CHAPTER 110: THE REQUESTED INGREDIENT

When Shaan looked at the building from the outside, he froze. For some reason, the house looked... quite old. The wall paint had started to fade and peel off. Not only that, he clearly saw a long crack stretching across the wall, wide enough for him to peek through and see the inner layer behind it.

"It seems like the owner of this place hasn’t taken care of it at all. What if the building suddenly collapses?" Shaan shook his head. "That would definitely cause a huge problem."

"Hey, Shaan. Why are you just standing there?" Nalira called out from the front entrance. "Come on, Mr. Courier is already inside."

"Oh, right. I’m coming."

As soon as Shaan stepped inside, a sharp smell hit him. The scent reminded him of alcohol, but strangely, he also caught a strong hint of herbal plants.

’Damn, even my head’s starting to hurt from this smell,’ Shaan muttered, gently rubbing his forehead. ’How can anyone stand staying in a place that smells this weird?’

Shaan looked toward Nalira, who stood a few steps ahead. She seemed to feel the same way he did. He noticed her pulling out a piece of white cloth from her pocket and covering her nose with it.

"Excuse me." Mr. Courier walked over to the wooden table and knocked on it with his hand. "We need some ingredients to make a potion."

"...."

"Strange, where is the owner of this shop?" Mr. Courier scratched his head and frowned. "I’ll try calling him again, maybe this time he’ll hear me."

Mr. Courier knocked on the surface again, louder and longer than before. But strangely, the result stayed the same—no sign of anyone around, except the three of them.

"Mr. Courier, are you sure the shop owner is here?" Shaan looked around. "This place is very quiet, and there is nothing to be seen except a collection of old wooden shelves around this place."

"I can’t say for sure, Shaan," said the courier. "However, based on my calculations, the probability is around 40-50%."

" She furrowed her brow. "So in other words, the shop owner might be—"

’CRACK!’

"What was that?" Shaan’s face tensed. "You both heard that, right?"

Mr courier nodded and slowly pointed to the side. "The sound came from over there. Right behind that wooden shelf."

"... Then we need to check it out right away."

The three of them quickly walked toward the source of the sound. As they got closer, they heard someone grumbling. Realizing this, they picked up their pace until they finally saw an old woman crouching on the floor, gathering something.

"Ugh, this shelf collapsed again," the white-haired woman muttered while collecting bottles scattered across the floor. "Good thing I’ve replaced these bottles with plastic ones. Otherwise, I would’ve lost all my precious ingredients."

"Excuse me," Mr courier called out, trying to get the old woman’s attention.

But she didn’t respond at all. She just kept picking up the bottles, completely unaware of Mr courier’s voice.’ Strange... What’s wrong with this old woman? Why doesn’t she react at all? Is she ignoring him on purpose?’

"Oh, my goodness, I forgot." Mr. Courier slapped his forehead. "Sir Marshal once told me that this old woman has hearing problems. So, when talking to her, we have to speak quite loudly." He cleared his throat and raised his voice a little. "Excuse me!"

The woman stopped for a moment, then slowly raised her head. "Who are you?" she asked as she placed the bottles into a small wooden box beside her.

"Sorry to bother you, but we need some ingredients to make a potion—" "What!" shouted the old woman with an annoyed expression. "What are you saying, young man? I can’t hear you clearly at all."

"We need ingredients to make a potion," said Shaan in a slightly louder voice than before.

"Oh, yes, yes." The old woman nodded her head. "What ingredients do you need?"

Without saying a word, Nalira immediately pulled out the paper Dr. Marshal had given them and handed it to the old woman. She took the paper and adjusted her glasses.

"Oh, Velune leaf powder. Someone came by a few days ago and bought a large amount of this," the shop owner said. "I’m just not sure if there’s any left."

"Someone?" Mr. Courier paused for a moment. "Did you see his face?"

The old woman slowly shook her head. "No. That person wore a gray hoodie and a mask that completely covered their face, so I couldn’t see it clearly," she explained. "They didn’t say a single word. Just handed me a note just like you did and left after paying for the ingredients."

"Hmm... It seems that person has been to places like this quite often, because he knows this old woman has hearing problems," said Shaan, stroking his chin. "But... But who is the person this old woman is talking about? What does he need all that material for?"

"Now, come with me. I’ll take you to the shelf where I store these ingredients." The old woman stood up, then walked slowly. "Come on, follow me."

While walking behind the old woman, Shaan could see so many kinds of strange ingredients that looked quite strange and terrifying. Starting from jars filled with strange liquids ranging from dark black to red, to the body parts of creatures of darkness (eyes, fangs, and internal organs).

He even spotted several corpses of dark creatures, carefully preserved inside large plastic jars, their grotesque forms fully visible for anyone to see. The sight hit him hard. His stomach twisted, and the foul smell from earlier grew even stronger, almost overwhelming him. He clenched his jaw, trying not to gag.

’Damn it... This is exactly why I hate biology. Weird stuff like this just makes me sick,’ Shaan muttered to himself, struggling to hold back the nausea creeping up his throat.

"Just hang in there, Shaan. We’re almost out of here."

Not long after, the old woman stopped in front of a wooden shelf labeled "Powder Shelf." She raised her hand, signaling them to stay completely silent as she began searching for the specific powder they needed.

"While I look for the ingredient, let me warn you one thing: Do not touch anything, do not move any jars, and absolutely do not open any of these powder containers by mistake," she said, her voice low but firm. "Some powders can trigger hallucinations or strong sleep effects the moment their lids are opened. So whatever you do, don’t touch a thing."

She paused for a moment, then turned her body to face them directly.

"Do you understand? "

"Yes, we understand," they all replied at once.

While the old woman carefully searched through the shelf, Shaan stood still, staring at the rows of small powder jars lined up neatly in front of him. The sheer variety stunned him—countless colors, some powders so visually identical that he couldn’t imagine how anyone could tell them apart.

’Jeez... You’d need years of experience just to memorize all of this,’ he thought, shaking his head.

’Incredible. This old woman must have a memory like a steel trap.’

"The ingredient you’re looking for should be around here somewhere," the old woman muttered, scanning the second row of the storage rack. "But, it looks like you may have—Ah, here it is." She slowly pulled out a small plastic bottle from the shelf. "Looks like you’re lucky. There’s exactly one bottle left."