Arcane Innovator

The night had now fully descended upon the city as I accompanied Myra back to her house. The sparsely placed lanterns were casting long shadows across the streets, creating an eerie atmosphere.

I kept silent as we walked. My mind was still consumed with thoughts of our recent meeting with Alaric. 'I hope he can find something...' I thought as I guided us back to the Western Quarter.

Myra, on the other hand, skipped along with a carefree smile, her excitement palpable. "Can you believe it, Darian?" she exclaimed. "Uncle will help us without charging a single coin! He's always been so kind to me..."

I nodded, trying to muster a smile. "Yes, you're fortunate to have such a caring relative."

She glanced at me, her eyes filled with concern. "Don't worry, Darian. We'll figure it out. You've been a true friend to me all those years, and I won't let you down!"

I smiled at her unwavering confidence. Myra had always been nothing but determined when she set out to do something.

As we arrived at her family's residence, Sebastian greeted us at the door, his countenance filled with relief. "Miss Myra, you've returned safely. I was so worried. It's not safe to be out after dark."

Myra dismissed his concerns with a quick wave of her hand. "Don't worry, Sebastian. We were just at the Merchant's Guild; there was nothing to be concerned about."

Sebastian didn't seem to stop worrying one bit, but nevertheless, he sighed and retreated back into the residence. Myra and I were left standing outside, the night's air growing colder.

"I should start heading home too; the Northern Quarter isn't a safe place at night," I said, glancing at the darkened path that led to my own humble dwelling.

"Thank you for helping me, Myra. It means a lot." I smiled at her.

Myra squeezed my arm affectionately. "Thank you for coming to visit me, Darian. We'll meet again soon, and I'll update you on what Alaric discovers."

I nodded as I gave Myra my address so that she could send me a message when Alaric found something, and then I began the long journey back home.

***

It wasn't until the next week that I heard back from Myra. I was almost starting to lose hope by that point. But when I hastily skimmed over her exquisite handwriting on the short message one of the errand boys delivered to me this morning, my mind was instantly filled to the brim with eager anticipation.

'I'm finally going to get to the bottom of this...' I thought as I hastily finished my boring tasks for the day in the workshop and then ran with a bright smile through the streets leading to the Western Quarter.

I quickly composed myself before knocking on the doors of Myra's home. I was greeted by the now-familiar face of Sebastian. Since he already knew who I was, he let me through without much fuss, although still somewhat reluctantly.

Myra happily told me her uncle had finished his investigation and we were to meet him later in the afternoon at the Merchant's guild.

This time, Sebastian scheduled an appointment with Alaric in advance to avoid any possible inconvenience caused by Myra's unannounced visit.

Later that day, we found ourselves sitting across from Alaric in his lavishly decorated office and eagerly waiting for him to finally tell me what he had found out about the Moonlight Aster.

"It was harder than I thought it would be, but in the end, I managed to find out what you wanted..." Alaric spoke thoughtfully as he stroked his beard.

"You see, the Moonlight Aster isn't an herb at all," he continued with a knowing smile.

"Then what is it?" I asked him. Now I was actually kind of intrigued. He looked at me with amusement, seemingly enjoying my curiosity.

"Well, although it is a plant, it doesn't have any useful abilities—for a herbalist, that is... It is, however, very useful as a catalyst in Alchemy to improve the quality of potions. It has something to do with the phases of the moon and the moon's energy captured inside the flower..."

He paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts, while both I and Myra hung up on his every word.

"I'm sorry, but that was all I managed to find out. You would have to talk with an actual Alchemist to learn more about this." He smiled at me apologetically.

"Although I doubt they would tell you anything as they are closely guarding their secrets... As for its price, it's hard to say, as such things very rarely appear on the market..."

"I didn't have the time to look through every record, but I would say it would be several times that of a True herb, as Alchemy ingredients tend to be much more expensive in general. That is all I can tell you..." Alaric said as he finished his explanation.

"Ah, don't worry about it! Thank you for all your efforts, Master Alaric. This is already much more than I was able to find out on my own..." I replied as I tried to digest all the new pieces of information I learned today.

***

'So I finally have my answer, huh?' I thought as I was laying in my bed later that evening. But this now brings even more trouble for me.

'I need to find an Alchemist… How the hell am I supposed to do something like this?' I thought bitterly.

Now that I think about it, it's not too surprising that Isadora knew about this plant, as she supplies herbs to the Alchemists quite regularly. Luckily, this may also prove to be the solution to my problem.

I know that an Alchemist comes to the shop every month to collect their orders and place new ones. On that particular day, Isadora always wears her best clothes, and we must flawlessly clean the shop beforehand.

I smiled as I realized that the date for this meeting is only a week away...

I, of course, wouldn't be able to schedule an appointment with an Alchemist myself, as they have a much higher status than me. Even if I employed the help of Myra's uncle, it would be impossible.

I am nothing but a simple apprentice without any reputation or strong family background to help me. And I can't simply bump into him in the street, as that would be highly suspicious and could be taken as harassment.

'I need to get into that meeting...' I can't do anything myself, but if I used Isadora's existing connections and approached him during that meeting, it might somehow work.

'But how do I sneak into that meeting and convince him to buy these flowers from me without Isadora noticing?'

I guess now that I know their value, I could sell them straight to Isadora and be done with it. But I would have to accept any price she would offer me, and as she is my master, I don't have any leverage over her...

If I sold it directly to an Alchemist, I could make a lot more money. 'Hmm, I need to first find out more information about this Alchemist before deciding on a course of action...'

'I wonder how Isadora established such a connection in the first place. Maybe I could just copy her approach...'

'So many questions and so few answers...' I sighed as I was slowly drifting off into the embrace of sleep.

'I guess I will have to figure everything out myself. And I need to do it all as soon as possible. If I don't sell them soon, I won't have enough money to prepare for the winter...'

***

I spent the next few days trying to get some information out of Isadora about this mysterious Alchemist of hers.

I asked many questions about random things and a few cleverly hidden questions about Alchemy in between so that she wouldn't become suspicious of me.

She raised her eyebrows at my unexpected eagerness, as most of the time I was quiet and focused on my tasks, but she didn't think much of it…

I didn't learn much from it, but I still learned a few useful things. Mainly, the person who comes to the shop isn't a real Alchemist but only an apprentice like me.

'That makes sense. Alchemists wouldn't waste their time running errands...' But this also plays in my favor. Approaching an apprentice will be much easier, as he doesn't have that much higher status than me.

However, there is still the main problem of how to get into that meeting. Isadora still doesn't trust me enough to let me deal with customers, given my humble origins and lack of education in etiquette.

'There is no way in hell I could convince her to let me meet such an important customer.' I would have to make sure that sending me to that meeting is her only option.

A mischievous grin slowly crept up on my face. 'Ah, so sabotage it is...' But how should I go about it?

Well, the simplest thing would be to add something to Isadora's food... I learned of several herbs that, in sufficient quantities, cause diarrhea, and a quite severe one at that.

'Hmm, but the timing would be off...' I need to "disable" both Isadora and Elena since it is more than likely that in case of any "accidents," Isadora would simply send Elena to the meeting as she is the senior apprentice.

I can't add anything to the water, as they would notice the bitter taste. But the problem is that they take their meals at different times, meaning I wouldn't be able to time it right...

There is also the chance that Isadora would cancel the meeting if something like this happened, so I need to make my move only shortly before the supposed time when Isadora wouldn't be able to send a message in time.

'Hmm, what to do... what to do...' I also can't do anything that would severely wound them. Not that I care too much about their well-being. Especially Elena's. But it would simply mean they would dump all their work on me until they recovered.

Even now, I am severely overworked for a 10-year-old child as it is. Elena even made me draw water in the morning, even though it was supposed to be her job... 'Wait, water? Muhahaha... I got it!'

"What are you staring at, you dimwit?" Elena said disdainfully as I was looking in her direction.

I quickly averted my eyes so that she wouldn't become too suspicious of me. I wasn't staring at her at all. In fact, I was staring at that big water container in the corner behind her.

Making medicines required a lot of water, and as there wasn't any plumbing in the building, we had to draw the water every morning from the well in the backyard by hand.

It used to be Elena's job, but as soon as I started being an apprentice here, she threw it on me. I tried to ignore it at first, as it was her job...

But then the container would be empty when it was time to make elixirs. That made Isadora very angry, and that vixen Elena always found a way to blame me for it.

So, in the end, I did it to have peace of mind. Unbeknownst to her, I simply drew the water from the well with my magic, with not much effort whatsoever. But now I can return the favor...

I don't know if it is a general trend among the city's women, but both Isadora and Elena are very particular about their appearances.

So, if, hypothetically, that big container full of water suddenly exploded and drenched both of them from head to toe shortly before the meeting with the Alchemist's apprentice...

'I wonder if any of them would be brave enough to meet him looking like a wet mouse...'

'Probably not... No, definitely not!' I thought excitedly.

This means I would be the only one who could go there, as Isadora couldn't cancel the meeting so abruptly without damaging her shop's reputation.

'Hehe... I can't wait to see the look on Elena's face after this...'