Channels (Part 2)

A week flew by in the blink of an eye. During that week, Romon expanded the range of his activities a little, and with Yvette accompanying him, he took a stroll through the market.

After all, Aps City was different from Rika Town. It already had a permanent market, which opened and closed on schedule each day with the morning and evening bells of the Goddess of Agriculture Temple. After nightfall, a curfew was enforced.

The unique leisurely air of this medieval era made Romon, who had been accustomed to staying up late on Earth, feel exceedingly at ease. Letting one's daily routine and meals follow the changes of nature was indeed highly beneficial for an individual.

The work in the workshop remained relatively flexible. Once they completed their assigned tasks, they could freely arrange the rest of their time. For mage Sackville and his apprentice Alec, their trade was, in Earth terms, a highly technical line of work. There was neither any need nor any practical sense in treating hired workers like a sweatshop.

That afternoon was a rare sunny day in winter. Perhaps affected by the weather, Romon was in an unusually good mood. He finished three bottles of healing potion in a single morning. After enchanting the Solidifying Agent, the sensation of mental energy spreading through his body like flowing water washed over him. This feeling of utter exhaustion, of being unable to focus while also finding it difficult to sleep, was not pleasant. Thus, whether forging magical weapons or concocting alchemical potions, spellcasters were unwilling to repeat such work over and over merely for money. But for beginner spellcasters, there was little else that was both low-risk and quick to earn from.

However, Romon had his secret method.

The first time he experienced the mental agony brought on by repeated enchantments, Romon's first thought had been of the ginseng growing in Shennong Horn. The reverence for ginseng's effects—greatly replenishing vital energy, strengthening the spleen and lungs, promoting bodily fluids and quenching thirst, calming the mind and sharpening wisdom—had practically become part of Chinese people's genetic code. But what effects could ordinary medicinal ginseng bought on the market truly have? One only had to see that ginseng was already listed as a nationally protected rare and endangered plant.

After obtaining Shennong Horn, Romon had planted in it, all at once, many heavenly treasures that appeared time and again in martial arts novels, such as Ginseng, Snow Lotus, Lingzhi, Fleeceflower Root, and Solomon's Seal. Naturally, the final result was that the products grown in that space seemed somewhat more effective than those sold outside. But the idea that eating them would grant a hundred years of inner strength was nothing but fantasy.

Perhaps Shennong Horn did not possess the ability to rapidly catalyze plant growth.

Yet the effects after taking Ginseng slices were obvious. They had a remarkable effect on improving one's mental state after enchanting. Romon would even chew a slice while enchanting. Of course, to conceal it, he would also put some White-Spot Leaf—a common spellcaster herb—into his mouth and chew it. This very cheap plant produced an intensely pungent, spicy flavor, like mustard, stimulating the nerves and mind.

"Romon." Yvette stood prettily beside him and called out.

At that moment, Romon was squatting without a shred of dignity beneath the wall beside Sackville's shop, basking in the sun. If he had been given a sheepskin coat and tucked his hands into his sleeves, he would have looked exactly like an old farmer from northwest China.

Romon smiled and looked Yvette over from below. His smile was somewhat lazy, utterly unlike his usual demeanor.

"Yvette, you have to protect me. My head's spinning terribly right now." In truth, Romon was chewing Ginseng at the moment. Though he still felt somewhat languid mentally, there was no longer much discomfort. Still, being protected by a woman once in a while was quite a nice experience.

"If you're not feeling well, sleep for a while first. If you can't sleep, I'll give you a massage." Yvette spoke softly and gently. The two of them had grown much more intimate.

Because warriors engaged in extensive muscle training, they were generally quite skilled at using massage to relieve fatigue. However, it was completely incomparable to Chinese tui na massage from Earth, which combined meridians and acupoints.

Yvette had made the offer because Romon had taught her several common health-preserving massage techniques used by computer workers on Earth. In Romon's view, having a beautiful woman carefully massage him sounded wonderfully enjoyable!

Yet in Yvette's eyes, Romon's action carried a different meaning.

This was an era severely lacking in information, where technological development was exceedingly slow. In such an age, any technique could be said to be the foundation upon which a household or Lineage depended for survival. Therefore, in Yvette's view, Romon teaching her such a technique for relieving mental fatigue was enough to explain everything.

Sometimes, love was born from misunderstanding, even if it was one-sided.

"No need." Romon held out a hand. "Pull me up. Let's go to the market."

Yvette pulled Romon to his feet, and he promptly threw himself into her arms, drawing a shriek from the girl.

"Romon, you're bullying Yvette again." Mage Alec emerged from the shop with a smile. The brilliant sunlight outside made him squint slightly.

"Big Brother Alec, I'm getting revenge for you. You always said that when Yvette was little, she constantly messed up your notes and used your robe as a cloak or something else." As Romon's relationship with Yvette grew closer, he had gradually become familiar with Alec as well. Moreover, Feiqi had come by once during this period and specifically treated Alec to a meal on Romon's behalf, so Romon's form of address had changed too.

"Big Brother Alec, you actually told Romon all that!" The girl stomped her feet angrily, stealing glances at Romon as she did. She was worried that hearing about her childhood antics would make him think differently of her.

"Hehe. Half the day has already passed at the market. If you want to go, you'd better hurry. Romon, remember to buy Yvette some jewelry to sweet-talk her!" Alec pursed his lips and changed the subject.

"How could I forget?" Romon replied with a smile. Yvette had already run ahead shyly, and Romon hurriedly waved farewell to Alec.

Aps City's market was located in the southern part of the city. By the time Romon and Yvette arrived there hand in hand, just as Alec had warned, more than half the people had already left.

"Let's look at the jewelry shop first." Romon turned his head and said to Yvette.

Yvette shook her head. "Let's go to the potion shop first."

Romon said with a smile, "I'm not necessarily going there to find anything. I just want to broaden my horizons. Come on."

As he spoke, he dragged Yvette toward the jewelry shop.

The girl blushed, her heart filled with sweetness.

When they emerged from the jewelry shop, Yvette lovingly played with the silver hair ornament Romon had bought her. "Romon, wasn't this a little expensive? You still owe a large debt." She looked up at him uneasily.

"Do I need to worry over a mere debt of 450 silver coins?" Romon deliberately whispered into her ear, blowing warm breath into it.

Yvette dodged away with a coy laugh. The two frolicked their way near the potion shop.

The potions sold by the potion shop were closer to medicines on Earth. They emphasized fully bringing out the properties of the herbs themselves, making them entirely different from the alchemical potions Romon made at mage Sackville's place. The potion shop also sold various herbal ingredients.

Bang! Someone rolled out of the potion shop. Romon and Yvette both recognized him. It was Jacob Yullen, the youngest son of Baron Ibi Yullen of Galle Town, the hired worker Sackville had driven away.

But Jacob now showed not the slightest trace of his former arrogant bearing. Though his clothing still appeared to be of decent style and material, it was already filthy and torn in many places.

Isolt, the potion shop owner, came storming out of the shop, cursing. "Jacob, you bastard! I took you in only for the sake of the late Baron Yullen. But last time, you actually mixed Arrowhead Grass into Bluegrass and sold it to me! I, Isolt, have been a pharmacist in Aps City for twenty years. Whenever people mention the potions made by Isolt, who doesn't give a thumbs-up? But because there was a problem with that batch of Bluegrass, I lost face before my peers and lost my reputation in the city! For the sake of Baron Yullen helping me back then, I, Isolt, wiped clean the spit everyone threw in my face. But you bastard, this time you actually had the nerve to bring the same Bluegrass mixed with Arrowhead Grass to sell to me again! Do you take me, Isolt, for a Goblin whose brain never developed properly?"

The potion shop owner's face was flushed purplish-red with rage. He gestured wildly with his large hands, mottled in color from years of making potions, while saliva flew everywhere. Curious onlookers gradually began to gather around.

Romon quietly tugged Yvette, signaling for the two of them to retreat into the crowd.

"Baron Ibi Yullen is dead. Jacob's older brother Lance won the final victory. But this piece of work, Jacob..." Thinking of this, Romon could not help spitting on the ground. "He really is mud that can't be plastered onto a wall. He actually fell this far in an instant."

Comparing Romon's life with his own struggles, Romon truly felt that Jacob was such useless trash that he could not possibly be any more useless!

"Let's go back." Romon turned his head and spoke softly to Yvette.

"Romon, that Jacob is truly disgusting. Even someone as mild-tempered as Isolt was angered into this state by him." Yvette pouted. "Let's take another turn around, then come back to look at herbs."

"No need." Romon spoke lightly. He gave the bundle of Bluegrass Isolt had thrown out one last glance, then turned and pulled Yvette away.

After Arrowhead Grass was soaked in oil containing Blue Lightstone powder, it became almost indistinguishable from Bluegrass in both appearance and smell. Black-hearted merchants always liked to use cheap Arrowhead Grass to pass it off as Bluegrass.

Romon remembered that an herb called Fine Rice Grass on Earth looked astonishingly similar to Butterfly Grass in this world. Butterfly Grass was a common poison ingredient, and among the poisonous materials seized during the last extermination of the Thieves' Guild had been this very thing.

A plant extremely similar to Butterfly Grass, as an entirely new species, ought to qualify for the black-market channel in Old Vilen's hands, shouldn't it? Besides, its origin would be easy to conceal...

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