In a secluded cottage with tiles made of yellow-colored clay, the wafting smell of dried bergamot, citrus and rosemary inside the cauldron fills the entire room through the chimney. Anyone could tell from a glance outside the house that, it belonged to the quaint apothecary of that area in the merchant district.
"Well, a scale of this can give you fifty silver, it's pretty scarce around here and it's good for curing many ailments. With one scale you can make five doses of any medicine for Hampspring cold[1], Butterblurgh nausea[2], Aquarian fever[3], you name it."
An olive-skinned woman was using her small-sized magnifying glass that she wore on her left eyes. With stacks of books and shelves of medicine, the woman walked back and forth to examine as Lisbeth was busy reading one of the books.
"Those are.... Minor sickness to cure, I suppose it can cure my father's paralysis?"
The woman didn't look back and was busy taking some bottles of dry ingredients on her shelves. Inside was a feather from a colorful creature and another one was a bottle of black dust. But then she replied,
"Probably, I mean, if it's around the tendons and muscles it can fix, it can, but I'm surprised you don't even consider it can cure yours instead."
Lisbeth stopped turning the pages on the book,
"I... Well, I mean, it's a curse, not a sickness?" She shrugged, a reflection of her ruby red eyes could be seen from the syphon of a mysterious liquid. "I can still walk, I can still eat limited things, most of all, I can still work." she replied, in a stern yet unassuming voice.
"...Just not in broad daylight." She sighed at the sight of her porcelain skin, then continues flipping the book on foraging.
"Such a wishy washy answer, do you want to get rid of your vampirism or not?" The woman put the bottles on the counter exactly where Lisbeth was sitting, it made her jolted.
"W-well didn't you say the cure was hard enough as it is?!" She panicked.
While holding a bottle, she then put her finger on Lisbeth's forehead. "I said hard, not impossible you twat." Then flicked it at the time, earning a yelp from the blonde girl. "Sure it takes years, and a specific time to make with specific types of ingredients."
"But, truth to be told, you're running out of time. Sooner or later without an alchemist license, the lightkeepers' troops will pick up on your illegal scheme…. and well, the best of all, you will be sentenced to jail." She dropped a droplet of liquid with a pipette to the syphon.
"And worse? Burn the witch!" she yelled as the syphon exploded a fume of unpleasant methane gas fragrance. Lisbeth coughed while the Apothecary didn't move an inch.
Lisbeth just frowns as she brushes her forehead, "but you took me as your apprentice regardless."
"Call it an investment." She replied swiftly as she was busy cleaning her inventory of medicine on the cabinets.
"Then guarantee my security for seven's sake–" Although Lisbeth protested, the person before her is the reason she learned many things about potion making. She didn't mind getting indebted for the price of knowledge. After all, getting indebted to a former Selector was beyond her before meeting the master.
Nonetheless, as the apothecary was about to ask where she got the scales, the interest between how valuable it is and where it got sourced, the former wins, so she stopped questioning her.
"In any case, I can teach you how to make the black scale draught if you sell some to me. I'll throw in some of my top notch bottles of ingredients as well, I long for a good experiment...." the apothecary smirked suspiciously.
"And I can triple the cost as well, this could make me a fortune, those blasted nobles would thank me, khekhekhe...." she mumbled as she prepared some gold for her.
She then put the gold on the counter, with another bottle of seemingly dried ingredients of rare flowers and animal carcasses.
"Here, I don't need any of the gold anyway even if you deny, take em."
Lisbeth's eyes widened, "This many?! But I only brought a few scales, less than twenty even...."
"Ah hush, you and your modesty, I will just write my tax payoff later, also a payment from your previous work, carrying a cargo the weight of a wine barrel is not easy for a little witch like you, right?"
"But--"
"Remember what I said, investment. Besides, I cannot waste a witch like you dying from hunger or whatever, can't you learn Sangromancy[4] spells later? It will be cheaper for the meal budget." She joked around, laughing like a mad scientist.
Lisbeth has finally lost her, she took the bag of gold that was enough to feed her for a year or two, though despite that it won't be enough to find the ingredient she was looking for, she was thankful regardless.
Before she stepped out of the door after collecting her payment, the apothecary stopped her,
"Oh right, be careful on your way out, the hairpin looks cool by the way but people might have misunderstood."
She raised her eyebrows and by reflex, touched the hairpins crafted in dragon scales and powdered gold on her fringes, but just noted what her teacher said, and bid her goodbyes.
After she left the grand apothecary's hut, there was her frequent customer at the tavern handing out some freshly baked goods from their bakery, and not a while ago she received a hefty wheel of cheese for her service from herding the cows. But she couldn't carry everything with her.
She did take many jobs, but mostly they don't give as much, she held the hairpin and thought was it because of that, but she dismissed the thought because the notion of an item that brings luck is ridiculous to her, if there is a potion or item for that, she would rather use it for the sake of her family.
At least, that's what she thought before arriving at the tavern.
—
"That's....."
While Finnick was too stunned to speak, Mama clasped her hand to her mouth and Boss was confused why the two lost their marbles, while busy cleaning the liquor counter. The blonde waitress had just removed the hood of her robe before getting those comments.
"Lisbeth?! You?! Uh, huh?"
"What? What's going on?" Lisbeth was confused, Finnick suddenly walked closer and closer to her, administering the scaled piece she wore on her fringes.
"T-this!" Mama also jumps closer and carefully caresses the scales on her hair, "Such quality.... A delicate artisan handcraft! What a lucky gal you are, who gave this to you?!"
"..... I beg your what?" She became even more puzzled by their dramatic antics, since she made it herself, thinking it was a compliment for her crafts.
"Please, tell me more! just a few days ago you left work and suddenly you're engaged?!"
"So he really did come here to pick a bride! I knew it! The rumor was right!"
Meanwhile, the boss didn't humor the thought of Lisbeth getting engaged as he was sure from the look on her face, it was a misunderstanding. But he didn't interrupt the two due to the energy he's trying to conserve.
Lisbeth's eyebrows furrow upward even more, her heart dropped at the sentence each of the crew has spoken, a cold sweat runs down the temple around her forehead. Before she could say no, she wondered who in the world is the man they are talking about?
But before Lisbeth starts denying, an actual mysterious man has entered the tavern.
"Ah, sorry, may I interrupt...?" The man gave a gentle smile, the towering figure and masculine feature of him draped in eastern-garment made him stand out greatly. His left hand was attached with a prosthetic made out of wood which stood out the most for Lisbeth. The black long hair and scars around his face told her a story of a man who had his days fighting for their country.
Mama, was holding her fan in excitement, The Boss, who was sure it was a misunderstanding, almost dropped his glass, Finnick and some customer looked to the door.
Meanwhile, Lisbeth also looked at the door and her first impression was… This man is suspiciously calm.
The glistening green iris met the ruby stained eyes of her, with a hint of dahlia splashed through his eyes, the man walked closer to her in a slow step and he calmly lowered his body in greetings to others, from Lisbeth's point of view, he had the fragrance of a fresh grass that had been cut. And the eyes of a hunter.
For a moment, she looked at him with familiarity, yet estranged at the same time.
"Apologies for the interruption, I am Shin Tatsunori, The Dragonologist[5] and Magical Defense[6] teacher of Lectorus Academy.[7]" He bowed slightly to the woman before him, and then extended his right hand to hers.
"Pardon my rudeness, but I would like to take a moment of the lady with the golden hair's time." He asked, with a smile.
[1] A Cold that is caused during the middle of winter and spring, their hand will be ice cold and sweat will freeze in a slow motion, normally the remedies for this are warm bath for entire month. But the method has been shortened using the correct remedy.
[2] An ailment where one's skin color turned into the color of a churned butter, their face and stomach will bloat and it take weeks of recovery, it's mortality rate is not so severe, but it is annoying when inflicted.
[3] A special condition where one has to be submerged in salt water for days and unable to breathe above water.
[4] Magic that is woven using blood, any types of blood are being studied using this method. It's mostly used in offensive or healing scenario.
[5] A Profession that dabbles in the studies of dragons.
[6] A study in the art of defending against magic, usually for people who are inadept of using magic.
[7] One of the biggest academy around the whole continent of Noctullium. This academy is where students are prospering in their chosen course to be nurtured as a Scholar, Adventurer or Selector itself.