WEBVTT
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The Apothecary Diaries
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The Apothecary Diaries
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This story is a work of fiction. The names of all of the characters, organizations, and so on
are imaginary. It also bears no connection to any specific real-life events.
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How does one decrease
the value of a courtesan?
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A pregnancy would reduce it to nearly nothing.
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Is that the place you're looking for?
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Now, if you'll excuse me.
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You're leaving now?
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Me going in there would ruin all
the work we put into your disguise.
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Right...
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Goodbye.
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It's fine. I pulled it off
with no apparent emotion.
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Enjoy yourself tonight, good sir.
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A dream of the past...
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Or rather, from when I was a baby.
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Episode 18: Lakan
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I bet it's because I talked about it.
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Good morning.
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Morning, Dad.
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What are your plans for today?
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Nothing.
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If you're not busy, can you
pay a visit to the Verdigris House?
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Sure.
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Hmm? Hey, Maomao. Are you off work?
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I got a vacation.
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You're at the apothecary even on your off day?
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Just passing by. It's not
the main reason why I'm here.
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Hold it, Pairin!
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Haven't we discussed this enough by now?
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Oh? Maomao!
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Good to see you back!
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You're suffocating me, Pairin.
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I'm the one suffocating from our
old granny nagging me all the time.
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I'm not done with you!
You have to choose one or the other!
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Really?
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I don't know what this is about, but it
looks like Pairin has a lot on her plate, too.
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Granny, you're so persistent.
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It's your fault for not making
up your mind. Now decide!
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Besides, you're the one that's making me
bring these offers to you by hanging around!
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I didn't ask! You're always so pushy!
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Sneak, sneak, sneak.
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What do you mean, pushy?!
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Hmm? Was Maomao here?
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She's been here for a little while.
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Is she going to the annex?
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Good morning.
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She used to hatefully chase me out,
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but I guess she doesn't
have the energy anymore.
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Or perhaps she's forgotten
how to talk entirely.
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With her illness worsening,
her memories are in shreds.
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Dad's medicine works well, but at this point,
it won't even provide temporary relief.
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Still, giving her the medicine is
the only treatment we can think of.
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That customer is back again.
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He's got a good nose on him.
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Get Meimei in here.
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The Verdigris House is now
a reputable establishment,
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but a decade or so ago,
it used to operate in shame.
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This courtesan served
customers during that era,
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and was unlucky enough
to catch syphilis as a result.
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By the time Dad came to the Verdigris
House, the illness was in incubation.
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If he'd known about the illness,
he might have been able to treat her,
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but nobody trusted a eunuch
who suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
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She had to serve customers.
There was no other way to live.
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That was the law of the courtesan.
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A few years later, when
the rashes started to reappear,
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the sores spread almost instantly.
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Since then, this woman has
been locked up in this annex,
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out of sight of the customers.
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It's quite generous. Courtesans who can't work
are usually just thrown out into a ditch.
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This room's pretty stuffy.
Maybe I'll burn some incense, too.
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What is it?
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Big Sis told me the weirdo
with the monocle is here,
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so you shouldn't go out there for now.
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Right, got it.
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As long as I stay put, that man
won't come out here.
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A long-time customer of the
Verdigris House, an old acquaintance...
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Stupid woman.
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Thanks for being so patient.
That guy's gone now.
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Meimei, did you spend time with him?
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Who else can?
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Oh, I'm glad Big Sis seems
to be doing well today.
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Maomao, you're getting that offer again.
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I don't see how you put up with him, Sis.
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It's not so bad. The old lady
doesn't care as long as he pays up.
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That's probably why she keeps
wanting to make me a courtesan.
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If I didn't have my job,
I might have been sold off by now.
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It's a really good deal, from where I'm standing.
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Do you know how rare it is for
a courtesan to get everything they want?
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Since our old lady would easily
let the weight of silver overrule that.
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Who can blame her? She's saving up
for her boat fare to heaven.
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I'm getting older now.
I should start taking this seriously.
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She's not even thirty yet, but as a courtesan,
that's retirement age already.
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Why not strike out on your own?
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Just a while longer.
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I'll keep working here for just a while longer.
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I don't know what's going
through Meimei's mind.
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It's not a rabbit hole I want to delve into.
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If it's what everyone knows as love,
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that's an emotion I'm sure I left behind,
in the womb of the woman who birthed me.
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Let me scrub your back.
Haven't done that in ages.
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Huh? No thanks.
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Come on, come on.
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Yeah, it's been a while!
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Let her do it.
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You're going to be gone again
for a while, right?
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Huh?
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I'm doing this as a freebie, so you have
to help me find good customers, okay?
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I didn't expect the meeting place to
offer services like in the pleasure district.
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That wasn't what I was there for.
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Apothecary, do you have a moment?
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Yes.
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Share this with Suiren.
It's a souvenir from a weirdo.
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From a weirdo? Thank you.
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Yeah.
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Well then, I'm getting back to work.
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Oh, dear.
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We're having a vegetarian dinner today,
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so Xiaomao, don't eat
any meat or fish, all right?
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You're taking a break, but don't
completely lose consciousness.
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Right, vegetarian!
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Dammit, I thought working
would get my mind off of it.
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Also.
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No more hiding weird plants in the warehouse.
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Yikes. She's sharp.
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If you can't find anywhere to put it,
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why don't you ask Master Jinshi to
let you use one of the vacant rooms?
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No, I can't use a noble person's
home as a medicine cabinet.
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Xiaomao, you appear apathetic,
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but you're actually very keen when it
comes to knowing where you stand.
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I am of lowly birth. It's a small
miracle that I'm even here.
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Perhaps.
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But remember, just because
a person is of noble birth
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doesn't make them inherently
different from the start.
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Nobody knows how a person's
life can twist and turn.
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Separating everything based only on
status can lead to missed opportunities.
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Really?
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Yes, really.
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Now, back to work.
Can you run an errand for me?
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Excuse me!
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I've come to pick up some medicine!
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Yes, wait just a moment.
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This is nothing like the rear palace pharmacy
that the quack doctor was running!
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This place is close to the military,
so they must get a lot of injuries.
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Ah, this smell that leaves
a bitter taste in my mouth...
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I wonder what they have
in the medicine cabinets?
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I'd love to rummage through this whole place...
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No. I must control myself!
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What are you doing?
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She's that...
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Just waiting for some medicine.
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Suirei!
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You're here.
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I'm here to resupply
the medicines at the guardhouse.
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Right.
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The guardhouse?
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How are you? I'm fine.
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Come to think of it, the last time
I saw her was near the military wing.
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She must smell like herbs
because she works there.
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I wonder why she seems to dislike me.
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Is there anything else you need?
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No, nothing else.
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A court lady shouldn't be doing this...
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F-Forget I said anything!
You need medicine, right?!
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I wonder what kind of medicine this is.
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Lick!
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Potato flour?
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This is for Master Jinshi, right?
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Thinking about it, Master Jinshi
is pretty mysterious.
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Not just the work he gets
assigned every few weeks,
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but taking long baths the day before,
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and burning incense before leaving...
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The vegetarian food, too.
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It's like a purification ceremony.
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Are eunuchs allowed to
perform ceremonial rites?
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It's not out of place for a noble to do that,
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but if he's of such high rank,
why is he a eunuch?
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Was he also made a eunuch by the unilateral
decision of the previous empress dowager?
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Like my dad?
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The girl's adopted father
is a eunuch and former doctor.
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If she studied under a former doctor,
it explains why she's so knowledgeable, but...
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A eunuch?
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Yes.
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Did we ever have such a skilled
doctor among the eunuchs?
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Pardon me.
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Shall we pick up the discussion
from the other day?
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It seems you played quite a few dirty tricks.
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How rude! I don't want to
hear that from a thief.
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I spent a decade convincing that old madam,
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and you stole her out from under my nose.
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So you want your prize returned?
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No, I'll pay whatever you ask.
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I'm not keen on repeating my past mistakes.
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And if I refuse?
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Then there's nothing I can do, is there?
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You can count on one hand the number of
people who can defy someone as high up as you.
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As I thought, he does know who I really am.
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I'm just concerned about what
my daughter would think, is all.
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Ugh. So that's really what it is.
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I don't want to admit it,
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but Lakan is Maomao's father by blood.
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Could you just let her know
I'll be visiting her sometime?
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Bye, now.
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Apothecary.
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Yes.
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There's an official who wants
to meet you sometime soon.
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Who is he?
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It's the weirdo I've been telling
you about. His name is Lakan—
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I'll turn him down somehow.
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Thank you. I'll get back to work now.
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I've never seen her make a face like that.
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And I never want to see it again.
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So, he found out.
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This smell...
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It's an herb garden!
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Here! And there! And there, too!
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You again?
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Oh, no. This is way too suspicious.
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Don't worry. I haven't taken anything yet.
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Is it safe to assume
from the dirt on your hands
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that you were just about to?
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I'm not trying to punish you.
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This is an unofficial garden, anyway.
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But the doctors know about this place too,
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so I'd advise against frequent visits.
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Are you in charge of this place?
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Who knows? I'm just allowed
to plant what I want here.
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She's pulling up the weeds.
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Suirei, I think her name was?
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Not that I'm one to talk,
but she doesn't seem very excitable.
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What are you planting?
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A medicine to resurrect someone.
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Is that...?!
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A medicine that can bring
the dead back to life...
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If such a thing exists,
I want it more than anything!
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Just kidding.
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A joke...
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I heard you're an apothecary.
Just how good are you?
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I don't know.
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A little while from now, I'll be
planting some morning glories here.
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Goodbye.
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Next Time
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Next time: "Chance or
Something More."
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Episode 19: Chance or Something More