Chương 34: Bonus story : The Druids' Guild: Part 4 : The Druids of the Kingdom

Emma continued shopping while checking her list, convinced that Aldric would eventually grow tired of inspecting every product as though he had just uncovered a forgotten relic. Yet the knight seemed, if anything, even more fascinated by everything around him. In his kingdom, druidic orders were rarely united. Some devoted their lives to healing, others to protecting forests or studying plants capable of surviving the harshest climates.

Certain circles preserved ancient seeds, while others specialized in preparing poisons, salves, or elixirs. His attention was soon drawn to a man in his fifties browsing a shelf covered with small packets. He picked up each one, read its origin and ingredients, then placed it in his basket. Aldric noticed that every purchase belonged to the same category. The man had already selected pumpkin, sunflower, chia, and flax seeds.

He soon added a packet of hemp seeds before comparing two more varieties whose names meant nothing to the knight. He walked past the biscuits and dried fruit, ignored several shelves devoted to grains, then returned to the seed display to inspect a few of the packets one last time. In his world, seed specialists held an essential place within druidic communities, for they were responsible for preserving ancient species and ensuring that crops survived famines, wars, and changes in climate.

They knew the conditions required for every plant to germinate, could identify diseased seeds, and sometimes carried their collections from one kingdom to another to prevent a variety from disappearing forever.

"He must belong to the Order of the Seed Keepers." Emma, who was comparing two packs of pasta a few yards away, glanced up absentmindedly.

"What are you talking about?" Aldric gestured toward the customer.

"He's choosing nothing but seeds. He clearly understands their different properties and verifies their origin before taking them. He must be responsible for preserving the most precious plant species in your kingdom."

"Or maybe he just likes putting seeds in his salads."

"Five different kinds?"

"Some people like variety."

"He studies every packet before choosing one."

"Maybe he's just checking the price or the nutritional information." The knight immediately turned his attention back to the customer. Checking the nutritional value of the seeds did nothing to contradict his theory. On the contrary, it confirmed that the man understood their unique properties and was carefully selecting the varieties best suited to his needs. He waited until the customer walked away before continuing alongside Emma.

A few yards farther on, a woman stood in front of a section devoted to herbal teas and infusions. She had already placed several boxes into her basket. Chamomile sat beside verbena, thyme, linden blossom, and mint, while other blends combined sage with various flowers and roots. She carefully read the descriptions, occasionally smelled the sachets whenever the packaging allowed it, and seemed unable to decide between several mixtures designed to promote sleep, aid digestion, or encourage relaxation.

"She has mastered medicinal herbs..."

"She just likes herbal tea."

"She already has six different kinds."

"Maybe she's stocking up."

"They do not possess the same properties." Emma let out a quiet sigh.

"Because they don't all taste the same." The variety of flavors could partly explain the woman's choices, but it did not account for the lengthy descriptions about sleep, digestive health, and natural defenses. He eventually watched her choose an infusion made with thyme and eucalyptus after carefully studying the label, which finally convinced him. They soon reached the flour aisle, where a young couple was discussing several different packages.

One of them was holding a bag of rice flour, while the other compared the labels on two gluten-free products. Their conversation would probably have escaped Aldric's notice if one particular word had not caught his attention.

"Ever since I cut out gluten, my energy feels much more balanced."

"Same here. I used to feel heavy all the time, especially after meals. Now it feels like everything flows much better." Aldric stopped so abruptly that Emma nearly walked into him with her basket. He had no idea what gluten was, but the rest of the conversation left little room for doubt. These two people were discussing the effect of a substance on the energy within their bodies and claimed they could feel the way it flowed after changing their diet.

"So they're studying the body's energy flow..."

"Some people avoid gluten because they have trouble digesting it, or because they think they feel better without it."

"So this substance disrupts their energy."

"It mainly causes digestive problems for some people." Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Which then affects their vitality."

"Well, of course. If your digestion is poor, you can feel tired."

"Then their analysis was correct."

"It's not some kind of mystical analysis." The young couple continued their discussion, talking about foods that improved their concentration, others that disrupted their sleep, and the different sensations they experienced depending on what they ate. Emma tried to lead him toward the next aisle, but Aldric kept casting quick glances around him.

The man with the seeds belonged to the Order of the Seed Keepers, the woman with all the herbal infusions most likely represented the Circle of Healers, while the young couple seemed to study the flow of vital energy through the effects of food. He even began to suspect the existence of an order devoted to roots when he spotted a woman filling a bag with ginger and turmeric, followed by a Circle of Fermentation after seeing a man compare several bottles of kefir.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to identify the different orders within your brotherhood." They had barely left the herbal tea aisle when a customer called over a store employee. The woman was already holding several packets in her hands.

"I'm looking for something to cleanse my body." In his kingdom, the word purification was never used lightly. Priests employed it to dispel curses, healers to eliminate certain poisons, and alchemists to remove impurities from their preparations. An ordinary person would never ask to purify their own body without a serious reason, unless they had been exposed to a dangerous substance or some dark influence. The store employee thought for a moment before taking a box from the shelf.

"You could try this detox cleanse. It contains dandelion, artichoke, and black radish." Aldric immediately committed the three ingredients to memory. None of them seemed particularly rare, which probably meant that modern druids had discovered hidden properties in plants that most people in his world considered entirely ordinary.

"She's talking about a detox cleanse."

"A purification ritual."

"People mostly use that word to sell products. The body doesn't necessarily need to be purified that way."

"And yet she just recommended three specific plants."

"Because people like to believe they'll help eliminate toxins."

"So there are toxins that must be eliminated." Emma opened her mouth to explain the role of the liver and kidneys, but at that very moment, a man walking behind them turned to his companion.

"I really need to do another detox cleanse. The last one made me feel amazing." Aldric immediately shifted his attention to him.

"You see? Lots of people use that term even though there's not necessarily any scientific basis for it."

"So they perform these purification rituals regularly."

"They just think it makes them feel better."

"Perhaps their effectiveness depends on each person's sensitivity."

"That is still not what I said." Emma quickened her pace, hoping to leave the area before another conversation made things even worse. They almost immediately reached the essential oils section. Small colorful bottles lined several shelves, alongside wooden diffusers and information cards describing their scents and uses. Two women were comparing different bottles, lifting them to their noses.

"This one has much better vibrations," the first woman said as she set one bottle back down.

"I find it much more calming."

"Yeah, I can feel the difference right away," her friend replied.

"The other one feels heavier." Aldric slowly turned toward Emma.

"They can perceive the magical vibrations of plants."

"Some people use that kind of language symbolically. They're describing how they feel, not actual magic."

"And yet they claim they can sense a difference between two oils."

"Because they don't smell the same."

"One of them just said the second one was heavier."

"She wasn't talking about its actual weight."

"So she's describing an invisible property."

"An impression. A personal feeling."

"That is precisely how mages describe perceiving an aura." Before Emma could answer, a man examining the diffusers nearby joined the women's conversation.

"I can tell immediately when an energy is negative. I can't even stay in the room." Emma closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Ever since they had entered the store, the entire world seemed determined to undermine every explanation she gave.

"Were you about to say something?" Aldric asked.

"No."

"So that man can sense hostile energies. And he adjusts his behavior accordingly."

"Like a lot of people do when they feel uncomfortable somewhere."

"He can even distinguish their negative nature." Emma picked up her basket and continued walking. They passed a woman talking with a store employee in front of several bottles of birch sap.

"I do a cleanse every spring. It really helps flush everything out after winter."

"Yes, a lot of people use it when the seasons change. If it's been a while, you can start gradually." Aldric slowed once more.

"So tree sap is used during seasonal transitions."

"It's a drink that's marketed as a seasonal cleanse. It's harvested from a tree, then consumed in spring to cleanse the body after winter."

"So it's a druidic ritual," Aldric concluded.

"It's marketing." Farther down the aisle, a man was explaining to a friend that he took certain herbs to "realign his body." Emma tried to explain that the expression was extremely vague, but another customer walked past them, telling someone on the phone that she now ate only living foods because she refused to put food devoid of energy into her body.

"Living foods..."

"She's probably talking about raw, fermented, or minimally processed foods."

"So they retain more energy."

"Yes, but that doesn't mean they're literally alive like you or me."

"She is clearly referring to their residual life force." The conversations now followed one another with almost absurd regularity. One woman claimed that turmeric had "warmed her energy," a man explained that certain seeds helped him "feel more grounded," while another customer asked for an herbal infusion that could "release accumulated tension." Each of these phrases made more or less sense in its original context, but to Aldric, they became evidence of an extraordinarily sophisticated body of esoteric knowledge.

"I'd rather not know what you're imagining now."

"I believed druidic knowledge had disappeared from your world. I understand now that it has merely changed its language." Emma slowed for a moment, searching for an argument that could refute his conclusion, but just then a store employee walked past them, explaining to a customer that an essential oil could help "harmonize the atmosphere of a room." Emma resumed walking without another word.

At this point, she had to admit that all these conversations, perfectly ordinary in a store like this, genuinely sounded like discussions between wise druids debating purification, vital energy, invisible vibrations, and plants capable of restoring harmony to a living being. The problem was no longer just that Aldric misunderstood everything. The real problem was that, for once, the modern world seemed determined to prove him right. Emma noticed that he was still watching the other customers.

"What are you thinking about?"

"I'm trying to understand how your guild divides its fields of expertise among its members." Emma immediately rolled her eyes.

"Aldric... these aren't druids. They're just people doing their grocery shopping."

"You've already told me that."

"Because it's the truth."

"And yet each of them seems to possess a different kind of knowledge."

"They just have different habits."

"Which amounts to exactly the same thing."