The NPC is Stuck in a Time Loop

Chapter 4

Cecilia couldn't believe it, she might have found a way to break the time loop, found in between the pages of a potion book in a language with symbols she had never seen before, and yet she could read it fluently, the definition of the symbols came to her like waves, and she knew it was meant to be. Of course, the potion isn't a "Stop a Time Loop" Potion, it is something more ... Complicated, it is a potion to set things right, to put back what is lost, a potion to make sure the stars align again. The problem is, however, The potion requires Anemone flowers and Star Anises. While Anemone can only be found on the other side of the Empire, to reach it, she'd need to take 12 hours of carriage ride, in short. She won't make it in time before time resets again, of course, she could always bring the equipment with her but if the time loop breaks, then she'd need to deal with her angry boss, and she could get fired, for multiple reasons such as abandoning her work and using the "lab" equipment without approval. But Cecilia knows she can't possibly stand being stuck in the time loop any longer, h*ck, she ran around the town NAKED, and although she did drink the invisibility potion, she thought she was slowly but surely losing it.

Meanwhile, Star Anises are products you can find in the eastern kingdoms, and due to the war happening around the continent, imported products from the eastern kingdoms have been as rare as a diamond, so it is almost impossible to get. Cecilia could think of only a handful of stores that still sell imported products from the eastern kingdom, but the prices there have since significantly increased. A single Star Anises could cost at least 50,000 Coins, that is 45,500 coins more than what Cecilia has in her savings.

'If I rob a bank...No, I'll just get arrested once the time loop breaks' Sighing in defeat Cecilia slumped down onto the floor, burying her face between her knees. And then it dawned on her, maybe it isn't as impossible as she initially thought, she read somewhere, how the property of Star Anises is similar to... the plant that they named Star Anise after. They're not as rare as the Star Anises since the eastern coastal region still opened their trades to the Empire, Cecilia jumped to her feet and swiftly grabbed her purse, she needed to check it out first, whether or not the local market still sells Anises.