After a few minutes of crying, Jeb felt his tears run dry. He did not feel completely better, but a lot of the sharpness had been blunted by the time with his friends.
“Would getting out of the Academy for a little while be helpful?” Declan suggested.
Jeb nodded, only half hearing the question. He followed the two of them to Dean Aquam’s desk, where the Dean gave them three day passes to go into the Capital. Watching Catherine take them, Jeb cocked his head. It took until they were nearly out the door for him to realize what was strange about that encounter.
“Wait,” he began, stopping just inside of the Dean’s office, “why did you write a day pass for Declan and Catherine?”
“Do you not want us to come with you?” Declan asked, sounding more than a little hurt.
“No, it isn’t that,” Jeb clarified, “but neither of you are in the Remedial College.”
“And?” Catherine prompted.
Jeb paused. “And,” he finally continued, “I guess that I assumed it had to be your Dean who signed the day pass.”
Dean Aquam coughed, and Jeb turned to face him.
“There are two ways I can answer your question,” he said, mirth in his eyes. “First, Declan and Catherine are here over the term break under my name. As the faculty member responsible for your Emporium, it was up to me to sponsor their stay.”
Jeb nodded. That made some amount of sense.
“Second, however,” Dean Aquam continued, clearly seeing that Jeb was getting ready to leave, “any Dean can sign a day pass for any student. We tend not to sign them for students who we do not know, for obvious reasons. Also, for obvious reasons, most students that a Dean knows well will be in their College.”
“Thank you!” Jeb replied, hurrying to catch up with his friends. To his surprise, they had not moved during his conversation with the Dean, and so he nearly bowled into them. The three began heading towards the Capital. Exiting the building, Jeb waved at the same gateman that had been there during his previous visits. The gateman studiously ignored him, as usual.
In the hustle and bustle of the Capital, Jeb almost forgot about the past few days. He excitedly pulled Catherine and Declan to the Inn that made the hand pies he liked.
“Welcome back!” the Innkeeper called brightly. “Did you finally convince the Academy to let you out for a day?”
Jeb nodded. “Could I get three of your hand pies?” he asked, gesturing to his two companions. The three ate a casual meal together, and Jeb felt some of the broken parts of him start to mend as they chatted the time away. When they had finished cleaning the final crumbs off of their plates, Jeb realized that he did not have any money on him. Catherine rolled her eyes and went to go pay.
“I am shocked that he did not ask you to pay before giving you food,” she commented as they left the Inn.
Jeb shrugged, “I honestly had forgotten that I would have to pay.” Seeing his friends’ expressions, he hurried to add, “just because every other time I’ve gone there, I’ve traded services for the food. I guess I assumed that I would just do that again.”
“Aren’t you not allowed to Enchant in the Capital any longer?” Declan asked.
Jeb grimaced. “Right,” he said, dodging around someone running in the street. “Well,” he continued, trying to shift the conversation, “where should we go next?”
“Do you know how to get to the Brewer who sponsored you?” Catherine asked. “If so, that would be a fantastic first spot. It would be polite to offer him right of first refusal on your Brews.”
“That makes sense,” Jeb said, turning to find Lionheart Brews. He quickly led his friends down the twisting alleyways out of the inn district and towards the part of the Capital that most of the brewers had set up in. Jeb saw the familiar sign for Lionheart Brews and opened the door. Cyprus looked up to see who his new customers were and smiled when he saw that it was Jeb.
“Welcome back!” he said, pouring a small glass of beer and passing it to him, “I hope that I was helpful in resolving the problem you were having with the Academy?”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
It took Jeb a few moments to remember what he was referencing, but then he lit up as well. “It did!” he exclaimed. “Honestly, that’s one reason that we are here today?”
“We?” Cyprus asked, only now seeming to notice Declan and Catherine. He pulled them each a small draught of ale as well and set it before them. Grabbing his own mug, he sat down across from them.
“Why do I get the feeling that you are going to offer me a once in a lifetime deal?” he asked, half chuckling. Jeb began to laugh as well, but Catherine and Declan paled slightly. Seeing that, Cyprus’s smile faded slightly, “I’m sorry, that clearly hit a little close to home. I assume that you are here to do more than simply catch up and exchange Brewing secrets?” he asked.
“I would like to do those,” Jeb quickly agreed, “but there is more. Catherine and Declan,” he gestured to his friends, “have been really helpful in helping me with my Brewery. It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that they have handled everything except for the actual Brewing.”
Cyprus offered both of the students a handshake. “I will admit that I am a little surprised,” he said, gesturing at the three of them, “it takes most people far longer to realize that they cannot do everything. Should I assume that you are here in relation to the business aspect of your Brewery, then?”
Catherine nodded and took over the conversation. “We are. I do not know how familiar you are with Jeb’s Brewing, but he specializes in Alchemical Brews, or ales that produce a Magical effect when consumed.” She pulled out a bottle of Firestout and offered it to the Brewer. He took it and gave it a questioning sniff. Pursing his lips and nodding slightly, he poured a few ounces into a cup and drank it.
“That is a decent stout,” he complimented Jeb, not seeming to notice the flames coming out of his mouth. “I have never had a Fire Ale that was a stout. It’s an interesting combination. What made you decide to pair darker malts with the Fireleaf?”
Jeb blinked rapidly. He hadn’t expected the Brewer to be familiar with Alchemical Brews, let alone have an opinion on which malts complemented different reagents. “Honestly,” he said after a moment, “I mostly just wanted to make a stout, and Fireleaf was the Alchemical I was most familiar with.” Taking a sip of the beer in front of him, Jeb tried his best to think of what to say next.
An involuntary sigh left his lips as he tasted the ale Cyprus had poured him. “And I do recognize that my beers are not of a similar quality,” he continued quickly.
Cyprus held up a hand. “Let me see if I can’t skip through a lot of the polite dancing around the issue,” he said, winking at Catherine. “It isn’t that the dance isn’t important, but it seems as though you two already know what you’re doing, and I don’t think that Jeb will get much out of it today. Would I be correct in assuming that you were here to offer a barrel swap?”
Catherine blinked rapidly as well, before nodding. “If that would be acceptable to you. If not, we had a few other plans-”
He held his hand back up. “That sounds wonderful.” Turning to Jeb, he said, “I would hope that you are not discouraged by the fact that I, a Master Brewer with more than a century of experience, am better at Brewing than you, a child doing it as a hobby.”
Jeb flushed slightly. When framed like that, it was ridiculous for him to expect to be as good as the Brewer.
“Your beer is good, though,” he continued, “better than I would normally take in for a first barrel swap.”
Seeing the looks of confusion on the students’ faces, he frowned. “Did you not know that swapping barrels is a customary practice among Breweries?”
They shook their heads. “Ah.” He took a long pull from the bottle of Firestout. “As you know,” he said, nodding at Jeb, “Brewing is a skill that takes a lot of time to truly master. However, it is also an expensive Skill to learn, in part because failed Brews take up so much space and time. One way that the Brewing Guild helps to mitigate that issue is through the tradition of barrel swaps. New Breweries will trade their better barrels for barrels from an established Brewery. They benefit from this in two ways, getting a higher quality product to serve to their customers, and having the advertising from their own beer being sold at a more established institution.”
“What does the established Brewery get out of the deal?” Declan asked.
“Primarily? The chance to support new Brewers. Other than that, though,” Cyprus hummed, clearly trying to think of an answer. After a few moments, he shrugged. “I suppose that I get to see innovations in Brewing. This is the first Firestout that I have had, for instance, and I might never have tasted it if you had not come to offer a barrel swap. On that note, what other Brews can your Brewery offer?” he asked Jeb.
Jeb went through the list of beers that he had made for the Emporium. Cyprus seemed taken aback.
“How have you had enough time to develop all of those recipes?” he asked. “It has only been a few months since the last time you were here.”
“Oh!” Jeb exclaimed, “I found an Alchemical called Yeast Energizer which speeds the process of Brewing up to a matter of minutes or hours.”
“Is that a regulated Alchemical?” Cyprus asked. Seeing Jeb’s blank look, he sighed. “I have to imagine that it is. If not, though, I would be interested in purchasing some Yeast Energizer for myself and other Breweries in the area.”
He turned to Catherine. “I take it that you are the finance person for this endeavor?” Seeing her nod, he pulled out a contract from beneath the bar. It was fairly simple, formalizing the fact that they would each exchange a number of barrels, which they debated back and forth for a few minutes before deciding on three. Catherine, Jeb, and Declan signed it, and she took a copy of the contract.
“Now that we’ve gotten business out of the way,” Cyprus said, “let’s talk shop.”
He and Jeb spent the rest of the afternoon exchanging knowledge about Brewing. Even though Jeb had only been working on the Skill since gaining his Class, his work under his aunt and with Alchemicals gave him some insight that Cyprus at least claimed was helpful. When the sun was nearly setting, Catherine coughed meaningfully, and the three made their way back to the Academy.