Catherine's appearance here at this moment was, of course, no coincidence.
She had carefully calculated the timing, deciding that this was the perfect opportunity to make her approach to Victoria and Sylvia seem natural.
Her plan was clear: first, strike up a friendly conversation as their senior and establish a good first impression.
Once they were a little more familiar, she would casually mention, "If you're going to take part in this expedition, would you mind doing me a small favor while you're at it? I have an experimental Magic Device newly developed by my family's workshop. It has special effects against undead creatures, and we need some data from actual combat..."
Then she could offer a generous testing fee they would find hard to refuse.
That way, she could naturally establish contact with the two girls and enter into a commission agreement with them.
With that relationship in place, further contact, conversation, and even earning their trust and gradually gathering information about Greg Sass would follow naturally.
However, plans rarely kept pace with change.
Catherine had barely finished introducing herself, and had yet to dangle any bait, when the gray-haired girl's eyes suddenly lit up as though she had discovered a treasure. She stepped forward, leaned closer, and tilted her head up, fixing her beautiful eyes on Catherine.
"You're Catherine, the senior from Second Year Class A?!"
"Y-yes..."
Victoria's unusually direct and enthusiastic reaction briefly caught Catherine off guard, causing the slightest flicker in her perfect smile.
But she quickly recovered and began analyzing the situation:
It looks like the name Roman tipped her off about my background. Does that expression mean she's going to ask me for a loan?
That wouldn't be bad, either.
That was what Catherine thought.
*If she asks for a loan herself, I can