<b>The Grand Avenue, near Castle Auxcora (Milka / Edelle)</b><br/><br/>“As much as it would be a treat to have all the positive effects multiplied, your body wouldn’t know where to stop. At first, there would be soreness, dehydration, numbness, and then… well, the bottom line is, you don’t want to use more than one, and only use it to steep into a cup of tea, not consume the whole of the bean.” The alchemist relaxed as she got to talk more about the beans and then restored a smile on her face as the younger woman expressed her delight. Milka gave Edelle a curious look as they approached the market and then went on, “Should you want a stronger effect, we could see about enhancing it alchemically, but I would have to do research and experiment, and preferably not on myself as it is rather difficult to work when you climax every time you think you did something right. I mean, not that I have tried, but… well, I have, and let’s just say it was a lot of fun and not so much productive.” She couldn’t help but giggle, and hoped this time she wasn’t the only one who found it amusing. “Not that you will want it any stronger once you know what it feels like.”<br/><br/>This end of the avenue wasn’t exactly the most familiar to Milka, but she had visited it more in the last year now that she was the Grand Alchemist and had more of a reason to do so.<br/><br/>“Most people would tell you otherwise—but yes, anything, almost anything you can think of, is being sold here if you know where to look—and that’s only because most people don’t<i>have</i>connections, whereas, I do,” Milka gave her companion an impish smile and then continued, “However, I generally don’t have the coin, although that situation has already changed for the better,” she patted the front of her bra where the three platinum pieces quietly clicked against each other, “The Royal Apothecary is not exactly a business, as we mostly operate on the funds the court grants us and then offer our services for free. Well, free for the nobles, who give us the money in the first place, and soul-crushingly expensive to any outsider who should happen to need our medicine or expertise. Even then, most of the income goes directly back to the court. I do get paid, more than the other alchemists, but even then my income isn’t exactly on the luxurious side...” she leaned over to conclude the sentence with a mysterious whisper, “...<i>yet</i>.”<br/><br/>When the girls walked by a door and a wall of dark stained glass windows, Milka finally began with the tour that she had promised, “This is probably not where we want to get started, but I can definitely see how we could end it here. They serve the very best alcohol that money can buy, and not just ale and spirits and wine but all the good stuff, too. Anything you can think of, and probably more, they have in store, at least if you are willing to wait a few minutes as the servants fetch it from the depths of their cellar. I have not seen it, but it has to be far larger than the building itself.” The girls moved on, walking under the sign that just said ‘Pub’ on both sides, and while technically correct, not even Milka thought to question it as a proper name.<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>