From Alchemy Apprentice to All-Powerful God King

"Miles, what happened?"

A young woman walked quickly closer, followed by a maid, who stood between the two and looked at the owner of the jade gambling shop to ask a question.

Upon seeing the young woman, the boss, Miles, immediately withdrew his magic and respectfully stepped forward to explain to Matthew and his companion.

"Miss Grace, these two competitors came to cause trouble and ruin my business. I couldn't stand it, so..."

Seeing the boss making false accusations first, Luca couldn't stand it anymore.

"Oh my god, you're acting all wronged now. Weren't you the one who sold us these magic stones? Besides, we're not your damn competitors."

"If you won't sell, I won't buy!"

Both sides had their own version of events, and Grace roughly understood what they meant. She turned around and nodded slightly to Matthew and Luca.

"Gentlemen, this must be a misunderstanding. How about this?"

"I'll refund you double the money for the magic stones, and you can return the magic stones to Miles, how about that?"

Grace spoke clearly and concisely, making no mention of the previous conflict, and shifted the focus from selling counterfeit goods to losing money.

Matthew was surprised to see this woman, who wasn't much older than him. Although he hadn't intended to extort money from her, his ability to handle the situation impressed him.

In their memory, their caravan departed from Moor City twice a year, and always passed through Val Town on their return journey.

I didn't expect it to come so early this year.

Matthew quickly covered Luca's hand, preventing him from arguing further.

"Hmm... um..."

"Alright, since Miss Grace has spoken, we'll do as you say."

After throwing the magic stone back into the stone basket, a maidservant took out more than ten gold coins and handed them over.

"Alright, it's just a misunderstanding, everyone, let's continue..."

Grace resolved the matter with just a few words, and Matthew and Luca lost their appetite for gambling on stones.

Return to the guild to prepare for the upcoming journey.

After everyone had gone far away, Grace's face gradually darkened. She walked to the back of the shop, holding the two magic stones that Matthew had chosen earlier.

"Miles, you should still remember the rules of our caravan, right?"

"I...I remember, Miss."

At this moment, Miles had his head down, and beads of sweat were sliding down his face, but he didn't dare to wipe them away with his hands.

"Then why do you still dare? Do you think you can do whatever you want just because my father isn't here?"

Grace's hands glowed with magic, and with a burst of strength, the two starstones were instantly crushed, revealing two dead demon worms inside.

At the same time, the maid behind her stepped forward and drew a longsword from her waist, but Grace pressed it back down.

"The first rule of the Moor Caravan is to operate with integrity. If counterfeit goods are found, the caravan owner will be fired."

"Secondly, collusion with local forces is absolutely forbidden, as it damages the caravan's image."

"Miles, I see you're a veteran in the caravan, so this time we'll just fine you 50% of the taxes. If there's a next time, don't follow us anymore."

Grace spoke in a cold tone about the rules of the Moorish caravan.

Only after Miles heard that he was given another chance did he quickly nod and raise three fingers to swear.

"Miss, this will never happen again. I know I was wrong!"

In Moor City, the Moor caravan is definitely someone these merchants can't afford to offend.

As the daughter of the guild president, Grace's caravan had even stricter requirements.

Of course, the route itself is excellent, and they make a lot of money every year.

But if you break the rules and get expelled from the caravan, you can basically say goodbye to the trade route.

Watching Miles swear, Grace turned and left without saying anything more, while the maid behind her spoke with a disdainful expression.

"You don't just know you were wrong, you know you're doomed. Don't think that Miss doesn't know what you did before." With that, he turned and followed Grace back to the front of the caravan.

Miles watched the two figures walk away, picked up the fragments of magic stone and the dead demon worms from the ground, his eyes reddening and his expression gradually contorting.

"It's all those two brats' fault... If it weren't for them, I wouldn't have been punished!"

After 50% of the taxes are deducted, he will most likely have to work for nothing this year and even have to put some money out of his own pocket.

You have to understand that he had already paid a deposit for this collaboration with the jade gambling site in Val Town, and now it's all stuck in his hands. How could he not hate Matthew and the other man?

After this incident, even those with special abilities who wanted to gamble on stones avoided his stall.

For the rest of the afternoon, no one came to his business.

As the sun set, a sense of revenge began to stir within Miles. Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention to him, he packed up and turned to walk towards the jade gambling market not far behind him.

He absolutely had to make those two brats pay the price, at least to get their money back.

......

As night gradually draped the sky in a veil, Matthew and Luca pushed open the door of the busiest tavern in town and went inside.

"Hey, isn't this Luca? What's up? Want to experience what it's like to be an adult today?"

"Haha, if your uncle finds out you came here to sneak a drink, will he spank you?"

The two sat at the bar, each ordering a glass of sparkling wine specially brewed in Val, and drank it all in one gulp.

"Ha~~"

"Neil, you should worry about whether you can pay off your drinks today! Otherwise, you'll be kneeling on your knees and unable to get into bed when you get home."

Luca slammed his glass down on the table and then retorted with a sarcastic remark, which immediately drew laughter from the tavern.

Arguing and bickering are commonplace here, but everyone knows they're just joking; it's one of the few forms of entertainment.

The two of them came here tonight to find out some information about the route and Moor City, which is a necessary preparation before setting off.

Compared to these teenagers who had almost never left their small town, most of the ability users in the tavern were well-traveled and knew exactly where there were strange beasts and where there were places to rest.

Just as the atmosphere in the tavern was getting heated up, the door was suddenly kicked open, and all the ability users inside turned to look.

Two young men I'd never seen before walked into the tavern, their aggressive gazes sweeping over me.

"Who is Matthew?"

Immediately, all the ability users in the tavern turned their attention to Matthew, who was sitting at the bar.

Although news of the Archmage has not yet been released, the effectiveness and power of the swarm of exploding insects have already made him famous in the surrounding towns.

Matthew also turned to look at the two who had suddenly barged in, his brows furrowed. He had never seen these two people in the town before.

"Who are you? What do you want with me?"

However, it wasn't long before someone with the ability in the tavern recognized the two of them.

"Aren't these the Webber and Wes brothers from Moore City? What are they doing in Val Town?"

Matthew also gleaned a general idea from these voices: the two brothers from Moore City were both archmages.

However, seeing the thick black aura above the two brothers' heads, a smile immediately appeared on his face. It seemed that someone had come to deliver something to him again.

When the two Wei brothers realized they had been recognized, they didn't bother to introduce themselves and went straight to Matthew, surrounding him.

Seeing his strange smile, they felt that the other party did not take them two brothers seriously, and their anger rose.

"It's nothing, I just heard you've created a swarm of exploding bugs, so I came to borrow your recipe to take a look."