“Aaaah! What are you…? Nooo! Stop! Don’t you kn… He-Heelp!”

“Can you please close the door?” Severin’s voice sounded absentmindedly. He didn’t even look up.

After the group left his store, he was deep in thought. The unexpected windfall that came in the form of ten soldiers and one unlucky servant being on a buying spree was nothing to scoff at. He was now studying his current balance. Or more precisely, the shop’s balance.

The sound of Simon’s pitiful screams coming from the outside was rather distracting.

At any other time, it might’ve improved his mood, but right now just knowing that the arrogant troublemaker was taken care of was good enough for Severin. He didn’t need to know the specifics; He would surely learn about it soon enough.

Without saying a word, Emily, who was still scurrying around the store and scanning the plundered shelves to take inventory, closed the door at Severin’s request. Only now, when she turned around, did she notice her boss staring at the bluish screen in front of him.

“What’s with the unhappy look? We made good money, didn’t we?”

‘Good money’ was quite the understatement coming from the girl. Just her one percent share of today’s profit was probably more money than she would’ve ever possessed in all her life if Xander hadn’t brought her to meet Severin. In that regard, her composed attitude was rather commendable. But it was nothing that Severin took notice of at this moment.

“Hmm. Business never was better since Andreas returned. Between simply selling items, collecting the combinator’s fee, and you identifying their items, we made a good profit.” He turned so that Emily could get a good look at the numbers.” She gasped. “That’s one, two, three…”

“Seventy-five thousand.” Severin was somewhat annoyed that she still resorted to counting with her hands and quickly cut her off.

“But that’s a good thing, right?! So why…?”

“I just wonder when we’ll ever have enough money to build the inn. Even now, we still only have about one-third of the amount we need. That is for the cheapest setup available. And with Andreas and his people leaving in a few days, for God knows how long… “

“But can’t we expect to get even more customers now that these people from the Adventurer’s Society have tried our products? I think they were very well received. There is no way they won’t return! Especially that [Monk].”

Severin couldn’t help but grumble. He knew Emily was right. Things would only get better from now on. Once someone bought his products, it was basically guaranteed that sooner or later that person would return for more. And even if the Society decided not to advertise the store and its products to other adventurers, just like a guild, they surely would share the information internally and still ensure the arrival of new customers that way.

Still, for some unexplicit reason, Severin seemed unhappy.

“For now, let’s start restocking!” Not willing to talk about the issue any further, Severin changed the subject. As his [Employee], Emily could only obey and soon the two of them started processing the ever-replenishing ingredients into new products.

By now, Emily was used to this kind of work and was confident in her abilities to produce any item in their assortment, even in her sleep. Paired with Severin’s own mastery, both stemming from real-life experience as well as from certain perks provided by the [Alchemist] subclass, and the comparatively high quality of their crafting tools and utensils, the actual work was done relatively quickly; Most of the time was spent waiting for their solutions to reach the right temperature for further processing.

They worked mostly in silence, only interrupted by the one or other adventurer that needed to stock up on their potions. From time to time, however, Emily was sure she heard Severin mumbling things like ‘still no quest’ and all possible combinations of the words ‘scummy’, ‘scamming’, and ‘System’. She decided to ignore him.

After most of the shelves were filled again, they called it a day.

Joining the people outside, at a first glance, Severin thought that all the Society’s people, along with the two members of the White Squall guild, were gone.

Soon he was proved wrong when Krey stood up from the midst of animatedly discussing adventurers.

“There you are! I was wondering when you’d show yourself.” The previously serious and professional squad leader was now surprisingly jovial. Perhaps it was the festive mood and alcohol provided by Andreas' people; Perhaps it was the absence of his subordinates. Either way, it caused Severin to look around suspiciously.

“Haha! Ingar and the others are gone for now. Dealing with… stuff.” Krey gave Severin a meaningful look.

“They’ll be informing our local HQ as well. About this place, I mean. Haha, after seeing your products I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up deciding to establish a small branch up here.” Judging by the sincere smile on Krey’s face and his amiable laugh, the words were said in good faith. To Severin, it sounded like a threat, and his own smile instantly froze solid. This was the last thing he wanted to hear.

True, his aim was to expand the two small buildings presently located on this floating piece of rock into a bustling complex which was deserving of the term ‘emporium’; But he wanted to do it on his own terms. Under his own control, with no other people randomly setting up shop as they pleased. Not that he wasn’t willing to negotiate, but…

The few adventurers in the immediate vicinity who heard these words apparently weren’t able to read Severin’s mood. And neither was Emily, who also witnessed this small exchange. It was clear that most people would consider this as a chance - a blessing and the Society’s ultimate stamp of approval. Something most other shop owners would kill for.

But was Severin like other shop owners? Were the provided items even remotely comparable? The more he thought about it, the more upset he became. The worst part was Emily’s smug grin, which was basically screaming, ‘See? I told you so.’, mistaking the whole situation for the great business opportunity she had just predicted earlier.

“I’m glad you like our products,” was all Severin managed to reply. He had a hard time holding himself together but, in the end, still decided to join Krey and some of the others for a while. He couldn’t just throw a fit at his customers for wishing him well and congratulating him for his seemingly great prospects.

For the most part, he let the others do the talking this evening.

If Severin had decided to pay any attention to the ongoing conversations, he would have learned that Krey only planned to stay on the mountaintop for a few days, until Andreas and the Lion’s Head guild would set out to challenge the ‘Harrowing Plains’.

He also would have learned that while over the next couple of weeks he could expect some more business coming his way from the Society, the decision whether to establish a new branch was not something to be rushed and should take quite some time. If such a thing would even come to fruition in the first place. After all, it was just some encouraging words on Krey’s part.

Instead, Severin steeled his heart and made a decision of his own.