Hassle

The salve that the noblewoman Sarina needed had something to do with beauty.

Kairos scowled as he carefully diced the last of the Moon Moss shrooms. The strong smell of wet earth and something somewhat decaying like a rotting cabbage permeated the air. Kairos wrinkled his nose at the disgusting ingredient that smelled as nasty as it looked. These are for another concoction obsessed over by the shallow elite.

This one, the "Everlasting Bloom," was a salve supposedly prized for its wrinkle-reducing properties.

He tossed the diced shrooms into the bubbling cauldron, the sickly green liquid within churning with a low hiss. The Everlasting Bloom may have a fancy name, but its real recipe was a closely guarded secret – a secret concocted from a medley of the most vile-looking fungi imaginable.

Then there was the Moon Moss shrooms, currently polluting the air with their offensive odor. Then there were the Shrieker bulbs, notorious for a high-pitched whine that could only be heard by those with heightened senses – a whine Kairos was thankfully immune to, thanks to millennia of exposure to far worse. He tossed a handful of the shriveled, grey bulbs into the pot, the hiss turning into a low, ominous gurgle.

Finally came the pièce de résistance – the Blistering Bolete. These crimson-hued fungi resembled nothing more than miniature, pulsating boils. Just handling them sent a faint tingling sensation through his fingertips, a reminder of why he wore thick, alchemically treated gloves for these tasks. He gingerly added a single Blister Bolete to the cauldron, the green liquid turning a sickly shade of yellow as it greedily absorbed the fungus.

Kairos stirred the concoction with a gnarled wooden spoon, the fumes stinging his eyes. He grumbled under his breath. A thousand years of existence, and this was what he was reduced to – a glorified fungus soup maker for the vain and wealthy. Back in his prime, with a snap of his fingers, he could have commanded armies and reshaped landscapes. Now, he dealt in potions and salves, all while hiding from the world that would fear him if they knew his true nature.

He sighed, a dry rasp escaping his lips. One step at a time, he reminded himself. He needed the money from these concoctions to finance his real research – the research that would one day restore him to his former glory. Until then, he would endure the stench, the tedium, the indignity of it all. With a final stir, the Everlasting Bloom was complete – a vile-smelling, dark green goo that would make any noblewoman appear years younger, completely oblivious to the grotesque origins of her beauty secret.

He scooped the concoction into a small, intricately carved jar, labeling it with the flowery script he'd perfected over the years. "Everlasting Bloom," it declared.

Ah, who would have thought that Kairos, the greatest villain in the history of humankind, would be reduced to this? A wry smile that looked more like a grimace than anything pleasant tugged at the corner of Kairos' lips. He was once the great Kairos, a man who brought kingdoms to their knees with a mere flick of his wrist. Now, here he was, reduced to peddling glorified swamp goo to aging socialites.

The knock at the door again, more insistent this time, shattered his internal monologue. Kairos sighed, a long, weary exhale that spoke volumes of his current predicament. He straightened, shoving the jar into a hidden compartment with practiced ease.

"Mr. Callahan?" Alex's voice followed. "May I come in?" the young man said.

"Come in," Kairos said. The young man complied. He had been working for Kairos for the past few months—4 months and three days to be exact—and he knew that Kairos wasn't someone with many words. Alex was an enthusiastic little guy, but despite that, he still seemed to fear Kairos. Perhaps it was the way he looked at Alex or the fact that they barely had any conversation outside of the potions and salves that Kairos made.

The look of guilt in Alex's eyes was apparent.

"I have something to tell you," Alex said.

Kairos pursed his lips, hoping the young man wouldn't tell him he was quitting.

Despite the short time they had been working together, Alex was impeccable in his rather mundane job. Entertaining customers, keeping tabs on the available potions and salves, and even making him meals and cleaning the shop.

Kairos was paying him five silver coins a month for this very reason.

Seeing the hesitation in Alex's face, Kairos sighed inwardly. "Are you leaving?" Kairos asked.

"Eh?" Alex immediately lifted his gaze then shook his head as if his life depended on it. "No. It's not that. I mean, I am so grateful for my salary. Five silver is more than enough for my school and my siblings. I—" Alex started mumbling about his current situation, something that Kairos was already familiar with.

The young man was living with three younger siblings and a sick mother who used to work as a seamstress in the nearby city. The death of Alex's father two years ago prompted the young man to find a job to help his then-ailing mother. The fact that he was earning five silver coins was something that the young man had always been thankful for. After all, a usual citizen who has yet to awaken his Aethercore would never earn something like that outside of this shop.

"I mean…" Alex once again mumbled and Kairos continued to listen. "I believe they were following me because of some nobles who were curious about the salve that Miss Sarina had been gifting them for the past few months. I tried to—I really did try to use other roads and even hid in the bushes and climbed a tree but I wasn't that confident that they would not figure it out."

Kairos raised an eyebrow, a flicker of annoyance dancing in his eyes. He wasn't particularly fond of surprises, especially when they involved unwanted attention. "Following you, were they?" he rumbled, his voice low.

Alex gulped, his youthful face pale beneath his mop of blonde hair. "Y-yes, Mr. Callahan. Three men that looked like thugs from the southern district. I managed to lose them, though!" He puffed out his chest in a feeble attempt to appear confident, but Kairos could see the nervous tremor in his hands.

The alchemist sighed internally. Dealing with curious competitors was a nuisance, but hardly a threat. Unlike most Apothecary Shops that were in the South of the City, Infusions was located in the West, outside of the city gates. This was intentional as he wanted to avoid those people or attract any attention. He had been acting low-key, only going out to buy food, not involving himself in any trouble, and even refusing to sell some healing potions!

His decision to help Miss Sarina three months ago was due to the fact that he no longer had any money for rent. He accepted the noblewoman's offer to buy all of his available salves after he 'accidentally' saved her during an accident. This was something that he was starting to regret!

"Don't worry about it." It wasn't a complete lie – rival shops did occasionally try to poach employees or steal recipes. The effects of Everlasting Bloom must have started to become known. This means it is time for him to stop selling the product. He could use many reasons such as the lack of herbs or ingredients. Then once the dust has settled, it would be time for him to move to another city.

He already had a city in mind—he always did.

Staying in a city or a village for a year or two wasn't exactly the norm. In fact, he wanted to stay in Kier for at least ten years. The war down south made it more chaotic and the more chaos there is, the easier it would be to remain anonymous.

The hassle of moving for the umpteenth time was enough to sour his mood.

"But what if—?" Alex started, his voice laced with worry.

Again, Kairos cut him off. "Nothing. Don't mind it." He offered a thin smile, a gesture that rarely reached his eyes. Seeing this, the young man nodded hesitantly, a flicker of relief chasing away the worry on his face.

"Then, let me go and tend to some customers," Alex said before he scurried out of the room, leaving Kairos alone with his thoughts.

A muscle clenched in his jaw. If this was the past, he would have immediately sent a message to whoever was following Alex and they wouldn't dare bother him again. But he was no longer the Kairos of the past. That damn Saintess, he thought inwardly before he continued filling the jars with the goo.

To leave this place, he needed money. To get money, he needed to make more of his salves and potions. Making salves and potions would take his time away from his mushrooms! Indeed, this was such a hassle.

His thoughts were once again interrupted by another knock. He turned around, impatience lacing his gaze. "What is it?" Kairos asked.

"Miss Sarina…" Alex's voice echoed. "She is here and is insisting on talking to you Mr. Callahan. Do I need to tell her to leave?"

....