Thought I would start over from the beginning with all the big stuff finished up. At the checkpoint at the end of Aka's Path of the Split Party, I'm showing 60,481 Sx and you have 59,331 (exp is the same). Don't see anything to pay for beyond the test ingredients and I passed that. Did I miss something or is that from the order of the paths getting changed around?
Interesting. If you initially decline to pay the Alchemy vendor in the square and then ask again, you do not get charged. That's the money difference I'm seeing with your playthrough. Almost certainly a bug but a favorable one... 🙂