Encountering Blackmail (Revised)

The town of Fussen was very lively that day. Several caravans came to the small town at once. The wide variety of goods brought by the caravans aroused the shopping enthusiasm of the town residents. Everyone went out to buy things, and the whole town was as lively as a festival.

The Bellflower Pharmacy also welcomed several caravans. After the representatives of these caravans looked at the recovery potions and magic potions in the store and asked about the prices, they all rushed to place large orders.

These order contracts were quickly delivered to the Viscount's Mansion and presented to Elena.

After counting the total amount of goods in these orders, Elena was completely stunned.

Elena had never expected that the magic potion market would be so large, even larger than the market for spices and sauces. The number of orders placed by these caravans was even more exaggerated than those of the wealthy businessmen in Booker Harbor.

Is it because potions are a necessity, essential for combat?

Her wandering eyes fell on the number of orders, and Elena's wandering thoughts suddenly came back.

This is too much. Does she have to work overtime again?

"Why do you look unhappy?" Leonard came in with a big bowl of fried chicken nuggets.

Elena looked up at him, her eyes filled with worry: "There are too many."

Leonard held the bowl in one hand and reached out to take the order with the other.

A warm, wet towel was pressed into his hand.

"Oil, oil, there's oil on your hands." Elena said, staring at his greasy hands.

Leonard wiped his hands obediently, went back to get the order, and took a look. "Not many. I thought with so many caravans coming, there would be more orders."

Elena wanted to spit some sweet words, but she held back. "Dear Lord Leonard, have you forgotten that I'm just a high-level apprentice? Even if I can make a potion with 100% success, I still need time to recover my magic power."

"You can drink recovery potions and magic potions." Leonard said.

Are you entering a perpetual motion machine state by taking medicine and making medicine at the same time?

Do you remember that I am a human being?

A living person.

Elena opened her mouth, but held back: "Thank you for the reminder, but I don't want to become a medicine machine."

Leonard frowned. "Why not? Every time you make a batch of potion, golden coins will fly into your pocket. Why wouldn't you want to?"

"Because I'm tired and because I want to enjoy life." Elena answered expressionlessly.

"Will you still feel tired when you see gold coins?" Leonard asked puzzledly.

Elena:......

Is this guy being clever?

This meme isn't funny at all, okay?

Leonard, however, really didn't understand: "Do you think the gold coins are too much? Does the rapid growth of wealth make you feel burdened or uneasy?"

Elena: "No, not really."

"If you feel burdened, please don't worry. You can leave this burden to me." Leonard looked at her seriously and solemnly, his expression sincere. "My friend, please rest assured. I can bear it. You only need to bear the joy of making potions."

"Get out of here and get away from me." Elena finally spoke sweetly.

Elena, who didn't want to give up the gold coins, decided to upgrade her level again. She wanted to become a formal magician.

Formal mages are divided into three stages: low-level, intermediate-level, and high-level.

Elena is now going to be promoted to a low-level mage.

After purchasing the necessary magic materials and magic items, drawing the corresponding magic circle, and completing all the preliminary preparations, Elena entered the pharmacy to make the magic potions needed for the promotion.

Unlike the previous apprentice level, after entering the official wizard level, all promotion ceremonies need to be accompanied by corresponding potions. The potions plus the magic circle are a complete promotion ceremony.

However, this also means that the cost of the promotion ceremony will be higher. High-level apprentices with insufficient financial resources may be stuck in this money-saving stage for several years. If they are unlucky, it may even take more than ten years.

Elena is now debt-free and has a large amount of gold coins coming into her account, so purchasing magic materials and magic items seems easy.

After casting a spell of concentration on herself, Elena felt that she was in good condition.

"Are you ready?" asked Leonard, who was guarding on the side.

Elena nodded lightly, feeling even a little happy: "Okay."

"Let's get started," Leonard said.

Elena began to put magic materials into the crucible one by one in order. Each time she put them in, a strange vision would appear, such as an illusory blue flame that would suddenly appear, a screaming and hideous ghost that would appear, or layers of frost that would appear.

A variety of magical materials are mixed and fused in the high-temperature crucible, and regenerated into a brand new liquid.

Elena poured the strange-smelling, yellow-green liquid into a bowl, pinched her nose with her hand, and drank the liquid in one gulp with an expressionless face.

Damn, this tastes terrible.

The icy liquid medicine flowed through the esophagus and into the stomach, where it turned into hot magma jumping and spinning. The heat radiated from the stomach to the whole body. After a few breaths, it turned back to ice cold and froze the blood vessels throughout the body.

Cold, hot, cold, hot, over and over again.

Elena once again became a third party floating outside, watching her soul shrink and grow, shrink and grow.

After several times, the silver core buried deep in the soul appeared.

Elena stared at the silver core, and a transparent, almost non-existent illusory thread condensed out, connecting her to the silver core.

When the connection was established, the silver core lit up, and dense lines and symbols appeared on the outer layer of the core.

With the previous promotion experience, Elena's portrayal and memory were more proficient this time.

When the new engraving and memory were completed, Elena once again felt the powerful suction force, and the next moment she was sucked back into her body.

When the emerald eyes reopened, Elena had become a low-level mage.

Low-level mages are a threshold. Apprentices and mages can actually be regarded as two different races. Apprentices are still considered ordinary humans, while mages have far surpassed ordinary humans in various indicators of the soul and body.

Becoming a wizard is not only about improving your magic and mental strength, but also about improving your physical body.

"Yes, the promotion was very successful." Leonard looked at Elena with satisfaction. Her promotion process was very smooth, beyond his expectations.

Elena smiled and said, "Thank you for your guard."

"You're welcome. I didn't do anything." Leonard also smiled, but he also extended a hand. "Although I didn't do anything, but according to the agreement, right..."

Elena: ...Hold on, don't roll your eyes, it's just a formality.

Elena opened the drawer and took out five silver coins: "Here, your reward."

"Thank you for your generosity," Leonard happily accepted. "Since I've accepted your commission, I must remind you of one thing. You've now entered the realm of a mage. You'd better register with the Mage Association and receive your Mage Badge."

"Mage badge? What's it for?" Elena asked when she didn't understand.

"First, you have to prove your identity as a mage, and second, you can receive a monthly salary. Low-level mages get 10 silver coins per month." Leonard said.

"Get a monthly salary? Do I have to work in the Mage Association?" Elena resisted in her heart. She didn't want to go out to work. She just wanted to be a lord.

Leonard shook his head and said, "No, it's not a job. It's a benefit provided by the Mage Association. It can be considered as a subsidy for mages living in poverty. After all, not every mage is good at socializing and making money. Some just like to bury themselves in research."

"Oh, is that so." Elena nodded thoughtfully and murmured, "The Mage Association is quite humane."

"Okay, that's it, good night." After saying that, Leonard whistled and left happily.

The next day, after Elena got up and washed up in the morning, she was about to summon the old butler to ask about the Mage Association when the old butler came in a hurry.

"Miss Viscount, something happened." The old butler looked a little serious.

Elena frowned: "What's the matter?"

"Someone went to the Bellflower Pharmacy and made a big fuss, saying that the store had given him the wrong medicine and demanded compensation from the pharmacy," said the old housekeeper.

"Wrong shipment?" Elena asked. "Didn't Jerry check it when it was shipped?"

"Jerry said he checked every batch, but the other party insisted that it was sent to the wrong person," said the old butler.

"Then let Jerry handle it according to the contract." Elena didn't want to bother with such a small matter. Jerry was the store manager and he should handle this matter well.

The old butler said, "But the other party demands ten times the compensation, and he is the nephew of Viscount Antoine."

Viscount Antoine!

The neighboring lord who had supported Eli in seizing power behind the scenes when Elena's father and brother died.

Hearing the name again and thinking about what happened today, Elena's eyes suddenly changed.

Haha, before she could do anything to him, he came to her.

In the Bellflower Pharmacy, Jerry was patiently trying to appease the noisy Ya'an, but Ya'an looked down on his status. He was arrogant and aggressive, and he insisted on demanding ten times the compensation.

"I'm telling you, if you dare to brush me off and refuse to pay tenfold compensation, you're destroying the friendship between Duoqing Town and Fussen Town, and the friendship between Viscount Antoine and Viscountess Field." Yaan stared at Jerry fiercely, like a wolf. "You can't afford this crime."

Jerry was very upset and hated dealing with such arrogant and troublesome people.

Suddenly, a cold and disdainful voice rang out: "Oh, who do you think you are? You dare to say that you want to destroy the friendship between the two towns, and you think you can represent Viscount Antoine?"

Yaan turned back suddenly.

Elena stood at the door and looked at him proudly.

"Who are you?" Yan didn't like Elena's arrogant attitude, so he also raised his chin and looked at her.

How could I introduce myself to someone of lower rank? It would be too embarrassing to introduce myself to someone of lower rank.

Of course it's my turn to go down.

Jerry, who was very self-aware, immediately came to Elena, saluted respectfully, and then said to Yaan: "This is the lord of our town of Fussen, Miss Viscount Field."

Yaan:.......

On the other side, Jerry quickly explained the previous process from beginning to end. Elena nodded, walked into the store, and picked up the medicine that Yaan brought.

"You said you ordered a mid-grade recovery potion, but the one you were given was a low-grade one, right?"

Yaan restrained his disrespectful attitude and nodded: "Yes."

Elena lifted the potion bottle and placed it in the sunlight streaming in from the window. There was a thin layer of sediment beneath the liquid. "But I discovered that the potion you brought was not made by me."

???

Jerry looked at Yaan in surprise.

Yaan's expression was shocked and embarrassed: "How is it possible? This is clearly the product from Wind Bell Orchid Pharmacy. How is it possible? By the way, did you replace the goods privately?"

Yaan turned around and asked Jerry.

Jerry shook his head frantically, "No, no, I don't."

"If it's not you, who else could it be? Could it be the clerk guarding the warehouse? Oh, that's possible." Ya'an immediately looked at the other clerks.

The shop assistants he saw shook their heads frantically.

Elena smiled. She looked at Yaan and said meaningfully, "Don't be nervous. We'll know who is lying soon."

A string of tiny rays of light flew out from her fingertips and flew straight into Yaan's mouth.

Elena cast the Power Word directly.

Ya'an was caught off guard.

So, with a look of shock and despair, Yan's mouth couldn't help but blurt out the truth.

It turned out that what happened today was a play directed and acted by Yaan himself. He changed the potion. Although the bottle was a bell-lily bottle, the potion inside was from another company. He was confident that outsiders could not tell. He used the excuse of sending the wrong goods and the identity and power of his uncle, Viscount Antoine, to blackmail.

But he never expected that Miss Viscount Field would come in person and even forcefully cast the Mantra on him.

This method was too rude and disregarded the face of both parties. It was beyond Yaan's expectations.

Ya'an, who failed to blackmail Elena, was thrown into jail by Elena.

Yaan was imprisoned in the prison in Fussen Town. The news quickly spread back to Duoqing Town. Viscount Antoine, who was visited by his sister-in-law crying for help, was so angry that he smashed a cup.

Viscount Antoine actually knew about the blackmail idea and allowed it. When Yaan had this evil idea, he came to him to test his opinion. He did not speak up to stop him, which actually meant he acquiesced. It was precisely because he knew that Viscount Antoine was supporting him that Yaan dared to go to the town of Fussen to blackmail.

As a result, Elena did not play by the rules at all and actually used the magic of truth.

He also put Yaan in jail.

Viscount Antoine was extremely angry. This was a lack of respect for him.

After all, Ya'an is his nephew.

Viscount Antoine angrily sent people to the town of Fussen to demand the person back.

But I didn’t get it.

Elena didn't even see the person and directly asked her subordinates to send him away.

Viscount Antoine became even angrier.

Are you going to break up with him?

How could she, a little girl who had just inherited the title, have the guts to break up with me?

Haha, of course Elena was unwilling to give him a good face. What was there to give him? He came to her door and asked for a slap in the face. Shouldn't she slap him?

She hit him because she knew it would be a waste not to hit him.

Does anyone believe that his stupid nephew did not have his support behind the crime?

Since he dared to let his nephew blackmail her, don't blame her for slapping him hard in the face.

"Miss, is this a bad thing?" The old butler was a little worried. "We've offended Viscount Antoine so much now. If he causes trouble for us in the future..."

"What are you afraid of?" Elena wasn't afraid at all. "He's a viscount, and so am I. He's not superior to me. Besides, I'm right in this matter, and he's wrong. Rightly, he should apologize to me."

"Let's not talk about justice, let's talk about human feelings. I am a woman, still a child, and I just lost my respectable father and brother. I am a poor orphan. As a gentleman and an elder much older than me, shouldn't he be polite and considerate of me?" The more Elena spoke, the more she felt that he was right.

"However, he bullied me, an orphan girl, and not only did he not come to apologize or compensate me, he also wanted to send only one officer to take the fraudster back. He even wanted to brush off the blackmail as if it never happened. Haha, he is ugly but has beautiful thoughts. He is not ashamed of his age." Elena sneered.

"But he is a viscount after all, with deep connections. What if he uses some tricks to deal with us again..." The old butler was worried.

Elena raised her head and sneered: "I'm not afraid of him, come if you want, let's see who can beat who."