Edward followed Carlson and his guards, the merchant he had scammed earlier, wasn’t the only one he was taking advantage of. Edward noticed that Carlson was using his affiliation with the Vega family to obtain reduction from contrived craftsmen. Carlson seemed quite pleased with himself while Edward’s rage was intensifying by the moment. You act so full of yourself but you are nothing more than a pawn to the Vega family. I’m even surprised they offered you this much consideration. You must have twisted your story quite a lot. You weren’t even there when Marc Vega died, so you shouldn’t know how he died, and yet I’m convinced you told them I killed him.

Unsurprisingly enough, Carlson’s behavior changed dramatically when he came close to the Vega family. His gait became a lot humbler, he wasn’t walking in the middle of the road anymore and was acting as if he was a completely ordinary staff of the family. Acting strong against the defenseless, and weak in front of the tyrants. Why am I not surprised?

The Vega mansion was in the roman architectural style. Large steps led to a huge building whose entrance was set apart with large marble columns supporting the roof. Contrary to Edward’s expectation, the columns weren’t plain white. Instead, they were black with red veins coursing through them. Above the entry, the symbol of the Vega family was displayed for all to see, a sword on a red background. It seemed as if the depicted sword was the promise of an incoming sea of blood.

Carlson didn’t enter the main building but rather headed for a smaller one on the side which looked a lot more ordinary. Edward could have thought of it as a nice but simple mansion back on Earth. It’s probably the servant’s residence.

Now that his purpose had been fulfilled, he knew where Carlson was living. Edward snorted in disdain and walked away. Carlson had been a nasty surprise he would have to care of, but he had others things to do right now.

I need to put all the chances on my side for my fight with Quintus. He didn’t feel like a weakling when I met him, there is a reason why he is the one designed as the Gobéliard branch master. In the expedition, some adventurers talked about healing potions. I should check those. See if I could buy a few before my fight.

Edward didn’t walk blindly, he stayed as much as possible in the posh area. Potions had to be made by an alchemist, and from how the families were behaving, an alchemist had to be linked to a family one way or the other. Moreover, alchemists were both rare and renowned, anything they made couldn’t be cheap.

As he was walking, Edward noticed a well-decorated boutique from where both fortuned clients and adventurers alike were visiting. The boutique had a cornucopia symbol, as well as numerous monsters and the potential family symbol, a mighty squid, as decoration. Not the symbols I would have chosen for an alchemist shop, but this seems to be it. Let’s have a look.

Edward entered the shop like the others and wasn’t disappointed. In the interior, numerous potions were put on displays on shelves behind secured glass panels. Several sellers were here to advise the clients but there were also awaken guards keeping an eye on the customers. Not being able to read Edward’s aura they kept a close look on him. It could happen that some customers hid their identities, but it wasn’t common. One of the guards whispered something to a seller, and they both walked toward him.

“Sir, is there something I can help you with? What are you looking for?” The seller asked politely but firmly.

They are testing me to determine if I’m an undesired element or not. “Actually, yes,” Edward answered. “I’m searching for healing potions. Specifically, the kinds that can be used in the middle of combat. Naturally, I’m also curious to see the range of what you have to offer.”

Seeing that Edward was a wealthy client and not an unsavory rogue, the guard returned to his post while the seller took care of Edward.

“All potions can be used during a lull in combat. However, we do have something for clients who are looking for something more expensive.” The vendor brought Edward in front of a glass shelf displaying syringes instead of glass vials. “The needle is reinforced so that it can pierce the stronger skin of the awakens. With just a press of the syringe, the content is injected directly into the blood system of the user. The effect is almost immediate.” He praised the product to Edward.

“Interesting. How strong are we speaking for the needle exactly? I have a power that reinforces my body, even as an awaken my skin is particularly resistant,” Edward blatantly lied, not wanting to reveal the fact that he was a predator.

The vendor laughed lightly. “You are not the first to ask this question. We have a needle set apart just for cases like you.” He took a needle from a nearby drawer and lightly pricked Edward’s skin, frowning when nothing happened. He put more pressure and was finally able to draw a drop of blood. Edward gave a nod satisfied by the demonstration. “You weren’t lying, usually just a light prick is enough,” the seller explained.

“How much does it cost?” Edward inquired.

“One gold coin per syringe.” The seller proudly declared.

Edward struggled not to falter. One gold coin, just for a syringe was ripping the clients off. I’m not sure what they are adding to the blood to increase its potency, but at most, one syringe shouldn’t cost more than fifty silvers, including the material for the syringe. “This is quite a heavy price.”

“Life is priceless,” the vendor smiled in a practiced way.

Edward complained internally but he didn’t want to die because he got a little too stingy. It wasn’t like he didn’t have any money after retrieving Marc Vega’s purse. “I will take three of them.”

The seller’s eyes gleamed with joy while his smile broaden. “Do you mind if I show you the rest of our catalog?”

“Proceed,” Edward replied still a bit frustrated to have to spend so much money. His lifestyle back on Earth didn’t give him the habit to spend a lot.

Apart from the healing syringes kit, there were the more normal healing potions, but also potions specialized in resolving all kinds of ailments. This world didn’t have antibiotics but the alchemist potions had taken the same role. The seller even briefly displayed potions aiming to help with erectile dysfunction. What the heck is he doing? Edward grew flustered.

Apart from the healing aspect, a whole part of the shop was oriented towards progressing to the next stage. Numerous potions were advertising a safe passage from a normal human to the quiescent level or even to the awaken level. To reach the awaken level, taking only one potion was insufficient, but one could subscribe to a program prescribing a potion a week for one month. While the price for the quiescent level potions wasn’t too costly, still far below the gold level at least, it wasn’t the case for the others. To reach the awaken level, the price was fifty silver coins per potion, for a total of two gold coins at the end of the program.

No adverts were made to lead someone from the awaken to the predator stage. The requirements in blood essence were just too high to be covered by simple potions. It was still possible in theory, but it would require either higher-ranked monsters or countless potions. The resulting price would also be sky-high, and only the three main families would be able to afford it. However, they probably didn’t want to spend this much for someone who would have no fighting experience and would be nothing but a flower pot with a lacking fighting power compared to his stage.

Edward inquired about the week of delay in the ingestion of potions. The seller looked a little uncomfortable. “Our potions are potent. Taking too many of them in a short time could produce secondary effects. One week of delay is to ensure that our clients stay perfectly safe.”

I see, while consuming potions occasionally is safe, gorging on them is not without consequences. That might also be another reason why they are not proposing a program to reach the predator stage with potions.

Edward paid his due and left the store, taking the three healing syringes with him. It cost a lot but it was worth it. Having nothing more to do, Edward strolled into the city. He was now somewhat familiar with Gobéliard but he wanted to know exactly where the three main families were located. Until now, he had identified the Vega mansion in the roman style and the Potentia mansion in the elfish style. It had been the first mansion he had seen in Gobéliard, realizing only later that he belonged to the Potentia family. To save time, he bought a map of the city from a small sundries shop.

I should have done that earlier.

Thanks to it he easily managed to find the Regalis mansion. It looked like a mix between a huge English mansion and a castle. It was entirely made out of stone and was imposing thanks to its sheer size and its architectural style. The mansion even had its own crenelated towers.

They don’t do it halfway. It looks more like a king’s dwelling than a noble family mansion. Though it is curious how each family has its own architectural style. Since they are just branches of their main family, they must originate from very different places.

Edward didn’t want to fight all the families at the same time, fighting Quintus alone would be challenging enough, but he wanted to at least know where their headquarters was.

The map he had bought was also mentioning the smaller families’ houses. Edward walked in front of some of them. While they looked like nice mansions, they were very far from the huge complex of the main families. Even though the style was different, contrary to the extravagant style of the main families, they were in tune with the local design. Gobéliard looked like a medieval city, and those mansions were made from wood and plaster not denoting the neighboring houses.

Having located where the different families were located Edward went back to the tavern he had booked a room in. He spent the rest of the day in meditation waiting for the night. Once the time was right, he went to meet the beggar he had hired.

“Do you have news for me?” he asked.

“Yes, I don’t know what exactly you want to know. But the main event today is a group of five adventurers coming into the guild and inquiring about a certain Edward. They looked quite distressed when they learned he had passed away in the expedition against the Lusus naturae.”

Five? Charles is with Aquamarine, Norte, and Brian only. Did Leyla come back with them?