“You’ve asked him for his address?” I asked Saori, who was leading us through the streets of the middle district of the town.

It was the day after we returned to Firwood and had a talk with Ellaine and the High Bishop about our plans to expose the guild master of the alchemy guild for what he did to Kiiro and the other faefolk. After listing out what each side had to do, both publicly and behind the stage, everybody began executing our plans. That was our party’s reason for being here.

Usually, I would help out Ellaine with her training, which she has continued even in my absence, or spar with the guild master followed by working on my spells in the evening, but it’s time to be serious.

“Yes, I had a feeling it would be good for us to keep in contact. He mentioned he was an alchemist, right? After we were rejected by the alchemy guild, I thought it would do us good if Tasianna could learn about alchemy outside the guild,” Saori explained.

Tasianna nodded in agreement. “Once we finished his dish, he widened his eyes and couldn’t help but thank us. Whoever he will give the dish to must be important to him, since Miss Saori mentioned he looked like a man in love. Asking which inn he was staying at while in town was easy enough, and I believe he shouldn’t have left Firwood just yet. He mentioned needing to make some money.”

“…Just for your information, I compared him to a love-struck boy from a love drama. You know, they are quite dramatic sometimes. It reminded me of all the shows I could not finish watching…haaaaaa.” Saori’s sigh was deep, as if a part of her soul flew out of her mouth. It made me wonder how many shows I have been missing, not to mention all the weekly novel and manga updates.

The person we were talking about was Cernust, the ox beastman who “saved” us from a bunch of “thugs.” I believe we met him during the evening of the Binding festival, where he introduced himself to us as an adventurer and alchemist. As a favor for “saving” us, Saori agreed to cook something good for him, which he mentioned was for his female friend.

Saori asked him where he was staying and we were visiting him today. Saori wanted Tasianna to learn how to concoct potions from a professional, seeing as none of the members of the Helvas family knew how to. Their library had the recipes we needed as well as some tips for beginners, but we wanted to know if there were any advanced techniques or easy to make mistakes.

Come to think about it, didn’t Saori and Tasianna mention they met Gael, the vice guild master of the hunter’s guild, on that day? Kinda creepy that we were stalked ever since we left the hunter’s guild…or maybe since we entered Firwood? After all, Farron knew we were coming.

Putting that idea aside, we eventually made it to the inn where Cernust supposedly was staying at. Looking from the outside, it seemed pretty normal, like most buildings in the middle district. There was some snow still on the wooden roof of the inn, but it seems like it was slowly melting away, similar to the rest of Firwood. There were still two months of “winter” left, according to how Peolyncians named their months, but it was snowing less and less each day even if it was still cold.

As we entered the inn, we saw the innkeeper and other staff members either cleaning or taking care of their customers. It was still early in the day, but the breakfast period should be over already. Still, a few patrons were being served steaming food.

“Welcome, ladies! How may I…A priestess?! Excuse me for my manners, Lady Priestess! I do hope RestDay has found you well!” the innkeeper greeted us in a panic.

RestDay, a day of rest. That was the reason why a few patrons were having late breakfast, as most adventurers or financially successful residents would take this day to relax and unwind themselves. Considering an inn was the most useful for travelers, most of their guests should fall into this category.

The commotion caused by the innkeeper seemed to have garnered the attention of everybody, so I hastily attempted to diffuse it. “Ah, no, no, it’s okay. Please, don’t bow, Mister. I’m not here on anything special really. May the Goddess bless you and your buzzling establishment. Please, stand up straight. It’s really not…comforting,” a wry smile formed on my face as I couldn’t help but regret coming here with my robes. It’s warm and I’ve gotten so used to wearing it at this point that I consider it part of my attire, regardless of which outfit I’m wearing under it.

The innkeeper’s eyes darted between Saori and Tasianna, looking like he was asking them for approval or something. Once they both nodded, the innkeeper raised his head and sighed silently.

“I-I apologize, Lady Priestess. Uhm, how may I help you?” he uttered, panic still clear to be seen in his eyes.

“We will not stay for too long, Mister Innkeeper, since we do not want to inconvenience your business. We apologize for that,” Saori responded. “We are here for an acquaintance of ours. Is a bovline, an ox beastman, under the name of Cernust around? He told us to find him here if we needed him.”

“Bovline? Horns like a bull, feet like an equerochs? A massive man with green hair? Yeah, he’s been staying here for a while with his lady friend. He hasn’t come down yet, so he should still be upstairs,” he answered, having calmed down a bit after Saori and I bowed slightly to apologized. “Uhm, normally, it should be alright for you to go up, but he told me he didn’t want any guests. He would ‘pummel me up’ if I were to go into his room without him.”

“It’s alright,” I said, with a smile. “If you would be so kind, could you call him down? We will wait downstairs, and there is no need to rush.”

“He should respond to ‘Saori,’ so please tell him that we are waiting.”

He gave a quick node and ascended to the next floor with the stairs. After a couple of minutes, he came back with a green-haired, tall man following right behind him.

Hmm, it’s that sweet smell again. Is he wearing perfume or something?

“Ahh, it really is you girls! I’ll be honest, I didn’t think we would meet again, but look at that. Miss Saori and Miss Tasianna, right? My friend absolutely loved your dish, and I’m willing to pay for another one if you wouldn’t mind,” the tall man, Cernust, greeted us with a welcoming smile, waving his hand as if he was meeting an old friend. “Hmm? Wait…that smell. Hold on, if my memory serves me right, you didn’t have any horns or a tail the last time we met, Little Miss…Nor a white robe, Miss Priestess of Goddess Aurena.”

Ahh! I guess we did meet when I was a human without my robes on. Hmm, there really isn’t any excuse I can give, huh? Well, might as well.

“Ahh, that’s right. Sorry about last time. I went to the temple incognito and didn’t want people to recognize me. This is my real form. I’m a dragonewt that learned [Humanize], so I sometimes slip into being a human,” I explained, only lying a bit.

The anti-Davison plan required me to draw people’s attention, so hiding being a priestess or a dragonewt wasn’t necessary anymore. Even as a human, people can recognize me since my hair was pretty conspicuous, despite the majority of people having colored hair in Peolynca.

“Dragonewt? I see…you’re an adult, right, Miss? You don’t see too many, actually you don’t see dragonewts in Artorias at all. Long way from your home,” Cernust mentioned, eyeing me a bit suspiciously.

Huh, why is he looking at me like that? My excuse should be plausible, or was he being a creep again like last time when he tried to smell me?

Noticing the weird atmosphere, Saori coughed to get Cernust’s attention. He apologized for being rude and turned to Saori, who explained we wanted him to teach Tasianna about alchemy.

“Alchemy? Yeah, sure, I can do that. I guess Tasianna had problems joining the local guild, huh? I tried to sell a few of my potions, but the stores partnered with them wouldn’t accept them, telling me they weren’t ‘quality-proofed’ for some shit reason. ‘Then do it here,’ I told them, but they said they didn’t have the time for a novice. A ‘novice?!’ Me?! Ha, I may look like a brute, but I can concoct better pots than the crap they sell in their stores. I even heard they get ingredients from the Belzac forest,” Cernust ranted passionately, only calming down after he unloaded his complaints.

After he was down, he scratched his green hair for a moment before bringing up a question for us, “If you pay for the ingredients, I can show how it is done. Let’s use my equipment so you can learn how to properly take care of them. Although…aren’t you an elf? Shouldn’t you be learning this in your forest instead of in human lands?”

We told him she didn’t learn it when she left the forest and joined us, and it would be too far away for us to do it now. Since we needed to earn some money, we thought it would be perfect if somebody could show her the ropes. Gaining experience and leveling the [Alchemy] skill was important to become a professional.

He nodded in understanding and asked us if we knew a place where we could work, explaining that his traveling partner wouldn’t like unannounced visitors. She was shy, according to him. Fortunately, we wanted to bring him to a separate location for Tasianna’s lessons anyways, since we also wanted to ask him more questions.

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He went upstairs to get his equipment and we departed from the inn once he was ready. After walking a bit, we ended up at our destination: the store managed by Zeather, the foxian.

“Zeather welcomes dear customers back to the store,” the well-mannered orange-haired foxian welcomed us with a short bow. “Is this the person dear customers talked about? You may use Zeather’s office in the back of the shop; I will come in a moment. Quini, Zeather will leave the door open, so call me if customers enter the shop.”

Once we were inside Zeather’s office, Cernust began unpacking his tools. A stone mortar with a pestle, two wooden hand-sized pots, multiple long glass vials held up by a tube rack, a beaker, a few chemistry-class-looking flasks, and a flask stand with a small candle under the holder. Everything was packed inside his large backpack, and each came out of it without a crack.

“Take care of your equipment,” he mentioned after he gently placed everything on an empty table. Considering he looked like one of those tall MMA fighters with his verdant-green scaled gauntlets, this is some serious gap moe. Never judge a person by their appearance, yeah?

“Buying the vials is the most expensive part, while also being the most fragile,” Cernust complained while taking out a couple of potion vials. “You girls know about fairnite? The white stone those human nobles love to use for all their homes? Yeah, potion vials are made from that stone to help prevent leaking mana. It also makes potion vials sturdier than normal glass, but I still wouldn’t recommend using them to hit a drunk.”

It seemed most alchemists buy vials from stores belonging to local alchemy guilds, seeing as the formula for potion vials was a trade secret. Since the average adventurer and soldier didn’t know the worth of a potion vial, most would sell them back to potion vendors at a lower price than what the guild would ask for, increasing their profits. I mean, what would a normal person do with it? So I can understand why getting any amount of money was better than sitting on a “junk”vial.

I don’t know if he was doing it intentionally or not, but wasn’t he giving us insider info on his profession? I mean, I’m thankful since we’ll be keeping the potions we bought from the vendor, but wouldn’t this hurt him?

Zeather then entered the room and we began to discuss the real reason that we came here for.

“Zeather welcomes everybody in my office. Honored Lady Hestia, why did you call for this favor today?” he asked me immediately.

As Zeather’s shop was closer to the gate to the noble district, we visited him first to ask him for a room where we could talk. He agreed and here we are.

After introducing Cernust and Zeather to each other, I began speaking, “I would like to learn yours and Cernust’s opinion on the alchemy guild. Obviously, we don’t come from Firwood, and I haven’t been spending a lot of time in the commoner district to know much about it. So, please, give us your honest opinions from you two experts.”

“Hmm, you’re not in the commoner district? You’re…a noble, Lady Priestess? Not a commoner white-robe?” Cernust asked, to which I said yes and told him I was living with a noble right now. He frowned for a moment, before questioning me about it, “You’ve exposed yourself? Why? Wouldn’t you have more freedom if you stayed in a random town inn?”

“It just happened,” I answered. “I didn’t want it, but it happened. After that, I simply rode with it, since I could gain more benefits from this. Plus, the bed is pretty comfortable, so, yeah, sleep is good.”

“Ha, if I had a mug of ale, I would drink to that. The inn I stay in is pretty good, but the beds still are pretty hard. Hear! Hear!” raising his invisible mug, he replied. Although, I think I heard him mumble, “Dragonewt and noble, huh?” but he mumbled too much to understand the rest, even for my [Idol]-enhanced hearing.

After Saori and Zeather asked us to return to the main subject, Cernust gave his opinion on Firwood’s alchemy guild. “Not traveler friendly. I am a member of the guild, so I can still sell my potions without getting into any trouble, but appearances matter, yeah? I tell potential customers that my [Alchemy] level is six, but nobody would believe me. It doesn’t help that I’m selling my potions on the streets without a stall. Things would be so much easier if I could sell to an approved potion vendor, but they rejected my potions.”

Zeather then spoke, “Hmm, Zeather’s shop mostly handles food and crops, so Zeather has more experience with the chef’s guild; however, certain herbs and spices are used in alchemy. The few times Zeather interacted with the alchemy guild, Zeather considered them able merchants. They negotiated well and handled the contract properly, which would make Mercurias happy. Zeather knows of their business practices, but that is none of Zeather’s concern, since Zeather is a supplier of raw ingredients. We do not have a conflict of interest.”

Cernust was frustrated at the alchemy guild from the perspective of a foreign alchemist, while Zeather was looking at them through the lens of a merchant. Without a conflict in interest, Zeather diddn’t have a reason to dislike them.

“Then would you mind if we talked about selling potions made by Tasianna to intentionally anger the alchemy guild?”

“No, Zeather will not mind. If there is a way for Zeather to benefit from this, Zeather would be cooperative, even.”

Well, that was easy.

After we got the thumbs up from Zeather, I looked at Cernust. He looked apprehensive about it, so I continued, “We will have a proper place to sell them. If we take your comment about appearances, then wouldn’t three cute girls be better than a macho like you? I can even use my singing to attract customers, as you should know from when you visited our stall during the binding festival, right? As an idol, my job also includes goods promotions, after all.”

“Hmm, yeah, I do remember your singing,” he said with a smile. “Pretty good, although I don’t know much about it. If you do that, I’m pretty sure you will get people’s attention. However, what I’m concerned about is that you’ll get in trouble with the guild. Guilds aren’t happy when independents conflict with their interests, so they usually stomp them out of business. You know, either through words or fists.”

“You don’t have to worry about the fist part, we can take care of ourselves. I’m pretty sure the only people that can be a threat to us won’t help the alchemy guild at all, and, even then, we have connections and allies,” I told him bluntly, causing him to widen his eyes in surprise. “About the words, well, we have a plan for that part, too. Mister Zeather, Saori ordered certain items from you, right? Do you have them?”

“Yes,” he bowed slightly. “Zeather has all the items you will need to open up your eatery, uhm, Zeather means your restaurant. Ingredients, cooking tools, and furniture. Zeather had them made with quality in mind, to assure none will be stolen. If honored Lady Hestia was to stay around the restaurant, then no would-be-thief would think about stealing any utensils, tools, or objects. Stealing from a noble is a crime punishable by death, which will dissuade the smarter and more capable thieves.”

“Good. Saori, I know you’re already stressed out enough with Ellaine’s dress and everything else, but please add some more details to my robe. The more, the better, right?” I told Saori.

“Yeah, that is right. Your current robe is too similar to a ‘rich merchant’s daughter’ in the number of details, so it would be best if we added more. The more noble-like you look, the better for our plan,” she replied.

This was an idea from Theodore, the high bishop. His robe and the noble priest’s were filled with details like their family emblem, fief’s trade goods, and religious symbols to fill up blank spaces. The more additions on a robe, the more likely the white-robe was a noble, since even poor and rich commoners could join the clergy.

It would cause more scenes like the one we had at the inn, but we needed it for the anti-Davison plan. Anyways, Saori had already made a replacement robe for me with its current design, so it’s whatever.

I then took out a few herbs from my storage and showed them to Zeather. “Here is your benefit. We were in the Belzac forest - deep inside it, like the Belzac mountains. While we were there, we harvested quite a lot of fruits and herbs, and we’ve been growing them in our personal garden ever since. We cannot supply you with a lot, since we were only growing it for ourselves; however, we have enough surplus to help you create interest. You know, exclusivity and supply and demand.”

Herbs like the medicinal [Belzac Herb], the anti-toxin and aromatic basil look-alike [Parshkey], and the mana corruption reducing [Fulinoe Leaves] to name a few. There were a few items like the fragassa fruit that were already grown in Firwood that we couldn’t present, but the items we showed were either low in stock or sold out completely. If Zeather could gain exclusivity on a supply route, which was us, couldn’t he earn a lot of money?

As expected, he took the bait.

With greedy eyes, Zeather carefully analyzed the herbs before a menacing smile formed on his fox head. “Fulinoe leaves…these are beloved by nobles and mages alike but suffer from a low supply. Bloom flower petals are added to baths for the aroma; popular amongst noble ladies as they could be used for tea, too. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Praise God Mercurias for granting me this chance today! Zeather can make many connections with a handful, but a jar filled with herbs would mean a lot of profit. Honored Lady Hestia, let us make the contract and your ordered goods will be free.”

Despite having gained a lot of money through our recent Quest, Saori didn’t want to lose all of it again. We ordered a ton of stuff from Zeather before we left for the Quest, so it was quite expensive. A few herbs we could regrow anytime we wanted were worth trading for our order. We just have to make sure that any future trades will earn us some money.

Still, with those greed-filled eyes and widened mouth, he really looked scary. Foxes are usually cute, but not when they were taller than you.

“Cernust, our original plan was for us to open a restaurant where we could sell our personal recipes while I performed as an idol there. However, recently we’ve decided to add my priestess duties to it and also a few other businesses. One of them is potion selling with these alchemical herbs,” pointing at a Belzac herb, I smiled smugly as I said it.

Cernust picked up one of the Belzac herbs and quivered a bit. “High-quality Belzac herbs can only be found in the Belzac forest due to the temperature and high mana concentration of a monster-infested area. It has a wondrous medicinal effect if combined with sour fruit juices and mana water from a macula plant. This herb is filled with mana. One high-quality major Health potion, or multiple distilled and watered-down minor ones. Either way, quite a lot of profit.”

“We cannot open the alchemy shop until our restaurant and Hestia’s idol reputation grows, but we will be able to sell your potions if you want,” Saori added to my explanation.

“…Question, you’ve been mentioning this the whole time but is an ‘idol?’” he asked.

Smiling, I activated [Aerokinesis] and played a tune before beginning to sing the song to the end. Instead of answering this question over and over again, showing them an example sounded more efficient. Plus, it was fun.

Understanding what I meant now, Cernust agreed to the plan, telling me he would give as much knowledge to Tasianna as possible to help us succeed since he needed money. Doing Quests was alright for Cernust, but he couldn’t go out of town for too long due to his companion. Most of the high reward Quests would take an extended time, like the one we had with Rashan Village.

We continued speaking with Zeather a bit more, while Cernust began his lessons with Tasianna, but soon Saori and I left the shop. Saori’s weapons should be finished by now, so it was time to pick them up.

Although, I kinda did want to stick around to see how Tasianna’s alchemy lesson was going. It sounded interesting.