Is it wrong to fleece adventurers at the item shop?

I spend most of the rest of the day enchanting more potion bottles. I'll probably need them before long after all. Unless I can come up with a potion recipe that uses my current surplus of alchemical milk. Well, no actually I already know at least one potion that can profit from it, but it needs enchanted potion bottles too.

Maybe I should switch to enchanted bottles in general? I might have to increase the deposit included in the price in that case though, to make sure most will be returned in the long run. Either that or I will have to just raise the prices for those potions in general.

Never mind though, I'll cross that bridge when I reach it. For now I just need a few more enchanted potion bottles. In fact I need two more in the evening before we head to bed, not too long after we return from our evening meal at the inn.

Sleep doesn't come easy to me tonight. Not for a lack of comfort either. In fact I'm surprisingly comfortable, snuggled up against Elzbieta. Not even the fact that the bed is not necessarily made for two detracts from the experience. No, actually the opposite is true. At least as far as I'm concerned and Elzbieta isn't complaining either.

Actually, she is fast asleep. I'm a little envious. It might be an adventurer thing. She is probably used to sleeping under much worse conditions. Eventually though, I close my eyes and sleep claims me too.

Once morning comes around I'm woken by Sour Cream licking my nose. I'm not the only one either. Elzbieta receives a similar wake up call only moments later while I'm still busy blinking the world back into focus.

We take our turns cuddling the cat and she starts to purr up a storm, wholeheartedly approving of this change to her morning routine. Eventually we get up while Sour Cream curls up atop the now vacated bed after stretching one last time. That doesn't last long though. The moment I pour her some of her namesake treat she is up and about again, at least for a little while.

It is still early and the sun is not yet up above the horizon. I can already see the sky turning blue in the east though, thus it probably won't be long.

I don't have time to waste anyway. No, if anything I'm more busy today than usual. I prepare the fireplace and two of the potion bottles I enchanted yesterday. At the same time Elzbieta gets ready to work her magic and provide me with some relief.

Not much later I'm busy filling the potion bottles with the heat treated milk, still blushing like a virgin all the while. Maybe the milk is aptly named after all. I finish just in time too. Just as I seal the last potion bottle I can hear Agnieszka pull up with her oxen cart in front of the house. I gather the enchanted bottles with my milk, six in total, and head out to meet her halfway.

She looks a little sleepy but greets me with a smile and a wave anyway.

“Morning, dear. Is this it? Six bottles? Do you have any suggestions regarding the price? I'll try to make you some decent coin anyway, but it will be easier if I have a rough idea of the price I should ask for.”

I give that some thought before I answer.

“Two silver Crowns per bottle at the very least. I don't think epic rarity ingredients should go for any less.”

I stop and bite my lip lightly as another thought strikes me.

“Actually, make it three or more per bottle. After all the bottles themselves are enchanted too.”

She lets out a whistle as she nods, while I hand the bottles over.

“I'll try to hike the price up a little. Either way, this should earn you a small fortune. Do you have any plans for the rest of the milk yet?”

I snort in amusement. I won't be the only one earning a little fortune with those. After all she will receive a fair share too.

“No, no plans yet. I have a recipe for a rather potent stamina and mana regeneration potion for which I can use it. Or maybe I'll come up with another idea. If not I could ask you to make another trip to the city, right?”

She nods and I accompany her back to the waiting oxen and the cart. As she climbs back up she winks at me.

“Take care and don't do anything I wouldn't do.”

I wave as the cart starts moving again.

“Take care and see you soon!”

Afterwards I return to the backyard. Elzbieta is already waiting there for me, sitting on the bench with her bath supplies next to her.

“Got any plans for the day?”

I shrug and hurry to get my own things.

“I'm not quite sure yet, but I might head down to the temple after taking care of guild business and any adventurers dropping by as they head out.”

She raises an eyebrow.

“Oh? What for?”

“Well, I have amassed a decent amount of Karma in various Arcana, especially in the Dragon and the Wheel of Fortune Arcana. Maybe now is a good time to spend some of it?”

She nods enthusiastically, as we head to the bathhouse following the dirt path along the creek.

“Do that! Think of it as an investment into your future if you have trouble justifying an expenditure like that to yourself. All the divine rewards of the world won't do you any good if you don't put them to good use!”

We finish our walk in silence after that. I can't find fault with her logic though. She really isn't wrong. Hoarding Karma won't do me any good. Not unless I have concrete plans to acquire a very expensive gift or skill.

The next little while we spend washing at first washing up and then soaking and relaxing in the warm water. Eventually the arrival of Urszula with her little horde disturbs the quiet though.

We greet her with a wave and she flashes us a smile in return, as we get out to make room for her and the children. As we dress and get ready to leave she stops me, before we can actually leave.

“Do you still need some help with that issue of yours? Want me to drop by with little Milena later today?”

Before I can even think about the question, Elzbieta answers in my place.

“Sure, why don't you drop by a little after noon?”

In the end I only nod to confirm her suggestion.

Urszula in turn flashes me a beaming smile.

“Alright! See you later!”

We are almost back to the shop by the time I speak up again.

“Are you really sure about that? I mean, Urszula dropping by with little Milena?”

She just waves away any concerns I might have. She winks at me too.

“Sure I'm sure. I can't hog you all to myself after all. Anyway, next stop, the inn?”

We stop at my place just long enough to drop off our bath supplies and, in my case, grab some coin. Then we head out again, down to the inn this time around.

Our stop at the inn is almost as brief. I post the usual quest and Elzbieta grabs it right away once more. The only reason why we spend a little more time there is, that we grab something to eat too. Today's morning meal is a sweet porridge with candied slices of apples and pears.

Once we are back at the shop I bring my ledger up to date before I actually open the shop. Elzbieta in turn gets started with the work for her quest.

The first customers today are Zofia and Czeslaw, Elzbieta's comrades, who stock up both on healing and mana potions. After talking with my live in adventurer they grab some of my new stamina potions as well. A tidy little sale. Before long they are off again and I take the time to add another entry to the ledger.

I wait a little longer, but in the end I close the shop again well before noon. If no one else shows up I might as well take care of my temple visit after all.