NaraMoore ⛩️👻八尺様👻⛩️ at Fedi<p><strong><a href="https://sakurajima.moe/tags/Wss366" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Wss366</span></a> <a href="https://sakurajima.moe/tags/Mastoprompt" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Mastoprompt</span></a> 7/3<br><a href="https://sakurajima.moe/tags/FanFiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>FanFiction</span></a> <a href="https://sakurajima.moe/tags/TheApothecaryDiaries" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>TheApothecaryDiaries</span></a></strong></p><p><strong>Sweet Tea (甘茶)</strong></p><p><strong>Part 1: Licorice 甘草</strong></p><p>“I knew there was some here,” Mao mused as she <strong><a href="https://sakurajima.moe/tags/check" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>check</span></a></strong>ed the apothecary stock of Gān Cǎo. She might have used more than expected, but no, she would have remembered buying more.</p><p>She pulled another bamboo tube from the shelf, still mulling the question <strong><a href="https://sakurajima.moe/tags/over" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>over</span></a></strong> in her mind. </p><p>“Perhaps Sazen <strong>over</strong>looked restocking it,” she thought. “If that’s the case, I’ll give him a talking to.”</p><p>Running out of Gān Cǎo would impact the harmonizing of drugs.</p><p>“<em>At least it’s not Kokuyou. He doesn’t make that kind of mistake. So it’s got to be Sazen. I’ll make his ears sting.</em>”</p><p>She extracted a root from the tube in her hand. “Humm…” She inspected it, feeling the rough edges with her fingers. Someone had been shaving off large slivers instead of flakes. Pieces that would need to be shaved down later. “Sazen wouldn’t make more work for himself, so who <em>was</em> taking the Gān Cǎo?”</p><p>She tapped the tube, pursing her lips.</p><p>Still puzzled, she made her way to the Verdigris’s main building. Madam’s voice drifted out from a side room, “… and he broke it, and you didn’t charge…” Mao felt sorry for her victim, but she was right: you break it, you buy it.</p><p>Ukyou, their bouncer and Madam’s right-hand man, sat by the door. He raised his eyebrows and nodded toward Madam’s room.</p><p>“<em>Just the person I’m looking for,</em>” Mao thought. “<em>He knows everything and keeps quiet when it doesn’t matter. No point in Grandma knowing what I’m after.</em>”</p><p>“Whose grandma got in there?” she asked. Not that she cared. But the conversation would go better if she seemed sympathetic.</p><p>“… Of course you’ll pay for it…” Madam’s voice had that cold edge, signaling she was concluding the lecture.</p><p>“Suiren, she should have known better, but she let a client bully her.” He held up his hands helplessly. “Now she answers to Madam. Not the wiser path.”</p><p>“… twice its value, and…” Madam’s voice dropped, leaving the ultimate punishment in question.</p><p>Mao promptly forgot both that and the young courtesan’s name.</p><p>“I was wondering,” Mao changed the subject, “if any of the women have been looking ill: bloated, flushed, or unusually tired, like she’s been drinking too much. She might not be taking as many clients, or they’ve been complaining she’s off.”</p><p>“I knew you wanted something. Why did you even bother asking about Suiren? I bet you don’t even remember her name.”</p><p>Mao shrugged. It was true; she’d already forgotten the name. The unfortunate girl was now just that, “The Unfortunate Girl.”</p><p>“Amacha, Zulin’s older sister, is who you’re looking for. Help the girl out before…” He nodded toward the source of “The Unfortunate Girl’s” crying </p><p>(Part 1 to be continued.)</p><p><a href="https://sakurajima.moe/tags/MicroFiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>MicroFiction</span></a> <a href="https://sakurajima.moe/tags/NMPrompts" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>NMPrompts</span></a> <a href="https://sakurajima.moe/tags/NMV366" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>NMV366</span></a> <a href="https://sakurajima.moe/tags/NMMP" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>NMMP</span></a><br> <a href="https://sakurajima.moe/tags/%E8%96%AC%E5%B1%8B%E3%81%AE%E3%81%B2%E3%81%A8%E3%82%8A%E3%81%94%E3%81%A8" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>薬屋のひとりごと</span></a> <a href="https://sakurajima.moe/tags/ApothecaryDiaries" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ApothecaryDiaries</span></a><br><a href="https://sakurajima.moe/tags/LightNovel" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>LightNovel</span></a> <a href="https://sakurajima.moe/tags/Manga" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Manga</span></a> <a href="https://sakurajima.moe/tags/Fantasy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Fantasy</span></a> <a href="https://sakurajima.moe/tags/ApothecaryDiaries" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ApothecaryDiaries</span></a><br><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://sakurajima.moe/@yon" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">@<span>yon</span></a></span> <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/@bytebro" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">@<span>bytebro</span></a></span></p>