Gavi’s efficiency was always astonishing.
Before Helos could even finish her cup of red tea on the sofa, the blonde girl’s figure had already swept back into the Rose Pavilion’s hall like a gust of wind.
She carried two huge wicker baskets, filled with everything on Helos’s list.
“Master, the things you requested.”
Gavi set the baskets lightly on the table, not even out of breath.
Helos flipped through the materials inside. After confirming everything was in order, she nodded with satisfaction.
She stood up from the sofa, stretched her slightly stiff wrists, and a confident smile she hadn’t worn in a long time spread across her face.
Although her current body was a total weakling who could only rely on others for protection, and although her mana was as nonexistent as a dead parent, when it came to alchemy—especially recipes like this that were engraved into her bones—she was the undisputed queen.
She had made “Dawn Dew” countless times back in Olivius City.
Sure, it was originally a medicinal wine for detoxification.
But by slightly adjusting the ratio, removing the bitter herbs used to neutralize toxins, and adding a few purification steps, it could be turned into a top-tier vintage with a mellow taste and lingering finish.
Helos rolled up her sleeves and set up her temporary workshop right there on the long table in the hall.
Thanks to the amazing feature called “Quick Craft” in the Ultimate Alchemy system, Helos’s movements were so skillful it was like watching an art performance.
She didn’t need to wait for a long fermentation process like ordinary brewers, nor did she need all that foreplay. Honestly, if it weren’t for disguising a few things, she wouldn’t even need these steps.
Before long, a rich, unique aroma of wine began to spread through the somewhat gloomy hall of the Rose Pavilion.
The scent wasn’t sharp; instead, it carried a freshness and sweetness like morning dew, making anyone who smelled it feel instantly refreshed.
Eleanor, who was making the beds upstairs, smelled it and came running down.
“That smells amazing!”
She leaned over the railing, watching her busy sister below, her eyes full of surprise.
“Isn’t that the smell of Dawn Dew?”
“Oh? You can recognize it, big sister?”
Helos raised her chin proudly, holding a freshly bottled crystal flask in her hand, filled with amber transparent liquid.
“It’s pretty much the same, but I tweaked a few things.”
Yes, this was the finished product—an improved version of Dawn Dew.
By now, the night outside the window had completely fallen.
The deep winter night came especially early, darkness flooding the entire Academy like a tide.
The Rose Pavilion stood alone deep in the woods, surrounded by deathly silence.
Except for the four of them, the Academy’s logistics staff and maids who had helped clean had already left.
After all, no one wanted to stay even a second longer in this place rumored to be haunted.
After a simple dinner, the four of them moved with tacit understanding to gather in a corner of the hall.
There hung that eerie painting.
Helos took a deep breath.
She held the freshly made bottle of Dawn Dew in both hands, still warm from her palms, her expression as serious as if she were performing some sacred ritual.
She respectfully placed the bottle on the offering table below the frame, which had already been wiped clean.
“Ahem.”
Helos cleared her throat, and facing the painting, she spoke softly, tentatively:
“Um… Senior Sylvia?”
“The wine is here?”
As her words fell, the surface of the originally static oil painting suddenly rippled like water.
The next second, a familiar, chilling aura swept through the entire corner.
That translucent figure in the blood-stained white dress slowly emerged from the canvas, like a corpse surfacing from the bottom of a lake.
Sylvia’s form appeared before them.
This lady ghost, who called herself the Great Slayer of Mages, still maintained her aloof and arrogant posture.
She raised her chin, about to put on the airs of a strict teacher and properly discipline this new disciple.
“Well, at least you kept your word, little girl—”
But before she could finish, her expression froze.
Because she saw the four people neatly gathered around her.
Helos stood in front with a flattering smile.
To Helos’s left was that big oaf of a Chosen One, whose holy light aura made ghosts sick with hatred.
To Helos’s right was a light blonde-haired maid with a blank expression, holding a notebook ready to take notes at any moment.
And in the back stood a golden-haired girl radiating a thick holy light aura, clearly a member of the Church.
Sylvia felt her eyelids twitch uncontrollably.
What was this?
Was she here to take on a disciple, or to be gawked at?
Was this lineup a bit too extravagant?
Were they planning to completely “exorcise” this “evil spirit”?
One Chosen One wasn’t enough, now there was a Saintess too?
Sylvia’s gaze swept back and forth between Julius and Eleanor.
The disdain on her hollow-eyed face was utterly unconcealable.
“Hey, little girl.”
Sylvia pointed at Eleanor, her voice sharp.
“Who’s this woman reeking of that nauseating holy light? Why did you bring a Church person here?”
“She’s… my big sister.”
Helos quickly explained.
“She lives here too. Please don’t worry, big sister is a good person. She won’t hurt you.”
“Good person?”
Sylvia sneered.
“All those people who sealed me in here hundreds of years ago said they were good people too.”
She seemed about to lose it, wanting to drive these annoying “lamps” away.
But then she saw Julius’s narrow, dark eyes, already faintly flickering with golden light.
The Great Slayer of Mages swallowed the curses that had reached her lips.
She didn’t dare say another word.
True, a mighty dragon in shallow water is tormented by tiny shrimp; a fallen phoenix is worse than a chicken.
If she really angered this grim reaper, her old bones might actually be finished here.
Sylvia turned her head away, muttering softly:
“So many people… so annoying. Young people today have no sense of privacy at all.”
Helos watched Sylvia’s defeated expression with secret glee, but kept a respectful face.
She coughed lightly and reached out to point at the amber liquid on the table.
“Um, Teacher.”
Helos said with a smile.
“This is a welcome gift specially prepared by your student. You mentioned before that you wanted wine, right? This is Dawn Dew I brewed myself. The taste is absolutely top-notch.”
“Wine?”
Hearing that word, Sylvia’s normally resentful, hollow eyes lit up like a lightbulb.
Her form flickered.
Before anyone could react, she had already floated ungracefully onto the table, sitting cross-legged.
She leaned in close to the bottle, her pale face almost pressed against the glass.
“…The color.”
She stretched out her deathly white hand, carefully touching the bottle.
Her movements were as gentle as caressing a lover’s face.
Her gaze was almost sticky.
Sylvia took a deep breath. Even though she was a ghost and didn’t need to breathe, she seemed able to “smell” the fragrance in the wine through some means.
“The clarity, the hue… tsk, tsk.”
She let out an intoxicated sigh.
“Such a pure aroma. No stinging smell of cheap alcohol. Instead, it carries a hint… of sunlight?”
She looked up, glancing at Helos with some surprise.
“Little girl, did you really brew this?”
“Of course.”
Helos puffed out her chest.
“Not bad.”
Sylvia chuckled. She wasn’t in a rush to drink; instead, she began to hold forth enthusiastically.
“You know? Wine has a soul.”
Pointing at the bottle, she spoke with wild gesticulations—though not actually spitting—.
“Hundreds of years ago, I drank a strong liquor at the Winter Fortress in the north. The taste was like swallowing a lump of burning charcoal, warming up your insides.”
“And there was the elven brew from the south. That stuff was too weak, like drinking water. No kick.”
She went on and on about wine—from brewing techniques to tasting skills, to her glorious drinking history.
“Real fine wine should be—”
The four people around her listened, utterly bewildered.
Helos had only meant to be polite; she hadn’t expected this female ghost to be such a chatterbox.
Eleanor looked completely lost. As a Saintess, she never touched alcohol and understood none of this.
Gavi was frantically taking notes, as if she thought all this was important intelligence.
Only Julius.
A vein bulged on the black-haired youth’s forehead.
He glanced at the magic clock on the wall.
Helos’s body had only just recovered. She couldn’t stay up late.
“Enough.”
Finally, just as Sylvia was about to launch into the heroic tale of how she drunkenly beat up an earth elemental great mage, Julius could no longer tolerate it and cut her off.
His hand resting on his sword hilt, he stared coldly at the ghost on the table.
“If you want to drink, drink. If not, go back into the painting.”
“Helos needs rest.”
Sylvia rolled her eyes in irritation.
“Tch. Such a boring man.”
She grumbled, but her body obediently shut up.
She knew that if she kept rambling, this bottle of wine might not survive.
Helos was actually curious too.
As an intangible “ghost,” how exactly Sylvia planned to enjoy this fine wine?
Would she pour it on the ground as an offering?
Under everyone’s curious gaze, Sylvia reached out her hands.
She didn’t open the cork.
Her translucent hands gently, but firmly, gripped the bottle.
In an instant—
A strange ripple emanated from her hands.
Then, the bottle of Dawn Dew filled with amber liquid suddenly began to glow.
It wasn’t ordinary physical light, but a spiritual radiance from the very essence of the substance.
The liquid inside the bottle started to boil, but no bubbles formed.
Countless tiny specks of light separated from the wine, pierced through the crystal bottle’s barrier, and like homing birds, streamed endlessly into Sylvia’s body.
It was like the soul of the wine.
Sylvia was directly absorbing the “essence” of the drink.
As the specks of light flowed in, Sylvia’s originally pale and transparent spirit form began to flush with a faint rosy hue.
Her expression became immensely pleasurable, and she even let out a satisfied sigh.
In just a few seconds.
The once full bottle of Dawn Dew had vanished without a drop left.
The light in the bottle faded.
Only an empty crystal flask remained, standing silently on the table.
“Haah—!”
Sylvia released her grip.
She swayed a little, as if truly drunk.
She slapped her thigh, breaking into a bold, hearty smile.
“Good wine! Such good wine—!”
She exclaimed loudly.
Her originally hollow eyes now sparkled with a light called “pleasure.”
Her gaze toward Helos had completely changed.
“The texture, the aftertaste… absolutely incredible!”
“What kind of wine is this? How have I never had it before?!”
No longer looking at a “fake” or a “pitiful wretch,” she looked at Helos like she was a mobile wine cellar.
“Girl! Since you’re so sincere, I can’t be petty either!”
Sylvia hiccupped, swayed to her feet, and crooked her finger at Helos.
“Come!”
“Tonight, your teacher shall teach you the first lesson!”
“Let me show you what true—”
Before she could finish, Julius ruthlessly interrupted her.
“Do it tomorrow.”
Julius stepped forward, grabbed Helos, and pulled her behind him.
“It’s too late now. She needs to sleep.”
“You…!!”
Sylvia stomped in fury.
“I just had a drink and I’m in high spirits! Sleep?!”
“I said.”
Julius’s fingertips lightly flicked the hilt of his Holy Sword, producing a crisp ring.
“Sleep.”
Sylvia instantly deflated.
She looked at that murderous Chosen One, then at the innocent-looking Helos.
“…Fine.”
She ground out the word through clenched teeth.
“You win.”
She pointed at Helos and threatened viciously.
“Tomorrow! If you dare be late tomorrow night—”
“I’ll eat this bottle!”
With that, not waiting for anyone’s reaction, her form flickered, turned into a wisp of white smoke, and with a whoosh, dove back into the painting.
Helos blinked.
Was that supposed to be a threat just now?
Was… was it?
What was the difference between that and “If you can kill me in seventeen cards, I’ll eat this computer screen on the spot”?
And eating the bottle…
Was this chick already going crazy with craving?
Maybe she should prepare some good wine for her tomorrow?
At that moment, the hall fell silent again.
Only the empty wine bottle remained, proof that what had just happened wasn’t an illusion.
The silver-haired girl looked at the painting, then at Julius beside her.
She couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
It seemed this so-called “Great Slayer of Mages” was…