Maid Alchemist

With the stone door closed, the Lord's office returned to silence. Landen rested his hands on the desk again, propping his chin.

This time, however, it wasn't to pressure anyone, but purely for thought.

Time ticked by, and after an unknown duration, Landen emerged from his thoughts, stood up, and silently walked to a corner of the room.

In this room, throughout the entire incident, there were a total of how many people? Lilith dragged away the Minotaur Butler's corpse, so how many were left? Of course, Landen wasn't alone.

Landen reached out, grabbed the back of a collar, and lifted Aila, who was huddled in the corner like an object.

"I say, isn't your reaction a bit too exaggerated? You're a mage apprentice, about to become a formal mage, so can such a battle really scare you this much? You've been hiding here for almost half an hour, not even daring to lift your head? You even said you were scared unconscious earlier?" Landen said, annoyed.

"N-no," a weak voice came from under the hood, without explaining what "no" referred to.

"Also, I just cleared your name and paid with the life of a capable subordinate. Shouldn't you be thanking me?" Landen clearly wasn't waiting for an explanation.

"I... I..." Aila was still stammering, or rather, stammering even more.

"Alright, we can put that issue aside for a moment. Now, let's address another problem."

As he spoke, Landen flicked his free hand, and a gentle breeze blew, perfectly lifting the hood.

"Huh? Ah!" Aila flinched, then startled. Landen's face suddenly loomed inches away, staring at him. He could even feel the man's breath lightly on his face, scaring him into instantly closing his eyes, which he had just opened.

"If I recall correctly, the day she met Lilith, she said something to someone. In that sentence, she called someone... 'little girl'?" A mischievous smile crept onto Landen's lips.

Honestly, this was the first time Landen had seen Aila's true face. Before, he, or rather, she, had always hidden herself in a hooded robe. Landen had never expected such a thing and had no interest in exploring what kind of face lay beneath the hood.

She had flaxen hair, not long, just to her ears. Her lips were a bit thin and tightly pursed now, betraying her deep nervousness. Around her lips was a dense layer of dark stubble. Her nose was perky and straight, and her eyes were closed, beneath thick, very masculine-looking eyebrows.

Such a face was, of course, a man's face.

"No... no, that..." Aila kept her eyes tightly shut, completely unaware that Landen was observing her. She wanted to say something, but her extreme nervousness meant she couldn't speak, even without Landen interrupting her.

"Don't move." Landen's voice rang out. This slightly commanding tone made her body tense up even more. The next moment, she felt a hand on her face.

That might be an exaggeration; in reality, Landen had only extended a finger. The finger first landed on her mouth, playfully tapping her thin lips, then tracing their outer edge. After that, the finger moved to her eyes, lightly brushing over each one.

And just like that, the man Aila disappeared. The stubble vanished, the thick eyebrows became slender, and the entire face instantly became clean and delicate.

Looking at this transformation, Landen had to admit that this was indeed a woman, and a very attractive one at that.

"This makeup is too perfunctory. Where's the professionalism?" Landen looked at the black paint on his finger that wiped off so easily, shaking his head speechlessly. Then, he turned around, still holding Aila.

Thump.

Aila felt a jolt beneath her. At the same time, Landen's voice sounded, "Open your eyes."

Landen's voice seemed to possess a magical quality. Despite Aila's extreme nervousness, she subconsciously opened her eyes at the sound. She then found that Landen had stepped back two paces, and she herself was sitting squarely on the desk.

"Still don't want to admit it? It's fine, honestly, I don't really believe it either," Landen said, looking at her. "So... take off your clothes."

"Ah? Ah!!!" Aila froze, then her arms instinctively clutched her chest, and she recoiled backward, letting out a scream that could absolutely prove her true gender.

"Hey, hey, hey, quiet down!" Landen frowned, fiddling with his ear. He had just been shaken by the sound of the bull horns clashing with the scimitar, and now this attack made him doubt if his ears would be alright.

"Why are you making a 'let's do it' face? I just told you to take off your robe, what are you thinking?" Landen said, exasperated.

"Huh? Take off... the robe?" Aila blinked, and the scream stopped.

"What else would I mean? Stop the nonsense and hurry up and take it off," Landen said, sounding impatient.

"Oh... oh." Aila responded foolishly, then obediently took off the robe that had almost become a second skin.

Landen scrutinized Aila up and down for a long time before finally saying, "You have a figure that could conquer the world!"

"What?" Aila blinked. She didn't understand the idiom, but by the instinct of all female creatures, upon seeing where Landen's gaze was fixed, Aila instantly understood his previous statement.

Aila instinctively felt she should do something, but Landen was slightly faster. He shook his head and muttered to himself, "That's not right. Even for a princess of peace, this is a bit too flat."

As he spoke, our Lord once again extended his finger.

Poke, poke.

Aila forgot what she wanted to do and say, simply staring blankly at the finger poking her chest twice before looking up blankly and meeting Landen's gaze.

The next moment, a scream erupted again. Aila clutched her chest and retreated to the corner of the desk.

This time, Landen directly ignored the scream. He looked at his finger and nodded with great satisfaction. "I knew it. My years of training in observation wouldn't fail me. It's a chest binder. So, this is the measurement. Hmm, hmm."

His gaze returned to Aila, a look of undisguised triumph on his face. "Aila."

"Avina..." a weak but firm voice.

"Huh? What?" Now it was Landen's turn to be bewildered.

"My name is Avina."

"A messenger of the Moon God? What a beautiful name, much better than that 'Aila'," Landen chuckled, his voice filled with endless temptation. "Avina, have you heard of the Steel... uh, Maid Alchemist profession?"

She shook her head, full of confusion.

"You don't know? That's fine. I know, and I've decided to make you into a Maid Alchemist!"

"Yes..."

"Alright, go make dinner."

"Huh?"

"Old Niu used to do all this. Now he's given his life for you, shouldn't you take over?"

"Huh? For me?"

"What? If I say so, then it is. Do you have any objections?"

"No... No."

"Then hurry up and go!"

"Yes, Lord!"