Magic was often a fickle thing. Without plenty of study and even more experimentation, some aspects of it might even seem arbitrary.

  Jewels were one of those fascinating subjects that didn’t always make sense at first glance. Every type of jewel was special in some way, and each was uniquely suited to contain and conduct certain types of magic. Rubies, for example, were excellent vessels for body-strengthening enchantments, as well as anything to do with fire. Sapphires were precious to makers of mental enchantments and to elemental mages specializing in water.

  These two jewels did not work well with each other’s elements. Rubies were notoriously ill-adapted to water, while sapphires were known as poor conductors of fire. To enchant them with magical abilities opposite to their nature required a great deal of power.

  So, I could be excused for my utter bafflement at the ‘Ruby of Waves’ and ‘Sapphire of Flames’ Morty had brought out for us.

  “There is a fascinating tale attached to these,” the salesman declared, holding up the two jewels. “One particularly relevant to your heritage, young fae.”

  I was instantly on guard again. If this vampire turned out to be anything like the kitsune, I might have to employ some… drastic measures. I strongly suspected he would be much more loose than Ritsu with any information he acquired about me.

  Outwardly, though, I merely raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

  “Their origin is fae, just like yours,” Morty explained cheerfully, allowing me to relax a tiny bit. “They were created by a daughter of Spring. A mortal managed to earn a favor from her, then immediately enraged her by attempting to misuse said favor. She was so furious, she tricked him into killing himself! At her urging, he tried to put on an impressive display the moment she handed him the jewels. And with the elements being inverted…”

  I winced. “He set himself on fire, didn’t he?”

  “Oh, most gloriously!” The vampire cackled. So did Alys, which I found much more concerning. “However, that doesn’t detract from the usefulness of the jewels. Both of them are capable of potent manifestations of their elements, as well as more subtle and underrated uses.”

  I considered the ruby and the sapphire, stretching out my own magical senses. They did seem like exceptional examples of enchanted jewels.

  “How much mana do they take to use?” I asked. “Was the cost increased by the incompatibilities between the jewels and the enchantments placed on them?”

  The vampire rushed to reassure me. “No, no! They are quite affordable to use, even for individuals with small mana pools. You would have no trouble using the ruby to fill a bath quickly. And the fire-aspected sapphire can be set to release heat gradually, so you can drop it in the water, and it’ll maintain the bath’s temperature for quite a while.”

  “That honestly sounds perfect. What do you think?” I turned to Alys, who looked a little surprised to be consulted.

  “I like them,” she admitted, a grin stretching across her snout in that adorable way. “But I also like the other items. Wouldn’t mind picking up a few of them.”

  She gazed at the sword and the beetle. Her golden eyes glittered so dazzlingly that I couldn’t help smiling.

  “In that case…” I narrowed my eyes at the vampire. “How much are the jewels going to cost us?”

  Morty smiled. “They are dependent on the user’s mana, but the enchantments themselves are rather exquisite. I would be willing to part with both for around six hundred gold, or the equivalent in trade goods.”

  Alys sucked in a startled breath, her expression twisting into a look of disgust as she stared at the vampiric shopkeeper.

  I could understand her reaction. Six hundred gold pieces was a lot of money. The price was almost certainly inflated, as was the price of all goods out here on the frontier. I could probably find two enchanted jewels for four hundred gold pieces in one of the major cities.

  Then again, the enchantments on these particular jewels were incredibly unique, and also uniquely suited to my needs…

  I glared at Morty, trying to gauge how much he was inflating the price, but his eyes might as well have been jewels themselves for all they revealed.

  “I am inclined to agree to that price,” I told him, then held up a hand. “But my answer will depend on the cost of a few other things. I need some mana crystals, for example. Do you carry those? And what are the prices like?”

  To my surprise, his face soured almost immediately. His sister, meanwhile, reminded us of her presence by producing a cackle much like his own.

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  “He isn’t going to be too much help there! He’s good for trinkets and the like, but if you want ingredients and practical consumable items, you come to me!”

  “Ah.” I looked back and forth between the siblings, still somewhat confused by their relationship. “So, is there no deal we can strike for a small discount on those items? If I make purchases in both your establishments, perhaps?”

  Morty stared at his sister rather piteously, which made her snort and turn away.

  “Maybe,” she hedged. “Depends on how much you buy from me. You can’t just pick up a few mana crystals and ask me to slash their price.”

  Her brother perked up instantly. “Well said! Yet I’m sure my… our dear customer has no intentions of doing something like that.”

  Really, did they think me such a novice in the art of negotiation? I was a fae. I knew perfectly well that I couldn’t expect a discount unless I made a substantial purchase from both shops.

  Besides, I would probably be making such purchases anyway. Since I used my everflame in all my brewing, I needed quite a large supply of mana crystals.

  Unless I could use the beetle in place of my everflame…

  I pointed at the jar. “A few more questions: how steady is the beetle’s heat output, and what is its maximum heat? Also, how long do these little guys live?”

  Alys shot me a look that was halfway between startled and pained. She had probably been joking when she talked about purchasing more of the items. And even if she hadn’t been, her enthusiasm was clearly diminished after learning the price of the jewels.

  Morty’s enthusiasm, on the other hand, was boiling over.

  “These beetles’ heat output is constant, and matches the heat of a volcano! They live in volcanos, actually, and adjust their heat output ever so slightly to mask themselves within the magma from predators. They only emerge to feed. As for their lifespan, I am not an expert, but I do know they live for a very long time indeed. Some have been recorded to live up to a thousand years, according to the research I did after acquiring this specimen. He is only eighty years old.”

  That genuinely made the beetle tempting. He would be a decent replacement for my everflame. More than decent, actually, since the beetle could apparently reach levels of heat the everflame couldn’t match.

  Controlling it would be tricky, though. I was accustomed to working with everflame, while the beetle’s jar would require adjustment. I also didn’t know how intensely it would radiate heat in all directions.

  Yet if a diet of magical plants was the only requirement to maintain the beetle’s health and usefulness, then it could be much cheaper in the long-term. I could get some mana crystals to tide me over while I learned how best to use the new resource…

  “All right. Add the beetle in.” I turned to Mysty. “Don’t worry, I’ll still need some mana crystals. And you mentioned you sell ingredients, too?”

  Mysty’s smile made a resurgence, and I sighed in lament at the imminent drain on my funds.

  —

  Between the Emporium and the Curiosities, I ended up spending eight hundred and thirty-seven gold pieces, almost a third of the money I’d set aside while preparing to run away from home.

  Following Mysty into her shop had been a mistake.

  She had everything from mandrakes to rare reagents like vampiric blood crystals. (Surprise, surprise…) I had promised myself that I wouldn’t spend too much money on expensive ingredients, and I held to that promise. But the wily vampire also had cuttings and seeds for sale.

  I might have indulged a little. Only a little, though! I was now more determined than ever to set up my own garden. And while some of my new plants would be a bit tricky to raise properly, I’d also purchased several rare, magical, poisonous plants which would give me no trouble.

  It was difficult to contain my excitement as we finally left the twins behind, but I made an effort so I could refocus on Alys. Who, now that I was paying attention properly, seemed rather dazed.

  “Is everything all right?”

  I nudged her shoulder with mine, making her jump slightly.

  “You told me…” She shot me a look from the corner of her eye. “Well, you know. Where you came from. And I made that joke. But I never understood what it really meant until now. How did you even…?”

  “Get all the gold?”

  She rumbled a confirmation, looking vaguely embarrassed.

  “Family of alchemists, remember? I had to make so many… ‘products’, shall we say. As practice.”

  I was developing a severe distaste for the word ‘poison.’

  “Since I was using my family’s ingredients to do so,” I went on, “I shouldn’t have profited much from the sale of the items. But… I might have helped myself to some of the proceeds.”

  She looked at me sharply. “Wasn’t that a serious risk? I need to learn more about fae, but I know they don’t take kindly to being stolen from.”

  “That is quite true. Yet I didn’t steal outright. There are other ways to accumulate gold. Rather than skimming off the profits, I simply performed better than my family thought I did.”

  “How did that work?”

  “If my reported yield was four… ‘alchemical products’, then I actually produced five. Additionally, not all brewing sessions are successful. Especially with higher level potions. Mistakes can happen, resulting in ruined batches. Sometimes, I would take the ingredients and say I’d failed to complete the potion. I made decent sums of gold selling both the extra potions and the ingredients themselves. I admit this was still risky, but I avoided all the merchants and stores with which my family did regular business, so I never got caught.”

  “Hrm.”

  Alys still looked worried for me, despite the fact that I was standing beside her, safe and sound. She was also quiet for a while before speaking up again.

  “I’m not from a major city,” she finally mumbled.

  “Hmmm?”

  “My family. We didn’t live in any of the cities. We lived with my grandmother, and she… values her privacy, you could say. We were largely self-sufficient. What little shopping we required, it was done through… well…” She flushed and looked away from me. “Kobolds. So, I’m not really used to throwing gold around. I only started learning what it’s really worth when I joined up with the settlement drive, and then we left civilization altogether.”

  “Wait.” I slowly grinned. “You actually had kobold servants growing up?”

  “Oh, shut it! You don’t get to look at me like that. Thorn, stop it this instant!”

  She didn’t look particularly pleased with me as I laughed loudly. Eventually, though, a smile stole onto her face as well.

  Leaning into each other, we continued strolling down the ‘streets’ formed by the stalls, ready for any other delights the caravan had to offer.