The couple smiled and shook their heads, "We thank young sir for the kind intensions but no medicine can cure our illness now. Some could've, if we found about it ten years ago, but now this illness and life has almost completely merged. If we try to cure it, we will immediately die."
Seeing them talk about their death with such an uncaring attitude, Max was in awe. How many people can stay this calm and smile if they knew they are going to die in near future? Not many, right?
Suddenly, Max felt a deep respect rise in his heart for this feeble old couple. His expression grew serious, and he sternly asked, "Would you please tell me what kind of illness this is?"
"This..." The old couple hesitated. They didn't want to trouble him unnecessarily. However, seeing his expression, it was apparent he wouldn't rest until they tell him.
In the end, they resigned and sighed. The old man spoke, "Young sir, when we were young, an alchemist came in our town from outside and started cultivating an herb garden. He was paying a decent amount of money just to take care of the herbs, and we needed money, so we both worked there."
"Since we were just ordinary folks, we didn't understand what kind of herbs he was cultivating. It was only after a few years that we found out he was a poison elemental alchemist and was researching some poison medicine, and that all the herbs in his garden were poison ingredients.
However, even after finding out, we didn't stop working there because little Maria had just been born and we needed money to take care of her."
As the old man said this, the couple glanced toward the room Maria was in with a face full of love. It was clear they never regretted working in the poison garden.
He then continued, "But after a few more years, we and a few other people who worked with us started showing signs of falling ill. We asked the alchemist to cure us, but he said that he didn't have the medicine needed to heal us and went out of town to get it.
We naïve people kept waiting for him to return, but he never did and our conditions kept deteriorating. In the end, we gathered all the money we had earned by working in the garden for a decade and came to the city for the cure, but to our despair; we find out that our conditions were much worse than we had thought and needed some very rare magic medicine if we wanted to cure it.
How could we common people with only a few hundred gold coins to afford to buy the medicine? However, it wasn't like we could've bought it even if we had enough funds since it wasn't available in the city. So, in the end, we could only return to our town and suffer from this sickness."
"We know you've a good background and must not lack money, but after so many years, it's no longer possible to cure us." The old man sighed. It wasn't that they didn't want to live, but it was just that they had no hope left and had come to terms with it.
Max nodded. He now knew that they were suffering from a poison. After a moment, he looked at them and smiled, "Elders, you don't have to worry anymore."
"Hmm?" The old couple raised their brows. They didn't understand what he meant.
"Please excuse me for a minute." Max didn't explain anything and walked out of the room.
He then opened his system shop.
"It should be here, right?" He muttered to himself as he scrolled down.
A moment later, he found what he was looking for.
[Venom Antidote]
§ Counters all mortal ranked poisons without any side effects.
§ Unlock Price: 15,000 Lust points.
Seeing the price, he felt his heart ache, but the lives of his woman's parents were much more important than 15,000 LPs which he could earn anytime he wanted.
Click!
He clicked on unlock and a small crystal bottle filled with a dark green substance appeared in his inventory.
[Lust points: 4,000]
"It's alright. I can earn them back." He consoled himself and returned to the room.
Maria's parents looked at him without saying anything.
However, their hearts were starting to beat a bit faster. Why would he say that they didn't need to worry anymore after hearing about their condition and walk out? Could it be that he has medicine that can heal us?
As this notion appeared in their mind, they shook their heads and stopped thinking about it. They didn't want to give themselves any false hope.
Max sat down in front of them. With a wave of hand, he took out the small crystal bottle and smiled, "Elders, if you believe me, please drink this. After you drink this, you will be completely fine."
Their emotions stirred when they heard this, but a moment later, they looked at each and shook their heads, "We are grateful that young sir care for us so much, but you don't have to waste your medicine on us. It can't help us and will only worsen our conditions."
Max frowned. This old couple has completely given up any hope. Suddenly, an idea popped up in his mind. He put on an angry expression and said, "What? Do you think I'll harm my woman's parents?"
"No... we don't mean that..." The old couple tried to explain, but Max cut them off.
"If you don't drink this, I'll sever my relationship with Maria. I just hope this doesn't break her heart." Max said with a dark expression. Since the request wasn't working, he decided to use threats.
Just as he expected, the old couple immediately revealed fearful expressions. A moment later, they sighed and thought, 'Since we are going to die anyway, it doesn't matter if it's a bit sooner.'
They looked at Max and nodded. "We'll drink it. But young sir, if we this medicine doesn't work and we happen to die, please take care of our daughter."
"Don't worry. I will." Max nodded with a stony expression and gave them the antidote bottle. "Drink half and half."
