'Yes! Mercenaries.. I can just hire a mercenary group to gather the materials, unlike adventurers, they will immediately do what their client asked as soon as they got paid.. That's it!' Verima stood up and heads down to the first floor as fast as she could, she met with Seth once more and told him about her plan.
"Seth, i can save your mother.. But, i also need your help.." Verima said.
"W- what is it?" Seth was visibly shaking, he kept fidgeting his hands like someone in distress.
"Keep supporting your mother.. And don't ever let her lose hope.. Tell her that she will live, and that you will help her.. I know this might be hard for you to understand but.. Keep your mother alive." Verima's stared deeply into Seth, not just to his eyes, but also to his soul, her words wasn't a request, its an order, a demand that can't be denied.
Seth was frozen, his body went stiff as his mind raced to forge new thoughts and new level of understandings, he who should've been a normal kid was forced to face a battle that will determine the fate of his mother, the only person that he loved most after his dad left him.
"I..." He said. "—I'll do it.. I will keep my mom alive.. So, please.. Help me.."
"I will.. You don't have to worry about they money, you can pay me the rest whenever you want.. Now, let's go to your house, i'll check your mother's condition." Verima said as her spirit burns brightly at the sight of a helpless child and an ill mother.
.
.
6 Years ago—
"Verima.. you've become quite good at alchemy.." A man voice spoke from behind while Verima was grinding a bunch of wet leaves into pulp.
"Dad.." She said as she turned around, her dad was standing before her, watching her progress with a pair of eyes that tells nothing but relief.
At that time, Verima was living with her parents, not in a town, not in a village, but in a place high up on a mountain, a simple house made out of cobblestone and logs was placed behind both of them as the view of deep ravine stretches across the mountain edges infront of them, the wind was strong, and the birds were larger than what people usually see in any other place.
Multiple rocks protruded out of the ground, their tall, eccentric shape filled the area between where Verima lived and mountain goats with horn on their head was seen playfully eating the grass at the vast open plains.
"What are you making?" Verima's dad asked as he sat down beside her.
"It's a simple remedy for muscle sore, i grinded a few of Flarebloom leaves with a little bit of water, i plan to add this powder later, its a dried Humming Lavender sprigs." Verima responded calmly, she seems to be unbothered by her dad's presence.
"I see, those things are quite effective, but Flarebloom leaves can burn when it touches the skin right? Do you have something that can negate that effect?" Verima's dad asked again, he was trying to see how far his daughter's knowledge of medicine go.
"I have this." Verima then grabbed a small wooden bowl that was half-filled with some jelly-like substance. "Nightglow Tree Sap"
"Oohh.. That's a common solution for it." Her dad said, he praised Verima for her effort.
"Thanks, i found the tree when i was foraging yesterday, though the sap won't be as effective as it is at night, it's still good enough to detoxify the Flarebloom side effect." Verima explained.
She and her dad soon fell into silence as both of them ran out of topic to discuss, Verima continued with her potion making while her dad observed closely, the quietness goes for a whole minute, and while their mouth was shut, only the sound of Verima's grinder filled the surrounding along with the wind and its serene breeze.
Tack!
Tack!
Tack!
"Verima, can you promise dad one thing?" Verima's dad suddenly spoke out of nowhere, his voice was low and passive.
"What is it?" Verima replied, she still didn't look at her father directly.
"If you become an alchemist one day, i want you to prioritize helping others over potion research or profit." Her dad said before a strong wind blew from the horizon.
Woosh!
"..." Verima didn't know what to answer, no. Rather than doesn't know, she was more like hadn't ready to answer it yet.
Her dad waited for her answer, and Verima just kept her mouth closed, then with a quiet voice, Verima hesitantly spoke.
"S- sure.."
Hearing as how her voice was not all genuine, her dad could only smile and looked at his daughter with droopy eyes.
"It's fine if you had a different answer, what i wanted was, for you to atleast remember that you're not alone in this world." Her dad said before he stood up and left Verima alone, entering their house.
.
.
Back to when she was running towards Seth's house, Verima accidentally remembered her dad's words, and the promise that she made to him years ago.
Step!
Step!
Step!
'Dad.. I think i know what you meant.. At first, the reason why i became an alchemist was to sell as much potion as possible and make a lot of money so that we can live a better life.. But while i believed that making money is my goal, i also realized that.. The potions that i made, the potions that i sold to purely for profit.. All of them had somehow saved people.. Even if i failed to notice, i have always been saving people with my alchemy—
'There's a huge difference with not knowing that someone could've possibly died without my potion and knowing that someone could've possibly died without my potion..' Verima said to herself, her mind was filled with her long effort of studying alchemy, the memory of her reading a book while sitting at the edge of a ravine, the memory of her testing alchemy for the first time and failed, the memory of her successfully creating her first potion, it all came down to her in an instant.
That's what made Verima so adamant on saving Seth's mother, unlike what she was before who doesn't know about her ability to save people, now Verima felt like her effort was all worth it, and her relentless experiments have all been fruitful.
Verima eventually arrived at Seth's house, the place that he calls home was something that she never expected, a small open space between houses, the only way to get there through a shady and dark alleyway, it was all kind of pitiful. Verima quickly went inside and saw Seth's mother on the bed at her bedroom, she walked closer before noticing Seth's mother eyes looking at her.
"S- seth?..." She said quietly, her voice sounded nothing like a woman.
"Mom!.. Don't worry, mom.. She's here to help us!" Seth said, he tried to uplift his mother's spirit.
'She's almost on the brink of death.. She's incredibly malnutritioned, and from their house condition and also the fact that Seth gave me his pouch that was full of coin earler.. It seems like that was their entire saving..' Verima thought as she furrowed her eyebrows, unable to contain her worries for Seth's mother.
"Y- you're here for me?.." Seth's mother said, her voice was still the same as before.
"Yes, you don't have to worry now, i have accepted the payment, i'll do my best to treat you.. Please, let me say this request.. Stay alive, for Seth." Verima replied before she bowed down.
"...I will." Seth's mother said with a tear coming down from her eyes, even if her body was begging to go down, her soul was still holding on, and it was thanks to Seth.
"Thank you.." Verima replied before she turned her body and slowly walked out of the room.
"Where you're going miss!?" Seth asked, it seems like he didn't understand why Verima left just like that.
"I'll bring your mother the potion as soon as possible.. Remember my request, Seth." Verima said as her figure turned to the exit door and out of Seth's vision.
While Verima was walking, she accidentally stumble upon a cat wandering inside the house.
"Mraoww.." The cat meowed at Verima.
"A cat?.. Is it Seth's pet?.." Verima said, she stopped her walk to observe the cat a little longer.
"Meooww.." The cat meowed again before stretching her body and walked towards where Seth was at.
"Carlia!" Seth voice was heard, he seems happy to see the cat.
Verima ended up smiling, she thought that even when his situation was desperate and seems hopeless, he can still find a little joy through the simplest thing. In the end, Verima left the house and immediately went back to her shop, where she then prepared a few gold coins to hire a mercenary.