Wilona stared at the old man bowing before her. She really didn't expect the people of this town to suddenly treat her with respect after she made Rottie make a peaceful-pact with them, like, this was so out of the curve for her. How does she even get out of this? Pretend like she didn't do that much? That obviously wouldn't work since she physically went back and forth between this town and the swamp so the villagers would think she's being humble.

  But like, does she even hate this? Wilona stared at the old man, sure, she felt a tiny bit guilty but also not really? Like, she obviously put in her own amount of effort into earning the kind of respect he's showing her and honestly, being humble feels like she's betraying herself.

  "It's fine really," Wilona smiled, a part of the reason why she's so willing to entertain the man's submission is because he was giving her free stuff. "I did my best and you guys did too! So like, this is enough, I'll pay for everything I'll get from this shop in the future okay?"

  "Thank you for accepting my generous offer Miss Wilona," and right, they're also treating her like a noble. Seriously, her parents did not have land! Well, they did, but that land didn't hold enough stuff for a large population, let alone an army!

  "Yep! I totally get it," she nods, playing along. "I'll take the stuff now and be on my way okay? I still have a few other places to go to."

  And by other places, she meant the cobbler, butcher shop—she finally had meat. Fresh one too. Venison.—and the local smithy for a bunch of metal pots that the man freed from rust. And last but not least, she went over to the town's only potter to get herself a bunch of clay pots for her plants.

  Her magical seeds have grown to maturity so she needed to start working on them, she thought that their rate of growth was honestly too quick but then again, they were magical so what did she know?

  With all the stuff she got floating around her like some poorly made solar system, Wilona took off and headed back to her camp where she let Fuzz inspect everything she got.

  "Ceramics, pots you can use as cauldrons temporarily, and enough tools to last us several years. The bucket that you got is pretty good too," the myceloid nodded in approval, "we'll be able to make potions with these things."

  "Thank God," Wilona let out a relieved breath. At first, she didn't like the thought of brewing potions but over time—and after Fuzz told her what kind of things can be made—she kinda warmed up to it. "So what's the only thing that we need to do? Make dinner?"

  "Yes, that and prepare hot water for your bath. I do believe your stock of bath bombs is starting to dwindle as well, you might need to make more in the future."

  "Yep, got it." Wilona nodded listlessly, she'll do it when it's close to running out. "I have oil by the way, and some flour. I wanna eat fried deer," Wilona licked her lips, "prepare the frying pan for me okay? I'll marinate this thing."

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  "Of course," Fuzz left her alone which Wilona took as a cue to start working on the meat.

  Venison, in her past life, was tough and gamey. The thought of eating it made her want to grind her teeth but she did eat venison that's cooked in such a way that it made the meat tender. The chef told her that he boiled the meat for several hours but Wilona didn't have time for that!

  You know what she did have though? Poison. One capable of breaking down tissue.

  She stabbed at the meat, puncturing the skin and putting holes all over it. When there's enough holes to convict her of being a murderer, she placed the venison inside a pot full of poisonous soup. She then did it to another piece, and another, until there's nothing left for her to work with.

  During this time, the frying pan is already done and the oil within it is simmering. Wilona left it for a little while longer to put a layer of flour over the meat, she wanted texture and thought that flour with literal bread crumbs would work pretty well in that respect.

  She dipped the meat in the mix and then headed for Fuzz.

  She waved, "is it done?"

  "Yes," Fuzz stopped increasing the heat of the kiln and eyed the plate of meat Wilona is holding. "It's as hot as you told me to make it, you can start frying the meat. I'll boil some water and prepare your bath."

  "Thank you, Fuzz." Wilona meant the gesture, she really appreciated the help the mushroom was providing her. She watched Fuzz leave, silently contemplating if she should have complimented her some more.

  Her silence got cut by the sound of heavy sizzling as the venison was dropped into the ocean of oil within the pan. Bubbles soon blotted the surface, preventing her from seeing what's going on underneath. More venison followed after the first one and when her plate is empty, Wilona sat on a chair she grew from a tree. Thinking.

  According to Fuzz, the progress she made around her camp in a little over two weeks is more than an entire hamlet can do in the same time span. She had Mossheart to thank for that, and also Fuzz. Her system too.

  But that isn't what she's thinking about right now, she pressed her hands together and went into deep thought.

  "I've only been here for two weeks huh?.." Wilona couldn't help but say out loud. She was kind of in disbelief at that fact, like, two weeks? She's only been here for that amount of time. That wouldn't even finish an entire lesson back when she was still going to school. Hell, that's only enough for two homeworks!

  Wilona shook her head, maybe she should focus on how much progress she's made in that time frame.

  She looked at the garden of glowing herbs beyond her brewery and firewood shed. The seeds she planted weeks prior have sprouted to become bushes and plants containing magical power, some contained energy that purified, others had magic that can corrupt. Both are probably safe. Probably.

  Well, she needed to harvest a certain group of plants before tomorrow came otherwise they would be quite problematic. Specifically for her eyes.

  Wilona's gaze moved over to a patch of land where a field of silvery leaves grew in abundance. It made her think of autumn in Ireland, whenever she visited, it was always during that time of the year so searching for a six-leaf clover in a field of the stuff was kind of a staple for her.

  Maybe there's something similar for the Argent Purgeflame? Not that she wanted to try searching for it, since, like, searching for something during the night sounds stupid. And is stupid. Actually.

  Thankfully, clovers didn't reflect sunlight violently so she can search for a lucky clover during the day. The Argent Purgeflame is the complete opposite of that, its silver leaves reflect sunlight and its white stalks absorb that light, illuminating the otherwise dark areas hidden within itself. These two factors basically made it so that anyone looking at these things during the day will go blind.

  The locals rightfully call fields of Argent Purgeflames "Dawn's Scourge" in an ironic sense given that the plant's true nature is to purify negative energy and if it's potent enough, it can even remove curses.

  Wilona grabbed a spatula and stirred the venison within the pan. She took one out for inspection and confirmed that yep, it's still raw.

  Going back to thinking about magical plants seemed a bit boring so she went over to stare at the docks instead. Fuzz decided to work on it at some point and together with Mossheart, improved Wilona's fishing spot. The end result was pretty good. Besides that...

  ...Wilona took a bite out of the wild berry pie that Fuzz gave her when she came back. It was crunchy and tasted pretty good, the berry was sweet, but not too sweet—in a negative manner. They needed sugar badly...—and overall, the experience wasn't as bad as she expected.

  Wilona gave the myceloid a side glance. Never in a million years did she think she would be eating a pie made by a humanoid mushroom but she mused that life has a way of surprising someone when they least expect it.

  Wilona sat back and closed her eyes, she might like this new life of hers. It wasn't so bad.