"Ahem, do you want to go shopping together tonight?"
Albert coughed lightly, trying to divert everyone's attention so that the previous topic would not make everyone embarrassed.
"It's not very safe here at night, especially for outsiders." Catherine lowered her voice deliberately when she spoke: "Also, many of the goods in Kahele Square are counterfeit products prepared by the locals for wizard tourists. Not only are they expensive, but they are also very unreliable."
"No matter where you go, there are always tourists getting ripped off." Albert was not surprised. He had seen a lot of this kind of thing in his previous life.
"Catherine actually likes you very much!" Valeria winked at Albert.
The atmosphere at the scene suddenly became a little weird.
"I'm honored." Albert nodded and smiled at Catherine.
He felt that Valeria in front of him was trying to cause trouble.
Catherine did not refute, but just glared at Valeria with dissatisfaction, as if to say: "It's okay for you to be horny, but don't drag me into it."
Isobel was very calm throughout the whole process, not caring about Valeria's little thoughts at all. In fact, she had noticed a long time ago that Valeria and Catherine both had a good impression of Albert.
But so what
Even if Valeria had made it clear, that would have been it.
For a moment, everyone was silent.
The strange atmosphere at the scene left Albert speechless. Could this be the legendary Shura field
In the past, I actually wanted to find two or three girlfriends. My brain must have been caught in a door.
The arrival of Sera and Nicholas broke the awkward atmosphere.
"Long time no see, Mr. Nicholas." Albert couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and stood up to give the old man in front of him a hug.
"I heard that you won the Barnabus Finkley Gold Medal for Excellent Spellcasting Skills a while ago." The old man sat down next to his granddaughter and said to Albert with a smile, "At your current rate of winning awards, you will be able to collect all the international awards in a few years. However, I am more curious now, what alchemical achievements do you plan to use to win the gold medal of the International Alchemy Conference?"
"I have made some small discoveries in my research on mandrake." Albert took out the mandrake wine and flying ointment again. Then, he briefly explained the effects of the two things to the two old men.
After listening, Sera and Nicholas exchanged glances, and Sera spoke last.
"There is one thing I think you need to know. Participating in the International Alchemy Conference means you need to provide the formula and relevant information of your research results. You should know what this means!" Sera lowered her voice and said, "We suggest that you take out both the Mandrake Wine and the Flying Ointment and display them. Then, only take the Flying Ointment to the International Alchemy Conference."
"Why?" Valeria asked in confusion. She felt that there must be something fishy going on in this matter that they didn't know about.
"Because if we provide the formula, it means that other alchemists will soon know the formula. Although the Egyptian Alchemy Research Center will apply for a patent, the patent is actually useless because other people can produce it privately, and those who suffer losses will hardly be able to pursue the responsibility of those guys across borders." Albert could guess the reason. However, he didn't really care about these semi-finished products. Both Mandrake Wine and Flying Ointment had room for improvement. If he could use the semi-finished products to complete the panel task, it would actually be quite cost-effective.
"There is another reason. Wizards under the age of thirty can only receive the Gold Award for Pioneering Contribution, while wizards over the age of thirty can receive the International Alchemy Award. Although the medals and prize money given for the two awards are the same, their meanings are very different."
"Why separate the awards?" Valeria asked in confusion, "Is it to give young people a chance to win?"
"Yes, that's right." Sera nodded and said, "It's a chance for the young people, and it also saves some face for other alchemy masters. If the interests of both parties don't conflict, the International Alchemy Conference will be more harmonious."
"Of course." Nicholas had a strange expression on his face. "Another reason is to let young people share their alchemy achievements."
Everyone looked at Nicholas, waiting for him to finish his words.
"In fact, many wizards do not want to hand over their research results, especially those inventions that are more profitable. You know, there is nothing more profitable than monopoly in this world. Especially Mandrake wine, believe me, many wizards will like it, which means a lot of wealth."
"If you want to sell this wine in America, you can find Catherine. This is your first cooperation anyway." Nicholas was very satisfied with Albert and even thought about bringing him and Catherine together.
Unfortunately, this became impossible after Catherine became his heir.
"I'll think about it." Albert nodded.
However, he was not ready to think about these things yet.
Valeria winked at Catherine. She also felt that Nicholas wanted to bring them together and deepen their relationship.
As far as Valeria knew, Albert and Catherine not only cooperated in developing beauty drugs and selling Bafe brain-stimulating drugs, but also had other reasons. However, Catherine never said anything, which was why she suspected that there was something fishy going on between the two.
"By the way, this is for you. This is the admission ticket to the International Alchemy Competition." Sera took out a piece of parchment from her pocket and handed it to Albert, then reminded him, "I'm afraid you have to go to bed early today, because you need to get up early tomorrow morning, around five o'clock. Do you have any other questions?"
"I want to buy some local specialties here. It would be even better if I could buy some books on alchemy." Albert said. He felt that there were some things that should not be missed when visiting Egypt.
"If you want to buy alchemical items, you can go to the black market here. It opens every Saturday afternoon. If you want to go in, you need someone you know to recommend it to the bar owner." Nun Russ introduced to Albert: "Of course, you can also go to Kahele Square. Well, it's near the Muggle Liberation Square. However, I suggest you use the Floo powder directly from here. It will be much faster. Although it costs some money, I think that little money is nothing to you."
"Will you come with me?" Isobel invited Valeria and Catherine.
"No, we've already been there," Catherine refused.
"I think it would be nice to go shopping again." Valeria said, "Last time, I went there during the day, took a quick look and left. I heard that there might be a circus performance there at night."
"Who told you that? You yourself?"
At night, everyone ate in the pub. The main dish was flatbread. It was said that they would add some grilled meat and fresh vegetables. A gray-green thick soup tasted good, a bit like vegetable soup, but a bit ugly. It was usually eaten with flatbread.
Albert prefers grilled chicken stuffed with green wheat and rice, which has a very good texture, a bit like chicken wings wrapped in rice, and tastes great.
The drink is Roselle tea, which is said to have beauty-enhancing effects, so it is a bit more expensive than black tea. It is said that a small amount of honey is added to it to make the taste sour and sweet, and many girls like to drink it.
During the meal, Catherine also mentioned that roselle essence is used in beauty potions in Egypt.
After dinner, they sat there and chatted for a while before going to find the bartender. Led by the receptionist, they passed a fireplace and went to Kahele Square, for which they paid a gold coin.
Kahele Square was quite lively at night, with oil lamps lit on both sides of the street. Many vendors were setting up stalls on the roadside, selling a variety of things. I told Albert directly that 80% of what those vendors sold were scams.
It was a pity that there was no circus performance in the square today. However, Albert found a food stall and was surprised to find that they were selling roasted sweet potatoes.
However, since they had just finished dinner, they only bought two servings.
"It tastes very good, much better than baked potatoes." Isobel took the piece of sweet potato covered with cheese from Albert, took a bite and commented.
"You can ask the house elves to make it for you, but it may be difficult to buy sweet potatoes in the UK." Albert thought that he could hire Dobby to help him grow things in the future. It would be best to build a greenhouse so that he would not have to worry about not having vegetables and fruits to eat in the future.
I don’t know if this is how it usually is here, but Albert found the bookstore.
However, to his disappointment, there were not many books that he wanted. He had already read the so-called "Introduction to Alchemy" and "Skillful Victory over Black Magic". Buying them back would be a pure waste of money. In the end, Albert only bought a few advanced books that he was interested in. It was not a wasted trip, because the situation in the magic props store disappointed him even more. Although alchemy was very advanced, there were not many new things in the store.
Most of the Alberts could basically guess the principle after just watching it, and the last few of them went back with some snacks.
In addition to the pile of books that Albert bought and a few suspicious dark magic defense items in the magic shop, Isobel bought a bottle of roselle essence to make a beauty potion and the pile of delicacies in the hands of the two girls.
"I told you there was nothing interesting there," Catherine said calmly.
"You are right." Albert did not refute and nodded, "Let's go back and rest first. See you tomorrow."
Looking at the closed door, Valeria took a bite of the barbecue and sighed softly, "It seems that we have no chance."
"You have no chance." Catherine said, "Go back and rest. You have to get up early tomorrow. If you can't get up, don't blame me for leaving you here and going to the International Alchemy Conference by yourself."
"Don't be so heartless!" Valeria closed the door and looked at her friend helplessly. "Anyway, you are not planning to get married, so why do you care about these things? Not getting married does not mean you don't want a man. You have to find a suitable one. Are you planning to use your fingers to solve it in the future?"
"There's nothing wrong with strengthening your contact with Albert. You have business dealings already. Further strengthening the relationship can make you closer. As for the future, you can also have a child. He won't be responsible for it anyway." Valeria persuaded.
"You are so enthusiastic about bringing us together?" Catherine looked at her friend with strange eyes.
"I can't help it. Isobel is my first love, and Albert is a rational guy." Valeria muttered softly, "But as long as there is a first time, there will be a second time. I will have a chance."
"Is it really necessary to go to this extent?" Catherine felt that she had gotten to know her good friend again.
"It is necessary." Valeria said seriously, "I long for money, hope to maintain my beauty, and fantasize about having an excellent, gentle and considerate man, living a free and comfortable life, and doing what I like every day."
"And now, Albert has shown me that what I want is within reach. Why shouldn't I pursue it? I won't compete with Isobel because I can't win, but even if we can be lovers, so what? I don't care anyway." Valeria said calmly, "Ukraine is a terrible place. If you have really been there and understood it, you will know why I did that."