The burly man outside the shop grabbed a weapon and began smashing everything in Leah's shop, not even sparing the magical potions placed at the entrance, leaving them all in ruins. The azure-colored potions spilled onto the ground, the scent of money filling the air. Leah watched their rampage impassively, appearing remarkably calm.

"Miss Leah, don't you need to stop them?" The voice behind her sounded anxious, for she knew the value of those potions - even a single broken bottle was a significant loss.

Leah sat calmly in her chair, watching the thugs continue their commotion.

"It's fine, let them smash. The more they break, the more they'll have to pay."

Of course, Leah was aware that these people were likely just a bunch of ruffians sent by someone else, and there was no way they would actually compensate her.

Sensing the timing was about right, she felt her right hand, where her Mage's Hand was, and stood up, preparing to go outside.

"What are you doing!" A voice of reprimand came from outside.

Leah was slightly taken aback - was someone coming to the rescue? She stood inside the shop, looking out, and saw a noble-looking young lady with golden hair standing by a carriage, scolding the tattooed brutes.

Who was that? Leah looked closely at the familiar face of the golden-haired girl and realized the answer - the daughter of the Duke? What was she doing here, just passing by? Or was there more to it?

Erica, the Duke's daughter, was known for her exceptional talents since childhood, and her future achievements were expected to surpass even the renowned genius, Victor. If it had been another girl Victor had teased, it likely wouldn't have made headlines. But Erica's public influence was truly immense, and Leah thought that her appearance here, acting charitably, would surely spark a new media frenzy.

In reality, Erica hadn't given it much thought. It was her day off, and with Victor gone, she had no desire to study at the academy, as the other teachers were far inferior to him. Taking advantage of the day off, she decided to take a stroll through the streets to relax. She had heard from a maid that a prop shop had opened in the East City district of the royal capital, and since it was Victor's family business, she became interested and decided to check it out, even though it was quite far from her home in the Central District, where the nobility resided.

When she arrived and saw the group vandalizing the store, Erica's innate sense of justice was aroused. Seeing the Klevena family crest above the shop, she recognized it as Victor's establishment. Though the scale was not impressive compared to the other bustling shops, that didn't matter to her. Witnessing the destruction, Erica couldn't help but cry out in indignation.

As Erica stepped out of the carriage, the onlookers immediately recognized her as Erica du Clois, the kind-hearted young lady of the Duke's family who was beloved by the common people. Seeing her, the lead thug hastily ordered the others to flee.

Leah signaled to the employees behind her, and in an instant, the thugs had vanished. Only then did Leah come out with a grateful smile to greet Erica.

"Thank you, Miss Erica, for your help! As a weak woman, I was truly afraid of what might happen, and I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't arrived."

As Leah spoke, Erica observed her closely. The woman was stunningly beautiful, with a mature elegance that made Erica, still a young girl, feel a twinge of inadequacy. Erica's gaze then settled on Leah's hand, where she noticed a familiar-looking glove - the same one Victor had worn on his first day. Was this woman somehow connected to Victor?

As Erica thought about this, she felt a bit sorry for the woman before her. Those people must have come seeking Victor's ill reputation, but it was this young lady who had to bear the consequences. Seeing the shattered fragments and the spilled potion liquid on the ground, Erica decided to compensate the woman in front of her to help soothe her emotions.

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"I'm very sorry that this incident occurred in the capital city. On behalf of Du·Chloe, I will compensate you for all your losses today."

"Please tally up the losses of these items, and if there are any left, I will buy them all."

"Oh my?" Leah heard Erica's generous offer, placing one hand on her chest and the other on her face, smiling faintly. The innate ability of the Du·Chloe family to win over people's hearts was indeed worthy of the young daughter of a duke, even though she was only seventeen years old.

"Miss Erica, let me confirm, are you really going to compensate my losses?" Leah asked. "You should know the price is not cheap."

Before Leah could respond, Erica had already called over her maid, ready to pay the money. Leah smiled as she announced the price, "One thousand Gios."

Is that the cost of these losses? One thousand Gios? To ordinary people, this would already be an expensive price. But Erica felt it was reasonable, signaling her maid to pay.

However, Leah then added, "One thousand Gios, per bottle."

"What?" The maid's hand holding the money hesitated slightly. Even Erica felt she had misheard.

Not just Erica, even passersby found this price absurd. A joke, one thousand Gios per potion bottle? Was the liquid inside made of gold?

The maid did the calculation, pausing in surprise. Erica also looked troubled. This amount of money was just Erica's monthly allowance. But spending it so obscurely didn't sit well with her.

Now she understood why Victor was so hated. He was simply a profiteer!

Before Erica could respond, Leah said with some difficulty, "Although I'd love for you to compensate, the master said each person can only purchase two bottles per day, no more."

Erica had never heard of such a rule when selling goods. Especially when the customer was prepared to make amends, the seller still didn't want to ask for more.

After some thought, Erica realized the "master" Leah mentioned was obviously Victor. But the limit of two bottles per person piqued her interest. Could this item really have some miraculous effects?

So Erica picked up one of the undamaged potion bottles and asked Leah, "What are the effects of this?"

Leah smiled and explained, "It's used to restore magic power."

Erica could hardly believe it. She had never heard of an item that could restore magic power. She wanted to buy a few to study, but the scattered fragments on the ground gave her some hesitation.

However, Erica soon reaffirmed her decision. The words were already out, and the water had been splashed. Moreover, Victor had taught her so much knowledge. What's the harm in spending this money to make amends? It could be considered even with Victor!

So she directly said, "I am a student of Professor Victor·Klevena. Since I've witnessed the damage to his shop, I cannot ignore it."

"I will compensate based on the potion's cost plus the manufacturing fee, but with one condition."

Leah raised her eyebrows at Erica's words.

"I want to buy all the remaining potions as well."

When it came to anything related to magic, she was more passionate than anyone else. So she planned to take them back and study them.

Hearing this, Leah looked back at the shelf and saw there were only ten bottles left intact. Disregarding Victor's rules, she nodded in agreement.

Victor had said he didn't fear anyone researching the potion's ingredients, because no one else could manufacture it besides him. Leah believed it was created through some special magic, and since Erica had said that, she naturally wouldn't worry about any business secrets being revealed.

"Since Miss Erica is so generous, I won't refuse." Leah said, "The broken potions will be 300 Gios each, including labor and cost. The remaining ones will be the original price."

Hearing this, Erica readily agreed. "Deal."

Leah handed the ten potions to Erica's maid and received the compensation money and payment for the regular potions. Watching Erica, Leah marveled at how she was willing to spend a fortune just because she was Victor's student. She wondered what kind of potion that heartless man had fed this young lady.

After Erica left, Leah took out another fifty potion bottles from the store, still priced at one thousand Gios each, continuing to sell them. The passing mages were stunned to see her bring out more stock, realizing she still had inventory.

…

In the alleyway, the burly rioters who had previously vandalized the shops were strewn about in the corners, half-dead.

Their bodies bore various wounds, presenting a gruesome scene.

"Who ordered you to do this?"

A masked figure in a cloak, revealing only the upper half of their face and their piercing green eyes, held a wooden dagger to the head of the tattooed, muscular ringleader, who lay on the ground with his limbs broken.

The excruciating pain made him want to faint on the spot, but the looming wooden dagger still made him scream hoarsely in panic.

"It...it was Duke Revy! Duke Revy!"

He hurriedly named the mastermind behind it all, hoping to earn a shred of mercy from the masked figure.

Bang!

The wooden dagger swung down, and the tattooed muscleman finally got his wish to lose consciousness.

Then, the masked figure dragged him away, step by step, out of the alleyway.