"I think some combination of you giving over a little money for different traps, setting fish farms, and fishing somewhere else can work if you two can present me as the solution to their 'angry spirit' problem. It feels kind of dirty - lying and all - but I think it'll actually improve their lives and save the turtles and give me a good reason to hang around here and learn local takes on the ecosystem."

"Well, it is lying," Tret says, "Buuuut this is the solution that gets everyone what they want and saves the flying turtles you have no idea how crazy that is Eefina but we definitely have to see them before we go back."

"I really don't," Eefina agrees about the turtles. "My tutors used to say there were two kinds of compromise. The honest kind, where no one gets what they want, and the other kind, where everyone involved benefits. Using a ruse you created as an excuse to help people seems much less worthy of feeling dirty than setting out to create that ruse in the first place, if you want my opinion. I like this plan."

"Right. Right!" The swamp-monster lady claps her hands in front of her. "My name is Lilac, by the way. Want to see some turtles?"

"YES!" Tret shouts.

"Nice to meet you Lilac. This is Tret, and I'm Eefina."

Eefina follows and asks turtle-related questions, the most notable being, "I think I've seen pictures of airborne animals with shells like this. Is that really that strange around here?"

"Most turtles are extremely defensive! Larger shells that protrude more, round and heavy bodies, slow movement. Sea turtles can live for hundreds of years and even fend off sharks by turning to present their hard shell to their teeth!"

A shark's head was in the restaurant Tret took her to - certainly a scary-looking aquatic predator.

Lilac knows a lot about turtles! These ones are strange examples of the class since they can't retreat all the way into their shells! But they're very cute, aren't they?

After a while, they head back to the Village. Tret shows his acting chops, spinning up a tale about the spirit of the swamp and how the Shooba will stop bothering them if they stop killing turtles - and he even found an expert that can help them avoid offending it again! The locals recognize Lilac and warm up to her well enough after an hour or so. They're very grateful to take a few silver of Eefina's to improve their equipment, and promise solemnly to respect the swamp spirit's wishes.

They're invited to dinner in the village, a thick creamy fish stew, and the Peregrine Chariot shows up again just as the sun is setting. The same short mouse-person is piloting it, and they wave cheerfully.

"OH GOOD YOU'RE HERE! I don't have to wait and potentially leave you stranded here 'cause I still have a deadline to get back to Rotula! How'd it go, bold scouties?"

"Yep! It went well! The problem appears to be resolved."

Eefina waves goodbye to dinner-companions and climbs into the Chariot.

And they can zoom back to the big city! Tret talks about turtles with the pilot on the way back, until he's shushed so she can focus on landing as the twilight grows dimmer, at least.

"I've still gotta report in, but that's your part of the job done. It was good having you along!" He flips two silver coins through the air at her. "Your cut of my pay. I might get a bonus, and you'll get some of that too if so - rich or not, fair is fair." Wink.

"If you insist," Eefina says with a smile. "What're you going to do now?"

"Gotta make a full report to the boss, then I'm gonna go see my family. You?"

"Back to the dorms. I'm probably going to busy all day tomorrow, but you should come find me again some other day. Shop for gear, maybe do another dungeon delve."

"Day after tomorrow, sure! I bet you can use some help picking out the right gear."

"Probably! I'll see you then."

After parting ways, Eefina goes back to the Academy and flops into bed. It's been an exciting day, and she really isn't used to that yet. Sleeeeeeeep...

She has another class this morning! And one in the afternoon! But presumably she'll be skipping those, if Von Runestedt calls for her to go cleanse people?

If they come to get her before her first class, she'll skip both, but if not she'll try to squeeze the morning class in.

She can get to the morning class without being found by the noblewoman or her agents.

This class is about basic economics and money management! They will cover the concepts of budgeting, banking, loans, insurance, and investments in some detail, and economic concepts like the origin of money, supply and demand, markets, corporations, inflation, and so on.

The teacher explains everything in a very clear and concise way. Money is good basically because it's something that everyone wants, so it makes trading things with each other easier. When there are a million people who all want different things trying to barter for everything would have really high transaction costs. Here are some examples! The basic idea of supply and demand is like this! People with in-demand or rare Skills can earn a lot more money because of low supply and/or high demand. When you spend money on new clothes, it doesn't vanish, it goes to someone else, and both tailor and the purchaser are now better off. Now the tailor can go buy bread. And now the baker can buy flour. And now the farmer can buy tools. You can approximately measure how much better off a deal makes people ('value created') with this math! Of course, lots of things also destroy value.

The man who drove the carriage she rode in yesterday is waiting in the hallway when she exits class, still wearing his uniform and attracting mutters and gossip from passers-by.

There is so much to know about money. Wow.

After class, Eefina spots the carriage driver and hurries over to greet him.

"Good morning. My employer has requested to meet with you again - she's made several relevant contacts. Shall we?"

Eefina nods. "Let's go."

They're off again! This time to a fancy restaurant, where the noblewoman from before is waiting. There's a table in a private room with a variety of room-temperature-stable snacks, mostly pastries and cheese and crackers and such.

"Hello again, Eefina! Help yourself, and if you wish for something more hearty it would be my pleasure. My dear son is still bedridden, but they say he's recovering well. Thank you once again. I was able to gather some information about the others on that expedition. Of the ten who came back from that expedition, you have healed one, I sent messages to eight and received five responses. Two were acceptance and three asked to meet and receive further explanation. I haven't heard back from the other three. There is one survivor who I could find no contact information for."

"That's... better than it could be. Worse than I'd hoped. If we can arrange for the two who've accepted to be brought to the same place, I believe I can cleanse them simultaneously, which should give us more time to meet with the rest?"

"I don't think they're in any state to be moved. I don't think my personal presence is strictly necessary either. I'm paying for healers if needed, regardless. I think seeing those who wish to be healed first would be prudent?"

"If they can't be moved, yes, then it can't be helped. And I should get started."

She can go to places and meet people and heal people! Two of the ones she hasn't heard back from reply and want to be cleansed as well, leaving two still unaccounted for.

She suddenly gets better at using Curia about halfway through this process. Not much better, but noticeably so, all at once. Apparently her original magic can level too.

That is very bizarre but nifty to experience.

Eefina continues cleansing the other dhar-stricken nobles. Including travel time, it takes about an hour each. She has to take a detour before the fourth to deposit her payments in the guild bank.

She asks the involved persons at each noble house about the stricken party members that haven't responded to her offer, yet.

Well, they're not all nobles. One of them is just a merchant's daughter. The other nobles very noticeably look down on her for it.

The combined testimony of eight healed patients' families can convince the ninth to receive healing and pay a generous sum as well! However, the tenth, one Sir Greenfield, is nowhere to be found. His house lies empty and abandoned, and he has no family in town, and his friends saw him for a day or two after the incident, walking around and seeming fine, except that he was acting... Unusual. And then he vanished.