Dole rolled his eyes. "Are you a rookie? Is that something you can just ask outright?"
He immediately shook his head and said softly, "Advancing as a wizard apprentice is difficult—harder than advancing as a warrior. We both know that. What I can do, you might not be able to do. My methods may not suit you, and I don't want to pry into yours either. Besides, this is only our second meeting. We have no foundation for cooperation."
He had directly laid out the crux of the matter.
Lily sighed, nodded, and said, "Then let's leave it at that. There'll be plenty of time later. Let's talk about Bondi first. Starting today, I'll be free every night this month. Should we investigate together, or split up?"
Dole did not like working with others and immediately said, "Based on the information we have, let's investigate separately first. Five days from now, no matter how much we've learned, we'll meet here again and discuss what to do next. How about it?"
They were both wizards, and their minds worked exceptionally fast. Lily nodded right away. That had been her thought as well. With no basis of trust between them, it was better to take things one step at a time.
Seeing her nod, Dole said, "Good. Then let's leave for now. We'll meet here on the tenth." He turned to go.
Just then, Lily reached out and grabbed Dole's hand. Once again, he felt that familiar warmth and softness.
Dole stopped, baffled. She seemed to really like grabbing his hand!
Lily spoke with some embarrassment. "I'm running low on disguise potion. Could you sell me some? I'll pay you."
Feeling the warmth in his hand, Dole gave it a light, imperceptible squeeze and snorted. "I thought you were going to ask