"No need to sit, Jonathan. I'm here for something else this time." Morgan stepped into Twinmoon Radiance, ignoring Jonathan's eager greeting and adopting a strictly businesslike attitude.
"Haha, Alchemist Morgan, you still love to joke..." The moment Morgan put on his businesslike face, Jonathan's expression froze. Though he quickly forced a smile, it was so stiff it was almost painful to look at.
Jonathan wasn't an idiot...
As soon as Morgan spoke, Jonathan knew something was wrong. After all, he was the butler of the Monty Family. Others might ignore him, but they couldn't ignore Lord Monty's reputation. Even Morgan, or Morgan's backer, Grand Alchemist Bartholomew, would usually call him "Butler Jonathan" out of respect, not just "Jonathan" like Morgan did now.
Jonathan knew there was usually only one reason people stopped calling him "Butler Jonathan": even Lord Monty's reputation couldn't help him anymore.
Like during that Blackhorn Auction...
That Faro only called him "Jonathan."
And then, he got slapped—hard.
"I'm really not joking, Jonathan. I'm here because someone reported quality issues with the alchemical products from Twinmoon Radiance. I've been sent to conduct a routine inspection."
"Th-this can't be!" As soon as Morgan said this, Jonathan's heart skipped a beat—this was bad!
Jonathan's panic wasn't because there really was a quality problem...
Honestly, alchemical shops all cut corners sometimes, but Twinmoon Radiance had only just opened, and it was desperate to build its reputation. Monty himself had ordered that, for now, they'd rather lose money than risk quality. Under these circumstances, Jonathan couldn't believe there could be any real quality issues.
But what Jonathan thought didn't matter.
Jonathan knew all too well how these things worked.
Quality issues with alchemical products are always murky. Alchemists aren't machines; no matter how skilled, they can't guarantee every item is flawless.
If Morgan wanted to spend the time, he'd eventually find something wrong. This wasn't a problem Monty's instructions or Twinmoon Radiance's money could just fix.
"Alchemist Morgan, please, just listen to me..." Jonathan, desperate at the possible outcome, forgot his manners and grabbed Morgan's arm. "Listen, our alchemical products at Twinmoon Radiance are absolutely fine..."
"Let go!" Morgan shot Jonathan a cold glare.
Who are you kidding? Just because you say there's no quality problem doesn't make it true. It's not just that Jonathan's word means nothing—even Morgan's doesn't. This was a direct order from Grand Alchemist Bartholomew, one of the highest authorities in the Alchemist Guild, second only to President Lance himself!
Do you know what Grand Alchemist Bartholomew said...
Right now, immediately, go make trouble for Twinmoon Radiance—raise as much hell as possible!
In this situation, it doesn't matter if Jonathan and I are friends—or even if Jonathan were my own father—there's no room for personal favors.
"Alright, Jonathan. I'm just doing my job. You'd better cooperate."
With that, Morgan ignored Jonathan and began directing his team of black-robed alchemists to inspect each alchemical item one by one.
"This is bad..." Seeing Morgan's posture, Jonathan knew things really were about to go south.
Just look at Morgan's black-robed alchemists—each one was so focused they looked ready to glue their eyes to the products. And it didn't stop at one check: every item, once inspected by an alchemist, was handed to Morgan for a second, personal examination.
Since when was a routine inspection ever this serious?
The more Jonathan watched, the heavier his heart sank...
It's over. It's all over...
If Morgan keeps this up, it's only a matter of time before he finds something wrong. Then, if someone decides to target them, it'll be another hearing for sure. Twinmoon Radiance has just opened—it can't withstand this kind of trouble. If Lord Monty gets angry, the first one to suffer will be Jonathan himself.
Jonathan stared at Morgan, his expression complicated and his mind spinning. He couldn't figure out what was going on. Sure, he and Morgan weren't close, but he'd always made sure Morgan got his share of benefits. Morgan himself had promised that if Twinmoon Radiance ever had a problem, he'd do his best to help.
Honestly, Jonathan never really expected Morgan to help much, but for him to turn on him this quickly—Jonathan just couldn't accept it.
Could it be someone's behind this?
Yes, it must be!
Jonathan suddenly understood. Morgan might have some power in the Alchemist Guild, but this was too big for him alone. Twinmoon Radiance was Monty Family property; Morgan's actions were setting the guild against the Monty Family. That could spark a major conflict between two powerful factions.
Morgan wasn't that bold.
But if it's not Morgan, then who?
Who has that much influence—enough to sway the Alchemist Guild's decisions and send Morgan to make trouble for Twinmoon Radiance?
The more Jonathan thought about it, the more his heart raced in fear...
"These, these, and these—take them all back!" While Jonathan was still panicking, Morgan's inspection wrapped up. With a single command, he named more than a dozen items for confiscation, nearly bringing Jonathan to tears on the spot.
And that wasn't even the end of it...
"Jonathan, I'm sorry to inform you that Twinmoon Radiance's alchemical products do have serious quality issues. We'll need to investigate further to determine the extent. Until then, Twinmoon Radiance must temporarily close. We'll let you know when you can reopen."
"What? Shut down!" Jonathan jumped up on the spot.
For an alchemical shop, shutting down is no different from going bankrupt.
Especially for Twinmoon Radiance, which had just opened and was trying to build its reputation—suddenly shutting down meant all their efforts were wasted. That was millions of gold coins, and with Morgan's single word, it was like tossing all that money into the river!
This was downright disgusting!
At that moment, Jonathan really wanted to know who was targeting Twinmoon Radiance!
Unfortunately, Morgan gave him no chance to ask. After announcing the closure, he had his black-robed alchemists take the confiscated items and left Twinmoon Radiance without a second thought.
Jonathan stood there for a long time before gritting his teeth and muttering, "Just who the hell is targeting Twinmoon Radiance?"
........................................
Of course, Jonathan had no idea that the 'bastard' he was cursing didn't care about this matter at all.
Bartholomew was right—when Leon left, his parting words were indeed a hint...
Leon had always been that kind of person...
If someone wanted to mess with the Gilded Rose, Leon had no problem using the Alchemist Guild to hit back—hard.
But that was all there was to it...
Whoever was trying to mess with him, and whatever their reasons, Leon couldn't care less. A mage's time was too precious to waste on such nonsense.
All Leon needed to know was that the Alchemist Guild was desperate to get that alchemical formula.
And if they wanted the formula, they'd have to satisfy him first.
His parting words before leaving had made that perfectly clear.
Now someone's trying to mess with me, and I'm not happy about it!
Next, the Alchemist Guild would naturally start thinking of ways to satisfy him.
For Leon, that's all there was to it.
As for what the Alchemist Guild would do next, Leon didn't care. Sooner or later, someone would come and tell him the result.
Time was too precious now. Just working on the Mana Harness had taken him an entire afternoon—who had time for trivialities like this?
For the past few days, Leon had stayed at Sage's Spire, focused on perfecting the Mana Harness. The whole process took him three days, and by the time he returned, Morgan was already sealing off the Gilded Rose.
In those three days, Leon had almost completed the Mana Harness, but perfection was still a ways off.
He couldn't help it—the Mana Harness was just too unique. Among all Arcane Sigils, it was the most complex and intricate, pushing complexity to its absolute limit. That's probably why the Arcane Sigil Builder's Guide called it a discarded or useless sigil.
Grand Mages of this era simply couldn't perfect the Mana Harness. Even if they managed to acquire it, they'd only use it as an ordinary Arcane Sigil. As a result, the Mana Harness would never reach even a tenth of its true power. Calling it discarded or useless wasn't unfair at all.
To truly unleash the Mana Harness's power, it had to be refined and perfected again and again. Its capacity for integration was almost limitless—any magical ability, any spell, could be woven into it flawlessly.
One or two integrations might not matter much...
But when enough magical abilities or spells were integrated, the Mana Harness would undergo a true transformation—one that elevated both magic and spellcraft to a whole new level.
It was precisely because of this trait that, at the height of magical civilization, the Mana Harness was considered one of the strongest Arcane Sigils of all.