Bookworld Online: Marsh Man

Helena and I managed to get to our real bed later that night and slept for the remainder of it. I woke up very early and finished my work in the potions room by making some waterproofing potion after I bottled up the last of the potions I brewed the day before, then met Helena for a bath and breakfast. She made sure I was dressed appropriately for going to work as a supervisor at the Sellwafer's business at the docks and kissed me goodbye.

“Make sure that you are back here for lunch. You have the consultation with Linette to look after your hand directly afterwards.” Helena reminded me.

“Of course.” I said and kissed her again. “I left 60 cases of potions, 36 of healing and 24 of general health for you in the storage room beside the potions room.”

“That's wonderful, darling.” Helena said with a chuckle. “You made them while prepping the ingredients?”

I nodded. “I also made a ton of full strength number ten potions as well. Having ingredients directly from the marsh made it go so much faster.”

“I suppose you're taking a bunch with you today?” Helena asked.

“Yes, separate batches. I've left a lot for the work crews to make what you want and I'll be taking a good amount to the business.”

“You've made things so much easier already and you've only been home for a full day.” Helena said and gave me a long slow kiss. “Now go and have fun with Frank. I know he misses you almost as much as I do.”

“Yes, dear.” I said and stepped out through the front door to see Frank having a work crew load crates of number ten potion on a horse and cart already. “You knew which stack to take?”

“You left them opposite the healing and general health potions, which we all know you only make for Lady Henrietta.” Frank said. “We're going to have so much fun teaching newbies how to really make things today.”

“Are you okay with such a drastic change in construction?” I asked and Frank laughed.

“My lord, all I've been doing is playing with your potion and figuring out what can be done with it, ever since you showed it to me that first day.” Frank said. “Making the main sweeping staircase without having to cut a single piece of wood to fit has made me literally hate having to make things the normal way!”

I chuckled and the men finished loading the cart with the crates of waterproofing potion. I counted the crates and Frank had taken the right stack without trying to take more from the other stack. He knew I could make more quickly, especially if he noticed all the remaining prepped ingredients I had left in the prep room.

We climbed up onto the cart and two of the men came with us. I didn't question it and the horse and cart drove off to take us to our destination. When we arrived, the building looked a little run down and not very nice for what it was going to be.

“Okay, men. The first lesson we'll show them will be a lesson in presentation.” Frank said and the other two men nodded with determination. “I'll send the driver back for certain supplies and then we'll show them what we can do to spruce up the place.”

“Yessir.” The two men said and grinned.

“This should be fun.” One of them said as we climbed off of the cart.

I went to the front door and opened it. The door was a bit loose on its hinges and swung freely.

“Hello! How may I help you?” A young redheaded woman asked from behind a counter. She looked to be about my age and she had a bright smile plastered onto her face. She would probably get a lot of sales just from that alone without anyone even looking at how well she was dressed. The problem was that the inside of the front room was nearly completely bare, except for a few display pieces.

“The next lesson will be to never open for business without a proper stock of products built up first.” Frank grumbled as he and the men brought in two crates of potions each.

“We're here to teach the work crews how to make everything.” I said.

“You're Lord Drake!” The woman gasped and ran around the counter to come over to me as the men stacked up the crates of potions by the wall. “It's so nice to meet you!” She said and held a hand out for me to take.

I did and barely brushed my lips on her knuckles before letting her hand go.

“The men have been waiting anxiously with the Lord and Lady in the back!” She almost gushed.

“Lead the way.” I said as Frank instructed one of the men to stay by the front door to wait for the supplies.

The woman quickly walked back across the room and around the counter to the door there, then opened it and stepped through. Frank, one of the men, and I followed her down a short hallway into a large open room. It was quite similar to that of the boatbuilder's warehouse back in Ester's Village. A large portion of the back of the room was actually a set of folding doors that took up most of the wall.

“Lord Drake! Good morning!” The Baroness said as she stood from behind the desk she sat behind. “My husband and some men are checking the other side of the bay doors to make sure they are safe to open and not have them fall apart.”

“I assume you bought the place sight unseen?” I asked and she nodded.

“It was a steal, considering the prime placement near the main thoroughfare.” The Baroness said with a grin. “It's going to need some work, obviously.”

“That's what the first lesson is going to be about.” I said and waved at Frank. “Meet the man responsible for the restoration to both the Henrietta Longshore Estate and my dorm mansion.”

“Before my lord tells you some fancy title that I never use, you can call me Frank.” Frank said and took the woman's hand and lightly kissed her fingers. “I've already sent for some supplies to redo the front of the building to make it more presentable.”

“That's wonderful! I was thinking of hiring someone to handle that while we were learning.” The Baroness said.

“It's the perfect learning opportunity for your work crews, since there's nothing like practical learning.” Frank said with a smile. “While we wait for the cart to come back, I'll be telling you all how to handle the potion that's going to change your lives and also give you sufficient warnings about how to properly handle it and to give it the proper respect it's due.”

“We can handle using some fancy glue.” One of the men said and a few of them chuckled.

“I thought that as well, until someone spilled some and glued their fingers together into a solid mass.”

“Just pull them apart.” The man said with a shrug. “It's pretty simple.”

“Most people think that, except this is more of a melding glue. It sticks things together by merging them.” Frank said. “The man's hand became a flipper.”

“What?” “No way!” “You're joking!”

“It took the healers three days to cut his fingers apart and then they had to carve out the skin around the knuckles, just so he could bend his fingers properly.” Frank said and the entire room went silent. “He might have been fine if he hadn't tried to scoop up the spilled potion with his bare hand.”

He had everyone's attention now and nodded.

“So, first lesson. If you spill any of it, leave it. It can be removed or fixed after it sets. If it's just a little, it'll set almost immediately and can be dealt with then. If it's a lot, depending on where it's spilled, whatever it is might need to be replaced after it sets.” Frank warned them. “This is non-negotiable. When you start working with this stuff, you'll sign a waver saying that the owners and the makers of the potion are not responsible for any damages caused by the misuse of the potion.”

“Are you serious?” One of the men asked. “We're responsible for ourselves if we get hurt?”

Frank laughed. “No, it's just to stop people from challenging them to a duel, being arrested for bodily harm that wasn't their fault, or having the Mages Guild come to deal with whatever happens. All medical care will be handled and paid for at no cost to the injured party. If there's a loss of a limb, compensation will be paid and a much easier job will be assigned, so you can still provide for your families and live your life.”

“I'm out.” One of the men said and stood. “If it's that dangerous, then I don't want anything to do with it.” He looked at the men around him. “Let's go, guys.”

Three of them stood as well and four others didn't move.

“Come on.” The man said and the four men didn't move. “It's your life to throw away.” He said and he led the three men past Frank and myself. I had a feeling and followed them out to the main room. The man in the lead saw the many crates of potions and went over to them.

I dashed around and grabbed his wrist before he could touch one of the crates. “Don't touch.”

“Hey, let go!” The man said and tried to pull his hand away. It didn't work and he looked angry. “Let me go right now or you're going to regret it.”

“If you leave without trying to steal my things, I won't take your hand to make sure you can't steal.” I responded and reached into my suit coat and pulled out my knife.

The man looked both angry and amused. “Ha, as if you could take my hand with a...” His words cut off when I made the knife glow brightly with magic and all four of the men paled at the sight.

“What did you say?” I asked and moved the knife to his wrist.

“I'm leaving! I'm leaving!” The man said, panicking. “I only wanted to see what the potion was, that's all!”

I moved the knife away from his wrist and pointed to the front door with it as I let the man's hand go. “Go. Now.”

The four men scrambled out the door and ran away.

The man on the door chuckled. “I'll put the word out to make sure they don't come back later to cause trouble.”

“Thank you.” I said and held out a handful of gold crowns. “In case you need incentives to convince the locals.”

The worker took the money. “They'll need it at first, until this place gets running. Once they see the things it'll offer so cheaply...” He chuckled. “They'll fight to keep it here all on their own.”

I nodded to him and went to the hallway and saw the redheaded young woman with a surprised look on her face. I let the glow on the knife fade and tucked it back into the sheath and nodded to her as well, which made her smile a little, and I went back to the back room to keep listening to Frank's warnings and cautions about using the potions.

The Baron and the few men he had taken with him returned and said that the doors were not safe to open without either breaking where they stood or falling off into the water, which would definitely get them in trouble with the harbour master of the nearby dock and probably with any passing boat, since the folding doors were huge.

Once they all understood the dangers, Frank moved on with the lesson and the workers were shocked to hear how versatile the potion was. He was giving examples of using it on wood, which would be their main construction material, then he mentioned building walls and reinforcing floors with it. They were amazed when he said he made solid stone walls with it as well.

Just then, the door opened and the man that waited by the front door for the supplies came in. “The cart's here.”

“Excellent!” Frank said. “All right, everyone. Follow me. It's time for your first practical lesson in the potion's use.”

We cleared out the back room and followed Frank out to the front of the building. Even the young redheaded woman came out to watch. The two workmen that Frank and I had brought set up tarps on stands to cover us from being seen by people on the street and from the nearby buildings. With us hidden, Frank and the two men gave the new work crews their first taste of using what was essentially a magic potion.

All of them, even the Baroness and her husband, stared with opened mouths as Frank and the two workers used the supplies to quickly transform the bare storefront into one of the fanciest looking buildings in the city. I could see in everyone's eyes as the implications crossed their minds and I nodded. They were going to work their asses off to use this potion as much as they could.