Chapter 3- Unusual Measurements
Marybeth was visually shocked at Henry’s declaration. Even though it was a form of “Dad Joke” she didn’t disagree with him as these are the biggest set of beets she has seen in her 17 years of existence. She turned an eye to the son who was covering his face with his palm, with red covering the parts of his face that was not covered. He was clearly not amused with his father’s joke either. She quickly gathered herself and balled her fist to cover her mouth.
“Ahem” she coughed. Henry’s laughter died off into chuckles before he reigned himself back to a smile. She continued.
“These beets are significantly bigger than regular beets and could definitely gain a higher price than regular beets as long as they haven’t lost their nutritional value by weight due to overgrowth. Let’s bring the carriage around back so we may begin the appraisal.” She said.
“Alright, we will go with what you said miss-“Henry said.
“Marybeth, I’m a novice at Alchemy and will act as the appraiser today.” Marybeth interrupted. She then bowed her head slightly as she gestured to the left side of the building. “That alley leads to the staging area where we will offload your produce. We will take some samples inside to check the beets to make sure they are edible and ripe. This will be a longer process since these beets are not normal.”
Alger listened to her as he started to direct the horse pulling the cart into the alley. “What kind of tests do you need to run for produce?” He asked.
“Normally we would check color, size, and weight when looking at normal products. In the case of new or unusual products we would run tests for poisons, acidity, and edibility. We also retain samples to cook to see if there is anything wrong after they are processed. It can be a little intense, but the Brighton Market feeds nobles and politicians as well as the common people. It is a needed process.”
“Wow… Nobles and politicians… Does that include the king too?” Henry asked.
“Yes, though the products sent to the palace are usually collected by the higher ups in the market themselves.”
They came up to the back door, which was locked, and Marybeth put her hand to the middle of the door. As Alger watched her movement, he noticed that her hand glowed a slight blue color as the clank of a mechanism engaging came from the door. She then grabbed and turned the handle of the door to open it. The door opened and a couple of buff working men appeared from the open door to start unload the beets.
Alger and Henry were about to help them when Marybeth motioned for them to follow her. She then grabbed a smaller box of the beets and lead them to another room further inside.
“This is our appraisal room; this is where I will evaluate your beets. It shouldn’t take long if you want to stay and watch.” She said as she put the box down on a thick table in the middle of the room. The table took up a good amount of space and had some scales and measuring tools as well as a set of tubes and glass containers which would help with her tests.
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“I wouldn’t mind watching. I have been bringing corn in for years, but I never saw a true appraisal before.” Henry said. His curiosity was clearly piqued.
“I definitely want to watch.” Alger added.
“That’s all good. Ill try to explain what I am doing as I go.” She said as she smiled at the father and son.
“First we have a catalogue with color pallets based on the different stages of ripeness.” She said as she approached a shelf of thin books and pulled one out that said “Beets” on the spine. She then opened it up to reference the pallets. “Which type of beet seed did you use?” She asked Alger.
“I used Northsky beets seeds. I thought they would be better for colder weather.” He answered.
Marybeth flipped to the page and confirmed the color she was seeing. “Northsky Beets should show a deep maroon color when ripe. It matches what we have here.” She then walked to the box and picked one of the beets out and put it on a two-sided scale. She then used a set of metal standards out to balance it out. “Almost one pound for a single bulb, I expected it, but I still can’t believe it.” She said.
“Haha, My son’s –“Henry started but was interrupted by an elbow to the belly by Alger.
“Stop that, its embarrassing…” Alger said with a red face. Henry laughed at his son’s predicament.
“Any more dad jokes and I’ll kick you guys out… “She threatened through a set of narrowed eyes as she scrutinized them.
Henry and Alger went quiet at that and nodded in agreement to the terms. Marybeth then went back to work with her appraisal. After completing all the tests, she determined that besides their size and weight everything else pointed to them being normal beets. Henry sighed in relief while Alger wore a big smile since it was a product of his hard work.
“These are some fine beets. I think they will definitely sell; I just can’t quote a price right now. We will be able to put them up in the market starting tomorrow. We will hold the beets you brought today and when you come tomorrow you can bring any others you want to sell. Is there anything else we can do for you today?” She asked.
“No, we have some other errands to run in town. We will bring the rest tomorrow then. Thank you again, young miss for your help.” Henry said. Alger also bowed his head in thanks as they both finished up their task here.
“If that is so, then I will wish you guys a good day. Let me show you back to your carriage.” She said as she escorted them back outside. As they mounted back into the driver’s seat, she waved goodbye to them as they pulled out of the alley further into town. Marybeth then closed the door as she walked back inside into the appraisal room to clean up after her testing. As she picked up the box of beets to move them into the storeroom, she accidentally bumped the leg of the table with her knee which caused her to drop her to drop the box of beets. When it hit the floor, the beets spilled out and rolled across the floor.
“Damnit!” she said as she held her knee. She took some deep breathes before she bent her knee to make sure it was not hurt. But when she did, she noticed something weird in the corner of the room. One of the beets rolled across the room and ended up next to her leather backpack which housed her belongings that she brought with her. She noticed a light coming out of one of the pouch-styled pockets she had on the side of the bag. She was startled when she noticed this and quickly went over to her bag to see where the light was coming from as she did have a few items which gave off light. When she opened the pocket and pulled out a small tablet like object which had five different color crystals on it arranged at the corners of a pentagon.
She knew what this tablet was and that it was used for identifying magical herb properties for use in alchemy. Usually, the crystals light up in reaction to different elemental properties within plants that contain mana; this is what a magical herb referred to. However, normal produce doesn’t usually elicit a response from the tablet. The two glowing crystals on the tablet indicated that this beet contained mana which made it a magical herb instead of produce which should be impossible.
Marybeth’s eyes went wide when she finally realized this.