"… That's how it is." Portia tapped her forehead with her fan. "As you know, Granny Fingernail has left the southern wizardry region. It's impossible to ask her to make the hat for us."
"So, according to Sister Doriz, you're the only one I can reach out to."
At this point, Portia chuckled. "I was thinking about how to contact you, but I didn't expect Regina to come to me while I was troubled."
"You should know what happened after that."
Portia was looking for Angor, and Angor happened to be looking for Portia, which led to today's meeting.
"What a coincidence." Angor raised an eyebrow.
Portia waved her fan with a smile. "Since it's a coincidence, do you want to accept my request?"
Angor considered for a moment. "Is this a deal?"
Freeing Keely in exchange for his help in making the hat?
"If you want it to be a deal, that's fine too. Well, if you want to solve Keely's problem, I have two plans. One of them can be used as an exchange. "
Angor was surprised. "What do you mean?"
Based on what Portia said, one of the plans could be obtained without exchanging any conditions?
If that was the case, wouldn't it be better to just choose this option?
Portia seemed to have noticed Angor's confusion. "You'll understand once you hear my plans."
Next, Portia explained her plan to solve Keely's problem in detail.
The first plan didn't require any deal. Portia directly ordered the dean of Ashley Academy's Fragrance Department to cancel Keely's mission and revoke the ban on her.
This was the plan Angor came up with to solve Keely's problem in the first place.
Back then, Angor thought that Portia might use this plan to make a deal with him.
But now, it seemed that Portia wasn't going to use this to threaten him.
Angor began to doubt himself. Did he think too much of Portia? Or was Portia doing this for another reason?
Portia didn't explain too much about the first plan. Instead, she went straight to the second plan, which could be used as a "deal".
"The second plan is that I won't solve the problem in person, but I can teach Keely a special extraction method in private. The extraction speed of this extraction method is about the same as the general extraction method, but the amount of extraction is much more than the previous extraction methods. "
"In other words, if Keely learns this method, she'll be able to clear Material Storage No.1 much faster.
"As for this method, it's my own invention. I never taught it to anyone else. I'll give you this method in exchange for a hat for Doriz. What do you think? "
Angor's expression changed when he heard Portia's second plan.
Portia's solution also included the option of "accelerated extraction".
Sure enough, all Master Alchemists had the same idea. Portia and Mithra had the same idea.
But … What's the difference between this plan and asking Angor's help?
Borrowing equipment from Stirling would cost him credit points. Asking Portia for the extraction method would cost him an alchemy opportunity. Either way, it didn't seem to make much of a difference.
Angor decided that the first plan was better.
But why did Portia choose the first option and help him unconditionally, while the second option offered a trade?
Was this bias because Portia felt that she had sacrificed more for the second plan?
Indeed. Giving out a special extraction method would cost a lot. But the first plan didn't cost her anything. All she needed to do was to give an order.
No … wait.
Angor considered carefully. If Portia chose the first plan, she would have to pay a price as well. She would have to give up her reputation. Or rather, her reputation.
She used her reputation as a guarantee to get Keely out of trouble. The people in the Fragrance circle were willing to agree because of Portia.
Such an intangible sacrifice might cost more than a tangible one.
After all, it was hard to build up a reputation, but it was easy to lose it.
Besides, Keely destroyed the "spiritual faith" of the Fragrance Wizards. Even if Portia could use her reputation to get Keely out of trouble, it would still cause some Fragrance Wizards to hold grudges against her.
Most of the time, the decisive factor that influenced the collapse of a building might not be the cracked earth or a violent disaster, but an inconspicuous breeze.
Part of the Fragrance Wizards' grudges came from such a small gap. At first, nothing would happen. But as time went by, whenever something happened to Portia, the grudges would gather together and become the straw that broke the camel's back.
Using one's reputation as a guarantee might cost more than a tangible sacrifice. But why didn't Portia use this plan to make a deal with Angor?
Because she could get more out of it if she didn't do it.
An intangible sacrifice. How much she would have to pay was an unknown.
Naturally, the price she would have to pay was also unknown.
There was only one "unknown" Angor could think of, and that was … a favor.
The first plan didn't seem to require anything in return, but Portia's intangible sacrifice was more than enough for Angor to owe her a favor.
And a favor was the hardest thing to pay back.
Portia didn't ask Angor for the rune for Life Alchemy. But what if she asked for a favor in the future?
The first plan seemed simple, but it was actually a huge trap.
The second plan, on the other hand, would have a clear price and everyone would go their separate ways without owing each other anything. Maybe the second plan was better?
Angor's mind was starting to change. He preferred the first option at first, but now, he was seriously considering the second option.
The second plan seemed slower, but learning the special extraction method would benefit him for the rest of his life. Besides, it was possible to solve the "slow" problem of the second plan.
He needed the special extraction method as well as Stirling's Machine. These two methods didn't conflict with each other, so he could use them at the same time.
Once they started working together, Keely would probably need less than half a month, or even less than a week to completely clear out Material Warehouse 1.
That was definitely not slow.
However, to achieve such speed, Angor would have to pay a great price.
"You seem to have some doubts?" Portia suddenly spoke up.
Angor didn't deny it. "Yes, I do."
Portia didn't ask about it. Instead, she asked, "Do you think it's better for me to remove Keely's punishment, or for Keely to achieve her goal and gain the favor of the Fragrance Circle?"
"… The latter."
Portia chuckled and didn't say anything else.
But Angor knew what Portia was trying to say.
She was reminding Angor that Keely didn't only need to remove the punishment, but also the prejudice against her from the entire Fragrance Circle.
Portia could, in a word, remove Keely's punishment, but it would only remove the punishment, not the prejudice. In fact, it only increased the prejudice.
If Keely cleared Material Warehouse 1 with her "own effort" — at least, in other people's eyes, it would be her own effort — this was the best way to remove both the punishment and prejudice.
This was why Portia used this method to negotiate with Angor.
Not only would Portia have to use the special extraction method, but it would also solve Keely's problem.
At this point, Angor's choice was clear.
The second option was definitely better.
Apart from the reasons mentioned earlier, Angor also considered Keely's own opinion.
The reason why Keely had decided to clean up Material Warehouse No.1 was because she felt that she had implicated the allies of Lilith's House. Also, she didn't want Kanter to help her because she had a psychological problem.
If he wanted to solve this problem, he couldn't just deal with the punishment alone. Keely's psychological factor had to be taken into consideration as well.
Keely didn't care about the prejudice of the Fragrance Circle, but she cared about the attitude of Lilith Clan's affiliated clans, and those affiliated clans cared about the prejudice of the Fragrance Circle. In the end, prejudice was definitely one of the factors that affected Keely's mental state.
There was only one way to solve this problem.
"If I have to choose, I'll use the special extraction method."
Angor didn't give a definite answer right away. Instead, he added an "if" because he had other options.
He could also use Stirling Machines to solve Keely's problem.
Of course, it was better to use both methods at the same time. However, the second option involved an unforeseen variable — Dongli.
Angor needed to know more about Dongli's alchemy before he could decide whether to accept the task or not.
In particular, Donglis claimed that it was her sister's request that the hat be refined, which made the drama of the hat even more unpredictable.
Angor preferred the second option, but he couldn't make a decision without knowing more about Dongli's alchemy.
"… If you really want to make a hat, you should at least tell me what happened to her sister," Angor said.
"Miss Portia, do you know anything about Dongli and her sister?"
Pondering for a long time, Portia opened her mouth and said, "I don't know more about Donglis than you do. But her sister is indeed a problem. "
"Dong Liz has said many times that her elder sister is behind her. But I can't see her sister. "
"According to the results of Word of Truth, Dongli didn't lie. But I still didn't believe that she had a sister with her. "
"That's because the Power Word Technique can only detect normal people. If a mentally ill person with delusions imagines that her sister is by her side and she believes that her sister is real, then the Power Word Technique won't be able to detect the truth."
In other words, when Portia and Donglis first met, she treated Donglis as a mental patient.
It was only after Portia contacted the Summer Dew Witch that she changed her mind a little.
"Witch Summerdew might appear to be crazy, but that's only because her brain works differently from others. As long as you understand her brain, you will be able to understand her thoughts."
"I've known Summer Dew for many years, and we've been doing a lot of business recently. So, I can roughly understand her behavior.
Portia said, "From the details Witch Summer Dew showed me, I can confirm one thing. She's very supportive of Doriz's decision to make the hat."
It doesn't look like she's supporting Dongli herself. She's supporting an unknown entity. "
"She's Donritz's sister?"
Portia nodded. "Yes. That's what I thought. Witch Summerdew has given her full support for Sister Doriz's decision. "
"Because of this, I'm beginning to doubt my previous judgment.
Maybe Dongli really does have a sister, but we can't see her. "
Portia sighed and looked at Angor. "I know it's a little ridiculous. However, I asked Witch Summerdew about it, and the answer she gave was yes. "
"Witch Summerdew has also acknowledged the existence of Duniz's sister."
"I don't believe in Dongli, but I do believe in Summer Dew."
Portia didn't find any clues about Dongli's sister so far, but she was inclined to believe that such a person existed.
"Can the others see Duniz's sister?"
"As far as I know, no one can see her. Even …" Portia hesitated, as if she didn't know if she should continue. In the end, she said what she didn't finish, "I even think that Summer Dew can't see Doriz's sister either."
"Summer Dew can't see Dongli's sister either?" Angor was surprised.
Portia nodded. "Yes, I've observed Summer Dew. Every time she faced Doriz, her eyes would wander. In the end, her eyes never settled on a single spot, as if she was looking for something, but she couldn't find it."
"So I think Summer Dew used some other method to confirm Dongli's sister's existence. But just like everyone else, she can't see Dongli's sister either."
"If that's the case, why is Summer Dew so supportive of Sister Doriz's decision?"
Portia took out her folding fan and waved it. "I don't know. Maybe there's something special about Dongli's sister that we don't know about? Witch Summerdew happened to discover her uniqueness. "
"Why don't you talk to Sister Donglis in person?"
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