Is it wrong to fleece adventurers at the item shop?

It is, of course, Sour Cream who wakes me early next morning, so she can have a treat before curling up on my bed for a nice long nap. I take this chance to get started a little early as well.

I don't head to the bath today though. No, a quick wash at the creek will have to do today. Afterwards I make sure my little garden is doing well enough. I clean up around grandma's grave a little as well.

In the process I collect some of the ingredients I'll need first too. I get some Bitterleaf from the garden and some rose petals from the wild roses growing all over my home.

With those I get started on a new batch of lesser healing potions. It is good to have some more potent potions on the shelves, but the majority of my sales are still the cheaper, less potent potions after all.

Well, in a way it is good if the adventurers don't need any more potent potions. At least as far as healing potions are concerned. Sure, I want to make sales and earn some coin, but I don't actually want them to get hurt either. Still, it is best to be prepared.

I get done with this new batch of potions just in time as well. I put them on the shelves right after opening the shop and some of them change into the hands of my customers almost right away. Today seems to be a busy day. At least for adventurers.

Well, that's the morning rush taken care off. I close the shop briefly afterwards, although it is not yet time for lunch. I head down to the inn to see Krystina anyway.

She looks up from some letters she is reading and greets me with a wave as I enter the quiet inn.

“Welcome Valeria! Got some new quests for me?”

She is right of course, thus I nod.

“Yes. The mana milling quest. I want to try something a little different this time around though, since I got and enchanted my new mill yesterday.”

She raises an eyebrow.

“A second mana mill? Will you be doing more enchanting?”

“Probably. At least for a while. In the long run I'll probably be using the second mill for a special mana infused coffee instead. First I'll just use it to stock up on enchanting dust though.”

At this point Krystina's father, who until now was busy cleaning tables, pipes in. He must have heard me talking about coffee.

“This isn't related to the ice project though? Right?”

I shake my head in response.

“No. This is something else. I couldn't really sell you that recipe since it actually combines alchemically active components. Coffee with enchanting dust and sugar create a potion that is both a stamina potion and a mana potion of sorts. Instead of recovering some mana right away, it increases the natural mana regeneration instead.”

It seems I lost him halfway through the explanation. He seems satisfied though that I'm not competing with the inn.

Krystina on the other hand seems to be thinking about it a little more. Finally she speaks up again.

“Wouldn't most spellcasters prefer the regular mana potions though? The ones that recover all or half of your mana in the blink of an eye?”

I nod once more.

“Usually. That really isn't an issue, as you can combine the two. First you increase your regeneration to make your mana reserves last longer. And if you run out anyway, you can still drink a regular mana potion. It is popular combination for especially challenging fights, or so I'm told.”

Now the local guild official nods as well.

“Sounds sensible enough. Maybe our local adventurers can start bringing in some of the more valuable loot if they use combinations like that. Never mind though, what did you want to change regarding the quest?”

Right back to business. I can appreciate that.

“Well, I'd like to post the quest like we did so far once. And then I'd like to post a version for double the amount of enchanting dust as well.”

She nods, grabs some papers and starts filling them out.

“Trying something new? Well, this should be easy enough. The fees are the same for the doubled quest. It is just the reward that is doubled. This will be five bronze crowns in total.”

She shows me the filled forms for the two mana milling quests to confirm the details.

I in turn sign them and hand over the money. Elzbieta is right, I could really save some coin in the long run by going for the new quest. Still, I'm a little worried that most adventurers won't take it in the long run. It essentially requires them to spend a whole day working the mill after all, instead of just a few hours spent on the mindnumbingly boring task. Well, I guess I'll see how it turns out sooner rather than later.

We shake hands and Krystina puts the new quests up on the board.

With that taken care off I leave again, with a cheerful wave to both the young woman and her parents. I'll be back later, probably not for lunch though. I'll go for dinner today in all likelihood, to get in some work in between now and then.

Once I get back home I reopen the shop, just in case although I don't really expect anyone else to drop by right now. I on the other hand get the board I use for drafting enchantments. I need to get in some more practice after all.

The enchantment I'm working on is a simple variation of the self cleaning armor enchantment. This one will go on a weapon instead though. I pick one of the daggers I still have on sale out front in one of the second hand gear bins.

The changes to the enchantment are pretty simple, as the enchantment is one of the more basic ones. I double check everything anyway. It is a good thing I did as well. I roll my eyes as I remove the price tag before I get started. It probably wouldn't have had any effect, but I can't be entirely sure about that either. In the end it is better to be safe rather than sorry.

I place the rugged and well used weapon at the center of the enchanting table. Then I get started with the runes. It doesn't take me long either and I let out a breath as the runes get drawn into the blade. I probably should really stop holding my breath in situations like that.

Never mind though. So far, so good. I activate my appraisal skill to check the result.

[Well worn Dagger, Quality: Common, A common dagger that has seen plenty of use already. It's blade is still sharp though and it is enchanted to clean itself. No matter how much blood or grime gets stuck to the weapon, it will shed such filth within the hour and be sparkling clean once more.]

Yes, good enough. As expected it takes a little while to clean itself. That is something to keep in mind. Maybe I should enchant more than one diaper for Elzbieta so she always has a change ready while the other magically cleans itself? That sounds reasonable enough. Or should I make more than two? Well, maybe I should ask Agnieszka how many my soon to be goddaughter will need. Unlike me she has some experience after all.

First I need to fix the price tag for this dagger though. I look at the price. Ten bronze crowns? Well, there is no easy way to change this tag. I get a new one instead and use the lens on my staff to carefully heat the tip of one of the pokers from the fireplace. Once it glows nicely I burn a price that seems more appropriate into the new tag.

Two silver crowns should be reasonable enough. I reheat the poker once more to write a little note on the backside of the tag for good measure. When I'm done anyone familiar with their letters can read that the weapon is enchanted.

I nod to myself and return the now enchanted weapon to its bin. Maybe I should enchant more weapons? Or should I at least put up a sign with possible weapon enchantments I could offer? Maybe the latter would be more appropriate. Most magic weapons are custom made after all. I guess I'll have to talk with Olgierd about getting another sign.