Chương 148: Chapter 143 – Herbalists

"There is an herbalist to see you," Seren said, her eyes flicked from Alric to Pavise. Alric looked from the door to Pavise, he nodded to Seren who stepped aside. Pavise turned in his chair.

"Send her in." The woman who entered wore a dark traveling cloak with the hood still raised. Alric got the impression that this was someone who had learned that being noticed too clearly lead to more issues. Her boots were practical, her cloak had been repaired twice near the hem, and beneath it Alric saw plain cloth, a narrow belt, and a small knife that looked more like a tool than a threat, which in this world was not as reassuring. She paused just inside the room and looked around. It was a quick look.

Door, window, Pavise, Alric, desk, corners. Then her gaze settled back on Pavise. Her shoulders eased slightly and she grinned. Pavise stood. The chair, having already endured more than most furniture should have to endure, gave a quiet creak. Pavise crossed the room and wrapped the woman in a hug. Alric could not help but notice it was a warm hug. Although she was being dwarfed by his arms, she patted his arm and nodded while looking up at Pavise.

"Rosa," Pavise said, a big grin spread on his face. Genuine Alric saw, "I've missed you."

"Pavise," she replied, her voice soft but dry.

"Still too big to fit anywhere." Pavise's mouth twitched. He stepped back and turned toward Alric.

"This is Rosa. Herbalist, gatherer, and once, a member of my party." Rosa made a faint sound, she threw a mock glare at Pavise.

"Once? It was a few times."

"It was years ago." Pavise said, his hand still on her shoulder, he waved the idea away with his other hand.

"That giant spider nest, I try not to think about it." She said frowning at Pavise and untangling his arm. Pavise ignored that with the experience of a man who had been called worse.

"She kept me alive more than once." Rosa looked at Alric with an apologetic expression.

"He makes it sound grand. If he died, there was no way I was carrying his body out."

"The important part is that I lived," Pavise said chuckling. Alric nodded, he smiled enjoying the atmosphere.

"I am glad for it." Rosa offered her hand. Alric stood and took it as she stepped forward. Her grip was firm. She did not squeeze, Alric had worried for a moment that he might not have escaped with his hand intact.

"I'm Alric, known sometimes as the brewer." He said glancing at Pavise who didn't introduce him. Something about her was off. Alric knew that was a rude thought but he could not place her age properly. Her voice sounded older than her posture, her hand felt stronger than she looked. The hood shadowed too much of her face, but not enough to explain why his mind kept trying to arrange her and failing. Pavise noticed him noticing.

"I'm Rosa, adventurer herbalist." She said with a shrug.

"It's fine Rosa," Pavise said as Rosa turned her head toward him.

"The two of you will be keeping each other's secrets after all." Rosa looked at Alric for a moment. He felt judged, weighed and measured in that moment. Then she nodded and lowered her hood. Alric expected something obvious. He did not get it. Rosa had blonde hair touched with grey, which was unusual here, it was drawn back without decoration. Her face was narrow, weathered slightly at the eyes, and calm. There was a faint old mark near one cheek.

Her nose could have been broken once with a small but noticeable bump. Nothing strange. Then she turned slightly, and the light caught her ears. They came to soft points. If he hadn't been looking for something he wouldn't have noticed. The ears gave him a slightly uncanny feeling. Alric's face lit up before he could stop it.

"Are you an elf?" Alric said his face lighting up completely. Pavise closed his eyes. Rosa looked at him with a dead stare. Alric felt his ears heat.

"Sorry. That was rude."

"It was direct," Rosa said with a shrug, her face returning to normal.

"It was honest. Poorly timed, but honest."

"Uh.. I can ask again later if the timing is better?" Alric asked with a grin hoping to lighten the mood again.

"Just don't." Came from Pavise but he was chuckling.

"No, to answer though," she said turning her dead stare on Pavise for a moment before turning back to Alric.

"I am not an elf. Less than a quarter. Less than that, really. Four generations ago." Alric nodded, he wanted to press the issue but didnt, because he did possess some survival instinct around people with knives, this time at least. Four generations ago? That's weirdly specific. He also noticed something else now that the hood was down, though he could not have explained it cleanly. There was a faint Lessa-like quality to Rosa, she had the same kind of beauty but slightly less pronounced.

Lessa was slightly fuller in figure than Rosa was. Alric did not like that thought, comparing like that deeply felt unfair.

"Please, sit," he said, because business was safer than curiosity. Rosa took the other visitor chair. Pavise returned to his own, lowering himself with the careful respect of a man who knew the chair had already shown courage and he intended to respect it. Seren still stood by the door.

"Tea?" she asked, politely looking specifically at Rosa. Rosa glanced at Pavise. He shook his head slightly.

"No, thank you," Rosa said with a small but polite smile. Seren nodded, gave Alric a look that said she had banked several rebukes, then closed the door behind her. Rosa folded her hands in her lap.

"Pavise said you wanted herbs."

"I do," Alric said, sitting back and trying to seem casual.

"Four for now. Possibly more later, but I have been told they are an issue."

"That depends on the four." Rosa said with a shrug but also a raised brow. He took the folded list from the drawer and passed it across; Seren had written the list for him earlier. Rosa opened it. Her expression barely changed, but her other eyebrow rose, and her eyes moved to Pavise. Alric hated how quickly that glance confirmed Pavise's entire warning.

"It's to make alcohol, or drink, not potions," Alric said, he held a hand up and lowered his head slightly. Rosa looked back at the page before reading them out loud.

"Sunspur. Hearthleaf. Glassmint." Her thumb moved lower.

"And Wickleaf."

"Mana leaf in Granny Wax's notes," Alric said, glancing up at Rosa, he watched her expression carefully.

"Bluevein bitter, mage's tongue, old-man leaf in the herbology book. Wickleaf was in one of the buyer notes." The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Wickleaf is what gatherers call it." Rosa said as she watched him carefully, she lowered the list to her side. He glanced at Pavise for a moment before explaining, "Sunspur seems to wake people up. Hearthleaf seems to help with warmth or recovery. Glassmint seems to settle some of the unpleasant edges from stronger tonics. I want to try to make a drink with it. Something bright, sweetened, spirit-based eventually.

The idea is that it makes a tired person feel a little more awake while also making them a little drunker, which I admit sounds worse when said but it is fun." Alric used a hand to gesture left and right, he sat back in his chair trying to seem casual about it. Pavise's mouth twitched. Rosa looked at the list again.

"Awake and drunk." she looked back up at him, turning her head to the side and giving him a vaguely suspicious look.

"Slightly awake and slightly drunk. Is how I'd rather word it." Alric responded with a grin.

"I'm sure you would." Rosa said still holding the same expression.

"I'm not selling it as medicine just so you know and I don't trust festival crowds with this either." Alric explained further, he made a vague gesture to the city as he mentioned festivals.

"Good," Rosa said, nodding slowly and lowering the list again.

"Sunspur is not gentle."

"No. Racing heart, anger, thirst, shaking if taken too strong. Collapse if someone is an idiot with it." Alric said, reciting Granny Wax's side effects. He counted five points as he spoke. Her eyes lifted. Alric opened the drawer and took out the few pages he had prepared, not the whole stack. He placed Granny Wax's notes on the desk and turned them toward her. Rosa leaned forward. Her eyes touched the handwriting, then stopped near the top of the first page.

"You have Felicia's notes." Rosa said, her gaze flicked between Alric and the notes. Alric shifted back slightly, blinking as he went.

"Granny Wax?"

"That is what people call her when they don't know her." Rosa said still studying Alric and shrugging one shoulder.

"She's real?" Alric said tilting his head. Rosa stared at him for a long moment.

"I assumed she was real," Alric said quickly, he made a dismissive gesture with one hand.

"The name has a certain… weight to it."

"She is real." Rosa confirmed, she shrugged both shoulders looking at the wall behind him.

"Alive?" Alric asked leaning forward.

"Last I heard." Rosa said avoiding eye contact.

"Good." Alric felt genuinely relieved, he felt like he would owe Granny Wax a great deal in future.

"I wrote down that I should find out. I also wrote possibly terrifying." Rosa smiled then and the smile changed her face, in a way that made Alric understand why she might prefer the hood. He had to make a conscious effort not to stare.

"She would like that," Rosa said with a small smile.

"The terrifying part?" Alric asked, one eyebrow going upward. Pavise scoffed as Rosa shrugged. Rosa tapped the notes with one finger.

"These are good, better than the copied nonsense I've seen. If you are working from Felicia's notes, then you are already safer than many idiots holding a mortar." She sat back, the list in her hand.

"Your drink may still be medicine though."

"No," Alric said too quickly. Alric rubbed at his jaw, wincing slightly.

"No, not because the herbs are not medicinal. I know that they are but that is not what I'm making. If someone is sick, injured, feverish, or sick enough to need treatment, they should go to an apothecary or healer. Not to me for a cup with a cheerful name."

"You have named it already?" Rosa asked, an edge of alarm had entered her voice.

"No. That would be irresponsible." Alric said avoiding eye contact. Pavise however stared at him.

"I have thought of names," Alric admitted, withering slightly under the guilt stare.

"Privately. Most are bad." Rosa almost smiled again.

"I want fun," Alric said not looking at Pavise.

"That is all, something small, warming, stupid in a controlled way. The sort of drink that doesn't make you want to sit but go sing a song outside kind of fun."

"Fun has killed people," Rosa said tilting her head.

"So has medicine. Medicine and poison are two sides of the same coin." Alric said quickly, his expression flat. It was a line he had heard somewhere in his old life and came out too quickly. The answer came out before he could make it safer. Rosa did not seem offended. If anything, she looked more interested.

"Yes," she said, she sat back slightly contemplative.

"More than most admit." Alric leaned back, he brought his hands together on his lap, "I know enough to know I don't know enough, I'm looking at tastes and flavours, very low dosages." Rosa nodded slowly, she crossed one leg over the other.

"That is almost sensible." Her thumb returned to the fourth name as she brought up the list again.

"Wickleaf is not for fun though," she said, dropping the list down again.

"It has one use."

"That may be what people say, it also has a cooling flavour." Alric said, bringing up one finger to make his point. Rosa's attention sharpened slightly and one eye closed a bit more than the other. Alric chose his words carefully.

"Mages use it in their own draughts I know," he said, slowly with a shrug.

"I have not seen the full process, but I have heard enough to think the recipe is bad. It has a cooling flavour or effect, like something I know as menthol. There might be something there I can work with. Refreshing drink, hot day, with mint probably." he held both palms upward as he said the last. Rosa stared at him for a long moment.

"Do you intend to make mage potions?" Rosa asked tilting her head to the side.

"No, and I know and also, I mean it. Small amounts, notes, maybe separate the cooling part from the rest. No swallowing whole leaves because some margin note says not to unless intended." Alric said shaking his head, he raised a hand and waved it with a flat gesture to emphasize. Rosa looked sharply at him.

"Felicia wrote that?"

"She did." Alric nodded, he indicated to the page with his chin.

"That was probably after Orven." Rosa said, leaning forward and looking at the notes with a frown.

"I am not going to ask," Alric said, he watched Rosa suspiciously seeing she knew more than she was saying.

"A rare wise choice," Rosa replied with a shrug, still looking through the notes.

"I know Wickleaf does something with mana," Alric said, watching Rosa carefully for a reaction.

"Maybe it takes it, maybe it holds it poorly, maybe it interferes with the body noticing it. I don't know but the swallowed effect sounds close enough to mana exhaustion that I can't ignore it. I am not interested in that, I want the cooling effect, a bit like mint." Rosa's face had gone still.

"I want your findings," she said, looking up at Alric with a serious expression. Alric sat back with a frown, "I must pay you for the herbs and then also give my findings?" Rosa shifted back slightly.

"Ahh… sorry you are right. That would be unfair. Can I maybe buy them from you later if you do find something interesting?" Alric considered that, "No promises, I'll think about it." Rosa nodded and smiled again; Alric had to close his eyes not to stare.

"Good enough then. Alright then, I'm happy to do this." Pavise relaxed a little.

"Good," Pavise said with a grin.

"Now ask how much he wants, so you can begin to really start to dislike him." Rosa turned the list over once.

"Uh… How much do you want?" Pavise laughed. Alric rolled his eyes.

"Everyone is so dramatic about this, let's just say a lot."

"You think in barrels," Pavise pointed out, pointing at him and chuckling.

"I work in barrels. It's one of the only standards I trust." Rosa folded the list.

"Bundles, baskets, sacks, or am I making a mule unhappy?" Alric hesitated.

"How much makes a mule unhappy?"

"For normal people, two sacks."

"With Alric," Pavise said, "You are going to need a miserable mule train." Alric pointed at him.

"You are enjoying this more than you should." Pavise only grinned widely. Rosa tucked the list into her cloak.

"The good news is that all four are common enough if you know where to look. The bad news is that common does not mean easy. Sunspur is late but possible, Hearthleaf needs proper drying, Glassmint bruises if handled badly, and with the amount you want, I have to pack it carefully. Wickleaf... I will be careful with."

"Can you get enough before winter?" Alric asked, his lips pulled the side.

"Some. Enough to begin your work, I think. Not enough for whatever barrel-shaped thought is trying to climb out of your head." Rosa said with a grin, she tucked the list away.

"I do not have a barrel-shaped thought." Alric said with a bored expression. Pavise's gaze snapped to him.

"Not yet," Alric said, he dropped his head slightly, closing his eyes. Rosa nodded as if that confirmed something.

"I cannot gather all of it myself. I know people who can be trusted with some of the work, not the reason for it. No one gets the whole list. No clever young gatherer who thinks secrets are worth more when sold twice." Alric nodded, listening carefully.

"And payment?"

"I will charge you for the herbs, travel, and silence." Rosa said with a smug grin.

"Silence has a rate?" Alric asked with a frown.

"Everything has a rate. Silence just costs more when people pretend it is friendship and yes, silence costs extra." She said, her grin turning into a properly smug smile. Alric decided he liked her attitude, which was unfortunate because liking people's attitudes often made him more likely to do expensive things.

"If these are common," he asked tapping the table with a finger and leaning forward, "would alchemists really care?" Rosa and Pavise exchanged a look. Alric realised late that he had asked a stupid question.

"Common things become valuable," Rosa said slowly, she turned back to Alric "when someone uses them differently." Alric looked down at the dull ledger while still tapping his finger on the desk. Barley was common, water was common. Copper was common enough if one had money and a dwarf prepared to get impolite about it. None of that had stopped the brewery from becoming something captains inspected and kings worried over. Pavise pushed himself to his feet.

"I'll leave the rest between you." Alric looked up.

"You're leaving?"

"This is not guild business." Pavise said shaking his head and pointing to the pair. He said it gently, but firmly. The implication hung in the air. Alric nodded. Pavise had already gone further than Alric would have ever expected. The warning, the introduction, the burned letter, all of it had cost more than coin.

"Thank you," Alric said and meant it. Pavise gave a small nod. Rosa stood and drew her hood back up, the ears vanished. Alric felt slightly sad for it.

"I will send word in two weeks," she said, stretching "A girl with a ribbon on her basket will ask whether headquarters needs winter onions. If the ribbon is blue, say yes. If it is green, say no and nothing more." Alric stared at her.

"Onions?"

"Everyone always needs onions." Rosa said simply, she studied Alric as if he was the only person who might not. Pavise opened the door before Alric could decide whether that was wisdom or nonsense. Seren stood beyond it, close enough to be useful and far enough to pretend she had not been waiting. Rosa gave her a polite nod. Seren returned it. Then Pavise and Rosa left.

"Tea, Mister Alric?" Seren asked, Alric nodded. The door closed. The office became quiet again. Alric sat for a long while after they had gone, thinking about the alchemists. If potions worked, then whoever controlled them, had more power than anyone ever should.