I looked at the white fluff on the herb with a gigantic smile on my face. If it had the same cycle and would grow as easily as the weed, it would turn the world on its head. It was unfortunate that the farming bonus to growth no longer applied, which made it take as long as a normal dandelion to grow… Which was anywhere from two to three weeks… So still insanely fast compared to the other starter herbs.

I could get anywhere from twenty to thirty plant life cycles out of these new herbs every single year, compared to the three, four, and six of the other beginner herbs. It also had the same ease of growth with fewer requirements for the plant to grow than any of them, and it was resilient to bug killer, which would normally kill the fragile alchemy herbs, making it possible to grow outside.

I pulled out every seed from the flower with a pair of tweezers before planting them in their own container. Every seed was akin to gold; each important enough to deserve the delicate meticulousness I took to the task of planting them. Life would only get better, no matter what the herb could be turned into. The only thing to do was wait for them to reach their maturity again, then replant them.

But I didn’t have enough space. I was going to wait until near winter to turn one of the farm plots into a greenhouse, but it appeared to be necessary for the sake of speeding up their growth and providing some secrecy with the herb before I was ready to unveil it. My gut was telling me that if even a single seed was released before I was ready to sell the plant, it would spell my doom.

… New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on novel·fıre·net

I looked over the plants, almost with tears in my eyes from what they meant to me. This would be my legacy. Even if this is all I accomplished in my life, my name would go down in history for creating a new herb. It felt surreal, like I was living in a dream as I overlooked the greenhouse that was packed full of orange flowers, with a meager bit of other herbs in the greenhouse compared to the dandelion herbs.

I looked them over, determining one that was the medium for size and color before plucking it and storing it inside a sack. I made my way to the alchemist. The mayor had already come back and viewed the herbs, but at the time, they weren’t done growing yet. I felt scared that someone was going to pop up and assault me; the fear was blatantly exaggerated, but my mind kept playing out the worst outcome as I made my way to her home/business.

I knocked… Then waited… Then knocked again… Then waited… Then knocked louder, which finally drew her response. “Ugh, give me a moment!” She made some noises before I heard something thud onto the ground as she shouted. “Oh no! I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to drop you. Here, I’ll put you back on the table.” She took another minute before she answered the door.

I hadn’t seen her very often without the goggles or plague mask, the cute little face that stared up at me in curiosity was the first thing I noticed… Then it was the state of her dress. She was only wearing a bra and panties as she scratched her ass and spat past me in an unladylike way, she asked. “What do you want? I’m not done with these books yet.”

“Can I come inside to talk to you?” She had a lazing look on her face as she yawned. “Fine, just don’t try anything funny or I’ll bite you.” I woke her up, which meant I could understand why she was irritated with me, but it was the middle of the day, which had me curious. “Why were you sleeping in the middle of the day?” She looked over her shoulder before sitting in her chair.

“Because I was up all night copying these extremely valuable books you want to sell. Jeez, why do people like you, who can’t see the true value of these things, get all the luck?” She rubbed the book with her hand, which I now realized was probably what had fallen earlier, and the thing she was talking to. I almost laughed in her face when I thought of how she would act the moment I revealed the new alchemy herb.

She asked. “So… What are you doing here?” I pulled out the orange dandelion herb as her eyebrow raised. “Is this a present for me or something? I’m just gonna come out and say it, I’m a single gal, I’ll be single for a lot longer unless there’s a good reason for me to not be single.” I scoffed before saying. “You’re an alchemist, right? You should have a skill that lets you see properties.”

She sighed before getting up and going to get her goggles. Putting them on, she moved back over to the table and held the plant in her hand. She looked at it for a few seconds before she screamed loud enough for everyone in the village to hear. “What the fuck! How is this possible! You made a ne-.” I cut her off by putting my hand over her mouth and whispered. “It’s still a secret to everyone but you and my family.”

She licked my hand, which made me withdraw it as her eyes glanced at me before looking at the herb. “Where did you get this?” She was speaking in a much more subdued tone as well. “...I made it.” If she was shocked before, her eyes widened to the maximum as she stared at me. “Y-y-y-y-y-y.”

Millicent stopped and caught her breath. “You made this?” Leaning in even further before whispering so low that even I could barely hear her. “You created a herb? How?” I chuckled and answered her. “Luck. I was trying to make dandelions sweet enough to be a sugar substitute… And I made this first.”

Her brows furrowed for a moment before she hopped off her chair and grabbed a vial of liquid. She pulled off the cork and took a sniff before unceremoniously coating me in the liquid. I felt the effect immediately as I felt myself harden. I looked at her, confused, before she answered. “That’s an aphrodisiac. First rights to a brand new herb are definitely worth locking you down as my husband.”

My body heated up as my mind started to cloud. I couldn’t believe she did this, but everything was pushed to the back of my mind as she stripped off the few pieces of clothing she still had on.

…

Meanwhile…

I moved to this town to do one thing. Spy on the farmer who had invented so many things for the sake of the traders' guild. I was trivially bored; he hadn’t been doing much of anything except growing weeds lately. It didn’t make sense to me, but he was acting scared as he made his way to the village alchemist with something hidden inside. It had me curious, so I moved to the area between the gate and the house as I tried to eavesdrop.

I could hear them talk, right up until the alchemist screamed in fright. It shocked me, but she then asked.  “What the fuck! How is this possible! You made a ne-.” I moved my ear even closer, trying to hear what they were talking about. Until the sounds of them grunting started to come from the building. I wasn’t sure at first, but after listening for a few more seconds, it was clearly the sounds of them having sex.

I was about to move away; this was clearly a dead end, until I heard a voice I had become familiar with because he was the other target I was meant to spy on. “Oh, what’s this. A little bird is somewhere he shouldn’t be.” I couldn’t even turn to face the mayor before he cut me down.