"Good day to you, dear customer. What might you be looking for?" The alchemist Elgin asked.
His voice was the exact same as Elgin in the past. Everything was a copy of his previous self, only the personality was different.
Elgin suddenly had the urge to rip this man apart and investigate what was happening inside. Peek into his soul and figure out the truth.
That dangerous thought flashed through his mind and made him wonder what had gotten into him.
"..Just the normal kind of potions. Some health and mana potions, please." Elgin approached the counter and got to take a closer look at the man. "Hmm.. I'll get ten of each."
"On it, dear customer!" Elgin hurriedly went to the back area.
Elgin knew that behind the door was the storage, and the familiar cauldron that he abused for years to no end for potions.
If this guy was like him, then everyday he would already have a stack of potions ready to be given out so that he wouldn't be in a rush to conjure them upon request.
What a nostalgic memory. Just coming into this shop made him feel like he was at home even though he already changed identities.
The alchemist came out in less than a minute, bringing a box of potions and placing it on the table.
"Ten of each, right?" The alchemist pulled out the potions one by one.
Elgin inspected the items, and nodded. It was pretty good, but none of it had special qualities like he once made them to be. This meant that the alchemist just had the same body but not the achievements he accomplished.
"I have a question, but.. It might come off as a bit weird." Elgin asked as the alchemist wrapped up the items.
"Hm? Go on, ask me."
"Are you perhaps unable to leave the store?"
This was a question he longed to seek an answer to. This whole time, ever since he entered Ulya.
"Eh? Is this a joke that I'm not getting? Am I falling out of touch with the world? What do you mean.. I can obviously leave the store!"
'...' Elgin did prepare his mind just in case this was the response he got. He had a premonition that this would be the case.
He was confined to the store without any chances of escaping before.
Contrary to that, the current Alchemist Elgin could roam the world outside his store without any problems.
A different case from him, who was supposed to be the original 'Alchemist Elgin'.
'..Come to think of it, why was I repelled from going outside when the other shopkeepers often left their shops?'
He had to look into this matter later on. It was suspicious, and honestly worrying.
"Ah, no. It just feels like the shop owners are always open to buyers, so I wondered if you ever leave your post at all." Elgin tried to fall back on an excuse.
"Ahahah! There's no such thing, I tell you. It wouldn't make sense if we couldn't leave our shops. How are we going to fulfill our daily necessities if that was the case?" He broke into a fit of laughter and dismissed Elgin's excuse.
"Yeah.. I thought so too. Hahah." Elgin could only dryly laugh.
After all, what the alchemist was saying as impossible was what he went through in the past.
"Hm, your face is one that I haven't seen around very much. Either you're a new resident, or.. Ah! I heard that people calling themselves Players have gone into town recently, are you one of them?"
"Yeah, I am."
"That might explain why you asked that. Newcomers coming here.. I was really excited when I heard the news! Welcome to Ulya! The people here are really nice, so please don't be shy and enjoy your time!" The alchemist grinned widely. "Here are your potions, it totals up to.. 45 silver coins."
Elgin readily handed the money and took the potions.
"Alright, payment confirmed. Thank you for your purchase, dear customer! Please come back for more next time!" The alchemist cheerily said.
Elgin smiled, but he didn't think that he would step inside this place again in the future.
His eyes lingered on the man a bit longer.
'He's not an anomaly. I guess an error won't happen twice.'
He turned around and left.
[He's so enthusiastic, unlike you.] Cecily first thought that she would be able to see Elgin panicking as he struggled to make his way around the world, but so far, Elgin was too composed in everything.
'If you go through the same thing I did, you'll lose all the passion you once had too. In the first few resets, I still attended to my customers like he did, but I just got tired of it as it repeated.'
[H-hey, what's with that gloomy statement?]
'Just the truth.'
He recalled his own vibrant moments. With each reset, his expectations were crushed to the point where there would be no going back to his former self.
Once he was outside, Elgin took out his map and traced his finger on the path leading up to the next city, Valda.
Elgin planned to make a beeline directly to Yggdrasil, because there wasn't anything special that he could reach to just yet except for the Tower.
Valda was more or less similar to Ulya, just bigger in size and more populated. In that city, there was a proper Adventurer's Guild where Elgin could trade off his materials for a fair price.
He had to stay in Ulya for a while longer to pick up his items afterwards, but that wouldn't stop him from exploring into the later regions.
His next destination is going to be the Lake of Energy, Yale.
It was a place similar to the Rudis Forest. There was a lake enshrouded in a sea of trees. Monsters to hunt. Herbs to gather.
Only, his intention to go there wouldn't be to hunt the monsters, but rather to train his foundations.