"...!"
"...!"
That gesture ended up making both of them flinch as they realized what was going on.
"A-as it was confirmed, more people were called to take it from you without the news spreading around. We even had a bunch of clothes to change into – although, honestly, I did not expect that to really work out, but you turned out to be... ahem... to be not paying as much attention as I expected, so that part was a success. We were doing that for the whole two weeks."
The boy cleared his throat and continued, doing his best to not use the term – stupid – as much as possible.
"...Oh no...! The bad people forced you to do something like that...?! So they were forcing people to pick up the medicine, and then they were selling it off to the commoners living in poverty for one big silver coin each?! That's even more horrible!"
"..."
Zorivia gasped and trembled, getting teary-eyed for the people she imagined, while Medea closed his eyes and furrowed his brows as if he had a headache.
"...haaa.... young miss... I want you to repeat the middle sentence. Slowly. And try thinking through what you just said."
"...eh...?"
The black-haired boy breathed out to keep calm and leaned forwards, tilting his head, making the blond-haired girl look to the sides, unable to figure out what the problem was.
"Umm... S-so they were forcing people to pick up the medicine, and then they were selling it off to the commoners living in poverty for one big silver coin each?"
"Exactly."
Zorivia gulped down her saliva and said again, to which Medea nodded his head with approval.
"You see... poor commoners and being able to spend a big silver coin on ANYTHING are mutually exclusive matters. Do you know what happens when most commoners are forced to spend big silver coin on a life-saving medicine?"
"...they... buy it...?"
The black-haired boy asked with an encouraging smile, and the blond-haired girl fidgetted nervously before cowering and answering with a nervous smile.
"No. They die! Only some wealthy commoner merchants are able even to hold a big silver coin! The poor people either barter or cut small copper coins in quarters to buy crappy things! Let me tell you that they are not doing that because they want to, alright?!"
"...! I'm sorry...!"
Medea slapped his hand against his thigh and declared in a stern voice, causing the scarred girl to flinch and, yes, apologize once more.
"...but... but what were the criminals doing with the medicine they took from me...? Selling them to nobility...?"
Zorivia dared to ask nervously, looking up apologetically at the agitated boy.
"Good! You start to see that something is wrong!"
"Oh! Ahm umm... thank you..."
Medea smiled and clapped his hands sarcastically, but it turned out that it was one of the things that went right over Zorivia's head.
"But no.
Offering them to nobles would be just asking for the kingdom to take action faster."
"...oh..."
The boy shook his head, and the girl seemed to be confused again.
"...then... what those people did with the medicine...?"
She bit her lips and asked timidly, looking at the boy while making an expression as if she was readying herself to apologize instantly if he appeared angry.
"Dilute it with boiled water in one-to-six proportion with just a drop of strong spirit to the concoction and sell off the watered-down medicine for one big copper coin each."
"EH?!"
Medea shrugged his shoulders and revealed without the slightest bit of guilt, making the wide-eyed girl gasp.
"We made a bet and wasted two potions by diluting them too much, but in the end, we figured out that by turning one bottle of your tonic into six, we still achieve the minimum efficiency of the medicine. Drinking one watered-down tonic decreased the mortality rate by half. Two doses were able to assure that an average man would survive the Foul Reaper after experiencing only the light symptoms, but three doses would be preferable just in case for both men and women... unless the woman was pregnant – then it would be best to have four or even five doses. Same with the elderly and children. I know it sounds rough... Nobles are buying one bottle of miraculous tonic for one big silver coin, and we are barely making five big copper coins which would be only a tenth of its worth BUT thanks to keeping the price so low, we were able to remain unnoticed until today and make a sizable profit – and that doesn't even include today's haul. Making the overall gain one of the most lucrative schemes this year... as long as Jeremy, Albert, and Ronald will manage to not get caught with the load..."
"..."
Medea shared all of that while Zorivia could only stare at him, speechless.
"Oh, and it's only five copper coins per bottle instead of six, even though we make six portions out of one bottle, is because we were actually paying the people standing in line for us a single big copper coin for every bottle they acquired for us. We were quite generous, I might add, and since everyone was present today, I don't expect the search to be amongst them... it's much more likely that the priest to who you handed the recipe for the medicine tried to get rid of us in order to take over the business. Quite rude of him, considering that his temple was generously exempted from paying for protection for his contribution... although, that part is only my guess that still needs to be confirmed."
"..."
The boy finished talking while furrowing his brows and looking to the side, and nodding to himself while the girl was just sitting there completely devastated with her chin trembling and massive tears gathering in the corners of her eyes.
"W-why do something like that...?"
The girl whimpered, but the boy just shrugged.
"I already told you - most commoners only see silver coins from afar or at all. They would never be able to afford the real product - but if we adjust the price just right and present them with something that gives them the chance of survival, they will buy it. It's a hope they can cling on to."
He pointed out.