After rejecting Irene's family's invitation to stay, Locke and Irene set out on their way back to the academy.
This was only a trial mission, not a holiday, so Irene couldn't stay at home for too long.
The time limit for the mission was only one month, so the two of them still had to rush back.
Irene's blind date was a perfect one. Both her parents and her uncle, Baron Bissel, were very satisfied with Locke, especially after he took out a bottle of strengthening potion as a gift.
Although strengthening potions were produced in Aomar, they were mainly sold to the nobles. Irene's family only had two barons, so they definitely couldn't afford it. However, they definitely wouldn't give it away so easily.
A strengthening potion that could cultivate mid-rank Knechts was also a rare and precious resource for a small family like theirs.
Of course, the main reason why Locke was so generous was that the strengthening potion would most likely end up in Irene's hands. Irene had just advanced to a low-rank Knecht, so her strength hadn't stabilized yet. After two more years of cultivation, she would be able to consume the strengthening potion naturally.
After discussing the matter of Locke being Irene's fiancé, they agreed to forget about it once they returned to Princeton. Locke was thinking of buying Glace a gift on the way back.
In the bustling city of Johnston, the main city of a small province in the southeast, it also displayed its prosperity and wealth as a provincial capital.
Locke squeezed into the stalls by the roadside and picked out gifts for Glace and the other women.
"Why do you have to buy gifts here?" Irene, who was also squeezing next to him, complained.
"Follow me!" After saying that, she pulled Locke to the most conspicuous shop on the street.
"I've been here more than once, so follow me!" Irene said proudly.
Irene's family was in this province, so she should have been here many times since she was young.
Locke was naturally much more relaxed with someone taking the lead. He'd never been in a good mood when it came to shopping, so he could rest assured with Irene taking care of him. At least, the things that Irene picked out for a woman would definitely satisfy the women more than the things that he, an uncouth man, picked out.
There was a tailor's shop, a jewelry shop, a handicraft exhibition, a cosmetics store... The morning ended in Irene's shopping spree.
She wasn't afraid that he wouldn't pay for the items she chose with a rich man like him backing her up. She knew that he was now rich and could easily give away a strengthening potion that was worth hundreds of gold moores. She was determined to find herself a sugar daddy.
He wasn't short of money at the moment. He'd completed at least seven or eight missions in the past six months, and the rewards he'd received ranged between a few hundred gold moores each time. Apart from the mission rewards, he'd also smuggled some personal items into his pocket.
For example, after killing a major monster, he only needed to hand in the core and organs of the monster. If he wanted to kill a thief, he only needed to hand in the head. As for the wealth that the thief had amassed over the years, the academy wouldn't ask, and he wouldn't tell either.
Of course, there were also expenses. Locke had suffered different degrees of injuries during several missions, including this time. The giant crocodile's ice ball had caused him slight frostbite. He always had the corresponding healing potions in his spatial ring to ensure that he could carry out so many missions.
He'd bought some of the potions himself, while Angelina had given him some. Billie had also given him some.
Billie was the head of the household, and the potion business was a major source of income for her family. Of course, Locke didn't ask for anything for free and bought all the potions at market price.
Locke knew that he owed Billie a lot of favors. Many rare or rare medicines couldn't be measured by the market price, and many of them were priceless.
For example, the weak anti-freeze potion was one of the many potions that Billie had sold to him.
If Locke had to search for it himself, he might not be able to get his hands on it. Even if he did manage to get his hands on it, his injuries might worsen if he delayed it for too long.
He currently had about two thousand gold moores in his spatial ring, which was enough for him to use for a few months.
Irene didn't stand on ceremony with him. Apart from helping him pick out a gift, she also bought a lot of things for herself. She wore a pink dress. "How is it?" she asked excitedly.
"It's alright." Locke glanced to the side unnaturally. The neckline of the pink dress was too low and he could already see a little of the scenery underneath.
Irene didn't seem to mind the risk of exposing herself. Instead, she grabbed Locke's hand and asked him to pick out the dress for her. She even said that she wanted to help him pick out a better gift.
Of course, she could tell that he wanted to buy a gift for a woman. She knew that he had a fiancée in the caster faculty. Her name was Angelina, and they had met several times in the cafeteria of Perseverance.
Naturally, she thought that Locke wanted to buy a gift for Angelina, so she picked out the dresses and jewellery in a cute style.
Locke felt a little embarrassed when he saw how serious she was. "You don't have to pick out everything. You should buy a few more for yourself too."
"I don't need you to say that!" Irene rolled her eyes and glared at Locke speechlessly. She'd already picked out three or four dresses. Apart from the gifts for Locke, she also bought one for herself.
She only wore the pink dress for a short while in the shop before taking it off. She wasn't stupid enough to not know what was wrong with the dress. She wasn't interested in wearing it for others to see. At most, she'd buy it to wear at home and admire it.
Clothes, dresses, hair bun, necklace, boots... She picked out three sets for Locke to choose from. He didn't waste any time and bought them all. Including the one she bought for him, it only cost about four hundred gold moores.
Irene probably rarely spent money so extravagantly. She jumped up and kissed him when she received the clothes he'd bought for her.
Locke could've dodged it with his agility, but seeing how excited she was, he held back and let the wet kiss fall on his face.
Their expressions didn't change much. They chatted and laughed along the way as they strolled along the streets of Johnston.
Four days before the deadline of the mission, Locke and Irene went to the mission hall to submit the results of the mission.
The general environment of the underground world was recorded on a sheepskin scroll. There were also two fingers from the dwarf and a corner of the giant crocodile's scale as the results of the mission.