Meanwhile, in the Ironblood Fortress, at the Gilded Fang Merchant Guild—
Marquis Hormay swirled the crimson liquid in his wine glass, his expression relaxed.
"Marquis, the grain supply in Aspiration City is now completely under the control of the Ironblood Alliance."
"As a result, the price of grain throughout Aspiration City has risen sharply. Even if we were to start reselling it now, we could make a huge profit."
President Nelson licked his lips in excitement.
The feeling of manipulating grain prices in this way gave him a deep sense of satisfaction.
Even the high-and-mighty nobles, faced with food shortages, could only bow and scrape before him—begging this merchant for grain.
Even though they had to buy it at a price far higher than usual, they still had to keep expressing their gratitude.
"Mm. It seems things are progressing even more smoothly than we expected."
"From here on, keep a close watch. We absolutely cannot allow Fruitvale Village to obtain enough grain."
"And make sure that none of the grain sold at high prices ever makes its way back into Fruitvale Village's hands!"
"This winter, I want to see the commoners of Fruitvale Village fleeing in droves, the serfs enduring famine, and the territory's finances collapsing completely!"
Marquis Hormay licked his lips, stained with the crimson liquid, his face also showing a trace of pleasure.
Even if he could not send troops, there were still many ways for him to bring down a territory!
"Yes, Lord Hormay," Nelson accepted the order, then continued,
"The potion industry in Fruitvale Village has also suffered heavy losses."
"According to the information, the apothecary shop in Aspiration City has already closed down.
They clearly no longer have enough berries to make potions and were forced to withdraw from the potion business."
Hearing the words of the president of the Gilded Fang Merchant Guild, Marquis Hormay gave a small nod.
All of this was within his expectations.
This time, the potion industry of Aspiration City was not just about Fruitvale Village — almost all apothecaries had suffered devastating blows.
Without enough berries, these apothecaries had absolutely no way to concoct any potions!
For the Gilded Fang Merchant Guild, this was undoubtedly an excellent opportunity to seize control of the potion industry.
Marquis Hormay pondered for a moment, then asked,
"How is the recruitment of apothecaries coming along?"
"Rest assured, my lord — right now the number of idle potion makers in Aspiration City is extremely high," Nelson quickly reported.
"In the absence of enough berries to brew potions, many apothecaries have chosen to join the Gilded Fang Merchant Guild.
"With their help, all those berries we bought up will be continuously turned into potions.
The Gilded Fang Merchant Guild will completely dominate the potion industry — it shouldn't take too long for that to happen."
Nelson added that the Guild currently had stockpiled an enormous quantity of berries.
Unlike wheat or other grains, berries could not be stored for long, so they had to be quickly made into potions before they spoiled.
"Mm, very good. With these potions, we can make a huge profit again," Marquis Hormay said with satisfaction.
He lifted his glass of red wine and clinked it in midair with the Merchant Guild president opposite him.
…
Lately, life had been a little hard for Apothecary Harlan.
Because of Aspiration City's apothecary shop, which had almost monopolized the city's potion trade,
even though he was a formally certified apothecary, he simply could not compete.
Inside that shop sat both Aven and Master Olai — there was no chance of winning against them.
On top of that, the potions in that shop were sold at prices far lower than what Harlan could offer.
This caused both nobles and commoners alike to treat the shop as their go-to source for potions.
Whenever he thought of the price of the healing potions sold there,
his face still showed a mix of shock and disbelief.
Healing potions were capable of mending many types of injuries and were among the most widely used potions.
However, producing them required a great many rare materials, and when you added the labor cost of an apothecary, the price naturally became very high.
Yet, in that apothecary shop, the price of a healing potion was slashed in half!
Harlan truly could not imagine how they could possibly make money selling healing potions at such a price.
After all, just the materials alone cost that much, and when you added the potion maker's labor,
it was purely a losing business — yet that shop still did it.
It was only later, through certain channels, that he learned the truth —
Apothecary Aven had mastered a new formula for brewing healing potions, one that could drastically lower the production cost.
This completely wiped out the business of a great many potion makers.
During this time, Harlan had seen numerous colleagues who, unable to sustain their research,
had defected to nobles and wealthy merchants.
Some had even given up the profession entirely.
The apothecary shop in Aspiration City, run by Boss Hawke — who used to manage the city's apothecary liaison point — became an attractive choice,
drawing in large numbers of apothecaries.
Some even traveled to Fruitvale Village, pledging themselves directly to the Earl of the Southeastern Border.
After all, in addition to Master Olai, that place also boasted more advanced potion-making techniques.
"Earl of the Southeastern Border, Aven!"
Harlan gritted his teeth hard as Aven's figure surfaced in his mind.
Once upon a time, that mere little commoner had become a towering figure he now had to look up to —
a lofty, high-ranking noble!
"Hmph! So what if you're a noble now? You've offended the Ironblood Marquis — your road has already come to an end!"
With a sudden cold snort, Harlan found his mood much improved.
With the closure of Aspiration City's apothecary shop, he felt a surge of satisfaction.
He could already picture the regret on the faces of those colleagues who had joined Fruitvale Village.
That village could barely protect itself now — how could it have the spare resources to look after those potion makers?
Still, the rising price of berries had also hit him hard.
Even if he could still buy them, the cost of brewing potions was now so high that they were very difficult to sell.
In such a situation, Harlan felt he needed to find another path.
Perhaps pledging himself to a noble truly was a good choice — his options were already very limited.
Knock, knock, knock—
Just then, Harlan heard a sudden knocking at the door.
Puzzled, he went to open it, only to see a middle-aged man dressed like a butler standing there.
"Apothecary Harlan, hello."
"I am a steward from the Gilded Fang Merchant Guild.
Would you be willing to have a chat with me?"
The steward's words made Harlan freeze for a moment.
His eyes flickered slightly before he hurriedly invited the man inside.
"Good day, Mr. Steward. I wonder, what brings you here?" Harlan asked.
After sitting down, the steward took a document from his breast pocket and handed it over with a smile.
"Mm, I believe Apothecary Harlan has already guessed —
we would like to hire you to serve the Gilded Fang Merchant Guild!"
…
Fruitvale Village, Pokémon Breeding House.
The apothecaries were still brewing potions as usual,
seemingly unaware of what was happening in the outside world.
Sometimes, ignorance was indeed a kind of bliss —
at least for these apothecaries, who continued to steadily turn out potions day after day.
However, bit by bit, they began to notice something strange:
the number of berries delivered each day was decreasing.
In their place, more and more unfamiliar materials were showing up —
including leaves from unknown trees, wild grasses, and even roots.
Just as everyone was puzzled, Aven arrived at the Pokémon Breeding House and began to explain.
"What you're holding in your hands now is called Energy Grass.
Through a certain method, it can be made into wound medicine.
"Although the healing effect of this wound medicine is far inferior to that of healing potions,
it works quite well for treating external injuries.
"Most importantly, Energy Grass grows abundantly in the Black Forest,
making it possible to produce large quantities of wound medicine for simple treatment of injuries."
"And this purple herb here is Detoxifying Herb — its color makes it easy to recognize.
However, you must still be careful when handling it, because raw Detoxifying Herb cannot be eaten."
Listening to Aven's explanation, the apothecaries present all wore confused expressions.
It was clear that in their regular work, they had never handled such common wild herbs before.
They had no idea that these plants were in fact medicinal herbs —
and that, with special methods, they could be turned into unique potions!
However, remembering the other potion formulas that Lord Aven possessed,
their faces soon lit up with joy.
Clearly, they were excited at the thought of learning brand-new potion recipes.
Looking back on their earlier decision, they now felt incredibly fortunate.
Had they not joined Fruitvale Village, they would never have known that potions could be brewed this way!
"Lord Aven, please teach us the methods for brewing these potions!"
Teacher Olai's face was full of fervor.
After this period of learning, he had completely mastered the fermentation method of potion brewing,
and had even developed new recipes based on it.
Now, seeing these herbs before him,
his eyes burned with deep interest.
He could sense that this must be yet another entirely new method of potion-making,
and that the variety of materials would likely open up even more possibilities!
"Don't worry — I will teach you the brewing methods for all of these potions," Aven said with a small smile.
Then he took out a piece of tree root.
"Let me continue the introductions. This is Energy Root, a relatively rare medicinal ingredient.
"By grinding it, you can make Energy Powder.
Its effect is similar to that of a healing potion — it can be consumed directly,
helping humans or Pokémon recover their stamina.
Its results are in no way inferior to a healing potion."
(End of chapter)
TN: I'm not really sure about the Detoxifying Herb here, doesn't really know if this is a real Pokémon herb or not. Only one, I'm sure of is the Energy Grass with was originally called Vitality Grass along with the Energy Root which was called Vitality Grass.
So, if you guys know about the other two, please let me know. Now, I'm going to sleep.