Four young women arrived at the edge of Ki Semar's property, where they were greeted by the sight of four rice paddies, aged to a golden hue. As they made their way through the fields, they were enticed by the nearby fruit plantations, with their tempting aroma wafting towards them. Nonetheless, their ultimate destination was still straight ahead—a greenhouse structure, perhaps the only Western architecture Alicia had ever seen in Tumaritis. The prospect of sipping sweet cider would have to wait.

Ki Semar must be an avid gardener. The airy greenhouse apparently housed a collection of exotic plants not typically found among the surrounding fruit trees. All different colours to absurd textures. From poisonous blossoms to predatory vines. That would explain the lack of variations of fauna inside the headman's botanical sanctuary.

Their wandering inside the glasshouse was halted by a box of green flowers. Their petals bore a nebula cloud at their centre.

"Xixin flowers!" exclaimed Alicia, her pupil dilating in excitement.

"You are familiar with xixin flowers?" Kiran asked.

"A plant that can suck mana out, aye!"

"Mana? What's that?"

"Uh..., life force?"

"Life force, that's right! Ki Semar used to use the plants here for medicinal and shamanic purposes. We were taught how to concoct them into medicine or poison."

Alicia wondered again. "But if we need xixin, these bandits are mages, then?"

"Xixin isn't just effective against mages," replied Kiran. "Anyone can feel the effects of their life force draining away."

"We can apply the result of this collision on a dagger or other sharp object. The liquid that enters the wound will lead to the life force escaping from one's body," Cempaka helpfully added.

But Alicia only saw twenty stalks in the pot. "I see. But... are these enough?" The liquid produced by these blossoms was indeed quite meagre.

However, the passage of time left the girls with no recourse. Cahyaningrum quickly plucked all the florets from the plant container, while Cempaka assumed the task of grinding the petals using a mortar and pestle.

"Well, I hope these are, and I hope the bandits are no match for Ki Semar's three sons because honestly, I'm not sure as well—"

"Whoa! You didnae tell me Ki Semar had poretal plants!" Alicia had made her way to the end of the glass building, holding a small pot of giant, clenched petals.

"Alicia, don't touch that plant!" Kiran snapped. "That's a special section for Ki Semar only. All the plants there are rare!"

"Of course it's rare!" exclaimed Alicia. Like an excited child, she darted towards the central table of the garden. Resting upon it lay some alchemy implements, including the mortar recently employed by Cempaka. Alicia was not content with inspecting just a sole rare specimen; she felt compelled to investigate the belatangor pepper enclosure as well. Said pepper patch was cordoned by a cage, a subtle warning that not only the plant was rare (and expensive), but also held peril if not handled with care. This time, Alicia only harvested a few leaves using the specialised gloves she had grabbed from the alchemical table.

"Alicia, what's wrong with you? We can't play around, you know!" Kiran admonished.

"I know! That's why we need all of this!" muttered the girl, her eyes fixed on her work. "Cahyaningrum, don't smear your weapons with xixin, bring your mortar here."

Somehow, Cahyaningrum obediently snatched up the mashed-up petals, which the tomboy Cempaka had painstakingly kneaded. "Hey, what are you doing? We need that xixin mash!"

Ignoring Cempaka's protests, Alicia swiftly snatched the pestle and mortar from Cahyaningrum's hands. She poured the fine paste into a round glass vessel along with the thick nectar from the poretal blossom she was squeezing. She then transferred the mixture to a small glass vessel and placed it on a bed of sand over the lit furnace.

After a twirl of two, Alicia placed the container in the heart of the miniature desert. She began to gather pebbles from the ground, carefully extracted the phosphor coating from the wooden matchsticks, and then smoothed both materials within the mortar. At last, she grabbed a roll of paper from the alchemy cabinet and cut it into small rectangles. Her friends watched on, fidgeting and impatient. But Alicia was lost in her work.

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"Okay, what's this? What are you making?" asked Kiran with a tense expression.

Alicia failed to notice Kiran's upset demeanour as her eyes were still fixed on the glass container, waiting for some miracle to manifest inside. (Not really, she was just excited staring at the liquid in the vial.)

"Smearing your weapons with refined xixin flowers won't do much good when you only have twenty stalks, will it?" said Alicia. "Not to mention that you ought to lay a hit on those bandits with your knives."

"Excuse me, what do you mean—"

"Sorry, I know. I didnae mean to underestimate your martial arts skills. You're definitely more skilled than I am. It's just that, sometimes, a little ingenuity can change things drastically!"

The other girls exchanged a glance, unsure of what to make of Alicia's behaviour. "Fine. So how does this 'ingenuity' work for you...?" Cempaka asked.

"Do ye ken why this plant is called 'poretal'? Because it was discovered by a Ville d'Ys botanist named Agnès Liontine Poretal! And more impressively, it just so happens that its name is poretal because... ye ken... 'pore portal'!"

Too bad no crickets in the greenhouse were to chirp in appreciation of Alicia's pun. It was impossible for humans to be smart and funny at the same time, after all. But then, It was only Cahyaningrum who caught the Crimsonmane lass' crisp jokes. She was even more eager to imitate Alicia. "Oh! You want this liquid to enter the body without hurting the opponent by passing through the pores?"

"Exactly!" Alicia gave a thumbs up. It felt nice when someone understood her. "The poretal compound can widen the pores, allowing the liquid to enter and the mana to escape. And if we boil the poretal nectar and use it as a catalyst for the xixin flower solution, opponents exposed to the poison will experience fatigue three times faster! Speaking of which, do me a favour. Put on gloves, and then tie these Belatangor pepper leaves into a small sphere, making one open hole on the top side. And please, dinnae let the leaves touch your skin!"

Now all three participated in the hypnotism of the Crimsonmane lass. They donned their gloves, but when they heard Alicia's warning about the Belatangor leaves, their resolve wavered.

"Alicia, I hope we are not overly lingering for an alchemical session! We have a village to help!" said Cempaka.

"That's precisely what the leaves are for." Alicia was still struggling with the glass vessel. The liquid xixin flower and poretal nectar began to froth. "I intentionally heated the poretal liquid to make the nectar more fluid. The boiling point of poretal nectar is low, so heating it doesnae take long. But I need the liquid to evaporate into gas and that takes more time. This Belatangor pepper bundle locks the temperature on the liquid so that it continues to cook until it finally evaporates and becomes gas when we arrive at the village!"

The three Kanastren's shishyas were apt in weaving anything, including shaping the leaves into natural projectile casings. Handicrafts and arts were some of the knowledge that Ki Semar's wife also passed on to them, so one could not be surprised. Never a hassle for them to produce ten balls of pepper leaves in such a short time!

"This is as many as we can make," said Kiran.

"This is enough! And look! The liquid is boiling."

Alicia picked up a pourer with a small funnel. With meticulous care, she dispensed the liquid into the balls one by one so that not a single drop was wasted. When all the leaf balls were filled, Alicia wrapped them again in strips of paper dusted with a blend of phosphorus and gravel.

"Voila!" Alicia said proudly. Her face lit up, even though her skin was already fair. "And all we have to do is shoot them with your catapults. They won't see it coming!"

Observing their collective efforts, the three girls were actually quite impressed with Alicia's knowledge. Alicia should be their tutor once the holidays conclude. Learning outsider knowledge from outsiders themselves felt much more authentic and trustworthy!

"Really, where did you learn all this?" Cahyaningrum wondered.

"Mama taught me," Alicia responded as she put the bullets into a small bag, "and I love alchemy. Being an alchemist is almost like being a mage."

"But you're a mage, right?"

"Before I met Orb? No, I wasnae a mage. Och, and this technique is commonly used by upper-class wizards in my area for hunting, but their version has sleeping pills added. Most of them avoid using firearms and prefer to trouble themselves by concocting potions instead of hunting with spells. Wizards of the western lands can be a wee handful sometimes."

All the bullets were packed. "Everything is ready! Now hurry back to the village!" Kiran urged.

Alicia just remembered something. "Hey, dinnae we want tae talk strategy first?"

"Wouldn't it be better to talk about it on the way?"

And so they worked out their tactics on the way home, just as what they had done when they ambushed the five bandits: Alicia and Cahyaningrum as the mysterious shooters on the roof tiles, while Kiran and the agile Cempaka as the distractions.

It was a shame their strategy was not very well thought out. When the bandits were attacked by the gunfires, Semar's three sons should have risen to the occasion. In fact, they seemed as puny as the villagers. The final execution against the chief of brigands, Boko Rombeng, also looked rushed. As a result, Alicia ran out of bullets and Boko Rombeng's hands managed to tie her up. []