Silvia’s gaze rested quietly on the arm Chloe was tightly hugging, something seemingly coalescing deep within her pink eyes.
"Why is she calling you brother? Could it be... you really know each other? And your relationship... seems rather unusual?"
Silvia’s voice was very soft, even gentler than usual, but every single word felt like a thin blade of ice lightly scraping against Greg’s eardrums.
"I was just about to ask you two that!"
Before Greg could speak, Chloe—hugging Greg's arm tightly like a kitten guarding its food—abruptly looked up, glaring fiercely at Victoria and Silvia with her beautiful yet hostile eyes.
Although her cheeks were still flushed with excitement from earlier, her expression had already reverted to her familiar bratty girl persona.
"Why are small fry like you with my Big Brother right now?! What is your relationship with him anyway?!"
She hugged Greg’s arm even tighter, as if claiming ownership, and raised her voice slightly:
"I knew it! Big Brother's sudden disappearance before was because you took a fancy to his face during the entrance exam, so you teamed up to kidnap him, didn't you?! I just knew it! You dirty-minded small fry!"
"Hey! What nonsense are you talking about, you alchemist girl!"
Victoria was already in a foul mood, and hearing Chloe's absurd accusation made her blow her top completely. Letting go of Greg's collar, she turned toward Chloe and shouted:
"Who kidnapped him?! And as for that face of his? Bah! I wouldn't take it even if you handed it to me on a silver platter!"
"You'd actually resort to lying just to slander Big Brother's looks! You really are jealous!" Chloe reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
"I am not! Stop making wild accusations!"
"Yes, you are!"
"Wait, all of you calm down first!!!!"
Seeing the new argument on the verge of escalating, Greg shouted to stop them just in time.
All three girls snapped their eyes toward him in unison.
Greg: "Alright, I have to confess. This was actually intentional on my part."
Although he hadn't anticipated this situation at all, being a scumbag at heart, Greg quickly came up with an excuse to smooth things over.
Chloe: "Big Brother, what do you mean by intentional?"
"By intentional, I mean... Uh, anyway, Chloe, let go of my arm first."
Hearing this, Chloe pouted and reluctantly released his arm, though she still remained stuck right by his side.
Then, Greg turned to Victoria, whose face was still dark, and Silvia, whose eyes held a complex expression:
"Actually, I heard about the conflict between you before, so I purposely arranged for the three of you to meet this time."
"?"
All three girls gave Greg looks of complete confusion.
He paused before continuing, "Of course, I had a reason for doing this, because I know very well that this friction between you is purely due to a misunderstanding."
He looked at Chloe. "Chloe, I know the reason you went out of your way to make trouble for Victoria and the others is actually because of me. But there isn't really any grudge between us—that was just a stupid act I put on on purpose to sever ties with my family."
"To sever ties with your family?" Chloe looked puzzled.
"Yeah, I'll explain that to you later."
He then looked back at Victoria and Silvia, saying, "Just as I mentioned, Chloe isn't bad at heart. The only reason she targeted you was simply because she misunderstood our relationship."
"I won't demand that you apologize to each other or anything, but if possible, I still hope you can get along in the future, because you're all my win—er, you're all important people to me!"
"Hmph, so it really was because of you after all."
Victoria crossed her arms with a cold snort. Though her expression remained stern, her anger seemed to have cooled down somewhat. At the very least, she no longer believed Greg had teamed up with Chloe to play her for a fool.
Silvia remained silent, merely gazing quietly at Greg and then at Chloe clinging to his side. The smile on her face faded slightly, her pink eyes lowering as if lost in thought.
Chloe, meanwhile, kept muttering softly under her breath, "Important people... I'm an important person to Big Brother...!"
The atmosphere inside the shop eased considerably, losing the intense hostility it had moments ago.
Once he was sure things were reasonably safe, Greg brought the conversation back on track: "By the way, since you're here, Chloe, does that mean the bottle of Strong Paralysis Venom Gland in the display window was made by you?"
At the mention of her work, Chloe’s eyes lit up instantly, her face bursting with the confident demeanor of an alchemy genius as she nodded vigorously:
"Mm-hmm! I extracted it myself! It has a purity of ninety-two percent! And its potency is preserved perfectly! Do you need it, Big Brother? Should I whip up something else for you too? Like a Strong Corrosive Agent? Or..."
"Stop, just that bottle of venom gland will do."
Greg hurriedly cut off her impending rant and pointed at the bottle of purple liquid. "Could you give me a good discount? My funds are pretty limited right now."
"A discount?"
Chloe froze for a moment, then shook her head frantically, her brown ponytail swaying back and forth:
"If Big Brother wants it, just take it! Why talk about money?! My things are Big Brother's things!"
Saying so, she trotted over to the display window, carefully retrieved the bottle of venom gland, and presented it to Greg with both hands like a prized artifact. She looked up at him with sparkling eyes, her face practically screaming for praise.
"Ah, this..."
Looks like I'm freeloading again, folks.
Greg looked at the high-grade item worth twenty-five gold coins, then at Chloe's genuinely earnest eyes, hesitating for a moment.
Taking it for free felt a bit wrong.
But paying her... judging by Chloe's stance, she probably wouldn't accept it anyway, and it might even hurt her feelings by making her think he was keeping her at arm's length.
Oh well... It was a seed I planted myself back in the day anyway, so harvesting a little fruit now seems fair enough.
Greg ultimately accepted the bottle of Strong Paralysis Venom Gland and nodded to Chloe. "Thanks, Chloe. You've been a huge help. I'll remember this."
Upon hearing Greg's thanks, Chloe's face instantly blossomed into a brilliantly radiant smile, as though she had received the most precious reward in the world.
She shook her head vigorously. "You're welcome! As long as I can be of help to Big Brother!"
With the transaction complete, Greg felt it was about time to leave. Although tomorrow was a day off, he still had to explore the second layer of the dungeon with Victoria and Silvia shortly, so it was best to hurry.
Stowing the item away, he said to Chloe, "We still have things to take care of in a bit, so you should head back and get on with your own business too. But stay safe, and don't go blowing things up at the drop of a hat."
"Mm-hmm! I will! Big Brother must be careful too!"
Chloe respected and trusted Greg deeply, so she didn't want to hold him back from serious business. Nodding vigorously, she added:
"Then if Big Brother ever needs any alchemy items in the future, or has materials that need processing, you can come find me anytime! As long as Big Brother needs it, I'll agree to anything!"
"Yeah, got it."
Greg responded vaguely, feeling like he had heard a suspiciously similar phrase not too long ago.
"Let's go, then."
Victoria glared at Chloe once more, snorted, and turned to walk out first.
Silvia gave Chloe a slight nod and followed her out.
Greg gave Chloe one final wave before stepping out of the shop as well.
After walking a short distance, he looked back at the clean shop. He could vaguely see Chloe's figure standing behind the display window, watching them leave until the very end.
"Sigh, I really don't know whether this turned out for better or worse."
He shook his head and stopped dwelling on it.
The most important thing right now was conquering the second layer of the dungeon.
Together, the three of them walked briskly toward the entrance of the Academy Dungeon.
The setting sun cast long shadows behind them, also illuminating the figure of the brown-haired girl behind the shop window, who had not left for a long time.
She watched the direction in which Greg departed until the three figures disappeared completely around the corner. Only then did she slowly withdraw her gaze, lowering her head with a faint smile tugging at the corners of her lips.
"Big Brother... This time, I'll definitely be of help to you. I won't just watch from afar anymore."
She clenched her small fists, a resolute light shining in her eyes.
Rate on N.U.
