“So little?”
Julius raised an eyebrow.
“Precisely because it’s scarce, it becomes precious.”
Helos lifted her eyes, a sly smile flickering in them.
“We have to make them feel that this wine is a treasure they can’t even snatch from their dreams.”
“You’ve already investigated the ‘Crimson Dream,’ right? The Baron Black who’s responsible for brewing it is now under our surveillance as well.”
She reached out and gently tapped the table. “If we want ‘Dawn’s Dew’ to dethrone the ‘Crimson Dream’ in a short time, we need to precisely manipulate the psychology of those nobles.”
“There’s one more thing.”
Helos paused, then suddenly leaned closer to Julius, whispering into his ear:
“Spread some rumors saying there’s something wrong with the ‘Crimson Dream.’”
Her smile was faint but her gaze sharp. “The news should spread like wildfire—like a rumor, you understand?”
“I don’t understand.”
Julius shook his head honestly. “You mean to ruin their reputation?”
“Do they really need us to ruin their reputation?”
Helos smirked, a teasing tone in her voice. “But you’re not wrong; that is indeed one of our objectives. But more importantly—”
Her eyes turned cold. “Don’t forget, the ones we truly want to catch are those Abyss cultists hiding in the shadows.”
“If these rumors reach them, it’ll only make them restless.”
Helos continued, “Once they get nervous, the chances they slip up will increase significantly.”
“Got it.”
Julius felt a chill run down his spine and earnestly jotted down notes in his notebook.
After finishing, the boy nodded and looked at the girl. “What about ‘Dawn’s Dew’? Should we release it at the same time?”
“No, ‘Dawn’s Dew’ will remain a secret for now.”
Helos shook her head calmly.
“This wine is aimed at the common folk and cannot be directly launched by the Os Commercial Guild. Once ‘Dawn’s Dew’ heats up the noble circles, we’ll find another Agent to quietly distribute it in the market.”
She paused, a meaningful smile curling on her lips. “Though we can leak some news beforehand, so the commoners know such a wine exists.”
Julius stared silently at the girl for a long moment, frowning slightly before speaking slowly:
“To be honest—”
“Me?” Helos blinked, tilting her head with an innocent smile. “Why do you say that?”
“Where did you learn all these tactics?”
Julius couldn’t help but tease.
“From books.”
“I think you’re kind of terrifying.”
Helos answered confidently, not a trace of embarrassment. “Ha… I don’t believe that.”
The boy sighed deeply, his eyes complexly appraising her. “You’re so skilled at this kind of thing, you’re almost on par with those dirty adults.”
“Thanks for the compliment.”
The girl winked at him, grinning proudly.
“That’s a compliment?”
***
After several days of intense preparations, Helos’s secret workshop was finally completed.
It was hidden beneath a Commercial Guild outpost on the edge of the Upper District.
The building was an old two-story stone structure, indistinguishable from the surrounding buildings.
Several carriages bearing the Os Commercial Guild emblem were parked outside all year round, and occasionally cargo crates were moved in and out, leading passersby to mistake it for an ordinary storage site.
No one would have guessed that beneath the stone floor lay a vast and hidden underground space.
Behind a section of the wall in the main hall was a concealed door. Opening it revealed a narrow spiral staircase winding downward, lit by flickering firelight that illuminated the damp stone corridor.
At the bottom of the stairs was a heavy iron door, secured by a Magic Formation, with only Julius and Eleanor knowing how to unlock it.
As for why Helos didn’t have the unlocking method—there simply was no need. It opened with the slightest touch anyway.
Pushing open the iron door revealed a vast repurposed underground warehouse.
Originally, this was a secret underground storage built by the Os Commercial Guild years ago. Its structure was solid, with thick stone walls and a ceiling reinforced by massive wooden beams.
Helos divided the space in two: the area near the entrance was transformed into a warehouse for packaging and stacking wine crates, while the rooms at the back became her alchemical workshop.
Embedded in the stone walls of the outer warehouse was a circle of Magic Crystal Lamps, their soft blue-white light dispelling the underground gloom.
Ventilation ducts extended from other inconspicuous spots in the Upper District to here, forming a hidden air circulation system that kept the underground space free from the damp, musty smell typical of cellars.
Helos stood in the center of the underground workshop, dressed in a black cloak and wearing a specially crafted metal mask.
Besides the Magic Crystal Lamps, the workshop was also equipped with numerous Firegrass Lamps that could be lit without magic.
Bathed in the dim, flickering light, the girl was almost entirely cloaked in shadow.
She wore a long cloak with a deep hood made from thick, dust-resistant fabric dyed to look weathered, resembling the attire of a traveler constantly on the move in the wilderness.
The hood hung low, nearly covering her forehead and eyes, leaving only a faint glimmer visible beneath the mask.
The mask was custom-made for her by Julius, crafted from specially treated dark metal that not only reflected light but subtly distorted vision.
It extended from her chin along her cheeks, covering the entire face. Even the eyes were protected by special materials that prevented others from seeing her gaze.
Her silver hair was tied back and hidden under the hood and the inner layer of the cloak, with a few strands dyed black hanging outside, making her look like an ordinary traveler with nothing eye-catching about her.
She wore thick leather gloves on her hands, with the fingertips treated with alchemical potions so that even if someone shook her hand, they wouldn’t feel the delicate touch of her fingers.
Her figure was entirely concealed by the voluminous cloak. Hanging from her waist were several worn leather pouches filled with potions.
At first glance, she appeared to be an alchemist wandering far and wide, but every detail and the aura she emitted carried a sense of distance and coldness that instinctively kept people away.
Even if Eleanor stood right in front of her, she would only see a reserved, enigmatic alchemist, never associating her with the silver-haired girl who usually holed up in the workshop playing with explosive arts.
Julius leaned against a stone pillar, notebook in hand, nodding with satisfaction as he looked over the underground workshop.
“Rest assured, this is one of the Os Commercial Guild’s secret warehouses. Its layout hasn’t changed in over a decade, so no one outside will suspect any new activity here.”
“Even if someone were watching, they’d think the guild was just moving goods, never guessing it’s for winemaking.”
“Mm.”
Helos murmured softly, her gaze falling on the neatly arranged Alchemical Tables at the workshop’s center.
On the sturdy stone tables were various precise alchemical instruments, filtration devices, and cocktail vessels inscribed with Magic Formations.
Inside a row of glass tubes flowed a pale golden liquid, filling the air with a sweet but not cloying fragrance.
On the wooden rack beside the stone tables stood twenty bottles of pale golden wine—the first batch of “Dawn’s Dew,” all completed.
Each bottle bore an individual number, with labels outlined in gold foil depicting a sunlit pattern, making them look like works of art.