Ezekiel woke up, realizing that he still wakes up earlier than most in this world. He silently wished to himself that he could stop waking up so damn early and just sleep in for just a bit longer. However, as he laid on his bed contemplating as to whether or not he should go back to sleep, he remembered that he was supposed to work this morning, as well as go out into town with Aqua. With that in mind, he decided to get up and begin getting ready for the day. Ezekiel, feeling a little dirty since he wasn't able to get rid of all of the dirt and sweat by only using the hot spring water, glanced down at the iron pan that held the soap batter. Ezekiel, out of curiosity, gently poked his finger into the batter, and to his surprise, it was hard to poke his finger into it. It's almost done. Should be finished by sometime tonight, thought Ezekiel, smiling at the thought that he can finally feel clean after bathing for days without soap. Ezekiel's normal clothes and work clothes had also been getting quite dirty, so the soap, while not as good as something like liquid laundry detergent or laundry detergent pods, might be able to help with getting his clothes somewhat clean as well. With that, Ezekiel flipped open his Book of Knowledge in order to learn more about the world.
Ezekiel was reading his book for about a good 10 minutes when he stumbled upon something rather interesting. It appeared that someone had made a frozen grape-flavored treat by mixing grape juice and water together, then freezing it using magic. By using a little stick that was frozen along with the grape juice and water, customers who bought it could comfortably hold the frozen treat and eat it to their heart's content, or at least until it fully melted. That sounds suspiciously like a popsicle, thought Ezekiel, who then smirked. I can definitely make something better than he could any day, especially if it's something simple like ice cream, thought Ezekiel. Then, an idea hit Ezekiel. Ice cream in a bag would be easy to do, since it's quite literally a kid's experiment, although these people may think it's food sent from the gods, thought Ezekiel. Ezekiel remembered the time when his parents wouldn't go get ice cream when he asked for it, so he decided to look up if he could make ice cream at home. To his surprise, he found that he could, and by performing the experiment, he made ice cream in a bag and understood the science behind it. Ezekiel smiled mischievously, daydreaming about all of the money he could make if he made ice cream in a bag properly. Ezekiel's daydream came to a sudden halt when he realized there was an essential item he was missing for ice cream in a bag: the bag itself. Plastic hasn't been invented yet, much less a plastic bag that can hold a gallon of liquid, thought Ezekiel. He figured he would just have to make a workaround for this since Ezekiel didn't have the manpower or the technology needed to make plastic. The bag was simply there to hold everything together, so all he would need to do is use a bowl, or maybe even a tankard if needed. Ezekiel, sighing in relief since he thought ice cream in a bag would become an actual problem without the bag, set his book down and headed downstairs to begin his work for the morning.
Before work actually began, Ezekiel, with the thought of ice cream in a bag still fresh in his mind, decided to take inventory of the items that will be needed for this to work. After inspecting all the ingredients, he came to the conclusion that almost everything they would need would be found in the kitchen. However, as all ice cream would usually need, Ezekiel realized they were missing some kind of vanilla extract. Upon realizing this, Ezekiel remembered that there was a shop that sold vanilla extract since he remembered being surprised that it actually existed in this world. I can probably grab some vanilla extract while I'm out with Aqua, thought Ezekiel. Suddenly, Whiskey entered the kitchen and was surprised to see Ezekiel here this early in the morning. "Damn, lad, you must be really fuckin' excited for work if you're here this early," said Whiskey, to which Ezekiel replied, "I guess you could say that." Whiskey just chuckled, then asked, "How many Lad Steaks you think we can sell today? They've been a hit ever since we added them on the menu." Ezekiel said, "However many I can get before Aqua gets here. I promised her that I would walk around the town with her." Whiskey nodded, then replied, "That's fine, lad. Before you leave, I'll pay you for a full day's work since you did work quite a bit last night and now this morning." Ezekiel replied, "Okay," before beginning to prepare the kitchen for the day.
About 5 minutes later, Whiskey noticed that Zoey was cleaning the tables before the customers arrived, and Whiskey then turned to Ezekiel, then asked, "Lad, do you know the history behind Zoey? Do you know anything about her life up to this point?" Ezekiel, a little interested in the question, replied, "No. She's never told me." Whiskey replied, "I thought so. She's the type who doesn't bring up the past no matter how hard you try to pry it out of her or how close you are to her. I'm the only exception since I'm the only one she's ever spoken to about her past. I know you and her have been getting quite close with each other, so I figured I'd go ahead and tell you the story of Zoey so you know what you're dealing with." Whiskey then cleared his throat, and while still setting up the kitchen, said, "Zoey is a slave that I bought when I first opened The Crimson Tankard Inn. Oh, but don't get me wrong! Although I bought her as a slave, I never once treated her as one. I've always treated any slaves that I bought with care and compassion, providing them with a place to stay and warm meals when they ask for it. She's 20 now, so I believe I bought her when she was 10, around when the Humanity War ended." Whiskey quickly scratched his head, then continued, saying, "Due to the Humanity War, she lost both of her parents when humans raided her village. She's pretty much in the same boat as Bear was at that time, except with Zoey, she was captured and put up for sale as a demi-human slave." Whiskey then looked up and had a thousand-yard stare, as if thinking about something from long ago. "I can still remember how broken she looked, how lifeless her eyes were due to the atrocities of the humans that she was forced to witness. The slave traders treated her like shit, too. She looked so dehydrated that if she were to cry, no tears would come out. Realizing this, I bought her in an attempt to save her life." Whiskey then looked at Ezekiel, saying, "I had her work here for the time being. I gave her fair pay, a place to sleep, meals when she needed them, and most of all, I tried to be something like a loving father to her in place of her biological father. As time passed, she began to become older, and I felt that it was time that she started making her own choices. When I thought she was ready to tackle the world by herself, I gave her the option to be set free. However, she chose to stay and work here. The only thing that changed when I offered her freedom was where she lived, and I suppose she wanted to try living on her own and paying her own rent and all of that. I respected her decision, and as the place gradually got more popular, I bought more slaves and hired others in an attempt to give Zoey some friends to talk to, but she seemed very shy around them and never seemed to grow close to any of the other slaves. Despite her shyness, I always see Zoey with a certain look on her face, as if she wanted to talk to them but couldn't bring herself to do it due to her shyness. Then, she met Bear, who at the time just happened to be a new customer in The Crimson Tankard Inn. Bear then started to become a regular, and would always ask for Zoey. Zoey seemed to enjoy Bear's company, probably because they've been through similar pasts, and she probably also enjoyed the wacky tales that Bear would always tell her, sort of how a big brother would exaggerate out something to his little sister. They would just talk when Bear came, and I think Bear helped Zoey break out of her shell far better than I could ever do." Whiskey then sighed, and said, "In full honesty, I'm not sure if I fulfilled the role I should have as a 'master' and a stand-in father since I've never been either one until Zoey came along. However, when I see the genuine smile that she gives to her wonderful friends like you and Bear, I feel relieved that she's no longer the broken child she used to be." Whiskey went silent for a bit, then Ezekiel replied, "Well, you did provide for her after all, and took her in when no one else would. If she's still working here despite you giving her the option to be set free, you must be doing something right, old man." Whiskey chuckled, then, with a bright smile, said, "Maybe so, lad. Maybe so." With that, Zoey then opened the doors to The Crimson Tankard Inn, and Ezekiel and Whiskey got right to work.
The morning shift was not as bad as it could have been, but a lot of Lad Steaks were ordered. Steaks aren't even a morning meal, and feel free to fight me on that, thought Ezekiel. Ezekiel got so caught up in his work that he was unaware that it was getting close to the time he was supposed to meet up with Aqua. Due to this, a familiar-looking girl with blue hair and blue robes poked her head into The Crimson Tankard Inn, looking around for Ezekiel. Ezekiel spotted her, and Aqua noticed that Ezekiel was looking at her. Aqua blushed, then quickly shut the front door of The Crimson Tankard Inn. Whiskey observed what played out just then, gave Ezekiel a small pouch filled with coins and said, "It's bad to keep a lady waitin', lad. That's your pay for the day. Now shoo, lad. Get out of here and go meet with her." Ezekiel nodded, saying, "Thanks, Whiskey," then headed outside to meet up with Aqua.
Aqua was standing outside The Crimson Tankard Inn, and Ezekiel greeted her with a smile and a gentle wave. Aqua blushed, looked down at the ground with a smile, then returned the wave. Ezekiel then said, "I got two things I gotta show you once we're done looking around the town." Aqua, still looking down, shyly said, "O-Okay." Suddenly, there was a strange noise, like an animal growling, but Ezekiel realized that it came from Aqua. Aqua looked up at Ezekiel, blushing intensely. Ezekiel just laughed, then asked, "Do you wanna come with me to get something to eat?" Aqua nervously replied, "Y-Yes!" With that, Aqua and Ezekiel began their adventure around the town. Ezekiel was thinking of making a sandwich, so Ezekiel asked, "Aqua, have you ever heard of a food item called a 'sandwich'?" Aqua thought for a minute before replying, "N-No, w-what is a s-s-sandwich?" Ezekiel just said, "It's a healthy food that's pretty popular where I come from. It might be easier to show you instead of trying to describe it. Come on, we can both grab some of the ingredients needed to make it!" Ezekiel then grabbed onto Aqua's hand, who quietly squealed in surprise, and Ezekiel began leading Aqua around to shops that sold the items needed to make a sandwich. The first stop was a vegetable stand, where Ezekiel was able to buy lettuce slices and tomato slices. The next stop was a dairy shop, and Ezekiel was able to buy some popular cheese from the shopkeeper. The next stop was a bakery, where Ezekiel got a loaf of baguette bread since it was long and could be easily split between two people without having to cut up an entire loaf of bread into equal slices. The final stop was a meat butcher, with Ezekiel deciding to have cooked turkey on his sandwich, and Aqua deciding to have cooked turkey as well after seeing Ezekiel get turkey. Once all the ingredients were bought, Ezekiel led Aqua over to the large fountain in the center of the town and began showing her how to make the sandwich. To Aqua's surprise, it was quite easy to make, and something she could definitely make on her own if she really wanted to. Ezekiel then showed her how to eat the sandwich, and decided to let Aqua have the first taste of the sandwich before he began his. Aqua bit into her sandwich with a small "Om" sound being made and started to chew, uncertain of what to expect. Suddenly, her eyes lit up. She blushed, timidly saying, "I-It's good!" Ezekiel laughed, then asked, "Right? Who knew something so simple could be so good?" Ezekiel then explained, "There are multiple ways you can make a sandwich, and you don't necessarily have to put on what I did today. You can change out the meat and vegetables if you feel like it, but the bread is a must-have in order to call it a sandwich." Aqua silently nodded in reply, saying, "I-I like this s-sandwich you made the most," while blushing even more and looking at the ground. Ezekiel just smiled, saying, "That's great to hear. Thank you!" Aqua quickly pulled out a rather small leather pouch, reached into it, and pulled out two small wooden cups. Ezekiel looked at the leather pouch, noticing there was a strange symbol attached to it. Aqua, noticing Ezekiel, timidly said, "T-T-This is storage m-magic." Ezekiel asked, "Storage magic?" "Y-Yes," replied Aqua. "I-It allows you to s-store many items i-inside something that w-would usually not be a-able to fit many items i-inside of it," said Aqua. Ezekiel's eyes widened, saying, "Oh! Like inventory space!" Aqua nervously smiled, unsure of what Ezekiel meant by "inventory space." Aqua then used water magic to fill both of their wooden cups up with water. Ezekiel then decided to use magic to add ice to his water, saying, "What you taught me is already coming in handy, Aqua!" Aqua blushed, nodded in reply, and began to slowly drink her water.
After they both finished up lunch, Ezekiel said, "There's a shop somewhere close by that I need to grab something from." Aqua simply nodded, blushed, then extended out her hand to Ezekiel. Initially confused, Ezekiel stared at her for a moment, then realized that she wanted to hold hands with him. Ezekiel turned beet red, asking, "A-Are you sure, Aqua? P-P-People might get the wrong idea!" Aqua blushed even more than Ezekiel, looked down at the ground, then said, "Y-Yes." Ezekiel gulped, grabbed onto Aqua's hand, and Ezekiel led her to the shop that he needed to go to. After about 5 minutes of walking around, Ezekiel and Aqua finally made it to the shop selling vanilla extract. Oddly enough, it was actually a scent shop that specialized in selling scented items. I guess vanilla extract does give off a nice smell, although it's meant for cooking, thought Ezekiel. The female shopkeeper saw Ezekiel and Aqua walk in holding hands, saying, "Welcome! What kind of scent are you looking for? Something to spice up the emotions in the bedroom, perhaps?" Ezekiel immediately let go of Aqua's hand, as both of them blushed extremely hard. "U-Uh, we're not a couple," quickly stammered Ezekiel, who then gave off a nervous laugh. The female shopkeeper looked as if she didn't believe them, then said, "Huh. Well, I could see you two passing off as quite the couple if I do say so myself. Oh well." Those words rang inside of Aqua's mind, who blushed even more, thinking that it might be possible for her one day. Ezekiel then began looking around in the area that he saw vanilla extract the last time and managed to find quite a big bottle of it. He grabbed it and said to the female shopkeeper, "How much is this?" The female shopkeeper inspected it, smelled it, then said, "Since this isn't really a hot item right now, and since you two are my favorite couple that I've seen thus far, I'm willing to give you it for 2 copper coins." Ezekiel blushed heavily, quickly pulled out 2 copper coins, then grabbed Aqua's hand and exited the shop.
Ezekiel and Aqua were now outside of the fragrance shop, and Ezekiel was admiring the bottle of vanilla extract. Ezekiel then turned to Aqua, asking, "Is there anything that you wanna do, Aqua?" Aqua blushed at this question, thought for a moment, then said, "W-W-Well, I-I wanna see the two surprises you said y-you had for m-me." Ezekiel simply said, "Okay! We're gonna have to go back to The Crimson Tankard Inn, though. Do you want to do anything else while we're out here?" Aqua thought for a moment, then said, "C-Can we stop by some other m-magic stores?" Ezekiel smiled warmly, then said, "Of course! Lead the way!" Aqua smiled warmly at Ezekiel, grabbed his hand, and led him to a magic shop that was relatively close by. Once inside, Aqua and Ezekiel looked around at the many things that the magic shop offered. Ezekiel asked, "Won't Margaret be pissed that you're shopping at other magic stores instead of hers?" Aqua timidly said, "S-She said it's a g-good way to expand my k-knowledge of magic, s-since these other s-shops could be selling magic s-stuff that I-I don't know about." Ezekiel was impressed by Margaret's thought process. If it was him running the magic shop, he'd probably force her to buy out all of his magic items. Ezekiel then felt his eyes drift towards a couple stacks of small, blank sheets of paper. Ezekiel then said, "Paper? Why does a magic shop need to sell paper?" Aqua picked up a sheet of paper, drew a small symbol on it, then put a little mana into it. The paper started glowing a faint white color, then disappeared before Ezekiel's eyes, only leaving behind the small symbol that was now drawn onto Aqua's hand. Ezekiel's eyes widened in surprise, but after about a minute, the symbol that was on her hand began to fade until nothing was there. Aqua explained, "I-It's a special kind of paper t-that is made for d-d-drawing on magic s-symbols in order to c-cast spells." Aqua pulled out her leather pouch, saying, "T-This pouch, I-I, uh, put a storage spell symbol on one of these special s-sheets of paper, then put mana i-into it, so now this p-pouch can be used to h-hold a lot more items, as I e-explained earlier." Ezekiel thought about that concept for a moment, then said, "That seems pretty handy. Does it only work for inanimate objects?" Aqua shook her head in reply, then said, "I-It depends on what it is. Non-living things will have it permanently on them o-once you've put it on. It can be used for l-living things, but o-only for a short time. F-For example, if y-you were to place a piece of paper w-with the symbol of the f-fire affinity, I-I would be able to use f-fire spells for a very short time. L-Length of time is a-also determined by how much m-mana you put into it." Ezekiel thought about this, and the more he thought about it, he thought that being able to use all the elements isn't all that spectacular if anyone can use all of them for a short time. Ezekiel, sort of feeling depressed now, decided to get some just in case he needed them. Aqua continued looking around the store in fascination, and Ezekiel began looking at some potions. He noticed that they all had symbols on them that looked like they used the paper to draw spell symbols on them. So this must be why potions aren't as effective as the real spell they come from, thought Ezekiel, remembering the words of Margaret. He looked through the different variety of spells, such as healing potions, magical defense potions, physical defense potions, and even stumbled upon love potions. Aqua blushed heavily when she realized Ezekiel was taking a look at the love potions. "U-Um, w-what i-is that you're l-looking at, E-E-Ezekiel?" Ezekiel just laughed, saying, "A love potion, but this shit's probably fake as hell. A real love potion would boost the output of pheromones in order to attract the opposite sex, but I can guarantee you this probably isn't the case. It might be some watered-down potion that doesn't even work." Aqua gave Ezekiel a confused look, and Ezekiel simplified it down for her, saying, "Basically, people think love potions are where you make someone drink it and they magically fall in love with you, right? There's no such thing as a love potion doing that. That's not how real 'love potions' actually work. The person drinking the potion won't fall in love, but rather have a higher chance of attracting the opposite sex due to hormones being released from their body, giving the opposite sex the thought that they might be attracted to the person who drank the love potion. And it doesn't even have to be a potion necessarily. It can be essential oils that boost your pheromones output. It's not always guaranteed to work, but it does increase your chances of attracting who you want to attract." Ezekiel set the love potion back on the shelf, laughing to himself at how stupid these fake love potions were. Is that why, when I gave the water that had some of the love potion mixed in it for Ezekiel to drink today when we had sandwiches, that my feelings towards him only got stronger, and not the other way around, thought Aqua, who was now considering buying another love potion to drink herself when Ezekiel was around. Without Ezekiel knowing, she quickly purchased another love potion and put it inside her leather pouch. Once done looking around the shop, they both headed outside and headed to the next magic shop. This would continue for a while since Aqua was trying to spend as much time as possible with Ezekiel.
Once they looked at all the shops that they wanted to, they both realized that it was about dinnertime. Ezekiel then said, "Well, I think it's about time we head back to The Crimson Tankard Inn so I can show you the two surprises I have for you. Want me to cook up something while we're there, too?" Aqua blushed, smiled, and shyly responded, "S-Sure!" They both walked back to The Crimson Tankard Inn, walked through the front door, and realized that the place was packed full of customers. Ezekiel thought to himself for a moment, then decided to take the risk of making Lad Steaks for both himself and Aqua, so he said, "Aqua, I'm gonna go ahead and make some Lad Steaks. Can you go find a seat for us while I'm doing that?" Aqua smiled, blushed, nodded, then went to find an open seat. Ezekiel made a mad dash to the kitchen, put the vanilla extract he picked up from the store today in a spot where only he would find it and began preparing the steaks. I really hope Whiskey doesn't ask for my help tonight, thought Ezekiel. As if speaking of the devil, Whiskey turned the corner and walked right into the kitchen. Whiskey saw Ezekiel cooking steaks, and the two of them entered a staring contest by accident, with Whiskey looking at Ezekiel, and Ezekiel just staring at Whiskey with a blank face. They stared at each other for about a minute, then Whiskey blinked and carried on with what he was originally doing, deciding not to say anything since he actually saw Ezekiel come in with Aqua. Ezekiel breathed a sigh of relief and resumed cooking the steaks. Once they were done cooking, Ezekiel brought the steaks out to the table where Aqua was sitting, and they both began eating.
By the time Ezekiel and Aqua finished eating their steaks, the crowd had died down quite a bit, and Ezekiel decided that this would be the best time to make ice cream in a bag, except it wouldn't be made in a bag, but rather two large bowls and two tankards. "Alright, Aqua, I'm gonna show you surprise number one, so follow me," said Ezekiel. Ezekiel brought Aqua to the kitchen so he could show her the process of how to make ice cream in a bag. He set out the needed ingredients, as well as quickly measured out the proper portions needed of each ingredient: 1/2 cup of milk, 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1/3 cup of table salt, 3 cups crushed ice (Ezekiel magically made the ice and quickly crushed it), 2 bowls, 2 tankards, and 2 pieces of rope. "The surprise is going to be the final product of our efforts here and now, so I'll tell you what to do in order to reach the surprise," said Ezekiel. Aqua blushed, then said, "O-Okay!" "First, we need one of those bowls to have ice in it," said Ezekiel. Aqua dumped the crushed ice into the bowl. "Now, throw the salt on the ice." Aqua poured the salt over the top of all of the ice inside the bowl. "By throwing salt on it, we essentially lower the melting point of the ice, just as if we were to throw salt overtop an icy road," explained Ezekiel. "S-So, it takes less h-heat to melt t-the ice," asked Aqua. Ezekiel exclaimed, "Bingo, what a smart cookie," and Aqua blushed at the praise that Ezekiel gave her. "Next, we need to take one of the tankards and add in the milk, vanilla extract, and sugar," said Ezekiel. Aqua did just that, pouring those ingredients into a tankard. "I'll handle this next part, Aqua, since all we really need to do is tie up the tankards and bowls with the rope here," said Ezekiel. Ezekiel placed the empty tankard overtop the tankard with the ingredients in it, tied them both together to make sure the ingredients in it don't come out by accident and gave it a test shake. To his surprise, it actually worked properly. Ezekiel then placed the tankards inside the bowl with ice and salt, then placed another bowl over the top of that bowl, almost as if he was creating a wooden sphere with two bowls, and tied the two bowls together like that. "Now, all that's left to do is shake it for about 10 minutes, and we'll be left with a pretty sweet surprise," said Ezekiel with enthusiasm. Aqua offered to shake it first, and Aqua shook it for about 5 minutes before her arms got tired. Ezekiel then shook it for the remaining time. After Ezekiel felt that he shook it for long enough, he untied the bowls and took out the tankards which were really cold to the touch, but a good sign nevertheless. He then set the tankard with ingredients upright, untied the rope tying the tankards together, and revealed a nice-looking ice cream surprise for Aqua. Ezekiel handed a spoon to Aqua and said, "This is the surprise, Aqua. It's called 'ice cream.' Ice cream is a sweet compound that chemically combines different ingredients to make this sweet, cold treat. From where I come from, they have a multitude of different flavors and different textures, but I wanted you to have the original flavor of ice cream, which is vanilla." Aqua blushed and looked down at the ground, as this was something she wasn't expecting at all. After a small moment, Aqua looked at the tankard with ice cream, happily shoved her spoon into the ice cream, and before she took a bite, Ezekiel said, "Ice cream is usually pretty cold, especially if made fresh like this, so be careful." Aqua nodded, then proceeded to take a bite with a loud "Om." Aqua's eyes widened in surprise, exclaiming, "I-It's good! It's c-c-cold, but c-creamy and s-soft! It's the f-food of the gods!" Ezekiel chuckled, saying, "Glad you like it," and grabbed a spoon and tried the ice cream himself. Not bad, but I've definitely had better ice cream than this, thought Ezekiel with a satisfied smile.
"Go ahead and eat the rest, I gotta go grab the next surprise," said Ezekiel, and Aqua simply nodded in reply. Ezekiel quickly ran upstairs to his room, grabbed the iron pan filled with soap batter, which was now dry and ready to be used, and brought it downstairs. Before he went back into the kitchen, he spotted Zoey and asked, "Can you come to the kitchen? The soap is done and I wanna show you what it can do." Zoey smiled, happy at the fact that Ezekiel remembered their promise, then said, "Sure!" Both Ezekiel and Zoey went inside the kitchen and found a happy Aqua who finished all of her ice cream. Zoey and Aqua were surprised to see one another at first, but both gave each other a welcoming smile. Ezekiel then set the iron pan down onto a kitchen counter, grabbed a knife, and began cutting the soap into fairly sized bars of soap. After he was done cutting, he was able to squeeze out about 20 bars of soap, and Ezekiel estimated that each bar of soap, if used properly, would potentially last for about 2-3 months. "Zoey, I remember our promise, so I'll explain how to use soap so you can wash your hands with it," said Ezekiel. Zoey nodded, and Ezekiel had Zoey stand next to their "sink," which was really just a barrel full of water with a nozzle and a large bucket on the floor to catch the water. Zoey turned on the nozzle, which let the water flow out of the barrel, and wet her hands. Ezekiel then said, "Okay, now grab onto this piece of soap and rub your hands with it for about 20 seconds to kill off any germs and bacteria that might be living on your hands." Zoey did just that, amazed by the bubbles being formed on her hands and how the soap became slippery enough for her to almost lose her grip on it. Ezekiel then said, "Go ahead and place the soap here, then wash your hands off with the water." Zoey did just that, and to her surprise, her hands felt much, much cleaner. Aqua also washed her hands off with the soap, also amazed at how clean her hands felt. Ezekiel then said, "This soap can also wash off your body, too, not just your hands. How about you two go try it out in the hot spring public bath behind here?" Both girls responded with, "Okay," and ran off with the bar of soap. Ezekiel grabbed a bar of soap for himself and began washing his hands when Whiskey came into the kitchen, noticing what Ezekiel was doing, and asked "What are ya doin', lad?" Ezekiel simply tossed him a bar of soap, and Whiskey went through the process of washing his hands. "This is a feeling that someone could get addicted to, lad," said Whiskey, also amazed at how clean his hands were. Ezekiel explained the benefits of it to Whiskey, then Whiskey said, "I'll have my employees wash their hands like this from now on if that's the case. You might just be a fuckin' genius, lad, coming up with something like this from scratch." Ezekiel just chuckled. Then, Bear came stumbling into The Crimson Tankard Inn, suddenly shouting, "Little bro! Zoey told me the soap is done and that it's kickass! Is that true?" Ezekiel popped his head out from the kitchen, responding, "Yeah! Come try it!" Bear went through the same hand-washing process, and afterward, said, "I feel so clean! I'm gonna try bathing with it to see if it can wash my ass until it's shining like a bald man's head!" I doubt it since your ass is probably so damn hairy. Not that I would know, though, thought Ezekiel. Bear ran off with a bar of soap, and a bunch of customers began gathering around to see what the commotion was. Using this opportunity, he began a sales pitch to the curious customers for the bars of soap that he had left, demonstrating how to use it, the benefits of it, and drove a hard bargain for 3 silver a bar. The customers cleaned out Ezekiel's inventory of soap, and those who didn't get soap asked Ezekiel when he would be able to make more. "When I get a better workforce, I'll be able to make more," said Ezekiel. One customer spoke up, saying, "You could probably hire some slaves to do that kind of work for you." Ezekiel then remembered what Bear said about freeing some slaves from slave traders in town, and remembered his offer to Bear, where he would offer the slaves work, meals, a place to stay, and even pay them good wages. Ezekiel then said, "I'll look into that, but soap won't be available for the next few days at the latest." The customers that didn't get soap walked off in disappointment. Soap could literally save me from having to do this kind of hard work, thought Ezekiel, who was soon consumed by daydreams of him becoming a millionaire just by selling soap.
Soon, both Aqua and Zoey came back, explaining that they felt super clean after using the soap in the bath shack. Bear came back, disappointed that his ass wasn't able to become shiny as he thought it would be. The soap seems to be working properly, so maybe I'll try it out when I go take my bath, thought Ezekiel. Ezekiel then said, "I think it's getting pretty late, Aqua. I can walk you back if you want me to." Aqua, wrapping her bar of soap up, blushed, then smiled and enthusiastically said, "Sure!" Bear then said, "Little bro, you created some magical shit that made me feel blessed to receive it. I feel like you're only getting started, too!" Ezekiel grinned, saying, "Damn right I am, Bear." With that, Bear and Zoey thanked Ezekiel for the bar of soap, and Ezekiel and Aqua began walking back to Margaret's magic shop. Once they reached Margaret's magic shop, Ezekiel asked, "Did you have fun today?" Aqua blushed, then nodded her head in a shy manner to respond to Ezekiel's question. Ezekiel let out a sigh of relief, then chuckled, saying, "That's good. I'm still sort of new to this city so I didn't know what would be fun to do around here, so I was worried you might be getting bored!" Aqua then said, in almost a whisper to where Ezekiel couldn't hear, "I-I always h-have fun w-when I'm around y-y-you!" Ezekiel turned to Aqua, then asked, "Did you say something?" Aqua blushed even more, shook her head, then looked at the ground in embarrassment. Ezekiel then said, "Well, stick by me if you wanna see me create more wacky shit like ice cream and soap. I'm only getting started with science in this world!" Aqua slowly looked up at Ezekiel in admiration while furiously blushing, then said, "I will!" With that, they both said goodnight to each other, and Ezekiel headed back to The Crimson Tankard Inn.
Ezekiel arrived at The Crimson Tankard Inn and found Zoey outside with a cute pouty face. Ezekiel asked, "What's wrong, Zoey?" Zoey's pouty face remained unchanged as she said, "How come I didn't get any of this 'ice cream' you gave to Aqua?" Ezekiel stepped back in surprise, asking, "How the hell do you know about that?!" Zoey leaned in close to Ezekiel, softly beating on him, saying, "She told me while we were taking a bath! That's no fair, Ezekiel! You idiot! I wanna try ice cream!" Ezekiel sighed, then said, "Yeah, yeah, I'll make you some really quick. I just need about 15 minutes, okay?" Zoey, still showing her cute pouty face, said, "Okay." In the next 15 minutes, he made the ice cream that Zoey wanted so bad, with Zoey inspecting the process of how he made the ice cream. Zoey was not disappointed when she tasted it for the first time. Her eyes widened with delight, saying, "It's cold, but it's so good! It's creamy! It's soft! It's perfect!" Ezekiel laughed, then said, "Happy now?" Zoey then hugged Ezekiel, who blushed a tad bit. Zoey then said, "I am now!" With that, Zoey ate the rest of her ice cream, and Ezekiel was about to leave to go take a bath when Zoey stopped him by grabbing onto his shirt. "Can you walk me home, Ezekiel," asked Zoey. Ezekiel sighed, saying, "I gotta go take a bath though." Zoey's cute pouty face returned immediately as she said, "It's no fair! Why do you offer to take Aqua home but not me! Idiot!" Ezekiel realized that this would continue forever until he walked her home, so he sighed, then said, "Fine. I'll walk you home." A bright smile appeared on Zoey's face, and together, they walked out of The Crimson Tankard Inn.
After about five minutes of walking, they stopped at a small inn. Zoey then said, "This is me!" She hugged Ezekiel, who blushed a bit more this time. Zoey then said, "Thank you for everything and showing me your new cool inventions!" Ezekiel smiled, then said, "Well, stick by me if you wanna see me create more wacky shit like ice cream and soap. I'm only getting started with science in this world!" Zoey smiled brightly at Ezekiel, then said, "You can count on me to stick around!" Suddenly, a voice said, "What about me, little bro?" Bear appeared from behind Zoey and Ezekiel. While smiling, Bear wrapped his arm over Ezekiel like he was about to put him in a chokehold. Bear then said, "I'll also be around to see what wacky shit you make next, little bro!" Ezekiel then said, "I appreciate it, big bro!" With that, Zoey went inside her shack, but Bear stayed put. Bear then said, "Little bro, we're busting out some slaves tomorrow. I'll come to get you when I'm ready." Ezekiel simply nodded, and with that, Bear and Ezekiel went their separate ways.
Ezekiel took a bath with the soap, and he had to admit, it was a feeling that he missed. Feeling completely clean felt like a godly luxury that only so many people could have. After his bath, he went back to The Crimson Tankard Inn, and before entering his room, he greeted the front desk girl as he always does, which she seemed pretty happy about. Tired from today and feeling so clean from the bath with soap, Ezekiel immediately fell asleep.
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