The jelly still works as expected and advertised. I even make a quick sale as Danuta sees the effect firsthand. She is much better at holding her liquor, but she still doesn't want to suffer the aftereffects that are sure to come anyway. I might have to make more of those soon.

There is only one other thing I need to take care off before I slip into bed. I wash my mouth and gargle with some peppermint water, as booze breath is something the jellies can't help with. And I have to think of my feline roommate in that regard. I somehow doubt that she would appreciate me smelling of booze, when she returns early in the morning.

As a result I have a pleasant night with plenty of good sleep despite coming home at such a late hour. I wake up a little late though and have to rush through my morning routine. That isn't much of a problem though. It isn't like I never got up late at the academy after all. This is the kind of rush I have experience with.

Despite being a little late I have the bathhouse to myself today, which suggests that everyone else is probably just as tardy as I am, which in turn might explain the one real problem. Neither Krystina nor her mother has shown up so far to deliver a fresh jug for Sour Cream.

For this reason I head down to the inn, after finishing with my bath, instead of back home.

Indeed people are up and about there. They look pretty much as you would expect after a long night though with plenty to drink. There are bleary eyes and slumped shoulders aplenty and more than a few people talk in hushed tones while holding their heads.

I'm mighty glad that I'm not suffering any of these aftereffects. Well, after seeing the others suffer I'm even more glad than before.

Krystina is already at the guild counter. She doesn't even make an attempt to be her usual impeccable self though. Instead she is resting her head on her arms. I'm pretty certain that the guild has regulations against that but no one seems to mind and I won't complain either.

I wave and flash her a smile as she looks up briefly and her eyes widen a little as I walk by, obviously unaffected by the drinking from last night. In the end she just lets her head drop back onto her folded arms.

I don't want to pester her anyway. The one I'm looking for is her mother, Maryla. I find her in the kitchen, together with her husband. The place isn't as busy as usual. There is only a single pot bubbling on the fire, next to kettle with herbal tea.

At least these two don't look like they are hungover. Quite the opposite seems to be true. They are cheerful and sober. Well, they have good reason to be cheerful. They probably made a killing last night. Everyone drinking plenty of the beer paid for by lord Antek's coin? More than a few people, like me, ordering food to go with it? Yep, these two have to be swimming in it right now.

Krystina's father looks a little surprised to see me up and about, or at least he is surprised to see me up and about not nursing a headache.

Maryla welcomes me with a smile though.

“Good morning, dear. Can we get you something?”

I chuckle and shake my head.

“Not for me. I was wondering though if I could get a jug of cream for the cat.”

Maryla laughs out loud as she hears my request and even her husband is chuckling now, although he prompts his wife to tone it down as people start groaning out in the common room.

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Maryla in turn gets the jug while I get out the agreed upon coin. After a quick exchange I'm off again. Or rather, I'm out of the kitchen again. In the common room I run into Tamara and Odolan.

Tamara looks, well, not exactly unfazed, but at least not as bad as most of the others. Odolan on the other hand looks just about as bad, as I felt last night before taking that cure poison jelly.

“Morning you two!”

The dwarven women waves as I greet them, but her companion flinches noticeably and winces. He doesn't complain though. No, he doesn't even groan.

Obviously my greeting was a little too cheerful though. Oops.

Finally the young man manages a response.

“Morning.”

That doesn't exactly sound enthusiastic. He keeps going though, although every word seems to take a toll on him.

“How can you be so bright and cheerful already?”

At this point Tamara pipes in.

“If my memory doesn't betray me, you were in at least as bad a shape as Odolan here, when you left. You aren't a doppelganger that replaced Valeria sometime during the night, right?”

The way she says that makes it sound as if that were actually possible.

I snort in amusement.

“A doppelganger? Don't be silly! Those are just stories to scare little children.”

She frowns.

“If you say so …”

I'm not quite sure what I'm supposed to make of that statement. In the end I just shake my head to drive away any thoughts about body stealing monsters.

“No, I just happen to have some cure poison jellies back home. They work just fine when you have a hangover as well. As a matter of fact I ate one the moment I got home.”

Odolan groans.

“Trickery! Vile trickery!”

Tamara rolls her eyes and accepts cups of herbal tea from Maryla for both her and her companion, as the innkeeper walks by.

“You wouldn't still have some of those in stock?”

I nod.

“Sure. I ate one and Danuta got one for herself as well, but there still should be a few. I'm not quite sure. Maybe four or five?”

I blink as the common room suddenly falls silent at that statement. The silence only lasts for the blink of an eye though. Then people start eating their plain gruel with renewed vigor. It is almost as if everyone were trying to finish before the rest. I suppress a smirk.

“Well, you two. Take it slow. I better get back home and open the shop. Shouldn't keep Sour Cream waiting too long either.”

I lift the jug of cream as I say the latter and then I'm off for good. I hurry as I'm not quite sure how much longer I can keep from grinning, as the sound of eating behind me intensifies.

Sure I only have a few jellies left, but I'm pretty sure I still have enough ingredients to whip up a few more. I don't have to tell anyone though. Not yet anyway.

The first thing I do as I return home, is to pour Sour Cream some of her treat.

She is off the bed as soon as I enter with the full jug and rubs up against me, running figure eight circles around my legs until I'm done. Then she digs right in, her tail moving lazily.

“Well, I'm glad you like it.”

I run my hand along her back once. Then I start preparing for the adventurers that are sure to arrive soon. I don't open the shop right away though. No, first I have another order of business to take care off.

I use my staff's lens to heat the poker from the fireplace until it glows a nice dull orange, then get an empty price tag. I bite my lip. Then I write a price of eight bronze Crowns onto the tag.

After putting the poker away again, I replace the original price tag, which reads only five bronze Crowns, in the bowl with the jellies. They should still be affordable enough like that, yet I'll make a bigger profit.

Very good. I nod to myself. Now I'm ready for the day. I open the windows first, and as I do that I can already see the first adventurers approaching. As I open the door as well, they even pick up their pace.

Well, I don't actually want to turn any of them away just because I have run out of stock. That would be pretty wasteful after all. Thus I don't wait around for them to arrive. Instead I return to the backroom to get the ingredients for a new batch of jellies ready. Making them will take a little while, but I'm sure most of those who are terribly overhung will still appreciate the effort anyway, even if they have to wait a little.