“Senior, what are you thinking about? Should we go look for Senior Emma now?” Luke saw that Izzy had been zoning out and couldn’t help but remind him.
“No rush,” Izzy replied. “I’m trying to figure out what the Jingyue Chamber of Commerce actually wants by blackmailing Senior Emma.”
“What else could they want? It’s gotta be money, right?” Luke answered without thinking. “Senior Emma cares too much about her reputation, that’s why she won’t talk to her family or Director Kleia about it—just mentions it in passing. With her background, she doesn’t even need to worry about a handful of gold coins.”
Izzy’s eyes suddenly lit up. Right, the Jingyue Chamber of Commerce just wants money.
But since Senior Emma won’t say anything about it, and the Jingyue Chamber of Commerce doesn’t dare to directly ask that prideful old woman Kleia for help, all they can do is inform another direct student of Kleia—himself.
They want him to spread the news, so that Kleia will take the initiative and spend money to bail Emma out.
But the thing is, Kleia is certainly protective, but she’s also obsessed with her own reputation—anything that would hurt her pride will drive her into a rage.
If he went running to her in a moment of hotheadedness to complain, Kleia might just take out her anger on him.
No wonder reporting to Kleia was rated as an A-rank difficulty option…
As for the other option—making a scene and raising the ransom—if Kleia found out he was causing trouble for his fellow disciple, she’d be just as mad.
So, it seems the only way out is to rescue Emma quietly, protecting Kleia’s reputation without leaving any traces.
Once he figured this out, Izzy finally adjusted his mindset. He said to Luke, “Let’s go. Let’s see how Senior Emma’s doing.”
When Izzy arrived at the Jingyue Commercial Street, the sky was already darkening.
According to what the Know-it-all had described, Emma’s kind of private stall should be in a pretty secluded spot.
After circling around several times, Izzy finally spotted that familiar figure in a corner.
Emma, dressed in a violet gown, sat on a wooden chair with a blank expression. There was a sheet laid out on the ground in front of her, covered with all sorts of potions.
Not seeing her for just three days, and Senior Emma already looked like she had aged several years—her whole being radiated a weary, desolate aura.
When she noticed Izzy and Luke walking up, she didn’t even look up, just called out mechanically, “Mana restoration potions, all kinds of antidotes, magic amplification potions. Pay and you can buy.”
Izzy: “…….”
He had no idea how long Emma had been sitting at this stall, but he was certain that his senior hadn’t sold a single bottle.
This was all his fault…
Right now, Emma was still affected by the potion he’d secretly added to her water bottle before they set out—the one that lowered her presence.
Luke said with delight, “Senior Emma, we’ve been looking everywhere for you!”
Emma, who had been sitting there with a weary face, snapped her head up at the familiar voice. When she saw Izzy and Luke, her expression turned extremely ugly, alternating between red and white.
Before Izzy could say anything else, Emma hurriedly wrapped all her potions in the bedsheet, slung it over her shoulder, and turned to run.
Izzy hadn’t expected this reaction and quickly grabbed the bundle, speaking up, “Senior Emma, where are you going?”
Emma looked completely flustered. “I’m not Emma. You’ve got the wrong person.”
Izzy: “…….”
Luke hadn’t expected such a strong reaction either and asked in confusion, “Senior, why are you pretending not to know us?”
Emma’s face was bright red. She tried to yank the bundle away from Izzy, saying, “Let go of me, I’m not your senior.”
Izzy felt helpless. He’d seen all of his senior’s embarrassing past as a bootlicker already—what was this compared to that?
As Kleia’s disciple, if she hadn’t learned much cunning from her master, she’d definitely mastered the art of pride.
Izzy sighed and said seriously, “Senior Emma, in a few days Senior Sara should arrive at Jingyue Pier. If we can’t reach you by then, I’ll have to bring people to look for you on Commercial Street. When that happens, Director Kleia will definitely ask about what happened to you.”
Emma’s face grew extremely ugly. Her expression flickered with internal struggle. After a long pause, she finally gave in and tossed the bundle to the ground, beginning to pack all the bottles into her storage ring one by one.
“Let me finish packing up. The Commercial Street is about to close, and I need to keep selling tomorrow.”
Luke asked with concern, “Senior, you’re the most talented potion maker among the students at Starshine Academy. Surely a lot of people would buy your magic potions, right?”
He really had to bring up the sore spot.
Luke’s sense for reading the room was terrible.
Sure enough, upon hearing his words, Emma’s face twisted as she clenched her fists and forced a bitter smile at Luke.
“If you have something to say, let’s talk back at the tavern.”
Izzy brought Emma back to the tavern first.
He noticed Emma’s gaze fixed on the other customers’ tables and promptly ordered a lavish dinner.
Emma devoured the food, not caring about her image at all—it was obvious she’d been starving these days.
Izzy seized the opportunity to ask Emma about what had happened these past few days.
Though she didn’t want to share many details, Izzy managed to piece together the rough sequence of events.
After they parted, Emma went straight to Jingyue Pier.
When she arrived, an old woman suddenly collapsed in front of her and begged for help.
Emma, being a potion maker, carried a lot of recovery potions in her backpack. Without much thought, she approached to check the old woman’s injuries—only for the woman to suddenly grab her wrist.
The woman began crying for help, saying she’d been hit by this “young lady” and demanding a thousand gold coins in compensation.
Before Emma could explain, a crowd suddenly appeared out of nowhere, all accusing her and demanding payment.
If she refused, they’d call the Empire’s Public Security Bureau, or notify her family or academy to handle the matter.
Emma wasn’t stupid; she realized she was being scammed, and a thousand gold coins was no small amount.
She usually spent a lot on potion research, and all her belongings amounted to just two hundred gold coins—not nearly enough.
If word of this got back to her family or academy, she’d become a laughingstock among the nobles.
But most importantly, she couldn’t bear the thought of Isa finding out—her teacher knowing about this was her bottom line. She’d rather dig in a mine for the rest of her life.
So Emma could only try to raise the remaining eight hundred gold coins by selling potions and magic elixirs at Jingyue Pier’s Commercial Street, hoping to quietly swallow this bitter loss and leave as if nothing had happened.
She actually had quite a bit of confidence—after all, she was the most talented potion maker among the young generation of the empire’s nobles. She figured her potions would surely sell.
But things didn’t go as she expected. For two days straight, not a single person even stopped at her stall, as if she were invisible.
Forget making eight hundred gold coins—she hadn’t even made a single sale. She couldn’t even cover her food and lodging.
If Izzy hadn’t found her today, she would have gone hungry for another day.
Luke frowned after hearing the story and suggested, “Director Kleia is always ill-tempered. Maybe I should notify Teacher Isa and let her handle it?”
“No!” Emma slammed the table and shot to her feet. Her glare was so intense that her whole face contorted in horror at Luke’s words.
After all, Luke’s teacher was Isa.
If Isa came to help, Emma would honestly rather mine for the rest of her life.