Chapter 12: Chapter 12: You're Right, So Where's My Medicine?
Gurgle, gurgle.
The carriage was traveling along the road.
Although it was well-known that the large-scale Spring Fountain Guild was single-handedly founded by the elves living in the forests of the eastern continent, people were still surprised that those aloof elves who seemed to have no desires would actually leave the forest to do business.
In fact, even Eve's fellow tribesmen initially thought the same way.
When she first proposed the idea of setting up a guild, her father, the tribal chief, was the first to express his opposition... After all, it would be unseemly for the elves, renowned for their beauty and tranquility, to get involved in the foul-smelling matters of money and profit.
But later on, Eve quickly silenced all those who opposed her with the huge profits she brought in. The tribe even sent out the oldest and most experienced elder, Maelan, who had spent almost his entire life so far researching martial arts, to serve as her assistant and bodyguard to accompany her.
Elves have long lifespans, which seems to be naturally suited for doing business.
This is because there are quite a few contracts in this world that become invalid due to the old age or death of the parties involved, but this is obviously not a problem for elves—because they can even outlive your next three generations.
Moreover, to be honest, elves who pursue good virtues and have generally higher qualities are somewhat more trustworthy than most human merchants.
Of course, it would be impossible to become the rapidly developing Spring Fountain Guild in just a few years by relying solely on these things.
What really allowed the Spring Fountain Guild to earn its first pot of gold, and even become a best-seller throughout the southern continent to this day, is a drug called "Elf Medicine", which in Lister's words is a first-generation oral cephalosporin.
As for when exactly this rapidly iterating and updating Elf Medicine came into existence, and how it came to be in the hands of the Spring Fountain Guild... that remains unknown.
...
"Elder Maelan~ Are we there yet~?"
Inside the carriage, the silver-eyed girl poked her head out and called out to Maelan, who was sitting in the front driving, in a drawling voice.
"We can arrive before dark."
"Sigh... I should have brought that flying magic device... What if Owen runs away while we're on our way?"
"He won't, Eve. If he still wants to stay in the church, then he must stay in White River Town."
"Eh..."
Eve disappointedly withdrew her head back into the carriage. Seeing Eve like this, Maelan smiled helplessly.
Eve, who had already passed the age of 300 and reached adulthood, did not become calm and steady with age like most of her fellow tribesmen. She still maintained a strong curiosity and adventurous spirit.
Moreover, long-lived races and humans have very different concepts of time. The ten or so years since the founding of the guild probably felt like yesterday to her, including meeting Mr. Lister... Even though their last meeting was nearly three years ago, there was no indication of any unfamiliarity with him in Eve's tone.
Compared to Maelan, Eve was still a bit too young. She was not yet aware that three years is already a relatively long time for a human.
Thinking of this, Maelan shook his head helplessly.
Lister was the first human this child had contact with, and also the human she had the most contact with... Who knows if this is good or bad.
"When we find Lister, I'm going to make him stay with me in the Spring Fountain Guild for a year... No, that seems a bit long, half a year? Mm, just half a year. It's his fault for owing me so many gold coins and not paying me back, hehe~ I'm going to tell him that abandoning his fiancée and ignoring her is a terrible thing to do."
Hearing Eve's words from inside the carriage, Maelan continued to drive the carriage in silence.
What's more troublesome is that she has fallen in love with this human.
Elves do not fall in love easily, but once they do, it is a long-lasting love that lasts at least a hundred years.
So Maelan never thought of trying to persuade her from the beginning, because he knew it would be futile.
But when Eve's feelings truly begin to bloom, only to find that the human she loves is already a dying ember in the wind... What will she think then?
Despite thinking this way, Maelan still called out to Eve in the carriage:
"Eve, business is business. The money that should be collected still needs to be collected. You can't mix too much personal feelings into business dealings."
Hearing Maelan's words, Eve pouted and responded:
"Elder Maelan, have you forgotten? Our Spring Fountain Guild is renowned for its long-term, effective, and lifelong credibility. So our business path is one of exchanging sincerity for sincerity. It can't go on without feelings."
"...Then haven't you invested too much sincerity in him?"
"Anyway, it's Lister, so what does it matter."
"That's true."
"From the looks of it, he won't be able to stay in the Saint Viliana Kingdom for long. And it just so happens that he still owes me a huge amount of gold coins. When the time comes, I'll lure him back to the tribe to take on my surname. Then there won't be any issues about money... Lister Holywood, mm, it sounds quite nice..."
"..."
Maelan sighed.
Ah, elves.
...
Inside White River Town, at midnight, Owen sat in Lister's original small house with a gloomy expression.
According to the church's rules, the property of a sinner would be confiscated by the church. So at this moment, this ownerless small house became the temporary residence of Owen, whose house had been demolished by a giant dragon.
Judging from the reactions of those unruly people today, trying to squeeze money out of them was simply a pipe dream. But if he didn't find a way to rebuild the church, he would be no different from a bare-stick commander...
What should he do? Should he go and try to pressure that somewhat scary-looking town chief...
"Priest Owen..."
Just as Owen was pondering how to raise money, a young monk from the church came running in.
"Priest Owen, there are people from the Spring Fountain Guild outside right now, saying they want to come in and see you..."
"Spring Fountain Guild?"
Upon hearing this name, Owen's eyes instantly lit up.
Everyone knows that they are the richest group of people in the entire southern continent... When it comes to wealth, no one is richer than them!
However, Owen had obviously forgotten about the order from the Spring Fountain Guild that he had placed at the very bottom.
"Quick!"
Owen immediately waved his hand, instructing the young monk,
"Quickly invite them in!"
"Yes..."
The young monk immediately ran out, and then Eve and Maelan walked in from the doorway.
"Ch-Chairwoman Eve? Oh my, I, I didn't expect you to grace us with your presence. It truly makes me endlessly nervous..."
Seeing that the person who came was actually Eve, Owen's eyes nearly popped out. He seemed to see endless gold coins beckoning to him.
"..."
However, Eve had no intention of responding to Owen's words.
She quietly looked at Owen sitting in Lister's original position, her brows, like silver moonlight, furrowing tighter and tighter.
"...Elder Maelan."
"Understood."
"What... Eh, eh... Oh my!"
Maelan immediately understood and walked up, using the hilt of the long sword at his waist to lift Owen's collar, hoisting his entire fat body up and then tossing him to the side.
"You, you..."
Owen looked at the expressionless faces of Eve and Maelan, finally realizing... The purpose of these two's visit seemed to be somewhat different from what he had expected.
Eve walked over to the seat, kicked away the original chair in disgust, then took another clean chair from the side and placed it in front of Lister's desk before sitting down, crossing her hands and looking down at Owen on the ground.
"Greetings, Priest Owen."
At this moment, Eve's tone was as cold as a thin layer of ice. Her sitting posture was impeccable, her silver eyes shining, proving that she had already entered the role of "Spring Fountain Guild Chairwoman".
"I came here because I have a question I want to ask you."
"...Please, please ask..."
Although Owen's anger had already reached its peak at this moment, he was also soberly aware that the woman in front of him was an even more untouchable existence than the Magitech Armed Nun named Helen... The life and death of a low-level priest like himself might be worth less in her eyes than the cargo on a carriage.
"Where is Lister, the original owner of this room, now?"
"..."
Lister again... Lister again!
What the hell kind of guy is he? As soon as there's a problem, a bunch of people come looking for him, asking where Lister is...
Damn it. If he knew, wouldn't he have already rushed up to fight him to the death, instead of sitting here anxiously?!
Although he was cursing endlessly in his heart, Owen still managed to squeeze out an ugly smile and said to Eve:
"Chairwoman Eve, you may not know this, but not long ago, this place was just attacked by the Demon Lord..."
"I asked where Lister is."
"This..."
Owen hesitated for a moment, then said through gritted teeth:
"I, I don't know either."
"..."
Eve changed her posture, propping her face with her hand and tilting her head to look at Owen.
"You reported him, confiscated his property, sitting in his house... And now when I ask you where he is... You tell me you don't know?"
"..."
Hearing Eve's increasingly cold tone, Owen felt like crying but had no tears.
"I, I really don't know... That person has vanished like he evaporated since the Demon Lord came. I want to find him too..."
"...Sigh."
Eve sighed, then lazily pulled out an exquisite and luxurious piece of paper from the desk.
Seeing that piece of paper, Owen's eyes immediately shrank.
"You say you don't know where Lister is, that's fine. But you at least know about this thing, right?"
"That, that's the order between Lister and you, it has nothing to do with me!"
"Since you represent the church in receiving the property, then naturally this order is also yours now."
Eve stood up and placed the contents of the order in front of Owen again.
"Where's my medicine?"
"This, this..."
Owen looked at the words written on it, his expression growing more and more bitter.
Damn it, I don't even know what that is, how can I give it to you? With my head?
"I, I don't have it... Chairwoman Eve, I don't even know what this 'third-generation oral cephalosporin synthetic preparation' is..."
"Then it's simple, just find Lister who knows about it and bring him to me."
"I..."
Owen understood that Eve was just here to find fault with him today.
"Either give me the person or give me the goods. I don't care if you can do it or not. Anyway, the contents of the order will be handled like this."
Eve saw Owen's face looking like he was about to cry, stood up, and put the order into her bosom.
"I hope you can give me a satisfactory answer within three days. Otherwise... The Spring Fountain Guild, known for keeping its promises, will let you understand the consequences of breaching a contract."
"..."
Owen glanced at Maelan beside Eve, the long-famous elven old sword saint and his plain long sword at his waist, and couldn't help but swallow nervously.
There was no doubt that he would become a ghost under that sword.
And the lowest-ranking one among them at that.
"Let's go, Elder Maelan."
Just as Eve was about to leave this place, an elven attendant who had accompanied them hurried in and whispered a few words in Eve's ear.
"...Aurola? She set out?"
Hearing the news from the attendant, Eve's expression quickly turned ugly.
"Tsk, troublesome."
Eve frowned and quickly walked out of the room, returning to the carriage and taking out an exquisite wooden pendant.
The wood looked completely different from ordinary wood, but was transparent and clear like pure crystal, as if there was flowing light circulating within it.
This was one of the secret treasures of her tribe. Originally it was a pair that could locate each other's approximate position. Eve had used this in the past to ensure Lister was within her destination, and it also had a layer of meaning as her token of love.
But now... The information transmitted by the secret treasure was like a stone sinking into the sea, with no news at all.
The secret treasure would not be interfered with by ordinary spells. For such a powerful signal shielding effect to occur, either there was a 7th-rank or above mage who was proficient in such spells at work, or... The pendant's owner was within an extremely large range of an abnormal magic field.
"..."
Eve held the pendant and looked towards the south, that land shrouded in darkness and clouds.
"Demon Lord..."
Could it be that the absurd rumor of Lister being captured by the Demon Lord... was actually true?
...
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone