Lan Qingyou narrowed her eyes and smiled as she invited Albert in from the doorway.
Though she'd asked what he wanted to drink,
there was practically nothing in the office.
Of course,
there was some in the Herb Bag.
And in the Card, too.
But Lan Qingyou couldn't be bothered to take any out.
Especially not to serve the culprit who'd worked her to the bone.
"Then I won't stand on ceremony."
Albert nodded slightly, then stepped inside.
Although this was their first time meeting, neither Lan Qingyou nor Albert felt like strangers.
Lan Qingyou, naturally, had studied under him.
So she couldn't possibly think of him as a stranger.
In fact, she'd read his notebooks, his grumbling, and even some of the stories and anecdotes about him.
It would've been rather awkward to pretend she didn't know him now.
But it wasn't as if she was being especially warm, either.
It was all quite ordinary.
Maintaining that balance was the hardest part.
Because Albert was an extremely perceptive man.
Even the slightest unusual behavior on her part might arouse his suspicions.
For an alchemist, "suspicion" was the most dangerous thing of all.
Even more dangerous than a direct answer.
As for Albert, he was already feeling that things were "incredible."
As he'd said,
it wasn't their first time seeing each other, but it was their first face-to-face meeting.
And yet, she didn't feel like a stranger to him.
That alone was enough to leave him amazed.
He wasn't the sort of person who was warm on the outside and cold within, but it still felt strange to feel this way at a first meeting.
But that wasn't the main reason he'd come today.
"I attended your class. I never expected the fundamental theories of alchemy could be explained like