one more offer." Putting on a charming smile on his lips as soon as talked up by the girl, Sebian pulled out a small stash from underneath his robes. "I need you to write a request to gather those materials. We will be buying them at a price of…" Taking a momentary break, Sebian allowed the tension in the entire crowd eavesdropping on the conversation to rise through the roof.
'What a show-off…' Staring with her eyes wide-open at her master, Aina swallowed a gulp of saliva that suddenly appeared in her mouth. 'But it's not like he isn't cool…' As soon as Aina realised what kind of thought appeared in her head, she shrugged heavily. "A price of one grade two stones per healthy stalk."
Hearing the insane words of the man, Aina once again understood that there were no limits to how crazy he could get. A grade two stone per stalk? 'Just by going to a random garden or farmland, I could find at least a few!' Shocked at first, Aina quickly turned her eyes towards the box holding most of their daily earning. No matter how much they earned so far and how much they could earn… It would never be anywhere near enough to pay for the potential overflow of the herbs listed on the note the alchemist passed to the girl!
"Of course, it won't be that simple. Even I'm not as rich as to pay such an insane sum to everyone." Suddenly ridiculing his own words, Sebian smiled while spreading his arms wide open. "Later today, I will bring out a new product. I estimate its worth to be a single grade two stone. Everyone who will bring the ingredients will be able to obtain a ticket for that product once I bring it here." Moving from behind the counter, Sebian waltzed away from the stall. "Those without the ticket will be able to buy it for the price of said grade two stone later on. And you already tasted it!" Stopping for a moment to point his finger at the girl, Sebian smiled before turning around and walking out of the building.
'This guy…' There was no end to this man's antics. Torn between the adoration that was slowly building towards his feat and the insanity she had to go through whenever he was close, Aina had a hard time choosing.
"Excuse me, young miss…" Ever since she appeared behind this stall, one thing changed for her though. Ever since she started following that man, she was nobody no longer. As crazy as the reputation of her master was, for the first time ever since that fateful day, she had someone to somewhat take care of her.
And now, everyone standing before her in the queue, looked at her with respectful, almost pleading smiles. Even the young cultivator before her, who Aina could clearly recognize.
That was the reason behind how startled she was a moment before. Because she could clearly recognize the face of a man before her.
"I'm sorry, but we are strictly forbidden from selling our wares to the members of the sects." Lowering her head with a forced smile, Aina hid the terror in her eyes. 'Why did he leave just now!' Earlier, it was just a hunch. Swept away by Sebian's actions, Aina failed to stop him. And now, she was facing someone who was responsible for the worst experience in her life.
And a loss of over two years of her life!
"Young miss, what are you talking about?" Taking down the cap covering his head, the young man smiled. Without a hint of hostility on his face, he slowly opened his eyes as his smile widened. "Don't you recognize me, little sister? Please, do this friend of yours a favour and forget about this silly matter." Approaching the girl with the confidence of someone who was certain of his rights, the man placed both of his elbows on the counter, before resting his head on his hands.
"As I said…" Just as Aina felt as if her heart would stop, an arm appeared on the young man's shoulder. "I think my senior already explained the situation."
'Did he…' Startled by the voice, Aina felt a fluttering in her stomach when an idea appeared in her head. Did her master…
"Who the heck are you?!" Startled by the deep voice, the young cultivator turned around, violently shaking the hand from his shoulder. Or rather, trying to shake it. Before his body could make a full turn, his bones seemed to give up. Falling to his knees under the pressure on his shoulder, his knee broke through the wooden floor of the hall as he was forced to the ground. And behind him…
"I'm Sheeren. I do believe youngsters like you should recognize my name."