Is it wrong to fleece adventurers at the item shop?

I can only shake my head as the adventuring father and daughter duo leaves once again, the latter obviously greatly relieved. Well, it is not any of my business. Or rather, antics like that make for good business for me. I nod to myself, smile and pet Sour Cream until she curls back up on the counter.

The cat's enthusiastic greeting of the young witch gives me pause though.

“You like Danuta, huh? Or do you greet all our customers with such enthusiasm?”

The cat of course doesn't answer. Instead it just purrs contently, watching me through half lidded eyes.

Well, either is fine as far as I'm concerned. As I pet her some more I notice something though.

“Oh my! You have a tick!”

It isn't just that one either. As I start searching for them, properly dedicating my attention to the task, I find two more. Nasty little, or even not quite so little, bloodsucking bugs. As far as I'm concerned they are about as bad as actual vampires, if not actually worse.

Sour Cream seems to realize what I'm looking for at well and she comments each tick I find with a pitiful meow. She seems about as fond as me of these little pests.

Once I'm done I scratch her behind her ears to calm her back down.

“Well, cutie, you are lucky. I just happen to know the recipe for a cure to your problem. Just two drops of it applied to the nape of your neck every once in a while will kill these nasty little buggers. It will keep new ones from biting you as well! What do you say? Should we make some of it?”

She is looking at me wide eyed now. Does she actually knows what I'm talking about? Maybe grandma actually bound her as a familiar? Should I do the same? Either way, I keep petting her as I continue.

“Some of our adventurous customers might have a use for it as well. They are out in the wilds and especially the Twilight Forest a lot after all. I can only imagine that they are not very fond of these bugs either.”

The cat is still watching me with big eyes, almost as if she understands what I'm talking about. It looks like she isn't terribly enthusiastic about it either. Well, the application of the medicine is not terribly pleasant after all. That is even more true for anyone with fur.

I'm excited about the prospect of brewing something, especially something other than the potions still on the shelves. After one last pet I leave Sour Cream alone for the moment to check on the ingredients I still have in store. For the tick cure I'll need some Tobacco leaves, Twilight Gleam blossoms and a little Twig Wight sap.

I find all three things easy enough. Both the Tobacco leaves and the Twilight Gleam blossoms are dried though. They keep better like that after all. At the same time this makes extracting their essential oils a little more troublesome though. After all I cant just cold press them like this.

A frown creases my brows as I look around at the tools available. In the end my gaze settles on the parts of a simple still that sit on a shelf and I nod to myself. This will do.

After checking up on the shop one last time I start assembling the still in the backyard. I get some water and kindling and a little later the process of distilling the essential oils and aromatic compounds of the two ingredients is well underway. It will take a while, but at least I don't have to supervise the process the whole time.

I might have spent the time sitting in the backyard though, as no other customers dropped by the shop that afternoon. Maybe I should do some advertising? Or would posting more quests, especially ones to gather ingredients, help? I'd need more money to post those though. There was no way around that. Krystina would not post quests unless you paid up after all.

By the time I close the shop for the evening, the still is done as well. The small brass bottle which gathers the condensed distillate now contains the strong smelling liquid I need. By the looks of it, it should be enough for two, or maybe three small potion bottles.

Well, I still have to finish making the tick cure though.

Sour Cream apparently is done napping as well. She doesn't stay in the backyard though. Probably because the black cat which seems to live with Agnieszka is already perched atop the chopping block. There is no growling or hissing, but the two give each other a wide berth. Instead she disappears into the brushwork along the creek.

I'll probably see her again soon enough. Maybe later tonight, if I leave the window open again, which I probably will.

After taking the still apart again and burying the ash at the edge of the garden, I take everything back inside. The essential oils have to wait a little. First I have to clean the still. I scrub off the soot stains and rinse the interior. I scrub it with soap as well before rinsing it with clear water once more for good measure. I don't want any spirits I distill with it later in the year to taste like either tobacco or gleam blossoms after all.

I doubt people would appreciate a taste like that and especially the essential oils of the tobacco weren't exactly healthy when ingested in greater quantities either. There is a good reason why they are used in a tincture that is supposed to get you rid of ticks and other similar small pests. It is better to make sure none of it remains in the still. If I could afford it I would use a separate still for distilling essential oils, but I only have the one, thus I have no choice.

Once I have everything set out to dry I continue to work on the tick cure. I need to start another fire, this time in the fireplace, for that. I wait for it to heat up the water in big cauldron before I perform the last steps.

When steam starts rising from the big cauldron I use a smaller one partially submerged in it to mix the essential oils I distilled with the Twig Wight sap. I have to add some strong spirits as a solvent as well to make sure the latter isn't too thick and all components mix properly.

Once I'm satisfied with the consistency and the smell I get some of my last empty potion bottles. There is enough of the tincture to fill three of them after all, which means I can use one for Sour Cream, and me, while putting the other two up for sale.

Sadly there is no divine whisper this time around. Well, that would be too easy. I'll manage to earn myself some more Karma another day for sure anyway. I just need to be patient and diligent.

After sealing the potion bottles with a cork and wax I take a moment to attach one of the wooden price tags to each of the bottles I'll put up for sale. I even adorn them with a drawing of a little skull with some crossed bones just in case. Better safe than sorry.

Hopefully that will be enough to prompt anyone interested into asking for instructions on how to use the stuff. It is not for drinking after all. As that thought crosses my mind I decide to bundle a little wooden stick, kindling which I trimmed down some more, with each of the potion bottles.

With those anyone who isn't cursed with extraordinarily clumsy fingers should be able to apply two drops to the nape of their neck. That dosage should kill any ticks, as well as fleas and lice, already present. It should keep new ones away for about two weeks as well. And a single bottle should contain enough tincture for about four treatments.

I put the two extra bottles out onto a shelf in the shop. I pick a spot close to the counter just in case. The stuff is mostly poisonous to small insects. It isn't exactly healthy for people either, especially if the dosage is too large or applied orally instead of externally.

With a happy little sigh I return to the backroom. Today was a pretty good day. Now I only have to apply the tincture to Sour Cream to help her with her ticks.

Hopefully she won't hold it against me. Or at least not too much and for too long. She probably won't like it though.

Maybe I can encourage her by applying it to myself first? I should do that anyway. With her sleeping in my bed last night I might have already caught a tick after all. The little pests are pretty damn sneaky after all.

I grimace at the thought and decide to carefully check every inch of my body as I change into my nightshirt. Or at least every inch I can easily see. I have no eyes in the back of my head after all. Oh, never mind, when I apply the tincture tomorrow all should be well anyway.

With that last though and after making sure the window is open, I slip into bed and under the covers of my bed. I don't have to wait long for sleep to claim me either.