Effort wasted: lots

The books of recipes are still sitting in the storage room at the manor. if I had known that it would be this easy to start an apothecary, I would have never tried doing that weird thing with sewing.

Deciding to check out what exactly our “free” recipes made I walked over to the shelf. The bronze caps made a tight seal and if you looked really, really, hard then you could see a name engraved in it. I didn’t care much to translate what on earth the letter meant and just pulled out the parchment.

Unfurling the scroll I some of my unease was dissipated. The instructions were in great detail and if the product was a certain colour if it was distilled correctly. If all the scrolls were like this then using the books would actually be kind of dumb. I took out another scroll and it was more of the same, different, but the same.

I quickly realised why there had been a threat of audits. All one had to do was pay a guy to walk in and see if a product was being sold and it was the wrong colour. we could probably fake the colour, but that would take more effort than getting the product right… hopefully.

The girl that was here before and asked to learn was surprisingly fast to disappear. It seemed that she wanted the answer more than actually doing it.

It would take a few weeks of experimentation and ingredient procurement, but we could open soon. Things were moving along so smoothly it took me aback.

I know I just went through literal days of pain on that trip, but was it really okay for things to line up so well? I felt that there must have been something wrong, life had never been so kind to me.

I put the scrolls back where I got them from before sitting on a bench. Mark and Mr Cedar were having a conversation in another room, but I didn’t care to listen. I was more focused on wondering what the fuck I was going to spend the rest of the day doing.

I didn’t want to head back to the manor, but there wasn’t much else to do.

As I poured through I ideas I came upon a conclusion.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“a walk would be nice.”

I had been walking for so many days, but that was for a goal. Today, I just wanted to stroll without any purpose. Along the way I might even see something interesting to buy. I wondered for a second before realising this would be my first day off. Nothing to do, no progress to be made.

It felt weird but I had already decided to go for a walk. I headed out o the room and past the two old men.

“I am going for a walk.”

“Alright, stay safe.”

They were rather occupied with whatever conversation they were having. It had already been going on for a while, but I didn’t want to delay. What I would be delaying wasn’t that important, but I wasn’t that interested in eavesdropping either.

Stepping outside of the shop I looked around. I wasn’t looking for anything, but something felt off. Everything was clearer than normal; I could see the texture of stones and the strands of rope in such detail.

To say that I could see it only now might have been the wrong phrasing. It was more like I took notice of it now. I kept looking at every minor detail as things passed me by. In everyday life the things that now were Infront of my face never seemed to appear.

I started walking, my destination was unknow, I just wanted to get moving.

I looked at the flower that little children brought in to sell. I looked at the decaying wood that made up the steps to a few run-down shops. I looked to the clothes of those that passed by.

There were well dressed folk with small pouches, and there were rather unkempt folk with large pouches. I didn’t care much about wealth, that was a lie. I didn’t understand a lot of things, but I continued walking.

My strides slowly grew longer. My mind drifted to candles flickering and when sight returned to me the detail I once saw was gone. What stood in front of me now was no buildings, but there was an old lady.

The lady was wearing a white cloak and a necklace that looked to be half of a sun. she spoke to me, her voice sounded like the crunching of bones and the squelches of rotten meat.

“Child, death is an inevitable thing, it will come to us all in time. Child, you have merely brought death closer to those who have fallen by your blade. Child you must remember, there is no sin by the name of murder in the commandments of the holy sun. the smell of death and regret is an unpleasant thing, discard your regrets, please, for the sake of this old woman’s nostrils.”

Well, that was weird. The church off the sun was known for being weird and I didn’t really care about her nose. Instead of speaking to the woman and possibly making my day worse I just moved on.

The streets were bustling, but I wondered for a second why she was in Cliffsin. There was no church here, she should be in crypton staring at the dead and dying.

Disturbances aside the walk was rather pleasant, and I continued on. I looked at many well kempt gardens with budding trees, the kind of sweet smell of fruits and the dust from the path.

Eventually I ended up back at Mr Cedar’s house, but I decided not to go in. instead I went and added more to my stomach. After that, then I went in.