Chapter 32: A Golden Opportunity

Aurora stepped forward, not caring if her expensive dress got stained with oil, and leaned over the table.

“If you’re hungry, go eat in the dining room. What’s this? Even sneaking a midnight snack wasn’t this pathetic.”

Vapgis quickly shielded her bowl, still chewing bread, and mumbled an excuse.

“Go back to the dining room? That requires the master to be present. The old servants told me it’s the ‘Marquis’s rule’, without the master watching, the kitchen doesn’t cook, to save fuel. I’m just a freeloader, so I get to eat bread soaked in hot water.”

She swallowed and resignedly pointed her spoon at the bowl.

“I couldn’t take it anymore. That hard bread would break my teeth. This soft stuff soaked in cream of mushroom soup is more fitting for a half-elf like me.”

Aurora looked her over. The half-elf was still in yesterday’s mage outfit. She didn’t have many good clothes to begin with, and now her skirt was dusty, her sleeves grease-stained. She looked like a street urchin.

Vapgis hadn’t received the respect due to Aurora’s guest and friend. Probably because she usually acted unreliable and dressed poorly, the servants took her for some commoner Aurora had picked up.

Aurora felt she needed to dress Vapgis up, make her look more proper, so next time she wouldn’t even be let in the gate.

As for herself, she didn’t care. She didn’t need fancy clothes. No one dared question her nobility.

“Then why didn’t you wake me? It’s not like I was dead asleep.”

“Miss…”

Vapgis held up a finger.

“Balian was standing outside like a guard dog. With that attitude, who would dare disturb your bonding time? Even a blind man could see he wanted to keep an eye on you. Anyone who goes near gets it.”

Aurora took a deep breath and slapped her palm on the table, making the spoon jump.

“He’s just putting on a show on his own. I’m telling you, I have zero interest in Balian. Marriage is out of the question. My goal is to maintain a safe physical distance from him, and snatch that investigation credit before he steals the spotlight.”

She stared at Vapgis, trying to convey something like ‘determination’ through her gaze.

“So I need your help. I don’t want you to confront him directly. Just remind me or help me out next time something like this happens. Got it?”

Vapgis was about to shrink back and refuse, but Aurora pulled a folded note from her sleeve and shoved it into her hand.

“This is the ten livres I promised you. Take this slip and go find the steward to cash it later. Not a bad deal for you.”

The moment Vapgis heard ‘livres’, her reluctant face brightened, and she quickly tucked the note into her pocket.

“Deal. But to get the credit, you’ll need some skill. That Balian is rubbing his hands together, eager to be the hero. Let me tell you, yesterday he talked to Keen…”

With the help of financial persuasion, the previously fence-sitting Vapgis quickly threw her lot in with Aurora.

She finished the last of the soup in a few gulps, wiped her mouth, and continued.

“Yesterday Balian talked a lot with Keen. Keen talked about protecting the weak, criticizing social injustice, and you thought Balian would argue? No way. He nodded at everything and said, ‘If you have evidence of crimes, you can hand it over. As a paladin, I will handle it properly.’ Sounds righteous, right?”

Vapgis pursed her lips and added, “He also asked me how I was doing, if I had any troubles. Honestly, my impression of him was okay, but since I’ve taken your ten livres…”

She patted the note in her pocket and changed her tune with a look of righteous indignation: “He’s a wolf with a hidden agenda, utterly hypocritical.”

Aurora snorted coldly, but her mind was already spinning.

Balian was trying to corrupt her newly won ally.

The guild had been hard to reel in, but Balian went and befriended Keen, acting like ‘come to me with your problems.’

He was trying to steal her thunder right under her nose, pulling the guild people to his side.

She had to get concrete results before he did, or these fence-sitters would eventually switch sides.

‘I need to get stronger.’ Aurora lowered her voice. “Do you have any way to quickly boost strength?”

Vapgis blinked and suddenly wore an ‘you’ve come to the right person’ expression.

“Make scrolls. I’m great at making scrolls. I can make backups for you, lifesavers in a pinch. But…”

She rubbed her fingers together. “The materials aren’t cheap.”

“Money’s not a problem. My family has plenty of that.”

Without further ado, Aurora dragged Vapgis out. She sent someone to buy magic ink and parchment per Vapgis’s request, and found a quiet room to serve as a temporary workshop.

About half an hour later, materials were ready. Vapgis spread out the parchment, dipped the brush in the shimmering ink, and for once wore a serious expression.

“Watch. I’ll only demonstrate once.”

Aurora leaned in to observe. Vapgis closed her eyes, concentrated, her lips moving slightly as she chanted a string of obscure incantations. After the first recitation, nothing happened. The parchment remained blank.

Second time, still nothing.

Sweat beaded on Vapgis’s forehead. She chanted a third, fourth time…

Only on the seventh try did a faint glow appear at her fingertips, like holding an invisible pen that traced intricate patterns on the parchment. When the last rune fell into place, a soft light emanated from the paper, then calmed.

A full hour. A single second-circle Mist Step scroll.

“The principle of making scrolls,” Vapgis wiped her sweat, “is to first construct the spell model in your mind, then ‘transfer’ it into the void, creating a state where the spell is about to be cast but hasn’t been yet. Finally, you imprint the spell model onto the parchment with magic. Sounds simple in theory, but the gap between void simulation and actual inscription is vast, and any mistake in any step causes failure.”

“And,” she pointed at the newly made scroll, “casting consumes your prepared spell slots. So every time I make a scroll, I have to meditate and prepare the spell again. Then make another, and repeat. It’s slow.”

Aurora nodded thoughtfully.

No wonder scrolls were always in short supply on the market. It wasn’t a craft; it was time and brain cells forcefully piled together.

Aurora stared at the single scroll and clicked her tongue. This efficiency would get her fired by HR back home.

Why was scroll-making so inefficient?

In essence, Vapgis’s method was to cast the spell onto the scroll, letting the scroll store the spell model at the point of casting.

First, casting could easily fail.

Second, the magic power and spell model would flow from the brain to the scroll. To make multiple, Vapgis had to repeatedly construct the spell model in her mind.

Was there a way to speed up scroll production?

Related to magic power, Aurora instinctively thought of her golden finger.

The ‘Charm Mage’ constitution could recover stray energy, like carrying an infinitely charging nuclear battery.

But the cost was,

Once she activated that constitution, her body would uncontrollably go into heat.

If she really unleashed it on the battlefield, the scene would be too glorious to imagine.

Enemies with swords in front, she getting horny in back. That wasn’t fighting; it was offering free entertainment.

Because of the severe side effect, that abundant magic power usually rotted inside her.

If only she could store that ‘dangerous energy’ she couldn’t normally use into scrolls.

But the problem was that making scrolls required being able to cast the corresponding spell. Aurora couldn’t cast proper third-circle spells, so the scrolls she made would be weak.

Besides, she lacked the skill.

If only she could share her magic power with Vapgis.

Hmm…

Her other golden finger was magic weapons. Was there anything there she could use?

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