Still humming to myself, I let the brew cool a little, fill it into the potion bottles. Afterwards I quickly cork and seal them as the potions finish to cool. Only then do I focus my attention on them to use my appraisal skill.

[Lesser Healing Potion, Quality: Common, A healing potion that will heal a minor injury. Still good to use for another 14 days.]

I nod to myself. It is pretty much exactly what I expect. I repeat the process with all the other potion bottles too, to make sure there are no deviations among this batch. Not that I expect there to be one. Usually if something were wrong the whole batch would be bad and not just a single bottle out of it.

Last but not least I get the wooden price tags and tie them to the potion bottles. Once that is taken care off I head back to the front to put the fresh potions on the shelf in the shop. It already looks better like this. Not quite so empty anymore. I'm still not done yet though. Far from it. Stronger healing potions, stamina potions and mana potions. I still need to brew up some of all of these. Well, the stronger healing potions will be next. I can ponder what to do about the other potions once I'm done with those.

Of course the best laid plans don't get anywhere when life decides to happen. At least it's nothing fancy or troublesome that stops me dead in my tracks before I can return to my workshop. It's another knock coming from the door. Not a customer in all likelihood. Customers very rarely knock like that.

In fact its a young woman, barely any older than me if at all, and she is struggling with a big, sealed clay jug. My eyes light up as I see it. She hasn't said anything yet, but I know these jugs, or at least jars like it in general. I decide to not impose on the young woman though and wave her in.

"Welcome! Please do come in!"

That way she can put the jug down on the counter and catch her breath. She really is out of breath. Maybe not just because of the heavy burned clay container. It might just be because she is a little more chubby than is healthy, strictly speaking. She blushes fiercely as she notices my look.

"Ah. Sorry about that. You are our new alchemist? Well, not so new anymore, really, right? I just never got around to drop by until now though. Anyway, Agnieszka let me know that you need some fine oil? Something that doesn't have a strong smell preferably? Well, I have just the thing for you!"

The words just keep coming. She barely stops long enough to pat the jug of oil she brought for emphasis.

"That's some of the finest oil you'll be able to get around here, or anywhere else for that matter. I doubt you'd be able to get any better from Barter Town in fact. Not anytime soon anyway. No smell worth mentioning! No strong taste either! I bet it's perfect for all kinds of potions! I sell some to Barter Town too and not just to the academy either. Painters like this stuff too! Can't have fine art that smells rancid or like fish after all!"

Oh good gods and goddesses! Does she even need to breathe? How does she do it? Is this some special technique? I'm pretty sure she isn't doing it on purpose, maybe to soften me up for negotiations, either. She just is like that. And I really can't gape at her like I'm right now. That's not polite!

"Ah … yes. Indeed. I asked Agnieszka to organize some oil just like that for me."

Before she can start talking again, I quickly speak up once more.

"You wouldn't have had to lug this heavy thing all the way over here by yourself though. I could have posted a request with the adventurers' guild, you know."

She chuckles and scratches the back of her head.

"Right. I totally forgot that was an option. Sorry, to be honest, I don't do much business with the guild. I'm more likely to sell some of the produce of our farm to Krystina's parents. They really like this rice oil too."

For a moment she actually falls silent, before she continues in a much quieter, conspiratorial tone.

"The rice wine as well."

I can't help but chuckle.

"Well, since you already lugged this heavy thing here, I might as well take it. How much do you want for it?"

That might not be a very tactful approach, but we have to talk money eventually, so I might as well raise the point now. The young woman doesn't mind either. She picks up where I left off without a hitch.

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"Our oil is three silver Crowns a jug. It's a bargain, really. Only locals get a price like that! You better believe it!"

Well, I certainly don't have any problem believing her. Reading in between the lines, I take her words to mean that this is already a discounted price with no more room for negotiations. It's quite alright though. It's a big jug of oil after all. It will last me quite a while. Thus I nod to signal that I agree with the suggested price and we shake hands.

I grab the three silver coins from the strong chest under the counter and enter the purchase into my ledger as well. Then, as I hand the coin over to the young woman we shake hands, to formally seal the deal.

"Thank you for dropping by!"

"Thanks for your business! It's been a pleasure! I hope we'll be doing more business like this!"

I chuckle, as her words gush forth like water once again. I decide to be a little more vocal myself for a change, before I see her off again.

"It's rice oil and you mentioned rice wine already. So I take it you have just plain rice as well, right? I have use for all of these things. Agnieszka mentioned, that your farm is a little further downstream. How do I best get there if I happen to need something?"

She nods happily before she answers.

"It's downstream, right, but getting there if you just follow the creek is a little tricky. It's well beyond the bank with all the birds. And you'd have to go through all the rice paddies first to get to the farmhouse if you come from that direction. It's easier to follow the road, even if it means a little detour. It's the last crossroad before you reach the village square, follow the dirt road that heads downstream there. If you go that way, our farm is the second one on the right hand side."

I nod along with her words. Those directions should be easy enough to follow.

"I'll drop by if I need anything else. That way you don't have to make deliveries. And if it's too much for me I might just bring an adventurer or two."

She beams at me in response.

"Thanks! I usually don't make the deliveries. My old man used to take care of those. Except, his gout is acting up as of late. It's real troublesome. Well, it's troublesome for me. For him it's pure torture. I have no clue what to do about it either. Nothing seems to help. Well, nothing we have tried so far. It really should be easier to treat."

My brows furrow a little at this revelation. Gout really isn't that hard to treat. A healing potion, any one, even one of the weakest, should help with an acute pain attack. And a potion or a miracle from Wislawa, our resident priestess should fix the issue in general, as long as the man changes his dietary habits too. It's not that uncommon an issue.

"Nothing has helped? Potions? Miracles? A change of diet?"

The young woman is already halfway to the door. She sighs a long suffering sigh as she shakes her head.

"Potions can alleviate the pain short term. But neither potions nor miracles that should cure a common problem like that have had any lasting effect. Getting him to change his eating habits has been hard, the old man can be stubborn as a mule, but we tried that too. Didn't change anything for the better either."

That sounds really bothersome. And even if I'm not sure what potions exactly they tried, I have no reason to doubt grandma's brews. They should have worked! And Wislawa's miracles should be effective too! Unless, of course, the disease is no disease at all!

I signal for her to wait a moment, and walk over to the shelf with the alchemica. I grab the last Cure Poison Jelly. I hand it to her.

"This is just a hunch, but give him this instead. If I'm right it should help short term at least. And if it does, please let me know. We can look into the issue some more in that case to find a long term solution."

She raises an eyebrow.

"What …"

I raise a hand to silence her, before she can get going again.

"It's a general purpose antidote. It's just a hunch, but gout that doesn't respond to regular treatment sounds like lead poisoning. If the jelly works, you still have to find out where the lead comes from. And I have no clue if that really is it, so, it's free of charge this once. Usually it would be five bronze Crowns though, so don't waste or lose it."

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