Chapter 144: Rich MILFs Are Good for Business

"Enough with this..." Yennefer said, clearly annoyed as she slapped Max’s hands away from her thighs.

"She’s in there," she added, smoothing down her skirt. Max had pushed the skirt up so far that it barely served its original purpose anymore, leaving her thighs and grey lace panties completely exposed.

"Aren’t you coming in?" Max asked, glancing toward the café.

"Nah. I’d rather not..." Yennefer replied, still looking irritated. She adjusted her skirt again before muttering, "Since that bitch bugged my car, I wanted to tear her a second ass..."

Max smiled amusedly as she continued cursing Grace under her breath before saying, "Then why did you come to pick me up? I could’ve just gotten here myself."

She looked at him with a disappointed expression.

"Thanks would’ve been fine..."

Max smiled as he moved to get out, but not before saying, "Oh, can you get me the usual herbs and these new ones too?" He handed her a list of herbs before adding, "I’ll pick them up after I’m done here..."

She nodded, looking slightly confused as she glanced over the new herbs on the list.

"Are you trying out a new recipe?" she asked curiously.

Max nodded.

Yennefer’s eyes widened slightly as she remembered. He had told her before that he wouldn’t even bother trying any new recipes until he could consistently produce A-grade Minor Healing Potions.

Her gaze immediately dropped back to the list of herbs in her hand. The usual ingredients were there... but mixed among them were several unfamiliar ones. Her eyes lingered on them for a moment. Then the pieces finally clicked together.

Her expression changed from confusion to outright disbelief.

"Don’t tell me..." she muttered, looking back at him. "You made these yourself?"

Max looked surprised for a moment, as if he hadn’t expected her to figure it out so quickly.

Then his face split into a big, satisfied grin.

"What do you think?"

Before Yennefer could say another word, he had already turned around and walked toward the restaurant, leaving her standing there with the list still in her hand.

"That was cool, right?" Max asked, doing his best not to look back at Yennefer. He really wanted to see her face. He wanted to know if she looked shocked... amazed... or maybe even a little impressed.

*’Man, it’s hard to aura farm...’* He eventually stepped into the café and soon spotted Grace sitting at a corner table, casually sipping some sort of iced beverage. Today, she was wearing a light pink off-shoulder shirt paired with beige high-waisted trousers, with the shirt tucked neatly into them.

The outfit made it easy to appreciate her figure. Her waist looked rather thin compared to her noticeably fuller bust and hips. Max’s eyes lingered for a moment.

*’I wonder if it’ll feel as thin in my hands...’* Well, not that he cared. He was still going to enjoy holding her either way.

As she waved at him with a smile, Max noticed her red hair was tied up in an elegant-looking bun.

"How do you do, Miss Melmarc?" Max asked, his greeting coming out a little awkwardly. He was still in the process of transitioning from a shut-in introvert to someone who could actually hold a normal conversation.

"I’m good, Mr. Falkner..." she replied with a smile.

Before she could ask how he was doing, Max quickly added,

"Just Max would be fine..."

"Well then, call me Grace..." she said with a nod, gesturing for Max to take the seat in front of her. Max did as she asked, and she immediately glanced at the bag in his hand. "So, did you get them?" she asked, nodding toward the bag.

"I did..." Max replied with a smile.

He opened the bag and handed it to her.

Her blue eyes immediately lit up when she saw the red-glowing vials of potions inside.

"All A-grade? Amazing..." she said, genuine amazement evident in her voice.

"I’d really love to meet whoever can make twenty of these in just one night... and without any drop in quality," she said, quickly closing the bag, though the wide smile on her face remained.

"Well, unfortunately, they’re a bit of an introvert, so it might be difficult..." Max said, looking slightly apologetic.

That made Grace look a little disappointed.

"That’s fine. As long as they can make me some more potions..." she said, her smile returning.

"How does another hundred sound?"

Hearing that, Max put on a *wish I could* smile and said,

"But they won’t agree. These were only possible because you’re a friend of Aunt Yennefer. Otherwise, even getting this many would’ve been difficult..."

The excitement on Grace’s face faded instantly.

"I can pay double for them..." she said, her expression turning serious. "Can’t they do it that way?"

"If it were in my hands, I would’ve said yes to that in a heartbeat, but it isn’t..." Max said, shaking his head. "I can’t help you there, Grace."

Grace leaned forward, her expression turning desperate.

"You said I could call you Max, right?" she asked, almost pleading.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, shiny, milky-white crystal before sliding it across the table toward him.

"Help me out a little... and this is yours."

She gave him a hopeful look before adding,

"Tell that person I have more. Instead of money, I’ll pay with these."

Max stared at the crystal.

He had used one like this only once before, back when he performed his very first bit of magic in this world. He had used it to regrow someone’s kidney—a person he now believed was probably dead.

But that crystal had only been about the size of a fingernail.

This one was as large as his finger.

Back in his old world, something this valuable would have been comparable to a diamond, perhaps even more precious. Diamonds were mostly valuable because of how rare and expensive they were, but these crystals had actual uses—some of them incredibly useful.

And Max already had an idea of what he could do with one.

He could set up an array formation with it and automate part of the potion-making process.

For a moment, he almost said yes immediately.

But he controlled himself.

His original motive for coming here wasn’t to get crystals. This could certainly become part of the plan now, but there was no reason he couldn’t try to get both.

"This is such a tempting offer... I swear, I’m going to puke blood just saying no to it," Max said with a sour expression.

"But you’ve heard Aunt Zerena. That person is utterly paranoid. That’s why I still call them *that person*. They won’t budge."

He paused, then added,

"And what’s more... you’re married?"

Grace’s expression grew more worried as she heard him refusing her offer. But his last question only left her confused.

"What does that have to do with all this?" she asked.