Girl Development Plan

Alchemy was a craft that used materials as its foundation and magic as a catalyst, turning decay into wonder. It was a basic skill mages needed to master, yet few chose to study Alchemy from the very beginning.

Tracing it back to the root cause, Rainer felt it was probably because the costs were too high.

Materials cost money, formulas cost money, experimental tools cost money. Especially in the early stages, when one wasn't yet proficient in Alchemy, failure was commonplace. Unless someone had some cheat like an intelligent chip, it was almost impossible to produce anything worthwhile. In other words, it burned money.

Though a single potion casually mixed by a high-ranking national alchemist might be worth an ordinary mage's monthly income, Alchemy was simply too much of a late-game discipline, so few cared about it.

There was even a joke in academic circles: "Alchemy impoverishes three generations, mechanics ruins a lifetime." Alchemy and mechanics, another subject for the wealthy, were both incredibly expensive fields.

Although Charlotte had talent in Alchemy, she had never considered taking that path. There was no other reason—her family was poor. Her original plan had been to follow her father's path as an elemental mage. That would allow her to earn her first money as quickly as possible and produce research results sooner.

"Uh, Principal, did I hear that right?"

So when Charlotte heard Rainer's words, her first reaction was that she was hallucinating.

What supported the study of Alchemy was real gold coin after real gold coin. She didn't have that much money.

No matter how she thought about it, she couldn't understand why an ordinary student like her could receive such help.

"You heard correctly, Charlotte. I know many students have better grades than you, but if you want to achieve something academically, blindly following textbooks won't do. I don't need someone who merely copies textbooks. What I need is an assistant who knows how to think."

Rainer had personally chosen her. In an era where knowledge was relatively closed off and authority still outweighed science, discovering an experimental phenomenon that contradicted prevailing theories was not only a form of wisdom, but also a form of courage.

This world did not lack intelligent people. Rainer even believed Charlotte was not the first to discover this. But after confirming her experiment, she had still been able to stand by herself in the face of pressure from authority. That courage was something many people lacked.

Perhaps if Rainer had not transmigrated here, this girl would have suffered unfair punishment and ultimately been forced to abandon her discovery just to complete her studies, writing answers she didn't believe in on her exams.

Thinking about it that way, Rainer suddenly felt his transmigration had gained a little more meaning.

"But can a student like me really do it?"

Charlotte thought of her father. At home, he was the greatest authority. Since he had never achieved much in the field of magic, he had placed all his hopes on Charlotte. He had treated her harshly since childhood, crushing every interest she had that was unrelated to magic. It was also because of this that Charlotte had developed her reserved personality.

"I don't know either."

Yet Rainer's answer caught Charlotte off guard. She had expected the principal to offer some encouraging words, but this was what he gave her instead.

"Huh?"

Wasn't the script supposed to go differently? Charlotte thought of scenes from the extracurricular books she had read.

"I can't say for certain whether you can do it. Even the most talented people can become mediocre. Likewise, even the most ordinary people can create miracles. I can't predict your future, but I know one thing."

Rainer brought over the educational philosophy he believed in from Earth, causing Charlotte to fall into thought.

"That is, if you don't do it, then you definitely can't do it."

Charlotte's eyes widened slightly at those words. It seemed as though she understood something, yet perhaps she didn't understand much at all. But no matter what, the seed of independent thought had already been planted in the girl's heart.

Claire had watched their entire conversation from the side without speaking. She had thought Rainer would be the sort of person who blindly encouraged students without considering the actual circumstances, but judging from what she had just seen, this guy seemed to know what he was doing.

But before Claire could figure out Rainer's approach, the principal turned his gaze toward her, looking at her with meaningful eyes that made the young dean of discipline shudder.

"Then, Instructor Claire, according to our agreement, Charlotte successfully proved her conclusion. Shouldn't you show some sincerity?"

"Uh..."

Caught off guard by Rainer's words, Claire immediately began to stammer.

"I always keep my word about maid outfits."

"I meant that you should apologize to Charlotte."

Rainer smiled, then continued.

Those words made Claire's face flush red. It was as if she had been holding her breath for a long time. She felt that this guy had indeed made a fool of her, but there was nothing she could do about it. She could only sigh softly and look at the silent Charlotte beside her.

"I'm sorry, Charlotte Clune. My blind judgment caused you trouble, and for that, I apologize. I hope you can forgive me."

Claire lowered her head. She was naturally straightforward. Since she had realized her mistake, she would apologize without hesitation.

"No, I caused trouble for you too, Instructor..."

Charlotte nodded slightly and accepted Claire's apology.

"As for the maid outfit, Instructor Claire, would you like me to prepare one for you?"

With that sudden turn in the conversation, Rainer's words once again left Claire in an awkward position.

"N-No, I don't need your help!"

Claire turned her face away, clearly quite unaccustomed to Rainer's teasing.

Though she was the dean of discipline, Claire had grown up at this academy and had almost no experience dealing with men. Even though she had no favorable impression of Rainer whatsoever, she was still caught off guard by his many tricks.

"I suggest you prepare it as soon as possible, because at the latest, we may need to head out tomorrow."

"You're going out?"

Claire couldn't understand it. What was he going outside the academy for at a time like this?

"I told you, a drink called Cola will become the opportunity to save Crescent Academy. This time, I need to go out and find a workshop capable of processing it."

This world did not yet have the concept of factories. Most products were made by alchemical workshops, similar to handicraft workshops on Earth.

"And 'we' will be going together."

"What does that have to do with me?"

Claire panicked. Countless scenes from books about a superior and his female subordinate going out together, only for indescribable events to occur, flashed through her mind.

"You can be a mascot. It'll make negotiations easier for me."

To her surprise, Rainer came up with a strange word that left both Claire and Charlotte utterly confused.

"What is a mascot?"