They say a woman's mood changes faster than turning the pages of a book, and that saying isn't entirely without merit.
Greg originally thought that once their helper arrived, they could start the research work immediately.
He had even mapped out the division of labor in his mind: Alice would lead the theoretical framework, Chloe would handle the practical alchemy, while he and Victoria slacked off on the side.
What a perfect blueprint for teamwork!
However, when Chloe's gaze shifted over Greg's shoulder and landed on the gray figure in the laboratory, the brilliant smile on her face instantly froze. It faded as quickly as a candle snuffed out by the wind, replaced by an unhidden look of disgust.
"Tch. Why is a small fry like you here too?"
Her voice carried a coldness that made her seem like an entirely different person from a moment ago. Her eyes narrowed slightly behind her silver-framed glasses as she scanned Victoria up and down, as though evaluating a piece of worthless cargo.
Victoria wasn't one to back down either. Standing up from her chair immediately, she planted her hands on her hips, her gray eyes burning with an equally sharp glare:
"Huh? I should be asking you that! What is an unrelated outsider like you doing here?"
"An unrelated outsider?"
Chloe scoffed, her fingers tightening slightly around her toolbox:
"I'm a helper personally invited by Big Brother. But what about you? A broke small fry who can't even afford potions—what right do you have to be here?"
"What did you say—?!"
"What, am I wrong? I still remember crystal clear how you bargained in my shop last time."
"T-That was because your prices were unreasonable in the first place!"
"Unreasonable? The quality of my potions is worth every copper. Only a small fry who doesn't know quality would think it's expensive."
Seeing the two step closer and closer, visible sparks virtually flying where their glares crossed as if they were about to tear each other's hair out, Greg quickly stepped between them, throwing his arms open to keep them apart.
"Stop, stop, stop—everyone calm down!"
He turned to Victoria first, explaining at top speed:
"Chloe isn't an outsider. She's actually a helper I specifically invited to prepare for the Hundred Academy Exchange. On the practical side, she's definitely one of the top talents in our academy. With her help, our research progress will be much faster."
Victoria scoffed, clearly still unconvinced:
"Does this girl really have time to help us? Doesn't the Department of Alchemy have an exchange of its own?"
Greg paused. "Uh... actually, no."
He recalled that in the background lore of the original game, students from the Department of Alchemy used to have similar exchange events.
However, ever since a group of genius alchemists accidentally blew an entire island out of existence during one exchange, that tradition had been permanently canceled.
From then on, alchemy exchanges were strictly limited to papers and finished product displays, with no practical sparring or demonstrations ever again.
Greg turned back to Chloe, softening his tone slightly:
"Chloe, Victoria is my Junior Sister now, which is why she's in the same lab as me. We're going to prepare for the exchange together, so—"
"I don't want to help her."
Chloe turned her head away, pouting petulantly. "Haggle-happy stingy miser, fussing over a single potion."
"Who are you calling a miser?!"
Seeing Victoria about to flare up again, Greg took a deep breath, clapped his hands together in a prayer pose, and spoke with utmost sincerity:
"Please, Chloe, I am asking you for the once-in-a-lifetime favor!"
Chloe turned back around, her cold expression softening like melting snow as a brilliant smile blossomed on her face once more:
"Alright, if it's for Big Brother's sake, I'd love to~"
Victoria stood to the side, completely dumbfounded: "That actually worked?"
Greg wiped away nonexistent cold sweat from his forehead, thinking he had finally pacified the north and south poles of these two magnets for the time being.
However, before he could breathe a sigh of relief, another hand was timidly raised from the side.
"Um... Greg..."
Alice's voice was laced with hesitation and unease. Hunching her shoulders, her oversized professor's robe made her look like a small animal that had done something wrong:
"While I'm very glad you found a helper for us this time, but... isn't doing this against the rules? Because she isn't my student..."
Looking at her cautious demeanor, Greg understood her concern:
"Are you trying to say that doing this counts as academic fraud, right?"
Alice didn't speak, only nodding lightly, her ice-purple eyes filled with worry.
Greg shook his head, his expression turning solemn and high-minded:
"Alice-chan, that mindset of yours is a bit narrow. So-called academic fraud refers to issues with the content itself—falsifying data, plagiarizing results, or fake conclusions. But we're going to obtain genuine results through real experiments step-by-step. Every procedure and every piece of data will be authentic. Therefore, this doesn't count as academic fraud."
"But she's not our—" Alice tried to say.
Greg cut her off directly: "Hey, thinking like that is a bit shallow. It's just a name on paper. As long as we don't say anything, who's ever going to know?"
"But—"
"In fact, everybody does this. It's just that everyone tacitly understands it without saying it out loud. So you don't need to care so much."
Alice blinked, a hint of wavering flashing across her ice-purple eyes: "Do others... really do this too?"
"Of course!"
Greg nodded without batting an eye:
"This is practically an unwritten rule in the magic academic world."
Alice's eyes lit up.
It was a glow as if she had watched the gates to a whole new world slowly push open.
She nodded vigorously, her voice overflowing with enthusiasm once more: "Mm! I understand now! Then let's begin the research right away!"
With that, she turned around and walked over to the workbench, beginning to fuss over the equipment with even more vigor than before.
Looking at her back, Greg let out a quiet sigh in his heart.
Now he finally understood why Alice was ostracized by the other professors at the academy.
The reason was simple—she was far too pure.
Pure to the point of not even knowing open secrets like this, pure enough to genuinely believe that everyone in academia abided by the rules.
At that moment, Chloe walked up to his side, her voice carrying a trace of unease: "Big Brother, can I really be of help to you?"
She lowered her head, her fingers gently rubbing the handle of her toolbox. "Actually, there's still a lot about magic theory that I don't understand... I'm worried I might disappoint you."
Greg turned around. Looking at her rare unconfident expression, he reached out and gently rubbed her slightly wavy hair:
"It's fine. The experimental materials this time are actually a type of alchemy supplies, so there should be plenty of overlap with your usual alchemy potion experiments. And besides—"
He paused, looking into Chloe's eyes, which had narrowed slightly from his touch, and added earnestly:
"I believe in you, because you're a genius when it comes to this stuff, Chloe."
Chloe's cheeks flushed slightly red. She nodded vigorously, her voice once again bursting with energy:
"Mm! Got it! I'll definitely do my best!"
With that, she turned and ran over to the workbench, standing side-by-side with Alice as they began earnestly examining the materials and equipment.
The two quickly entered their flow state, discussing in low voices and jotting down data in notebooks from time to time.
Victoria walked up to Greg, arms crossed, and looked over at the two who were already hard at work: "So what are the two of us supposed to do now?"
Greg turned around to face her, the corners of his mouth curving into a meaningful smile: "Can you feel it? My noble soul is roaring."
Victoria blinked in surprise, then flashed an equally battle-ready smile: "Heh, so you wanna go? My bond won't lose to yours."
The two locked eyes, pulling out a deck of cards from their pockets at the same time.
"DUEL!!!"
"BOOM!!!"
Literal flames erupted behind the two of them.
Rate on N.U.
