Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

"Ding-a-ling," the bell hanging near the gate of the martial arts technique rang as the gate was pushed open, and Mary, who was tidying up the counter, immediately looked up.

"You've arrived, Mr. Salmu." She recognized him through the dim candlelight and immediately stopped what she was doing with a smile.

"Hello, Miss Mary." Uncle Musa politely took off his hat. Although Mary had suggested meeting that evening, he had refused. The meeting was postponed to two days later. During this time, he tried various methods to find out information about the owner behind the "Undying Alchemy Workshop," but his gains were very limited.

One theory is that the workshop originally belonged to a mysterious old woman, but now she is too old to do anything but brew medicine, and Mary is her distant relative who sells the medicine here and also runs other businesses.

Another theory is that the workshop had already been bought by church forces, and it seems that a large school was to be built there. Mary was just working for the church, but which church it was is a matter of much speculation.

However, at the Craftsmen's Guild, Musa heard that almost all the craftsmen in the town had close ties with the alchemy workshop and the "White Shell" merchant guild behind it. He asked the craftsmen, and they all spoke highly of Miss Mary, even referring to her as the "Queen of Orders" of the entire Gieshorn.

"I've heard that once you're invited to the meeting room in the warehouse, everyone comes out with a smile on their face." Musa sized up Mary in front of him. He knew that the praise she received was inseparable from the boss standing behind her. "The size of this chamber of commerce, and its name, make it hard not to make connections."

For a fleeting moment, Musa thought that the owner behind the alchemy workshop was Charles Mello. This was not only because of the name of the merchant guild, but also because the guild had risen very quickly, in just over a month. Charles had previously been responsible for many affairs in the baron's territory, and dealing with those merchant guilds was one of them. Not to mention that Vivian's letter said that "brother has received the blessing of the gods."

However, upon closer examination, he became skeptical of this idea. Young Master Charles had never studied magic, let alone alchemy or potion making. As Baron Mello's chief bodyguard, he had some contact with alchemists and knew that becoming a qualified alchemist was not an easy task.

Moreover, Ciel is practically penniless right now, if not completely broke. To buy this seemingly decent alchemy workshop while maintaining the "buy 10 get 1 free" promotion on healing potions would require an enormous sum of money.

"Perhaps the boss has some connection with Charles, or perhaps he's hiding behind the workshop owner, helping him run this merchant guild." After much deliberation, Musa finally came up with what he considered a plausible idea. "Then when we meet that boss later, we need to subtly probe and try to find out about Charles."

"My boss has arrived and is waiting for you, Mr. Salmu. Would you like to meet him directly now, or...?" Mary asked politely.

"Now," Musa nodded, then followed Mary into the alchemy workshop.

After passing through a corridor piled with medicines and goods, he was led to a dimly lit reception room with only a few candles lit around it. A strangely dressed man on the sofa did not get up, but instead extended his gloved hand to indicate that Musa should sit opposite him.

"This person is wrapped up very tightly," Musa frowned. He stared at the other person, who was very short, only about the height of a child, and all his skin was covered. The only thing visible was a pair of large green eyes. "There's something wrong. It's going to be very troublesome to get information about Young Master Charles today."

He sat calmly opposite the other person and waited for them to ask a question.

…………

When Charles heard Mr. Salmu suggest postponing the meeting by two days, he didn't think much of it, since Mr. Salmu's suggestion had indeed been somewhat hasty.

But these past two days, Little John came specifically to tell him that this Mr. Salmu was inquiring about him through various channels. If he weren't a goblin who couldn't appear in Giraffe Town, and therefore no one could give him any definite information, then Mr. Salmu would have found out about his habit of drinking golden camellia tea.

"Such a cautious investigation doesn't seem like someone who's here to do business," Charles pondered for a long time. "From our previous trade exchanges, I couldn't tell that the old gentleman was like this at all."

Could it be that my expansion during this period has been too obvious, with the entire town of Giraffe revolving around the "White Shell" Chamber of Commerce, attracting the attention of those with ulterior motives?

"That does seem to be a problem," he said, stroking his chin as he recalled the events of the past. "The Chamber of Commerce kept sending out orders and taking in a lot of goods, but not many items were shipped out. Although it seemed fine on the surface, anyone who paid attention would notice this flaw. The things that were brought in just vanished without a trace, like a stone thrown into the sea."

"It seems that Mr. Salmu first came to our door after the Brotherhood of Storms was wiped out," Charles thought, feeling increasingly uneasy. "At that time, I had just launched a buy-10-get-1-free promotion on healing potions and had also started ordering a lot of beds and weapons from Girth."

"It seems the Valentine family isn't entirely incompetent. Someone clearly saw the problem through the Brotherhood of Storms and even pinpointed the Alchemy Workshop."

He pondered how to deal with this situation: should he simply eliminate this old man Salmu, or should he abandon the stronghold in Giraffe Horn and bring Mary back?

After much deliberation, Charles was undecided. "We can't kill them; that would alert them. Right now, everything is just speculation. Perhaps they're just a cautious merchant. Besides, the 'Undying' workshop is the tribe's only window to the outside world, and a large amount of supplies need to pass through here. If we abandon it, Mary and John's identities will be in jeopardy."

These two are now deeply bound to themselves, or rather, to their race. Whether it's the [Heart of the Warrior] effect provided by Little John or the large amount of information and observations that Mary sends over every day, the entire race can move forward more steadily.

"These are all my speculations. If the other party is one of Earl Valentine's men, then there's no need for them to beat around the bush with me. They could just have the police arrest Mary and shut down the shop." Charles frowned and pondered. "They've caused so much trouble, it seems they have big ambitions. We need to be careful."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Salmu," Charles said in a deliberately hoarse voice, and the other man did not speak, but simply nodded seriously.

"This is our first time meeting."