This was all too much to think about right now, and I needed to just spend some time sitting and thinking. Right now, I had candy on the go, and the ones in the mould had already set.
While I was tapping them out, I had a thought.
“Milo, do you think a cold rune would help these set faster if I could carve it into the mould?” I asked.
Milo shook his head. “Possibly, but it also might cool them too fast and cause them to become brittle, or solidify incorrectly—like what happens when you cool glass too fast. But being sugar, there could also be other things happening there that I don’t understand, so it’s probably not ideal. My suggestion would be to get another couple of moulds when we get to the capital.”
I tapped out the twenty-four candies, stacking them all in a single bowl before using infuse on them, making sure I put the duration to the maximum while keeping the potency low.
Using Essence Memory to bring up the buffs:
[Uncommon] Blood Stone Candy
- +1 Perception
- Fire Immunity
- Health Regeneration
- Minor Earth Magic Potency
“I forgot I was using the treant wood in the fireplace,” I said.
I handed one of the candies to each of them, even giving one to Lily. I didn’t know if she ate candy, but I figured it would be rude to leave her out, especially when she’d been watching me the entire time.
Trying one myself, wondering what flavour it would have—this was when I discovered my second mistake: I completely forgot to add a flavouring to this one, so it just tasted only of herbs and reed juice, with a little bit of grit from the Blood Owl beak powder.
“I also forgot to add flavouring. It’s just sugar,” I said, unhappy with what I made.
Heading to the pot with the rest of the mixture in it, I pulled out some Dilwater berries—not many, just a small handful and added them to the mix, using a spoon to fold them in, as well as crush them into smaller parts.
“It still tastes nice though,” Liane said.
The others nodded as well, but if they really liked it, they wouldn’t be acting this subdued. Lily just pushed the candy with her nose a couple of times before it vanished.
“This next one will taste much better,” I said, mostly to reassure myself.
I went back to the mould, now with the fruit added, and filled it using the rest of the mixture and getting a half-size one on the twenty-fourth candy.
Patiently, I waited for it to cool.
I was startled as George and Darren stumbled in the door, both of them looking exhausted. They were looking much healthier now, and seemingly rapidly growing in muscle too.
“Who won?” Micca called out.
“I did,” they both said at exactly the same time.
Hari came in a step behind them. “It was not supposed to be a competition, but even if it was, it was a draw at best.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Don’t worry, tonight’s meal has a decent Strength buff. Maybe you can settle it after dinner.”
“Absolutely not. They’ll break their training weapons,” Hari said, shaking his head.
The conversation went on for a while about who actually won. I popped out the candies when I thought they were ready, but I didn’t share these with everyone. The only person still paying attention was Liane, and I gave one to her, having the half candy myself and saving the rest for Micca to sell.
The addition of the berries was very much needed. Liane gave me two big thumbs up. It didn’t add any extra sweetness, but the tartness from them, along with Dilwater’s unique taste, really made the candy pop.
There was, however, the addition of minor poison resistance to it now as well, with the buff lasting nearly five hours.
It wasn’t much longer before Crisplet alerted me that the stew was ready, and there was no mistaking it because Lily was immediately on her feet.
I rushed over, getting to the pot before some cat got impatient. Removing it from the flame, I opened the lid and was hit with a rich aroma. It was difficult to describe—like a more complex and in-depth Buvul. You could smell the vegetables, and the stock had reduced down, now creating a velvet-like sauce.
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The drake itself looked so tender that it was falling apart just at the touch of my spoon.
I used infuse on it before taking out my bowls. I knew this one wouldn’t last long, and I doubted anyone would get seconds once Lily tasted it, so I made sure to fill every bowl to the top.
Then, I took out a large mixing bowl, which I poured the rest into, for Lily.
Once it was all served, I gave everyone the signal to come grab it—although Liane and Lily were both already there. Lily didn’t even wait for me to place it on the ground, instead tasting it in her bowl right on the stone table.
“Trev, this is amazing!” Micca said after her first bite.
George and Darren nodded in agreement. Liane seemed to have gone into meditation—she just sat there, eyes closed, her spoon still on the edge of her mouth.
Eventually whispering, “So good.”
Even Hari surprised me. “This might be the best dish yet!”
I sat down to enjoy the meal as well. It had a rich earthiness to it, and once the earthy flavour subsided, a sweet and salty tang came through, that left an aftertaste of the herbs and vegetables lingering on your tongue. I wished I had made some fresh rolls to go with it, but the only ones I had left on me were healing ones I didn’t want to waste.
Everyone ate in silence, and when they were done, there wasn’t a drop left in the bowl. Lily had not only cleared her bowl to an absolute shine, she’d also cleaned the pot as well.
“Sorry, Lily. If you go hunting, try to avoid killing the Buvul in the area—they’re the farmers’ livestock,” I said, remembering my concern from earlier.
I got a look before she lay back down for a nap by the fire.
I figured that was good enough. I didn’t know what was in range, or even what her range was with hunting. She went and got the phoenix and returned in about a week—and apparently it's the phoenix of the far north?
How far was ‘far north’?
For the rest of the evening, I kept making candies. I wanted to have them all done, but I was interrupted shortly after starting my next batch. Micca came over to me, sitting down next to me.
At this stage everyone had moved off to do their own thing besides Liane, Lily, and now Micca.
“Trev, we’ve not discussed your cut of the candies,” she said.
I just waved the comment away. “It’s fine. It’s just a few candies.”
I saw Liane shaking her head, but she said nothing. Micca, on the other hand, gave me a look that screamed I had said something wrong.
“Trevor. They are not just ‘some candies’. I am a merchant class. I get experience by brokering deals—both with customers, but also with suppliers. Suppliers who get paid like they should,” she said in a stern tone.
I was caught off guard. “I’m sorry. I just didn’t expect to get anything for them,” I said, holding my hands up in surrender.
“Trevor, these candies are worth well over a gold each, and you’re making at least a hundred for me. Do you realise how significant that actually is?” she asked.
I shook my head. Not wanting to admit that I didn’t really know. I’d lost track of money for a while now—hadn’t even kept track of how much gold I was currently carrying. It was all just a means of getting more food to cook.
She let out a deep sigh. “Trev, a hundred gold is more money than most businesses make in a year. Larry, for example, was lucky to get a gold a month.”
Liane spoke up for the first time. “She’s right, Trev. Even as a party, a hundred gold would have taken us six months of protection jobs—or a couple of months doing dangerous collection jobs.”
“Oh,” I said, not knowing what else to say.
Micca shook her head. “I don’t want to know how much you’ve been paying for things when you went to the market alone. Did you even haggle?”
My silence answered that question. Micca just put her head in her hands.
“Gods, Trevor… when we get to the next town, I’m taking you for a lesson in prices and how to haggle,” she said, clearly not going to take no for an answer.
“Now let’s discuss your cut, because you will be getting a cut.” Her eyes landed on Liane. “Do you want to step in for him for these negotiations?”
Liane just shook her head, looking around the dome before spotting her target. “Milo!”
After catching his attention, Milo slowly made his way over. “What is it?”
Liane just smirked. “Help Trev be less useless with money.”
Milo also shook his head. “What’s he done now…”
Micca gave a quick rundown, Milo nodding in agreement with everything she said. “Yes, that’s a good idea. You should take some lessons. I always forget how little you know, and that’s on me. But I’ll sit in for negotiations—not a problem. Since he’s part of the party and we’ll be selling them to you, you’ll be entering into an agreement with the Polite Company. Is that acceptable…?”
And so began a very serious negotiation over percentages, supply, and how often there would be an expected resupply. Milo even pulled out a piece of parchment and drew up a contract with Micca.
I still couldn’t help but feel it was all a little over the top for a bunch of candies, but clearly I was in the wrong with this. It wasn’t the only thing I felt I had shortcomings with recently—my knowledge of the kingdom was sorely lacking as well.
When Milo finished up, it was settled that we’d take a sixty percent cut of sales, and we’d endeavour to resupply every three months. However, if we had a job or task that would take us away longer, we agreed to create enough supply to cover the term we’d be gone for.
I thought that this contract would cover all things Micca was going to sell for us, but it turned out it would only cover the candies, and there would need to be a new contract for each item. Apparently this was all incredibly important for her class, so I didn’t question it and just signed where Milo pointed.
“Now that it’s signed—Milo, did you have any basic history books I can read? I realised I really know nothing about the kingdom or the capital, and it might help me learn something before I walk in there,” I said, scratching the back of my head.
“You mean before you walk into the wolf’s den? Yes, I do have some.”
A moment later he pulled out several large tomes, handing them over to me.
“Start here. These are the basics about the kingdom, this continent, and what is believed to have started the demonic war to the south,” Milo said before returning to his spot seated in the dome.
Micca had a giant smile on her face, clearly checking something on the status screen. “I got three levels for that deal! Level eighteen now!” she said excitedly.
I was shocked she got so many levels, and it really put into perspective how important these deals were.