Persistence
Can’t last even a month?
Huh?
Heh, hearing that, Keti’s words almost made Jaxia laugh out of sheer exasperation. Why does this Keti always—always—say nothing when things don’t go according to her own script? And, and, and—
Just how little does she think of me?
“Oh… Keti, do you really look down on me that much? I’m an A-rank Alchemist, after all. Anything you can do, I can do too—and even better!”
Miss Succubus instantly thrust out her proud chest in defiance. In fact, there are even things you can’t do that I can! Like subtle hypnotic magic.
Her scarlet eyes flashed for a moment as Jaxia focused her efforts, casting an interference spell on Keti.
However…
…moments later…
Keti seemed completely unaffected. She simply stood there, gave a cold, mocking smile, shook her head, and began explaining to her junior what the Alchemist of a Hero’s Party actually had to do:
“It’s not as simple as you think. Being an Alchemist isn’t just about talent. In battle, you need to prepare Mana Potions, Chant Acceleration, attack-boosting potions, defense buffs, magic amplification, agility boosts, healing enhancement, and so on—basically, you need to cover every buff there is!”
“And then, you also have to prepare items for dealing with the enemy: armor-piercing bullets, grappling ropes, summons, Wings of Wind, Ice Arrows, Concentrated Sulfuric Acid, Shadow Veil, and so on and so on.”
“Depending on the types of enemies and the dungeon mechanics, you might need to memorize thousands of potion and item recipes. Can you… remember that many?”
“Huh?”
For a moment, Jaxia broke out in a cold sweat just listening. N-no way… Even a D-rank Alchemist needs to make that many kinds of things? No… No way, right?
And most importantly, Miss Succubus isn’t even technically an Alchemist. Sure, her magic talent is A-rank, but as a succubus, she doesn’t have job classes like humans do.
If you had to put a label on it, her “job” is just… succubus.
Jaxia had only said she was an Alchemist to slip smoothly into the Hero’s Party—and besides, she could brew a few things. She never expected the Hero’s Party to need so many potions and tools.
Is it really that exaggerated? No way… No other adventurer party squeezes their Alchemist this hard, right? I thought all I’d need to know was a couple of healing and buff potions… This…
Hiss—
I’m done for. This is going to be tricky. If I can’t match this Keti’s standards, won’t those three start suspecting I’m not really an Alchemist?
No… Surely, this Keti is just boasting, right? Is she for real? This is so over the top I’m about to get exposed here, dammit!
Click
After a moment, seeing Jaxia’s face turning paler and paler, Keti sighed again, waved her hand, and continued:
“And that’s not even the hardest part. Alchemy formulas aren’t that bad—you just have to sacrifice your rest, spend every day holed up in the library, cram the recipes, and practice them over and over to build proficiency.”
“Do it long enough and you’ll manage. Oh, and you can’t brew in the base, because Alice Layla Sylvia and the others say it’s too noisy, so you’ll have to pay out of your own pocket to rent a little private room…”
“The real killer is… You have to handle all of Alice Layla Sylvia and the others’ daily lives—food, clothes, spending, everything. Every aspect of their life is your responsibility!”
“All the chores, all the logistics, all the research—you handle it. They get to relax and sleep in, but you’ll be run ragged with exhaustion. Even so, you have to take care of their moods, provide emotional value at every moment.”
“And the most important part… When it comes to splitting money, their share is their own pocket money, but your share… automatically becomes the party fund.”
“Ahem… Anyway, I’m not trying to badmouth them. On the contrary, I’ve stuck with it for so long because I care about them—after all, Alice and I are childhood friends, and I made promises with Layla Sylvia and the others.”
“But if you brought in a total stranger who’s never been through any of that with them… No matter how tempting it looks from the outside, once you actually try living as part of the party, I don’t think… I don’t think anyone could stick it out for long.”
Keti coughed awkwardly. To be honest, even she didn’t know if the conclusion she’d just drawn after thinking for a while was really accurate.
After all, it wasn’t like she didn’t mind the idea of being replaced—maybe all of this was just an excuse she’d come up with to comfort herself.
But—
If Keti herself had to go back to that life, after everything that’s happened and the time she’s had to reflect…
She… She honestly felt she probably couldn’t last even a month.
That, at this moment, was also why the now-calm girl no longer felt much threat from Jaxia. After all…
Keti swept her gaze up and down the silver-haired pretty boy in front of her, then shook her head again.
“Besides, looking at your soft skin and delicate hands, you must have been spoiled since you were little. You don’t seem like the type who can take hardship.”
“I mean, just the chores alone—the base is a pretty big villa, and Alice has someone clean it every day. You… can you really handle that?”
“Heh… Hehehe!”
After a long pause, Miss Succubus, having been judged so bluntly by Keti, let out a cold laugh. She suddenly lifted her head, fixed her gaze on Keti, and snapped back:
“Who are you looking down on? Heh… Just a little housework? You really think you’re irreplaceable? I told you, anything you can do, I can do just as well!”
“And not only that—whatever you can’t do, I can! What a joke! Fine! I’ll grit my teeth and do all the grunt work you did for a month straight and show you exactly what I can do!”
Heh, when the time comes, I’ll use chores to make Alice Layla Sylvia lower her guard around me, and then… when I take care of Alice Layla Sylvia, you arrogant little white-haired brat can regret it all you want!
“Huff…
Let’s hope you can—but…”
Keti took a deep breath. After a moment, her gaze toward Jaxia suddenly sharpened. “I’ll still be watching what happens in the Hero’s Party.”
“I hope that now that you’re here, you’ll focus first on being a proper teammate. If you so much as lay a finger against Alice Layla Sylvia and the others… I’ll kill you on the spot, I promise!”
With that, the silver-haired beauty spun on her heel and shoved past Jaxia, taking advantage of the sudden surge of people in the tavern to slip away.
Layla Sylvia was still over there looking for someone. Suddenly, Jaxia—who had just claimed she was going to the restroom—returned to her seat, looking gloomy. She slapped the table and shouted to the three girls:
“From now on, whatever chores you need done, just tell me! Everything Keti used to do, I’ll handle it! Don’t go easy on me!”
“Huh? Really? That’s awesome, Jaxia-kun~ Our laundry hasn’t been washed in a month, uh… and the trash hasn’t been taken out in a month either, it’s all piled up in the storage room.”
“The base is overdue for a thorough cleaning—leave it all to you~!”
“Eh?”
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