Setting the stall

"What in all hells…" Pushing the doors of the workshop open, Aina froze all over. Right in front of her eyes, a scene of battlefield took place. Materials scattered all over, lifeless bodies haphazardly thrown wherever there was an empty spot. All of that in a thick fog made from the aromatic fog from overheated potions.

"Oh, you are up already? That's great!" Poking his head from behind a huge pile of boxes, Sebian smiled at the girl. "We will be going to the shop in a few moments. I hope you are ready for your first task." Sending a wink the girl's way, Sebian retracted his head back to where the rest of his body was. With Aina's curiosity piqued, Sebian didn't need to wait for long before she ran towards him.

"My first task? Oh, you mean that stall in the shopping hall, master?" Already set on following after this stranger, Aina made sure to use the proper title whenever referring to the alchemist. Putting her hands behind her back and leaning forward, she looked over the man's shoulder at a huge box filled to the brim with tiny pills.

"This is what you will be selling… Or rather, pretending to sell." Grabbing the box handles, Sebian lifted it up. With a small piece of paper covered in the numbers that he knew, he placed the box on a nearby table before organizing another writing set. "I need you to write down the stock. It goes as follows. Seven hundred Kubian pills, two hundred Low Celestial pills, fifty Saturation pills." Pacing around the room as he dictated, Sebian didn't give the girl any time to prepare. Noticing the situation, Aina rushed to write down every single word that her new master uttered.

Dipping the tip of the goose's feather into a hole in the ink bottle, Aina quickly started noting with gentle strokes of her feather. Noticing the actions of his first underling in this world, the corner of Sebian's mouth raised as the alchemist continued to pace around the room.

"Wake up!" A kick to the side of Sheeren woke the elder up. "What? Who?" Shouting in protest to such unjust treatment, the man pried his eyes open. Coming to his senses in a flash, his face whitened as the elder turned his head towards the set of cauldrons nearby.

"Don't worry. I finished the production. Sadly, I was too late with two cauldrons." Suddenly stopping his pace, Sebian lowered his head before muttering with clear dissatisfaction. "Dang it, I really wanted to hit a thousand Kubian pills…" Tightening his fists, Sebian shook his head to calm his anger down. In the end, both the elder and his disciples already performed better than he expected. The loss of roughly three hundred pills was already a loss smaller than what Sebian anticipated!

"Three hundred…" Choking on his saliva, Sheeren's face turned red. For a moment, the elder was actually choking on the number, unable to catch his breath. 'Such a fortune… Even Gloryhouse sect would take an interest in such amount…' Shaking his head once again, Sheeren managed to come to his senses. 'Wait, I already decided to not be surprised by anything that this man will do or say…' Scolding himself in his own thoughts, Sheeren looked at a huge box and the girl patiently noting something on a piece of paper beside it.

"Either way, I need you all to go back to work. The real challenge only starts now!" This time, Sebian didn't bother to read aloud what was written on the notes he passed around to the dizzy group. In the last few hours, he managed to force the group to learn the standardized numerals of Sebian's world. Right now, they only required two numbers to recognize both the amount and the type of herb. All thanks to the special room where Sebian turned each of the samples provided by Sheeren into an example of a necessary herb.

"As for us, we go to the shop. The stall won't set itself up!" Seeing that the girl placed the last few strokes on her note, Sebian returned to the table only to pick the box with pills up. While it was only the first batch of two hundred Kubian pills, the weight of the box already turned out to be quite a hurdle for a cultivation-less alchemist.

But how could he show any hints of being tired when walking right beside a girl?

"Also, by the time I return, I expect a total stock of the herbs to be made. We need to prepare for the storm that will descend on this place soon." Leaving the man with those words, Sebian decisively left the place. With the girl walking confidently right behind him, the two of them quickly made their way through the already busy streets of the town. Thanks to the short distance between the places, it took the two of them only a few moments to reach the shopping hall, even despite the weight of the box that Sebian was carrying.

"Oh, young master is here already! Here, come take a look, this is the stall that I prepared overnight for you." As soon as the two of them made their way through the doors, one of the exhausted-looking attendants came running. Pointing his hand at the absolutely the most average stall one could imagine, a glint of amusement appeared in the man's eyes. "Great, I will let my students set the things up already."

Ignoring the attendant, Sebian placed the enclosed box on the table of the stall, before circling it and moving it to the bottom. There was no need for him to pay this attendant any mind. Just a single look at the place he prepared made it obvious that he bore an ill will towards them. Most likely an act of his own rather than a result of pressure applied by the owner, the attendant was quite devious.

Because although on the outside nothing seemed to be strange about the place, when taking its look, location and design into account, it was as if he aimed to make Sebian's investment as unnoticeable in the vast shopping hall as possible.

"Okay then, let's not waste any time. Just like I said, you will only be selling those pills in a pack of fifty. Each pack should round up to about…" Taking a moment to act as if he was thinking, Sebian pretended that he didn't spend half of the night trying to fine-tune the price of his pill bundles.

"Twenty grade two stones. Once we bring Low Celestial pills, it will go in a pack of ten for the price of forty grade two stones." Sending another wink to the girl, Sebian openly smiled. "Just make sure to write those prices and put them on display, without specifying for how many pills this price goes."

Instructing the girl in a low voice, Sebian endured her surprised look without spilling the beans.

Because there was one rule to make one's product popular. 'As long as I try to promote it, people would laugh it off.' After patting the girl's head, Sebian turned around and walked out of the place. "Right, before I forget," turning his head alone to cast one last look on Aina, Sebian graced her with the most charming smile that he could produce, "make sure not to sell anything to anyone from Gloryhole sect!"