85 A Holiday

*Knock*Knock*

"Hey, Princess, I'm coming in!" Zrathno says as he arrives at Astur's workshop a few hours past noon. "My stuff's done… right… uhh, is she ok?"

Almost instantly upon entering the workshop, Zrathno's attention is taken by Elizabeth who's unconscious on the floor frothing with no colour in her eyes. If not for the very light breathing, people might think she was dead upon seeing her.

"Don't worry, she's alive. Just needed a lab rat to test a few things, poisonous things. Your stuff is over there," Astur points to the several boxes of metal in the corner, "You should probably air it out for a bit before doing anything with it. Otherwise don't blame me if you end up like Liz."

"Hold on, what did you do? I better be able to use those."

"Yeah… probably. I used an item from yesterdays spoils, it releases a vapour that can strengthen metals and minerals, the vapour is toxic though so it can't be breathed in. Just let it sit for a bit and it should be fine."

"Then she's on the floor because you tested the poisonous vapour on her? Don't you have plenty of people around that would be better test subjects, considering they don't die," Zrathno says, alluding to the players.

"As pure test subjects, yeah," Astur shakes her head, "But they don't give me the funny reactions Liz does. And it's not like she'll die with me around."

"But she also won't have a pleasant time…" Zrathno thinks as he turns to leave, "I'll be back, I'm going to go gather a few people to help me move this stuff again."

As Zrathno leaves, Astur also returns to her house and quickly returns with a pail of water, dumping it on Elizabeth's face.

"Ahh!" Elizabeth jumps and pats herself down, making sure she's alright, "I'm alive?"

"Of course you're alive, you didn't actually think I would let you die, do you? Well even if you did, I think I could probably bring you back."

"Why do you always use me to test new and dangerous things! Use the Irregulars! They literally can't stay dead!"

"But they're all so eager to die sometimes that I think they might be suicidal. But more importantly, they don't have the great reactions you have. And you'll be thanking me for this later," Astur extends her arm out, "Eat. You also don't need to work for the day, just rest. I'll make sure Ystur… actually that sounds like an awful idea, I'll have Kretea take over for… actually that also sounds like an awful idea. Guess today will be a holiday for everyone."

Elizabeth wipes off her mouth and moves her head away from Astur arm, "Just do the work yourself, you lazy woman!"

"Hahahaha… no."

Astur picks up Elizabeth and throws on top of her shoulder, "Let's get you to bed."

"Hey, I can move on my own! Put me down, I'm not a child!"

"Can it. You just got up from being poisoned, your body is still weak so shut up and let me carry you."

"You're the one that poisoned me!"

"I don't know what you're talking about. You walked in here and breathed in that poisonous gas on your own."

"..." Elizabeth is speechless. Astur had previously called her over, but when she opened the workshop's door to the outside, she was assaulted by a poisonous gas. Had she entered the workshop through the house, then she wouldn't have breathed in the gas upon entering. Although she's fairly certain that Astur would have found one way or another to have her take it in.

Elizabeth resigns herself to being carried back to her room, but she couldn't help but wish that Astur would carry her in a less humiliating way than being slung over the shoulder. Kretea and Ystur were laughing at her as she and Astur walked by the living room.

Settling Elizabeth in her room, Astur walks back downstairs and into the living room where Kretea and Ystur are.

"You two, go and spread the word that today will be a holiday and that anyone that doesn't want to work doesn't have to and that they're free to just have fun and relax today. So long as whatever they do doesn't impede their work tomorrow or bother other people," Astur says.

"Huh? Don't I already do that every day?" Ystur asks.

"Yeah, I also pretty much do that every day," Astsur says.

Kretea, meanwhile, looks at the pair with a strange look, "But don't you two cause trouble for people all the time and often engage in activities that hinder work the next day."

The pair remains silent for a few seconds before they both reply, "No."

"Are you two really that clueless?"

The two look at Kretea strangely, their expressions clearly saying that she's the last person they want to hear that from. As long as she isn't actively doing anything, Kretea is easily the most clueless person in Aeternum, with more spontaneous and random thoughts than even Astur.

"Whatever, I still need to deal with the nerd's stuff. And I'll probaly stick around in the workshop for the rest of the day, I've got a few ideas in my head. So you two go and tell everyone about the holiday today," Astur says as she returns to her workshop.

Not long after parting with Kretea and Ystur, Zrathno returns to the workshop with some players in tow.

"I heard you declared today a holiday," Zrathno says.

"Yeah, so anyway, do you have that stuff I want?" Astur asks.

"Jeez, you really don't know how to hold a decent conversation, do you?"

"I do, I just don't want to. Now hand it over."

"Fine, here," Zrathno hands a small box and a rolled-up piece of paper, "Some EXP Potions and a blueprint for a gun."

"Good," Astur says, "You wouldn't happen to have any blueprints for high powered explosives, do you?"

"Yeah, but don't think that you'll be getting it."

"You can have the ring from before."

"I'll go get it," Zrathno runs back to his ship.

"Heh, easy," Astur says, before turning her attention to the player Zrathno left behind, "Just take those boxes of metal back to his ship. Be sure to enjoy the holiday afterwards, you people have put in some good work for me and deserve a break. If you want to buy something from me, it'll be 20% off until tomorrow, including the new stuff I got in stock. Just think of it as me showing some appreciation for the work you've all done."

Astur decides to act like a decent boss who takes care of those beneath her, at least on the surface. In truth, most of what she intends to sell to the players today are stuff that hasn't been sold to anyone yet. Astur intends to list the price of these items as discounted when in reality, the prices haven't changed from what she initially envisioned. However, the players, not knowing any better are naturally overjoyed, especially after seeing that the new items are stronger than what Astur had previously let players buy from her. In truth this is another scam, the items are the same as before, just with a different name. The only reason they're stronger than before is that Astur's bonus when making items was recently increased, and not because the item went through a fundamental change.

After Astur makes a few transactions with the players, they leave to transport Zrathno's materials over to his ship and soon after Zrathno returns with another blueprint in hand.

As Zrathno hands over the blueprint he asks, "Can you even use these blueprints?"

"Not directly, but I can tweak them to convert it into an alchemy recipe and make the same thing through alchemy instead of by hand like a Mechanic would. Now leave and don't bother me, I've got some bombs to make."