Would You Like Some Philosopher's Stone Today?

Who is the silver-haired girl sitting behind the counter, her hair reaching her waist, melancholy in her red eyes deeper than the Philosopher's Stone, and beauty enough to put rubies to shame? That's right, it's me. And why am I so melancholy? Well, I gave up my teaching position at the Royal Academy of the Taren Empire, sailed back to my hometown, and opened an alchemy workshop. But hardly anyone in this backwater even knows what alchemy is! Running a workshop is far more trouble than alchemy: supply chains, consumer habits, training apprentices, regulatory risks... Wait, hang on, why did the court just send me a summons?

---A fantasy-world shopkeeping story in the style of Houbunsha, observing life in a fantasy city from the shopkeeper's perspective... Probably.

---The Serious Version (Not Really)---

All right, so you want to run an alchemy workshop in a fantasy world. It's not as simple as finding a room, setting up a big pot, stirring it a couple of times with a stick, and selling magical potions to all sorts of esteemed customers. What you'll actually have to deal with is an adventurer who mistakes frostleaf for silverleaf and tries to sell it to you, a guard who's taken an arrow to the knee but can't afford a potion, and expensive medicines that expire in batches every month.