Chapter 25 : You’re a poet?

“Luko…”

Qianya stared at Luko’s door.

Vivian had forbidden her from visiting Luko right now.

According to her, the punishment module she’d just implanted was specifically meant to restrict Qianya.

Qianya: What on earth is going to happen

The heart-shaped mark was already ominous enough. Combined with Vivian’s tone earlier, it was impossible not to imagine something extremely weird ( )

While Qianya was lost in wild thoughts, Iris happened to walk out of Luko’s room carrying an empty tray.

“Hm? Why are you still standing here? Did you eat breakfast?” Iris asked.

“Nn…”

Qianya’s heart skipped a beat. She instinctively touched the faintly warm bite marks still lingering on her neck.

Vivian had clearly warned her—if she told anyone what happened in that room, something very scary would happen…

“I-I finished eating…” Qianya mumbled, head lowered.

“You ate that fast today?”

Iris raised a brow, clearly not fully convinced, but she didn’t press.

“Um, how’s Luko doing?” Qianya hurriedly changed the subject.

She really was worried.

Iris’s voice softened. “Luko said she wants to be alone for now. It’s best not to bother her. I’ll tell the other two later.”

“Oh…

Qianya nodded, worry growing heavier.

Just wait a little longer… I hope she feels better soon.

Qianya prayed silently.

“Alright, enough of that.” Iris put away the tray, turned toward the stairs, and grabbed Qianya’s hand. “Come downstairs with me. There’s something important I need to talk to you about.”

“E-Eh ??” Qianya blinked, dragged along by Iris.

♡♡♡

In the living room, Iris set the empty tray on the coffee table, pulled a rolled-up piece of parchment from a drawer, and snapped it open on the table.

Qianya leaned in. The paper was covered in dense lines—clearly the café renovation blueprint.

“I redrew the café renovation plan.” Iris pointed to the backyard section, her tone serious. “We talked about this at the tavern. To serve both commoners and nobles, we have to cater to their tastes… You know commoners better than I do, but nobles care a lot about ingredient freshness and rarity. So I’m planning to grow high-grade magical herbs in the backyard. If I grow them myself, we’ll save a ton on costs.”

“You know how to farm?” Qianya blinked.

“Don’t underestimate holy-domain elves. Unlike spoiled young ladies like you, I was raised to tend all kinds of plants in the sanctuary.”

Iris huffed proudly.

“Oh…”

Qianya nodded, looking at the detailed notes on the blueprint.

Iris really had cut costs a lot.

But by Qianya’s estimate, they still needed 2 platinum coins.

“We still don’t have enough savings.” Qianya said.

“That’s exactly why we need more ways to earn money. That’s the main thing I wanted to discuss.” Iris pulled a faintly glowing blue magic parchment from her pocket and handed it to Qianya.

“The café can’t reopen yet, so I went to the Adventurer’s Guild yesterday and picked up these two commissions.”

Qianya took the parchment and opened it. Two commissions were written in magical ink:

① “Phantasm Forest Exploration”

Requirement: Venture deep into 【Phantasm Forest】 and record the distribution of magical plants and monsters along the way.

Reward: 10 gold coins.

② “Potion Brewing”

Requirement: Brew one bottle of body-enhancing potion.

Reward: 5 silver coins.

“I’ve already decided the task assignments.” Iris took a sip from the cup on the table.

“I’m heading to the capital library soon to look up adventurer logs. There might be detailed info on Phantasm Forest. I heard there are illusion-inducing magical vines there. We’ll get in trouble if we don’t prepare.”

“V-Vines ”

For some reason, the word “vines” made Qianya feel scared.

She kept imagining bad things ( )

“Once Zero and Vivian wake up, I’ll come back and we’ll all head into the forest together. Until then…”

1. Iris paused, her gaze landing on Qianya. “You’re in charge of brewing the potion. There are basic materials we bought before in the storage room. Should be enough.”

“Eh? I have to brew it alone?” Qianya made a bitter face. “Brewing potions is such a pain ”

More importantly, she hadn’t eaten breakfast. Her stomach was growling. How was she supposed to deal with herbs…

Iris set down her cup and rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed. “If you don’t want to brew, that’s fine too.”

She pulled out another commission sheet and tossed it in front of Qianya. “There’s an urgent request at the guild—eliminate a tentacle monster in the Black Wind Cave east of the city. Reward 2 gold coins. If brewing is too much trouble, go do that instead.”

“T-Tentacle monster ” Qianya’s face instantly turned tomato-red.

“Let’s go. I’ll walk you there.” Iris smirked and grabbed Qianya’s hand.

“Kyaa no no no ”

Qianya absolutely refused ( )

She had zero combat ability. Facing a tentacle monster… If she got caught alive…

She’d definitely die

Iris couldn’t help curling her lips at Qianya’s panicked expression.

She had only brought up the request to tease her.

Iris: This idiot is actually kinda cute.

Then she picked up a note covered in writing from the table and handed it to Qianya.

“These are the client’s specific requirements. Read carefully. Don’t mess it up.”

With that, Iris strode out of the café.

“Sigh…”

Guess potion brewing it is…

Qianya looked down at the note, rubbed her growling stomach, and resignedly headed to the alchemy room.

…

The alchemy room was behind the kitchen—a space Yaxi had specially renovated. Two huge alchemy furnaces stood inside, and shelves were neatly lined with glass bottles of herbs.

Qianya pushed open the door, walked to the table, set down the parchment and note, and poured herself a cup of warm water.

Iris hadn’t made any extra breakfast at all (angry)

So the only thing to pad her stomach was warm water…

Back to brewing.

Even though her current body was weak, she still remembered the alchemy knowledge from before.

Brewing a potion shouldn’t be too hard.

Glug glug… Let me see… The requirements are… huh ?

When Qianya picked up the note and carefully read the client’s demands, her eyes went perfectly round. The cup in her hand nearly fell.

[Commission Requirements: Within 3 hours, brew one bottle of “Omni-Strengthening Potion”. After drinking, the user gains massively increased critical damage, significantly improved speed and jump power, at least 50% damage reduction for the duration, and high-speed regeneration that quickly heals wounds and restores mana.]

Qianya stared at the words, lips twitching uncontrollably.

“Are you a poet…?”

You want this kind of potion for just 5 silver coins???

This is a commission, not a wish