"Sir, the owner invites you in." After being lead to a special lounge, Sebian didn't need to wait long before the elder of the main shop floor directed him towards the doors. With Aina silently following each of his steps with a smile all over her face, the alchemist finally saw some hope in her potential.

After all, while he didn't mind creating his new allies from scratch, he could only take care of the practical stuff. In the end, no matter how beautiful a girl could be, if her mindset wasn't aligned with what Sebian expected, it would be just a waste of time and resources to bother with her.

'Thankfully, she seems to have the bare minimum capabilities.' Glancing a few times at the girl during their waiting time, Sebian breathed out a sigh of relief.

Standing up from the couch present in the lounge, Sebian followed after the elder into the room. With the girl trodding by his side, the three of them entered the private study of the shop owner.

"Respected customer, how may I be of service?" Looking up from a sizable stack of papers covering most of his desk, a dignified middle-aged man threw Sebian a glance.

"…" Instead of answering, the alchemist only looked at the floor elder. After a few moments, the old man caught the hint, bowing his head and leaving without a word.

"Good, now that we can speak, let's move right to the business. As poor as this city is, I found it suitable to teach a valuable lesson to my student." Pointing his hand at Aina beside him, Sebian smiled. "In other words, I would like to use your help in organizing the entire thing."

Pulling out the second grade stone, Sebian placed it on the owner's table. While not much by itself, it was still a testimony to his overall funds. On the other hand, seeing her proclaimed price for serving a day under the alchemist staked so easily for his own plans, Aina barely could hold herself back from shrugging.

'Reacting to this… That may be his attempt at taking the reward back!' Guessing the potential motive of the alchemist, Aina steeled herself. With her smile blossoming even further, she could already project what would come after her time would be over. 'Even if I don't get the stone… I can't wait to see his face when he will have to rat his way out!'

"I believe that this stone would be sufficient to open up a stall… within the first floor of your shop. Let's say, today and tomorrow we will prepare everything, and then, my student will operate the stall for the two coming weeks." Removing his hand from the stone, Sebian raised his eyes to meet with the owner's sight. "That, or I will allow your shop to take one out of every ten coins that the stall will earn in that time. If either of your terms strikes your fancy…"

Rather than openly proposing one of the solutions, Sebian left the choice for the man. If he would be unwilling to conduct business with them, there surely were other shops with a slightly more adventurous nature!

"I'm terribly sorry, but aren't this girl… An Aina? While I never met her face to face, she seems to perfectly fit the profile I received on her from my people…" Calmly withstanding Sebian's stare, the owner of the shop didn't falter. Putting pins into Sebian's story was the easiest way of proving whether he was worth the man's time or not.

"That will indeed be the case. I saw her talent being scoffed at by the idiots from this puny, local sect, so I decided to take her under my wing instead." Cursing the man in his thoughts, Sebian put a gentle smile on his face. "For such a talent to waste away in this shit hole… Ah, forgive my manners, I meant no offence by that."

Sebian's words were full of pleasantries, yet his attitude didn't fall in line with them. Half-lying on the couch that he found in the room, Sebian seemed to barely pay any attention to the world around him.

"That's…" Baffled by the open disregard that the strange customer had for the local powerhouse, the owner of the place tightened his lips.

'In the end, it's just a bit of floor… But for him to offer a second grade stone so easily…' Thinking about the entire situation during a moment of silence, the middle-aged man finally came to terms with his own guesses.

"Sir, it would be a pleasure to let you conduct your schooling within our shop. If I may ask though, why two weeks?" This oddly specific timeline that the alchemist gave right away was bothering the owner to no end. If this was some kind of elaborate scam, shouldn't the scammers attempt to drag the situation for as long as possible? Or was this just an attempt at making him lower the guard? Unable to answer those questions, the owner only sighed deeply before continuing. "I heard of your student, sir, a fair bit, and it pleases my soul to see that she finally found a capable teacher."

Adding this strange, patronizing comment, the owner stood up from his chair before suddenly exclaiming. "Supporting the education of our youths is the greatest responsibility of us, adults. I will be honoured to help out a fellow citizen of this shit hole to reach greater heights."

In the end, Sebian gave the man a pretty comfortable choice. If he were to refuse, he would lose nothing but an opportunity. On the other hand, by going along with Sebian's plan, he would either lose a small part of the daily profits of his shop. On the other hand, if his gut-feeling was right as usual, then this situation could lead to quite an interesting outcome!

'Knowing the girl, with her diligence she should have no problems operating a stall…' Glancing at Aina's face for a moment, the owner then moved his eyes on Sebian. 'On the other hand, this guy is a mystery.' Putting on a thoughtful face, the middle-aged man bowed his goodbyes before raising his eyes at the back of the departing stranger clad in pristine furs.

'I wonder what kind of surprises does he have in store.'