[Elarion Changed to Amoriel]
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"Still trying to argue?! Just friends, huh? Then why were you nearly kissing her?? Guys, get him, make this traitorous mouth shut up!"
"So who the hell started this rumor anyway? 'Nearly kissing', what kind of nonsense is that? Calm down! If I really were that close to Miss Isatia, and actually kissed her, don't you think I'd be bragging about it all over campus??" Winnie shouted in defense.
"Knowing Winnie, that actually sounds like him…"
"Wait, really?" That remark caused the card players to hesitate.
"Of course! This is pure fantasy! You might as well go ask Isatia herself! But don't co crying to if she calls you idiots for spreading rumors!" Winnie said irritably. "And besides, if I really had a girlfriend, do you think I'd still be hanging around you guys, walking the streets today? Wouldn't I have already ditched you all to go see her??"
"Kissing? Total fabrication!" Winnie straightened his rumbled collar, frowning seriously as he glared at the group of card players. "And tell , do you have any proof? Did any of you actually see this? Or are you just repeating what soone else said? Tch, it's obviously so little bastard who's trying to fra and made it up with extra drama!"
"Isatia helped with sothing important, so I treated her to a al. That's all."
"What kind of help?" The group turned their curious eyes back to Winnie.
"Tutoring! Didn't I already tell you?" Winnie frowned. "It's just that none of you believed back then."
Hearing this, the group fell silent once more.
"Huh? Huh huh?? What are you planning to do now?!"
"Hold on, Winnie, don't move, we just wanna beat you up a little, okay??" Fred stepped forward, reaching to grab Winnie.
"No way in hell! Why should I get beaten up for no reason?!"~
"Because you definitely aced your exams! You scored better than any of us, didn't you?!" Fred said matter-of-factly.
"What?! Where did you get that idea from??"
"Romance and tutoring, how could you not do well?!" Looking around, Winnie saw that every card player was glaring at him with sour, jealous eyes, as if they'd all eaten lemons.
He realized he'd seriously pissed them off.
"Yeah, if it were , I'd do great too!"
"Damn it, damn it!! Why wasn't it ?? I want a beautiful campus queen tutoring too! Then I'd quit cards forever and focus only on studying! Waaahhh!"
Seeing their utterly shattered expressions, Winnie opened his mouth, then closed it. He decided not to ntion that Isatia was the one who'd approached him for tutoring. Revealing that would just be pouring salt on the wound.
Looking at these card players wailing and beating their chests in despair, Winnie finally understood, "Card player's spirit"? Pure nonsense. Just a lie to comfort themselves because they couldn't find a partner. If they could get one, who'd want to be your "card-playing brother"? Who'd care about "card player's spirit"? If you can get a girlfriend, you'd ditch all your friends in a heartbeat, who needs buddies when you've got love??
"Aaahhh! It's so unfair! We're all card players, why am I the only one suffering like this?!"
"No! Winnie, let us beat you up just a little! Otherwise, we'll never get over this bitterness!" The card players lunged forward, but were blocked by Shikondell.
"Yeah, Winnie, we'll only give you a few light punches, just for fun!"
"No way! How do I know you won't actually beat up?!" Seeing this, Winnie imdiately turned and fled.
The group chased each other down the street, laughing and shouting.
"Don't run! Winnie, we really only want to tap you lightly on the chest! Stop running, it's a waste of energy, we're all exhausted already!"
"Get lost! Light taps?? Your fists are bigger than my cooking pot, who'd believe you?!" The chase continued, Winnie sprinting ahead, the others hot on his heels.
"W-wait! You can't hit Winnie!" Suddenly, Shikondell bit her lip and stepped in front of Winnie.
Even though learning about Winnie dining with another girl had made her inexplicably sad, she never wanted Winnie to get hurt, no matter what.
"Uh… uh…" Now it was awkward.
They were just joking around, but apparently, only Shikondell took it seriously.
"Ahem, fine, Winnie, looks like you're lucky today. Dell pleaded for you, stop running," Fred coughed.
"Wait, where the hell did he drag us to?" one of the card players asked. "Is this still the comrcial district?"
"Huh? This shop?" A nearby alchemy shop caught Shikondell's attention. The store was enormous, lavishly decorated. Perhaps due to the approaching Festival of Amoriel, it was adorned with many pink ornants and heart-shaped decorations filled with romantic charm, very girlish.
Co to think of it, in so legends, Amoriel was sohow connected to the Goddess of Radiance. But those stories were mostly unofficial myths, more fictional than history itself.
Seeing Shikondell's reaction, Winnie rembered that she was actually quite girly. After all, she was a Moon Elf princess, the beloved daughter of the Moon Elf King. Although she'd lost her title and was now on the run, disguising herself as a boy, she still loved girlish things. Or perhaps, because she'd suppressed her preferences for so long, she was now even more drawn to such things.
"Since we're here, and stopping here feels like fate, why don't we go inside and take a look?" Winnie glanced at the alchemical potions on display. The shop owner clearly understood marketing: with the festival approaching, all potions had been repackaged. Sa old potions in new bottles, but with a fancy wrapper and a label saying "Festival of Amoriel Limited Edition," prices had skyrocketed, doubled, even.
"An alchemy shop? Winnie, are you feeling unwell lately? Or running low on combat potions?" Fred asked, confused. Clearly, none of them needed anything.
"No, but that doesn't an we can't go in and look. The decor's really nice," Winnie said.
"It is nice… but Winnie, do you actually like this pink, pretty style?" The card players all stared at him, puzzled.
"Of course I do. Why else would I suggest we all go in and pick sothing?" Winnie said bluntly.
"What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing… it's just that you seem to have developed a girly heart," Fred teased. "I rember last sester, I gave you a card, and you said it was too pink, 'not sothing a real man uses', and refused to take it. Tsk tsk."
"Huh? Did I do that?" Winnie frowned.
"Of course you did! Do you think I'd make that up? Whatever, anyway, I do need so potions. Let's all go in and look."
Together, they entered the alchemy shop nad "The Great Cauldron."
The mont they stepped inside, a rich, fragrant herbal scent filled their nostrils, fresh, elegant, invigorating, and soothing.
The shop was spacious, with finely tiled floors. Glass display cases held rows of delicate potions, each glowing faintly, like artworks on exhibition. On rosewood shelves, potion bottles were accompanied by gold-trimd signs listing their effects and ingredients in detail.
Leaving aside everything else, just the ambiance alone made this alchemy shop far superior to the average roadside potion stall.
But of course, the prices were correspondingly steep. Winnie had bought potions from other alchemy shops before. He quickly scanned the prices. The sa potion, like a basic focus-enhancing brew, cost nearly 50% more here.
Seriously? Why not just rob people outright??
Winnie wasn't the only one thinking this. Everyone gasped at the prices, even Fred, who ca from a wealthy family, furrowing his brows.
"This is way too expensive! It's just prettier packaging, why charge so much? It's a total scam," Fred complained.
"My dear young friend, you really shouldn't talk like that," A mysterious, slightly sultry female voice ca from the counter.
They turned toward the sound and saw, perched on the counter, a stunning woman wearing a crooked pointed wizard's hat. Yes, the kind with a voluptuous figure.
She instantly captured everyone's attention, but they were more curious about how she'd appeared there. There hadn't been anyone there a second ago.
"Winnie, didn't we just see a hat on the counter a mont ago? How did a person suddenly show up?" Fred whined.
Winnie didn't answer. He simply stared at the woman with the crooked pointed hat.
"Now, now, young friends, don't say such things. This shop runs on thin margins, very little profit. The reason our potions are pricier than those on the streets is because we use the finest ingredients, from low to high grade. Honest and fair, our potions are simply the most effective. Naturally, that ans higher costs. If we sold at the sa price as street shops, this store would go bankrupt in no ti," the woman said, with her musical and distinctive voice.
She lounged on a rocking chair, one shapely leg crossed over the other, holding a long pipe. Her crimson lips exhaled a smoke ring as she glanced at Winnie. He felt her eyes were so seductive, they could weave threads of desire.
Yeah, classic setup of a manipulative, dangerous woman.
"Besides, every potion here is crafted by , or by alchemists I personally recognize as exceptionally talented. They can't be compared to mass-produced potions from outside. Each potion is a piece of my soul."
"And my ti, as well as the wages of the alchemist I hired, are very high costs," she added.
"And isn't beautiful packaging a sign of care? Compared to those haphazardly wrapped potions, crude products churned out by unknown alchemists, offering no guarantees at all." The woman chuckled.
Exceptionally talented alchemist?
Winnie raised an eyebrow. He felt like he'd heard of this woman before, more precisely, her shop. It was said to be the most authoritative alchemy shop in all of Carillian Academy, with truly top-tier potion quality.
Winnie examined the potions, indeed, in terms of quality, they were leagues beyond those from ordinary alchemy shops.
"Hehe, this quiet blue-haired young man seems to have quite the discerning eye."
Just as Winnie was lost in thought, he suddenly realized she was addressing him.
"Huh?" Winnie looked up, eting the woman's deeply seductive gaze.
"You know a bit about alchemy, don't you, young man?" The woman smiled.
"How do you know?"
"Your eyes told ." Her words sounded mystical.
"I understand your intentions, more or less. You're not here for ordinary potions, are you?"
"How about we take a look at so interesting festival items instead~? Hehe, it's not even the festival yet, once it arrives, my shop will be packed. You might not even get your hands on anything then."
"Festival items? What kind?" Fred was curious. For first-year students like them, they didn't understand what "festival items" ant at Carillian Academy.
And they had no way to find out, after all, they were just single card-playing nerds. Who'd go out of their way to learn about such things and invite more heartache?
"See that pink display over there? That's the first batch we've made this year." The woman pointed with her pipe.
They all looked, and saw that Shikondell had been staring at it the whole ti.
"What are these?" They examined the rows of orange-red potions, each with its neck tied with a ribbon bow, beautifully and thoughtfully packaged.
"You're all first-years, right? This is your first ti hearing about this potion? Hehe, this is called 'Love at First Sight.' Effect? It makes the person you like beco interested in you, even fall in love." The woman explained with a smile.
"Huh?? Really??" Fred hesitated.
"I won't answer that. Those who've used it already know. But let say, there's no potion in the world that can force soone to fall in love with you instantly. So it varies from person to person, depending on many factors." The woman said aningfully. "But you can ask your seniors, they'll know."
"Every Festival of Amoriel, they co to my shop, buying two bottles of 'Love at First Sight,' reliving that feeling."
"How about it, young ones~? Want to give it a try?"
"The person I like…?" Shikondell whispered softly, her eyes fixed on the "Love at First Sight" potion displayed in the case, shining with an unreadable light, lost in thought.
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