[h2]Gisela[/h2]

"Oh, I couldn't stay in the cottage forever," Gisela answered, continuing to work on the rudimentary plan--absorbed enough that Krysia seemed perfectly happy to now set the offending circle on fire, holding the smouldering page without a care in the world, "If I saved long enough, I might be able to manage a few decades before needing to work for someone... but magic can get expensive."

Ritual ingredients, access to [i]books[/i] (where they were even traded), supplies for enchanting... all of it added up. Plus the basic matter of sustenance and maintenance; focusing all your time on magical pursuits didn't really lead you to managing a secondary life as a farmer on the side. Certainly, magic could help, but was it really that interesting to research? Every time anything went wrong, that would still cost money anyway. Magic could draw the process out, but she'd need to eventually stop being a recluse.

"The rumours are definitely true. I've thought about how you could try to trap her when summoning, but I haven't thought of a working method yet."

Krysia let out a boisterous laugh, wiping her hands together now that the circle had burnt out. "If you live as long as I have, you have to develop some common sense about these things. There's only so many times even demons can make mistakes before there's consequences."

[@Eisenhorn]