Ever since last night Belle had been rubbing her tummy with a strange smirk on her face, looking at me even more fondly than usual. Even Tammy had been acting more affectionate than usual, even if it was still just small things like trying to spoon feed me during breakfast, or following me more closely than usual.

It was apparent their lust from last night had been sated, but the residual effect had left them in a love-struck haze. This was the first time I had slept with them after my transformational changes, and even without further study it was abundantly clear that my body could exact a desirable effect on the opposite sex. 

It was something I had an interest enough in exploring, but today was already going to be immensely busy. We needed to pack for our trip, and even if that was a relatively simple task with my inventory, there were a lot of things we needed store. Not only was I packing for the three of us, there was now Cal and his entourage that we needed to cover, not to mention all the food, water, and gear enough for the soldiers that I just recruited. 

Within minutes our small farmhouse was as empty as it had been before we moved in. One of the rooms in my inventory filled to the brim. The food and gear for the soldiers was easy enough to prepare, simply a matter of requisitioning them from Jagen's barracks. The problem ended up being Cal, it wasn't that I didn't mind storing his things, he was going to be my personal alchemist after all, it was just a little troubling that he had so many things for me to deal with.

After sweeping up the alchemy shop, he led me from warehouse to warehouse, many of them filled with mummified corpses of various monsters, distorted creatures in jars, and racks of various dried herbs. 

Letting out an impressed whistle as I stared at the bony remains of a shark-like creature, something that had to have been imported thousands of miles from the great sea. Stromgar was a landlocked country after all.

"You've got quite the hobby here," commenting as I looking at the assortment of creatures, many of which I'd never even heard of before, laying my hand on each in succession, throwing it in the inventory for later. Better to take everything than miss something we might want later. 

"Hobby? You do me an insult, Keaton. I'm always serious when it comes to alchemy. The natural world is abound with mysteries, more than we could ever know, and very few people take an interest in studying them. I find odd things that may have the properties I need for my potions, I test them, I catalog them, and if things go well, I have a new recipe."

"So why is it that I've only ever seen you sell health potions?" I asked with genuine curiosity, not trying to offend.

Cal could only sigh.

"Supply and demand," if there were a market here for my other goods I'd sell them. I still make more expensive potions of course, but everything has to be shipped off to the capital and back again. The profit is still there of course, but the margins charged for transportation and sale are exorbitant. If I were able to pursue my studies without regard to the cost that would be ideal, but nothing is ever so simple in this world."

It seems he was always having money problems with alchemy, but I had a few ideas of my own in that regard. Money was never a bad thing, and my powers had given me quite a few ideas in that regard. Rather than having Cal spending months of time buying and studying rare goods on the off chance they were useful, I could immediately tell from just a glance. An ability that made creating new potion recipes and monopolizing the market for them seem like a pretty trivial task. 

Smiling in anticipation of our trip to the capital. I had so many plans, so many expectations, the world was a big place and for all my life I had only known the confines of this city. A walled town on the frontier of humanity. 

Everything was set. 

Tammy had visited her parents to say goodbye, the gifts I had given them were already enough for them to never work a day in their lives, and now they had a grandchild on the way. 

Belle's treatment still had potions left for her to take, but we could just as easily do that on the road. I didn't want to have her taking it in the morning and end up in the same condition for the whole day. 

All of our possessions were stored. The carriages were prepared, and the horses were packed. The rows of men that I had poached from Jagen's employ were standing around nearby, nearly two dozen now, greeting the other guards who Bael had brought in from the capital and employed as private security. 

There were three carriages in all; two we had taken from Jagen, one for myself, one for Cal's group, both of them sharing a similar design of the Marcet family, flowery designs carved into the sturdy wood frame. Fitting construction for a frontier town, sturdy enough to deal with the rough dirt roads, but still managing to display an air of elegance. Then there was Bael's, the delicate construction of his carriage putting on display the sheer opulence and power of the church. Pure white wood, that despite having traveled over muddy and pitted roads looked spotless and radiant, as if it had been enchanted by magic, which it in fact had been. The woodwork far more intricate, showing the work of a master craftsmen.

Bael, looked out from his open window. Peering at me from above.

"Is everything in order, Mr. Keaton?"

"Just waiting on one more... I think they're just about here." I said with a pause, looking down the road for the sight of Tristan who was just beginning to round the corner.

I had sent him on a specific task, and judging from what I was seeing, it looks like he had at least some success. 

Two riders approaching, one of them Tristan, the two of them leading a hooded prisoner down the road at a leisurely pace. 

Marcella's hair poking out through the hood of her cloak, instantly giving away her identity as she followed closely behind the horses. Her wrists tied and wrapped in rope that stretched only a few steps behind the horses, forcing her to stumble forward to avoid being dragged. 

Kaguro

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