"A-ah! Welcome to my shop! How can I help you?"
Before him is an alchemist known as Kein. A shrewd man that sells the players overpriced potions, for example…
The market price for a Minor Health Potion is 7 Copper Coins. In his shop, it costs 16 Copper Coins or 1 Silver and 6 Copper Coins. Way too overpriced for such a small vial of health-restoring potion.
Yet, he's popular because of his deals that rarely happen in the game. For example, an elixir of life for 2 Gold coins. This is cheap for such an overpowered potion to have since it heals the player and increases their CON status for 15 minutes by 10 points.
Kein is a weird, shrewd alchemist. I don't even know what he is thinking and how he is obtaining these materials and potions.
Cliff looked around the interior, it was dusty and unmaintained. By modern standards, he would've been banned from running a business in a place so unkempt and unsafe.
"U-um… I apologize for not cleaning the shop, I'm still brewing potions and forgot to get rid of the cobwebs… Hehe…" He nervously laughed as he pointed to the upper corner of the room covered in cobwebs, including the cabinets where the potion flasks are stored.
Cliff's face became emotionless. However, getting discouraged this easily isn't who Cliff is. He wouldn't even know who this person is, so it's better to act like a stranger.
Using meta-game knowledge should be minimal, or they'd get suspicious of him because of how much he knows. Probably even causes events that shouldn't happen because of his carelessness if he relies on outside knowledge too much.
"Hey! Uh…" He waves his hands, switching to a friendly approach but still cautious.
"May I see what you have in store? I'm looking for raw ingredients for health potions, do you have those in stock?" He asked, looking at the potions being brewed on the table counter where Kein was working.
"I don't think I hav– Oh wait, I think I do! Just wait a moment, dear customer– Ha…Where did I put it…?"
Kein scratches his head as he turns around to search for the materials for health potions. 30 seconds later, the alchemist still hasn't found the ingredients for health potions despite searching around his desk and at the storage room of the shop which is located at the back.
But, it wasn't awkward. Kein asked some questions while he was finding those ingredients.
"Sir, why do you want raw ingredients specifically?"
Because I don't want to get scammed by you, dumbass.
"Oh. I'm getting it for a friend who's training for alchemy, why?" He answered nonchalantly.
"Nothing, I assumed that you were getting it for y-yourself… You have scars, like how most adventurers have one." Kein replied while removing boxes from the storage, not even looking at the red-haired man.
Shit. He's more observant than I thought… I dressed like a normal civilian yet he saw my scar? Now that I think about it, why doesn't he have a beard? The last time I remembered, he had a beard and broken teeth. Yet here, he looks like a young lad. Within around the early 20's of age.
"Ah! Oh– Uh…! Mister, can I ask for a favor? I apologize for the inconvenience but can you turn off the brewing stand for me? I'd hurry up my search for the materials, so please?" Kein puts his hands together while he is kneeling, he looks like he is begging and it looks bad for the red-head.
Cliff slightly groaned but nodded anyway. It's better than standing around and getting observed by the weird alchemist. He walks back to the main room, where the brewing stand can be found on the table counter, brewing the potions.
Cliff walks towards the counter, turning off the brewing device by twisting the knob.
"Huh. Now that I think about it, most of the devices in Infinite Dungeon are somewhat advanced."
It's easier to turn off a brewing stand with a simple twist of a knob instead of extinguishing the fire by blowing wind to it. Praise the developers for coming up with a great quality of life!
After turning it off, the potions that were on the brewing stand slowly stopped boiling.
Cliff smiles.
"I've turned it off–!"
His peripheral vision saw something. In the corner of his vision, he sees a teddy bear. He kneeled and grabbed it before standing back up and looking at it closely.
[ Sister's Bear ]
Details: A sewn toy. Its appearance is similar to that of a bear but crudely shaped. A work of an amateur.
"Sister…?" Cliff reads the holographic interface that appeared before him.
Suddenly, a box was dropped down. Cliff flinched, looking in the direction where it fell. Before him is a familiar individual, a cyan-haired man known as Kein.
He has a weird expression on his face as if it was a bunch of emotions mixed. Unable to show a clear emotion.
"Ugh–! Don't you dare touch that!" Kein declared as he suddenly lunged towards the red-haired man. In an attempt to grab hold of him, Cliff evades to the side and also throws the teddy bear to the alchemist's face.
"Agh–!" Kein caught the toy bear and braced himself to get hit by shielding his face with his arms. Yet nothing happened, he slowly lowered his arm and peeked.
"Sir. It wasn't my intention to touch your belongings, I just– Yeah, I have no excuses. I let curiosity get the better of me, I apologize…"
Kein lowered his guard but stepped back. Shielding the toy bear away from the redhead by hugging it to his chest.
"I– Just get the box on the counter…" Kein silently asked, he was still cautious but his expression told that he was embarrassed about what just happened.
Cliff obeyed again, he carried the box and placed it on top of the table counter.
'Shit, did I mess up? Everything was going along fine until I reached for that toy. Tsk. Shit. I gotta fix this quickly before he loses all trust in me.'
"Open it, all the ingredients for making a health potion are inside of that box. Choose what you want to buy…"
Cliff awkwardly opens the box. It contains medicine, tiny red mana crystals, and tons of herbal leaves.
"I- uh- I know It's not appropriate to ask this question but do you have a sibling?"
Shit, was that too straightforward? I hope my charisma is high enough to avoid an awkward situation…!
"Yes… A sister. I am very sorry that I just suddenly attacked you like that. This toy belongs to my sister and... she's not exactly in a good state right now."
"I-I see. Is she ill?"
"Well, We went to a clinic and found out that she caught a disease. To be specific, the disease she caught makes her skin harden and turn crumbly. The cleric said that basic healing magic isn't gonna work for her, and the medicines that they have aren't enough. In a few years, she'll…"
Kein stops, tears suddenly fall from his eyes as he suddenly gets emotional. It made Cliff surprised and went by his side immediately, putting his hand on his back and rubbing it.
"Are you okay? You don't have to tell me– I am but a stranger, after all!" Cliff replies, as he attempts to reassure the man.
"It's fine, I… I've been trying to find a cure for her by experimenting with myself using weird ingredients. So far, I haven't found anything…! It's so frustrating…! I can't even save my sister despite creating potions…!" Kein bursts, and the emotional bubble has popped. The dam has been broken, there is no way of stopping this man from crying now.
'What do I do? Uh- Uh! I don't even know how to reassure him– Uhm…'
Cliff ended up listening to Kein instead, comforting him by rubbing his back while he let out all of the pent-up frustrations that had been built up ever since he started working on the cure.
Cliff couldn't relate. Or, the current owner of Cliff's body couldn't relate at all. He didn't have any siblings growing up, a single child from a broken family. Raised to become a star only to burn out faster than what his parents expected of him. If he had a sibling, they'd probably see him as a worthless piece of shit. Not worthy of being a role model for them.
Despite not relating, the only thing he could do right now is to empathize with him.
"I'm sorry–"
"Please don't apologize. You have nothing to apologize for when I'm the one who triggered this scenario to happen. I will leave as soon as I find the things that I want to buy to not disrupt your business any further." Cliff stoically replied before going back to the counter, finding the ingredients he needed for crafting health potions.
It is better to distance myself away from him. Not because I don't care but, because I don't want to add myself into the mix of messy things. His sister? It's a pity but… I don't think there's a way to save her other than high-tier healing magic. Even so, hiring a high-level cleric to save a child is too expensive, and they are too rare. One in a billion chance, to be specific. A disease that hardens the skin of a person like stone? As far as I know, there isn't…
Wait… no, there is!
I've read it on the wiki before when I wanted to know the lore about the world of Infinite Dungeon. There was a time before the start of Infinite Dungeon's story when a disease was spreading around the place where the Dungeon is located. It only stopped when a group of adventurers found a cure for it during their expedition on the third floor, where Treario's are located.
Cliff stopped rummaging the box and looked at Kein who is currently wiping their tears dry with his shirt.
"I have a proposal," Cliff stated, with an expression brimming with determination.