“Miss Larriel, my book is finished!” Said Theanore, presenting two leather-bound notebooks to Larriel. The adventurer leafed through the first notebook and found that there was an adorable picture next to each description of a plant.
The pictures were colored too and the nymph’s handwriting was even neat and even. Something Larriel hadn’t expected from a two-year-old. Heck, the little girl shouldn’t even be able to write or read, let alone be writing detailed books on plants.
“That is good, sweetie. Would you like me to read it?” Asked Larriel. The healer of the party was willing to read the girl’s writings. Maybe she would find something useful in there too? The family of three had a wonderful garden.
“Well, if you want. But I need to publish it. Do you know someone willing to publish it? I will pay for the paper and ink and the mana for the printing press.”
Printing presses were an invention of grandpa Thinker. Something he took from his memories of Earth. But he made them run on mana instead of electricity, since there is no electricity in this world. No matter how much grandpa Thinker tried, he couldn’t recreate it.
“Well, there is a publishing house in Mirstone, Thea. But they have high standards. Why don’t you wait a couple of years and publish it when you have more time to work on it?”
“I need it for a…” Marinus nudged Theanore with his elbow and she blushed. She had nearly given her secret away.
“Yes?” Asked Larriel, ready to chastise the boy if he did it again.
“I just want to share my knowledge of plants with everyone. There are many, and I will find out about them too. Not everyone has access to encyclopedia Plantanica.”
“Only those who are on the bad list don’t, dear. You don’t happen to be among them?” Asked Larriel worried.
“Grandpa Thinker doesn’t like me since I found the old dungeon core and made it into a trinket,” lied Theanore smoothly. They had agreed to say this beforehand. Then a message flashed.
Skill unlocked: Liar, liar, pants on fire.
Theanore the nymph has told a lie, and it was believed. This is a bad habit to have, but a necessary one. +1 year on the bad list if the lie gets found out.
Level Unlocked: Level 6.
Even though Theanore has delved into a criminal level skill, she has still reached the requirements for a new level. But at what cost?
Theanore reached out and gripped Marinus’ hand. She was bad! Even if her father had said that it was ok for her to do so. But she has lied about the dungeon core, too. Does that mean that the forest of fireflies’ guardians hadn’t believed her then? Or was the skill just unavailable back then?
Larriel took the gesture as a hopeful one, not being able to see the text that Tania flashed to Theanore and Marinus. They looked so worried holding hands, these two toddlers. She couldn’t say no.
“Ok, look. I can’t promise anything, but I will go to the publishing house and make your case. Do you have any new enchanted trinkets on hand? We are running low in the shop.”
The shop was in the Mirstone guildhall. There used to be a shop of a different merchant who sold enchanted wares, but he hadn’t been able to sell anything after the adventurers bought off all his lower grade enchantments for Theanore and Marinus to learn them.
The adventuring party did hire him to man the shop, and he worked on commissions apart from his pay of five gold coins per day. He was a ruthless trader and fleeced the adventurers for every coin they had.
“Yes, we have thirty capes, one gold ring, and five leather bands. Oh, and ten pairs of mittens for the ladies of the village between here and Mirstone. Can you all reach out to the other villages and open shops there? They really like to bake in the villages,” Theanore said. As she tiptoed.
Larriel hugged the girl and kissed her temple. She was just so precious. Grandpa Thinker better not send her something bad for Yule over the dungeon core misunderstanding, or the entire guildhall of Mirstone was going to raid Alerion.
“If there is nothing else, then I’ll be living,” said Larriel, handing her bottomless and lightweight bag, level 300 on the scale on both enchantments, to Marinus, so he could fill it up with the wares.
“Can you buy me some flowers, Miss Larriel? Exotic ones,” asked Theanore hopeful. While she didn’t have access to the encyclopedia Plantanica, dungeon core, Alina had most of it copied out of boredom.
She had given access to the pirated work to Theanore, and she has seen numerous wonderful plants in it that she simply needed to have. From some of them, she could even make tea! Others became spices when dried.
“If I can find them. Do you have a list?” Asked Larriel and she was given a notebook. She leafed through it and found that it was filled with plant names.
“Thea, I can’t get you all of these. You have to pick, let us say, twenty. I’ll get you the seeds of twenty of them.”
Next to each plant was the climate and months in which it grew. Theanore took the notebook and began looking through it. It was September, and some seeds might get moldy in the grotto. She had just the plants she wanted.
Taking up a sheet of paper, she began to write.
- Dragon’s kiss- flower, can be made into a spice.
- Ogre’s demise- cactus, the flowers can be made into tea.
- Shrine Fairymoss- moss, can be made into a spice.
- Salty sugarplum- flower, can be made into a spice.
- Taunting Itchweed- a weed that can be made into a spice and used for tea. Warning: It itches before it is dried.
- Shield Coneflower- flower, can be used for tea.
- Dwarven Gallberry- weed, a good spice.
- Yore- weed, both for tea and as a spice.
- Emperor cap- flower, can be used for tea.
- Tear Poinsetta- weed, can be made into a spice.
- Omorn- weed, a good spice.
- Aknudos- can be used for tea.
- Sneeze Fig- weed, can be used for tea. Warning: Its pollen causes one to sneeze.
- Piranha Aconite- good spice.
- Eonelda- a good spice.
- Treknus- weed, can be used for tea.
- Diqees- weed, a good spice.
- Miracle Nettle- weed, can be used for tea and soup.
- Kroom- weed, can be made into tea.
- Pink Azolla- flower, can be made into tea.
“Well, I’ll be off then. Let us see if I can’t get your book published, Thea.” Said Larriel. Theanore and Marinus waved her goodbye and then went to Petunia and Chrysanthemum to give them their midday belly rubs.
