In Those Fleeting Days (Part 1)

"Huh? You mean the Apothecary who used to work at the boss shop left?"

Upon hearing this news, Frog almost spat out his coffee, just like his the boss had done before.

Fortunately, this time Galan was on guard, keeping a certain distance from the other party from the beginning and not sitting directly in front of him.

"Don't get so worked up... Well, how should I put it... People probably have their own reasons. If all else fails, how about we ask an Apothecary from [Äußerst] to come over?"

Seeing that Frog's expression wasn't good, Galan had no choice but to say something nice to Fitz, so that the guy wouldn't leave with only a bad reputation after he left. However, Fitz clearly despised Fitz's actions.

In Frog's view, such behavior was no different from that of an ingrate. His the boss had treated him so well and was genuinely kind to him, yet in the end, he was left without saying goodbye.

It's truly thought-provoking.

"Tsk, it'll be manageable in the short term, since our initial demand for the potion certainly wasn't this high... The problem is, it'll be difficult once the business expands."

Frog said, sounding somewhat exasperated.

"Even if it's really like you say, we can find another Apothecary. Anyway, you know how to make this medicine, so we can just teach him again... What if the person we hire gets poached by another big merchant guild after our business is established? Wouldn't we be cultivating our own competitors for nothing?"

"This kind of thing has happened before, or rather, it's because so many cases like this have occurred that I care so much about this. If we don't have someone we can trust at this crucial stage, the risk of scaling up our business is very high."

"It might be alright at first, but the resistance will become more and more obvious as we develop. Later on, if those big business associations find that this path is indeed feasible, they might as well poach the Apothecary from us instead of starting from scratch, which would save them a lot of trouble."

Galan seemed to understand what Frog meant.

If we want to expand this business, the first thing we need to do is ensure the security of our core technologies.

If you just find any Apothecary and teach them the refining method, then during the subsequent growth phase, when they are noticed by a major merchant guild, they could be poached by someone offering a high price.

"It is indeed a problem..."

He simply nodded in agreement, expressing his understanding of Frog's concerns.

"Originally, I was thinking that with Fitz around, we could just do some marketing and sell a little less to ease his burden. After all, hiring people we have no connection with to do this is ultimately a potential risk to our development."

"If you would be willing to join us and help us, that would be wonderful."

"But what he did was leave without saying goodbye at this crucial moment. Isn't he treating the boss and me like a joke?"

Frog angrily picked up his teacup, downed the coffee in one gulp, and then sat there without saying another word. Galan just sat there with him, unsure of what to say.

From an outsider's perspective, although the boss was indeed kind to Fitz and initially took him in out of kindness, Fitz also used his own methods to help the boss generate revenue and make the business famous.

It's fair to say that if it weren't for Fitz's [Recovery Potion], the boss wouldn't be able to earn so much money now.

Without the medicine as a pillar, with the shop's already lukewarm business, who knows when the boss will be able to earn enough for retirement.

So from this perspective, Fitz doesn't owe the boss anything.

However, Galan couldn't say that at this point, since Frog was still angry, and it wasn't fair to blame him for being too selfish in his thinking.

He didn't know Fitz, nor did he know anything about the whole situation.

Just consider it a way for him to vent his frustrations.

After a while, seeing that Frog's complexion had improved considerably, Galan slowly said, "If there's really no other way, let me take over for now. I don't have much to do these days anyway, so it's no trouble for me to help you out."

Although he really wanted to say it in a more dashing and righteous way.

But having learned from his previous experience, he still left himself a way out.

On the one hand, he needs rest occasionally, and on the other hand...

Galan glanced casually at his left hand; after all, even he didn't know when it would disappear.

Perhaps tomorrow, or perhaps the next moment.

No one can say for sure about this kind of thing; we shouldn't make any definitive statements.

"Really?"

Hearing Galan's words, Frog was quite pleased. Although he didn't know how skilled Fitz was, he was very clear about Galan's abilities; otherwise, he wouldn't have been so eager to befriend him in the first place.

"Hmm... but I'll probably leave here within the next two years and go to a very far place..."

So I'm not sure how much longer I can help you, but don't worry, as long as I'm still in [Äußerst], I'll definitely do as much as I can for you."

"But there's really nothing I can do to help with what happens after I'm gone..."

To avoid the worst-case scenario of suddenly disappearing without any buffer time, Galan decided it was better to give Frog a heads-up first.

If I were to suddenly disappear one day, this guy would probably think I'd been poached by some big business guild.

"Oh? You're leaving too? Where are you going? Will you come back?"

Frog was also very surprised to hear this news.

He never imagined that, following Fitz, Galan would also leave to pursue his ambitions elsewhere.

"Could it be... that you've regained your memories?"

Galan was taken aback, then remembered that he had initially lied to them, saying that he was there because of amnesia. He hadn't expected Frog to remember it all this time.

Since that's the case, then I might as well take this opportunity to back down.

"Hmm... although it's not all, I roughly know most of my past, so I might go out and do some confirmation in the next two years..."

So, will you come back?

Frog seemed anxious, but Galan could tell that he wasn't anxious because no one was making the potion, but because he might not be coming back.

Although there may have been some hidden agendas in their initial interactions, there is no doubt that Frog now genuinely considers Galan his friend.