In this moment, Rosa knows she's probably making the wrong choice. Against all better judgment, she fixes her eyes on the woman and parts her lips.
"Consider it done. However, I'll take half the coins as a down payment, if you don't mind."
The woman's stone-stiff expression softens, just slightly, at Rosa's acceptance.
"A quarter," she counters. "That should cover the cart and daily expenses. I know you're as wealthy as a beggar—you won't pay for the journey yourself."
So she knew, after all. Rosa exhales, her little façade crumbling like stale bread.
She usually draws the line at deceit, even in trade. But this time? There's a near hundred percent chance something will go wrong—and it'll be the client's fault. The least she deserves is a bit of compensation for putting herself in danger.
So much for her plan. Still, she feels a strange relief. If the woman's willing to hand over money now, it means she's less likely to try reclaiming it later by force. People careless with gold rarely guard it well when they believe it's coming back to them.
"Fine. At least I won't be on deficit if I decide to bail."
The woman hefts a large pouch of coins, then tosses a smaller one across the air. It arcs neatly—enough time for Rosa to catch it midflight, the weight of coins pressing into her palms over the desk.
"If you have any questions," the woman says, already turning, "come find me at the Stilleulën Daras. I'll be staying there three days."
She steps toward the door.
"That should be enough time for you to prepare yourself. I'll return in twenty days."
The door closes with a heavy click—an ending, and the start of something else.
Rosa exhales and presses her fingers against her chin.
She has to treat this quest as ninety-nine percent fatal, or at least fatally troublesome. There's always a hidden edge somewhere. Which means countermeasures are non-negotiable.
Her plan is simple: once she reaches the site, she'll run reconnaissance first. That's the crucial step—confirm whether the quest is actually possible. If not, she bails. If it looks safe enough, she continues. And if the impossibility shows itself halfway through, she still bails. If all goes well… she lists the ores, no problem.
The question is—how would she bail out? What kind of countermeasures does she need?
She has plenty of gold to spend on scrolls now. One obvious choice: a light refraction scroll to bend herself out of sight. Maybe stack it with a single-target illusion, just to be safe. Sight, checked.
Next—hearing. She has to make sure nothing with good ears picks up her movement. A noise suppression scroll should do the trick. Hearing, checked.
As for smell, her illusion magic can probably handle that. But if her mana dries up mid-operation, she'll need a backup. Another scroll, then—something like a forest fragrance charm, or a strong perfume that throws off creatures. Smell, checked.
Touch and taste? If anything gets close enough to touch or taste her, it's already over. Touch, crossed. Taste, crossed.
Then there's the sense most people forget—mana detection. Mountain creatures rely mostly on sight, sound, and scent. Still, she can't afford optimism. Not this time.
She imagines the scene now: the cold mountain forest, her face-to-face with something unknown. Even cloaked in illusions and refraction, if it senses her mana… that's game over.
Mana concealment—such a frustrating concept. Even if her own mana runs dry and she switches to a mana stone, the spell still needs flow to activate, which makes her detectable. Her only real option is to cast the concealment outside the detection range. That means she'll have to keep scanning ahead with Sharvessaich. Non-negotiable. Luckily, its mana cost isn't that high.
Right… but Sharvessaich is still a spell. Which means she'll be pinged the moment she uses it inside the zone. So she has to cast it before she enters.
That covers the hiding part—mostly. Mana stones are essential, and she's got plenty. But as for the scrolls…? She's out. Light refraction and noise suppression aren't her forte, and she doesn't have any left in stock.
Which means she'll have to visit another shop. And this time, she'll spare no expense.
Now, the next question—if she manages to hide from every sense that matters, how does she actually get out?
She exhales through her nose, annoyed. If only teleportation existed as something reliable. It would save time, effort, and about half her life expectancy. If she had access to it, every scroll she planned to buy would be obsolete—just one spell and she'd be gone. But as far as she knows, only gods can pull off that kind of magic. For everyone else, it's just a fairy tale in a novel. Teleportation, crossed.
Levitation? Also off the board. It guzzles mana too fast. Rosa shudders at the memory of the last time she tried to lift even a small wooden board. The weakness in her knees, the swirling in her stomach—classic symptoms of a mana reservoir running on fumes. Levitation, crossed.
A slightly better alternative would be speed buffs or agility potions. Thankfully, she already has a few in stock. A single vial could mean the difference between escape and an obituary.
With that settled, her mind shifts to the next concern: the survey itself. On paper, it's simple—identify the ores and minerals, and bring back a sample of any that contain void elements. Only one small problem: ores and minerals aren't exactly her field. She can name a few—iron, ruby, gold, silver—but beyond that? She's clueless. Especially when it comes to anything void-related.
A certain pink-haired girl flashes in her mind, and Rosa sighs, shaking her head. The last thing she wants is to drag Lilia into something shady and possibly suicidal. Still, she needs the knowledge. Maybe she can borrow a book on mineral identification. If not, she's got three days—enough time for Lilia or Helgen to throw together a reference guide.
She tears a sheet of parchment from her desk and dips her quill into the ink. One by one, she lists what she'll need: scrolls, mana stones, glyphs, a few extra supplies.
"Right…"
Her voice steadies. With determined eyes, she steps toward the door of her shop.
…..
Rosa stands before a wooden house, a sign shaped like an anvil hanging above the entrance. Helgen's Workshop. A name so simple, direct, and honest—just like the man himself.
She takes a step forward, then—
"YOU FOOL!"
A thunderous voice erupts from inside, unmistakable in its gruff authority.
"Didn't I tell you not to skip the tempering!? Look at this blade—brittle as glass! You overheated it!"
Then comes another voice, higher, frustrated, and far too familiar.
"It's not! Maybe a bit chipped, but still usable! And it's not like the kingdom needs swords that perfect! If we don't speed up, we'll never meet the deadline!"
As Rosa approaches, the shouting only grows louder. She grips the handle and eases the door open.
Sure enough, Lilia and Helgen are in the middle of their usual battle, completely oblivious to her arrival.
"Redo it! I'm not accepting these brittle swords! All thirty of them!"
"Huh!? Are you insane!? The deadline's in a week—how are we supposed to—"
"We'll manage. But no cutting corners in my shop. Understood?"
"But—"
"I said, understood!?"
"...Understood."
Lilia slumps, shoulders heavy, and trudges toward the next room—without even noticing Rosa by the door.
Helgen's gaze snaps to her next, sharp and sudden. She flinches, instinctively averting her eyes.
"If you're looking to play with Lilia, she's extremely busy right now."
Rosa swallows hard and steps closer.
"N-no, actually. If she's busy, I can talk to you instead. I—I'm looking for information about ores and minerals. How to identify and maybe extract them."
Helgen arches a brow and runs a calloused hand over his smooth, dark-brown scalp.
"Since when are you interested in my field?"
Rosa tightens her grip on her satchel, voice dipping almost to a whisper.
"N-not really interested, no. I'm just… on a quest to survey ores and minerals. Specifically in the region of Eisenvalt—north mountain."
"Eisenvalt?" He frowns. "Never heard of it. If you're after ores, there are safer and richer veins closer to town."
"W-well…"
Rosa's eyes dart left, then right, weighing what to say.
Helgen exhales through his nose, long and heavy.
"Well? Out with it. Or what—this some kind of secret mission?"
Rosa exhales quietly. He's right. Even if she learns to identify ores and minerals, she still has no idea how to tell if one contains void elements—aside from touching it herself. And that's a risk she'd rather not take. She needs to know if there's a safer method, one that doesn't drain her mana. Right now, only two people she knows have deeper knowledge on the subject—Lilia, and possibly Helgen.
"Well… about that…" She fidgets. "It'd be helpful if you didn't disclose this and kept it between us."
Helgen crosses his arms, one finger tapping his shoulder like a slow metronome.
"So it is a secret mission after all." His voice carries no judgment—just weight. "Fine by me. What's special about that region?"
"Yeah," Rosa admits, her tone tightening. "I took a job from a… shady client. They want me to investigate ores and minerals in that area. And if I find any containing void elements, I'm supposed to bring back samples."
Helgen's eyes narrow as he steps closer. Rosa feels the pressure before he even speaks. The urge to retreat crawls up her spine—but she stays still, swallowing hard.
"Like I said," he rumbles, "I won't tell anyone. But describe this client for me."
Rosa's gaze flicks aside. "She's, um… an ashen-haired woman. Tall. Speaks like she's above everyone. Her hair's tied in a neat ponytail."
Helgen sighs sharply and drags his palm over his face, muttering under his breath.
"To go in such a roundabout way…"
He grunts, fingers pressing into his temples.
Rosa jerks, sweat forming along her chin. What did I do this time? Did I say something wrong? What is it? What is it?
Light footsteps break her spiral—soft, quick, familiar.
"Mr. Helgen, you're scaring her, you know?"
Lilia appears from the next room, waving a hand with her usual cheerful smile. The tension around Rosa evaporates like steam off the forge.
"I didn't realize you were here, sorry~"
Rosa shakes her head, her grip on the satchel loosening. "No, I should've announced myself properly. Didn't want to interrupt your… heated discussion."
Lilia turns her sharp gaze toward Helgen, brow arched, hands on her hips, one foot tapping the wooden floor like a ticking clock.
"So, what were you two talking about that scared her this much?"
Helgen closes his eyes, exhaling another long sigh. When he opens them again, his gaze meets Lilia's with his usual, unmoving calm.
"It's nothing," he says flatly. "She asked for a guidebook on identifying ores and minerals. Nothing more."
Lilia's brow arches, suspicion lighting her expression. Her gaze slides toward Rosa.
"Is that true, Rosa?"
Rosa's eyes flick nervously between Lilia's probing stare and Helgen's sharper, silent warning. She inhales and answers with a crooked, uneasy smile.
"Yeah… it was."
Lilia exhales a long, disbelieving breath and crosses her arms.
"You two… just so you both know, I'm not stupid, okay? I clearly heard 'void element' in there somewhere."
Her attention shifts back to Rosa.
"And don't let Mr. Helgen intimidate you, alright? I mean, I don't blame you for being nervous, but still…"
Her tone softens for a heartbeat, then sharpens again as she swings her eyes back toward Helgen.
"So, care to tell me what this is really about?"
Helgen's answer is calm, almost too calm. He gestures with a slight tilt of his chin toward Rosa.
"Why don't you ask her yourself?"
Rosa reacts before Lilia can fire another question.
"I guess there's no point hiding it now," she says quietly. "What Helgen told you was true—I came here to borrow some knowledge about ores and minerals. But first, I need you to understand that this information isn't meant to leave this room."
Lilia's eyes stay locked on her, the brightness behind them tempered now by focus. She nods once—she understands.
Rosa clears her throat and continues.
"I'm tasked to survey a certain region for its ores and minerals. That's the main job. But there's a second task—to find and collect any sample that contains void elements. Since you two are the only people I know who actually understand that kind of thing, that's why I came here."
Lilia's eyes widen; her smile follows in a flash. Rosa can practically see the spark of excitement bloom across her face.
This is bad. Lilia's going to insist on coming—of course she is.
Helgen presses a broad palm to his forehead and drags it down his face, sighing heavily.
Both of them know what's coming next. And neither wants to deal with it.