Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Claire Weiss, founder of Claire’s Alchemy Workshop, was Gainsborough’s renowned alchemy genius.
Having received the Alchemist Guild’s Medal of Mastery at the tender age of twenty, her magic and alchemy tools were highly sought after by people worldwide.
Claire’s extraordinary achievements, stunning beauty and great intelligence made her an idol amongst young men and women.
Celia too was one of her fans.
Many of the magic items she used were from Claire’s Alchemy Workshop.
However, Celia never for the life of her imagined that her partner would be personally acquainted with her idol.
“Speak! What’s going on? How did you guys meet?”
Celia’s eyes seemed to glow with fanatic excitement.
This was the first time George had seen Celia in such a state.
“It’s not a big deal. I was picking out a present for you ’cause I knew you liked Claire’s products. So I went.”
“Uh-huh. And and?”
Having entered a state of ‘fangirling’, Celia’s eyes were brimming with curiosity.
The spoils, the legendary Fruit of Gifts, none of that mattered to Celia right now.
George had not expected this reaction from her.
But it did look like he had dodged a bullet. He had no idea Celia liked Claire so much.
Snapping back to reality, George went over their spoils again and said to Celia,
“I was inside Claire’s shop. It just so happened that at the time she found a place that had the materials she needed and wanted to hire adventurers.”
After confirming that there were no poisons or curses on any of the items, George put them away in his item box.
“And?”
“And so I volunteered to accept the mission, and the reward for that mission is now on your waist.”
With that, George confirmed that everything was in order and they could set off again. He turned to Celia and reminded, “We should go.”
Hearing this, Celia deflated a little. She wanted to hear more about Claire.
Seeing this, George promised her, “When we get back, I’ll take you to see Miss Claire.”
Claire usually stayed inside her workshop conducting all kinds of alchemy research. And as a general rule, did not entertain visitors.
Therefore, even though Celia knew when Claire was in the Alchemy Workshop, she still could never meet her idol.
Upon hearing George’s words, Celia’s mood turned for the better.
“Then let’s move quickly!” She said excitedly.
Putting away the bingo book, Celia took out the map and led the way.
As they walked, Celia suddenly remembered something and turned to George and said,
“Those few guys are worth quite a bit. Put their bodies away too.”
“Okay, no problem.”
George took out the body bags and began aligning them with the corpses on the ground.
While George busied himself with the bodies, Celia returned to her normal self.
“Something must have happened between George and Miss Claire.”
Calming herself down and recalling George’s behavior from earlier, Celia noticed many things.
She and George had grown up together. As such, she could tell with a glance whether or not George was being dishonest and or hiding something.
Celia smiled warmly at George, who was putting away the now-filled body bags.
“How silly, there’s no need for him to hide anything. Even if something really did happen between them, I wouldn’t have minded.”
Stroking the barrier amulet tied at her waist, Celia’s smile deepened.
“All done?”
“Yes.”
Nodding, George walked over to Celia.
Resuming their journey to find the Fruit of Gifts, the two of them ventured deeper into the forest.
Owing to the weather, there were no dangerous monsters out and about in the Forest of Slumber at this hour.
Even if any did appear, it would be some mild-mannered slimes.
Out of boredom and curiosity, George asked Celia about the seven adventurers,
“How much were those people worth?”
“300,000 gold coins.”
“That much?”
George didn’t expect the bounty to be so high.
What a great catch!
The smile on Celia’s face grew brighter at the mention of the bounty.
“A viscount’s successor died at the hands of these people,” she explained to George.
“Ah, no wonder.”
Celia then added,
“If it wasn’t ’cause it’s winter, they would have been dealt with by the Knights.”
“I see. Then we really got lucky!”
Even if they didn’t find the Fruit of Gifts today, this bounty alone would have justified this trip.
“Alright, we’ve reached Boundary River. According to Sister Anna’s information, we just need to follow the river.”
As the name suggests, Boundary River was a river that divided the boundaries between regions.
On one side of the river was the Forest of Slumber, and on the other was the much more dangerous Forest of Awakening.
George extended his perception in the direction Celia pointed at.
A few moments later, he shook his head at Celia, indicating that there were no anomalies ahead.
As the two of them moved towards their destination, three fully armored Knights appeared at the location they had stopped to fight.
The Knight-Captain looked at the candles Celia had placed on the tree and said,
“The white candles were just put up today. Looks like they haven’t gone far.”
To the side, another knight touched the ground and turned to share his discovery with his teammates.
“There are traces of battle here. It would seem like a group of ignorant fools got dealt with.”
It was clear from their words that they were very familiar with George and Celia.
“Is the lead this time reliable?”
The last person in the group asked, his voice full of concern. He seemed hesitant about what they were about to do next.
“I don’t want to provoke a Saint candidate for no reason.”
Hearing his words, the Knight who was squatting on the ground stood up and looked to their captain.
Sensing the gazes of his subordinates, the Knight-Captain took off his helmet to look at his two subordinates and with said with great certainty,
“Even without the fruit, there must be clues of the fruit there. Master Harley’s prophecy is never wrong.”
After receiving a firm answer, the knight who had raised the question took a deep breath and said,
“If that’s the case, then there’s no helping it.”
Although his words sounded resigned, the strong killing intent in his voice was bone-piercingly chilling…