Chapter 123: Punk Alchemy Base

After the meal, many of the ladies went to help Osiris pick out clothes, while Louis sat on a sofa in the dining room, listening to the music played by the nearby musicians and idly passing the time—since there were many dragons here, Archie would come over soon and be able to find him directly.

After listening for a while, Louis found the band’s music rather grating, almost like the sound of grinding teeth. When one piece ended, he couldn't help but walk over politely and ask if they could play something more modern, preferably upbeat and fashionable.

The band inquired, and Louis named a few songs. After hearing the titles, the musicians suddenly widened their eyes.

“Sir, that kind of lowbrow country...” one of them started to say. But before he could finish, a tall dragon passed behind Louis, rolled up his sleeves to reveal arms thicker than his legs, glared, and strode over with a raised palm: “Sir, this kind of golden classic country tavern music is what our band excels at!”

The burly dragon turned around, satisfied, and left. The musicians wiped cold sweat from their brows and breathed a sigh of relief.

Louis also wiped sweat from his forehead, relieved—he’d been startled, thinking none of the records Trev treasured were worth a damn.

Returning to the sofa, Louis saw Lilith had come back first. She was coldly applying makeup in front of a mirror, as if she barely knew Louis.

“Where’s your sister?” he asked.

“She’s still advising Princess Osiris,” Lilith replied indifferently, still fixing her makeup.

“Oh,” Louis nodded, glanced at the time—it was nearly ten o’clock—and closed his eyes, listening to the music again. He thought to himself, ‘Seems the musical taste of this era isn’t too dissimilar from modern people’s.’

“Mr. Louis, you really understand music?” Lilith suddenly asked, her tone filled with unfamiliarity.

“I don’t understand it much,” he said.

“Then do you know musical instruments?”

“That I do,” Louis replied.

“Oh, the muggles’ instruments seem quite different from ours... I have a question. Could you help me with it?” Lilith’s tone grew serious as she pointed toward a cello.

Louis looked over, puzzled.

“That lady’s holding a long, thick, black thing—what is it?” Lilith asked curiously, innocent and wide-eyed.

Louis blinked hard. Lilith was pouting, genuinely curious, not pretending.

“Ahem, Miss Lilith, that’s a bow,” Louis explained seriously.

“Oh? So it’s pulled left and right? I thought it was supposed to poke into that hole,” she said.

“???” Suddenly, Louis felt caught off guard. He widened his eyes and mouth, staring at Lilith—it was broad daylight.

“Well then, that lady, the long thing put into the mouth... ouch! Ah, sister!” Lilith hadn’t finished speaking when she was suddenly struck hard on the head, pain bringing tears to her eyes. Looking up, she saw the fiery-eyed Sakuraring. Frightened, she shrank her neck.

Before Lilith could say more, her sister grabbed her hat, yanked her by the ear, dragged her aside, and scolded her harshly. She even got a few more slaps, tears welling up.

Louis was amused by the scene.

Soon after, the two sisters sat opposite Louis on the sofa. Lilith no longer dared to be mischievous; she sat upright, like a proper lady. Sakuraring, meanwhile, smoked her pipe, squinting as she appraised Louis from head to toe.

‘If I don’t find anything going on today, and it turns out you deliberately worded things to have an affair with my sister, I swear I’ll break your legs!’

‘What trash taste does this guy have, enjoying this kind of music?’

Sakuraring felt something was off.

‘Why does this guy’s face look familiar? Hmm, familiar... I saw him once in the office before.’

‘No, something’s wrong... something doesn’t add up.’

“Ahem,” Louis interrupted, unable to bear it any longer, “Miss Sakuraring, why have you been so idle lately?”

Sakuraring said nothing.

‘I was just about to ask you the same!’

Louis chuckled, noticing the two sisters sitting like flight attendants and looking at their long legs. Seeing Sakuraring glaring at him, he shook his head and got up to use the restroom.

No sooner had Louis left than Sakuraring, like a sneaky thief, picked up Louis’s coat from the sofa and sniffed it. Lilith stared in disbelief.

“Sister, what are you doing? That’s my man’s coat! Why are you smelling it?”

“Don’t talk nonsense!” Sakuraring frowned, continuing to sniff.

‘Why is there no scent at all?’ She rummaged through the coat’s pockets and found a bundle of strange herbs: “Qianluolan? Buwen Grass? What kind of plants are these? Are they meant to mask smells? Why would that brat put this in his clothes? There’s definitely something fishy!’

‘Is it really him?’

Just then, a group approached nearby. Sakuraring looked up—it was Archie with a group of dragons. Feeling awkward, she cleared her throat and casually draped Louis’s coat over her lap, sitting on the sofa and quietly puffing her pipe.

She immediately recognized Archie. Unlike before, she now sat straight-backed and, for some reason, felt unusually confident today.

‘No wonder there are so many dragons here. Didn’t expect this guy to be handling serious business today.’

Archie also spotted Sakuraring. His sharp eyes twitched, realizing Louis planned to bring the two sisters along today.

“Well, what a coincidence! Isn’t this the newly appointed Chief Sakuraring?” Archie jumped onto the table and greeted her politely—a mere deputy chief, a small official.

But this little fox named Sakuraring had an extraordinary background, very mysterious.

Thinking this, Archie couldn’t help but glance at Louis’s coat on Sakuraring’s lap and then at Louis himself, who was just coming out of the restroom.

[Damn lizard... isn’t Sakuraring backed by the Faceless Ones? How come she’s so close to Louis? Is she risking her life? Something’s off!]

[Could it be that Louis cleaned up Blackhorn Alley? That place is full of perverts; he must be supporting Fox behind the scenes!]

[This no-beard sea snail, hiding this from me, not very brotherly!]

Archie’s thoughts flashed by in an instant; his polite words didn’t falter: “It’s a pity I couldn’t attend the grand opening of the Blackhorn Alley branch in person. Didn’t expect to run into you here today—please look after Blackhorn Alley’s business.”

“Mr. Archie, you’re too kind. Sending gifts already shows great respect,” Sakuraring said calmly. She glanced at Aaron, who wore a neck brace, her eyelids twitching. Then she gave a sharp look at Louis, who was walking over.

“How’s Miss Katrina lately?” Archie continued, puffing his cigar and making small talk.

“Thanks to you, my aunt is doing well.”

After a few more pleasantries, Louis returned.

“Shall we go, ladies?” Archie gestured politely, leading Louis and the others through winding paths in the hotel until they reached the semi-basement.

This had once been the servants’ quarters of the old castle. Now, the staff here were essentially servants in a sense, mostly lifelong employees serving the royal industries.

However, Louis noticed some were mages and even showed slight deference to Archie.

“These people are from my cousin Milo’s ‘White Stone Lakeside’ hotel, restaurant, and entertainment business,” Archie explained. “There’s a magical fireplace here.”

The dragon guards stopped nearby, while Louis and the three others followed the mage attendants inside.

Halfway through, Archie paused at a room and called the alchemy workshop, but no one answered.

“Damn, probably all in a meeting. No worries, Rant gave me the coordinates; we’ll sneak over later.”

They continued to a kitchen. The Yodel chefs glanced back but ignored them. One even voluntarily removed a roasting rack from the fireplace.

Archie leaned in to Louis, whispering, “Everything’s set, but don’t spread this around. If the king finds out, it’ll be trouble. We’ll go quietly. I’ll arrange a persona for you to enter the competition anonymously.”

“That’s perfect. Avoiding trouble suits me—I hate being in the spotlight,” Louis said, though the looks he received suggested otherwise. His eyes betrayed his disappointment.

They entered the fireplace. With the help of magical powder, the scene transformed. The kitchen morphed into a grand hall filled with all manner of steampunk machinery and furnaces.

In the center sat a dignified middle-aged man fiddling with objects on a table, surrounded by several knights in armor attending him carefully.

Seeing this man, Archie’s mind went blank.

‘Damn lizard! It’s all over now!’

...

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