Starting with the sentries on the frontier

Chapter 46 Mrs. Rowan

After settling Lilia and Andrew in, when Zag hurriedly found Mrs. Weyland's Aromatic Pharmacy in East Harbor, a woman who appeared to be the owner was already preparing to close down the shop.

"Please wait a moment, ma'am!"

Zag shouted hurriedly, pulling Matthew's letter from his pocket. He introduced himself to Rowan, "Hello, Ms. Rowan, I am Matthew's friend, Zag, Zag Marsh. This is a letter from Matthew; he recommends me for the position of alchemy apprentice."

Rowan was a slightly plump woman with a healthy blush on her round cheeks. She wore three strands of pearl necklaces of different sizes around her neck, and even her earrings were thumb-sized pearl studs. She looked elegant and noble, not like the owner of an alchemy shop, but more like a noble lady.

Or rather, in terms of birth, Rowan himself belonged to the nobility. However, this lady seemed very enthusiastic about her career. When she heard Zag's purpose, she immediately smiled and her eyes curved into crescent moons.

"Great! I'm so glad Matthew still remembers me! I'm really short-handed here!"

With that, Rowan warmly invited Zag into the shop.

This shop is much larger than Matthew's. The storefront alone is more than three times larger, and there are four or five shelves displaying alchemical potions and various magical materials, all of which are dazzlingly abundant.

However, what surprised Zag the most was that the shelves not only had alchemical potions and magical materials, but also a pile of beautifully bound books.

Zag glanced at them and found that the books seemed ambiguous, as if they were related to alchemy, but not really, because the titles were all things like "The Housewife's Top Secret Kitchen Alchemy" and "The Wonderful Uses of Alchemy in Everyday Life."

Even after he walked around to the inner room and sat on the sofa, he couldn't resist his curiosity and asked, "Do they sell books on alchemy here too?"

"Hehe, these are just some useless little tricks, not real alchemy, but they're popular among middle-class families."

Rowan chuckled and explained, then poured Zag a cup of hot tea and placed it on the table.

"Would you like milk and sugar?"

"No need, thank you."

Then, she poured herself another glass, adding a lethal dose of sugar to make it look like it was going to kill Zag, and sat down opposite him, looking like she was ready to have a serious talk.

"I don't like adding milk either. Although milk can neutralize the astringency of black tea, I prefer the flavor of hot tea on its own. Besides, this is dragon's blood black tea from the southeast, so it's not too astringent and has a rich aroma. Adding milk would be a waste!"

Rowan spoke eloquently, his rounded index finger and thumb pinching the gilded teacup, while the remaining three fingers were raised, forming a peacock-like gesture.

But in his heart, Zag silently complained.

What's the difference between adding so much sugar and adding milk?

Moreover, if these lethal amounts of sugar dissolve into the tea, can you still taste the original flavor of the black tea?

However, on the surface, Zag still echoed Rowan, after all, this woman would be his boss in the future—

"Yes, I also like the taste of black tea itself."

"That's great, it seems we'll get along very well." Rowan nodded, took a sip of his steaming black tea, put down the cup, cleared his throat, and then got to the point: "Matthew has probably already told you that being an apprentice here isn't just about doing odd jobs. It mainly involves bookkeeping and organizing the materials and goods in the warehouse. Of course, if you're interested, I can teach you some basic alchemy, but for more in-depth content, it depends on whether you have sufficient spiritual aptitude."

Zag nodded, understanding that this was the official start of the "interview" stage, and replied, "Yes, Mr. Matthew mentioned it. In fact, I used to be a sentry in town, the one in charge of the association's sentry post. I had to organize a lot of files and documents every day, so I should have some experience."

Rowan asked in surprise, "Oh, really? A sentry? That's a good job, why did you suddenly quit?"

Zag replied, "My mother isn't in good health and needs to take a bottle of Healing Hand every week. Although a sentry's salary isn't low in town, it's barely enough to cover my mother's medication and living expenses, and I also have a cat and a dog to take care of. Mr. Matthew said you can offer a minimum of 45 shillings per week, which sounds more tempting, doesn't it?"

"In addition, the environment there is getting worse and worse, so I thought that maybe it would be better in Dongbi Port, and maybe I could even find out a way to cure my mother."

After saying that, he hesitated for a moment, then added sincerely, "Most importantly, I've been doing this for three years, and it's already very dangerous."

"It seems you know quite a bit about the mystical realm, that's good." Rowan's expression was satisfied. She picked up her teacup again and said, "If your mother's condition requires the use of [Healing Hand] every week, then her illness is probably not a simple disease, but related to the pollution of the Dark Realm. I can visit her sometime and take a look, but don't get your hopes up too high. I'm just an alchemist, and I'm not good at healing magic at all, nor do I know anything about it."

Even so, Zag was very grateful that Rowan had brought it up: "I am extremely thankful."

"You're welcome." Rowan then asked, "You must have just arrived at Eastern Port, right? Do you have a place to stay?"

"Yes, I just arrived this afternoon and am staying at a hotel temporarily. I plan to look for a suitable place to rent in the next couple of days."

Upon hearing this, Rowan quickly put down his teacup, then got up and retrieved a map from the bookshelf behind him. He spread it on the table and pointed to the streets on the map that Zag couldn't understand at all, explaining: "The prices here vary quite a bit. If you live in the North City, the prices will be the lowest, but that place is close to the docks, and the air will always smell of fish. Your neighbors will likely be mostly dockworkers and sailors, a mixed bag, noisy and chaotic. To be honest, unless you're really strapped for cash, I don't recommend you choose that place."

"The West Side is better, but it's too far from the city center, so life will be inconvenient. As for the prices, they're not expensive in theory, but there are many detached houses with gardens and swimming pools in the West Side, and the city hall is also there, so the average price is a bit exaggerated."

"The South City offers the best value for money, and it has several temples, making it very safe. It's also close to the city center. However, for the same price, you can rent a private house in the North City, but in the South City, you can only rent a single room with a shared bathroom."

Following Rowan's pointing fingers, Zag finally figured out how to read the map and understand the meaning of the various symbols. He then asked, "What about the east side? Is there an East District?"

If Dongcheng District exists, then the area north of Dongchui Port's "Dongcheng District" would be a genuine "sea area"... cough, there's no "lake" in it, and there's no "Xicheng District" in between.

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【Dragon Blood Black Tea】: A type of black tea that has absolutely nothing to do with dragon blood, nor with dragons.

This tea was first brought to the Eternal High Kingdom from the south by caravans via the Dragonblood Forest, hence its name "Dragonblood Tea." Due to its rich flavor, difficult transportation, and scarcity, it was highly sought after by nobles. Later, merchants obtained tea tree seeds and attempted to cultivate them within the Eternal High Kingdom. However, due to its preference for heat and sunlight, widespread cultivation was difficult. It could only be grown in the Oak Marsh and Emerald Lake areas of Strath Territory, and even then, it required a large amount of alchemical potions to maintain its growth, making it extremely expensive.

Of course, the most authentic dragon's blood tea, transported from the south, is even more valuable than gold, and probably only the Holland royal family can afford to drink it regularly.