Not a good thought. But it’s better than thinking of how miserable Garia is right now. Well. At least all of this has one good effect. I’m royally pissed when I walk back into Octavia’s shop, the accurately named Stitchworks.
No one replied to her voice. Erin frowned and looked around. Octavia’s small shop, Stitchworks, was fairly big, but it felt cramped because of all the shelves full of potions and alchemy reagents stockpiled everywhere. Thus, she quickly found the dark-skinned girl with braids hiding under one of the tables.
It had been nearly a full day since Ryoka had run out of the city. It had been even longer since Erin had come to Celum—nearly a full week, in fact. And all that time she’d been splitting her time between Miss Agnes’ inn, the Frenzied Hare, and Octavia’s shop, Stitchworks. As a result, Erin was not only financially sound for the moment—Agnes had told her she was earning more in a week than she and her husband normally did in a month—but she’d managed to come up with some amazing new discoveries in Octavia’s shop!
Erin left Stitchworks and Octavia behind mid-sentence, shaking her head. She didn’t mind Octavia—well, she did sometimes. But there were just some days when she needed some alone time. Or more precisely, not-Octavia time.
And yet, the word ‘play’ had a magic of its own. It spread from person to person, from the Watch House to the bakery where the [Baker] suddenly took a day off for some strange reason. It attracted attention—especially when they saw that new, young [Innkeeper] ran into Stitchworks, and dragged the [Alchemist] out, kicking and screaming.
“A potion to feign death isn’t hard to brew. But this is very costly. Fortunately for you, Octavia’s Stitchworks offers substantial discounts to all customers, and my new line of potions which I’ve marked down nearly 50%—”
“Miss Ossi, good morning! Care to shop? I will only be open for an hour this morning, so if you have any orders, place them now, yes? Mister Vallissil, do you need a healing potion for that cut on your arm? I have a new shipment from Celum! A Stitchworks classic!”
Lyonette grumbled to herself. She stomped away from the shop, and only then noticed that part of the boarded-up exterior of Stitchworks was slightly charred. Lyonette stopped, frowning at the exterior.
“That inn in Liscor? I’d heard it was in Stitchworks, but I’ve never been. Never wanted to go to a Drake city and besides…but we’ll maybe pop by. I’d like to chat with Pisces about magic if I may.”
“It is in Stitchworks, a shop run by an [Alchemist]. The door is not always active, but if you leave it open, it is checked at a regular interval. If I am not there at that time, I may be in my room. Miss Erin will know where to find me. Oh, and do not be alarmed by the Hobgoblin or white Gnoll, both of whom I understand to be objectionable socially in some way.”
Comrade Pisces’ ability to lie. Comrade Yvlon’s skill at arms and integrity, although the integrity was hard to use properly. Comrade Ceria’s leadership. And more. Ksmvr had observed Erin and Mrsha’s manipulation of innocence and duplicity. These were valuable skills. Ksmvr had put several of them to use for the first time and it had paid off. Now he practically ran back towards Stitchworks. He got there just in time to see the attack.
