Celitia was very confused, her gaze moving up and down as she looked Florence over from head to toe.

Had the sun risen from the west?

Florence was actually looking for an authenticator to cooperate with?

Shouldn't this woman be making some inferior counterfeit goods, swindling people everywhere, and when she had money, smoking and drinking, with any extra thrown into casinos for a wild time?

For such a person to actually want to seriously create alchemical tools was no wonder Celitia was surprised.

Suspicious glances lingered repeatedly on Florence, but Celitia couldn't very well voice her thoughts directly.

"It's rare to see an alchemist who's fallen as low as you," Celitia finally found a reason. "You just said you owe debts to others. How can I trust that you'd be an excellent partner?"

Florence clasped her hands together, looking pitiful:

"Because I have an eighty-year-old mother above and a three-year-old child below. The pressure of life is just too great, which is why I look so down and out. It's precisely to earn money to support my family that I want to find someone to cooperate with. Don't look at me like this—I'm actually really—"

"Lying."

Before Florence could finish, Celitia interrupted her, patience nearly exhausted. "Tell the truth. I don't have time to listen to your nonsense."

Florence was stunned. Her mouth, which had been about to continue spouting nonsense, unconsciously stopped and turned into a long sigh: "I didn't expect you to be so perceptive."

Celitia secretly complained to herself—while knowing you is part of the reason, don't you see what kind of mindless lies you're telling?

"Fine, then I'll tell the truth."

Florence took another puff of her pipe, wisps of smoke flowing from her mouth and slowly dissipating into the air.

"It's to earn money. That simple."

This simple reason didn't completely convince Celitia.

Florence had a go-with-the-flow, get-by-as-you-can personality. For her, as long as life was manageable, she didn't pursue much money—just enough to spend.

Celitia had never known her to develop any obsession with money.

"Why?" Celitia asked.

Being stared at by those misty purple-gray eyes, Florence felt quite uncomfortable and finally gave up, shoulders slumping helplessly.

She felt like all the truth she wanted to hide had been completely seen through by this seemingly fragile girl.

"Really, has no one ever told you not to dig too deep into everything?"

Florence sighed, her voice gradually calming. "Fine, it's not exactly some unspeakable secret—I want to buy back a memento of my friend."

Celitia's breathing paused imperceptibly for an instant before she softly asked: "A friend's memento?"

"Yes, there will be an auction at the end of the year. I plan to earn enough money before then to buy back that item."

Florence had never been one to share deep thoughts with casual acquaintances.

But at this moment, under the gaze of those eyes, as if possessed, she said a few more useless words.

"I used to... think that guy was a hopeless fool with nothing in his head except ideals."

A self-mocking smile curved her lips as Florence sighed. "I never thought that one day I'd actually work hard for a certain goal. If he knew, he'd definitely mock me mercilessly."

Celitia remained silent for a very long time.

It was actually... for her sake?

This really wasn't like Florence's style.

The atmosphere around them fell into silence, with only their footsteps echoing regularly in the alley.

Withered yellow leaves spun and floated down from the air, falling before Celitia's eyes. The moment they hit the ground startled her from her daze.

"Just for this?" Celitia asked.

"Yeah, sounds pretty unreliable, doesn't it?" Florence smiled bitterly. "Should we change to a different reason?"

Celitia didn't pursue the question further, and Florence had no intention of continuing her explanation.

"I understand," Celitia said flatly. "I accept your proposed cooperation."

"You agreed?" Florence hadn't expected her to agree so readily this time and couldn't help asking: "Don't you think this reason is much stranger than the previous ones?"

Celitia spoke slowly, her tone slightly cool but extraordinarily firm: "No."

Florence stared at her blankly, several complex emotions flashing through her eyes.

"Then how do we calculate payment?" the girl asked next.

The topic was quite a jump, the question very practical, completely breaking the slightly melancholic atmosphere.

"Of course it's calculated per instance," Florence immediately became serious when discussing fees. "For each authentication, I'll give you one silver coin!"

Celitia's mouth twitched slightly: "That low?"

According to the current exchange rate in Lansca Kingdom, one hundred copper coins equaled one silver coin, and fifty silver coins equaled one gold coin.

In terms of purchasing power, one silver coin was roughly equivalent to an ordinary person's expenses for about three days.

And authenticators typically charged at least ten silver coins or more, with famous authenticators' starting prices possibly calculated in gold coins.

Celitia even felt she should reconsider the cooperation.

When it came to money, Florence perked up:

"I'll prepare all the materials needed for authentication—you don't need to pay. If you want to learn alchemy, I can also provide those materials, and I won't charge you for teaching!"

"..."

How had she never noticed before that Florence had the face of a black-hearted boss?

"Of course, I know authenticators charge far more than this, but those are famous authenticators' fees."

Florence rubbed her hands together. "But in your case, you're still quite far from being 'famous,' right? I'm taking quite a risk cooperating with you!"

"..."

So Florence was cooperating with her not because she discovered how skilled she was, but because she thought she was cheap.

Who would have thought this woman was quite good at workplace manipulation!

Celitia was momentarily speechless.

"If you don't say anything, I'll take that as agreement!" Florence said happily. "How about it? Want to go see my workshop now? There are lots of interesting things inside—I guarantee you'll like them!"

"Sorry, I have some other things to take care of today."

Celitia shook her head and explained to Florence: "I'm a student at Samuel National Academy. I'm only allowed to leave on rest days, and I still need to go home."

Florence was stunned: "Only allowed out on rest days? Then in terms of your schedule, wouldn't that be..."

"You can rest assured about that," Celitia smiled. "I'm always very serious about work. No matter what requirements you have, as long as I accept them, I'll definitely do them well."

Her voice wasn't loud, but somehow it carried particular persuasive power in Florence's ears.

"Oh my," Florence murmured, almost wanting to press her head against her chest and rub it. "Big sister loves serious beautiful girls the most!"

Just from Florence's expression, Celitia could guess what she was thinking and said angrily: "Don't even think about it! I will hit people!!"

"Don't say that. You're still young and don't understand big sister's goodness~"

"Stop putting gold on your face, Aunt Florence!"