The Old Village Chief's Test

Why?

Because most alchemists were eccentric people with plenty of rules.

You never knew whether some careless joke might offend them.

And they had all kinds of tricks up their sleeves.

Offend a magician, and you might get burned to death or drowned.

Offend a noble, and you might get killed or poisoned.

But offend an alchemist, and you might not even know what killed you.

"Hahaha..."

The Old Village Chief, who had been wearing a stern expression, immediately burst out laughing when he was asked.

Then he turned to the villagers around them and called out loudly enough for Lan Qingyou and Alisa to hear.

"It's our honor to have two alchemists visit Fern Grass Village! Prepare food and drink. We're having a feast tonight!"

The Old Village Chief's sudden laughter successfully drew Lan Qingyou and Alisa's attention.

When they heard that there would be a feast that night, they immediately understood.

He was probably trying to find out more about them.

After all, they had appeared out of nowhere, blasted the village entrance with magic, and weren't locals. It was only natural that he'd want to gather some information.

As it happened,

the two of them also wanted to learn more about this world.

They needed to prepare for restoring their souls.

And so...

With both sides eager to get acquainted, the unexpected feast went very smoothly.

It even grew quite lively.

During the meal, Lan Qingyou realized that the civilization of this village—or perhaps of the Sima Empire—was highly developed.

The food on the table made that clear.

Even a village-level gathering featured food this exquisite and delicious.

If this was what they had in places like the Imperial Capital, wouldn't things be even more luxurious?

Of course, that went without saying.

After all, Lan Qingyou and