Is it wrong to fleece adventurers at the item shop?

Elzbieta didn't promise too much. The noodles with meatballs and sauce are delicious. And apparently they are much more to her taste than spinach soup. I can't help but notice either, that her portion is larger than mine once again. Not by much, but still. Well, I still have plenty enough on my plate to feel pleasantly stuffed afterwards, so I really have no reason to complain.

I have good reason to extend our lunch break a little after returning home though. Instead of getting right back to work, we sit down in the sun for a little while, to rest our feet and our eyes.

Eventually we have to get back to work though, there simply is no way around it. We aren't dryads who can live off sunshine and the occasional drizzle after all. Although, to be honest, I'm not entirely sure even dryads can make do like that. At least none I have heard off want to make do like that. Probably because it would be pretty boring.

Elzbieta resumes work with the mill, except this time around she takes it out back to get some more sun. I on the other hand plan to get started with something new entirely, except, I need to clean up first after making those potent healing potions. The workshop still doesn't clean itself. No surprising changes in that regard.

Thus the next order of business is cleaning. Thankfully it isn't all that much equipment that needs cleaning. I take my time anyway.

Once I'm done I take a deep breath as I look around my now nice and orderly once more workshop. Curious how even tedious work like this can feel rewarding. Well, rewarding by my standards anyway, very few people, mostly maids and similar servants probably, probably ever are rewarded by the divine for work like this. And even for those few the divine rewards are in all likelihood rather scarce.

Maybe I'm a little spoiled in that regard though. Especially lately the divine have been more than just generous after all.

I shake my head and drive those thoughts away. It is no use thinking like that. Instead I should get started on my next enchantment. That is a much better use of my time!

I grab my notebook and a chair and head out in the backyard to keep Elzbieta company and get a little more sun myself. While she keeps singing, today she has opted for the romantic misadventures of the miller's wife instead of more of Ksawery's adventures, I start work on the enchantment for my dancing shoes.

I'm a little torn about which direction I should take.

I have been thinking about a highly specialized enchantment that only applies to dancing so far. This approach would make for a more complex but also more powerful enchantment by sacrificing flexibility. There is a risk, small as it may be, that this kind of enchantment might not work under some specific circumstances where I really would like it to work though.

I could go for a more generalist approach instead, making a simpler enchantment that is always active but is, at the same time, not quite as potent.

This isn't all that is to it either. If I were to go for a triple enchantment, the second approach would be the one most likely to work. With the former the individual enchantments might just turn out too complex.

Should I even dare to try my hand at a triple enchantment? It hasn't been that long that I performed my first successful double enchantment after all. This could go oh so very wrong.

On the other hand this might be the perfect occasion to make the attempt. I have improved my abilities and I have even better chalks available now. It might just work!

Even if it doesn't work out, it would most likely only cost me my favorite pair of sandals. Regrettable and a little costly but not a crippling loss.

In the end I decide to draft up the designs for both options. I have some time after all, thus I might as well put it to good use. Bit by bit I fill the pages in my notebook with runes, circles and calculations, first for the one option, then for the other.

I make some plain tea for Elzbieta and myself some time during the afternoon. Nothing alchemical about it, just some fruity and refreshing aroma.

I'm not exactly done with either by the time evening comes around, but I have made good progress. Good enough to be satisfied even though I'm not exactly done yet.

After closing the shop and checking the enchanting dust I stamp Elzbieta's quest papers and we are off to the inn together once more. I don't intend to stay for a drink this time though. Instead I just get a fresh jug for Sour Cream before I'm off again.

As night falls I retreat inside to continue my work by lantern light. Eventually I copy my work on the more basic, generalist double enchantment for agility and willpower onto a new page and start to add a third enchantment, this one for awareness.

It seems to be the logical choice. After all I don't just have to be swift of foot and sure of my own capabilities, I have to be aware of my surroundings as well. Yes, this seems the perfect combination as far as I can tell.

Eventually Sour Cream rubs up against my leg, demanding my undivided attention. I can't even begin to guess where she has come from. Has she been hiding somewhere in the workshop or maybe out front in the shop instead of sleeping on my bed?

She probably knows a few hiding spots I wouldn't even think about. Never mind though. I pour her some of her treat and cuddle her a little once she is finished until she eventually heads out into the night.

I hope this is good enough to make up for the disturbance of her routine the other day.

I decide to sit in the backyard for a little while afterwards to relax. The night is quite pleasant and I don't exactly feel like going to bed yet. Instead I get back to work once more when I return inside, locking the door behind me.

I leave the two not quite finished double enchantments be for the time being. Instead I focus on the design for the triple enchantment. It certainly needs my undivided attention, if I want to make it work.

The enchantments each need to be streamlined. They need to be as close to perfect as I can make them. For a double enchantment I would have some leeway, but for a triple I can't afford any mistakes. Thus I keep working for a little longer.

As the hours fly my eyes grow heavy eventually and I have to quit for the night. Well, I don't have to quit. I could make myself some mana enhanced coffee to keep going a little longer. I'm not sure that would actually be beneficial though.

No, it is better to stop now and get some decent sleep, so I can get back to work tomorrow morning well rested. I'm already looking forward to it, but right now I'm just too tired to keep going.

In the solitude of my home I yawn as I nod to myself and get changed for the night. And this time around sleep claims me almost as soon as I slip into bed.