I clutch the new ledger the elder gifted me close to my chest as I follow the path back up to grandma's house. No, that isn't right. It is officially my house now. My home. My shop. My responsibility.

I step to the side to make room for another group of adventurers heading out into the cursed Twilight Forest. They are in high spirits, chatting happily as if they weren't about to risk their lives.

They barely take any note of me as they walk by. Only the priestess of the Dusk Maiden bringing up the rear nods and flashes me a smile.

I return both the nod and the smile before resuming my own march. Well, maybe it is for the better that I'm not one of them after all. Yes, it probably is for the better, despite the childish fantasies of years that are long gone. It isn't just the monsters and the traps either. I can't even begin to imagine spending days in the forest or one of its dungeons without a proper bed, a warm hearth, fresh food and the whole rest of civilization anymore.

I shrug and look down at the book I hold closely. It isn't much of a book, at least not when compared to real books. It isn't one of those though. No, it is a ledger. In it I will have to record the sales and purchases of my little shop. It is scary in a way, as this ledger is the merciless measure of my success.

The numbers in this book will not lie. Well, they could, but that way lies a path that ends with a noose around my broken neck. It is a path I will not contemplate any further. I'll just have to make sure to make the shop a success! There is no way around it!

Finally I'm back home. I stop to contemplate the thought. Yes, this is home now. The smell of the flowering wild roses and the buzzing of the bees put a smile on my face. Yes, I really like that sound. The smell too. It has been a while since I last felt at home like this anywhere.

I shake my head to drive away these errant thoughts. I have work to do!

I walk around the house and head to the rear entrance. I stop before reaching it though. I'm once again greeted by a cat. It isn't the same one as before though. This one is a ginger. It seems my garden is a popular spot among the felines of the village.

Unlike the other cat this one doesn't seem to be very busy though. Not unless you count napping as being busy. It just lies there, curled up on the wooden bench next to the door, and barely deigns to take note of me.

“My! Hello there. Don't let me disturb you.”

I scratch it behind the ears and it yawns once before going right back to sleep.

Well, never mind. As long as the cats don't start a brawl in my backyard everything should be fine. For now there are things that need to be taken care of.

Before I get started on anything else I drop the ledger off at the counter in the shop. This is where I'll probably be needing it after all. I drop my bag off on the bed along the way as well.

Leaving the windows open has the desired effect as well. The air is already a lot better. I'm slightly reluctant but I close at least those in the back, or at least most of them, once more.

A slight draft might be desirable while brewing potions, but it certainly would be less than helpful while working on an enchantment. And anyway, I have the lantern I enchanted just yesterday now to provide the needed light.

Its not like I will start work on those girdles of fertility mentioned by the farmer right away, but I might as well make sure that I have everything needed to create them.

That piece of enchanter's chalk I used yesterday won't last me long enough to enchant one, never mind two of those things. I need to make some more. Even if the worst should happen and the farmer and I could not reach an agreement I would eventually need more enchanter's chalk.

With renewed vigor I start rummaging through the various drawers of the workshop in search of the ingredients I need. The first thing I find is a chunk of wax that should serve my purpose. Actually, I probably won't even need a quarter of it. It takes me slightly longer to find the chalk I need. What I don't find is a cache of enchanting dust.

I sigh as my gaze shifts towards the small mana mill sitting on the other end of the workbench. Damn. This is the part of enchanting I really am not fond of in the least.

At a glance it might just look like any other hand mill, a tool one can find in army camps or among traveling folk. In truth it is so much more though. It is an enchanted tool itself and any student aspiring to become an enchanter can testify that it is a nefarious torture device.

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It draws a little trickle of mana from the world's dragon veins and crystallizes it, only to grind it down into a fine dust similar in consistency to flour. And while that might sound easy enough it takes hours to produce enough enchanting dust to fill even a small paper bag or a little locket. Hours you have to spend cranking the mill's handle.

A shiver runs down my spine as the mere thought prompts memories of my first weeks at the academy to resurface. Gods and goddesses, I wish I could just forget all about that and never ever remember!

The teachers had us work those mills for hours day in and day out for weeks until they were satisfied with the consistency of the enchanter's dust we produced.

I rub my right arm, as I remember the cramps and the pain and sigh. Well, there is no helping it. I can't make enchanter's chalk without finely ground, crystallized mana after all.

Before I can get started I hear a knock from the front door and an unfamiliar voice calls out to me.

“Hello? Anyone home? I heard the shop is going to reopen.”

Glad for the distraction I leave the hand mill where it is and head through the shop to the front door. I call out to my visitors in turn just to make sure they don't leave before I get to them.

“Coming!”

As I open the door a trio of adventurers, all young men who can't be any older than me, is waiting. Their gear suggests that they are still pretty new. They aren't necessarily inexperienced though. Everything seems rather utilitarian and they don't seem to carry anything that doesn't serve a purpose.

If they have a little luck on top of everything else, they probably will be able to make a name for themselves eventually.

The one standing in front, probably the one who knocked as well, seems to be a warrior. He can't quite hide his surprise upon seeing me but flashes me a smile anyway. The other two, probably a bard and a monk of some sort, seem a little surprised as well but not in a bad way either.

It is the one I take to be a bard who speaks up first and it becomes obvious that while the warrior might have knocked, he was the one who called out to me.

“I'm sorry about our sudden visit, but we need a backup weapon for Lotar, our warrior. And since we are in a hurry and I heard that your shop was about to reopen I thought we might as well drop by instead of visiting the blacksmith.”

He doesn't mention that the second hand weapons are considerably cheaper than anything you can get directly from the blacksmith, but that probably factors in as well. Never mind though. A sale is a sale after all.

“Well, I just got here yesterday and sealed the paperwork with the elder a little earlier today, but never mind that. Come on in and have a look at what is in store.”

I glance at the sheepishly smiling warrior once more and nod in the direction at the far end of the counter.

“Bladed weapons, yes? Swords are in the second to last bin and daggers in the one beyond it.”

Lotar nods and heads in the mentioned direction as the trio files in. The other two have a look at the potions while their comrade checks out the blades on sale.

It looks like they are pretty familiar with the shop. They might have been regulars with grandma. Sadly it doesn't look like the bard or the monk will buy anything. They are just window shopping while their comrade gets the backup weapon he needs.

I don't mind though. Just having them here, looking at the potions in the shelves, while I retreat behind the counter, makes the place feel much more alive already.

Lotar doesn't take long to pick the one weapon he wants. It is a sword only a little shorter than the one he already wears at his hip. He looks at the price tag as he walks over to me.

“A silver Crown? Say, you wouldn't be able to give me a little discount? Let's say eleven bronze Crowns instead?”

I cringe a little. Not because he is haggling in general, although the price is pretty low to begin with. A glance at the signs besides the door reminds me that grandma had no policy against haggling either. I cringe because he is only trying to haggle me down a single bronze coin. That doesn't exactly leave me any wiggle room. I can either say yes or no, but I can't haggle any further.

A quick glance at the bard and the monk reassures me that I'm not the only one feeling that way. The bard sighs and even the monk rolls his eyes. Their comrade really isn't very good at this.

I smile anyway.

“Fine. You have to do me a little favor though. You noticed the sign outside, yes? You have to help me put it back up. I think it might be a little too heavy for me. Deal?”

His face brightens immediately, almost as if he expected me to turn him down.

“Deal!”

We shake hands and he counts the coins from his purse onto the counter while I enter my first sale into the ledger.

On their way out the trio puts the shop's sign back up as promised and I wave them goodbye as they leave in the direction of the Twilight Forest.