Is it wrong to fleece adventurers at the item shop?

As I return from Agnieszka's place it is time to get busy again. The first order of business though is something I hadn't planned on. Before I can get started on the cold, sweet treat I take a good look at my ledger and the contents of my strongbox. It takes some time to actually count the coin, but in the end it is a somewhat rewarding experience. Especially as the result is that I have enough coin to pay my taxes.

I really might have to rethink ordering vanilla and chocolate though. At least for now. What a pity. Either that or I need to make sure to work more profitably. Well, how should I go about that? I can't just raise the prices of my potions even more without good reason. Or can I?

No, I better not. I don't want to alienate my customers after all. The most profitable potions won't do me any good after all if they go bad on the shelves. I'll have to find another way. Overall it probably would be best if I were to sell more enchantments. They are easily the most profitable products or rather services in my portfolio after all.

As for the potions, I'll have to go and collect more ingredients on my own. There just isn't a way around it. Even if I might be a little short on coin I still have plenty of time after all. Well, that is a plan for another day though. Right now I have something else to do. Delicious ice cream, even the mundane, non alchemical kind, doesn't make itself after all.

Curiously enough the first thing I have to do is get more wood for a fire. I have to refill the big cauldron with water as well. I have to pasteurize both the milk and the eggs after all before making my frozen treat, since I don't want to risk any unpleasant surprises.

Not only do I fill the big cauldron over the fire, I fill another, smaller one as well which I will later use to quickly cool the heat treated ingredients. For a moment I consider using my ice box for that, but it isn't quite big enough to fit any of my smaller cauldrons.

I prepare the ingredients as well. The milk doesn't require much preparation. The eggs do though as I only need the yolk for my frozen treat. I'll just scramble the egg white afterwards for a quick snack since I don't want them to go to waste. Some sugar gets crushed as well in preparation of the steps that are to follow.

Sour Cream watches me with one eye open as I fly about the workshop from one task to the next. Once I'm done with the initial preparations though, I take a moment to pour her some cream as well and she promptly licks her bowl clean again before going back to sleep.

I in turn take a deep breath to calm my nerves, as the next steps require some concentration. I mustn't heat either the milk or the yolks too much after all. At the same time I have to heat them enough and especially long enough though. The milk is a little more forgiving in that regard, but the yolks are a little more sensitive.

After clapping in my hands, softly as to not disturb my feline companion too much, I get to work. The water in the big cauldron is already close to boiling after all.

The milk comes first. I pour it into one of the smaller cauldrons partially submerged in the larger one and stir it relentlessly. Every once in a while I carefully check the temperature by dripping some on the very tip of my small finger.

I can't even count the number of times I burnt my fingers like that at the academy, but unless you are willing to create some rather complex enchanted instruments to measure the temperature, there is no way around it.

Finally the milk reaches the temperature deemed necessary to render it safe to consume. It will last longer like this as well, or rather it would. I somehow doubt there will be any leftovers I have to consider though.

I keep the heated milk in the cauldron a while longer, still stirring it continually, just to make sure there will be no nasty surprises. Then I lift the small cauldron from the big one and submerge it, partially anyway, in the cold water I prepared beforehand instead.

Very well. That is one thing taken care of. Time to deal with the egg yolks. I pretty much repeat the process with the yolks, except I heat them even longer and with even greater care. Then I quickly cool them as well.

Afterwards I quickly turn the egg whites into an impromptu scrambled snack. The other ingredients can wait now, at least for a little while. After all they are heat treated now. After this quick snack of scrambled egg whites with just a little salt, the real work awaits me.

It starts innocent enough. I add the egg yolks as well as the sugar and some honey to the milk and stir it all until it has turned into a nice homogeneous liquid. That was the easy part. What follows is almost as bad as working the mana mill, except the result is much tastier.

I pause before I get started pouring the prepared mixture into the ice bucket. Would prickly enchanting dust ice cream be tasty? I know that the dust can be consumed safely. After all it is an essential part in various mana potion recipes, but would it be tasty? I might just have to give it a try one of these days.

After shaking off these thoughts I make one last preparation. I pour a little water into the ice bucket and swirl it around until it forms a nice layer of water ice all around the bucket's interior. That way I won't get any wood chips into the ice cream later on while repeatedly freezing and scraping the milk mixture.

Then I pour the first batch of the milk mixture into the freezing bucket. Quickly I begin to stir it to make sure it doesn't just turn into a frozen block. I stir and stir and scrape it off the walls repeatedly until I'm satisfied with the texture. I'm so absorbed by the task that I don't even take note of the passage of time. Only when I scoop out the first batch into a bowl does a voice tinged with curiosity pull me back into the here and now.

“Oh, so this is what you wanted us to taste?”

It is one of the girls, the one with the dark skin, who was watching her grandfather carve wooden figures earlier. The other one is clinging to her older brother's, Ryszard's, leg, waiting in the doorframe. The boy grins apologetically.

“I'm sorry, these are my sisters Krystina and Luiza. They agreed to give this concoction of yours a try, if you don't mind.”

I nod and motion for them to come in and hand the first bowl of ice cream to the boy.

“Go ahead. I just finished the first batch. Spoons are over there.”

A look of surprise spreads across the youngster's face as he realizes how cold the treat I prepared is. The surprise turns into astonishment, which is mirrored by the looks on his sisters' faces, as he gets a first careful taste.

Luiza is about to dig in with fresh vigor as I stop her.

“Careful! You better eat it slow or you might catch a cold. Besides, you can enjoy it better like this.”

I get started with the next batch, as I add another question, the most important one.

“What do you think? How is the taste?”

This time it is the more timid Krystina who speaks up, downright beaming at me.

“Sweet! This isn't just milk, right?”

I grin in reply.

“No, it isn't just milk, although milk makes up the bulk. There is some egg yolk in it as well as sugar and honey. I was wondering if I should try adding some other seasonings or spices. Maybe cinnamon or things like that? Those are expensive though.”

That remark shuts them up for a moment, as I stir and scrape the mixture in the ice bucket. Then Ryszard speaks up tentatively.

“You could try using some of the berries that grow around here instead. I mean, maybe? Raspberries or blackberries maybe? They should be easier to get, no?”

I scrape the next batch of ice cream from the bucket and into the bowl, which is empty by now, as I nod.

“You are right. I could give it a try.”

Then I quickly grab a spoon to get a taste myself before the frozen treat is all gone again. A cold shiver runs down my back. Oh yes! This is the good stuff!