The Rumored Alchemist

"Chevalier-sama, please, I beg of you."
At Oyugok City, I was buying some foodstuffs and seasonings from the same store that I usually go to. Then, the head merchant introduces me to this middle-aged merchant who suddenly bows his head down.
"Oi! You're being too sudden and troubling Chevalier-sama."
"M-my apologies, you see--."
The middle-aged merchant calms down a bit and begins explaining. To summarize, he was ordered by one of his clients to obtain the light stone accessories made by 'Trismegistus'.
"He even said he would stop business with me until I could acquire them... If I lose such a big customer, my business will be doomed. Please, I need a letter of introduction to Mr Trismegistus."
Even if you beg me like that, there's not much I can do.
"O-of course, you will be rewarded as handsomely as possible. In addition to money, I'll take you to all the shops with excellent food and beautiful women--."
I couldn't care less about the money, but I am extremely interested in the shops recommended by a wealthy merchant.
The food of course, but also the women. Lately I've been pretty abstinent, so it's only natural that I would be interested that kind of night entertainment.
However--.
"My apologies, I don't believe I can fulfill that request."
"N-no! I beg of you! You don't need to write anything good about me, just a normal letter of introduction is fine."
Writing a letter to an imaginary person just feels kinda scammy.
"T-then, could you please tell me Mr Trismegistus's address?"
Unfortunately, no matter how much the middle-aged merchant begs me, that's not possible.
He only exists in my head...
"Chevalier-sama, could you let us sell the light stone accessories with you as the middle-man?"
The middle-aged merchant suggests splitting the profits, but I shake my head.
Although I can easily make over a hundred of them in an hour, they are an important tool for connecting with the nobles. They'll lose rarity if I let them into the open market.
To the nobles, the rarity and the design have nearly equal importance.
"Chevalier-sama, please help him out. I'll make sure to give a proper discount on our further business."
The head merchant sees my refusal and throws in an additional reward, or rather, a discount.
No, no, I really couldn't care less about the money.
"I would love to introduce you, but I only met him while traveling in the Muno Barony and have not seen him since."
After hearing my made-up story, the middle-aged merchant's face fills with despair. If this were a manga, he would have vertical lines streaking down his entire face.
It would be pretty heartless of me to just leave him like this, and I would feel bad whenever I shop here again.
--Oh right.
"The light stone accessories that I use as gifts in the tea parties are limited in number, so I cannot hand them over. However, maybe this would allow you to save face."
From the Garage Bag, I take out the set of twelve 'Eerie-looking Zodiac Dolls'.
I had made these failures earlier, at the same time as the light stone accessories. The bodies are carved from crystal and they have light stones embedded into the eyes.
They were made during one of my trial runs of the [Polish] spell, and they have runes based on the zodiac carved into them.
These are the only copies, so at least the rarity is high. They still look pretty creepy though.
"Y-you'll let me have these?"
The middle-aged merchant's voice is trembling. He must be freaked out by the creepy dolls.
"You have my eternal gratitude, Chevalier-sama! My business is saved. I will never forget this as long as I live."
I had thought he would be disappointed, but I got the opposite reaction.
As the middle-aged merchant gives me his exaggerated praise, I feel a bit ashamed of myself. I ended up handing over the dolls and leaving early, not able to buy anything.
The next day, the middle-aged merchant's payment of 500 gold coins arrived.
Just how much did he manage to sell them for...
Afterwards, when I was visiting a certain noble, I almost spit out my tea when they started bragging about the dolls. I barely managed to get through with the help of the Pokerface skill.
I would also go on to chase after the night butterflies along with the middle-aged merchant and his friends, but that is a story for another day...
There are some stories that are better left untold.