Patryk enlightens me regarding his local suppliers. Who is renown for which produce? Where can I find the farmhouses in question? He even shares his experiences regarding negotiations with some of the farmers.

It's actually a bit of a struggle to remember all of it, but I do my best. I'll note the gist of it down once I'm back home, to make sure I don't just forget. In general. The knowledge he shares with me reinforces the impression that I'm probably better off leaving most of the dealing with the suppliers to Agnieszka. I can save myself a headache this way.

Eventually I take my leave again. I can't keep Patryk and Maryla from their work all day, or even just all afternoon, after all. The other patrons of the inn would not appreciate it. Thus, with one last exchange of smiles and handshakes I'm off again.

My mind races on the way back to my house, as I do my best to organize my thoughts. I do so in anticipation for a little trip of my own. The purpose? To stock up on ingredients. I'll gather some bitterleaf and hopefully some juniper berries too. And I'll visit one of the farmsteads where I might be able to get some birch sap. Sure, it's not the right season, but maybe one of the farmers still has some in store.

I suspect my chances are better than they would be regarding pumpkins right now. As it's summer, it's not exactly the right season for either, but the best time to harvest birch sap was only a few moons ago, while the season to harvest pumpkins will only be in a few moons. I guess I'll see. Maybe I'm lucky. Maybe I'm not. It's no use to fret too much. Besides, as long as I find some wild juniper berries and bitterleaf I'm fine.

Once I'm back behind the counter in my shop I grab grandma's collected notes once more while I write down what Patryk shared with me in my own notebook. I make some cross references too, to find the most promising spots and farms. After a while I come up with a route that should yield a decent bounty.

I can't just pack up and leave though. Not without some more preparation anyway. First I get a wicker basket, complete with some cloth. And, of course I leave a note for Elzbieta. Not out front, as I close the shop, but besides the back entrance, to let her know where I'm going and when I'll probably be back. That's good enough.

With that taken care off I'm finally off. I can follow the dirt road uphill for the first stretch of the way and since I'm already passing by I decide to visit Urszula and her family who are taking care off Ulryk today. I'm already there and have the time after all, so, why not? My stop there won't take too long either since I only want to check how well the little boy is taking to this change of his usual schedule.

Before I can say anything or even knock on the door frame, as I peek inside, Urszula silences me by putting a finger up against her lips. I soon see why too. Both Ulryk and Urszula's own, only slightly older, youngest, are fast asleep in crib. I decide not to disturb either the children or Urszula and am off again with a wave after flashing the latter a quick smile. It seems the boy is in good hands. Not that I have had any actual doubts in that regard.

Well, having seen how well Elzbieta's boy seems to take to the new environment still eases my mind, which is a good thing, as it allows me to better focus on the task at hand.

It's pretty much impossible to mix up juniper berries with anything else around here, but several other kinds of alchemically useless grasses can, if the light isn't too good, look like bitterleaf. Thus, I need to keep focused on this trip. I can't wast too much time either, if I still want to visit the farm I have in mind at an acceptable time. Not everyone is fond of late night visitors after all. Especially ones they are not familiar with. Thus I better focus and hurry up.

It's a rather pleasant experience anyway. It has been entirely too long that I have been out looking for ingredients like this. Never mind that in the more recent past I almost fell victim to corrupted pixies on one such trip.

Not much later I leave the road to walk around the edge of a pasture. On the pasture itself I wont find any bitterleaf for sure. The sheep grazing there have a taste for it after all. Just beyond the dry stone wall surrounding the meadow though, at the edge of woods, my chances are pretty good.

Yes, it indeed doesn't take me long to find the first few bushels of the medical grass. With great care I select a few blades of grass from each one and cut them. I don't want to over harvest after all. Even more so since the sheep on the open meadows certainly won't leave much worth mentioning.

I take the route at the edge of the woods for another reason too. This is where plenty of bushes grow as well. Mostly hazel but some others too. Even a few wild juniper bushes. Finding ripe berries on those is a little harder though. Certainly harder than I expected. It's a good thing that I have some growing in my garden too, as I might not meet the quote I'm aiming for after all. I might have to make some more trips in the next days and weeks.

Well, it's not like regular walks would hurt me. I stop dead in my tracks at that thought, as I think back to the corrupted pixies once more. Alright, I could end up meeting a grisly end if I'm not careful. That just means that I have to be careful. I have to be careful and I have to commission adventurers for anything that might involve an actual fight.

As I keep making my way around the pastures, collecting ingredients, I move past more and more birch trees. The trees show sign of being harvested for sap too. Some have obviously been tapped this spring. The telling scars on others are a little older. I'm getting close to the last planned stop on this particular excursion. And while I might not have found as many juniper berries as I'd like, I have enough bitterleaf.

A glance at the sky lets me know that it's not too late yet either, as I approach the farmhouse after finishing my round around the pastures and returning to the dirt road.

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The place is pretty quiet right now. With the sheep out on the pastures, the height of summer is the kind of time when you can do maintenance on the house, or as it is in this case, the wardrobe as it seems. A middle aged woman sits out in front of the house, mending clothes and as I approach another, younger woman, probably the first one's daughter, comes around the corner with a basket of laundry fresh off the clothes line. It's the younger who greets me first surprisingly enough.

"Welcome! You are Valeria, aren't you? Iwona's granddaughter? Our new alchemist?"

I nod. She is spot on after all.

"That's me. I'm looking to stock up on some ingredients and Patryk from the inn made some recommendations for various things I could get from the local farms. Birch sap among other things. It's not exactly the right season, but I was wondering anyway, if you might still have some in store."

The two women look at each other for a moment, then the younger puts the basket with the laundry down and motions for me to follow while the older returns to mending clothes.

"We still do have a few bottles we could part with. Mostly because the usual bulk purchase from your grandmother didn't happen this spring because …"

Her voice trails off, and she looks over her shoulder to make sure the subject isn't too touchy with me, which it isn't.

I just nod once more.

"I see. I guess some long standing traditions got upset and I still have to figure out which ones."

She lets out a chuckle.

"Agnieszka, Patryk, Maryla and elder Jaromir will probably help you figure out the important things. And the rest will settle into a new routine before long anyway."

This farmhouse has an actual basement. The young woman disappears down a ladder and returns with a wicker wrapped clay jug a moment later.

"Will one be enough?"

I eye the thing, especially taking in its size.

"Yes. I think it'll last me a while. I can drop by again, should I need more. And we can set up a long term deal next spring, right?"

She places the jug on the table and closes the hatch leading down to the basement again before she lets me know the price.

"Eight bronze Crowns for a jug like this. We have smaller bottles too. But your grandmother always preferred the bigger ones."

I get the coins from my purse and shake hands with her to seal the deal.

"Can I return the jug once it's empty?"

Now it's her turn to nod.

"You are taking back used potion bottles too as of late, aren't you? Might as well give it a try with those, so please do."

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