Chapter 43: A Problem That Has Been Troubled
"Maybe the fake Getsuki has a similar effect, but it's just weaker."
'Healing properties?' She closed the book: "Sounds interesting." β
Putting down her things, she ran outside to get a pot and some water to prepare a new batch of moon water.
[Pseudo Moon Hunting Water] (Unique)
Stage: Full
Medium: Water
Intensity: 50%
The Water of Moon Hunting has highly restorative and purifying properties and can be used in a variety of ways. From crafting to armor forging to cooking, Moon Hunting Water can be added to any PokΓ©dex that requires water and gives it mystical properties.
Warning: Drinking untreated Moon Hunting Water may have disastrous consequences if it does not match the witch's title. Read Part 2 on Treating Moon Water.
Drinking:
+5% stamina
+3% Stamina regeneration, every two minutes - 12 hours
+ Removed Consumed Souls (50%)
ordinary
- No Side Effects-
250 ml
Value:???
Lin Meng smiled and looked at this new mixture. This may be just what she needs. She patiently flipped through the magic book and finally found the bestiary she had been looking for, and made a note of the ingredients she would buy tomorrow so she could craft the Potion of Endurance. Satisfied, she got to work, filling a pile of new containers with more Pseudo-Moon Hunting Water.
Soon, the next day came, and the girl went downstairs sleepily to greet Jubilee who had already prepared her things, apparently she had overslept.
Lin Meng apologized and told Jubilee that she had stayed up late and showed her the new cleaning products.
Jubilee looked at the bottle: "You're making poison now?" Are you stupid? β
"It's not poison! It's for laundry! β
Jubilee turned the bottle around and showed her the skeleton she had drawn.
Lin Meng crossed his arms in protest: "Poisonous, but not poison." β
"It doesn't make any sense!" Jubilee said.
"I want to give it to Basil!" Lin Meng said.
Jubilee looked at her curiously: "You want to poison Basil?" It's kind of interesting! β
"Nope! Jubilee~! You're not listening! It's for rinsing clothes! You wash them with it and they'll turn white again! Lin Meng pursed her lips and said.
"Hmm......" Jubilee said, opening the item's description pop-up window and looking at it carefully, "This may not be bad!" He softened his tone a little more and said, "It is an unlucky color to wear white when you take risks, but the church insists on using it. β
"How much did it cost?" He looked at the bottle, thought for a moment, and asked.
Lin Meng and Jubilee discussed some details together, and finally Jubilee seemed to make a decision: "Okay, we may be able to do something with this." Considering those materials...... Let's set 39 Orr. β
"That's a lot!" Lin Meng believes that the cost of raw materials is not even half.
"We run a business, not a charity!" Jubilee said categorically.
"I want the church to like us more! You won't do that, Jubilee! She said with her arms crossed.
"Okay, then we'll take 39 for ordinary people and 29 for the church."
Lin Meng looked at the Jubilee and thought about it. Eventually, she nodded, "Okay!" But I'd like to give Basil some for free. β
Jubilee rolled her eyes: "No matter how many things you give her, she won't fall in love with you!" β
"That's not what I want to do, Jubilee!" Lin Meng clenched her fists in protest.
The door opened, and they turned to see Basil walking in.
"Hey, Basil!" Lin Meng said and snatched the bottle from Jubilee's hand: "This is what I made for you!" "Hand it to Basil.
"Good morning!" Basil looked up at the vial of white liquid, with a protruding skull painted on it, facing her at the moment, and then his gaze returned to the smiling girl.
Lin Meng seemed to realize something and hurriedly explained: "It's not poison!" β
After listening to the explanation, Basil carefully took the bottle and promised that she would give it a try.
"Perhaps...... Do you need to make some articles on the label? Basil suggested.
Lin Meng looked at her, and then turned back to the skull symbol on the bottle: "You think so?" She sighed, "I don't like Jubilee either." β
"Of course not!" Jubilee said behind the counter.
A hand patted her back, and Lin Meng raised her head in surprise. Basil continued. "You can, you're talented! Don't be discouraged! β
The priestess nodded and squeezed her shoulders comfortingly, then turned and walked to the counter to help prepare the day's things. Lin Meng tilted her head, realizing that this was the first time a priestess had touched her. It's been more than a week now, not a long time, and it's also a very difficult time for Basil, who may still be grieving, Lin Meng looked back deeply at Basil, who was now sitting behind the counter with a smile.
Lin Meng narrowed her eyes and looked at the empty face on the bottle in her hand again.
She didn't like it either!
"Basil! What was it like to be a priestess? Lin Meng returned to his previous optimism, and walked behind the counter to collect another pile of armor and take it upstairs.
Basil thought for a moment, then replied with a smile: "It's a lot of work, but it's also a lot of gain!" β
Lin Meng tilted his head and said without thinking, "Aren't you out of money?" β
Basil's expression flickered a little: "I...... I don't mean financial returns! She added with a somewhat nervous smile, "Therapists are usually treated very kindly during team adventures. β
Lin Meng thought for a while: "How could it be ......?"
Jubilee cleared her throat and interrupted her: "Don't always ask stupid questions! β
"Huh?!" Lin Meng puffed out her cheeks and retorted: "I'm not stupid!" I really want to know! β
"Get to work, you idiot!"
Lin Meng stuck out her tongue, grabbed another piece of armor and went upstairs, and her tongue stuck out towards the Jubilee throughout the process.
A few minutes later, everything was arranged, and she came down again, this time without sticking out her tongue to Jubilee again.
"Basil?" The girl asked.
"What's wrong?" Basil looked at her from behind the counter.
"Where does the magic come from?"
"Magic?" Basil thought for a moment, held up a finger, and explained. "Points from your soul, which are given to you by God."
Lin Meng thought for a while, walked down the stairs and stood next to the counter: "What kind of soul point?" β
Basil held up her hand as she explained: "They represent the energy within your soul. β
"So I have a soul?"
"Of course!" Basil affirmed, "Otherwise you don't have soul points!" You want me to ......."
"Get to work, you slackers!" Behind him, there was a scolding of the Jubilee at the right time.
Basil was startled and hurried back to the counter.
Now that there is nothing to do in the store, she can only pretend to rummage through the ledger and appear to be busy. Jubilee turned his gaze to Lin Meng, and Lin Meng stuck out his tongue at him again. Grabbing another piece of armor, he walked up the stairs and looked at the ghost charm on the door as he passed it.
"If you have a soul point, you have a soul, right?" The girl muttered to herself as she returned to her room.
Five minutes later, she came down again: "Basil? β
Basil turned to her with some trepidation, perhaps for fear of being scolded again by Jubilee: "... How? β
"If monsters sometimes come out of the dungeons, why doesn't the church send people outside at night?"
Basil was speechless for a while, and inadvertently tilted his head to the side, trying not to make eye contact with Lin Meng's eyes.
Just as he was pondering how to answer this question, he heard Jubilee's roar: "The only thing you need to watch out for at night is you!" Don't you have anything better to do? If you get bored, go to town or something, buy more materials. Or build a wall or something. β
Lin Meng sighed and went back upstairs to get her bag.
When she returned, she wanted to ask something else: "... Basil? β
The priestess looked up at Lin Meng nervously, and Lin Meng's fingers tapped her chin, secretly looked in the direction of Jubilee, and found that Jubilee was arguing with a customer about something, so she turned to face Basil and said, "What's your favorite color?" β
Basil tilted his head, surprised at how simple the question was this time: "Hmm...... If I had to say it, I'd guess it's orange. β
"Orange?" Ask Lin Meng.
Basil nodded: "A lot of good things are orange, no matter what season it is. Do you know? Colorful cakes in the spring and exotic fruits in the summer! The priestess explained as she spoke, gesturing with her hands, apparently excited: "Bread and pie in autumn, and then in winter you can cook a thick soup with a warm orange flame." She nodded, as if in affirmation of her statements, and said, "That's why orange is my favorite color." β
Lin Meng scratched her cheeks, a little surprised by Basil's detailed explanation: "You really think a lot, Basil!" But why are they all eaten? β
Basil smiled calmly: "When you spend as much time cleaning and housework in the church as I do, you have a lot of time to think about a lot of things!" The priestess said and subconsciously touched her belly...... It seems that I am hungry again.
"You must have a lot of time to think right now!" An excited voice next to him said.
Basil was excited, and hurriedly opened the account book and made the appearance of settling accounts, because there was no customer in the store now.
"Jubilee~Year~!" Lin Meng was protesting: "There is no one in the store, it's not okay to chat!" β
Jubilee argued. "We want to do business here and do something productive." Jubilee pointed to Basil again: "That's why we hired people in the first place so you can get more done." Instead of gossiping about people like now! β
Lin Meng stuck his waist and argued: "I just want to talk to Basil!" I can do whatever I want! And, Basil! You want to say conversation too, right? β
Lin Meng turned to Basil and gave him an encouraging look, but Jubilee raised his head and glared at the priestess who was about to speak, and quickly closed his mouth helplessly. Lin Meng clenched his fists, looked at Basil with an embarrassed expression and said, "Basil! Tell the Jubilee! β
Xi Nian also looked at the two of them without showing weakness: "Okay! Basil, tell me. β
Basil fidgeted nervously, not knowing what to do.
"Basil!" Lin Meng said.
"Basil." Jubilee said.
As the two argued over her, the priestess's head turned back and forth. Finally she sighed, and her body slowly relaxed, and she had already made a decision.
As Basil walked alone along the city's main street towards the central square, Lin Meng pouted and puffed out her cheeks. Basil chose Jubilee, although Lin Meng felt that it was only a decision made by Basil because he was afraid of her friend.
She sighed, letting go of her displeasure as she walked.
She thinks that Jubilee can be a very scary person if you don't know him well, and although Jubilee is not entirely wrong about their idea of hiring people, she still wants to chat with the priestess in order to get to know her better. Jubilee seems to have some scruples about this, and Lin Meng also knows the reason why Jubilee was reluctant to hire Basil from the beginning.
The girl scratched the back of her head and looked from the alley she passed towards the bottom of Donata's shop.
The old building was empty at the end of the road, and she walked there, looking through the dusty windows. It's all gone! Potions, shelves, chests full of strange things. The whole building is simply an empty shell. She wanted the plants to be taken away by someone who could take care of them, but ...... She wasn't optimistic, and then she headed for the grocery store.
She has a little money now, so she wants to get more materials and also have a real cauldron to repair armor, and her small cauldron is dangerous to use. She had nearly knocked it over several times, and if she did, she would have to wait until the next moonless night to make a new one. The worst-case scenario is that they will not be able to repair the customer's gear for up to two weeks, which will be a disaster.
She enters the grocery store and tells the owner that she needs a big pot.
Purchased: 1 [Iron Pot] {50L} (Normal)
Pay:
[{ 600 } Orr] !
She waved goodbye to the man in the shop and stood in front of the tailor's shop again. Even now, she needs to muster a little courage to open the door and step into this strange shop.
Many human models, perhaps familiar to her now, are still frozen in time. Although their posture was a little more relaxed than the last time, she couldn't help but notice that many of them still seemed to have very cold and wary expressions. Approaching the counter, she greeted the strange lanky man, wanted a few rugs to put upstairs in the store, and asked for his advice. In the end, she chose a large one for each of their rooms, and a long, thin one for the upstairs hallway. Then she realized that they needed new curtains too, but she chose to make them herself.
Buy: 2 [Carpet (200x290cm)] Pay: [{ 250 } Or] !
Purchase: 1 [Carpet (120x290cm)] Pay: [{ 200 } Or] !
The tall man nodded to her as she left, promising that they would be delivered when she returned, and as for the decision of the color, she left it to the man, because Lin Meng had no reason to trust the strange tailor's judgment on these matters. She also asked him how many new clothes he wanted to buy himself, and the man told her to come over in a week and that he would have them then.
Passing some stalls, she stopped, looked at the rows of colorful fruits, tilted her head to look around the busy square, she realized something, and looked at the trees, where she heard the lazy hum of cicadas, mixed with the chirping of birds.
"It's summer!" She whispered to herself, suddenly realizing that so much time had passed. She smiled and bought a large basket of mixed fruit from a stall, carried it on her arm, and brisked along in the sun.
Back home, she expertly navigated the crowd of adventurers. I thought that now that I have these fruits to supplement some vitamins, maybe the jubilee will be less irritable, right? For so long, they only ate street food and some dry food. Lin Meng actually wished they had a kitchen to prepare real food. But she had to wait until Jubilee to open up and let her use the other rooms in the store, and now she had to make do with it.
Summer?! They will have to change the color of their bags and abandon the yellow tones of spring. Maybe with orange? She looked down at the basket, double-checking to see if there was enough orange fruit to give Basil. "I wonder what is your favorite color for the Jubilee?"
Walking into his shop, she looked at Jubilee and was now telling Basil something else.
"Jubilee!"
The two turned to look at her. One is reassuring and the other is troublesome.
"What's your favorite color?"
Jubilee rolled her eyes: "Didn't you see me talking!?" What's wrong with it? β
Lin Meng looked at the scene in front of her and paused for a moment, and suddenly realized that her friend's irritability today may have a reason: "Wait, Jubilee!" Are you jealous that I talk to Basil? β
Her friend put his hand in his pocket and said indignantly, "The only thing I'm jealous of is that you seem to have a lot of free time!" β
Lin Meng tilted her head and raised the basket to show: "I have fruit for us to share, Jubilee!" β
Jubilee shrugged: "It's really good! Maybe something healthy will help heal your brain. β
Lin Meng narrowed her eyes: "Maybe something healthy will help you cure your bad temper!" β
The girl pouted, imitating the tone of the Jubilee, and walked over and put the basket on the counter: "Come, Basil, you can take some too!" β
"Eating behind the counter is prohibited during working hours!" Jubilee said solemnly to Basil, but he had already reached for a long orange fruit.
Lin Meng shook his fingers in the air: "As a team leader, I explicitly allow you to eat behind the counter!" β
Basil looked at Jubilee, then at Lin Meng, and then at the fruit basket. In the end, the choice was made, and an orange fruit was held in his hand, and he rubbed it on his robe and took a bite. Lin Meng smiled triumphantly at the Jubilee.
Lin Meng stood outside, right next to the underground city gate. But instead of looking at the dungeon, her eyes scanned the circle of houses around the square, looking for something that was bothering her. It's the middle of the night. The night passed uneventfully, but she was glad that Jubilee had compromised and the two shared the rest of the fruit for dinner. In addition to this, Basil prepared some real food for them.
But that's not the most important thing for her. Now it's important to ...... This one...... Figure out what's bothering her. Lin Meng's arms were crossed, and as she stared at the cabins lined up on the edge of the dungeon square, her clammy skin felt a cool night breeze. She tilted her head, raised an arm, and pointed a finger at the Jubilee House, her gaze resting on the front door, and began to count from the beginning.
"One floor!" It's the store area. "Second floor!" That's where their room is. "Three?" However, as her arms were raised, another layer was counted.
She lowered her arms and thought as she scratched her cheeks. "Three floors?" Looking at the dilapidated house, she realized that it had three floors, just like the other houses around. But...... She had never seen any other staircase leading to the third floor. She tilted her head in the other direction, as if changing her perspective would make everything understandable.
The house has always been like this, she is sure. Somehow, she just never really thought about it. She threw her head back.
"No, it's still three floors." She sighed.
Jubilee was already very depressed not to let her go to other rooms, but a whole floor? She threw her head back again, thinking to herself that there might be a staircase in one of the rooms. Lin Meng shook her head and decided to ask about the Jubilee tomorrow. No matter how bad her friends are.
She slung her bag over her shoulders and turned to walk towards the dungeon. First, there are more important things to do. Mr. Mushroom should have been reborn by now, and she has something she wants to talk to about it.
Through the blue mist, she entered, walked down the stairs, carefully bent down, looking at the familiar hole in the wall, and holding the cursed dagger in one hand, just in case.
"Excuse me?" She wasn't sure if her new abilities would work.
Something stirred in the darkness behind the cave.
"I'm sorry. Mr. Mushroom? Are you awake? The girl whispered with her hand to her lips and leaned towards the hole.
"Huh?" She blinked at the sight of something, pupils glistening behind the dark hole. The two wet eyes widened, and the light of the torches outside reflected off them, making her stand out. The mushroom monster narrowed its eyes fiercely, and Lin Meng forced himself to composure, feeling its cold gaze.
"Naa!" The mushroom monster that saw her again shouted angrily.
Lin Meng raised his hand and beckoned to something close.
"Wait! I just wanted to talk! I don't want to fight today! She said nervously.
"Na, na, na?" Mr. Mushroom's skeptical gaze did not dissipate, and he slowly crawled to the entrance.
The girl nodded and answered his question: "Nana." β
"Huh?" Mr. Mushroom asked.
Lin Meng nodded enthusiastically. "Naa!"
Mr. Mushroom grumbled, but was apparently persuaded by her words. But it was still very angry, because no one wanted to be woken up by others in the middle of the night. It made Lin Meng go straight to the point so he could go back to bed early.
"Na Na Lin Meng asked.
Mr. Mushroom thought for a moment, then nodded, "Nana." But then a particularly cold statement was added at the end: "Na Na." β
"Na Na Na!" Lin Meng smiled a little uneasily.
Mr. Mushroom yawned again and slowly crawled back into his hole. Thinking of her demeanor, Lin Meng reached out and took out a fruit from her bag, slid towards it, nodded and said, "Thank you, Mr. Mushroom!" β
Mr. Mushroom nodded, biting down on the red fruit and hiding again in the darkness.
Lin Meng pondered, looking around the dungeon, thinking about the answer that Mr. Mushroom gave her and its meaning. Apparently, Mr. Mushroom remembers her, it remembers that it killed her, and it remembers that she killed it. He also made a threatening promise to her, next time, he would deal with Lin Meng.
The girl sighed: "Everyone in this world is so cruel. β