The crowd dispersed, some leaving to go to their daily work, some to get paid for what they had bet on. The guards also began sending people away so that they could resume traffic through this section of the city once again. 𝔣𝔯𝔴𝖇𝖓𝔬𝖛𝔩.𝖈𝔬𝖒

Alex was surprised there was nothing more happening afterward and decided to leave as well.

It had been an interesting morning, but beyond that, there was nothing else for Alex to think about. He returned back to his shop where Fang Yuxie had already opened and a few patients were waiting for his arrival.

“Where were you? I was about to message you,” she said.

“I was on my way. There was an alchemy duel on the way so I stopped by to watch. The entire city was there,” Alex said.

“Alchemy duel? The entire city went to watch it?” Fang Yuxie asked.

“Yes.”

“What was at stake? What was the bet? Or was this just a simple duel?” she asked.

“I’m not sure,” Alex answered. “They didn’t announce anything important. It was between a Superior alchemist and a Supreme alchemist though. I wonder why she bothered calling her out to a duel.”

Fang Yuxie didn’t know enough to make any guesses. “Go work for now. Or the patients will start leaving soon.”

Alex nodded and walked to the back where he began checking the patients to see what their issue was.

In the past 9 months since he had opened the shop, Alex had made steady progress. All throughout the day, people would come to buy a lot of different pills and medicines.

Considering how cheaply he bought the ingredients from a nearby alchemy shop, he was making quite a profit. Whisker helped him in making pills, and soon enough Fang Yuxie would too.

More or less, he had settled into being a store owner and could see himself living a life here for a decently long time.

A few days passed with nothing eventful happening. Alex returned to the training center once more in about a week to train and let out any stress he might’ve been feeling.

After completing, he returned to open the shop.

It was early in the morning when he arrived at his store, so early that Fang Yuxie hadn’t even left their house yet. When Alex arrived at the store, he was surprised to see two figures standing in front of his store.

Alex saw the man from behind and took no time to recognize who he was. “Senior!” he called out, prompting the man to turn around to look at him.

The old man with a few hairs on his head gave a warm smile as he saw Alex. It was the guild master of the Blackfrost Alchemy guild who was standing in front of his shop.

Next to him was not his wife, but rather the Superior Alchemist Wang who had lost the alchemy duel just a few days ago.

“Alchemist Wang, greetings.”

The woman gave a surprised look, but the look faded just as quickly as it came on. Her face turned awkward next with a hint of a self-deprecating smile forming upon it.

“Did alchemist Dawnblade know of me from the start, or did you only know about me since a week ago?” she asked.

Alex couldn’t help but reply with a rueful smile on his own. “I happened to be there to witness the duel between you two.”

“Junior Dawnblade, you’re here,” the old man said in relief. “Thank goodness. I thought we would have to wait a while before you came and opened your store.”

“Oh, did you need something from my shop?” Alex asked. “Let me open it for you.”

Alex shut down the formations that guarded the shop and opened the doors for the two to enter.

The two alchemists walked into the shop one after another. As they entered, the old man looked around and nodded to himself. “Looks good.”

“Thank you, senior.”

“I should’ve come earlier. I had been meaning to come for a while to check on how you were doing, but I didn’t find the time to,” the old man said. “That’s quite understandable, senior. You’re a guild master, of course, you would be busy,” he said.

“Well, the guild is not everything taking my time these days,” the man said softly. “Anyway, now I’m here and that’s all that matters.”

“I’m honored that you did, senior. The shop isn’t as large, so please take a seat.”

The old man turned to the seating area for patients to sit on and shook his head. “That’s alright,” he said. “I’m not here to sit anyway.”

Alex frowned a little. “May I ask what you’re here for, senior?” he asked.

“If you won’t mind it, I want to stick around and see how you handle the shop. Would that be alright?” the old man asked.

Alex was taken aback by the request. For what reason could the man want to look at how he handled the shop? ‘Did he hear somewhere that my shop wasn’t up to par?’ Alex wondered. He had always been worried that using Whisker to make pills, an alchemist who wasn’t licensed, was against the rules that the guilds had set up.

But considering that no one would ever meet Whisker, Alex didn’t think it would even be a problem. Had they found out that he was using Whisker?

To begin with, if they found out about Whisker somehow, there would be so many more problems. Just the fact that a Seeking Mouse could cultivate would raise more questions than why he could make pills.

‘If not for Whisker, then why did this man come?’ Alex wondered. ‘Does he think that my pills are not up to par somehow?’

Alex didn’t let the questions show on his face and gave a small smile. “Of course, if that is what you wish, senior,” he said. “Would Alchemist Wang be joining us too?”

“She doesn’t have to,” the guild master said. “But if you will let her join you, I don’t think she would mind.”

“I would appreciate it if you could allow me to,” she said.

Alex thought for a moment and shrugged. “Sure, I have no problem with that.”

“Thank you,” the woman said with a hint of a smile.

The first customer arrived not a while afterward, coming to buy a few pills as the first thing in the morning.

Fang Yuxie came not long after that, surprised to see what was going to happen for the day, but not very taken aback by the situation. She didn’t really care what Alex did here since it was his shop.

Some customers and patients started coming soon, enough to keep Alex busy for a while. The old man and the woman were there to watch Alex heal every person, suggest a pill to each one, and sell the pill to the others.

They weren’t watching him with too much scrutiny. It didn’t appear that they were here to catch him off-guard and watch him slip up. Still, they paid enough attention that Alex couldn’t help but wonder what their true purpose in coming here was.

After working the entire day, it was time to shut down the shop. Now that the day was over, he hoped to learn some answers from the two.