Is it wrong to fleece adventurers at the item shop?

The girl is off with my coin and the poison cure jelly to see her father. I'm a little worried that treatment like that is necessary at all. At the same time I really hope that the jelly helps with his symptoms.

Low level lead poisoning is sadly enough not that uncommon and it can appear like gout at times. Or it can make actual gout worse. In all likelihood it's just an old tin mug that needs to be replaced. It could be something else too of course. I'll leave figuring out the exact cause to the girl, her father and maybe Wislawa.

If my alchemical treatment can cure the immediate symptoms that's already enough on my part. Maybe I should make a few more jellies like that. It seems having some in store won't hurt. They certainly come in handy in the most surprising ways.

I'll have to place a request for slime jellies with the adventurers' guild at the very least though. Possibly for some other ingredients as well. Maybe dryad's blossoms. They should be a little easier to get this close to the Twilight Forest than elsewhere. Just as well. More work for adventurers means more business for me too after all. Thus it'll be coin well spent and not a reason to fret or worry. I have to admit, I might even look forward to it a bit.

First though I revisit my supplies to check if I can make another batch of healing potions. This one should be stronger too. And it's not just ingredients I need to check. I need to make sure I have enough potion bottles at hand as well. At least sealing them won't be an issue right now, since I have more than enough wax again as of yesterday. There is still plenty of cork on my shelves too. No problems in that regard.

The ingredients for the brew though … well, I'm actually left scratching the back of my head regarding those. In the end I settle on using wild rose petals and juniper berries from the garden out back as well as bitterleaf. I carefully weigh everything to make sure I get the mix just right. This particular mix won't be one that tastes nice due to the bitterleaf. It has its name for a reason after all. It'll be potent enough though and that is what really matters.

Making sure the fresh berries I get from my garden are properly dried without burning them is possibly the most demanding part of the process of brewing this next batch of healing potions. The rest is business as usual. I heat more water. I grind the dried ingredients and put them into a fresh silk bag. Then I just have to wait for the brew to finish after preparing the potion bottles. I even have the wooden tags ready by the time I pour the brew into the potion bottles. Routine acquired through years of practice and my very own Auspicious Aura probably help.

Once I'm done I focus my attention on the freshly bottled brew to activate my appraisal skill. I don't expect anything out of the ordinary, but it's still better to make sure anyway.

[Healing Potion, Quality: Uncommon, A healing potion that will heal any injury that is not immediately life threatening and even those will get better, even if only a little. Still good to use for another 35 days.]

I nod to myself. It looks good. Fine. Very fine in fact. Everything is as it should be. I hope it stays this way if I brew more in the following days. And even if I make a mistake, I'll hopefully catch it before anything bad can come of it. Humming to myself again I put the tags on the fresh batch of healing potions. Then I gather them all up to put them out onto the shelf next to the other potions.

It is then that happy baby noises interrupt me. Well, it's an interruption I don't mind. Elzbieta is back and apparently Ulryk is awake and in a happy mood. I head over to the front door and hug the two carefully. Then I take the baby boy from his mother so she can stretch a little.

She groans, as she does.

"Oh, dear gods and goddesses. Carrying him around all day really does a number on my back."

I kiss the little boy in question atop his head, eliciting another happy laugh from him, before I whisper in his ear.

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"Don't worry, you aren't that heavy. Although that will probably change before long."

Then I turn to his mother again, with a laugh.

"It's almost like you didn't carry him around for months already."

She rolls her eyes at me, as she accepts Ulryk back.

"That's not quite the same, you know?"

A sheepish smile finds its way onto my face.

"Of course it isn't. So, anyway, did you and Ulryk have a nice trip?"

She nods while she accompanies me to the workshop in the backroom, where I start to do the necessary cleaning after brewing potions.

"No problems. I just need to make regular breaks. We didn't go all that far either though. Just a little further than when we accompanied you on your trip to gather that Ocher by the creek."

As she explains, Ulryk starts to blabber a little too, making those cute noises only a baby can make. Is it just because we are talking? Or does he want to add his own opinion as actually already understand? No, the former is rather more likely than the latter. It doesn't really matter though. He is adorable and has us both captivated. Neither I nor Elzbieta mind either. And it doesn't last too long anyway, as he soon yawns mightily and falls back asleep.

Elzbieta is not exactly exhausted but still tired enough too. And while she doesn't hit the bed quite yet, she retreats to the bench out front to sit in the shadow together with her little son and have a little nap as well.

I finish up with my cleaning in the meantime, softly humming the tune to one of Ksawery's mischievous adventures to myself. That doesn't take all that long either though, thus I decide to do some necessary reading while I still have good natural light. I grab grandma's book of collected wisdom and sit down out back where I have all the sun I need right now and begin to read up on the best spots to collect more bitterleaf.

I could, in theory, read up on other ingredients too, but I focus on this one first. Dryad blossoms are something I will never harvest myself. Well, I probably won't. I'd much rather outsource that task to adventurers. Some other ingredients are highly seasonal and thus not always available. Bitterleaf on the other hand can be found and harvested all year. I don't have to deal with dangerous monsters or capricious fey to harvest it either.

What I will have to do is some walking. It seems the best spots to harvest the medical grass are a little upstream and away from the creek. Bitterleaf likes rocky and dry soil in spots where it can get enough sun. And I will have to venture beyond the pastures of the village's farms, as both sheep and cows like to eat bitterleaf too, despite the taste. Even the animals know what's good for them after all.

I close the book and lean back for a moment, enjoying the sun in my face. Maybe Elzbieta can come along for a trip like that? Together with Ulryk? Or she could leave him with Ueszula? She mentioned giving that a try a while ago after all. With a little groan I get back up and do some quick stretching. After returning the book to the chest by the foot end of the bed I head out front to join Elzbieta and Ulryk in the shade.

"Say, Elzbieta, I was planning to go out and harvest some herbs tomorrow. Or maybe the day after. Would you like to come along with me? Together with Ulryk? Or alone? You could try leaving your boy with Urszula for a few hours. Right?"

Elzbieta, who was on the verge of falling asleep herself, blinks at me owlishly for a moment. Then she nods.

"Sure. We could try that. Let's say the day after tomorrow. I want to visit Urszual together with Ulryk first, to get him used to the idea of staying with her instead of me first."

She gently rubs the boy's back as she speaks, making him stir slightly in his sleep.

"I think it's for the better if we get him used to this slowly."

I nod in turn. That sounds like a decent plan.

"Sure. Let's do it like that."