After exiting the guild with the bundle of frog leather in my arms, I ducked into an empty alley to deposit them into my Pocket Dimension. Once that was done, I stepped back out with an air of nonchalance as I continued my shopping.
Given that I was an Item Master, I could make whatever I wanted, provided I had the right raw materials. Even so, that didn’t mean I could get by without spending a bit of gold.
I could, for example, make clothing with the aid of that mysterious light that appeared whenever I started crafting something, but to do so required fabric, thread, and a needle.
The fabric and thread were things I could prepare myself if I really wanted to, although it was kind of a pain in the ass to do that manually. But I couldn’t do anything about the needle. I had a terrible affinity with metals. I was a non-metal crafter, after all.
So, to be perfectly honest, if I were to prioritize cost-effectiveness, it would be way more economical to simply buy the basic materials I’d be working with. Even if I wanted to make something out of silk, I wasn’t about to start growing mulberry bushes to raise silkworms.
I got into a rhythm of doing a little shopping, ducking into a deserted alley, and then returning to the main street.
Shop, alley, main street. Shop, alley, main street.
After doing two sets of this, I was worried I might start picking up some unwanted attention, so I cast Jump and teleported outside the town. In the safety of the vast, empty wilderness, I changed back into my mountain man getup and teleported back into Helenna.
I wasn’t planning on doing any more shopping, but I passed by a florist that happened to catch my eye—or, more precisely, the puffball flowers they were selling did.
The fluffy, white flowers were only about five millimeters big. However, when dried, they could be refined into an ingredient for a healing salve.
Puffballs were ordinary flowers that could be found growing just about anywhere. They were so common I didn’t think they’d be sold in shops, but I guessed they were used as accent flowers in bouquets, much like baby’s breath flowers in my old life.
I bought all of their stock without a second thought.
Since the seller was a florist rather than an apothecary, they wrapped the flowers up in brightly colored paper and tied the bundle off with a ribbon before handing it to me. It looked almost like a gift bouquet.
“Looks like I ended up with a present for the prince...” I hummed thoughtfully to myself.
Since the florist had arranged it so nicely, I decided to carry it back to the inn instead of inserting it into my storage like I had everything else.
Wald was still sleeping in bed when I got back to our inn room. He didn’t even notice I’d returned. But if he could sleep well, that was for the best.
As I wistfully wished he could have seen the bouquet, I removed the wrapping from the flowers. I then used Desiccate, a crafter’s ability for processing raw materials, to instantly dry them. I couldn’t afford to wait for Wald to wake up and see them; these white flowers retained their potency best if they were refined while still fresh.
Now, all that was left was to pluck all the petals mercilessly...
“Oh, right, I think these could be used for a calming effect to help get a good night’s rest...” I muttered to myself as I pulled one of the dried flowers from the bouquet. It was still on its stem. I placed it beside the sleeping prince’s pillow.
The prince looked picturesque with the flower next to him. It must’ve been the power of someone who, at a glance, appeared to be a pretty young woman.
Feeling emboldened by the sight, I went ahead and covered his bed with the dried puffballs.
Here lies Sleeping Beauty, atop his bed of flowers.
Feeling satisfied with my prank, I decided to let Wald sleep the entire day away.
Anyway, monsoon season was soon approaching, and that had been my reason for purchasing the giant frog hides. I could fashion hooded cloaks out of the water-resistant leather. I’d picked up the additional blue frog leather to use as an accent color on the hems. I hoped the cloaks would turn out nicely.
Since our stay at the inn included dinner, I went downstairs around mealtime and brought a tray of food back to our room that had servings for both of us. I transferred the food into my own bowls and stored them safely away in my storage while it was still warm. The prince was still sleeping, after all.
As I nibbled on a piece of jerky I’d made some time ago, I continued working on the cloaks by lamplight. Since the inn was in a relatively quiet spot in the area, the sounds of passersby gradually faded into silence as the night wore on.
Soon, all I could hear was the prince’s quiet breathing as he slept.
If he continued sleeping through the night and didn’t wake until the morning, he was probably going to be a little dehydrated.
I should probably make some fruit-infused water with a bit of sugar and salt for him.
When I had been unconscious after Wald had revived me with the elixir, he had apparently administered a potion for me to drink once a day. Considering the state of his own health at the time, he really should have saved the potions for himself, but since he’d only had a few on hand, he had used them on me and had staved off his own hunger with the oranges he’d managed to scrounge up.
He was an open, sincere man of integrity. I liked that about him.
“There we go, all done.”
I couldn’t use the mysterious crafting light to speed craft extra items without having crafted that kind of item once before.
Although I knew the recipe, frog leather cloaks were a pretty low-rank piece of gear, so I hadn’t bothered to either make or equip one in my old life. And in this life, frog monsters hadn’t even existed in the Gaelius Mountains in the first place.
With one cloak complete, I was able to fabricate the second in an instant with the magic crafting light. Then, I also made some fruit-infused water. I tossed all of this into my interdimensional storage.
After changing into my pajamas, I doused the lamp’s light, crawled into my own bed, and surrendered myself to sleep.