CHAPTER 148: THE ALCHEMIST

Aegis walked through the academy halls, squinting at the construction estimates her workers had sent over. The numbers were getting better, but the east wing alone would cost—

"Oof!"

Papers exploded everywhere.

Aegis had walked straight into someone, sending them both stumbling. The other girl hit the floor hard, her books and scrolls scattering across the stone.

"Shit, sorry!" Aegis dropped to her knees, grabbing papers. "I wasn’t watching where I was—"

She made eye contact with the girl.

Green hair that fell past her shoulders. Yellow eyes behind thick glasses. Small frame, maybe five feet tall. She wore the academy uniform but with the sleeves rolled down to hide her arms completely.

[Oh. You’re here already.]

Aegis knew this face.

In the game, this character didn’t show up until second year. A shy alchemist prodigy who’d become crucial for crafting high-tier potions in the late game. But here she was, arriving during summer break instead.

The girl’s face went red.

"N-no, it was my fault! I shouldn’t have been carrying so much—"

"Here." Aegis handed her a stack of papers. Their fingers brushed.

The girl yanked her hand back like she’d been burned.

"Thank you! I mean—sorry! I mean—"

She grabbed the rest of her things in a panic and practically ran down the hall.

Aegis watched her go, still kneeling on the floor.

[Well. That’s interesting. Another timeline change.]

She stood up, brushing dust off her knees, and headed back to her dorm.

Lune sat at her easel, painting what looked like a twisted landscape where the sky bled into the ground. Normal Lune stuff. There was probably a tiny Aegis somewhere around there, if you squinted hard enough.

With a loud, dramatic groan, Aegis spread her ledgers across her bed, updating numbers.

"7,130 gold," she muttered, writing it down. "Minus 200 for worker wages, minus 150 for supplies..."

She did the math, frowning.

[At this rate, I’ll hit 100K in... okay, no, I need to be realistic. The bears won’t be infinite, and I can’t send Scarlett and Kanna out constantly or they’ll burn out. I need multiple income streams.]

She pulled out her master plan—a piece of parchment divided into five sections labeled THE FIVE PILLARS.

WEALTH: 7,130g (Target: 100,000g minimum) Status: Ahead of initial projections but unsustainable with current method

MILITARY: 2 Elite Retainers (Scarlett, Kanna) Status: Solid foundation, need more numbers eventually

REPUTATION: Known as "that lucky commoner who won the trials" Status: Still seen as a novelty, not taken seriously by major houses

POLITICAL:

House Roseheart (minor backing), House Vermillion (sponsorship) Status: Decent start but need more allies

MAGICAL: Shadow Magic, Aether Weaving Status: Progressing well with daily training

She tapped her quill against the parchment.

[For Wealth, I need something sustainable. Something that generates income whether I’m actively working or not. And I know exactly where to start.]

"What are you planning now?" Lune asked without looking up from her canvas.

Aegis glanced over. Somehow Lune always knew when she was scheming. Or, maybe she just schemed a lot.

"Business expansion, my dear roommate," Aegis spoke in an intentionally silly posh accent. "There’s this alchemy shop that’s about to go under. Run by someone who could be very useful if properly motivated."

"Motivated meaning?"

"Meaning I save her ass and she works for me."

Lune added a streak of red to her painting.

"That sounds highly manipulative."

"Sounds like good business." Aegis stood up, stretching. "Besides, she needs help and I need an alchemist to sell stuff for me. Win-win."

"If you say so."

Aegis grabbed her noble coat—the blue one with silver trim that said ’I have money but I’m not obnoxious about it.’

"Alright, I’ll be back in a few hours. Try not to make my boobs too small." Aegis leaned down and gave Lune a quick hug.

"I never make them too small," Lune murmured.

---

Ah, the Old Quarter of Rosevale, where businesses went to die.

Narrow streets, crumbling buildings, and shops that had been ’closing soon’ for the past decade. The kind of place nobles avoided unless they were looking for something illegal or embarrassing.

Aegis navigated through the maze of alleyways, following the mental map burned into her brain from hundreds of game hours.

[Turn left at the broken fountain. Right at the tavern with the crooked sign. Straight past the suspiciously cheap brothel.]

She found it tucked between a pawn shop and a building that might have been residential or might have been condemned. Hard to tell.

The sign hanging above the door was so faded she could barely read it:

Black Remedies - Potions & Tinctures

[In the game, this was just a shop for starter potions. Healing stuff, basic mana restoration. But the owner had a whole questline about trying to save her family business.]

Aegis pushed the door open.

The smell hit her first—herbs, smoke, and something that might have been rotting eggs. The shop was tiny, maybe fifteen feet across, with shelves crammed full of dusty bottles. Most of them looked empty.

In the back, visible through an open doorway, someone was having a very bad day.

"No no no NO!"

CRASH.

Purple smoke billowed out of the back room.

Aegis walked toward the chaos, covering her nose with her sleeve.

She found a girl about her age standing over a cauldron that was actively trying to explode. Green hair tied up in the messiest bun Aegis had ever seen. Glasses held together with wire. An apron that might have been white once but was now every color except white.

The girl was frantically throwing ingredients into the cauldron, making it worse with every addition.

"Come on, please work, please work—"

The cauldron started whistling.

"S-Shop’s closed!" The girl didn’t even turn around. "Can’t you see I’m—"

She finally glanced back and froze.

Aegis stood in the doorway in her expensive coat, looking very much like a noble who could ruin someone’s life with a single complaint.

"Oh. Uh. My lady." The girl’s face went pale. "I’m so sorry, I didn’t—the shop is—we’re having technical—"

The cauldron shrieked.

Aegis walked past her, pulled a jar off the shelf, and dumped its contents into the mixture.

The smoke cleared instantly. The whistling stopped. The potion went from violent purple to clear blue.

The girl stared.

"How did you... that formula’s been failing for weeks."

Aegis examined the potion, swirling it gently.

"You were using too much moonpetal. The recipe probably says two ounces, but moonpetals from the western forests are more potent. You need to cut it by half."

She set the cauldron down.

"Also, you’re stirring counter-clockwise. For lunar-type potions, you want clockwise during the day, counter at night."

The girl’s jaw dropped.

"That’s... that’s brilliant. How did you know?"

Aegis leaned against the counter, putting on her most charming smile.

"I’m very well-informed. Also, I’m here to offer you a job."

"I... what?"

"Rosalie Black, right? You inherited this shop from your grandmother. You’re trying to keep it running while attending Rosevale Academy. You’re failing at both."

Rosalie flinched.

"How do you—who are you?"

[Oh... She was just calling me Lady cause she assumed I was a noble.]

"Aegis Starcaller. Lady of House Starcaller as of last week."

"The commoner who won the Winter Trials?"

"The very same."

Rosalie looked around her disaster of a shop. A bottle chose that moment to fall off a shelf and shatter.

Neither of them moved.

"Why would someone like you want to hire someone like me?"

"Because you’re brilliant." Aegis picked up one of Rosalie’s notebooks, flipping through it. "These formulas are advanced. You’re modifying traditional recipes to work with cheaper ingredients. That’s not easy."

"... It’s also not working."

"Because you’re trying to do everything alone." Aegis set the notebook down. "I need an alchemist. Someone who can make potions, identify materials, and eventually run a proper shop. You need funding, supplies, and a little bit of direction. Am I right?"

Rosalie bit her lip.

"I can’t afford to pay you back."

"I’m not loaning you money. I’m hiring you. Salary, workshop, materials budget. You work for House Starcaller."

"Doing what?"

"Making potions for my retainers. Identifying and processing monster materials. Teaching me alchemy when I have time. Eventually, once we’re established, running a new shop under the Starcaller name."

Rosalie’s eyes went wide.

"You want to open an alchemy shop?"

"I want to open several businesses. Alchemy’s just the start." Aegis walked over to the cauldron with the now-perfect potion. "This is a greater healing potion, right? These sell for 50 gold each. How much did the ingredients cost?"

"Maybe... eight gold?"

"So 42 gold profit per bottle. How many could you make per day if you didn’t have to worry about money or gathering materials?"

"Twenty? Thirty if I pushed it."

"That’s 840 to 1,260 gold profit per day. Over 25,000 gold per month."

Rosalie’s legs gave out. She sat down hard on a stool.

"That’s... that’s impossible."

"That’s just basic math and good business." Aegis pulled out a contract she’d prepared earlier. "Starting salary of 500 gold per month, workshop space at my manor, materials budget of 1,000 gold monthly to start. In exchange, you work exclusively for House Starcaller, and I get a small portion of your revenue."

She set the contract on the cleanest surface she could find.

"Take your time. Read it carefully."

Rosalie picked up the contract with shaking hands.

"Why me? There are better alchemists. More experienced ones."

"But none of them are desperate enough to take a chance on a brand new house." Aegis grinned. "Plus, I have a good feeling about you."

[Also, I know from the game that you eventually become the best alchemist in the kingdom, but you don’t need to know that.]

Rosalie read through the contract twice.

"This is real?"

"Very real. So, do we have a deal?"

Rosalie stared at the contract for a long moment.

Then she grabbed the quill and signed her name.

"When do I start?"

"Right now. Pack what you need. Leave the rest—this place is a loss anyway."

"... No."

Aegis stopped as she’d been about to walk outside.

She smiled a little, but pushed the smile off her face as she turned.

"No?"

"No." Rosalie shook her head. "I-I’m guessing you want me to pack up so we can ditch this place and open up shop in a better part of the city, right?"

"That was the idea, yes."

"No!" Rosalie narrowed her eyes.

"Why?"

"My... My grandmother opened this place up to help people who couldn’t afford help elsewhere. The people of this district need this shop. I can’t betray them like that."

[... You’re still the same Rosalie from the game, hehe.]

"Fine," Aegis smirked.

"Fine!?"

"Fine." Aegis nodded. "I’ll figure out a compromise."

With that, she walked out.

Her HUD flickered:

New Retainer Acquired: Rosalie Black - AlchemistHouse Starcaller Staff: 3

Affection Earned: +15

Rosalie Black: (❤️🤍🤍🤍🤍)