"Explain what, exactly?" Leon's face was blank, but inside he understood perfectly—this aggressive middle-aged man was almost certainly targeting him. Otherwise, why would he be so eager to throw accusations, one after another, as if it cost him nothing? Even if you don't need capital, you still need effort. What's he working so hard for?
Sure enough, just as Leon had this thought, the middle-aged man couldn't wait to speak again.
"The Gilded Rose is your property. Are you really unaware of any problems? You still need me to explain? Listen, Matthew Merlin, you'd better be honest and clarify the issues. Cooperate a little—your attitude toward admitting guilt will directly affect the severity of your punishment. Don't think you can get away with resisting. It won't do you or the Gilded Rose any good!"
The middle-aged man had presided over countless hearings and was extremely experienced in dealing with alchemy shop owners.
His most effective tactic was intimidation...
Don’t be fooled by these unscrupulous merchants acting all law-abiding. In reality, who hasn’t bent the rules a little? Most hearings go like this—intimidate them a bit, and these black-hearted merchants will confess everything, sometimes even things you didn’t want to know.
Honestly, the middle-aged man’s experience wasn’t wrong.
Unfortunately, this time he was facing the Gilded Rose...
From nothing to something, over ninety percent of the alchemical goods at the Gilded Rose were crafted by Leon himself. If there was any problem, how could Leon not know?
So the middle-aged man's attempt at intimidation only made Leon chuckle. "Then why don't you tell me—what exactly is wrong with the Gilded Rose?"
"You..." The middle-aged man's face turned ashen. Too arrogant, too reckless—not only refusing to explain, but even daring to mock him, mock the hearing's host, mock a Grand Alchemist. The man slammed the table and stood up, pointing at Leon. "Matthew Merlin, you'd better remember where you are. This is the Alchemist Guild, not a place for you to run wild. You'd better confess honestly, or else..."
"Are you threatening me?" Leon still wore a smile, but his eyes narrowed slightly as he stared back at the middle-aged man, refusing to back down.
"Master Merlin, we're just following procedure, not trying to threaten you." Seeing the confrontation escalating, another middle-aged man hurriedly intervened. After calming Leon, he patted his colleague's shoulder. "Alright, Granger, let me handle the next questions."
"Hmph!" Granger glared fiercely at Leon, then snorted coldly and sat back down.
"Master Merlin, let me introduce myself. My name is Bartholomew. Together with Granger, I'm responsible for this hearing. We just have a few questions for you today."
"Alright, ask away."
"First, I'd like to ask, Master Merlin: Yesterday at ten in the morning, did the Gilded Rose hold an alchemy press conference? And during the event, did you release a potion called the Elixir of Hope, claiming it could easily bring a mage apprentice to ninth rank?"
"Yes."
"Good. Second question: Was the last bottle of Elixir of Hope purchased by a third-rank mage apprentice named Cliff, for the price of two hundred thousand gold coins?"
"Yes."
"One last question, Master Merlin: Can you confirm that this Elixir of Hope truly works as advertised by the Gilded Rose—allowing a mage apprentice to reach ninth rank easily, and with no side effects?"
"Yes."
"Alright, I have no further questions." Bartholomew nodded and fell silent, busy scribbling notes on his paper.
"Matthew Merlin, I have to say, this is a truly pathetic scam." Granger stood up again, looking at Leon as if he were a fool. "I don't know about your magical skills, but honestly, your alchemy is subpar. When you planned this scam, did you even bother to check the basics?"
As he spoke, Granger picked up a book from the table and tossed it heavily in front of Leon.
If Granger's earlier words were just intimidation, this act was outright insulting. Of course Leon wouldn't pick it up—this was even more humiliating than picking up soap. He simply glanced down. It was a copy of 'A History of Alchemy.' Leon had seen it in the Sage's Spire library before; it contained almost no actual alchemical knowledge, mostly just stories of important figures and events in alchemy's development.
"See, the knowledge is right at your feet, and you won't even bend down for it." Granger's face was full of mockery, but also a confident sense of victory. "If you bothered to read this book, you wouldn't have left so many holes in your scam. On page thirteen, it clearly states: In thousands of years of alchemical history, only seventeen potions have ever allowed a mage apprentice to reach ninth rank easily. Each one is a masterpiece worthy of the ages, and even the cheapest sold for at least one and a half million gold coins. Yet your Gilded Rose only priced the so-called Elixir of Hope at two hundred thousand. I don't know whether to call you naïve or just stupid. When did the Gilded Rose become so charitable?"
"Then what price should we set?"
"You should set the price..." Granger started to answer, then caught himself and quickly changed course. "What do I care what price you set? That's not the point. The point is, your Gilded Rose scam has already caused serious consequences!"
"What consequences?"
"What consequences? Heh, you'll find out soon enough." Granger shot Leon a cold look, then called over a staff member. After a few whispered instructions, the staffer quickly left the conference room.
About ten minutes later, the staffer returned, bringing with him a young mage apprentice, around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old.
"Now, let me introduce everyone—this is Mage Apprentice Cliff, the one who bought the Elixir of Hope for two hundred thousand gold coins. Cliff, could you please recall what happened after you drank that potion?"
"Yes..." Cliff was clearly unaccustomed to such a public scene. Standing before so many Grand Mages and Grand Alchemists, his face was tense and his eyes flickered with anxiety. "That day... I just wanted to buy a few enchanted scrolls. I didn’t expect the Gilded Rose to be holding an alchemy press conference, and I happened to be first in line. At the time... I thought, with a shop as big as the Gilded Rose, they wouldn’t lie to me, right? Plus, I was a little desperate to become a ninth-rank mage apprentice, so... I spent two hundred thousand gold coins and bought that damned Elixir of Hope."
"And then?"
"Then... they persuaded me to drink the Elixir of Hope right there, and I did. As soon as I drank it, I really felt my magical power surging—jumping from third rank to fourth, then fifth, and finally all the way to ninth rank. I thought I’d gotten lucky. Everyone was congratulating me, and more people kept asking when the next Elixir of Hope would go on sale. But then..."
"And then what happened?"
"When I got home, I couldn’t wait to meditate and stabilize my new magical power. But then I realized—I couldn’t meditate at all. And the magic I’d gained was fading fast. I dropped from ninth rank to eighth, then to seventh..." The young mage apprentice grew more agitated as he spoke, his emotions completely unraveling by the end. "By this morning, I couldn’t even maintain third rank. Matthew Merlin, you bastard, you’ve ruined my life! I’ll never forgive you!"
"Calm down, Mage Apprentice Cliff."
"Yes, yes... I used to be a third-rank mage apprentice, but look at me now—I can't even maintain third rank. And I still can't meditate. Maybe by tomorrow, I'll be nothing but a powerless ordinary person. It's all because of that damned Gilded Rose!"
By the end, the young mage apprentice was even shedding tears...
"Matthew Merlin, this is the consequence you wanted." Granger sneered at Leon.
"Mage Apprentice Cliff, could you come a bit closer? You're too far away—I can't see you clearly." Leon ignored Granger's malicious accusations and simply gestured for Cliff to step closer.
"Uh..."
"It's alright, Mage Apprentice Cliff. Go ahead, let him see for himself what the Gilded Rose has done. This is the Alchemist Guild—no one will dare harm you here."
"Alright." With Granger's assurance, the young mage apprentice reluctantly walked over.
Leon stared at the young mage apprentice for a long time...
"Your magical power really is dissipating rapidly. If this keeps up, you might become an ordinary person by tomorrow." Leon's voice held a trace of sympathy. "By the way, Mage Apprentice Cliff, what did the Dissolution Draught taste like?"
"What Dissolution Draught!" The mage apprentice, who had been timid just moments before, nearly jumped at the mention of "Dissolution Draught," looking like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "What Dissolution Draught? I have no idea what you're talking about!"
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