The story of the black silk female knight

Faced with Valensa's expectant gaze, Melina felt a pang of reluctance, but still had to tell the truth:

"That was a quest issued by a Star-level mage... The reward he offered was 10 high-level magic shield scrolls, but what he needed were the scales of an adult black dragon..."

"The scales of an adult black dragon..."

Valensa was speechless.

Pureblood dragons like the Black Dragon are at least Star-level once they reach adulthood.

Putting aside the fact that she's just a crunchy snack in front of an adult black dragon, even if an adult black dragon didn't resist and let her do as she pleased, she still might not be able to remove the dragon scales.

Clearly, this task is not something Valensa can consider at the moment.

"Are there any other tasks? The kind I can complete if I try hard enough?"

She could only look at Melina longingly once more, hoping to hear the answer she wanted.

Unfortunately, things in this world can't always go as planned.

"Gone."

Melina shook her head firmly, and seeing Valensa suddenly become very dejected, she chuckled softly, a mixture of helplessness and indulgence.

"However, I also inquired with people from other adventurer guilds... and they said that the Church's Holy Shield spell should meet the requirements... Miss, why don't you go to the Church to study for a while?"

"Divine Shield...emmm...let's keep it as a backup plan for now."

Valensa frowned.

The Holy Shield spell provides sufficient defense, but its effect is too obvious and its duration is very short. Enemies with a normal thought process would probably not force an attack on the Holy Shield spell, making it difficult to coordinate with its abilities.

"If even Divine Shield doesn't work..."

Melina shrugged and gave her final advice:

"Then, Miss, you can inquire at the Nora Chamber of Commerce. Perhaps they will sell items that you like at their auctions."

Chapter 12 The young lady only wants to make money now

"The Nora Merchant Guild's auction... I remember the last time I attended one in the capital was when I was accompanying Elena to buy her jewelry... Sigh."

Standing in front of the largest shop in Sergintown, Valensa's eyes were somewhat unfocused as she reminisced about the past.

She never completely gave up hope.

Although her father died a heroic death in that cult attack, her mother and sister have only been missing... and there may be a chance for them to reunite in the future.

Of course, Valensa knew the possibility was slim and had long prepared for the worst, but deep down there was still a glimmer of hope that had not yet been extinguished.

After all, although her parents in this life always said they wanted a son, they never lacked affection for Valensa, their eldest daughter, and her younger sister Elena was always her little shadow...

"...What's the use of thinking about these things now? If I don't become stronger first, even if I find out about my mother and Elena, it will only add to my sadness and troubles."

Valensa, whose eyes were glazed over, suddenly snapped back to reality, her watery, slightly reddened blue eyes regaining their resolve.

"call……"

She let out a long breath, lifted the leather boots beneath her short skirt and black stockings, and walked into the shop.

"Welcome, esteemed lady."

Immediately, a pretty sales assistant in a skirt uniform came up to Valensa and gave her a sweet and professional smile.

"How can I help you? Do you need a dress? Jewelry? Magical items? Or some personal items?"

“I’m not here to buy dresses and jewelry today, and I certainly don’t need those intimate items.”

Valensa chuckled and shook her head:

"Does your branch have a butler? I'd like to inquire about the auction."

"auctions?"

The sales assistant frowned slightly, then looked Valensa, dressed in a skirt and black stockings, up and down again, trying her best to maintain a polite smile.

"I'm sorry, miss, our auction services are only available to VIPs..."

"I am your VIP."

Valensa smiled as well, but emphasized her words, and produced a gold four-leaf clover emblem the size of a trench coat button:

"You haven't forgotten... although this is Sergin Town, I come from the royal capital, have you?"

"I'm so sorry, it was my rudeness."

Under the glow of the golden four-leaf clover emblem, the sales assistant immediately bowed her head in apology, then took out a pair of black pantyhose from a box and presented them to her with both hands:

"This small gift is my apology to you. Please accept it with a smile... As for the auction, please go to the rest area and have a cup of tea to rest for a while. I will go and inform the manager right away."

"Then I won't be polite."

Valensa did not refuse; she smiled and put away the black pantyhose.

Nobles value face above all else. If the saleswoman's rude behavior had occurred in the capital and offended the male nobles, she would have found it difficult to refuse even if they asked her to spend the night with them as an apology.

Valencia would only feel relieved if she accepted the small gift; refusing would only make the sales assistant feel anxious for the rest of the day.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, Your Excellency Miss Bader."

Valensa waited in the rest area for about five or six minutes while drinking hot tea. Soon, a middle-aged man with a small mustache came over and greeted her with impeccable manners.

"You must be the store manager?"

Valenza returned the gesture with equal elegance:

"It was rather abrupt of me to visit without an appointment; please forgive me."

"Not at all... Miss Bader, you are a distinguished guest of our Nora Chamber of Commerce. You can come anytime you need."

The middle-aged man smiled politely and got straight to the point:

"I heard you came today hoping to get services related to the auction? I'm sorry... but the main branch in Sergin Town doesn't have the capacity to host auctions. If you're really in a hurry to participate, I'm afraid you'll have to go to the nearest branch in Klar City."

"Is this so..."

Valensa gave a timely look of regret... she had actually guessed this long ago.

After all, she had just won the grand prize draw and would be short of money even if she actually participated in the auction. She was just here today to get some advice.

"Could you please help me check the recent auction items? There are some things I'd like to buy."

With an expression that seemed to say, 'You can't even do this?', Valensa made her request again.

"This……"

The middle-aged man's lips twitched slightly, a hint of unease in his expression, but he still nodded gently.

"alright, I got it."

As the largest merchant guild in the Kingdom of Fran, with even the royal family directly involved in its investments, the Nora Merchant Guild naturally also carries Liannian Crystal Instruments in its branches.

The auction items were indeed much more abundant. Valensa not only found what she wanted, but also had many other options, one of which she was particularly satisfied with.

It was a magical item shaped like a small scarecrow. After being magically bound, it could almost unconditionally negate one attack for the holder. Each use only required charging with magic crystals.

This item is a perfect match for Valensa's Divine Power Rune's damage reflection ability, but unfortunately its price also made Valensa secretly gasp.

The starting bid is 500 gold coins, and the expected final price is around 2000 gold coins.

That much money is enough for Valencia to spend two or three more times at the Dimensional Hardware Store, which was her allowance for one or two years, even when she was still the young lady of the Royal Earl.

So even though Valensa was really craving the little scarecrow, she could only watch for the time being and make other choices instead.

A one-time high-level magic shield scroll, expected to sell for 100 gold coins, is Valensa's next goal.

With her current strength, as long as she works hard to earn money by completing adventurer quests, she still has a good chance of buying one or two before the War Academy's enrollment begins.

I need to keep working hard to earn money.

Silently encouraging herself, Valensa didn't hide her purchase target. After inquiring about the auction time of the Magic Shield Scroll in Klar City, she got up to take her leave.

After leaving Nora Merchant Guild's shop, Valensa bought two snacks on the street for lunch and then returned to Melina's office at the Adventurers' Guild.

"Nobody accepted that quest to hunt down the armored bearmen today, right, Melina? If no one's taking it, could you help me with the paperwork? I'll go this afternoon... All I want right now is to make money!"

"The quest to defeat the armored bear-men... no one has accepted it for several days now. If you want to try again, I can arrange it for you right away."

Melina smiled as she took her snack from Valensa's hand:

"Young Miss, why are you thinking about that armored bear-man again? If I remember correctly, you've already failed this mission twice... Last time you came back, you almost cried and said you'd never go again."

Chapter 13 If magic isn't enough, chemistry will do the trick.

The quest to defeat the Armored Bearmen has been hanging at the Adventurers' Guild in Sergintown for some time now.

Just like the quest that offered a bounty for the head of the cunning Regalia, the reward for the quest to hunt down the Armored Bearmen was a full 30 gold coins, roughly equivalent to a month's expenses for an average family.

Valensa, who had been working hard to spend money to become stronger, naturally took on this task as well, twice, but failed both times and returned dejected.

"I admit that armored bear-man was a bit difficult to deal with, and he really annoyed me the first two times, but almost crying is impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Valensa puffed out her cheeks, put her hands on her hips, and swayed her long brown hair:

"And this time it's different! I've already figured out how to defeat it completely!"

"Last time, Miss, you said the same thing before you left, and what happened? You still came back in a huff... Okay, okay."

Seeing that Valencia was on the verge of completely losing her temper, Melina smiled and waved her hand:

“I know you’ve made some more gains in that magical place, Miss. If you want to try that armored bear-man again, then go ahead and try… Anyway, with your agility, Miss, escaping shouldn’t be a problem no matter what. I’ll help you with the paperwork right away.”

"Ugh... It seems you still don't think I can win, Melina!"

Valensa bit her lip, determined to succeed no matter what this time.

Originally, she was just trying out her new ability, hoping to succeed or not, but now she has decided to make some other preparations.

Without hesitation, Valensa got to work after having lunch together in Melina's office.

Unlike the Regamon, which, despite its ferocity, is a top predator in the jungle but is ultimately just a beast, the Armored Bearman is a demon.

In fact, if that Lega beast hadn't been exceptionally intelligent and caught the interest of a researcher, its head wouldn't have been worth 30 gold coins at all. The Armored Bearman's worth was entirely due to its own strength.

As its name suggests, this monster has a head and body similar to a bear, walks upright like a human, and has dexterous hands that can use tools and weapons.

The armored bear-man that Valensa was about to defeat wielded a large, square-headed iron hammer with a long handle.

Its power is extremely strong. Even the most sturdy breastplate of the lightweight skirt armor worn by Valensa would be flattened if it were accidentally hit by a hammer.

In fact, the reason Valensa almost cried after being beaten by the armored bearman was because her newly bought suit of armor was smashed, almost causing her to shed tears of poverty.

Besides their immense strength, the Armored Bearman also possesses outstanding defensive capabilities... which is why its name includes the word "armored."

The biggest difference between monsters and beasts is that monsters can use magic... Armored bearmen can draw earth elements from the earth to strengthen themselves, making their fur as strong as steel armor. Most cold weapons without enchantment can only scrape when they hit them, and cannot break through their defenses at all.

This is also the main reason why Valensa failed in her first two raids... She lacked a powerful way to break through defenses and deal damage, and couldn't even scratch the armored bearmen.

Fortunately, the armored bearman's weaknesses are just as obvious as its strengths... it's rather clumsy. With Valensa's agility, as long as she doesn't accidentally crash, she can even jump around the armored bearman repeatedly and provoke it at will.

Even so, generally speaking, unless they have a powerful enchanted weapon, even Pearl-level warriors are not very willing to fight the Armored Bearmen head-on. This is why this subjugation quest has been hanging in the Adventurers' Guild for so long without being completed.

Following conventional thinking, the best way to deal with the armored bearman is to use magic—first use a dispel spell to remove the armored bearman's enhanced defenses, then use fire magic to ignite its fur, and you can then dodge while waiting for it to be cooked.

Unfortunately, there are no magician adventurers of that level in Sergin Town... Even if there were, Valensa wouldn't want anyone to share those 30 gold coins with her.

She's already come up with a solution... if magic isn't enough, then chemistry will do the trick.

Valensa had actually considered using this method before, but it was a bit messy, and she hesitated for a long time before finally deciding to try it.

But she couldn't stand being defeated by the same enemy three times. This time, she decided to be patient and make sure to complete the mission of defeating the armored bear-men.

What Valensa was about to do was a bit out of character for a young lady, so she put on her tattered cloak again to disguise herself, and then bought several buckets of urine for irrigation from a farmer for 50 copper coins.

She poured all the urine into a large iron bucket, added sand and other substances, and heated it by igniting a fire-attribute magic crystal under the bucket.

After a period of time, all the urine was burned off, leaving a waxy substance at the bottom of the large iron barrel.

"It's done!"

Valensa's face lit up with joy. She opened the half-full bottle of water she had prepared beforehand, and then took out two bamboo sticks, carefully using them like chopsticks to scoop the waxy substance into the water bottle.

Although the simple extraction process of this white wax-like substance is a bit smelly, it is definitely worth the money... because its main component is white phosphorus, which was notorious in the military field in Valensa's previous life. For example, the infamous white phosphorus bomb once terrified many soldiers and was eventually banned by international conventions.

But in this world, there's no need to worry about international conventions from the previous life when dealing with monsters... Valensa decided to make simple white phosphorus bombs to replace fire magic in order to deal with the armored bear-men.