“You’re saying you want me to go to Crimson Academy to become a teacher? To teach Alchemy, of all things?”
Enya set the white porcelain cup back onto the saucer on the table. She turned her head to look at the red-haired girl sitting upright on the sofa beside her. “Is this your own idea, Yelena?”
“Aunt Phil, I — “
Yelena lowered her head, not quite daring to look Enya in the eye.
Although Enya’s tone was gentle and her expression was soft and calm, that very air of indifference placed immense pressure on Yelena.
Enya was even in the mood to sample the desserts and fruit on the table, whereas Yelena, the hostess, seemed quite constrained.
Looking at the two, Enya seemed more like the master of the house, while Yelena appeared to be the guest.
Enya remarked casually, “This fruit tastes good. You should try some, Yelena.”
“Okay, Au—Aunt…”
Yelena pinched a grape and popped it into her mouth. This made Enya chuckle, and Yelena lowered her head even further. Her face flushed a deep red as her heart raced from embarrassment.
“Ahem.”
Enya cleared her throat lightly to draw Yelena’s gaze before speaking. “I’m sorry, but I can’t agree to this.”
“Okay… I understand. I’m sorry for bothering you, Aunt Phil.”
Unexpectedly, Yelena breathed a sigh of relief after being rejected.
Being left in suspense was what felt worst; whether Enya agreed or not didn’t actually make much of a difference to her.
Refusal was normal. In fact, almost any Alchemist would be unwilling to hold a position at a school like that.
To them, their knowledge was their very livelihood; how could they easily teach it to others for a mere salary? Even when teaching an apprentice, they wouldn’t fully disclose all of their research!
Watching Yelena’s relieved expression, Enya guessed who had sent her.
‘The answer is Henna.’
Enya’s gaze swept toward a closed door in the living room.
She glanced at it as if by accident, then looked back at Yelena and rose from the sofa.
She smoothed out the skirt she had been sitting on with both hands while saying to Yelena, “There shouldn’t be anything else, right?”
“Yes… Yes, Aunt Phil!”
Seeing her rise, Yelena scrambled to her feet, clasping her hands over her stomach and twisting her fingers together.
Enya sighed and muttered, “Aunt… Have I already reached the age where I’m called ‘Aunt’?”
“Uh… Sister Phil!”
The crimson flush on Yelena’s face intensified, then drained away quickly upon hearing Enya’s words, only to rush back a moment later. Watching the girl’s face change colors, Enya felt a strange sensation in her heart.
‘Am I really that scary?’
Yelena never dared to look at her, even though she hadn’t been this nervous when Henna had brought her over last time.
Enya suddenly remembered that Yelena was now the Lord of Red Pine City.
This young girl was the nominal master of this territory, which made her nervousness somewhat more understandable.
Furthermore, Yelena and Rosily were friends.
Now that their statuses had changed, it was inevitable that things would feel different during their meeting.
The more composed Enya remained, the more pressure Yelena felt.
At that thought, the corners of Enya’s mouth curled up slightly. “Well then, my cute little Lady Lord, if there isn’t anything else to discuss, may I be allowed to head back?”
“Ah?! Nothing else, nothing else!” Yelena said quickly.
Afterward, accompanied by Yelena, Enya walked out the front door. A short while later, Yelena returned alone. As soon as she stepped inside, she was blocked by a small crimson figure.
Yelena looked down at Lilith. The two stood there, staring at each other for 3 seconds. Lilith was about to speak, but she didn’t expect Yelena to pull her into a hug.
“Ugh, Sister—”
Lilith reached out and patted her younger sister’s back.
After a moment, Yelena spoke again. “Sister, do you think I’m useless? I didn’t complete the task you gave me.”
“Heh…”
Lilith’s lips twitched. After a moment of silence, she said a few comforting words, even letting Yelena nestle into her small embrace while she stroked Yelena’s hair with her tiny hands.
It was Lilith who had hoped Madam Phil would take the position of Alchemy teacher. Currently, all other subjects at Crimson Academy had instructors; only the Alchemy department was vacant.
Because Alchemist lineages were so rare and these people were extremely conservative, they weren’t very willing to accept the recruitment of the Asades Family.
Lilith didn’t absolutely insist on Madam Phil being the teacher.
It would have been best if she agreed, but Lilith wasn’t too upset about being rejected.
She should have brought it up during their last meeting, but she hadn’t dared to speak then for fear of being rejected by Enya. So, she had Yelena ask the question for her, only to be refused in the end.
“Well, I’ll just have to borrow someone from Princess Vivienne,” Lilith sighed, feeling helpless.
Although Red Pine City wasn’t large and the Asades territory wasn’t vast, it was still an earldom.
Yet, it possessed almost no talent. The brain drain had been too severe. It would take decades to nurture new talent, but by then, it would be too late!
‘Wait… no, not necessarily.’
Lilith pinched her long, pointed ears. Her race had already changed; she shouldn’t use a human lifespan to plan for the future.
Rosily and Estelle strolled down the street. The two of them were like magnets, drawing constant attention from the crowd.
Pale blonde hair that reached her shoulders shone brilliantly in the morning sun of summer.
Combined with her delicate, beautiful face and slender physique, she was a true sight to behold. Rosily was the energetic type, like a small sun on the earth.
Just one look at her slightly smiling face allowed one to feel a warm aura.
By comparison, the silver-haired girl beside her was quite cold—the type where the air around her would automatically turn chilly even in the middle of summer.
However, silver hair was just as dazzling under the sunlight.
Estelle held a paper carton in her hand, using a small wooden spoon to scoop out and eat the creamy white ice cream inside.
The hand holding the ice cream carton was constantly releasing a faint amount of Magic Power.
Anyone capable of sensing Magic Power could see a very thin radiance of mana enveloping the ice cream.
This was to prevent it from melting.
It was a small trick of micro-manipulation, but its precision was already no different from using Rank 3 magic. Rosily couldn’t do it, but she didn’t need to because she ate quickly!
The carton in Rosily’s hand was already empty.
Just as she turned her head to try and snag some from Estelle, a figure suddenly darted past her. Fortunately, her reactions were extremely swift.
She immediately took a step to the side, preventing the child dressed in coarse sackcloth from colliding with her.
Just as Rosily knitted her brows, she heard shouting from not far away.
“Stop that thief!”
In Rosily’s field of vision, five or six young men wearing white shirts and gray vests were running toward her. They were aggressive, and the pedestrians on the street scrambled out of their way. Estelle moved to the side, pulling Rosily along to clear the path.
The small, thin thief and the men in uniform all ducked into an alleyway.
After a short moment, the thief actually ran back out. It was a child with messy, dirty hair… at least he looked like a boy.
After rushing out of the alley, he planned to escape back the way he came.
However, as he brushed past Rosily for the second time, he hadn’t even made it 3 meters before his collar was snatched from behind.
Rosily gave a cold smile. “Heh, I’ll let the first time slide, but you want to try for a second?”
“What are you doing? Let me go!”
The boy was quite surprised to be caught.
He clearly felt that Rosily was someone with average Magic Power levels, while the silver-haired girl was the one with some actual strength. So why was he caught?
Rosily lifted him with one hand. “You’re using Magic to steal things, aren’t you? That man over there, and that woman in the blue dress—you stole from them both!”
They were already the center of attention, and now that Rosily had exposed him, the people who had been brushed past earlier checked to see if they were missing anything. Several people discovered that the wallets in their bags or pockets had vanished into thin air. They quickly closed in.
Sensing things were turning sour, the thief immediately performed a “cicada shedding its skin” trick, slipping straight out of his clothes. The moment he hit the ground, he dashed to a wall and expertly climbed up. The wall was 5 or 6 meters high, but he reached the roof in just a few movements. His speed was incredibly fast. The people who had been robbed were just ordinary citizens who hadn’t specially trained; how could they possibly give chase?
They could only stand on the street, cursing in anger.
Rosily looked at the tattered clothes in her hand and tossed them to the ground with a look of disgust.
Just as she was about to take her sister’s hand and head to the Academy, she suddenly turned and looked up to see the boy still making faces at her from the rooftop.
Rosily felt he really had a death wish. She originally didn’t want to bother with meddling…
There was no obvious aura of Magic Power around Rosily, but she leaped 3 or 4 meters in a single bound. With a quick kick off the wall, she landed directly on the roof.
The thief was startled.
He turned and began running across the rooftops, hoping to use his small but agile body to escape. Rosily followed behind him the entire time, leisurely as if she were playing a game.
Whenever the thief slowed down, she would close the distance to about 3 or 5 meters, scaring him into running faster again.
Once, twice, three times—over and over. It had become a game of cat and mouse.
The thief was covered in sweat, and the Magic Power augmenting his body was almost exhausted. Panting heavily, he ducked into a narrow alleyway.
First, he carefully checked if Rosily was following.
Once he confirmed she wasn’t there, he stretched his body. In moments, his 1.3-meter height shot up to over 1.6 meters. He put on a set of clean clothes, donned a headgear to hide his face, and began to walk out.
The thief had transformed from a young boy into a dignified young man.
After smoothing the wrinkles in his clothes, he strode out of the alley with full confidence.
However, just as he reached the end of the alleyway, he heard a light cough from behind him.
“Ahem.”
The thief’s expression froze.
He still couldn’t believe he had been discovered. He slowly turned around and looked at the beautiful girl with pale blonde shoulder-length hair, whose face was as exquisite as a porcelain doll’s.
He composed himself and said, “My dear young lady, why are you here all by yourself?”