"You have got to be kidding me… he of all people wouldn't abandon his home so quickly," Verkan clicked his tongue in annoyance after waiting for a few minutes and not receiving any answer.

"Well, I guess we will have to take the things he left behind and pay him later," Verkan said.

"I can feel a presence inside," Zaos said when Verkan was about to kick the door with all his might.

"You can feel other people's presence behind stone walls?" Verkan frowned. "This seems weird, while he is a troublesome old man, he wouldn't ignore a costume. Few people in these parts buy anything that belongs to an alchemist. Hey, old man! If you are there, open the door before I kick it. I am in a hurry, so I don't have time to waste."

When Verkan was about to kick the door of the shop, the door slowly opened. It looked pretty creepy since only darkness could be seen inside the place. As if that wasn't enough, a weird creature with messy red hair.

"… What?" A girl's voice came out from the creature.

"You are… the old man's granddaughter," Verkan frowned. "Where is the old man, I need to talk with him."

"He left three days ago to sell some potions in the East…" The girl replied.

Zaos and Verkan froze on the spot when they heard that. Suppose the Alchemist left to sell his merchandise in the East side of the region and didn't return yet. In that case, most likely, he won't return… he got caught in the conflict between the soldiers and mercenaries.

"If that is all, then leave me alone," The girl said.

"Wait, wait!" Verkan said. "We will need your help, the old man left some mana potions behind, right? We want all of them."

"The shop is closed, and since the owner probably won't return, it won't be opened again," The girl said.

"I am sorry, but I don't have time for that," Verkan said. "I don't know what happened to the old man, but you can help us defeat those invaders and protect your home."

"I am not interested, let them burn the whole town, if you guys didn't want that, more soldiers would be stationed in the other sides of these regions," The girl said. "Why do you want mana potions anyway? People like you don't know shit about magic."

The redhead girl sure was imprudent. Zaos saw civilians talking with soldiers many times, but even those who didn't like them respected and tried not to get in their way. While the girl probably assumed that her grandfather died and was mourning, most soldiers wouldn't accept being talked to like that for long.

"Listen… I just need your potions, I am sure you can waste five minutes of your time doing that," Verkan said after a long sigh. "You don't have to do anything after that, once the battle is over, I will make sure that you will receive five more times per potion."

"Great… you want to buy, but doesn't have money," The girl rolled her eyes and then said it. "Whatever… you will probably cut my head if I refuse your orders once again."

The girl entered the shop, and then both Zaos and Verkan began to hear the sound of bottles being moved and colliding against each other. It looked like the shop had quite the stock. Despite that, it wasn't that surprising since few mages lived in the city, and most of them didn't use magic often and felt the necessity to buy potions. They were quite expensive, after all.

"Sir… do you think the Alchemist is…" Zaos whispered.

"I can't say for sure, even if they didn't manage to escape, I don't want to decide by myself that they are long gone," Verkan said. "Besides, the old man is pretty famous, if the enemies have half of a brain, they will keep him alive. The followers of the demon god would have a lot of use for him. Several groups of mages should be fighting alongside the mercenaries, so they should recognize him if they find him."

"Considering that, he is pretty bold for leaving his town and selling his products in other places," Zaos said. "It is quite surprising that the followers of the demon god attacked several merchants but left him alone."

"They didn't leave him alone… a few years ago, the old man lost his son and daughter-in-law when the followers of the demon god tried to capture him," Verkan explained. "Now this girl is contemplating the idea of losing her only remaining relative for the same enemy that took her parents. I told she would use that as a fuel to help us, but it was wrong,"

Zaos couldn't even begin to understand the girl's feelings. The idea of losing his mother was enough to make Zaos feel shivers. That was despite all the problems his job gave him, he couldn't give up on it, because in a sense, he was protecting his mother from such enemies. His actions barely had any effect in a large-scale battle, but that was only obvious. Zaos was only a single person.

In her place, Zaos probably would cope with the death even worse than her. Those who have the power to do so can seek vengeance in the name of justice. Still, those who didn't have it couldn't do anything aside from agonizing over their own feelings.

"Here are all the mana potions," The redhead girl said as she pushed a massive box with all her might but failed at making the box move the way she wanted. "Now, stop bothering me. If you do so, you can have all of it for free."

"Thanks, we will help you later," Verkan said as he raised the box. "We will try to hold the enemies here until the very end, but prepare to evacuate if things get dire."

"Sure, I will do that," The girl said and then closed the door with all her strength.