Is it wrong to fleece adventurers at the item shop?

As expected the last of the jellies are sold out within short order. No one even comments on the price, if they even notice. Everyone who comes afterwards has to wait as I make a new batch. It is only a few adventurers that wait out front but there are still enough of them to make the effort worth my while.

I'm running low on one especially critical ingredient though. I have to use the very last of my dryad blossom and that is ingredient I can't replace myself. I'll have to place a quest with the guild again, and I suspect that this one won't come cheap.

Dryads can be tricky to deal with after all, as Danuta's father Bogomil found out recently. They can be quite demanding and if they feel slighted for some reason they tend to turn downright venge- and spiteful. And they really don't share their blossoms with just about everyone.

I'll need some more slime jelly as well, but that shouldn't be that much of a problem. Slimes are pretty common in the nearby dungeons after all and for any adventurer knowing what they do, they aren't a threat either.

In the end I can only hope that I raised the price on the jellies far enough. It should be alright, but I'm still a little worried. A little while later I have fresh batch of jellies, of which only two remain in the bowl by the time the last customer leaves.

Everything considered, I'm in a good mood though. I might have to spend some of my hard earned coin on quests soon enough, but right now my strong chest is filled nicely and I enter all sales into the ledger as well, happily humming to myself. This certainly is a good start into a new day!

Even with the morning rush taken care off I don't remain undisturbed for long though.

It is the trio of Feliks, Lotar and Rafal, the monk, the warrior and the bard, who stop by again a little later. They are not here to buy anything this time around though. No, they come bearing quest papers and collected herbs.

It seems the trio was quite busy. They bring both the juniper berries and the purple mountain flowers I want. I take a moment to check both. I sort out some of the berries, which are in a bad state, but there still remain enough to fulfill the quest. It seems they anticipated as much and collected a little more than necessary.

With the mountain flowers there are no problems. There aren't any other flowers mixed in and while they look a little wilted by now that isn't an issue. Quite to the contrary actually, as I need to dry them anyway.

I stamp their papers and thank them.

“Thanks for taking care of these quests!”

The trio nods and Feliks replies with a cheerful little smile. It is hard to believe that he was still terribly hungover just a little while ago.

“Any time!”

With these words the trio is off again, probably to collect their reward from Krystina. Well, they certainly earned it.

I'm left with a nice load of fresh ingredients though and those need some initial processing. I just wish someone had taken care of the twilight lichen request as well already. Then I could process everything together. Well, I can't help it. It probably will be a while until someone drops of the requested lichen.

Anyway, the initial processing in question is drying, to make sure everything will keep a while. Among other things, this means I have to get a fire started in the fireplace. And of course I need to move the big cauldron out of the way again. After all I don't want to steam the herbs. I want to dry them.

My brow furrows a little as I get fresh firewood from outside. There still is more than enough in the stack to get me through another few months, but I will probably need to replenish it before next winter. That still is a few months off, but I can't exactly ignore it either.

I'll probably have to post another request. Either that or I'll have to buy firewood from one of the local farmers. And then I'll have to post a request for some strong adventurers to move it to my place.

I groan at the thought.

One way or another, I'll end up spending money. There is no way around it. Either way, it is not something I should worry about now.

I grab some of the wood, making sure it is dry, so it won't smoke too much. Thankfully the recent rain didn't get to the wood stacked up under the overhanging roof.

With it I light a nice little, slow burning fire in the fireplace. I use the first log to dry the rest further as well.

I put the berries on first to dry, just like the last time, in a pan which I put on the grate well above the fire. I want heat but not too much of it after all.

The purple mountain flowers I tie into bundles which I hang into the fireplace even higher.

Afterwards all I have to do is place a new log in the fire every once in a while, to keep it burning nice and slow. I move the berries every once in a while as well, to make sure they don't burn, but I needn't worry. With the fire this low the risk is pretty much nonexistent.

After putting on a fresh log I head back outside to gather some more wild rose petals and a little Bitterleaf as well. Since I already have all the ingredients I might as well give brewing a slightly more potent health potion a try after all.

The Bitterleaf is easy enough. I just get a little more from the newly cleaned up garden. That really is coin well spent! The rose petals take a while though, as I take care not to disturb the bees too much.

When I return inside, it is just in time to put on the next log. Afterwards I put both the Bitterleaf and the rose petals on to dry as well.

While the ingredients dry at a slow pace I get a kettle ready. I fill it with some of the water from the big cauldron, but I don't put it on to boil yet. That will have to wait.

Next a I prepare a mortar and a pestle, cleaning both thoroughly. I prepare a little silk bag as well.

The last things I prepare are potion bottles and fresh stoppers, as well as the wax to seal them.

Judging by the volume of the kettle and the potion bottles respectively, I should be able to fill ten of the latter with the brew from the former.

I'm entirely too quick with those preparations though. I still have to wait a little longer for everything to dry properly. And while I keep the fire burning I can't exactly leave for lunch either, although it already is lunch time. Both my stomach and Sour Cream who rises from her sleeping spot, stretching majestically, to brush up against my legs until I fill her bowl, are very certain of that.

I watch the cat eat and am allowed to pet her a little in return afterwards. I run my fingers through her fur and kiss her atop her head.

“You know, I'm a little jealous. I wish I had something to eat right now.”

Hmm, maybe I should stock up on somethings beyond alchemical ingredients? I should get at least some things for a quick snack when I'm stuck like now. Some hard cheese maybe? Maybe some pickles vegetables? Smoked meat or dried or salted fish? Things like that.

Damn, thinking about those things just makes me even more hungry.

I sigh and pet Sour Cream once more as she returns to her spot on the bed. Then I take care of the fire again.

“I guess I'll be having dinner today, instead of lunch.”

Once everything is nicely dried I put the water on to boil and get the precision scales and weigh the ingredients, to make sure I get the right amount for ten potions. The rest of the dried ingredients either goes into bowls serving as storage containers, or it gets hung from the rafters, in the case of the dried purple mountain flowers.

I smash and grind the measured ingredients in the mortar and fill them into the silk bag which in turn goes into the almost boiling water.

I let the mixture steep and cool a little afterwards, before filling the potion bottles which in turn get stoppered and sealed.

After wiping some sweat from my brow I inspect the potions with the appraisal skill.

[Healing Potion, Quality: Uncommon, A healing potion that will heal any injury that is not immediately life threatening and even those will get better, even if only a little. Still good to use for another 35 days.]

Good. Very good even! I put the poker into the fire, while it still is burning and prepare some of the wooden price tags and the pieces of string needed to tie them to the potion bottles.

Two silver and six bronze Crowns should be alright. That is technically a big city price, but those more potent potions are rare enough for me to get away with it.