Is it wrong to fleece adventurers at the item shop?

Elzbieta eyes the cup for a moment, before she takes the first tentative sip. She grimaces a little, but takes another sip soon after anyway and, as she empties the cup, one small sip at a time, her face brightens considerably.

I simply continue filling the rest of the broth into potion bottles, corking and sealing them as well. Once I'm done with that I put the poker into the still burning fire and get some fresh price tags. I'll need some more of those as well some time soon.

As I ponder what I should charge for these little miracle cures Elzbieta speaks up again.

“Just a cup of tea, huh?”

She already sounds much better and I feel a little proud as a result.

“Well, it is a hot brew served in a cup. So, yes, its a tea.”

“Uhu. And if you had served it in a bowl you could have called it soup?”

I know that it is just supposed to be silly banter between friends, but the comment gives me pause anyway.

“Hm, maybe? I could have used chicken broth instead of plain water. Then it would be soup for sure. It would be more potent as well. Something to keep in mind for the future!”

Despite obviously feeling better Elzbieta still looks a little troubled. The look on her face becomes almost comical when I use the hot poker to scorch the potions' price onto the price tags.

“Two silver Crowns? Valeria, I cant afford that kind of medicine. Not just like that. Not for something like a little cold!”

I roll my eyes as I reply while tying the tags to the potion bottles.

“Did I tie a price tag to you cup? No? See, its free! And besides, while I would usually agree with you that people should just toughen it out when they have a little cold, you really shouldn't. Not right now at least.”

That calms her down, at least a little. She still eyes the medicine bottles.

“So this cures diseases? But isn't two silver Crowns a little much just so you don't have to suffer a few days of misery and indignity, while you harbor a cold?”

I shrug, but the question doesn't exactly come unexpected.

“These potions wont just cure common colds. They can cure just about any minor ailment. They come in especially handy if you have a bad tooth. Its almost impossible to treat those with any other means, except for outright pulling them. The potions won't actually fix the tooth itself, but it will take care of any inflammation and bleeding.”

I wince at the mention of pulling teeth and so does Elzbieta. Just the thought alone is bad enough after all.

Elzbieta resumes work with the mana mill, as I take the new potions into the shop, so I can put them on a shelf. By the time I return she is actually singing again instead of just humming. Yes, she does really sound much better!

I in turn decide to continue my little explanation.

“These potions can even save you a lot of trouble if you drink them early enough, when you contract a more serious illness. Something like the Blue Cough for example. Drink one of those while you still think that it is just a common cold and you won't ever have to find out that it in fact isn't just a little cold.”

She pauses in mid song, without pausing her work, looking at me with wide eyes.

“That actually works? You can treat serious illness with a lesser potion like that?”

“Well, it works for some diseases and ailments. Especially ones that take a while to fully break out. Drink a lesser potion while you only feel the first minor symptoms and you can avoid worse. Of course there are diseases that don't give you warning or time like that. Diseases like the Black Death or any other really where you can be fine one moment and near death an hour later.”

I snort as I recall an anecdote from my time at the academy, from not too long ago.

“There are wealthy merchants in the cities, especially the port cities like Barter Town, who are in the habit of drinking a potion like that every evening before they go to bed, just in case.”

Now Elzbieta actually pauses her work to stare at me.

“Just in case? Every day?”

I shrug, as I grab my design board, so I can get started on customizing the self cleaning enchantment for the cloth diapers.

“Like I said, they are rich merchants. They can afford a quirk like that. And the academy certainly appreciated their patronage.”

She looks like she still isn't quite believing it, but resumes her work anyway, with a shake of her head.

“Must be nice to be rich like that.”

I can only snort at that comment.

“It's not about having money, Elzbieta. It's all about what you do with it. Money won't do you any good just lying around or stuffed under a mattress. And while they might be overly cautious, there is good reason for them to take some precautions.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. Those rich traders are often the first to deal with ships fresh into the harbor, from all across the world. And those ships can carry diseases from all across the world as well.”

That leaves her speechless for a moment. In the end I speak up again, to ease her mind a little.

“Don't worry about it. Those are the concerns of the rich and powerful. And anyway, that cup of Valeria's miracle cure was provided free of charge.”

“Valeria's miracle …”

Before she can finish the sentence I quickly interrupt her once more.

“For the love of all the gods and goddesses. Please don't call it that!”

“Oh? Going to save the name for something more impressive?”

I nod vigorously. At the same time I flash her a silly grin.

“Of course! If I use chicken broth instead of water and add a little thousand year old ginseng on top of everything else, I'm sure I could brew up something that will even cure death itself!”

She makes a face and sticks out her tongue, as she resumes her work with the mana mill.

“You can test that one on someone else then. If there is a thousand year old anything in it, I won't drink it!”

I snort and giggle.

“Right. Ingredients that have been gathering dust for a thousand years tend to have a very special taste. Wouldn't really recommend using anything like that. Some ginseng in general would make the potion more potent though. Some ginger might work as well.”

She nods and resumes singing.

I in turn get started on actually drafting up the enchantment for the diapers, although I have to admit that the playful rhymes of her bawdy song are a little distracting. Well, I don't mind. And I'm not in a hurry anyway.

The enchantment is not terribly complex. Not in general at least. I'm trying to optimize it though by custom tailoring it to cloth diapers instead of cloth or clothing in general. That way it should work better and faster.

Even with two spares the diapers really probably shouldn't take too long to clean themselves, just in case. I don't have any first hand experience, obviously, but I have heard stories.

After a while we take a break and have lunch at the inn. We work together, or at least alongside each other, and we eat together.

In a way this routine reminds me of my time at the academy. Even just half a year ago I couldn't have imagined that I would ever miss this state of things. Working alone in your own workshop really isn't the same as working in one of the laboratories at the academy with plenty of other students and the teachers around.

We have to extend our lunch break a little, as a sudden downpour forces us to stay at the inn a little longer. Well, we could have run back to the shop, but neither me nor Elzbieta see any reason to get drenched. Instead we have another cup of sweet mead.

Once the rain is done and we get back to the shop we resume our work and by the time Elzbieta is done with the mill I'm just about ready to give the enchantment a try as well.

I stamp her quest papers and see her off with a hug. Then I close up the shop for the night.

After taking a deep breath I get one of the diapers and a piece of enchanter's chalk.

I have checked and double checked the enchantment. I'm pretty sure that everything is as it should be and yet I still feel a little nervous. I feel nervous although this really isn't the most challenging enchantment I have ever made in any way. Not by a long shot.

No this is far worse. This is something personal! This will be a present for my as of yet unborn godchild. I couldn't afford to mess this up! I have to give this my all!

I take another deep breath, place the neatly folded diaper at the center of the enchanting table and grab the chalk. Time to get started!