Chapter 17: 2-0 Arc 1 Recap + 2-1 The Town of Fess

2-0 Arc 1 Recap

Stahlia, Ten Years Old, Second Month of 947

It had been just over ten years since my reincarnation. I used to be a failing Twitch streamer until I was approached by what I thought was the opportunity of a lifetime. One of my viewers, going by the handle “EvilGod” offered me a spot in a beta test of a new game his company was developing, called New Life. Seeing this as an opportunity to finally launch my channel into success, I ignored my better judgment and quickly signed up for the beta. Only, it turned out that EvilGod really was, and New Life was literal.

I was murdered and found myself inhabiting the body of the character I had created for the beta. Stahlia was the newborn daughter of Fynn and Rosalie, fallen nobility in the Kingdom of Drakas. My first few months were a form of hell in their own way; being an infant, I couldn’t speak or move around freely. I was completely dependent on my new mother for everything. Of course, I had one advantage babies normally don’t have; I had the memories of my past life as George, a university student studying in the STEM fields.

Leveraging my knowledge, I developed quickly and was able to speak fluently and walk around by myself within my first year. My parents were worried at first, but eventually decided I had been gifted with a special purpose by the gods and goddess of this world. With that assumption, they endeavored to give me opportunities to learn and experience things a normal infant would never understand.

Due to my parent’s accommodating nature, I started learning Alchemy under the tutelage of a local villager named Sven, and we struck up an odd friendship; him being in his late thirties and me being a yearling. I also became friends with the family maid, Jacqueline, and began training our family pet monster Stil. Through my friendship with Jacqueline, I was able to further expand my skillset beyond what my parents would have been willing to indulge; she taught me hand-to-hand combat and knife fighting.

At my Dedication Ritual, a religious ceremony that all three-year-olds in this Kingdom undergo, my parents finally learned about my special prodigy talent that I had gained through my reincarnation. Due to having this talent, I was sent to a school at the local temple alongside other gifted children from our village. It was at this school where I finally started making friends with children my age. Sana, a gifted singer who could already cast miracles despite being only five herself, and Giogi, a young boy who had a talent for knives and knife fighting. There were a few other children, but these two were the ones I bonded with the most.

When I was four years old, my parents gave me an adorable little sister named Rosial. Rosial was a sweet little thing with a knack for disappearing. Unfortunately, that led to her being kidnapped by the Kingdom’s Order of Shadows following her own Dedication Ritual. I fell into depression and was only pulled back after a visit from the goddess of traitors and plots. She gave me an impetus and a blessing, so I swore an oath to myself that I would destroy the kingdom for daring to take my sister from me. Jacqueline revealed to me that she was a member of the same Order that had taken my sister, and swore herself to my cause, determining to help me rescue my sister and deal with the repercussions of moving against the kingdom.

Complicating matters, my parent’s arranged an engagement for me with the third son of a Count in my father’s old faction. Still, I determined that the engagement should prove as a useful shield for me as I navigated my way through the Royal Academy; a school for the Kingdom’s Noble children and gifted commoners. Departing from my home village to enroll at that Academy upon turning ten, I was decided that I would face my future head-on.

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2-1 The Town of Fess

Stahlia Ten Years Old, Second Month of 947

Sitting in the carriage, I ignored the excited chatter coming from Sana and Giogi. They had just experienced their first battle and were eagerly discussing it. Indeed, our carriage had been assaulted by a trio of Orcs en route to the capital of Drakas. It might have been exciting for them but for me, who had been waging a war of extermination against goblins since I was barely five years old, it was nothing special. Sure, Orcs were a couple of ranks stronger than Goblins, but they still were not something I considered overly dangerous; everyone dies when they are killed, by slashing their throats that is.

Sargon, an injured traveler we had rescued from those same orcs was staring out the window, pointedly ignoring the party of ten-year-olds that had saved his life. Honestly, you could be a bit more grateful, Sana even healed you with a miracle. Normally, that type of injury would have cost you a minimum of three Drakas Small Golds as a donation to the temple, but she did it for free. The questionable morals of our new companion aside, I had other things on my mind. Running my hand through Stil’s feathers, I channeled some mana into his body and confirmed the contents of his status window that was displayed in my vision.

Name/Age: Stil, 13

Species/Level: Stawri, 10 Experience MAX

Ability Values:

• Strength E: 20 (+10)
• Endurance E: 20
• Dexterity D: 60 (+100)
• Intelligence D: 60 (+100)
• Charisma E: 20
• Mana E: 20

Special: Bonded Monster (Stahlia), [EVOLUTION AVAILABLE]*

Skills: Keen Senses*, Strength Normal Enhancement*, Loyalty*, Agility Super Enhancement*, Intelligence Super Enhancement*,

My mana control had improved drastically over the past two years. By increasing the amount of mana I channeled into the target, I was able to get a lot more information than I used to. At my present ability, I could see his Skills list and his numerical stats. As far as his skills were concerned, I could even get more information by focusing on a skill’s name.

The enhancement skills were straightforward, they provided an enhancement value to his stats based on his level; normal enhancement was 1x his level, super enhancement was 10x his level. Both of them seemed to cap at level twenty-five though, so it shouldn't be too broken. Presumably, he had acquired these based on how I had trained him. Keen Senses simply enhanced his five senses and was likely a skill intrinsic to the Stawri species. Loyalty had no effect, and I theorized it was simply indicative he was in a subservient role, and not the leader of his own pack.

The most useful for the day-to-day would have to be the actual numbers associated with Stil’s stats, but what was drawing my attention at the moment was the line “[EVOLUTION AVAILABLE]”. I had theorized that monsters could evolve after fulfilling certain conditions back when I was creating Stahlia. Before reincarnating as her, the character creation had various monsters as playable races and had included a sort of flowchart showing different branching sub-species.

Still, this was the first time I had confirmed what those conditions were; following the orc extermination I had received a notification that “Bonded Monster Stil has reached their species Apex. Evolution has been unlocked. Further growth will be impossible until evolved.” Indeed, Stil’s level was currently displayed as “10” while their experience counter was “max”. This indicated he could not grow any further in his current form. I focused my attention on the [EVOLUTION AVAILABLE] and the screen was switched to display three options.

Blood Stawri[AVAILABLE]*, Alpha Stawri[LOCKED]*, Hawri[AVAILABLE]*

Each option was additionally illustrated with a side profile silhouette, presumably, this indicated what the new appearance of the evolved monster would be. Since each of these options had the symbol indicating I could get more info, I focused on them one by one; I didn’t want to accidentally neuter my companion.

“Blood Stawri: A Variant of the Stawri species. This species is more effective in combat and gains a physical Strength Bonus upon Evolution. Prerequisites: A Stawri may become a Blood Stawri upon reaching level 10.”

“Alpha Stawri: A Rare Variant of the Stawri Species. This species gains access to the [Pack Leader] Skill and is effective in leading other Stawri species in battle. Prerequisites: Not Available for a Stawri in Possession of [Loyalty] Skill.”

“Hawri: A Very Rare Evolution available to the Stawri Species. This species gains a bonus to Intelligence and Mana upon Evolving. Prerequisites: Requires Infusion of Divine Element.”

Blood Stawri appeared to be the common evolution of Stil’s species, so I expected it would give him a decent increase in power. Alpha Stawri wasn’t available for Stil due to his loyalty skill. I was his pack leader, making it impossible for him to become an alpha himself.

On the other hand, Hawri looked very interesting. Particularly the “Very Rare” and the “requires Divine Element” portions. I still wasn’t sure about what exactly the Divine Element was, though I could infer it had something to do with the magic used in this world. Elemental spells were classified as “Fire Element”, “Water Element”, “Earth Element”, etcetera. The Divine Element was not listed in any of the magic textbooks my Red Mage tutor had given me, leading me to believe it was either completely unknown, considered top secret, or simply very, very, rare.

As for myself, I had gained a skill that allowed me to use the Divine Element, indicating that it was a bit more advanced than normal magic. After all, anyone could use the main elements when chanting a spell, but my Blessing of Winter specifically stated that it “unlocked access to the Divine Element”, indicating that to use it there were prerequisites. Granted, I haven’t been able to actually use it even once since getting that skill…

Seeing as that skill came directly from a goddess, and the Hawri evolution required it. I made my decision and carefully compared Stil, who was laying at my feet, with the Silhouette of the Hawri in my display window; I didn’t want him to suddenly change shape in front of everyone.

Once I was sure that the physical appearance did not change, I focused on the “Hawri” option causing a confirmation window to appear. I selected “yes”. All of a sudden, my arm felt incredibly cold. Some kind of energy was flowing out of me and into Stil. He twitched uncomfortably before passing out. Before I was able to worry about whether I had hurt him or not, he suddenly began emitting a torrent light. Shit! So much for doing this secretly. In my last life, I became the very best several times over, why wasn’t I expecting a transformation special effects display?! Note to self; next time do this when I’m alone!

The chattering from Sana and Giogi stopped at once and they both stared at Stil in surprise. Even Sargon, who had been pointedly ignoring us was now staring while fidgeting uncomfortably. Before long, the light faded and Stil stood up. His physical size and shape had not changed, but his feathers had taken on a silvery sheen. If I don’t say anything, maybe they’ll ignore it. Thinking thusly, I rubbed my hand through Stil’s head feathers.

Name/Age: Stil, 13

Species/Level: Hawri, 10 Experience 0/12000

Ability Values:

• Strength E: 30 (+10)
• Endurance E: 30
• Dexterity D: 70 (+100)
• Intelligence C: 70 (+100)
• Charisma E: 30
• Mana D: 30

Special: Bonded Monster (Stahlia), Divine Evolution

Skills: Keen Senses*, Strength Normal Enhancement*, Loyalty*, Agility Super Enhancement*, Intelligence Super Enhancement*, Physical Enhancement Magic M*, Mana Sensing*

The Evolution had apparently been successful, Stil’s species had changed to “Hawri” and his experience counter was no longer locked. He had gained two new skills that I quickly inspected. Physical Enhancement Magic M was a “Monster” exclusive version of my own physical enhancement; it lets him use his mana to increase his Strength, Endurance, and Dexterity. Mana Sensing was a sort of sixth sense; it allowed him to sense ambient mana. That will probably be useful for detecting magic being cast or something along those lines. It also appeared he had gained a flat +10 bonus to all his stats.

The whole inspection only took me a few seconds since I was doing it at the speed of thought. Sana cleared her throat, “Stahlia, what… what was that?” She was looking at me with a calm face, but her eyes were suspicious. Giogi nodded at her question.

“Sana, why would you assume I know what happened?” I pasted on an innocent smile and tilted my head questioningly.

Sana narrowed her eyes and pushed a finger at me. “Of course, you know what happened. Anytime anything strange happened in our village, you were always the reason!”

“Lies and slander.” I should have expected that she would catch on, Giogi too, although he will probably accept whatever I tell him, Sana is too smart sometimes. Thankfully, Jacqueline came to my rescue, while shooting me a disappointed look, she drew Sana’s, Giogi’s, and Sargon’s attention to herself.

“Miss Sana, I believe Stil has just evolved into a stronger species of monster. You learned about this at the temple school; when monsters gain enough strength, they can undergo changes to gain new abilities. I believe the earlier fight with the Orcs may have pushed Stil over that threshold. Asking Lady Stahlia what happened is not fair, even if Stil is her tamed monster, even she would not be able to predict what changes he has undergone just now.”

Jacqueline’s tone was mollifying, and her smile was sweet. Their combined effect caused Sana to nod and sit back, completely accepting the situation. Giogi glanced at Stil again before shrugging and sitting back against his seat. Sargon looked like he was about to say something, but Jacqueline sent him a quick glare and he returned to pointedly staring out the window and ignoring us.

After a short silence, Sana and Giogi returned to their conversation, and I settled in for the remaining hours until we reached the upcoming town. Still, Stil got a decent power boost from that. I wonder what the next level requirement for his evolution is…? Having no way to predict that, I glanced over my own stats, confirming that the Orc fight had not leveled me up.

Life Summary Screen:

Life Point Balance: 65

Name/Age: Stahlia von Ris, 10

Gender: Female

Class/Level: Custom Class, 9 Experience: 1450/9000

Species: Human (Pureblood)

Social Strata: Nobility (Baron Ris, Drakas Kingdom)

Starting Gift: Small Seed [LOCKED]

Ability Values:

• Strength D: 96
• Endurance B: 126
• Dexterity S: 190
• Intelligence S: 270
• Charisma B: 126
• Mana A: 138

Fighting Style: Shadow Blade [Swap Style]

Talents 3/3: [Browse Talents] Prodigy II*, Memorization I*, Stealth III, || Monster Handling III*, Dagger Fighting IV* Unarmed Fighting III*, Alchemy Correction III*, Teaching II*, Mana Efficiency I*, Fire Magic I*,

Skills 2/3: [Browse Skills] Divine Authority[Class Features]*, Finesse Fighting, [], || Language Proficiency[Central Human]*, Fighting Style[Shadow Blade]*, Blessing of Winter*

Talents Experience: [+]

The amount of experience needed for my next level was beginning to balloon. Given that a goblin was worth only 100 experience, I would need to kill 90 of them to get to level ten, and based on Stil’s required experience for level eleven, I could assume that going from ten to twenty would take twice as many goblins as it had taken to get from one to ten. I wish something like that Mountain Ogre would show up again, it was worth a whole 7500 experience points. Supposedly, there were other ways to level up than just fighting monsters; Jav, a farmer from my home village who was in my same age group had already hit level four, but when I asked him he had sworn he had never fought a monster before.

That had been a difficult conversation. Although the concept of levels and classes was known to the inhabitants of this world, they had a few misconceptions about the mechanics. Classes were referred to as “Your Purpose” and leveling up was known as “Improving your Purpose”. When you successfully leveled up, you would find your stamina restored, though unlike in some RPG settings, it did not heal your wounds. In fact, as far as I could tell, this world didn’t have the concept of a health pool at all.

If your arm was chopped off it was a mortal injury, slitting a throat would cause the victim to bleed out, regardless of their endurance. Everyone was basically just a regular human in terms of durability, though some of the more expensive skills would help to fix that. Stuff like [Steel Skin] or [Adamantine Bones] existed and would make your body proportionally harder to injure.

I guess he gets experience from farming? But if that’s the case, I should have been getting experience from all the alchemy I was doing. My only working theory was that Jav had some kind of skill he got from his class related to farming; by using a skill he got from his class he was able to get class experience. I currently only had my Divine Authority, which was what let me purchase skills and talents with life points, and Finesse Fighting. Finesse Fighting was a combat-focused skill that improved my dexterity and made it easier for me to land critical hits. Since slashing a throat qualified as a critical hit, the skill meshed nicely with this world’s lack of a health bar.

I had an open skill slot and had considered taking a skill that was not combat-focused to see if I could then earn experience through using it. However, since the return on my investment was unknown, I didn’t want to risk it. I knew that killing a goblin would get me 100 experience. I had no way of confirming how much experience brewing a potion would be worth. Using Sven as an example, when I asked him, he told me he was only around level 30 and had been an alchemist type class since his birth. Knowing that, I doubted you earned much via the pacifism playstyle. Giving up on my deliberations, I decided to take a nap until we arrived at the town.

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★★★★★★

Jacqueline lightly shook me to wake me up. “Lady Stahlia, we have arrived in Fess. The driver says he thinks we can make it to the capital tomorrow, three days ahead of schedule, but he wants to rest the horses here for a full day. Is that acceptable to you?”

“Mhm… Yes, that will be acceptable, I would very much appreciate a day of rest from sitting. Though, we will need to send word to Lord Francois regarding our early arrival; they are expecting us at the end of the week after all.” Not that I want to see them… But I can’t afford to make waves. Count Francois was the father of my Fiancée, Lord Dominic. I personally had no desire to marry him, my past life memories were male, so the idea of marriage and bearing children did not appeal to me. Of course, this body still hasn’t matured, so there is no telling what might change as I age and experience adolescence. The thought of second puberty made me shiver.

Besides qualms about gender, marrying into a count’s family would be counterintuitive in my goal of rebellion. In the past couple of years, while making plans with Jacqueline, I decided that I would use Dominic and his house to my advantage for the next few years while I was a student, but I had every intention of somehow breaking off our engagement before I came of age and was marched to the altar.

For now, however, we merely settled for going to an inn for the night as it was growing late. The carriage driver made a brief stop at the adventurer’s guild to let Sargon out and then brought us towards the center of town where the high-class inns were located. I think Sana and Giogi were expecting me to complain the inn selected was too fancy; they both shot me astonished looks when I politely thanked the driver and entered the building. Come on now, even if it’s a bit much, I am technically a noble now; I have to keep up appearances when there are so many people around. Starting any rumors about myself will make it harder to move.

Upon entering, I was greeted by the sight of a plain but warm reception area. Off to the right was a stairway leading up and moving past the reception was a large dining area. Presumably, the entire first floor was taken up by the dining room and kitchens, with rooms beginning on the second floor. There was no wait, so I walked up to the reception room with Jacqueline in tow while Sana followed a half step behind. Giogi took up a post near the door.

I was wearing a simple travel dress, although the material was a step above what a girl my age would typically don, and I had Dominic’s pearl earrings in. Jacqueline had done up my hair into a patterned braid that hung down behind me; a simple style that was easy to maintain while traveling but lacked none of the refineries typically associated with noble girls. In short, I looked my station. Upon catching sight of me, the receptionist did a double-take before bowing hurriedly; Nobles would announce their travel plans in advance to the places they would be staying, so the inn knew to expect me, albeit not for a couple more days.

Jacqueline addressed the receptionist in my stead, while I did my best to look bored, not a hard task to be certain. “I must apologize, the roads were very kind to us, and with Dorian’s blessing we have made exceptionally good progress on our journey.”

The receptionist blinked rapidly while formulating her response but was clearly skilled at her job, as it did not take her very long, “Yes, that is fortuitous. Thankfully, the room Lord Ris arranged for is available at the moment so there is no issue. I just need to ask for a confirmation of identity and I can go ahead and give you your keys.”

I reached inside a hidden pocket of my dress and produced a crest, a small piece of fabric embroidered with my family’s iconography. It was sewn directly into my Academy Clothes, but for security purposes was not on my travel attire. Passing it to Jacqueline, she accepted it and then presented it to the receptionist. Some of these customs are a real pain in the ass…

“Ah, the crest of Baron Ris. Payment for the rooms and food has already been handled when Lord Ris made the reservation, here are your keys. Please do let the staff know if there are any issues or you require anything else.” Jacqueline accepted a pair of room keys and pocketed one, passing the other to Sana.

I gave the receptionist a half curtsy, which was the expected etiquette to be presented by a low noble to a commoner, and we went up the stairs to our rooms. We had a one and a half room on the third floor, essentially a large single room and a closet with a bed in it. The large room had one bed and two cots, while the closet had just a cot.

Needless to say, the large room was for Jacqueline, Sana, and myself, while the closet was for Giogi. Jacqueline set down our day case and cast a spell to block eavesdroppers. Apparently, that was something expected of nobility; they would either have an attendant who could cast the spell, a magic tool for it, or as a last resort, do it themselves. Upon being assigned as my personal maid for the Academy, Jacqueline had informed my father of her ability to use it, much to his pleasure; as magic tools for that purpose were quite expensive, even for nobles.

Giogi Sana and I took a seat around the small tea table in the corner of the room while Jacqueline produced a tea set. I addressed my companions, “So, what do the two of you want to do tomorrow? It seems we have a full day.”

Giogi shook his head, “I don’t have anything I really want to do; I’ll just follow you around like I’m supposed to.”

Sana gave it a bit more thought before indicating a desire to visit the local temple, “I would like to visit the temple. The priest told me that if I had the chance, I should stop by the Fess temple and offer a prayer of thanks.”

I nodded to both of them before giving my own input, “I will need to commission a letter to Count Francois and Lord Dominic announcing the change of our arrival. It is not a lot of warning but giving them a full day of time to prepare would be preferred to simply showing up three days before expected. Then I would like to visit an Alchemy Shop in a large town and compare it to Sieg’s store in Ris Village.”

After a little bit of idle chat over the tea offered by Jacqueline, we sent word to the receptionist that we would not be eating dinner and quickly retired for the night, exhausted from having spent several days in a carriage.

Waking at dawn, Jacqueline helped me put on a fancier dress that she retrieved from our day bag. Combing out my hair, she tied it up into hoops that hung behind my ears and applied a small amount of powder to my face. The whole affair took just shy of an hour. By far, dressing in the morning is the worst part of being a woman.

Giogi came out of his closet after Sana finished dressing, and Jacqueline informed him the room was safe. Descending to the dining area, we were served by a waitress who looked like a younger version of the receptionist, probably her sister. The meal was a level above what I was used to eating at home. The dishes were all the same, but the presentation and flavor were both exceptional.

I thanked the waitress with a half curtsy and a smile, which caused her to turn bright red and duck into the kitchen out of sight, and we departed the inn. When we got onto the main street Sana took her leave, she wanted to go straight to the temple. Giogi followed me a short distance behind, while I followed Jacqueline; at some point, she had familiarized herself with the layout of the town and knew the quickest route to the adventurer’s guild. The guild building was in a state of poor repair, at odds with the surrounding buildings. I recalled what I had been told by Jacqueline during one of our many secret question and answer sessions following her revelation.

The Drakas Kingdom branch of the Adventurer’s Guild was widely considered superfluous, the kingdom had a well-trained standing army that regularly patrolled the territory to deal with monsters and bandits. You might find a few higher skilled adventurers in regions like Ris Village, that were considered too far out of the way for regular patrols, but here in the heartland adventurers were looked down upon by society. They were allowed to exist by the kingdom since they did still offer some value; delivering messages and letters like we were having them do was one such task still handled by them.

In other countries, that had less developed military machines, the Adventurers Guild had a much larger role, and was often treated as a sort of extra-national independent power politically. They were a lot like the catholic church used to be, though they lacked the influence over domestic policy. In Earth terms, the Adventurers Guild was like a private military organization cum temp agency that would contract out personal to the highest bidder.

In any case, we entered the building and took a quick look around. Similar to the exterior, the interior was in a state of disrepair. Due to the time, there were few people present so we avoided having to stand in line at the counter. The receptionist was, contrary to my expectations, an old man covered in wrinkles. What little remained of his hair was a stark white. Isn’t the receptionists supposed to be a well-endowed young woman? Pretty much everything I’ve learned about the guild so far falls strictly within the bounds of a trope.

The receptionist in Ris Village had been a local village girl with nothing much special about her appearance, but I had thought that was just because of how far out of the way we were and had been expecting the larger towns and cities to follow the stereotype. I guess this is yet another reminder that, despite all the similarities, this isn’t a game. If only I had come to that realization sooner…

The old man looked up as we approached the counter and narrowed his eyes when he saw me; with the dress, Jacqueline had stuffed me into there was no chance mistaking me for a commoner. Jacqueline approached and presented the man the letter I had penned this morning, complete with a wax seal bearing my family crest.

“Please have this delivered to Count Francois, we need the task completed by the end of the day and are willing to pay the rush fee.” The man’s narrowed eyes widened when he heard the name of the recipient.

“Aye, Count Francois’ estate in the capital. Rush delivery with a half-day deadline, that’ll run you a Drakas Gold and five Small Drakas Golds.” That’s 50,000 Draks! So expensive! Still, I knew better than to comment on the price, nobles were not supposed to sweat the details like that; it was a social expectation.

Jacqueline nodded and counted out five small gold coins, “Please also instruct the runner that this letter is from the young Lord Dominic’s Fiancée.”

I grimaced internally but understood the need for her to bring that up; doing so would ensure that the courier was not halted by the estate guards when he arrived at the Francois house. The old man nodded and presented a piece of paper for Jacqueline to sign, which she quickly did.

The man accepted the paper from her then looked around the room before his gaze settled on a younger man who was watching us from a side table, “Aaron! Stop gawking and come take this request already. Your ears are keen enough you already know the details.”

The man called out to grimaced, but still obediently got up and took the paper and the letter. He looks familiar… As if reading my mind, Aaron glanced down at me, “Francois and Ris eh? Guess they got what they wanted after all… poor girl.”

With that worrying remark, he exited out of the building and made his way down the street out of sight.

“Jacqueline, do I know that Adventurer?” Jacqueline sank into thought before nodding.

“I believe he was the one who delivered the Count Francois’ letter to your father two years ago. I am surprised you remember his face, you only saw him but for a few moments.” I accepted her answer before murmuring barely audibly, but loud enough I knew Jacqueline would be able to hear me.

“Still, I may be dissatisfied with the engagement, but why would a random adventurer direct sympathy towards me?” Jacqueline tilted her eyebrow up slightly; it was a signal to me that she had heard and understood the order. I wanted her to investigate the circumstances surrounding my engagement.

We exited the adventurer’s guild and Jacqueline guided us towards a central market square where she had learned that this town’s premier alchemy workshop was located. Arriving at the square, I was shocked speechless. There are so many people! I knew Ris was supposedly small, but this is insane! Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Giogi had likewise frozen up, indeed, the number of people present in the market square was like the entire population of our home village.

Except, here we could only see women and children too young to work. There were hardly any men or older boys about, indicating that this was simply the daily shopping bustle. The only time I had seen a comparable number of people was during mine and Rosial’s Dedication Rituals, events that saw essentially every able-bodied citizen congregate in front of the temple. Is Sana alright? She left for the temple alone…

Jacqueline roused me from my stupor and directed us towards a building in the corner of the square; based on the sign hanging above the door, this was the alchemy workshop. Entering the shop, I inhaled deeply. I missed this smell. Not just from traveling, I hadn’t visited the alchemy shop back in Ris since Sven left; I would grow sad at the thought I would probably never see him again. An old man, probably in his late fifties, came out from the back and waited at the counter. Jacqueline knew better than to keep up the façade here and did not approach him to speak on my behalf. In fact, her presence vanished entirely. I’m glad she picked up on my intention last night.

Running my eyes over the shelves I cataloged the store’s inventory of herbs and reagents. I recognized most of them, a fact which somewhat dampened my mood. I was hoping to encounter new ingredients, but I suppose we are still in relatively the same region as Ris Village, though the terrain is different, it’s close enough Sven would have been able to arrange imports.

One thing, however, did catch my eye. On the rack of finished potions were three I was more than intimately familiar with; Ammonia, Ether, and “Scratch-Powder”. I had personally “invented” all of them. I can understand the Ammonia and Ether, but why are they selling the itching powder? I came up with that on a whim when Sven pissed me off like, four or five years ago?

I approached the counter, which caused the man to widen his eyes and cough before straightening up, “Excuse me Sir Alchemist, what is the purpose of that “Scratch-Powder”?”

Raising an eyebrow at my question, he took a vial down from the shelf and set it on the counter for me to get a closer look, “You have a good eye Milady; this is a relatively new concoction used by citizens for self-defense. You toss it in the faces of assailants, and it makes them unbearably itchy. Make sure to use gloves though, or it’s your hand that will suffer.”

I nodded at his explanation. I see Sven decided to sell it after all. He just didn’t want any in his own shop. I fear I may have traumatized him… Upon taking a closer look, I narrowed my eyes. “You sell this..?” looking at me questioningly, the man spoke in a hesitating tone.

“Y-yes, I make it myself and sell it to the people in Fess.” I turned my narrowed gaze to his face.

“This is an inferior product; there is too much Nettle Oil and not enough crushed Hot Pepper seeds. Additionally, you used sand instead of finely powdered glass or crystal.” The man opened his eyes wide.

“You can tell all that from just a glance? At your age?” I nodded. I’ll explain myself, I guess.

Taking a deep breath, I began to wax eloquently about the finer points of childhood pranks, “While the Nettle oil is what causes the itch, the mixture requires the crushed Hot Pepper seeds to elicit a burning reaction when you scratch at it; Nettle Oil on its own is only unpleasant. As for the dust, the main purpose is as a binding agent to hold the oils; without some form of powder, you just have liquid, which is difficult to spread in a cloud. Sand will work well enough but it is easy to dislodge with water or a cloth wipe.”

I took the bottle in my hand and boldly dumped it over my bare forearm. I then dumped the water from my flask over the same arm while ignoring the itch. Showing the Alchemist my now clean and perfectly non-itching limb, I continued.

“The purpose of glass or crystal is to inflict minuscule cuts to the skin when the powder makes contact. This lets the oil seep into the skin, and scratching it only causes further cuts.” The man’s jaw was now suitably loose.

“Milady… This product only made its way to market a year ago, and its recipe is a closely guarded secret of the Alchemist’s Guild… may I be so bold as to ask how you learned of it?” I had to blink a few times to wrap my head around that last bit. Itching powder is a closely guarded secret…? PFFT! Barely able to contain my laughter, I decided to introduce myself; it would do my cover some good if rumors about me taking an extreme interest in alchemy were to spread since that was what the kingdom expected of me based on my actions so far.

“Right, you do not know my name; I am Lady Ris, I am the alchemist who invented Scratch-Powder.”

The alchemist was extremely flustered by my answer and mumbled an apology; apparently, the alchemists guild had “refined” the recipe they had been sold, seeing no reason to include the missing ingredients, as the concoction was perfectly serviceable without them… just not nearly as potent.

I chatted with the old alchemist about some of my other inventions and even gave a demonstration of how to be properly condescending to a potion kettle. After some time, I purchased a small handful of Mana Recovery Potions and Restoration Potions. All of them were only D grade items, completely lacking color, but they were still effective for mine and Giogi’s levels. I could always make these myself, but talking to this guy was pretty fun, he sort of reminds me of Sven a little bit.

Leaving the shop, Jacqueline’s presence returned, and we moved around the town sightseeing for an hour before we had to meet Sana at the temple to return to the inn. We didn’t go into any other shops but merely idled, observing all of the items that were unavailable to us in Ris Village. As we were still traveling for another day, we saw no reason to buy something here when we could just get it later at the capital.

The appointed time arrived, and we went to the temple where we met back up with Sana. According to her, her day had been uneventful, “Sana, did you have any difficulties locating the temple?” I was still concerned that the number of people had possibly been overwhelming to her.

“No Stahlia, the streets were nowhere this crowded when I was going…” She looked around with saucer eyes at the number of people. Right, I suppose it was still early when she left us; the crowds must have been thinner as everyone was still finishing breakfast. It did take us a decent length of time to reach the guild, not to mention the amount of time we spent inside, “…Once I arrived and showed my letter to the local head Priest they let me into the back rooms so I was able to offer my prayers without issue. This temple is amazing! There are four people here who can cast miracles!”

Her eyes were sparkling and her surprise at the crowds had seemingly vanished. Oh-no, I touched her Zealot Button. Still, four people huh? Back in Ris, it’s only her and the Priest himself, so I can understand why she’s so excited, “Four people? That is impressive.”

We continued our back and forth as we made our way back to the inn. Jacqueline gave the receptionist an additional four Drakas Silvers since our reservation had only been for a single night and we were not leaving until the morning. Taking dinner, the mini-receptionist-waitress made a point of paying especially close attention to our table, consistently blushing whenever she looked at me. I indicated for Jacqueline to leave an extra silver coin under one of our plates; this world had no culture of tipping, but wealthy people would oft leave a gift when they were well pleased.

After finishing dinner we made our way back up to our rooms and retired for the night just as the sun had ducked behind the horizon. Our driver had indicated he wanted to set out at first light, and I knew I should plan on Jacqueline rousing us at least two hours before so we would be sure to be ready.

Once Sana’s breathing had stabilized into the steady rhythm of sleep I sat up onto the edge of my bed. Jacqueline nodded before coming over with silent footsteps. I raised an eyebrow by way of a question but she merely shook her head and whispered to me, “I checked the local safe house while you were in the alchemy shop, there was nothing there that might serve as a clue.”

I sighed quietly, “Well, it is only a safe house after all. I wasn’t really expecting you to find anything. Likely we will only be able to get a lead when we arrive in the capital.”

Jacqueline nodded before retreating back to her cot. Indeed, while I had been genuinely interested in exploring the differences between a large town’s alchemy shop and the one back in Ris, the real reason for my outing had been to give Jacqueline the chance to leave me alone; nobody would question me of all people being without an attendant when alchemy was involved.

Lying back in bed, I thought to myself. It’s been a fast two of years since the last time I saw Dominic, and now I’ll be staying in a home prepared for me by his family. Honestly, the thought of having to put up with him for the next several years makes my stomach twist up in a knot, not to mention what that Aaron fellow said this morning… My thoughts in turmoil, I drifted off into a far from restful sleep.

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