Miss Chloe Wants to Learn Alchemy

"What do you think, Ivy?"

Dark circles under her eyes, Ivy was huddled with Ethan by Miss Chloe's bedroom door, sneaking a peek at the little hen, who was engrossed in a book with her back to them. A strange, guilty feeling washed over Ivy, as if they were a pair of thieves.

Besides, why did spending time with Ethan somehow make her feel like his assistant?

Wasn't she supposed to be the one asking him that?

Even so, Ivy answered honestly. "It might be the Werewolf Collar. When its curse is activated, it could establish some kind of link between you and Miss Chloe. She might gradually pick up your interests."

Ethan's interest was reading.

Everyone in Brookwood Town knew that. During his first year in town, people had noticed that he spent nearly every day at the library. He had read every occult book the town had to offer, and before long, they'd dubbed him the "Occultism Expert."

"Miss Chloe is reading an alchemy book. She even snuck out of the apartment in the middle of the night to pick Snake Emperor Grass from the mountain!"

The book had come with the apartment's bookshelf. It was just an introductory text on alchemy, and the town's public library had an identical copy.

Alchemy was one of the few paths in this world that offered a chance to become supernatural without worshipping any deity. At the same time, its byproduct—potions—was among the hottest commodities in occult shops. Potions made by high-ranking Alchemists often fetched astronomical prices at auction.

So why were there so few practitioners of a supernatural profession that sounded so promising?

Two years ago, when Ethan had brought the Alchemy Beginner's Handbook to the Brookwood Town Guild Leader with that very question, the well-traveled middle-aged man had snapped him out of his daydream with a single remark: "What kind of family do you come from, thinking you can study alchemy?"

The Guild Master had held up four fingers.

In the whole of Brookwood Town, only four families could afford to study alchemy. Ivy was out of the running because she was an Enlightenment Society Graduate, while the children of the other three families lacked any talent for alchemy. And so things stood: the rich couldn't study it, while the poor... were all working themselves to the bone to earn a living, without even knowing whether they had what it took to become an Alchemist.

Ethan's dream of becoming an Alchemist had been crushed by the harshness of reality.

But fortunes could change!

As he watched Miss Chloe pore over the handbook, he was struck by an absurd sense of déjà vu. He'd once been forced by poverty to give up his dream of becoming an Alchemist. Now, he'd found a way to make money. In less than a week, he'd saved up over 50 Gold Lions. The little one at home would never have to bow to reality because of poverty again...

Brookwood Town: The Record of Striving, serialized in grand fashion!

So this was the true weight behind the codename "Chicken Farmer"!

Ethan once again slipped unconsciously into the role of a doting father.

Ivy and the Golden Hair perched atop her head shot him a sidelong glance. "What kind of scheme are you cooking up now?"

She and Golden Hair had reached a consensus: Ethan had a bizarre way of thinking, and he could produce astonishing flashes of insight when no one expected it. Judging by the look on his face just now, as if he'd lived through the rise and fall of the world, he was sure to say, "I've got a plan."

"Ivy, do you think Miss Chloe could become an Alchemist?"

Though Ivy had braced herself for anything, Ethan's astonishing question still left her dumbfounded. She didn't even want to answer. Instead, she shot back, "Do you want to hear what you're saying?"

Make a Wolf Chicken into an Alchemist?

Forget a frontier town like Brookwood Town—even in the Imperial Capital, the noble youths who studied under high-ranking Alchemists from childhood didn't necessarily amount to anything. On the path to the supernatural, having no clear Faith System wasn't a good thing. It only left people lost as they tried to find their way.

Across the Empire, only those blessed with both intelligence and talent had any chance of walking this path.

And Ethan's plan this time was to make a little hen into an Alchemist.

If the high-ranking Alchemists heard him say that, they'd probably kick him right out the door of the Alchemy Association.

Yet Ethan seemed completely unaware of how absurd his proposal was and started musing aloud. "Come to think of it, Miss Chloe's reached the age where she has to choose a profession. It's rare for her to take an interest in anything."

"You...!"

Ivy had a thousand thoughts racing through her mind, but couldn't manage to form a single complete sentence. At that moment, she finally confirmed one thing.

Ethan really did have something wrong with his brain.

Something very, very wrong.

"Maybe Miss Chloe hasn't understood anything in the book."

In the end, Ivy tried a roundabout approach, hinting, "The Alchemy Beginner's Handbook describes all sorts of herbs and creatures used to make potions. Maybe she just likes the illustrations."

That, she thought, was how a normal person would think.

Could a little hen understand alchemy?

From what Ivy had observed of Miss Chloe, the collar let her understand some human language and gave her intelligence beyond that of an ordinary animal, but she was still a long way from being on a human's level.

"Don't jump to conclusions. Haven't you heard the saying? Interest is the best teacher."

Ethan pushed open the door and went in first. "Let's put it to the test."

They walked up behind Miss Chloe, one after the other. Hearing them approach, the little hen rose from the floor. When she saw that it was Ethan and Ivy, she stretched her neck toward them and seemed to smile with delight.

It was a strange way to describe a little hen, but Ivy thought Miss Chloe's eyes sparkled as she looked at them, like a child brimming with curiosity and wonder about the world.

Then, with a little difficulty, Miss Chloe used her beak to turn to a page in the handbook, before picking up the whole book and carrying it over to them.

The page showed a cauldron used to brew potions—the foundation of all alchemy.

Miss Chloe really needed one of those.

She'd actually understood what the little hen was trying to say.

Ivy stared at the illustration of the cauldron in silence for a long while. Then, as if in a trance, she said, "The Research Department of the Containment Bureau really needs people with alchemy skills. The costs of studying alchemy should be reimbursable through the branch office."

Ivy could barely remember how she'd ended up leaving Ethan's apartment. She walked down the steps and back onto the street. As the cold wind blew into her face, the Golden Hair on her head drooped in defeat.

God of Truth above,

Ethan's bizarre way of thinking must have infected her!

The degree of contamination made her suspect that Ethan himself was some kind of human-shaped Cursed Object they'd never encountered before.

And now, she, the person in charge of Brookwood Town's intelligence Base Station, was going to write an application to the Gear City branch.

That was right. She was going to use a letter to convince the branch's finance department to reimburse a little hen's alchemy studies.

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