Adventurer of Many Professions-Chapter 108: Selling Medicine!

After the brief introduction, Manik got to the point. "Since you already know what I do, let me be direct. I plan to buy all your herbs, but the price might be lower than what you’d get at a pharmacy."

"How much lower?" Raymond asked immediately.

"For ordinary herbs, I can offer 80% of the commission price. For main ingredients, I can go up to 90%. And for the key ingredients of intermediate potions, I’ll pay the full price," Manik explained calmly, his tone sincere.

He continued, "These herbs are fresh, so their medicinal properties are intact. If they sit for another day, they’ll lose their potency, and the price will drop even more."

Manik looked at the three of them with a knowing smile. "The reason the pharmacy didn’t take your herbs is because they’ve already bought up all the stock they need for the last two days. If you try selling to them tomorrow or the day after, they’ll refuse if the herbs aren’t fresh."

"I assure you, my offer is fair," he added. "If anyone else were buying, I might lower the price, but I wouldn’t dare try that with you three."

Raymond didn’t sense any deception in Manik’s words. The offer seemed reasonable. He glanced at Sylph and Lorene, who both nodded without hesitation. Clearly, they weren’t keen on visiting more pharmacies to peddle the herbs.

Raymond smiled inwardly, knowing they didn’t want to keep searching the street. He nodded at Manik. "Alright, we’ll sell them to you. But can you tell me where you sells those herbs to?"

Raymond’s curiosity was piqued. He had his suspicions, and if he was right, he might have use for Manik in the future. Find your next read on novelbuddy

Manik hesitated for a moment before looking at Sylph and Lorene. "I can tell you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone else."

"Alright," Raymond said, agreeing easily.

Sylph and Lorene, seeing Raymond’s agreement, had no choice but to nod as well.

Manik looked at Raymond and the others, a little hesitant at first, but then he began explaining. "Alright, I’ll tell you... This isn’t really a secret. Many adventurers know about it. Some pharmacists can’t or simply don’t want to join the ’Alchemist Association,’ and because of that, they can’t have their potions tested by the association."

He continued, "These pharmacists can’t legally sell their potions, and they don’t dare go to the Adventurer’s Guild to post herb collection commissions, as that would expose them. Instead, they hire people like me to buy extra herbs from adventurers and use them to make potions."

Manik paused for a moment before adding, "Then, I help them sell the potions, and they share a portion of the profits with me."

Sylph and Lorene listened in shock.

"So, you’re saying this is all happening behind the scenes?" Lorene asked, biting her lower lip, looking worried. "Isn’t this illegal?"

Sylph jumped in, her concern growing, "Yeah, if they’re selling the potions secretly, doesn’t that mean they’re avoiding taxes too?"

Manik looked slightly embarrassed but quickly explained, "Well, they don’t exactly get away with everything. They donate the taxes they owe to the temple. Every penny, no less."

Lorene was taken aback. "Wait, they donate the taxes to the temple?" she asked, confused.

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Even Raymond was surprised, but after sizing up Manik, he was sure the thief wasn’t lying.

Manik, feeling a little uncomfortable with the conversation, quickly shifted the topic. "So, are you going to sell me the herbs?"

Raymond nodded and handed over the backpack filled with herbs. Manik quickly counted them and said, "That’s 32 silver coins and 86 copper coins. I’ll round it up to 33 silver coins."

He handed the money over quickly. Before leaving, he added, "If you want cheaper potions, come find me here. Just tell the tavern owner my name, and he’ll point you in the right direction."

With that, Manik left in a hurry.

Raymond, Sylph, and Lorene exchanged glances.

"Raymond, are you really going to buy from him in the future?" Sylph asked, blinking. She seemed intrigued by the idea.

Lorene hesitated, clearly uncomfortable with the whole situation. "I don’t know... it still doesn’t feel right, but if they’re donating the taxes..." she trailed off, unsure of what to think.

Raymond cleared his throat, trying to steer the conversation away from the topic. "Ahem... Let’s talk about this later. We’ve heard about some bandits lately, so we’ll hold off on doing any commissions for now."

While he said that, Raymond had already begun to form his own plans in his mind. He didn’t feel ready to share them just yet.

Soon, the three of them split the money, agreeing that Raymond would go after the bandits first. They said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.

---

Back at Red Rose Street, Raymond used his key to unlock the door. Inside, he saw Arya standing by the chair, her arms crossed, looking at the door expectantly.

When she saw him, her expression softened, but she didn’t jump up excitedly. Instead, she simply smiled and said, "You’re back."

Raymond smiled back and replied, "I’m back!"

"Is this mission very dangerous?" Arya asked, her gaze shifting from Raymond’s leather armor hanging on the wall, now covered in scratches and bloodstains. The sight made her uneasy.

Before Raymond returned home, he’d usually go to the dwarf craftsman for repairs, so this was the first time Arya had seen him come back with such damaged armor after a mission.

Raymond, sitting at the table and eating the lunch Arya had prepared, smiled and casually responded, "It’s actually fine. Since Lorene was with the priest, I didn’t focus too much on defense during the fight."

He didn’t want to worry Arya by mentioning the time when his throat was slashed by the crazy baboon. So, he kept it light, not telling her everything.

"Is that so? Then tell me about your mission!" Arya sat down next to him, her emerald green eyes focused on him, eager to hear about his experiences.

"Okay!" Raymond smiled, glad to share.

As he ate, he told Arya about everything that had happened in the last couple of days, leaving out the part about his throat injury. He kept his tone relaxed, even though the events had been anything but. He didn’t want to go into too much detail about the wounds he’d suffered, fearing it would make Arya worry too much.

Arya listened intently, but when she heard about Raymond’s close call with the crazy baboon, her expression turned to one of concern. Hearing that he had exchanged injuries with it, and how badly he’d been hurt, made her feel a pang of distress.

Raymond smiled reassuringly. "Don’t worry, though. After I was healed, the crazy baboon had to retreat. It wasn’t as bad as it sounds."

Arya sighed in relief but couldn’t hide her worry. "That crazy baboon is way too powerful."

Raymond chuckled lightly. "Actually, it was because we didn’t have much magic power left at that time."

Arya nodded, but Raymond continued telling her everything: the night at the tavern, his solo pursuit of the baboon’s trail the next morning, and how he found the black iron ore.

When Arya heard that he had found an ore worth more than a hundred gold coins, her eyes widened in surprise. "You brought it back?" she asked, her hand instinctively covering her mouth.

"Yeah, it’s in my backpack," Raymond replied with a smile.

He took out the black iron ore and handed it to her. Arya had spent some time studying books with Raymond in the temple library, learning about various minerals and metals. After touching the ore, she confirmed it was indeed black iron.

After a brief moment of processing, Arya looked up at him with a thoughtful expression. "Raymond, are you planning to sell the black iron ore, or have a craftsman make something with it?"

Raymond paused, thinking. He knew he could make a lot of money selling the ore; enough to buy better weapons and equipment. But after everything that had happened recently, he realized just how important having a good weapon was.

"If I had a sword made from this black iron, I could cut through the crazy baboon’s hair, muscles, and bones with one swing," he thought to himself. "I wouldn’t have been forced to rely on my fists and fighting skills yesterday, and I wouldn’t have had my throat cut."

Raymond also knew that weapons made from black iron wouldn’t get damaged as easily after being enchanted. There would be no need to replace them in the future, saving a lot of money in the long run.

But the main reason was simple: he wasn’t ready to face the crazy baboons, especially the one who had mastered ’Blood Rage.’ Without a good weapon, he would feel uneasy.

"I think I’ll keep it for myself," Raymond said finally, his voice steady. "It’s the best way to be prepared for what’s coming."

Raymond smiled at Arya, saying, "I plan to use the black iron ore to make a weapon. That way, it’ll be easier to deal with monsters in the future."

"Yeah, I think that’s the best choice too," Arya agreed, clapping her hands. "With a good weapon, you’ll be less likely to get hurt in the future."

Raymond nodded, a grin spreading across his face. "Exactly!"