Lys stood at her front door, glanced at her father and brother beside her, then drew a breath.
"Right then, let's take Lulu along with this ticket."
There wasn't much choice. Lys needed to supervise the magical setup and maintenance of the advertising spots herself.
The two wizards before her—one with middling magical ability, the other still a child—left Lys rather concerned about their safety.
As for Lulu, it must be said that despite never attending school, under Lucy and Lys's guidance these past years, her abilities had become quite remarkable—certainly far superior to these two gentlemen.
However, to allow Lulu time to hand over her duties, they arrived at the Quidditch venue somewhat behind the schedule agreed upon when collecting their Portkey.
Just as Lys was craning her neck in all directions, searching for the wizard responsible for venue reception, a bizarrely dressed wizard strode briskly toward them: "German sponsor ticket Portkey—oh! Right, I believe I know who you are."
Confronted by the male wizard wearing a ruffled collar shirt beneath an ultra-short pink studded leather jacket, paired with a red ultra-short pleated skirt and high-heeled spurred thigh-high boots, Lys paused momentarily:
"Terribly sorry we're late, but I must ask—don't the ticket requirements specify avoiding Muggle attention?"
"Oh, no matter. Even if you hadn't arrived, I'd still be standing here. It's not peak time yet, so it's perfectly fine." The male wizard extracted a folder from his studded jacket, consulting it whilst answering:
"It's precisely because of that bloody requirement that I specifically visited Muggle districts to purchase these things. Oh, I must say, acquiring everything required visiting numerous locations..."
As he spoke, the wizard flipped through his folder whilst reaching behind to scratch his bottom. Lys suspected he wore something peculiar underneath.
She caught glimpses of lace edging...
For reasons unclear, Lys shifted sideways, blocking Friedm's view.
"Ah yes, Miss Rahm's advertising order is here. I must say, one of your positions is genuinely excellent, whilst the other is absolutely dreadful. Then there are the two ten-second entrance advertisements, naturally."
"Follow me. Your campsite lies en route to one advertising spot—I can escort you directly, sparing you that Muggle. I must mention, that particular Muggle..."
Lys observed their quartet's matching Muggle short-sleeves, shorts, and trainers, sighing. Money wasted... She'd specifically visited Muggle districts for these purchases.
She'd even endured mockery from those attractive Muggle shop assistants when momentarily forgetting the conversion rates of those little paper notes.
After they'd thoughtfully organized Lys's paper currency, she'd given each a stack of notes, prompting even louder celebrations.
She should've realized long ago—wizards' bone-deep arrogance would never genuinely acknowledge actual Muggle knowledge... With this thought, Lys hugged Gabeng closer.
Following the wizard whose spurs clinked with each step, Lys and company reached their designated campsite, where several magical tents already stood erected.
Lys glanced left and right. To their campsite's left, two Crup dogs wagged four tails each, desperately straining their ropes whilst stretching noses toward Friedm.
Above the rightward tent soared a magical bird, gleaming brilliantly as it scattered magical light-dust around the luxurious pavilion.
Lys reckoned summoning her senior would provide him excellent common ground with that tent's owner.
Lys's tent appeared so modest that externally it resembled mere synthetic fabric supported by several poles.
As she prepared to wave her wand for setup, Lulu silently assumed all responsibilities.
"Oh, Lulu—pulling your mother along back then was simply the most brilliant decision I've ever made."
Lys felt deeply moved, particularly since the two gentlemen beside her were curiously attempting to hammer an excess tent peg into the ground, one strike at a time.
Having exhausted tent-related entertainment, they'd begun studying the terrain map provided by their guide wizard.
Yet however Lys observed, she was convinced they held the map upside-down.
"Lulu, I'm off to arrange the advertising spots. Every second represents money! Stay with them." Lys extracted a bag of Galleons from her satchel, passing it to Lulu: "Purchase whatever catches your fancy during your explorations."
After brief consideration, she leaned closer to Lulu, instructing: "You understand Britain's magical attitudes. Unless it's an emergency, restrain yourself when using magic or getting physical."
Her warning wasn't baseless. Lys's confidence in entrusting her family to Lulu sufficiently demonstrated Lulu's capabilities.
Years ago, when Lulu assisted Lys with business matters, even Lys on stabilizing potion had needed to restrain Lulu, urging gentler approaches...
Observing Lulu's serious, flushed-face nod, Lys departed. Before leaving, she assessed the surrounding Auror patrol distribution.
Lys remained somewhat hesitant whilst casting magic and erecting advertising boards.
She suspected her advertisement would earn parental criticism, but with such expensive advertising, Lys believed it required sufficient eye-catching appeal to justify costs.
After hesitation, she returned to the tent once, retrieving her habitually-carried alchemical tools.
For advertisement durability, Lys even carved runic inscriptions, transforming the venue's crude advertising board into an enormous alchemical artifact.
During her modification process, people approached asking which alchemist she was and whether she accepted additional advertising setup commissions.
Lys, wearing pure white short-sleeves with long arm-guards on her left hand and deep green dragonhide gloves, floated mid-air accepting their praise whilst declining their orders.
Ridiculous! Lys had labored extensively ensuring her advertising board would shine brightest among all advertisements!
Lys retreated considerably, examining her half-day's labor results. She felt it could sparkle more brilliantly, but the administrator intervened:
"Other families have complained to me already. Help me out, won't you? Your sign's already the most dazzling in this entire section. Please, I'm begging you."
Lys observed the staff member's humble, pleading expression and spared that advertising board.
Then she carried her tool bag toward another advertising board in an exceptionally poor location.
Due to positioning issues, only Lys and a small flying broomstick model workshop maintained two advertising boards here. Adjacent lay the campsite's edge; beyond stretched forest.
"Nobody's supervising here, surely?" Lys muttered, surveying the area. These two advertising spots plus those twenty advertisement seconds had consumed nearly half her visible assets. Without creating something spectacular, she'd feel restless.
Extracting her tools, Lys smiled. Years of alchemical practice—now was showtime!
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