"I see. So what have you called me here for, Lord Bradley?" Elizabeth asked.

"Well… Since I only have one potion left and I'm not sure I can spare it for my friend over there, I wondered if you wouldn't mind paying for some of the next shipment of potions I receive. Of course, I wouldn't be cruel enough to make you pay for them at the same prices I did, so I'll reduce their prices by half. I know tight-fisted you adventuring folk can be, so even that might be a bit too much for you. If that's the case we can amputate and treat it until it's fully healed."

All the hope on Grace's face disappeared and dejection made its way on her face.

"So he will have to lose it." She said. She looked at him while sighing. If this adventurer before he was anything like her friend, she was beyond doubt broke. The fact they even accepted being a guard for her Lord told as much.

"Well, at least he has the rest of his arm," Grace said, trying to convince herself to look at the bright side of this situation.

"Oh no, that won't be necessary," Elizabeth commented.

The three present in the room all turned towards her in shock at what she said.

"What do you mean?" Asked Albus. "Surely you aren't thinking of handling it yourself? There's a limit to what a single person can do. I'll have at least three of my best to ensure there are no complications, so please leave it to me."

"Yeah, considering how strict you are, I thought you'd know better." She looked at her with disappointment clearly on her face after she said this.

("What do these people think of me?") Elizabeth thought, slightly insulted.

"No, I'm saying I have my own potions I can use. After all, there'd be no need to amputate his hand if I can save it."

"Now, now, miss, didn't you hear about what we talked about earlier?" Albus asked, feeling almost insulted. "Those things you get from whoever's in charge of you ain't gonna do squat to heal him. Jeez, the air you give off is totally misleading, you're just an amateur."

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"What if I told you there were level 1 potions? ("That would be the minimum required to heal the external wounds I believe. Though I'm not sure how rare they are, so I should study his reaction to see how I lead this conversation.")

Albus's eyes widened and nearly fell over in his chair. He had to snap himself out of it before he could respond.

"WHa- This isn't the time for jokes!" He shouted.

"(Shit, if even a noble like him is stunned and left stammering, it must not be something someone of his status can obtain regularly or even at all.) I assure you it's no joke."

"Is it so unbelievable?" Grace asked.

"Of course it is! The jump in price from level 4 to 3 is about ten times and the same is true for 3 to 2. However, 2 to 1 is nearly a hundred times the price increase. If I sold off my estate I could probably only hope to buy 2 or at most 5 of them. What she's saying is hogwash."

"(They're that expensive!?)" Grace and Elizabeth thought in unison but Elizabeth managed to keep her poker face.

("Shit how am I going to convince him, wait a minute, Tina isn't here. So I suppose as long as I keep hush-hush about this around her, I can tell a conflicting lie with the one I told her.")

"You see, I received it from a family member. He seemed keen on getting rid of it and gave me a few. At first, I thought they were bootleg goods but I tested one out and it worked better than I imagined. He didn't give a level when he gave me them, I had to discern it for myself. If you let me test it on him I can show you."

"Keen to get rid? How long ago did you receive them?" Albus asked as if he knew something.

"(He took the bait.) Why does it matter? They work, do they not?"

"(I see. I did hear about some robbery gone wrong that attacked a caravan carrying potions. They messed with the wrong caravan, it was carrying stuff that even nobles had reserved so they had everyone captured with the incident executed. I don't know what was on it but if they had a few level one potions no wonder they were pissed. Plus I heard no one would fleece the merchandise so the few that escaped were killing themselves trying to get rid of the potions. Some people in this world really are born under a lucky star.) Just know, if law enforcement comes, I won't hesitate to give them a tip."

"(He read too much into my words!!!) I see. Don't worry Lord Bradley, I won't cause you any trouble. Are you sure you don't want to see the potion at work?"

"I'm good, thank you. Just make sure you dispose of the bottle properly. I've heard they've been marked in a way you can tell where and when they've been manufactured. Also, I hope you haven't changed its container, as you'd have gotten my blood pressure up for nothing."

"(Wow, they really put a lot of thought into making these hard to steal. How does he even know this stuff to begin with?) Of course not, now if you'll excuse me."

She walked over to Tibaut and picked him up with relative ease.

Grace still looked unconvinced but she laid back in her bed as there wasn't anything she could do to help him.