Chapter 45: A Ghostly Pepper

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Vlad didn't smile at all at the apparition of this boy he fought against, since he was focusing all his energy on the old man in front of him, leaving old Grabert to speak the reason he wanted to get to both boys, Arkhan and Amak.

That being after Elder Greenwood had all the disciples and Elders of the Temple resume to their tasks, being the only one left along with the two boys to stand in the plaza. Still, this didn't mean that the curious disciples or elders didn't eavesdrop on the conversation.

"Little guys, can you help this old man with some herbs? You see … this young man next to me is a doctor who needs those herbs to heal me, and I knew that you came to Jade Town to sell some herbs."

Arkhan's face crumbled when he heard old Grabert mention his exploits, but to his surprise, Elder Greenwood didn't seem to react at all, as if he was occupied with something serious by watching the black-haired man who was also "staring" at his old man.

'The old man seems to be quiet. Usually he would give me a murderous stare for selling herbs for cheap money. Meh, there's money to talk about, of course, I will sell some of my herbs collection. I can return back to town and give Sumy some sweets.'

"Sir, it depends on what herbs  you are looking for."

"... Sure, I understand. Ahem, young Vlad, can you tell me what plants you need?" asked old Grabert, turning his head at Vlad, noticing that he was looking at Elder Greenwood with his eyes open, constantly clicking his tongue.

'What the fuck? Does he have something against Elder Greenwood to give him that stare?'

Titania was in the same state of mind as old Grabert and hearing him call Vlad, she reacted by slapping him behind his neck, breaking his focused self while studying the small old man standing in front of him.

"Hmmm? You want to know the plants … Titania, tell him the plants I've told you about, I am a bit busy right now." said Vlad quickly dismissing both Grabert and Titania's attempts at disturbing him.

'Busy with what exactly? Oggling at the old man? Aren't you afraid you might make a bad impression?'

The Fairy was upset by his reaction and slapped him on the earlobe, before taking off, landing on old Grabert's shoulder which was picked by both youngsters who watched with shocked eyes.

"Don't bother with him mister, he is a lost cause. So listen well since those names for the plants are rather complicated to remember, but you need [Icevine], [Centennial Blossom], [Energized Vine], [Aloe Thistle], [Star Moss], [Frostblossom], [Ice Thorn], [Menthol] and hot, really hot peppers.

"Wow, that's for sure a big list of plants. You've heard the young miss, kids? Do you have any of the stuff she said?"

"No idea." replied Arkhan in a genuine manner, turning his head at his roommate, Amak.

"Same, I don't know plants by their names. I just pick them by how they look and sell them."

On the other hand, while the kids were confused about the list of plants created by Vlad, the old man with long white-hair and similarly long white beard, heard the whole list of plants told by Titania, and responded while looking at Vlad, as if he was speaking directly to the black-haired man.

"Interesting list of choices. If I am not wrong, all of those plants have something in common … They are good against inflammation, easing up the pain in one's body. Are you also by chance an alchemist?"

"That's correct, sir. That list of plants are required for sir Grabert's arthritis. But I don't need everything on that list, instead, it could work with about 4 plants and the capsaicin from the hot pepper along with snake venom."

"Interesting alchemical formula which uses Yang Element plants to fight off against the Yin inside our bodies. For sure I know all of the plants you just mentioned and I can even help you, but as with everything in this world, it comes with a price.

A fair price by no means since we of the Skyfruit Temple also have to feed ourselves. Ohh, and unlike those two children of mine, I know the worth of the plants growing inside Jade Mountain, so I suggest that you don't look down on me just because I am an old person past his era."

"Honest with you, I wouldn't bother myself trying to scam you of prices. It's beneath me to do such an act, and besides, I don't care about the price in general. I can fork up 10.000.000 𝔅 on the fly.

Like you expect us to conduct, by not taking you for a fool, I would also want to not be viewed as a rookie who never saw plants in his life.

"Ekharkha, no worries young man, I will not try to scam you by giving you the wrong plant."

"That's all I ask in this matter with regard to the plants, honesty and our trade will be pleasant on both ends." commented Vlad, looking straight at the old man who nodded in understanding

"I see, no problem. Whoever shows respect to the Skyfruit Temple will be treated like a friend. Apart from this, I am impressed for a young man like you to be a doctor and what's more, even an alchemist.

Both rare career choices require a lot of sacrifices and dedication, hours of reading books and studying, trying, and testing,  nonetheless, as high the sacrifices are made, the nobler the rewards of seeing someone healing thanks to your hands. I admire such people, but let's not get dragged into empty chat.

Let me guide you to the Herb Garden, and we can discuss the price on our way." mentioned Elder Greenwood in a casual way, turning his body toward the main entrance to the Temple.

"Elder, can we return to our shacks?" asked the crimson-haired boy, Arkhan wanting to extract himself from any contact with the one who defeated him soundly, that being Vlad.

"You'll follow me child, both of you and Akam will follow me. This will be an open lesson for you two, and maybe you'll understand something after this day." remarked the high elder, inviting Vlad and old Grabert inside the temple.

When old Grabert saw that he had another set of stairs to climb, with Titania on his shoulder, he murmured something that made the beautiful woman to laugh at his misfortune.

"Damn it, another set of stairs. Whoever built this place really had a fetish for stairs, right? Did he foresee that someone called Grabert would visit this place and decide to take revenge in advance?"

*Giggling* "Mister, from what Vlad told me about your sickness, this place is the best place for you since you have to move a lot. It will keep your body active."

"You should become a monk." mentioned Titania with a genuine tone, before giggling a bit, breaking her serious expression.

"Young lady, at my age, you reach a state of mind that will make you want to laze around."

"Come on, don't laze. Look, even those kids started mocking you." said Titania, while pointing at Arkhan and Akam who turned to look at the complaining old man, who was already sweating, climbing up the stairs.

Elder Greenwood and Vlad were both side by side, the elder holding his hands behind his back while the youngster was holding his black cane who he didn't rely much as he was constantly clicking his tongue, making the Elder to remark in a slightly encouraging tone.

"Young man, know that even if God might seem to like taking from various people certain gifts, it would always make sure to balance things out by giving in other areas. There's no need to get discouraged about your sickness because there's always ways around it."

Vlad who by now stopped clicking to conserve his mental energy heard the Elder's comment which in his ears sounded as if was taking some pity on him.

"Thanks for the words, but I don't require any pity or encouragement. I didn't come here to Athkatla to hear someone preach to me about what I should not do."

"I see … A rather strong-minded youngster. That's assuring that you'll not be yet another number."

"What do you mean?" asked Vlad, curious to the reasons for Elder Greenwood's comment.

"As you might hear from my tone, I am a fossil who lived to see many things, and people like you, with such misfortune existed. Either from battle, accidents, or birth, they couldn't cope with reality and went to the White World, resting at the Lord's throne."

Vlad simply scoffed when he understood the meaning of his remark, and since then he remained quiet only following the Elder, not long after stepping inside the interior of the Temple and without his eyes to whisper him how it looked, he choose to ignore this aspect, being taken to a place which filled in his smell sense with a floral scent.

But what he couldn't see, Titania saw in plenty since entering the old Temple constructed from wood, which looked to have aged a lot.

There she saw various young monks cleaning the floor using some cloth fabrics, to keep it spotless, and she wondered why keeping it so strict on some kids to clean the floor until it sparklet.

She kept those questions to herself, making sure to ask Vlad who was an encyclopedia full of information from her perspective, but then as she was standing on old Grabert's shoulder she noticed one of the big mistakes.

'Ahhh, noo. Vlad will be upset that he couldn't see the interior of the Temple and the various sculptures.'

When the group arrived inside the large interior garden of the Temple, she jumped off Grabert's shoulder and landed gracefully on Vlad's hair, returning back home, whispering in an apologetic tone that she wasn't there to tell him about the Temple.

"..."

He kept quiet, and using his clicks he created a larger picture of his surroundings that initially was blurry, but with effort, he painted it with the shapes his mind was discerning for each plant and herb inside.

"Young man, so which one would be? The entire list of ingredients or just four of the plants?"

"You said you have all of them, right?"

"Indeed, I have all of them and I am also willing to sell them since they aren't that rare in particular."

"Then let's go with all of them.  [Icevine], [Centennial Blossom], [Energized Vine], [Aloe Thistle], [Star Moss], [Frostblossom], [Ice Thorn], [Menthol] and hot, really hot peppers. I am sure I can find Menthol and hot-peppers in the Market, also Aloe Thistle, but the rest are rather "challenging"."

"No problem, I have everything. Let's take them in order. Akam, bring a set of paper bags from Elder Quillnest. We'll need it for our guests here to package the plants so they would get destroyed on their way to the city."

"Ayee, Elder. How many?" asked the young boy with brown hair glancing at the old man who just smiled at him kindly, asking in a playful tone.

"How much do you think we need?"

"I don't know, p-Elder." responded in a genuine manner the boy, before his crimson-haired friend slapped him behind the back of his head, responding to Elder Greenwood in a fast manner.

"9-10 bags would do it, right pops?"

"Good, someone was listening diligently to the list. Now that you've got your answers you two get going, chop, chop."

The two kids stormed out from the garden starting bickering on their way, with Akam cursing Arkhan for slapping him behind the head for no reason, only to be mocked by the crimson-haired boy who told him.

"You are stupid that's why. Pay more attention to what pops talks with his guests and you'll learn some more cool stuff from him like my Rankyaku."

"I'll get to it sooner or later. No worries before we have become full monks of the Temple, you'll no longer have the advantage in our fights."

Greenwood just smiled when hearing those two adopted sons of his who lived a childhood full of youthful rivalry, while Vlad was simply staring in an emotionless manner without showing his emotions, walking around the garden using his sense of smell to guide himself to some plants he knew from home.

"Interesting collection. You even got some plants that usually don't grow in tropical areas. Those ones are sensible to grow in those zones."

"Ohh which one are you referring to? I see ... you are referring to Speckless Ghost. That one is indeed a picky one and is still not ready yet, requiring one or two years before maturing completely."

In such a way to kill some time, Vlad moved around the plants while Elder Greenwood was there to talk about his plants, giving him some details about how "picky" they were to grow in his garden, and the back and forth didn't hold a deeper meaning, both were killing time waiting for the two boys to return, who after 10 minutes arrived holding small bags of paper in their hands.

Arkhan and Akam handed the bags to Greenwood who walked calmly toward a peculiar white-blue plant that was of small stature, barely noticeable but the words bouncing between the black-haired youngster and their old man, shocked them.

"As you can see young man, the fragrance on this one is gentle, where you can feel the slight chill of the ice touching your nostrils and the back of your tongue as you take in the air. This one is a high-quality specimen, and I am proud to say it grew impeccable."

"Indeed, I have no comment in this regard. The price … how does 125.000 𝔅 sound for the entire plant? The market price for Icevein is 100.000 𝔅, an high-quality specimen should be worth more, but not to the point is exaggerated since the effects are only enhanced by 5%."

"Sounds like you know your prices, young alchemist. We have a deal."

The youngsters who were along with old Grabert watched with their small eyes turning bigger and bigger, using their fingers to count the amount of money mentioned, and looking at one another, the monkey boy pushed his friend's shoulder, asking dumbfounded.

"B-Bro, Akam, how much did they say one of those small shits cost? I didn't hear properly. It's 12.500 𝔅, right?"

"Yea, it should be. We used to sell some of them for 10.000 𝔅 so it should be that much."

When Vlad heard that his lips shifted a little bit into a smile, nonetheless, his expression returned back to his indifference swiftly, but Elder Greenwood couldn't help but pop a vein on his forehead when hearing that those little brats sold his plants for dirt-cheap.

"Little ones, I think they are talking about sums going to 6 numbers and up, not candy money you have in your little heads." remarked old Grabert who deep down was shocked at how much one such plant truly cost, reaching 125.000 𝔅 for only an "insignificant" plant.

But then again, he couldn't say a thing since it wasn't his domain of expertise.

"Let's move to the second plant, Centennial Blossom." said Elder Greenwood who used a gentle movement of his hand to pluck the plant from the ground without damaging it's roots, stem or even the precious leaves, plant that was, later on, wrapped gently in the paper bag that he passed to Vlad to hold.

"Mhm, good insulating paper. Let's see the other plants, sir."

Then from the moment, the "shopping" began and until each plant of the list was picked, the two kids who walked with the group back inside the temple, where Vlad held 9 bags in his hands without using any strength in his grip, as if not wanting to damage the goods inside.

Once back, Greenwood took Vlad and Grabert to his office, a traditional Chinese-styled room, respecting a strict Feng-Shui, which Vlad couldn't figure out even after Titania whispered to him how it looked from her perspective.

After both parties settled down on their chairs, Elder Greenwood took old Abacus which made Arkkan and Akam to tremble a bit, as if some bad memories were surfacing.

"Hmph, stop shaking you little fools, and better focus more on your studies instead of messing around with your friends down the Town.

Now, you better remember the number I will tell this guest of ours because this is how much money just those 9 plants he required were worth. And it should be a lesson so you don't pluck herbs or plants from around the mountain without consulting with me."

Using the Abacus in a swift way to calculate the whole cost while murmuring the prices for each plant, he then faced Vlad who had his eyes closed.

"Everything will cost you 425.650 𝔅. As for the Ghost Pepper, take it as a house gift for buying our plants."

Vlad nodded and while looking at Grabert he started chuckling a bit, thinking to himself.

'Never heard of this Ghost Pepper, but if the description of the Elder is correct, its effects would be 50x stronger than the hot pepper from back home. Kukuku, I wonder if there would be any mutations to the ointment when I create it.'

*Cough* "Young Vlad, young Lord, I hope you don't intend to use those peppers for the ointment. I-I heard many things about those mythical peppers from the Temple."

"Ohh, I wonder, mister Grabert. What have the people of Athkatla mentioned about our home-grown peppers."

"It can make anyone cry for their mom regardless of age."

"HAHAHAHA, true, true. Gramps Forge, you better don't eat those peppers, they are Evil incarnate." commented Arkhan whose hair was as fiery as those dark-red deformed peppers handed by Elder Greenwood.

"You don't know what is good for you kids. Those peppers are my creation after crossing various species of hot pepper from my homeland with the native peppers of the South Blue."

"I see, you aren't from South Blue, sir?" asked Vlad instantly, getting curious when the old man mentioned about the whole breeding process of his Ghost Pepper.

"I am from Kano Country, a place far away from here, in the West Blue. The reason I am here now instead of my natal home is fate.

Fate has chosen that I arrive here and watch over the Skyfruit Temple and those bright children and people who continue on with their normal lives."

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A/N: I will give you the chance of naming this chapter (too lazy to do it myself) Good luck, let the best win.