Walking inside the hallway that led to the poison and antidote section, I couldn't help but think how naive I was. Since someone who knew nothing about medicines and antidotes came this far, of course, there would be others too.
And oh boy was the number of people anything but small.
From NPCs to players, from young to old, and even people from different races and social ladders, everyone was gathered in the huge intersection between the antidote and poison section.
I went ahead and asked an NPC, who looked like he worked here.
"Why are there so many people here? Don't tell me they're all here for Duke Wenselm's daughter. She's not even from this country; heck, she's not even from the same empire."
I asked the NPC, who gave me a pathetic look as if I was a frog in the well as he said.
"You're underestimating the princess too much. She's a natural-born saintess, and it is said that her beauty can rival the princesses of the empire. Not only that, but Duke Wenselm is one of the seven respectable dukes of the Sahhan Empire. A duke of Sahhan Empire has as much territory as the whole kingdom of Crisedia, or even more."
The short NPC kept walking as he answered, a few books in his hand. I followed him unconsciously as if drawn by the details he provided. Then, as if happy with my careful listening attitude, the short NPC continued as he climbed a stool and started arranging the books on the shelf on the side of the room.
"It's been weeks since the poison had taken effect, and the princess's body is getting paler and more lifeless by the day. Duke Wenselm has increased the number of rewards to an astronomical level and just wishes that someone could save his daughter now. Now think about it, if someone were to successfully make an antidote or find some antidote and cure the princess, what would happen?"
The short NPC, who had finished arranging the books, looked at me with a meaningful smile.
"They would gain the eternal gratitude of the Duke…. And maybe even a big part of the Dukedom?....or the whole Dukedom since the Duke doesn't have any other child."
I said, trying to sound unsure, so this little guy would keep talking about the details.
"Correct! You aren't as dumb as you look. If a whole dukedom is on the line, then there's no way people won't try to get a piece of this huge pie. Especially when curing the princess is basically getting the ticket to a huge Dukedom that doesn't lose to kingdoms like Crisedia."
The short NPC jumped from the stool he was standing at and gestured to me to bring my ears down. I did so, and then he whispered.
"I've been working in Morris' Alchemy house for more than 30 years, and yesterday was the first time I saw anyone from the royal family coming here. Apparently, the pie is too big for even the princes' to ignore."
Enlightenment flickered through my eyes as I finally realized the importance of this princess that I had been taking lightly.
'Wait, do I really need to waste my time when thousands of people try to do the same thing? What are my chances? One out of a thousand. If I depend on that, I'll be running after the same quest for life.'
"Well, if everyone wants the pie, then I'll leave it to them, I guess. I don't wanna compete for something that already has tons of competitors after it."
I said, clearly dejected that I had wasted my time travelling here.
'Well, this is the royal capital of crisedia. There might be tons of things to do here. Not to mention that I can just blackmail some conmen.'
As an evil plan to harass scammers was brewing inside my head, the man I had been talking to, whose name was written in white words as Lucas, asked.
"Well, that was quick. Young kids these days back out from challenges too early. What was the reason you wanted to try and cure her anyways? Do you like the princess? Or the Dukedom?"
"Well, It was for money. And maybe an item or two."
"What?!"
"It was for money."
"What about the princess?"
"I've never seen her. Why would I marry her?"
"And what about the Dukedom?"
"It's too big. You need to become a leader and handle so much political stuff after taking over a big chunk of land. So nah, I would rather stay out."
"AHAHAHAHAHA! Are you kidding me?"
"Nope."
"The heck! Where did this kid even come from? Hahaha."
Lucas laughed out loud, with his little body shaking uncontrollably. A few people that were near the antidote's section instead of this mini-library part sent us weird stares, but Lucas cared for none of them.
After a while, he finally calmed down as he asked.
"If you just need money, why don't you take the Dukedom? You'll get all the money that way."
"I just said it. It's too bothersome to manage a whole Dukedom. And as much as I would like to, even I won't be able to use the funds from the treasury even as the legal lord. The Duke would just make me the next Duke. He won't leave his people in the hands of someone just like that, he would most probably supervise everything."
I explained my reasoning, which was quite simple and logical.
"Then what would you do if you actually cured the princess somehow?"
"I would ask the Duke to give me as much money as possible. I am sure he would be more than glad to just give some money instead of his daughter's hand in marriage and his Dukedom. I really need the money to make the lives of family members better, much better than it currently is."
I replied, a slight smile forming as I remembered the faces of my mother and younger brother.
For the first time since he was talking to me, Lucas's face softened as he looked at me and said.
"Hey kid, I have seen the princess before. She's beautiful. But you don't fall behind at all from her, you just need to smile more often, and I am talking about the genuine smile here."
I couldn't help but let out a low chuckle. The reason I treated NPCs well was also because of all this. They just weren't lifeless creatures. They had their own emotions and thoughts and their own happiness and sorrows. So seeing him commenting on my smile, I couldn't help but smile more.
"You too. You should be nicer to people often, and they'd like you more that way."
I commented teasingly as he raised his hand, gesturing as if he would beat me.
"It's time for my shift to be over. Come follow me to my house."
Lucas said, and I couldn't help but get a suspicion that something unusual was about to happen.
[Follow the strings of fate, they're woven for each individual personally.]
[Your future actions would define whether a special event is activated or not.]
I suddenly received two system notifications, which were telling me to follow along with what was happening.
In the end, I decided to follow along with him. As many people were looking for a potent antidote in the Alchemy house, they'd have found one already if there was one. But, on the other hand, Lucas's words and the system notifications were intriguing, and if everything went as it should, then this situation would evolve into a quest eventually.
Lucas's house was actually at the back of Morris' Alchemy house. It had a small entrance, for which I had to crouch and enter. But the inside was quite spacious. It wasn't too big; however, as Lucas seemed to be living alone, it was pretty big.
The inside of the room was decorated with some family portraits, and the main light source stemmed from the magic candles that were lit and put beside his bed and one on the working table. The inside was very normal, with the walls made purely out of dirt and a few pieces of furniture put here and there.
The interior was very dwarf-like, stemming my next question.
"Are you a dwarf, by any chance?"
"Nah, Dwarves don't live on the central continent, they're a hidden race, and they would never come out in the world like me. And look at my ears. They're normal, and dwarves have big and round ears and big noses too. I am a Hyrus. We are distant relatives of the dwarves in a sense, just that we don't inherit their natural talent for blacksmithing."
Lucas replied as he shuffled through some papers on his desk.
"Then, what talent do Hyrus' have?"
I asked again, curious. After all, this world was based on swords and magic, and every race had some speciality backing them up.
"Alchemy."
He said as he finally seemed to have found the document that he had been looking for.
"Now, tell me something. Aren't you a Night Alchemist? How can you not have guessed it by now?"
'How does he know?'
My mind went into chaos after knowing that someone recognized my job. What if he also knows about my class? What to do….
"Hey, calm down. Nobody else apart from me will know, I promise. Now tell me something first. If people from around the continent had been taking antidotes for the princess, how is it possible that she's still sick?"
My heart was already beating too fast from Lucas's casual revelation of my job, but I still tried to focus on his words. Realization finally struck me.
"Don't tell me… the princess isn't poisoned, to begin with?"
Lucas's smile deepened as he heard that, and a meaningful expression formed on his face.
...
//DreamNote//
I have added an auxilliary chapter for locations and characters. You can check it out if you're confused about any of the former. I will keep it updated :)
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Bonus chapter upon reaching 200 power stones. Please vote!
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