The next day.

At the crack of dawn, Rosen woke up early. After meditating, he immediately began preparing breakfast.

The milk from last night was no longer fresh. While it was fine for him to drink it, he naturally could not serve it to his master.

Luckily, he still had a dozen copper coins in his pocket, so he took them to the milk vendor in the south market and exchanged them for a small can of fresh milk.

After returning from the market, the risen flour dough he had prepared earlier was just fully fermented. He shaped it into buns and put them in a steamer. Then he carefully prepared several light appetizers.

As he was preparing breakfast, footsteps sounded from upstairs, indicating Serendis was also awake.

Soon, breakfast was ready. Rosen hurried upstairs and gently knocked on the door from the entrance hall.

"Master, do you need me to help you get up?"

A detached response came from inside: "Have you already forgotten what I said last night?"

Alright, this woman had completely changed her attitude.

Rosen immediately corrected himself: "Master, breakfast is ready. Will you be coming down to eat, or should I bring it up to your room?"

"I'll be down shortly."

"Yes, Master."

Rosen clattered down the stairs. Naturally, he could not eat first but instead stood by the dining table waiting.

Luckily, Serendis did not keep him waiting long. In five or six minutes, she came downstairs too.

Rosen looked up and saw her hairstyle was immaculate and her clothing neat and tidy. Her demeanor was dignified and stern, with her body held gracefully, truly like a well-educated noble lady.

Compared to her unrestrained appearance yesterday afternoon, she was like a completely different person.

He thought to himself: "A woman's heart is as deep as the ocean."

But he also felt fortunate. After all, he had come to learn magic, and would rely on it to establish his career in the future. Being with a young and beautiful female teacher was far better than being with a wanton woman.

Serendis' voice came from beside him: "Don't just stand there watching, let's eat together."

At least that hadn't changed.

After Serendis sat down, he took his seat across from her.

Breakfast was plentiful and tasted great. Serendis seemed very satisfied, a faint smile on her aloof face.

After they finished eating, Serendis dabbed her lips with a napkin gracefully.

"From now on, our teaching sessions will be from 6pm to 9pm after dinner. The rest of the time, you're free to arrange as you wish."

That was good, but there was still a small matter.

"Master, shall I arrange lunch for you too?"

Serendis paused, lips pursed as she pondered. She seemed to want to decline.

But in the end, she nodded.

"Just prepare some simple food, no need for elaborate spreads every day. It would take up too much of your time and energy after all."

Rosen was very happy.

This meant he had many more hours for himself now.

He couldn't help but think: "There will be more and more places to spend money. I have to hurry and earn more."

With enough money, he could easily hire a servant to handle these chores.

Not to mention he would need large sums for advancing his magic studies in the future.

Serendis' voice came over again: "Oh right, Rosen, don't forget about the painting you promised yesterday."

Rosen immediately refocused: "Master, I will prepare it for you as soon as possible."

"Very good. Go busy yourself then. I need to continue my magic research too."

After speaking, Serendis headed for the stairs. After walking a few steps, she turned back and handed Rosen a ring that glimmered silver.

"This is the insignia ring of House Serendis. Wearing it will allow you to freely enter and leave this cottage without being obstructed by the home protection spell."

"There's a home protection spell? I didn't notice anything unusual when I went out to buy milk this morning though."

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"That's because I intentionally deactivated the spell. Otherwise, beings below high tier could not possibly enter my cottage."

"Time is precious, don't dally."

Serendis waved her hand and left.

Rosen put on the ring, then quickly cleaned up the dining ware before hurrying out the door too.

Soon he arrived at the Hound's Home.

Entering the lobby, he saw Haryk cleaning.

Business in the lobby was as cold as ever, with only the freeloader Shaborei present.

Seeing Rosen, Shaborei winked at him mischievously. "Hey~ did you have a good time last night?"

"It was decent. Serendis is indeed an outstanding magic teacher."

That was clearly not the answer Shaborei wanted.

"Of course Serendis is outstanding, but she's also quite insane."

"As far as I know, she's never kept a man at her home overnight before. With just the two of you in that little wooden tower, nothing happened, hmm?"

Seeing Shaborei get more preposterous, Haryk interrupted.

"I'm telling you, can that pig brain of yours think of anything else?"

Shaborei was unperturbed, chuckling oddly.

"Who can blame me when Serendis is such a great beauty? That face, that figure, tsk tsk. Even if I were to die in her bed, I'd go willingly!"

Seeing Shaborei babble on more and more vulgarly, Rosen felt he could not stand idly by.

After all, Serendis was now his proper magic teacher, and for friends to get along in the long term, they needed to establish boundaries for jokes between them.

His expression stiffened as he sternly said, "Uncle, we fought side by side before and I respect you, but I also hope you can respect me!"

Shaborei was taken aback. "Rosen, how did I not respect you?"

Rosen stated seriously: "Regardless of how my teacher may have behaved in the past, she is now my magic instructor. As her student, I cannot sit by while you insult her reputation. Just as I would never insult your aunt in front of you!"

"Er... Ah... Um..."

Shaborei was rendered speechless, mumbling incoherently for quite a while before he finally untied his tongue.

"You're right, I'm sorry Rosen. From now on I won't joke about your teacher like that again."

"Very well, I forgive you."

Seeing this, Haryk beside them couldn't help but point at Shaborei and guffaw loudly.

"Finally someone who can rein in this rogue pig, hahaha!"

There was no smugness on Rosen's face. He went over and sat down next to Shaborei.

"Uncles, can you tell me how you got to know my teacher?"

Serendis' behavior was too eccentric, he was very curious and felt he should understand her background better.

Hearing this question, Shaborei jumped in. "Let me tell it, let me!"

After taking a huge gulp of ale and belching loudly, he began recounting animatedly.

"This was two years ago."

"One day two years ago, I came to the Hound's Home wanting to apologize to Haryk with gifts. That's when I saw a beautiful and charming red-haired woman had checked into the inn."

Haryk supplemented: "That was Miss Serendis. She said she came from Icydale and was looking for an affordable yet comfortable place to stay."

Shaborei hurriedly continued: "As soon as I saw her, I felt she was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen in my life. Naturally, I pursued her relentlessly."

Haryk sneered contemptuously: "You call that pursuing her? More like harassing her!"

"Hehehe..." Shaborei chuckled awkwardly with a hand scratching his nose.

Haryk went on: "But Shaborei's advances lasted less than half a month before ending, because we realized Serendis was not normal."

Rosen hurriedly asked: "How so?"

"One night around 2 to 3am, she suddenly danced alone in the inn's lobby, giggling while dancing, ignoring everyone. After finishing, she went back to sleep on her own as if she was possessed."

That did sound bizarre. Rosen felt his hackles raise slightly hearing it.

Shaborei also recounted something strange.

"Once when I went looking for her, I saw her leaning on a balcony railing, arguing with herself. When it got heated, her left and right hands even started hitting each other."

He heaved a long sigh: "I, Shaborei, consider myself a warrior, fearless when pursuing beauties."

"But seeing such a bizarre sight, even I felt uneasy. Though reluctant, I could only give up."

Rosen understood now. His teacher likely had a very severe split personality.

Perhaps afraid of scaring Rosen off, Shaborei quickly added:

"While her behavior is strange, she's generally still safe. Your teacher has been in Moonsilver for over two years and has never harmed or endangered anyone."

"I see."

In short, keep distance, ignore her eccentricities, mind his own business, and focus on learning magic - that was the way to go.

Back to the main issue.

"Uncle, you must have prepared art supplies for me already, right?"

Shaborei guffawed. "Of course! All top-notch goods, already put in your room upstairs."

Then he turned to Haryk again: "Say, Red Hound, your rundown inn has no business anyway. Why not help sell paintings too?"

Haryk's interest was also piqued. He casually threw down the rag in his hand and came over to lean against the table.

"Sell paintings? What kind of paintings?"

"Why, beauties of course! I've got it all planned out. Rosen paints, you find buyers. As for me, I'm in charge of dealing with any blind bastards!"

After speaking, Shaborei shook his fist vigorously.

Haryk laughed. "Sounds good. Though didn't you say you were switching careers to be a bounty hunter? How's the investigation on the south market killer going?"

Shaborei snickered. "That doesn't get in the way. After all, blind bastards don't show up every day!"

"As for the market killer... this guy's a bit crafty, but no worries. I'll catch her for sure!"

Rosen's brows twitched. "Her?"

"That's right. From clues so far, the killer is a young woman. The victims in each case were also young men who died in a highly excited state."

Rosen understood: "Meaning they were seduced and then fell into a death trap."

"Bingo."

Shaborei slapped Rosen on the shoulder.

"So far there have been 4 unlucky saps who died. They were all out-of-towners so no panic yet. But you gotta be real careful. Don't leave your teacher's place after dark, you hear?"

"I'll remember that."

Shaborei turned to Haryk again: "So, you in or not?"

Haryk also became serious. "How's the money split?"

Shaborei already had it planned out: "Hear me out first."

"Rosen's the artist, clearly indispensable, so he gets half. The other half, you take 30%, I take 20%."

Rosen nodded. "I agree."

Haryk also nodded. "You swine are being decent for once. It's a deal then, I'm in!"

Shaborei slapped the table heartily. "Then let's get started!"

Rosen headed upstairs to the studio. After walking a few steps, he remembered something.

"Oh right, Haryk. I need to hurry back later to prepare lunch for my teacher. Remember to remind me."

"Got it. I'll have it ready for you to bring back directly."

Haryk was truly reliable, saving him a lot of time with that.

With no worries left, Rosen went upstairs and immediately began mixing paints while also browsing the back palace for material.

His gaze shifted between the "Alluring" and "Rare Gems" folders, pondering which to use.

Painting and selling was a long term livelihood.

Logically, he should take from the first folder which had ten times more material.

However, for paintings to sell at high prices, reputation was crucial besides just skill.

For a new studio to gain renown, it needed to put out some impressive masterworks.

Since the studio was called "Peerless Beauties", why not paint a peerless beauty then?

Thus, Rosen ultimately decided to source material from "Rare Gems".