Prolouge.

It is a cloudy and depressing day. A beloved and rich noble who governs this town is deadly ill, and he is currently giving one last speech to his sons and daughters in his bed.

His children, wife, some of his most trusted friends, and two guards surround him. They are trying to hold their tears and give him one last happy goodbye.

He coughed some blood and forced his body to stand one last time. "My sons and daughters, as you can see, my time has almost come. As a mortal, my body will leave this world but do not be afraid. I believe with all my heart that the gods have a seat on their hall for me."

His weak body stopped resisting, and he collapsed into his bed, he was in pain, but there was a smile on his face. "Heaven, I am coming to you. Open your gates."

One of the daughters of the noble stopped resisting all the sadness and collapsed to the ground. She began crying and pulling the sheets of the bed his father lies on.

Noble turned towards his daughter and put his hand in her hair. He smiled and patted her head. "My daughter, I know you are pretty sad, but please smile. We are mortals, and death is not inevita-

Someone kicked and opened the door and jumped inside. The person who kicked the door was a middle-aged guy wearing an expensive-looking hat and cloak, two shiny leather boots, and a fresh-looking tunic. A blue lizard was sitting on his right shoulder.

"Now, you might be true about inevitable death, but let me say one thing we mortals can delay the inevitable, and for that, you need a medical expert, which I am one."

*****

My name is Bob Simpleson, and I am an alchemist, tricker, a guy with a gray morality, and someone who is retired from being an adventurer after a single goddamn year. Oh, sorry, I almost forget to tell everyone that I like money as well.

But when almost every noble has their squad of priests and doctors, it is a hard job for an alchemist to find nobles in a near-death state and exploit the weakness of their family to gain some money.

Lucky for me, this rich man is on the edge of death, and his family is sad about that. "As I said before, I am a medical expert, and I might save this poor man's life for a little price."

Two guards inside the room directed their spears towards my neck, and a man in formal clothing began shouting. "Today is an honorable man is dying, and we don't need any scammers right now, and I already called one of the best medical experts in this realm as well. Why should trust a random man?"

I directed the window blocked by the curtain with my finger. "You mean the guy pursued by the dogs outside the town's gate. I don't think he can help right now."

The man in formal uniform rushed towards the windows and opened the curtains. His face turned red because of the anger. "I told you, idiots, to keep the dogs away! God damn it, you go and save that guy." He directed one of the guards with his finger.

The guard pulled his spear away from my neck and began running towards the town's gate.

Man in formal clothes turned towards me. "I give you one minute, if none of the things you did help this man, you can watch his memorial much as you want from the place where I will put your spiked head!"

I pulled the other spear threatening my neck away with my hand and began moving towards the sick man. "That will be more than enough for me. Keke, grab the test tube from my backpack, and one of you people, please open the window. This man is still alive, not dead! Let him breathe some fresh air."

The blue lizard on my shoulder climbed into my back and entered my backpack. Lizard got outside a second after with a stick and a glass tube in his hand.

"Thank you, Keke." I grabbed the stick and got some blood semple from the sick man's mouth. I placed the blood into the test tube. "As you can see, this small handy item will tell me what is causing the illness."

I began shaking the tube, and it began glowing purple. "Bacteria it is." I placed my backpack on the ground and grabbed a small flask of white-looking liquid, three yellow leaves, and a handful of red berries.

I placed the leaves inside the man's mouth and began pouring the white liquid after them. "These leaves are good for diseases caused by bacteria, and this white liquid will force his body to stay alive for some little more time till the medicine cures him."

One of the sons of the noble stepped forward and pointed the berries on my hand. "And what are these berries for medicine master. Are they good for my father's sickness?"

I poured the berries into the noble's mouth and began moving his jaw to help him chew them. "No, I don't know if you ever tasted this white liquid, but I didn't eat anything after I took one sip from it. This thing tastes worst than anything you can imagine, and berries are for smoothing its taste."

I helped the noble stand before he swallowed the berries, and a second later, the noble smiled at me. "I am angry at you, medical expert, for pulling me away from the gods, but I am much more grateful to you for helping me to see my beloved children for more time."

I moved away from the noble and clapped my hands. "I am only doing my job, and I literally mean my job." I turned towards his children, especially the daughter that was crying on the ground. "This medicine will keep him safe about three to five months, do not forget to feed him with lots of fruits and broth, and I will come four months later to give him another dose of medicine."

One dose is enough for this man, considering he will eat well and the real professional doctor will cure him for real, but if I played my part well enough, I saved myself some money for the future.

"Now it's time for the easiest part, my payment. That test tube is a small but pricy toy, one gold for using that, one for the leaves and the liquid, and you" I pointed to the formally dressed man. "For calling me scammer, I want you to buy me a drink, and we will be good again." I smiled towards the people in the room.

Nobles children were barely holding themselves from crying, this time because of happiness. All of them hugged their father and stopped talking.

One of the sons ordered a maid to bring the payment while he was still hugging his father. Look at their faces, such a heartwarming moment. I am already sick of it.

"Well, I am glad to see all of you this happy. Moments like this only make my job more enjoyable." No, it does not. I only want my money. I hope they won't start a speech about how I saved their father's life and how much they are thankful to me because of that.

For starters, he wasn't deadly ill, well if he was a peasant who only ate grain and had no medical treatment, it might kill him, but this is only a common disease newly coming to this part of the realm.

Coughing blood is a dangerous symptom. I know that, and I am happy with this bacteria causing that because it usually means death for most diseases. I can exploit the people, even more, thanks to that symptom.

Finally, the maid brought my payment on a silver tray, two gold coins stacked on top of each other and a small pouch next to them.

The maid bowed towards me and handed me my payment. "Thank you for your services, please take this extra money as a prize, and please stay in our humble town much as you want our generous lord will pay for your stay."

I grabbed my payment and the extra. I opened the purse to see the fifty silver coins. Now, that's an extra I want. "I didn't need that extra, but I am thankful for it. If anything other happens, please call me as much as you want."

I began moving towards the door to exit the room, but the noble's voice stopped me. "Stop the person who saved me! Please give me your name."

I turned towards the back. "My name is Bob Simpleson, and I am the greatest medicine maker in this realm."

I left the noble's house and directly moved towards the town's tavern. As I entered, the people inside began shouting with happiness.

"This is the man who saved Sir Fredericks's life lets raise our cups for our hero." The crowd inside the tavern began shouting and drinking. A festival-like ambiance is covering the air.

I suppose this noble was a pretty great guy, a rare of its kind. Öost of the time, the townspeople were sad because I saved the noble of the town. Well, I don't care. I don't live in that town either on this one, long as their pockets are great and generous, I am okay with them.

I moved towards the stool, and the tavern-keeper greeted me. "I want a drink," I said and sat on one of the tables. "Well, everyone is cheerful today, aren't they."

He placed a tankard in front of me and asked with a cheerful voice. "Words spread fast in this town, really fast, and I heard you saved our beloved Sir Frederick's life, so what can I treat you with it. It's from the tavern."

I pulled the tankard away. "For some medical reasons, I brought my tankard. I will be glad if you allow me to fill it on the back. I know it might sound a bit insulting, but it is a personal problem for me and not about your tavern." I bowed my head forward.

The tavern keeper laughed and jokingly slapped my back. "Much weirder people came here before and said much more insulting things, so I don't care. Go to the back and fill it with whatever you want."

I got up and began moving towards the back of the tavern. My plan is working as I wanted it to work, with only one flaw, the tavern keeper is coming with me as well, never trust a stranger, smart guy.

I whispered, so only the Keke hiding inside my cloak could hear me. "I want you to take the poison from my backpack and pour it into the barrels, my scally friend, and I will keep the tavern keeper distracted."

I heard a couple of squeaks from the back, and I began feeling Keke's movement. Smart boy.

I looked at a wine bottle placed inside a cage. "So, what about that bottle. Is that a good drink?" I put my hand on the purse given to me as extra and shook it a bit.

The tavern keeper's eyes opened, and his smile grew bigger. "Well, that wine is something expensive, and only for special occasions, but today is a special day so let me get you that."

While the tavern keeper opened the cage, I grabbed my scally friend and put him back into my cloak. "As I said, Keke, my plan is working smoothly. Tomorrow, we will be selling more selling stomach pain medication than we ever did."

I grabbed the expensive wine from the tavern-keepers hand and threw him the pouch filled with silvers. "Prepare me a room and keep the change."