“Here, your tea.” Iron Granny had poured a cup of her tea and handed it to Angor.
Angor took a sip and sensed bitterness reaching his tongue. As he recalled, Iron Granny was drinking something different last time.
This bitter tea tasted a little similar to Morning Dew, just more bitter and without any special properties.
“The wizard who owned Lab Thirteen grew this tea in his garden, but he left Brute Cavern and asked me to take care of his plants.” Iron Granny savored her own tea and showed a yearning look. “It tastes rather awful at the beginning, but somehow, I’m starting to like it. Maybe it’s something about getting old...”
Iron Granny began talking about insignificant stories while Angor listened quietly. The good music and hot tea helped him calm his mind extremely well.
After listening to her, Angor could tell that whoever used Lab Thirteen was someone who REALLY loved tea.
“Speaking of him...” Iron Granny continued, “That wizard is not a complete stranger to you.”
Angor tilted his head.
“He was... Sunders’ first student. Sumesh is his name. I heard the news that the boy has successfully become a truth-finder. Maybe he’ll come back at any moment now. Trust me, the first thing he would do upon returning will be checking his tea garden.”
Sumesh... Angor slowly nodded. He wondered if Sumesh knew about him. Probably not.
“Thank you for telling me this, ma’am.”
Iron Granny mentioned Sumesh’s name out of the random, but Angor thought she meant to give him a suggestion, as in, he should prepare some good tea should he meet with Sumesh one day.
“Telling you what? Oh, that. Everybody knows that. But you’re welcome.”
Angor couldn’t see her expression for the moment as thick vapor from her tea had blocked her face. But her intention did not matter for now. Sumesh was his “senior classmate”. Of course he wished they could be on good terms.
“I didn’t know that before, and I’m glad I learned about it,” said Angor.
“Oh dear. You alchemists... always minding your works without paying much attention to the outside world.”
“Do you know a lot of alchemists, ma’am?”
Thud, thud!
“Tweet!”
He looked at the sudden noise and saw Toby hovering outside the room’s window while knocking on it with his beak.
“Oh, you.” Angor chuckled and walked to the window.
When he wasn’t looking, Iron Granny’s movement suddenly froze for a brief moment.
“Can I let him in, ma’am?” Angor asked and saw Iron Granny sipping her tea again.
“Of course! Dear Toby is always welcomed here.” The old woman put down her teacup and smiled brightly.
When Angor opened the window, Toby came in, flew around the room for a bit, and landed beside the music box happily.
“He loves music,” Angor explained while returning to his seat. “He was sleeping just a moment ago. I think the music woke him up.”
“He does? Then feel free to come by often. I’ll prepare musical instruments or find some music sheets for you, little friend.”
Angor grinned as he shook his head. “But he’s bad at singing. Let’s just say... Toby’s songs were usually disastrous.”
Toby gave Angor an annoyed glare but soon returned his attention to the music box, which was playing another masterful tune right now.
“Do you know a lot about alchemists?” Angor decided to ask the previous question again.
Iron Granny filled another cup and pushed it to Toby. “No.”
Angor was a little surprised. He thought Iron Granny would have met with a lot of alchemists who used the labs around here since she had watched over The Tributary for a long time.
Yet the answer suggested otherwise.
Angor nodded and did not ask further. Perhaps Iron Granny did not wish to talk about it.
Since there was nothing else to do here, Angor prepared to leave. When there was no urgent work to do, he planned to deliver Twinning Wings to Greya and then work on Lady Mirror’s illusion item.
Greya’s Mermaid Shell Soup allowed him to catch a glimpse of great wisdom, which told him how to satisfy Lady Mirror’s request. He wanted to finish this request as soon as possible before leaving Brute Cavern.
But Toby seemed reluctant to leave. The bird looked very fascinated with the music box.
Iron Granny giggled. “Take it if you want, Little Toby. I’m not the musical type anyway. My tea still tastes the same without it.”
Toby’s eyes twinkled with excitement.
Angor knuckled his head and quickly rejected the offer. “I can always buy another one from Twilight Well, ma’am, or craft one myself. Please don’t indulge Toby too much. It’s not good for his growth.”
Iron Granny nodded. The item was nothing too valuable. Of course an alchemist like Angor could find one easily.
Angor walked to the door but returned again. From his bracelet, he took out a wooden box with beautiful carvings on it.
The box itself was only made of common wood, while the carving showed several bats floating above the clouds.
It was made by Jon before his body turned weaker. According to Jon, the engraving on the box meant “imminent prosperity” when interpreted using his mother tongue.
“This is tea brought from my home. Since you like tea, you can have some of this, Iron Granny.” Angor placed the box on a table.
The old woman accepted the gift with a pleasant smile. She might not be a tea-maniac like Sumesh, but she more or less developed a liking to it after looking after Sumesh’s tea garden for so many years.
“Oh ho, this is a magic plant I don’t recognize!” She opened the lid and sensed faint energy coming from inside. “What is it called?”
“Morning Dew, ma’am.”
...
Angor gifted Morning Dew to Iron Granny as compensation for learning about Sumesh’s “habit”. While it was true that she didn’t intend to tell him useful information, he did benefit from it.
Also, since Iron Granny was a “professional” when it came to different teas, Angor would like to know her opinions regarding Morning Dew. And if it was good enough, he would bring the tea to Sumesh as a gift in the future.
After managing his hygienic problems, Angor left The Tributary together with Toby.
Instead of heading to Phantom Island right away, he went for the underground market first while hiding under the effect of Infinite Reticence.
He was still concerned about whoever copied his music box. Since Granny said that the music box was known by a lot of people, then Dave would know something about it too. Dave was the only friend Angor had in Brute Cavern when Nausica and Sailum were absent. He also planned to have a get-together with Dave when he had the chance.
While on his way, he heard people mentioning his name more than once, either discussing his story in the Purification Garden or his alchemy achievements. It had been two months after he returned to Brute Cavern, and the apprentices here were still talking about him.
However, none of them noticed that the “main character” of their talks were there to hear them.
Angor arrived at Prome’s Alchemy Shop and saw a big crowd gathered at the door.
This was usually the case when Prome brought new merchandise for sale, but when Angor approached the entrance, he noticed that he was wrong.
“Any left, Mister Dave?” A fat guy accepted a one-use space capsule from Dave and showed a bitter look.
Dave, who was still wearing those pair of large goggles, looked very proud for some reason. “None. I’ve been working on a new weapon model. I don’t have time making these things.”
“But Mister Dave...” Another customer pleaded, “My team depends on your supply. I can’t just return to them with three blades only.”
“That’s your problem. Three is the best I can do. Take them or leave them here so that I can sell them to someone else.”
Dave was trying to keep a straight face, but he wasn’t doing very well since the corners of his lips were twitching.
“Now off you go.” Dave waved his guests off and said, “Need to close up earlier today. I don’t have any left. Even if you stay here, you can’t magically make more stuff appear.”
People outside the shop moaned in disappointment and slowly dissipated.
When no one remained behind, Dave hummed a small melody, tidied up the shop, and prepared to treat himself something good at Bartterfly Pub.
But a familiar voice suddenly spoke to him in a mocking manner.
“Hey, Mister Dave, you’re getting really skillful at your profession, are you not?”