Cissia picked up the broom and began to sweep.
Seeing her busy figure, Furina nodded with satisfaction.
She then carried the daily necessities and bedding and headed upstairs to the second floor.
The second floor consisted of a bedroom, plus a shower room and a bathroom.
After laying out the blue and white cloud-patterned bedding, she began to clean the bedroom, then tossed the towels and other items into the washing machine to wash.
Time slowly passed, and soon it was evening.
When Furina went downstairs, she saw Cissia sitting on the chair at the entrance, looking like she had been burnt out.
She had lost her original color and was reduced to black and white.
She was slightly surprised for a moment, then looked at the lobby of the General Store.
It had to be said that although this little snake was a bit silly, she was quite efficient at getting things done.
She walked to the front desk and ran her hand over it.
“Hmm~ Very clean.
You’re not bad at cleaning, you know~”
Cissia regained her color.
She looked at Furina and said with a grin.
“Hehe, right, right~”
“It’s getting late, so you should head back first.
Stay safe.”
In an instant, Cissia’s expression stiffened, and she spoke slowly.
“I, I don’t have a home…
I’ve been wandering for all these years~”
“Then why don’t you find a job?”
“I’m not an adult yet, no one wants me…”
Furina then remembered that this little snake only joined the Public Security Bureau when she was an adult.
Although she knew what happened later, how should she put it?
Seeing how silly she was, she felt a bit uneasy about letting her go out and continue to wander.
“Then, you can stay at the General Store for now.
You did a pretty good job cleaning and whatnot.
You can move out once you’re an adult and find a job.”
Cissia quickly raised her head, staring blankly at the White-haired Cat Girl in front of her, the corners of her mouth trembling.
“Re, really?”
“Yes, of course~ But I’m only letting you stay until you find a job.
Got it?
Once you have a job, don’t stay here anymore.”
“Mm…
Furina~!
Thank you—”
The excited little snake wanted to rush up and hug Furina.
This time, she restrained herself slightly and did not dodge.
“Alright, alright!
Let’s go quickly.
Let’s have dinner while the hotpot restaurant across the street is still open.”
This is it!
Hehe, she really treated me to a meal, great~!
And it’s hotpot…
I always saw it on TV when I was wandering in the Outer Ring, it made me so hungry~ Haha…
“Okay, okay~”
Inside the hotpot restaurant, the savory soup base was bubbling away.
Furina held her bowl of dipping sauce, looking a bit dazed as she watched the silly snake opposite her eat dozens of plates of meat.
The corner of her mouth twitched.
It’s a good thing it’s all-you-can-eat, otherwise my shop would have gone bankrupt before it even opened because of you.
Under the resentful gaze of the shop owner, Furina and Cissia returned to the General Store.
Wearing sky-blue lace pajamas, Furina stood at the kitchen doorway, looking at Cissia lying in a sleeping bag, and warned her.
“Behave yourself and don’t cause any trouble, got it?
Otherwise, I’ll kick you out tomorrow~”
“Okay!
Don’t worry, Furina, I’ll be very well-behaved—”
Giving her a deep look, Furina said.
“You’d better be.”
After saying that, she yawned, went upstairs to her bedroom, and lay down in the soft bedding to sleep.
Early the next morning, Furina got up in a daze, stretched, and got out of bed to go to the shower room to wash up.
She changed into her signature blue-black formal dress, tidied herself up a bit in the mirror, adjusted her hat, opened the bedroom door, and went downstairs.
She saw the silly snake sitting on the recliner at the bar with her legs crossed, holding a bag of cookies in her hand, with an empty bottle of yogurt on the table.
The label on it clearly marked Furina’s name.
“Hey!
You silly snake, why are you sneaking food!”
Hearing the voice, Cissia froze for a moment, stood up in a panic, and put the cookies away.
“Ah, Furina~ You’re awake.
Did you sleep well last night?”
“It was fine at first, but after seeing you drink my yogurt and sneak my cookies, it’s not so good anymore.”
Scratching her cheek, Cissia said with a sheepish grin.
“Oh my~ I couldn’t help it, I’m sorry…”
She flashed to Furina’s side, pushed her to sit down on the recliner, and then began to massage Furina’s back and shoulders.
After spending some time together, she wasn’t as resistant to her closeness, but Furina still pouted angrily.
“I’ve never seen anyone like you.
You sleep in my place, eat my food, and then do things like sneaking food.
Didn’t I ask you last night if you wanted yogurt?
You said you didn’t.”
“Eating cookies made me choke, I was just trying to clear my throat~”
“Those cookies were mine too, and you said you didn’t want them either~!”
“I couldn’t help it in the middle of the night.
I had finished all my snacks, you weren’t waking up anytime soon, and I had no money for breakfast…
I had to have a little something to tide me over.”
Looking at her like this, Furina didn’t say anything more.
After all, she would need this silly snake to farm later, so she might as well indulge her this once.
“Alright, no next time, got it?”
“Mm-hmm, understood!
You’re the best, Furina.”
“Call me Store Manager~!”
“Yes!
Store Manager—”
Furina casually tossed a bag of denny to her and waved her hand.
“Go out and buy some breakfast.
You can use the remaining money to buy whatever you like to eat.
We have work to do after we eat.”
“Yes!
Store Manager~ Hehehe…”
Wagging her tail, Cissia took the bag of denny and went out with a grin.
Sighing, Furina took out the guidebook and walked slowly towards the basement.
She pushed the door open, walked down the stairs, turned on the energy lamps mentioned in the instructions, and the dim space was illuminated.
Plots of neat land were laid out, covering an area of about fifty square meters.
As she stepped into the basement, the guidebook emitted a blue light and floated into the air.
Its pages flipped, then it spread open to the introduction about farming in the basement.
[This is the underground planting area for growing herbs, where you might occasionally be able to purchase some precious herbs.
Herbs planted here grow rapidly under the illumination of the special energy lamps.
Therefore, the time for the herbs to mature is very short; please pay attention to harvesting them.]
[However, it doesn’t matter even if you forget, because they will continue to accumulate age.
The higher the age of the herb, the better its medicinal properties (this applies to most, though not all).]
[There is an Alchemy Room in the basement for refining herbs, which contains an Herbal Manual that might be able to help you.]
[Oh~ Right!
There are also some herb seeds stored in the Alchemy Room, which might be useful to you.]
After reading the guide, Furina began to look for the Alchemy Room.
Crossing the field, she finally found a wooden door in a corner.
She pushed the door open and walked in.
In the not-so-crowded space, the lights flickered.
In the middle stood a huge boiler with a natural chimney leading directly to the roof, so there was no need to worry about exhaust issues.
Beside it was an exquisite gray leather case, with a cyan book placed on top, which, as expected, was the Herbal Manual.
After opening and flipping through a few pages, Furina put the manual away and then opened the leather case.
Inside were three packets of herb seeds, with clear labels on them.
[Blood Bead Grass] [Melting Heart Flower] [Life-Breathing Leaf]
Based on the names of the three packets of herbs, Furina flipped through the manual in her hand and finally found all three of them on one of the pages.
[life recovery potion (Primary): 100-year Blood Bead Grass (2 beads) + 50-year Melting Heart Flower (1 bead) + 200-year Life-Breathing Leaf (2 leaves)]
[life recovery potion (Intermediate): 500-year Blood Bead Grass (4 beads) + 200-year Melting Heart Flower (1 bead) + 400-year Life-Breathing Leaf (6 leaves) + 100-year Condensed Bead Lotus sap (20ml)]
…
“The Primary life recovery potion treats simple injuries and allows for rapid recovery after consumption.
The Intermediate one is for more serious injuries.
The Advanced one requires the most materials and is more complex, but its recovery effect is the best; it can regrow bones and flesh, and can pull someone back from the brink of death even if they only have one breath left.”
“Is it that powerful!”
“Then the question is, I’m not some awesome alchemist, so how do I know the age of the herbs I’m growing?”
Just as Furina was puzzled, the guidebook circling around her suddenly gave the answer.
[As a beginner, it is naturally difficult to distinguish the value of some herbs and treasures, so the box contains a mysterious little tool left by the previous owner of the General Store—the Omniscient Analysis Monocle.]
“Is this the General Store guidebook?
It’s terrifyingly powerful; whatever I need, it has…
Truly amazing~”