"This place is really strange…"

Back inside the strange corridor, Chen couldn't help but remark in a calm voice as he looked at the perfectly smooth walls. Erik, who was beside him, slipped his hand into the storage bag at his waist and replied in a similar tone.

"It certainly is, but for now let's focus on what matters."

"You're right."

Chen nodded and turned to look at Erik, who had an unfurled scroll in his hand on which a complex magic circle was drawn. Suddenly, the scroll caught fire and turned to ashes, at which point Erik looked at Chen and said in a calm voice.

"Let's go—the others already know we're heading toward them."

After nodding, Chen followed Erik through the enormous corridors, and after a while, they finally found Ethan and Christine waiting for them at one of the corridor crossroads. After a quick greeting, Ethan looked at Erik and reported with a serious expression.

"We found the stairs that lead to the lower level and a more or less suitable place to set up the formations on this level. Shall we try it?"

"Better to go down a couple of levels. If someone else discovers this place, they'll comb through this level as best they can, and if they don't find anything, they won't be as alert on the lower levels." Erik replied as he glanced down the different corridors at the crossroads. Christine smiled seductively and replied.

"Disciple Erik is right; it's better to go down a couple of levels~"

"Let's do that, then. Let's head to the stairs."

Ethan nodded and took one of the tunnels toward the stairs. Erik, Chen, and Christine followed close behind, but knowing it was an excellent opportunity, Christine drew closer to Erik and spoke in a soft, melodious voice.

"Disciple Erik, would you be willing to make a deal for some magic chalk? It's hard to make full use of my skills as an artificer without it."

"I might be willing to make a deal, but I don't have much, so the price will be high."

Seeing Erik turn to look at her and answer with a faint glint of interest in his eyes, Christine couldn't help but smile charmingly. Her guess had been right: the star-haired youth didn't succumb to praise or flirting, but he seemed quite open to business or the exchange of knowledge.

"Although I have some savings from what we've taken off the hunters, I very much doubt Disciple Erik is interested in mana crystals at the moment, so I imagine you're looking for a barter." Christine met Erik's eyes and spoke with a small smile. Erik shook his head and replied.

"It's not that mana crystals don't interest me, but in this situation I certainly wouldn't trade chalk for crystals alone. Instead of a barter, I'm much more interested in the method for making formation flags."

On hearing the response, Christine had to hold back a laugh. After all, her original plan had been to use the pretext of a trade to lead him to a more private place to "go through her belongings for the barter." That way, she could spend some time alone with Erik and get close enough to figure out how to "conquer" him. But the suggestion from the star-haired youth might be even better.

"I see. I'm not against it—we can come to an agreement. If the amount of chalk satisfies me, I'll even act as your assistant to make the flag."

Christine replied in a calm voice, deliberately avoiding sounding too coquettish. She had noticed that Erik wasn't particularly drawn to that, and, having dealt with someone similar before, she knew she might even repel him if she kept it up, so it was better to avoid it.

"As I mentioned, I have very little; the most I can offer you is four 12-cm pieces. If you agree, I'll give you half right now and the second half upon completing the deal, but I'm not willing to negotiate on the quantity—that's my limit."

"Four pieces…?"

Christine whispered in a thoughtful tone. Although her main goal was to flirt with and win over the delectable star-haired trophy, she didn't want to just "give away" her knowledge either. Although she knew she wasn't as good as Erik, she was still a talented Artificer who had managed to pass the certification exam before the age of 100. She was a proud genius, rare in the galaxy—definitely not someone to be taken lightly.

"Even though the situation is complicated, four pieces for the method of making formation flags is still far too little, Disciple Erik." Christine replied in a calm but assured voice as she looked at Erik, who shook his head, a little disappointed, and replied.

"It is certainly little, but I really can't offer more. Besides, since you've looted the hunters, I imagine you have enough potions, and as an artificer, once you have the chalk, you'll be able to make your own things, so there's not much else I can offer you."

"It's not quite like that, Disciple Erik." Christine shook her head and explained in a calm voice.

"Although we looted the hunters, they really didn't have potions; they mostly had pills from the Jade Union, and not many. Most had five to ten pills between healing and mana recovery, and we've only defeated about five leaders, so we're quite short."

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"Mmm, well, in that case I could actually increase the offer, although it will still be little compared to the crafting method—I'm really short on materials."

Erik replied in a thoughtful tone, doing mental calculations of his ingredient inventory to know how much to offer. For her part, Christine couldn't help widening her eyes a little, then asked with an expression that showed her restrained emotions.

"You managed to make potions here, Disciple Erik…?"

"Ah, yes. A while ago I got some ingredients and made a few, although they're nothing special." Erik came out of his thoughts and replied as he turned to look at Christine. The beautiful blue-haired woman could only bite her lip, while Ethan turned to look at Erik and spoke in a voice that almost sounded like a sigh.

"Don't tell me you managed to create an alchemical cauldron under these conditions…"

"It's pretty rustic and basic, but yes, I made one."

Erik spoke without giving it much importance, which made Ethan look at Christine with a somewhat twisted expression. After seeing an expression similar to his own on Ethan's face, Christine looked at Erik and commented with a small smile.

"You really are an incomparable genius, Disciple Erik."

"It's not that much; I was actually quite lucky." Erik shook his head and, looking into Christine's blue eyes, asked in a serious tone.

"More importantly, I have a proposal for you. I can give you 10 concealment potions, 10 mana-recovery potions, and 10 healing potions. In addition, if you get ingredients, I'll brew up to 5 batches of potions for you. If we add the four pieces of chalk to that, does it sound like a reasonable price? You can't forget that the method is easy for me to obtain at the university—the method is only valuable in here, just like my potions and the chalk."

"…"

Christine looked into Erik's green eyes for several seconds, feeling a strange tangle of emotions ranging from incredulity to envy and inferiority. But remembering her purpose and how beneficial it would be to have such a monster under her skirt, Christine smiled charmingly and replied.

"The concealment potions are truly tempting—I think I'll accept the deal, Disciple Erik."

"Perfect. Then I'll give you half now. A pleasure doing business." Erik extended his hand toward Christine and spoke with a perfect business smile as he slipped his other hand into his storage bag.

"It really is a pleasure~" Christine gently took Erik's hand and shook it softly, at which moment Ethan spoke in a somewhat astonished voice.

"My sister and my master really weren't exaggerating about you, Disciple Erik… Our group has an alchemist, and—never mind the cauldron—we haven't even managed to find anything that could serve as a base for potions…"

"I don't have much of that either, so if you want some of mine, it'll be expensive." Erik released Christine's hand and looked at Ethan as he replied. Ethan shook his head and said.

"That won't be necessary. Although I call him 'alchemist,' he still hasn't managed to obtain his license, so it's much more cost-effective to buy potions directly from you."

"If you can get ingredients, I'm open to negotiating." Erik replied with a businesslike smile as he took several clay vials from his storage bag to hand them to Christine. Ethan nodded and commented.

"We have some that our 'alchemist' found, plus the things we found in the storage bags."

"Perfect. Then, when we manage to establish the base, we can negotiate more calmly." Erik replied, turning to look at Christine, then explained as he handed her the clay bottles.

"The ones with the X are concealment, the ones with the circle are mana recovery, and the ones with the heart are healing."

"I understand…"

Christine replied as she looked at the clay bottles with deep eyes, at which point Ethan looked at Erik and asked with visible curiosity.

"By the way, Disciple Erik, how did you come to know my sister? I'm really curious."

"Didn't Laura tell you how?" Erik asked curiously. Ethan shook his head and explained.

"Not really—she told me something about you meeting at an auction, but she didn't explain much."

"Well, it was like this: I once went to her auction house…"

While Erik and Ethan began a quiet chat, Christine put the potions away in her own storage bag and followed them in silence. Seeing that the bottles seemed handmade and improvised—a clear sign that he really had made them in the garden—Christine marveled for a moment.

But that caused her to be left out of the conversation, and since it would be awkward to force her way in, she chose to remain silent. She used the time to think up a strategy to win over the star-haired youth.

With her gaze fixed on Erik's broad back, Christine began to reconsider the importance the youth held in her mind. Erik was no longer just a valuable asset to have in the Order; he was now practically a tactical resource that could mean the difference between living or dying in the ruin.

After all, while she—a certified artificer—hadn't even had the chance to craft a simple weapon to fight with, the youth had already managed to create potions and artifacts from scratch.

"Well, let's drop the 'Disciple Erik'—it gets cumbersome. Better just call me Erik. Although we haven't interacted much, I'm on good terms with your sister, and I owe a lot to your master, so we're not strangers."

In the middle of her musings, Christine heard Erik's calm voice, which brought her back to reality to look at the youth. Ethan replied with a small, easy laugh as they began to descend the stairs they'd found earlier.

"Then call me Ethan too. 'Disciple Williams' sounds too formal—it's not my style."

"I'll do that." Erik replied in a casual voice, at which point Ethan asked in a tone that was somewhere between curious and restrained.

"Since we're calling each other more informally, I'd like to ask something about you that's been on my mind, though it may be a bit personal, so you might take offense."

"Ask away. There aren't many things I'm unwilling to answer, and if it's one of those, I'll simply not answer—I'm not going to get 'offended' or anything like that." Erik replied, not giving it much importance, more focused on sensing the surroundings with his Mystical Awareness.

"Then I'll take you at your word."

Ethan fell silent for a few seconds, as if analyzing how to frame the question, which inevitably drew Erik's and Christine's attention. After a few seconds, just as they were about to reach the bottom of the stairs, Ethan asked.

"Erik, I apologize if the question offends you in any way—that's not really my intention—but I'm truly curious, so I'll ask: why don't you use a surname? I mean, although in other places not having a surname isn't that rare, in the Arcane Order it is, so it's common for people to make up a surname for themselves when they settle here. Why don't you do it? It would spare you problems like the one you had with that guy from the Jade Union."

"My surname, huh…?"

Erik whispered to himself as he looked ahead, while Christine turned to cast Ethan a reproachful look. The young disciple with black-and-red hair could only laugh with slight discomfort—not just because of Christine's look, but also because he suddenly felt something dangerous staring at him.

***

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