Chapter 147: 148: Banter

Fresh stares at the little, yellow flower that is planted in the center of a small, hand-made pot. Its petals are a little saggy and hang downward with a slight droop. “It’s really cute, Basil!” she says excitedly.

“It’s just a dumb flower and an ugly pot,” says Jubilee, staring at it. Fresh nudges them.

Basil frowns, rubbing her tired eyes. “It’s not about the flower or the pot,” she explains, as she pulls out a tiny sachet from her pocket. Opening it, she pulls out a small, crude, chalky stick that is hardly thicker or longer than a broken piece of a twig. It looks hand pressed and lumpy, with a pale, yellow color. Tiny bits of glitter are stuck inside of it. “It’s about this,” says the priestess, excitedly.

“What is it?” asks Fresh, looking at the tiny, yellow stick that Basil hands over to her.

Filled with nutrients and a tinge of magical energy absorbed from the mountain, this nutrient rich plant food contains all the things a plant needs to grow healthy and strong, even in poor-quality dirt.

Quality Effect: 10% chance to cause the plant to become malnourished or deformed.

Weight: 0.06kg

Value: ???

The tired looking priestess counts off her fingers. “First I made some dough out of some dried flower petals, some dirt, a ground up crystal and a tiny, tiny bit of water,” explains Basil. “Then I rolled them into these sticks and let them harden over the fire.”

“That’s a nice idea, Basil!” says Fresh happily.

“So you made fancy dirt?” asks Jubilee, rolling their eyes. “I’m sure the adventurers will love that. They’re real gardening types.”

“Don’t be mean, Jubilee!” scolds Fresh. “I think it’s a great idea.”

“I’m not surprised,” sighs Jubilee, looking at the somewhat droopy and sad looking flower. Fresh presses the stick softly into the dirt next to the stem, trying not to damage any of the roots, as she pushes it down with a single finger.

“Like this?” she asks.

“Yes,” answers Basil, grabbing a glass of water from the side and pouring a little of it over the stick. “If you add some water, it’ll slowly start coming apart again over the next few days, but not too much.”

“Aww,” says Fresh. “It’s cute!” She watches, as the droopy leaves of the plant lift up a tiny bit, as if the little thing were straightening its posture, having just a little bit more energy.

“Nourishing,” says Shamrock, standing by the side and watching with crossed arms.

“Don’t eat the plant-food, meat-head,” says Jubilee, not bothering to look up at him as they watch the plant straighten itself upright.

Basil goes on. “The important part is the crystal powder,” she explains. “The magical residue really helps perk them up right away.”

“So you want to sell these?” asks Jubilee. “What about the side-effects? You need to up the quality to at least normal to lose those.”

“Well, we could,” says Basil. “Maybe a few on the side? But actually I wanted to do something else with them.”

“Huh?” asks Fresh, looking at the little flower and then back to Basil.

“There’s still a lot of room down in the basement. Is it okay if I use the empty half?” asks the priestess.

Fresh scratches her cheek and nods. “That’s fine! I only need the table corner anyways.” She looks around. “So what do you want to make then, if this isn’t your final idea?”

“I want to grow a lot of different plants!” says the priestess, sounding oddly energetic all of a sudden, despite the heavy bags under her eyes. “There are a lot of interesting plants here on the mountain and I think I can make a lot of useful blends with their dried powders.”

“So you want to make tea?” asks Jubilee, poking the head of the flower once. Fresh swipes their hand away.

“Tea, herbal medicine, maybe some perfumes?” suggests Basil, thinking about it.

Jubilee and Fresh look at each other and nod in agreement. “That’s a great idea, Basil!” says Fresh. “But how will the plants grow in the basement? Don’t they still need sunlight?”

“I actually have an idea about that, but uh…” She looks at Shamrock. “I need the day off and can you help me today, please?”

He nods once.

“Fine with me,” says Jubilee, looking at the two of them. “About time you slackers started pulling your weight.” Jubilee nods to Fresh. “Guess we’re running the store today.”

“Mm!” says Fresh excitedly, looking forward to doing that. “Let us know if you need any help, okay?” she says to Basil and Shamrock.

They split ways for now. Basil and Shamrock take their money with them, as they head into town to buy materials. Fresh and Jubilee get the rest of the shop set up, as they’re opening in an hour.

“Hey,” snaps Jubilee back at her from between the shelves, pointing at the candy shelf. “You forgot to refill this, goo-brain.”

Fresh yelps, quickly running upstairs to make a fresh batch of the candies before they open, she had forgotten to do it last night.

After they open the shop, Fresh and Jubilee stand behind the counter, watching as the first people begin to walk inside. Rather than heading to the shelves, a caster, who Fresh recognizes as one of their usual customers, heads to the counter with a curious smile on her face. Fresh looks at her and she waves a friendly wave with a warm smile. The caster quickly loses their happy expression and turns the other way, walking towards Jubilee instead.

“Hey, where’s the big guy?” asks the caster.

“What?” Jubilee sighs. “He’s in town today.” The caster sighs and turns around, leaving straight away without buying anything or saying anything else. Overhearing this conversation, another two or three people turn to leave as well. “Fucking degenerates,” mutters Jubilee, tapping their fingers against the counter in agitation.

“They sure do like Shamrock,” sighs Fresh, rubbing her arm, not sure why she had gotten such a mean look first thing in the morning.

“What can I say? Opposites attract,” says Jubilee, shaking their head.

“But don’t birds of a feather flock together?” asks Fresh, lifting a finger and feeling particularly proud of that saying as she utters it. Though she isn’t quite sure where she drew it from?

Jubilee looks up at her. “What? The only birds flocking here are the ones nesting in your empty head,” says her friend. “Don’t you get it, dumb-ass?”

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Fresh scratches her cheek. “Get what?”

Jubilee stares at her for a moment, clearly deciding on what to say next. They sigh and wave her off, shaking their head. “You know what? Never mind. It’s fine. Don’t you worry your empty, little head about it.”

“Uh… okay,” says Fresh, still having no idea what was happening.

A droopy, slouching man walks inside. Fresh and Jubilee stare at the tired man, the one who had been here on the first day of their opening. Both of them watch as he shambles his way through the aisles, shuffling like a zombie.

A moment later, he comes back around the bend, a bottle of cold coughee in his hands as he heads to the counter. “Hey,” he says listlessly, holding the bottle up.

“Fuck off,” replies Jubilee straight away.

“Jubilee!” hisses Fresh, nudging her friend.

“You’re so rude,” says the tired man, sounding exhausted, but not offended. He points to the bottle in his hands. “What does this taste like?”

Jubilee sighs, tapping their fingers against the counter again. “It tastes like it looks,” they explain. “Brown.”

He looks at the dewy bottle in his hands, full of the tanned liquid, diluted with a little milk. “Is it good?”

“It’s even better if you pay for it,” says Jubilee. “And for the candy from last time.”

“That was free,” he says, pointing to Fresh. “She said so.”

Jubilee’s eye twitches. “Pay for the fucking thing. Then shove it up your ass and do a cart-wheel into the dungeon, you goon!”

“Jubilee~!”

The tired man lets out a long, exhausted, emotionless sigh. But then, to Fresh’s surprise, he starts laughing. “You’re funny,” he says, reaching into his pocket before putting a silver coin onto the counter. “You want to get a drink sometime?”

“I’d rather drown in the river,” replies Jubilee, taking the coin and throwing it into the drawer, not bothering to give the tired man any change. He laughs, turning to walk away as he opens the bottle and takes a sip.

His tired eyes open wide and he looks down at it, surprised, before looking back at the two of them. “It tastes like brown.”

“I fucking told you it would!” yells Jubilee, pointing at him. The tired man laughs to himself and walks out of the door, taking another sip.

Fresh stares in confusion. “Jubilee? What was that?”

Jubilee lets out a tired sigh. “Don’t you worry your empty, little head about it,” they say again, closing the change drawer with a loud rattle. Fresh blinks, shrugging once to herself.

A minute later, Shamrock and Basil return. Shamrock, carrying a giant crystal on his shoulders and Basil with a bag full of materials and wooden planks. A small crowd runs in after them.

Razmatazz

The same goes for you, reader.

No thoughts.

Shh~

-) After running a pretty decisive Patreon poll, my decision from yesterday has been confirmed. So I am no longer doing the 'Special Thanks' section below every chapter. Though this is mostly because of the nature of Sin-Eater's content. I'll have some other perks ready by this weekend to compensate  <3

-) This story is probably going to undergo a scheduling change and move away from the 'every day' format in the nearish future. No details yet, still working out everything

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