On February 5, 1347, after the carriage came to a steady halt and the door opened, Altair, who was standing at the door to welcome her, immediately saw the visitor, Audrey Hall.
At this moment, she was wearing a light white long dress, her waist cinched extremely thin by a corset, and the multi-layered tiered skirt was perfectly supported by a crinoline.
After Audrey got off the carriage, she didn't greet her immediately. Instead, she picked up the golden retriever puppy from the carriage and smiled at Altair, "Good morning, Miss Altair."
"Good morning, Miss Audrey." After speaking, Altair turned her gaze to the golden retriever puppy in Audrey's arms and asked with a light chuckle, "Is this your new pet?"
Audrey gave a soft "Mm" and then held the golden retriever puppy out in front of Altair, signaling that she could hold it, and introduced, "This golden retriever is named Susie; it's a New Year's gift from my father."
When Altair took the golden retriever puppy, she gently stroked its back. The texture was that unique soft fur of a puppy—light,
thin, and there was also a faint milky scent.
She thought to herself, "It seems this is the future famous Dog of Fantasy, Susie. She really is cute when she's little."
After finishing the greetings, Altair led Audrey into the villa's drawing room and gestured for her to take a seat as she pleased.
After the two sat opposite each other, Altair asked curiously, "I'm very curious, what method did you use to get your parents to agree to let you leave the manor with only a maid and come to my place?"
Audrey pouted slightly, with a bit of grievance and a touch of loss, explaining, "Everyone has been so busy lately; no one has free time to play with me."
"So, using the reason that being home alone was too boring, I applied to Father and Mother to go out shopping."
Hearing Audrey's complaint, Altair nodded in understanding. Although the New Year had just passed, according to normal logic, this should be the most idle time of the year.
People could use this rare free time to travel, recuperate, or enjoy family happiness at a farm.
But nobles couldn't, and Audrey's father especially had no way to enjoy such a life. He was not only the head of the Hall family but also a member of the House of Lords and a major banker—with these multiple identities stacked together, he had plenty to be busy with right now.
In a sense, Susie's appearance represented that Earl Hall was indeed very busy. After all, January to February is the peak of the winter hunting season, with events hosted every week. Hosting means inviting people, and people use this way to connect with political allies, discuss parliamentary activities, and so on.
This resulted in noble men being outside almost every day, being extremely busy.
Meanwhile, Earl Hall's wife, Caitlin Hall, should currently be handling estate affairs, meeting with stewards and tenant farmers—calculating this year's estate income while also planning next year's agricultural development and land rent prices.
After handling those, she still needed to arrange for custom dresses and jewelry, submit social season applications to the Royal Family, and decide on dates for banquets and balls—all to prepare for this year's social season.
While Altair was lost in thought, Audrey kept shifting her seat, gradually approaching Altair. After grabbing her small hand, she acted spoiled towards her, "Sister Altair, you said that as long as I could find a way to come to your house alone, you would let me see real occult items."
Hearing this, Altair poked Audrey's nose with her finger and said with a bitter face, "And here I was, feeling touched that you thought of me and came to find me in your free time."
"But now I know that you, girl, didn't come to see me, but to see illegal items."
"Hmph~, I'm heartbroken."
"Sister Altair, my good sister, I definitely came to visit you; they are just incidental." Sensing she had let the truth slip, Audrey kept swaying Altair's arm and acted spoiled.
Feeling Audrey's movements, Altair could only shake her head helplessly and said to her, "Alright, alright~ I get it. Now let go of my hand, and I'll take you to see."
After waiting for Audrey to let go of her arm, Altair stood up and led her toward the Sheffield Family's treasury.
Opening the first-level treasury door with a specialized key, Altair introduced to Audrey, "The things within these invisible walls are various Beyonder materials or Beyonder items."
After speaking, Altair handed an item list on the side to Audrey.
After Audrey finished reading the list in her hand, she also discovered several familiar names. Recalling carefully, she found that some of these items were also in her own family's treasury.
So, unable to contain her curiosity, she asked Altair, "Cornea of a Dream-Eater Evil Eye, Head of a Savage Dog, Blood of a Giant Warrior—"
"My family seems to have some of these things too. Sister Altair, do you know what these things are for?"
"And are these things really related to Beyonder items? Why is it all horns, blood, heads, corneas, bones, spinal columns—all sorts of things?"
Hearing Audrey's questions, Altair couldn't help but chuckle a few times and explained, "These items are all Beyonder materials; it's normal to have all sorts of things."
"As long as one can collect the correct Potion Formula, people can use these Beyonder materials to craft Potions."
"And after a person consumes a Potion, they become a Beyonder. For example: the Nighthawks of the Church of the Evernight Goddess, the Punishers of the Church of the god of storms, the Machinery Hivemind of the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery—though these titles are different, they are essentially just the names different churches use for their own Beyonders."
"As for why your family has these materials, it should be for investment. After all, the uniqueness of these Beyonder materials dictates their extraordinary value, and as long as a world-ending war doesn't occur, they won't drop in price—. All these labels, without exception, introduce it as an excellent investment product."
After listening to Altair's introduction, Audrey also nodded repeatedly.
Earl Hall himself was a well-known banker in the Kingdom of Loen, and as his daughter, Audrey naturally couldn't be a truly 'naive' person. She was certainly very clear about what things held value and could be further invested in.
"Correct Potion Formula." After repeating this phrase, Audrey asked Altair curiously, "Why say 'correct Potion Formula'? Can Potion Formulas be fake? Can't we just mix various materials randomly to make a Potion?"
"Of course, a correct Potion Formula is extremely important in the matter of mixing Potions."
"A Potion Formula usually records the amounts of main and supplementary materials. The main materials are the key factor for people to become Beyonders, so they can't be more or less. The supplementary materials have the special function of soothing the spirit; they can assist people in reducing the pressure of becoming a Beyonder."
After saying this, Altair warned Audrey again, "Beyonder materials are inherently dangerous items for ordinary people; do not come into direct contact with them unless necessary."
"If people randomly mix materials to make a Potion, the best result is losing control on the spot and dying immediately; the worst result is becoming various indescribable 'Monsters'."