Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

"You need to make a move on that Dianna girl."

Layla patted Eren's back with encouragement. The latter looked at her strangely before responding.

"You want me to act like a hoe to get your herbs?"

Layla coughed a bit before responding thoughtfully.

"Semantics. I'd describe it as you just being your usual go-getter. It's not like you are too pure to do something like this. Plus, that Dianna girl seems like she would give you a good deal in exchange for sexual favours."

This time it was Eren who coughed. He looked at Layla once again from head to toe before thinking to himself.

'I often forget this little monster has lived for who knows how long even before I was born. My age and experience in both timelines are akin to zero in front of this loli-looking witch.'

Eren sighed to himself after he had that thought. He then decided to confess.

"I… well… we already have that kind of arrangement in place."

Dianna had agreed to give him a time-element spell called Total Control in exchange for sleeping with her and he had agreed. But Layla wasn't with Eren when he talked with Dianna last time. So she didn't know about the arrangement between the two.

"Your leecher powers have exceeded my expectations.

But that's all right. That's good. Hehe.

I have potions for everything. Do you want performance-enhancing potions? Potions that can give your lady an extra high? Or something to make you grow two di…"

Eren pulled Layla in front of him, made her turn, and pressed his palm against her mouth to shut her up. In that process, Layla was wrapped in his embrace, with her back leaning against his chest while he was still sitting on his chair. She was made to sit on his lap in the end.

Eren continued while keeping his palm pressed against Layla's mouth which was still trying to say something.

"I already have everything covered when it comes to my dick enhancement. Growing two of them won't do me any good. At least for now.

Thanks for letting me know the extent of your potion-making expertise though. I now know who to ask if I want to spice things up in bed."

Eren chuckled before getting serious. He then added.

"The problem lies not in our arrangement. But the rarity of the flower, its price, and Dianna's position in the family.

At most, she can allow us to attend the auction when it happens. She won't be able to give those flowers for free as you are expecting from her even if we convince her to."

Eren released Layla's mouth after he said that. The latter acted like she was out of breath for a moment before responding angrily.

"You… you release me from this position first. I… I just knew it. You already have your eyes on me. But let me tell you…"

"Focus!"

Eren said loudly in Layla's ear while he resumed checking up on the scroll related to Simbelmyne's Flower. The young witch snapped out of her fake innocence and replied.

"That also works. But only if you come up with the money to buy the stuff upfront. And don't forget. It is common for auctions to make you pay more than your expectations."

Layla said while adjusting herself properly on Eren's lap. Using his spectral screen, Eren started reading everything that was open knowledge about the flower found in the army database.

Eren also found the image for Simbelmyne's flower in the army database. It had about 16 petals on the outermost layer. It also features eight inner petals, which surrounded a horn-like protrusion.

The petals of the flowers looked ethereal with their blue hue that would change from dark to light blue before changing back to dark in a cyclic pattern. The horn-like protrusion on the other hand looked solid and as real as it could get. With its dichotomy of real and ethereal, the flower was a rare occurrence in nature.

Eren also found the flower's description under its image. It said that taking a few whiffs of Simbelmyne's flower and turning it into a potion through distillation was able to positively affect a ranker's soul sense. If they had awoken it that is. The soul sense that was enhanced by Simbelmyne's flower would find it easy to harmonize with the world.

Eren wasn't sure what the description meant by harmonizing with the world. But he could guess that Eliza's soul sense was bound to be in disarray if and when she acted against the natural order of the world. The flower was supposed to be her way to curb those negative implications if not outright eliminate them.

"*Sigh. What's next?"

Eren sighed before Layla. This was still an easy task for him to manage. He felt that the tasks Layla, and Eliza by proxy had for him were only liable to get more difficult as he worked through the list.

Layla also turned serious. She stretched her arm and fetched another scroll that was lying on the other side of the table and opened it in front of Eren and her before continuing.

"Next we need this. Shallot's Mirror. This is also a transcendent-grade treasure. I'll tell you what it does so that you don't have to search for it separately.

It is a space-element artefact that deals in souls. It can house a soul in an isolated space inside it without the soul facing mutation, dispersion, or any other adverse effects after leaving the natal body.

This is also one of the most critical things we need in our project."

Layla said while pointing her finger over the diagram of the artefact. Eren saw that Shallot's Mirror was indeed a mirror that had an intricate pattern made out of metal-like elements serving as its frame. The mirror was oval. But the surface of the mirror had a black hue and it didn't reflect anything.

Eren also read the description under the image by Layla. Since it was written in a language he could understand this time, he could read it. It said the same thing Layla had said along with how to use it.