Stubborn tracker

Among the different shops of exotic nature, one that especially caught Frederick's attention was a shop with a sign with "Potion Shop" written on it. The whole store was made of stone and seemed very small compared to the other buildings near it.

Looking at the crowd of people that were going in and out of the potion shop, Frederick felt a bit perplexed. Indeed, the most popular shop in the city was not a weapon or food store, it was a potion shop.

However, the main reason why he was interested in that shop was that he knew nothing about the potions sold there. Potions were not a product that he was aware of and he wanted to know what kind of effect those potions would have.

So without hesitation, he directly went toward the shop to take a look. Although it was crowded, there was no door to prevent people from going in and out so he quickly entered the store. After walking through the crowd of people, he entered the small shop and was instantly greeted by the perfume of herbs.

Looking around, the shop was quite spacious, much bigger than the store's exterior. There were multiple rows of wooden shelves on which many bottles were displayed. Those bottles were filled with some kind of liquid that ranged from brown, green, yellow, and blue colors. On each bottle, a piece of paper was stuck, and written on it were the descriptions and prices of the potions.

The shopkeeper was a woman in her forties. Her eyes were cold and she had a serious expression on her face. Despite the large amount of customers, she was still managing everything with a calm and professional attitude.

After glancing at the potions, Frederick immediately realized that the potions' effects were extremely random and soon lost interest. There was one potion that increased the chances of pregnancy or a potion that changed the color of hair. He was only impressed by the variety of useless effects.

 After checking all the potions, he concluded that those potions were not that cheap and that their effects were limited. Each potion had a limited time of 1 hour or less and would only be effective when drunk. However, the effect would not be instantaneous and would instead gradually occur. 

'Those potions are very likely to be authority relics. However, what kind of authority allows you to make potions like that?' he thought to himself as he examined a potion that would make his skin smoother.

'What about the ingredients? Do you just need to mix a few random ingredients and voila, there is your potion? That sounds... Quite plausible.'

His reasoning was simple. Who would be dumb enough to make a kind of potion that would increase the chance of pregnancy in this kind of place and who would need it? Getting pregnant in this world would be an assured death.

Either the creator of those potions is a complete fool ... or the effect is random, which would explain why most potions seemed so random and useless.

Frederick was a bit disappointed as he thought that potion could enhance the user's stats or even heal his wounds but seeing that most potions were for daily comfort, he did not pay attention to it at all anymore. So, without further thinking, he tried to leave the crowded potion shop.

However, as he was leaving the shop, he bumped into someone. Frederick looked at the man he bumped into. The man in front of him was a bit fat with a brown beard and had short hair with a burly and average face. He was wearing leather armor with a sword at his waist. With an apology, Frederick tried to get away. However, the man did not seem to want to let him go and blocked him. 

"Hey, where are you going so fast? Don't you know who I am?" He said with a smirk as he took a better look at Frederick.

"...My apologies for my ignorance, may I ask you who you are?" asked Frederick with a humble posture. There was no point in creating conflicts over such a small thing. If lowering his head could prevent trouble, that would be an excellent deal for Frederick.

The man was delighted by Frederick's attitude and smiled. However instead of answering he expressed "I see you're a smart one. That's good. Now, tell me, did you see a red-haired woman enter this potion shop?" 

Frederick faked a deep thinking pose and then answered. "I don't think so. Perhaps you could ask somebody else as I-" However before he could even finish, the man interrupted him.

"Stop lying to me. You must have seen her. I know she is here." the man said with a cold tone. He then pointed his finger at Frederick and added "You will come with me, now."

Frederick was stunned. There was no logic in this man's words. He didn't know this man and this man did not know him. Moreover, this was a very crowded place so how could he claim that Frederick was lying to him?

"I am sorry but I don't know what you are talking about sir. I did not see anyone that fits your description. How about checking inside or asking the shop owner? Now if you excuse me-" Frederick started to leave but before he could, the man grabbed him by his arm.

"I am not done talking with you. I know that she entered this potion shop and that you saw her. Now either you tell me where she is or I will force you to tell me." the man said as he approached Frederick's face. Frederick looked around and saw that everyone was looking at them with curious eyes. It seemed that nobody was planning to interfere in this conflict.

'Weird... Usually, guards would have already arrived.' thought Frederick as he added "Sir, please let me go," The man, however, ignored him and continued his interrogation.

"You will follow me and tell me where she is." said the man with a shout. But before Frederick could react, he saw the man's fist coming toward his face.

'This is unexpected' thought Frederick as dodged without much difficulty. The punch was not fast and even though it had some strength, Frederick's body was now way more nimble than that of a normal human being.

Seeing that Frederick had dodged his punch, the man seemed a bit surprised and directly tried to grab Frederick again. However, before he could ... Frederick shamelessly started to run away. There were absolutely no benefits in fighting in this place so he did not bother much with this man.

This caught the man off guard. He was not expecting Frederick to be such a coward and just run away without any shame. Unfortunately, the man didn't want to let him go so easily and chased him. This scene attracted many spectators who were excitedly watching the chase.

'Why is this guy so stubborn about me? Also, something weird. This much commotion should have already alerted all guards nearby but they are not doing anything?' thought Frederick as he continued running.

After some thought, he felt that something was wrong. The man seemed very determined to get Frederick for no reason at all. He looked at the man behind him who was trying to catch up to him. The man's expression was grim as he was running. It looked like he was willing to catch Frederick at any cost.

However, Frederick did not think too much about it and continued running until he reached an alley. This alley was small and had no people in it. However, there were a lot of empty boxes and things blocking the path. 

The man was a bit surprised by the scene as he expected Frederick to continue running through the crowd. But this was not the case. When he saw the alley, he was delighted as this meant that Frederick was trapped.

"You have nowhere to run now. It is time for you to give up." said the man as he approached Frederick who seemed exhausted. However, the man too, was breathing heavily as his face was sweating a lot.

"Haa... Haa... Sir, I really did not see the woman you are looking for" said Frederick while panting heavily.

"I don't care about that anymore. Give me your coat." answered the man with a serious tone. He had a sword in his hand and his posture was extremely stable as if he was ready to attack at any moment.

"What?! How did you know about my coat?!" replied Frederick with a fearful expression.

"Don't make me repeat myself. Give me your coat, now." said the man as he pointed his sword toward Frederick.

"O-okay." Frederick took off his trenchcoat and handed it. The man seemed very satisfied and was already smiling with greed however when he was about to take it... Frederick's breath suddenly became steady and his face turned cold.

"What the-" Before the man could even react, Frederick rushed toward him and with a quick movement, grabbed the man by his wrist, then twisted his arm and made him drop his sword.

Afterward, he immediately kicked the sword away, grabbed the man by his collar, and slammed him against the ground. Frederick's movement was so fast that the man couldn't react in time and was rendered unable to move. It was as if Frederick had practiced it a thousand times.

"Now talk. How do you know about my coat? It shouldn't be possible to see the status window of an equipped authority item." Frederick said with a cold voice as he put his knee on the man's back and pressed it with his full weight while taking his dagger out.