Chapter 379 – The Tiger Sniffs the Rose

Chapter 379 – The Tiger Sniffs the Rose

Her body felt light as a feather, tingling with a faint, pleasant numbness, yet her mind remained clear.

Not only was there none of the usual drowsy heaviness that came with drunkenness, she actually felt better than she ever had before.

All her worries were temporarily forgotten.

It was like the sky clearing after rain—breathing in the damp air, gazing upon a world washed clean—fresh, soothing, and full of hope.

But the feeling didn’t last long before it faded away.

All three of them—two witches and one monkey—felt a sense of wistful loss.

Aeltis tapped a wooden sign beside the bonfire. On it was written in bold letters: “New at the tavern—one cup of Tiger Sniffs the Rose for only 1 Magic Gold Coin / 15 Gem Coins / {Energy Storage Card — 1 Mana}. Pay first, drink after.”

Mo Lan stared at the “15 Gem Coins” and “{Energy Storage Card — 1 Mana}” on the board. “You can pay with Gem Coins and Energy Storage Cards too?”

“They’re all worth the same! It’s all thanks to your Card Magic, Moira—everyone’s pockets are fuller now, and my tavern business has gotten much better too. That cup just now was my treat. But from here on, you’ll have to pay!”

Aeltis turned the glass in her hand upside down. There wasn’t a single drop of wine left inside.

Both a Magic Gold Coin and an {Energy Storage Card — 1 Mana} contained 1 Mana of power, and 15 Gem Coins were exactly enough to buy a single-use {Energy Storage Card — 1 Mana}. In a sense, the values truly were equivalent.

Mo Lan simply hadn’t expected that witches would so quickly begin treating Gem Coins and Energy Storage Cards as equal to Magic Gold Coins, using them as currency for trade.

“That’s basically how all transactions work in Witch’s Town now,” Lilith said matter-of-factly. “You’ve even got a new title—the Sorceress of Wealth. Everyone says you’re the Sorceress who controls the Gem Coin Cards and Energy Storage Cards, a symbol of prosperity.”

Mo Lan: “…”

Lilith had offered to buy drinks, and she meant it. She opened her Card Magic and began searching through her card storage slots:

“Seriously though, Moira, is there really no way to directly convert Gem Coins into Gem Coin Cards? You can barely accumulate Gem Coin Cards without pulling from draws. Or at least make Energy Storage Cards in more denominations, or let them be merged and split! Sometimes it’s impossible to make exact change.”

She rummaged around until she found four {Gem Coin Card — 10} cards and five {Gem Coin Card — 1} cards, then handed them to Aeltis. “One cup of this Tiger Sniffs the Rose for each of us three!”

Aeltis accepted the cards. “Meimei!”

The large copper kettle sitting over the bonfire immediately hopped down from its rack.

The kettle stood with its hands on its hips and called out, “Children, we have guests to serve!”

Three of the wine glasses by the bonfire stood up, scurried over, and bounced once in front of Mo Lan and the others before landing steadily in their hands.

The glass meant for Zhizhi, however, found itself in a predicament—Zhizhi had only poked its head out, with its hands still hidden inside the satchel.

“Dear customer, would you mind taking your hands out?” the glass said. “Or would you prefer to hold me in your mouth?”

Zhizhi, having been taught a bit of the Valen common language by Mo Lan, understood the word “hands.” It crawled out of the satchel and sat down beside Mo Lan.

The glass let out a sigh of relief and hopped into Zhizhi’s arms, where the little monkey held it tight.

The copper kettle then strolled over elegantly, filled their glasses to the brim, and hung itself back over the bonfire.

Mo Lan looked at the glass in her hand, then at the copper kettle, her eyes filled with wonder.

How did a wine kettle and wine glasses grow arms and legs? And they could even speak the common language!

She had read enough books to say with certainty that there wasn’t a single creature in all of Valen she didn’t recognize.

But what was the deal with this kettle and these glasses?

“That’s my familiar, Meimei—also the manager of the Dukang Wine House!” Aeltis said. “It comes from another world.”

Mo Lan understood at once. A creature from another world—it made perfect sense that she wouldn’t recognize it. Whatever it looked like or whatever abilities it had, nothing would be strange.

She suddenly felt that during this journey across the Continent of Valen, there would be many more surprises just like Meimei.

Two thuds sounded beside her—one large, one small—as Lilith and Zhizhi both collapsed onto the grass.

One witch and one monkey, their glasses both empty, lay on the ground with rosy cheeks, completely dead drunk.

“Zhizhi! Lilith!” Mo Lan asked Aeltis with some concern. “When we smelled it earlier, this wine shouldn’t have been that intoxicating!”

“There are two ways to drink this wine. One is to sip gently, the other is to inhale deeply,” Aeltis explained.

“Sipping gently is like the cup I treated you to just now—savoring it slowly. The effect is more subtle: your body feels relaxed, your mood lifts, and your worries fade away.

Inhaling deeply is what they just did. The effect is much stronger—it knocks you out cold and sends you into a brief, beautiful dream.

When you wake up, all your fatigue will have melted away. Your body will feel light and strong, your mind sharp and clear, filled with hope and courage for the future.

Three minutes at most, and they’ll wake up. Don’t you want to try? The deep inhale hits harder, but the effect is even better! Perfect for spirited young witches like yourselves.”

Aeltis’s words piqued Mo Lan’s curiosity.

This was Witch’s Town, Spring Sight Island. The island was home to witches and witches alone—arguably the safest place for a witch outside the Witch Academy itself.

After a moment’s hesitation, she did as Aeltis suggested and took one deep inhale.

The wine in the glass was essentially a swirling mass of aromatic vapors. With that one inhale, a rich, intense fragrance flooded her entire nasal cavity.

Thud!

There was now one more soundly sleeping witch by the bonfire.

A few minutes later, Mo Lan woke up, feeling better than she ever had in her life.

Lilith and Zhizhi were already awake, chatting with Aeltis.

“How come the second cup costs 30 Gem Coins? That’s way too expensive! Give us a discount and I’ll buy a bunch,” Lilith said. “This would be perfect for when you’re tired, sleepy, or worn out—just have a cup and you’re good to go.”

“Can’t knock off a single coin,” Aeltis said. “Harvesting the fragrance of the Great Dream Rose is no easy task.”

Zhizhi also pulled out a wine card. “Zhee~ Trade!”

Aeltis took one look at the wine card—{Zhizhi’s Favorite Wine — Cat Carry Wine, 100 barrels}—and drew in a sharp breath.

“You’re certainly a generous little monkey, but the Tiger Sniffs the Rose I have left is only what’s in Meimei’s belly. That’s nowhere near enough to trade for your wine card. Besides, I can’t let you buy me out completely—I still need stock to sell at the tavern!”

Mo Lan snatched Zhizhi back.

Silly Zhizhi—Lilith was trying to haggle the price down! Who bids the price up on themselves? Fortunately, Aeltis hadn’t taken advantage and gone through with the trade.

In the end, Lilith didn’t manage to bargain the price down either. Aeltis simply hadn’t brewed much Tiger Sniffs the Rose. She’d brought it out this time to let everyone have a taste for Independence Day.

Even if they wanted to buy, she was only willing to sell each of them three cups—and Zhizhi counted as one person.

And there was no discount—full price only.

One cup for two Magic Gold Coins, or 30 Gem Coins, or one {Energy Storage Card — 2 Mana}.