Dungeon Item Shop: Volume 2: The original litRPG, item-shop light-novel! (Dungeon Item Shop - The original item-Shop litRPG!), page 15
"Huh?!"
Jubilee rolls their eyes. "It’s a joke, goo-brain."
"Oh." Fresh thinks for a second, but then nods. "That’s a really good idea, Jubilee! If we make it big enough, we can slide on it too!"
"Yeah, no, we’re not going to do that," replies Jubilee. "Or do you want to end up like chimney-guy?"
Fresh frowns, a little disappointed and returns to her work of making new items. She sets the fluff down, still not sure about it just yet. Maybe some stuffed animals? Maybe she could enchant some stuffed animals with moonwater? She wonders what that would do? Pushing it to the side, she slides the small magical-crystal towards herself and looks at it.
It’s a small shard, about the length of her hand from her longest finger down to her wrist. It feels almost like glass, but it’s warm to the touch. She had asked the salesman why these were nowhere else to be seen in the other cities. He had explained to her that they only worked on the mountain. Something about mystical energies or whatever, she didn’t really get it. But if you leave the mountain, the crystals lose just about all of their magic. They aren’t so expensive either, this small one in her hand was only about twenty Obols. Though, she supposes that the price is relatively cheap for her now. Back during her first days here, it would have seemed like an impossible fortune.
Her eyes wander back and forth between the two things and she gets her idea, jumping up excitedly to run up the stairs. Basil and Shamrock are sitting outside on the balcony and Fresh waves at Basil, who turns around to look at her as she runs past the balcony door, towards the pantry. She’s glad that the two of them are getting along, even if they’re just sitting outside without saying a word to each other.
As she opens the pantry door, the enchanted lantern flies out and heads straight towards the balcony. Grabbing some fabric rolls from the shelf, she quickly runs back downstairs and sets to work, carefully retracing the steps in her mind, as she begins to make a stuffed animal. Just like she did together with Jubilee back in the old house. Ignoring the surprised squeak from the balcony upstairs as she reaches the counter, Fresh sits there hunched over and begins fiddling with her latest project.
Jubilee sits down next to her, writing a list for something.
First she takes the roll of beige cloth and cuts out a few large pieces, then she starts sewing them together to make a roundish shape for a head and four similar tubes for the legs.
(Fresh) uses: [Craftsman: Tailoring{Snip}]
(Fresh) uses: [Craftsman: Tailoring{Sew}]
Afterwards, she grabs the crystal, holding it tightly in her hands. It radiates a deep warmth out into her and she tries to do the same back to it. Closing her eyes, she thinks of all the warm things that she can. She isn’t sure if it does anything, but she feels better having done it. She wants the crystal to know her intentions for it, if it is even capable of such a thing. It continues to glow with a gentle, spring shade that covers her hands and glows no brighter or dimmer than before. But its continued calmness is a relaxing sight for her and it puts her mind at ease.
Grabbing some fabric, she wraps it gently around the crystal, making the naked body of the creature. After that, she sews the head on to the front of the long-end and then the four legs beneath it. Then, grabbing a couple big pieces of kobold fluff, she attaches them to the exterior of the body, wrapping them around the crystal.
Fresh looks at her creation, smiling a giddy smile. But it’s still missing something. Something important… "Ah!" says Fresh as she realizes, running back upstairs and then down a second later, carrying two black buttons and some thread of the same color. Carefully, she sews the eyes on one at a time, making sure that the buttons are firmly attached and then, taking the thread, she starts making a big, goofy smile on the stuffed creature’s face, underneath a black nose.
(Fresh) uses: [Craftsman: Tailoring{Sew}]
Though as she works, she turns around, hiding the project from Jubilee. To cap it off, she reaches back and snatches the inkwell from Jubilee, dipping each of the bottom of the legs into it once to paint the feet black. Delighted, Fresh holds out the little stuffed sheep before herself, its glossy button eyes staring back at her, together with its wide, goofy smile. She lets out a noise, that is either a gasp or a delighted squeal or a mixture of both, as she looks at it. Remembering what the crystal-salesman had told her, she leans forward and purses her lips, blowing gently onto its face as she thinks about what she wants it to do.
The stubby legs of the tiny, stuffed sheep, filled with kobold fluff, start moving back and forth stiffly, as it tries to walk in mid-air. Barely able to hold her giggle in, Fresh sets it down onto the counter, planting her head flat down behind it with her cheek against the wood, as she watches it march straight forward along the surface in an awkward locomotion.
Jubilee hasn’t noticed yet, still engrossed in their work, whatever it is.
The little sheep marches forward and Fresh smiles, unable to hide it any longer as she eagerly awaits Jubilee’s reaction.
"What the fuck?" Jubilee looks down at the fluffy thing walking across the counter, leaning back in surprise.
"Bleeeeeeh~!" bleats Fresh from the side, as the sheep passes Jubilee, walking over their papers as it runs straight along the counter. Jubilee turns their head, watching it walk away without a care in the world.
"The fuck is that supposed to be?" asks Jubilee.
"It’s a sheep!" says Fresh both excited and at the same time let-down, since Jubilee didn’t recognize it.
The sheep, having moved at a slight right-ward angle, walks off of the counter and flops down to the ground. "AH!" Fresh jumps to her feet, looking at the thing. It simply lands on its side, its legs still moving in the same mechanical rhythm, but now finding no ground to walk on. Fresh sighs in relief, seeing that it’s okay.
"You know - " Jubilee looks back at her as they talk, but then stops abruptly, as their eyes run along the counter. Apparently, having now seen the smear of ink from the sheep’s wet feet, they follow the trail towards its end, their eyes lowering down right before themselves, as they stare at the list which they had been writing for the last half hour. A trail of ink, of smeared, tiny footsteps runs across it, ruining the entire top half of the page. Jubilee’s head shoots back up, looking at Fresh who has already begun sneaking up the first stairs in a bid to make an early escape. The girl freezes the second their eyes reach her, like a prey animal, caught in the eyes of a hunter. "YOU DUMB-ASS!" yells Jubilee, pointing a finger at her angrily. "GET BACK HERE AND CLEAN THIS UP!"
Fresh yelps, running up the staircase as Jubilee gives chase. "Nooo~!" Frantically, she tries to make her escape, already making a mental plan to rush to the pantry and lock herself in, until Jubilee calms down. Sprinting up the stairs as fast as she can, she nearly reaches the top, just as something grabs her ankle from behind. Fresh falls forward, catching herself at the top of the staircase. "Baaaaaaasil~!" yells Fresh, dramatically reaching for the distant balcony door.
Basil turns around, looking through the open door from her chair to look back at her. "Yes?"
"Jubilee is going to eat meeeeeEEEIAH-!" Fresh yelps, as something drags her back down the stairs. The last thing she sees is Basil waving an uneasy goodbye to her, not having bothered to get up from her chair outside, leaving the girl subjected to her horrible fate.
The next day, Fresh makes several more stuffed plushies, starting with a chicken. But that project was quickly scrapped as soon as the others found out. She sighs, deciding that maybe she should just stick with sheep for now. Fresh takes extra care to let their inky feet dry first this time, before setting them to life.
"They’re pretty cute. But what do they do?" asks Basil, looking at the sheep that Fresh is holding.
"What do you mean? It’s a sheep," explains the girl. "What’s it supposed to do?"
The priestess blinks. "I don’t know? Does it… does it give stats or anything like that?"
Fresh blinks back at her in return, looking at the sheep and then back towards Basil. "Bleeeeeeh~!" bleats Fresh at the priestess, setting the sheep down and letting it walk towards her across the floor. It bumps into the Basil’s leg and then topples over, its own legs still flailing helplessly in the air. All they can do is walk straight ahead. But Fresh thinks that’s already impressive enough, even if the others didn’t seem to think so.
Regarding the mushroom snacks, she’s also managed to figure out the trick to keeping them hard. By coating the exterior with a thick, sweet syrup and then hardening it over fire, they would get a solid, non-sticky glaze that holds the dough in place. She forms each of them into balls that are about the size of the gap between the tip of her index finger and her thumb. They come in the usual orange, green and purple variants. What’s very exciting for her is however, the fact there are also blue and red mush-mushes, which apparently live down on the other side of the mountain. So she ends up buying some of those as well, though they’re a little more expensive.
[Dungeon Candy]{Green}(Normal)
A ball of dense, hearty sweet-dough. Coated with a crystallized honey-jam lacquer.
Effects:
+ [5 DEX]
Weight: 0.02kg
Color: Green
Value: ???
"That’s a terrible name," says Jubilee. "Why are you so bad at naming things?" Fresh sticks her tongue out at them and proceeds to make the rest of the batch. Each color of ball corresponds to a different raised stat and most importantly, because of the lacquer and dry dough, they have a long shelf-life.
"See?" she asks, sliding the bowl over to her friends. "We can sell them individually for a few Obols a piece, or - !" Fresh pulls out a little sachet that she has decorated with a ribbon. "We sell little baggies like this one, that have one of each color!"
Jubilee inspects the bag, handing it off to Basil and Shamrock. "These could work. Good job," says her friend and Fresh smiles, feeling pleased with herself. She even remembered to put a little salt in each of them, so not only do they taste better, but that also helps raise their shelf stability even more.
"I like them too," agrees Basil, playing with one of them.
Shamrock takes one, lifting it up to his helmet. He presses it against one of the slits. It doesn’t fit. "Ah!" says Fresh. Seeing this, she gets up to help him. "Hold on, Shamrock. I’ll get a kni -" He just presses harder, crushing the ball into the slit and breaking off the sides of it that crumble down to the table. He nods once, apparently also approving.
"Tasty."
+ [Status] : [Dungeon Candy]{Red}(Normal) + [{5} STR]
"Are you ever going to take that fucking thing off?" asks Jubilee.
"No," says Shamrock, grabbing another one and getting up.
Fresh raises a finger, explaining to him. "The buff only works once. If you eat a different one it will replace the old buff."
He looks down at the thing in his hand and shrugs indifferently, cramming the next one into his helmet. "Tasty," is all that he says, as he walks back towards the balcony.
+ [Status] : [Dungeon Candy]{Purple}(Normal) + [{5} LOV]
"So, let’s get down to brass-tacks," says Jubilee, tapping a single finger against the table.
"Huh?" asks Fresh.
"We have candy and we have toy sheep, what about some equipment?"
Fresh tilts her head. "Equipment?"
"Yeah? Goo-brain. We’re the ‘dungeon’ item shop, remember? People who go into dungeons need weapons and armor."
Fresh thinks, scratching her cheek for a moment. "There aren’t any goblins here, but I can make glass weapons?" she suggests. "But I’ll need a lot more glass from you then, Jubilee."
Jubilee gets up. "Okay, let’s get to work. We’re opening soon."
"Huh? We are?" ask Fresh and Basil at the same time. Jubilee nods, grabbing some of the candies as they head back to their room.
"Yeah," they say plainly, waving both of them off with their hand full of candy. "Tomorrow."
"HUH?!"
Chapter 134: Back in business
The mountain wind blows past Fresh’s face, pressing the loose fabric of her robe against the side of her body as the frigid breeze continues to flow down the crest of the mountain. It moves as if it were water, splashing out from an endless source. The starry night hangs over her head, yet it feels surprisingly light tonight, not in brightness, but in its perceived weight. It’s not melancholic or sad, despite her reasons for being outside right now.
Despite that, as she looks around herself, Fresh shudders just a little as the wind encapsulates her and her alone, as she stands there by herself, surrounded by the field of yellow flowers near the edge of the mountain.
The others are back at the house, getting things ready in her absence. In truth, she should be there too as she needs to make a lot of items tonight, including new items that she still has to think of. But this comes first.
Breaking off from the path, Fresh walks in and through the forest, thankful for the bright light of the stars that feel so very close tonight, as they dot the sky behind the flowing loose clouds which break up the calm surface of the heavens; their cumulative presence shimmering like sunlight off of the surface of a disturbed ocean.
Walking for a few minutes, she pushes out through the small forest atop the mountain plateau, feeling a fresh push of wind rush against her from the front now instead. The breezes push against her body, as if two motherly hands were holding her back from the cliff ahead of her, out of fear that she wouldn't see it.
This looks like a good spot. Fresh stares out over the night-washed expanse before herself, listening to the rustle of the waving trees so far beneath them. The sound of the million billowing leaves is entirely indistinguishable from the rush of the mountain gale. All of it mixes together into a calm, serene ambiance which seems to carry out over the cliff, as it drifts away towards the unreachable horizon.
Bending over, she sets the wrap full of bones gently down at her side and starts digging.
"I hope you like it here," says Fresh to the pile of bones. The others had forbidden her from going outside on her own, especially into the forest where there might be monsters. So Fresh just ended up sneaking by herself while nobody was looking. They didn’t seem to understand her desire to have the man buried as quickly as possible. Even Basil, much to her surprise, said it was fine, since his spirit had moved on by now. His body was just an empty shell that held no more significance than that. Only Shamrock seemed to acknowledge her desire, but she wouldn’t be able to escape Jubilee with him in tow. She hopes he understands her leaving him behind tonight.
Maybe it’s a cultural difference of sorts, or maybe she’s just overthinking it. But she feels that the dead man can rest easier if he knows that his body is somewhere where it can sleep quietly. And also, more to the point, she doesn’t want to sleep in a house with a dead body inside of it, let alone work in the same room as it.
A dead body, repeats Fresh in her mind, looking at the bag of bones and realizing that it doesn’t disturb her as much as she thought it would. Sure, she doesn’t want it in the house, but she isn’t terrified or disgusted by it. By having a dead person next to her, that is. Maybe she’s become desensitized?
Fresh shakes her head and returns to her work, making a bed for the man to sleep his final sleep inside of. Pursing her lips, she sinks her hands into the dirt, promising to make it good. The night is young and there is still so much else to do, but that’s no reason to not take this seriously.
A few hours later, she returns back home, sweaty and covered in grime, but with a satisfied, calm smile on her face. Even as she stands outside the door and gets ready to open it, feeling prepared for the scolding that is to come in a few seconds.
It comes about as expected, with Jubilee yelling at her for being irresponsible. Basil stands next to them, nodding in agreement like a disappointed mother. But soon enough, everything settles back down and she sets to work, making a slew of new items for their opening tomorrow with the help of Shamrock and Basil to fetch her materials from the pantry or to carry things downstairs and to start stocking the shelves. Jubilee is busy making a new ledger and thinking of appropriate prices for their items as they are created. They don’t have any marketing strategy or anything for their opening to drum up excitement, especially since they didn’t know about it themselves. Their plan is to just open the doors and to see what happens.
A few hours pass. It is now past the middle of the night, but still a few hours before daybreak. Basil, looking just as tired as she herself feels, comes from the kitchen and sets down a cup of tea next to her.
"Thanks, Basil," says Fresh, looking at the steaming fruit tea. Basil nods to her with a tired expression, bringing another two cups downstairs for Jubilee and Shamrock.
Fresh looks back at the thing in her hands. A long, glass staff. It’s still missing something though. Glass weapons had the interesting attribute that they all caused monsters to bleed, but that did little to help the casters of this city. She ended up making a few swords, just for posterity’s sake, like the one she had made in the adventurers’ guild the other day. As well as some daggers that had equivalent, but slightly weaker attributes.
But now, more interestingly, she’s finishing up their primary sellers in Jubilee’s eyes, equipment-wise. Glass staves and wands. But… she tilts her head, right now it’s just a glass stick. There’s nothing to make it ‘castery’.
The idea comes quickly enough though. She takes one of the magical crystals from the dungeon and sets it atop the staff. In an instant, as if it knows what she wants from it, it locks into place atop the head, pressing down against the glass. There is a crackling and for a second, Fresh thinks the staff is about to shatter and holds it away from herself. But the crackling isn’t a breaking, it stems instead from the glass growing out of the head like fresh ice over a lake, during the onset of a frigid winter. Several glass prongs rise up, slowly growing around the crystal, encasing it with bars as if caging it. She beams, looking at it in excited delight. Jubilee will love this! She should enchant it too.
