After finishing up the commission paperwork with Rose, the three of them walked out of the hall to the entrance.
"Rose, you really saved us back there. Thanks."
Leon's gratitude was genuine as he extended his hand to the werewolf.
But the moment their hands clasped, he distinctly felt her fingers lightly trace across his palm.
He let go without betraying a thing, shot her a quick look, then turned and walked off with Kureha, chatting and laughing.
Rose kept her expression rigid, one arm clutching the other, teeth pressing into her lip as she fought down the tingling that rippled through her.
It took a while for that unfamiliar flutter to subside. Only then, cheeks slightly warm, did she turn and hurry back inside the Guild.
"Damn it... that jerk did that on purpose to mess with me..."
...
On the way to the Dian Cecht Familia Treatment Center, Kureha studied Leon with a look he found uncomfortably familiar, her eyes dancing with amusement.
"So... you and Miss Rose Fannett..."
"..."
He knew she was going to ask!
Leon cleared his throat twice and explained with a perfectly straight face.
"You know, Rose and I go way back. We're old friends. Being... comfortable around each other is perfectly normal."
Kureha's lips curved slightly. She just watched him with that knowing smile, saying nothing.
"..."
Say something! Why are you just staring at me?
This is so awkward!
Who the hell taught her this? Jeanne? Rose? Damn it... I went too easy on those two!
Just as Leon was squirming under her gaze and racking his brain for a way out, salvation appeared. The sign for the Dian Cecht Familia Treatment Center came into view.
"Kureha, we're here! Looks pretty crowded inside. We'd better hurry. Potions aren't easy to get right now!"
Without waiting for her reaction, he strode off toward the treatment center.
"Hmph. What a clumsy way to change the subject."
But picturing how flustered he'd looked just now, she let out a soft laugh.
"Rose's method... really does work."
With that quiet murmur, she picked up her pace and followed after him.
...
...
Meanwhile, Rose and Aura were at the Free Market shopping for food and daily supplies.
"Rose, doesn't the Familia already have a stockpile of high-grade potions? Why is Leon going out of his way to buy more? They're expensive and hard to find on the market right now. The prices and supply don't look great, do they?"
Rose carefully selected ingredients as she patiently explained.
"Strategic supplies like potions are something you can never have too many of. As long as the Familia's finances allow it, stocking up is always the right call. Especially now, with the city in the middle of all this chaos. You never know when they'll come in handy. Kureha is the perfect example. If Leon hadn't had that Holy Elixir tucked away, she probably wouldn't have made it."
Leon and Rose's groups were busy preparing for the Expedition.
At the same time, Jeanne and Laurier had arrived early at Tsubaki's workshop, where they were discussing maintenance for everyone's full set of equipment, along with pricing for spare weapons, whetstones, maintenance oil, and other consumables.
Jeanne rapped her knuckles on the table and smiled.
"Tsubaki, we're buying this much all at once, and we're regulars. You've gotta throw in a better discount than that."
Tsubaki: "..."
When did Jeanne start giving off the same energy as... that man?
She definitely wasn't like this before...
What Tsubaki didn't know was that months around Leon had changed Jeanne. She was no longer the sheltered, naive rich girl she'd once been, but the household's capable head of procurement.
Granted, she still lacked the polish of Leon or Rose, but she was leagues beyond where she'd started.
...
Now, the two women sat on opposite sides of the workbench, locked in what felt like a full-blown negotiation.
Neither gave an inch, and the workshop went taut with silence.
Laurier was too scared to make a sound. Her bright eyes darted around restlessly, sneaking glances at the fine weapons displayed on the walls.
Thoughts flickered through Tsubaki's mind one after another. After deliberating for a long moment, she finally spoke.
"Jeanne, twenty percent off. That's the best I can do. Honestly, at this price I'm barely making anything. You know the materials for forging all come from the Dungeon, and procurement costs are already sky-high. On top of that, those Evilus idiots have been going on a rampage lately, and the number of adventurers entering the Dungeon has dropped off a cliff. The chain reaction's driven material prices higher by the day."
She shrugged and spread her hands with a sigh.
"If you weren't a friend, forget a discount. I'd actually need to raise prices just to keep the workshop running."
Jeanne furrowed her brows.
"Material prices are up? Fewer adventurers exploring the Dungeon? Is this the fallout from that Adventurer Hunt that Evilus pulled in the Under Resort?"
She tried putting herself in another's shoes.
If she were just an ordinary adventurer, hearing about the massacre at Rivira Town would've made her hold off on any deep Dungeon dives that weren't strictly necessary.
After all, your life matters more than money.
Not every adventurer was like the Loki, Freya, Ganesha, or Astraea Familias, driven by ambitions, ideals, or convictions they had to see through.
Quite the opposite. The vast majority became adventurers for wealth and fame.
No grand reasons. Just that simple.
Leon's image flashed through her mind, and Jeanne almost laughed.
Right. That man was exactly the same, wasn't he?
She remembered his words:
"If you can't even meet basic material needs, what business do you have chasing something as abstract as spiritual fulfillment? At the very least, make your own life better first before you go after all that."
"If you can't even manage that, then everything else is just castles in the sky. Completely unrealistic."
Jeanne turned this over in her mind.
Pragmatism versus idealism, huh...
...
...
Dian Cecht Familia Treatment Center.
"Seriously, Airmid? Healing potions and magic elixirs... that's all you've got?"
"Don't tell me you're getting back at me for coming out ahead last time?"
Leon stared at the lonely twelve vials sitting on the counter, completely speechless.
What was he supposed to do with that?
...
...
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