"There may be an attack!"
"What do you mean an attack?"
Brotherhood Pharmacy's staff had relaxed after a long time due to the temple's free blessing event.
To serve its customers, only the main branch was now open. The rest had been shut down temporarily. Evan brought Bernard and all of the employees to communicate about their current situation.
"But you don't have to worry. Marquis's forces will protect you. We are the ones who brought you into this city, and that means we are responsible for your safety. Isn't that right, Dain?"
"Of course, Master. Each member of the Brotherhood Pharmacy is representing the Marquis. To hurt anyone of them would be equal to hurting the Marquis himself."
Evan's serious and the escort knight's words of steel subsided the staff's turmoil.
Bernard admired their charisma. One of the staff asked.
"But why the hell is someone trying to do that?"
"That's simple. It's because one crazy Bishop of the Earth Church is going against the Brotherhood Pharmacy."
"But someone has to be insane to rise against the Marquis, right?"
"You fool! They are aiming at us, to get us out of the way to render the Pharmacy useless! I can't even begin to express how amazingly dull you are."
"Okay then, what are they offering to the people? Free blessings?"
"That and many other things."
First, the temple was giving away God's grace to everyone, free of cost to regain the popularity they had lost to the Brotherhood Pharmacy.
Secondly, they were striving to reduce the interest of those who regularly went to the Pharmacy, so that they wouldn't go there again. No matter what happened.
Thirdly, the temple had sent out all the priests to heal the people coming out of the dungeons: they weren't sitting idle anymore.
"Honestly, I don't even care about their free blessings. We provide the people with something we prepare ourselves. Right, Grandpa?"
"That's right."
Bernard nodded. In fact, they had prepared some masterpieces here in the Brotherhood Pharmacy, compared to what the temple had been doing.
"There was a surplus amount of medicinal herbs in the stock, so everyone was making potions individually or with each other's help. But it is also true that these weren't exactly made along with the instructions I had provided, and their quality wasn't enough to be sold in the Pharmacy."
In fact, all of the staff there had skills to be a potion maker, and they all even improved themselves while working at the Brotherhood Pharmacy. But they still lacked in the eyes of the legendary alchemist, Bernard.
All of the staff knew about his dexterity. Bernard couldn't deny knowing about this, too, and nodded. Then he said with a bloody smile.
"So let's start giving out the potions to the poor, for free. Of course, the potions being made will still go through the minimum safety inspection. Know that the one who fails to meet even these standards can forget to dream of practicing potion-making for the time being!"
"Good idea!"
"Yes! We may even be able to push back the temple in their efforts!"
"Well, it's not about confronting the priests or the temple. In the future, we plan to continue doing this as soon as the stock piles up again."
"Great is the Marquis of Sherden!"
"No, it was his idea. So he's great."
"But there is a problem."
Evan calmed down the employees who were cheering, laughing, and celebrating.
"This might become a good opportunity for the temple to act against us and attack."
"What do you want to say now, little boy?"
Bernard gave Evan a frightening look. "Wouldn't this be an opportunity for us to compete with them at the same time too?"
"Yes, Grandpa, it is. But we have to plan carefully. We should take advantage of this by exposing the temple's flaws. Of course, you have to be vigilant all the time, to stop them from finding out our secrets. I know it's hard, but we should try harder. Here are some of the temple's data given by an 'anonymous' informant!"
Everyone's attention got captured by what Evan showed them. The elaborate list containing people's name and all their information was like… It was as if the temple itself had given him all those details!
"We have compiled a list of people with higher status among the temple and who are expected to attack us. So be sure to look out for them and prepare in advance to face them… Then let's get to it! Dain, here hold the list."
"Yes, Master."
"This kid is something else, alright…" Bernard muttered absurdly as he watched Evan speak in his lively voice. 'I have no idea what kind of person he'll grow up to become. He has an anonymous person who gives him all the information from inside the temple! I have to stop doubting him and start believing that he makes no mistakes.'
"Okay, then let's start right away. From the temple's free blessings to the free potions distributed by us, there will only be favors now for the people of Sherden!"
"Do we have to go out ourselves, Master?"
"Oh, there's no way I can make you do what I can't myself do, right?"
"Young Master…!" The staff shouted with enthusiasm to show their loyalty towards him.
But while saying that, Evan was slightly guilty as well as sorry for the Pharmacy's staff. No one was foolish enough to attack Evan, who was well known all over the city. It would be suicide.
Evan's decision to work with the staff was the last warning to everyone that the Marquis really paid a lot of attention to the Brotherhood Pharmacy. So if someone was going to strike them, they had to be prepared for the consequences.
Nevertheless, if someone was to attack you first, without any reason, and you didn't respond in time, then you'd be the unreasonable one.
Considering the possibility of his death, Evan tried not to lose courage. But he already felt hostile.
'Could it be possible that we attack the temple first?'
"By the way, Master. I wanted to ask you something."
"Yes, what is it?"
"What… What are you doing?"
One of the Pharmacy's staff carefully pointed to Evan's fists. His hands were clenching and repeatedly unclenching at this moment. It looked like a faint smoke was rising from the… But Evan said with a smile,
"Haha. This is only my exercise. Grip exercise."
Bernard, who was looking at Evan with suspicious eyes, laughed loudly. He didn't seem to find it unusual. The fact that even the legendary alchemist did not notice it pointed towards Evan's slime training, which had already evolved.
Distribution of free potions by the Brotherhood Pharmacy began. The inventory of the potions accumulated so far was truly enormous, and because of this, the staff members could distribute it in all the slums of the city.
Evan went around with the escort knight, Dain. (Shine and Belois also wanted to work with him but they were banned officially from going out of the mansion until the age of 12). Bernard was worried about Hannah. He thought she was beautiful enough to be noticed by everyone, so he wanted to protect her while all the knights worked alongside them.
There was also a good chance that he could touch her hand. Evan was quick enough to sense Bernard's thoughts.
"You are pretending to take care of her only for now."
"No, that's not true. Hannah tell him, don't I take care of you usually?"
"Alright, you two, get back to work."
All of the personnel were suitably paired and ordered to go to the slums. It wasn't a big promotion like the temple's, but it wasn't what they were trying to do in the first place.
"Now who are you, sir?… Coming to such a shabby place."
"It a potion I made, but unfortunately we couldn't sell it. So I offer it to you. Apply or eat it if you ever have any pain. It would always be good for you."
"Oh, thank you."
For the poor, who usually lived without a house and whose houses leaned on one another, a potion was completely out of range.
No matter how good the Brotherhood Pharmacy was, even if they succeeded in mass-producing food and created an innovative distribution structure, it was still a different world story for the poor who could not even buy black bread because they didn't have a single penny.
"There were also people like this in my world."
Evan felt frustrated as he wandered around the slums for a long time. Even though he knew it was out of his authority, the desire to do something for these people arose furiously, which he had to hold down.
What he was doing right now was not just for the public. Ultimately, it was all for him to survive. Forgetting about that could put his body in danger. He had to keep that in mind.
"Thank you, sir!"
"My heart was aching so much since yesterday… But drinking this made it a lot better. Thank you, sir!"
"Oh, thanks a lot! Brotherhood Pharmacy? I've never heard anything bad happening there, so it's worth it. Thank you so much, Master!"
Evan felt guilty that he was doing all of this just so he could survive. He wondered if he could even accept their gentle gratitude? Evan thought about these things as he was facing the people, who were all delighted with the potions.
"Everyone likes you, Master."
"Well… Is it like that?"
"Of course. The Master always moves with the others, being in the center of everything. He cares about others, not only himself. Anyone who realizes this has no other choice than to admire you."
"Oh, hahaha." Evan, who was just struggling to avoid his death, stopped laughing at the compliment that he thought didn't really suit him.
But it made him feel better. Whatever he thought or did, he realized as long as his intentions didn't have any adverse effects on others, then there was no need to try and deny the feelings of gratitude they felt for him!
"I hope this can be done in the future too."
"Of course, it will. I'm sure of it."
Dain nodded his head. When he realized Evan staring at him, Dain suddenly hardened his body and put his hand to his ear. He said,
"This is Alpha."
"Oh, wow." Evan admired it. It was a communication type artifact that was highly utilized and was among the magic tools excavated in the dungeon. It was called 'Inier,' and it was very highly-priced.
It was small enough to be worn in the ear, and its communication range was vast. But among the nobles, it was only the Marquis of Sherden who had enough resources to supply Iniers to the knights.
[Alpha-3: An intruder was spotted at the headquarters of the Brotherhood Pharmacy. We caught him, and he's now restrained. Beware of more intruders appearing at the branch. I wanted to report it to you, sir. I have to move quickly to catch others.]
[Okay.]
Communication was lost. Dain looked at Evan with a smile that didn't suit him.
"It looks like the more impatient ones are already starting to move."
"I thought they were more likely to target the people, rather than the Pharmacy. Or even me. They are really stupid. People's abilities are more important than buildings or potions."
Evan continued, "I will reach out to them soon. You can stop them brilliantly, and you can surely eradicate the problem from its roots. From then on, it will depend on how quickly you move against them… Wait?"
Evan stopped dead in his tracks. He was….feeling something strange.
"Dain, can't you feel anything weird?"
"Something weird…nothing, um?"
Immediately afterward, Dain was astonished to see the appearance of the malice that was hiding from sight. Rather than experiencing a death sign, Evan was facing death itself!
"I know, of course, that you are training your fighting skills with the Knight Commander these days, but how…!?"
At that moment, the escort's pride was cracked because of his delay to detect the enemy. He grinded his teeth and drew his sword. Thanks to Evan, it wasn't too late to cope with the enemy.
"You are pretty good to have noticed me. Ugh, hehehe."
A voice came from the dark. The voice of a middle-aged man, who hid in the dark and moved secretly… Evan's eyes flashed.
'Shadow Rogue Pento.'
He wasn't that much of a great villain. There was an event in the earlier stage of the game in which the protagonist was attacked by him.
It was an event that occurred randomly when you grew close to the Marquis, while building a relation with him, which affected the temple. Since the protagonist was stronger than the level of Pento at that time, Pento hired mercenaries to attack him.
Nevertheless, if you were able to repel him in the game, he used the enemy class's special skills in the middle of the battle.
There were quite a few people who deliberately triggered the event when the protagonist was Rogue. This was because Pento dropped a useful artifact that could be used later, a 'shadow cloak.'
There was an easy way to win. And if you defeated him, you could easily acquire good items from him.
'But I am not a Rogue Class… It will work well with Shine.'
Evan started drooling, looking at where Pento was standing. Surprised by his reaction, Pento, the shadow thief, flinched.
Why was Evan, instead of being scared, looking at him like a falcon, when he himself was the prey in this situation?
"What you are aiming for is the second Master of the Marquis of Sherden. Do you even know what you are doing?"
"I don't know about that. I just got a request from my client that there were people handing out potions in the slums. My job is to wipe out all those who were distributing them. I don't know if he is the Master of the Marquis himself. I saw him, and it was by chance that I mixed him up with all of the others. But it's not my fault, right hahahaha!"
"You fool…"
Dain fixed his sword, staring at Pento with lethal contempt. Evan replied,
"It will be difficult for us to link him with the temple. Bishop Setyron only lets him out when he really wants to deal with the bigger problems. Hey Pento, maybe if you're that good, you can come out. I had thought about every danger and prepared the staff as well, but I didn't know he would come here."
"Uh… What? How do you know that?" Shadow Rogue Pento was restless. How did the little boy know so much about him?
The little boy was glaring at the exact place where he was standing as if he had no intention of answering the question.
"No… How exactly are you able to see me? I'm hiding under the shadow cloak!"
"Dain, can you take care of him by yourself?"
"I have already sent a request for support. We won't be able to get rid of him quickly because we can't accurately find out his hiding place, but I'll be able to protect you until help arrives."
If it was necessary, Dain was ready to sacrifice himself for Evan. Dain's affirmation without hesitation was thrilling. But Evan had no intention of getting his really brave escort killed.
"I already have something I prepared. Let's use that. Dain, close your eyes when I signal."
"Okay, Master."
Closing his eyes while standing in front of the enemy? Dain responded selflessly. At the same time, Dain was amazed at Evan's boldness and readiness.
Of course, Evan was confident. This was because a death signal for which he had already prepared in advance could easily become his trump card.
"I knew there was a Shadow Rogue in the temple, so I already came ready for you. But I wasn't sure if I really had to use it. This will be my answer to my own death signal!"
'In the future, I must declare it more confidently with a roar… 'Evan thought.
"Dain, now!"
Evan took out a bottle of potion and threw it on the floor. In an instant, pure white light burst out of the potion bottle and filled the whole area.
The potion's name was 'Sun Spirit's Wrath', and the players called it the 'Light Bomb'! It was a potion that you had to bring along when dealing with a monster of cancer attributes. Of course, it was also effective for the ones with shadow attributes!
"Ahhhhhh!"
"Open your eyes now, Dain! There he is!" The moment the dazzling light fainted, Dain charged valiantly.
The shadow cloak's effect was temporarily uplifted, revealing everything under it. The knight's sword struck the Rogue's face, whose eyes were burning due to the blinding light.
Pento couldn't even take two breaths. The thief died with one strike, without any flurry. It was the result of revealing the enemy, precisely aiming at the weakness and driving the sword in it with a strong blow.
"Oh, we had to interrogate him, what…!"
"It's okay, Dain. Nothing could be done, so don't push yourself… What!?"
"Die!"
At that moment, a man who was protruding from the back of the alley, waiting for the moment when the enemy in front of him died, and the two stood there relaxed, rushed toward Evan with a dagger!
"Young Master!"
Evan was startled but was able to avoid the dagger with his reflexes. He held out his fist. A ten-year-old child's fist shot straight and struck the man's face.
With a terrible sound of shock, the man dropped the dagger to the ground.
"Wow."
The man flew through the air like a cartoon and fell. It didn't look like he was dead, but it was difficult for him to stand up because of the well-delivered punch.
Evan exhaled a sigh of relief, shaking his fist.
"I'm fortunate that it was only a weak guy…"
"Master, that was…"
'The sudden attack and the agility with which it was carried out couldn't be dismissed as a joke…' However, if Dain said it now, it would seem like he was making excuses for not saving Evan in time. So Dain decided to remain silent for the time being.
Thus the attack on Evan was averted safely. It was now peaceful and quiet, which foreshadowed a tremendous storm ahead.