'Today my new assistant will arrive. For now, I will not be able to do any dangerous moves. Until I deal with who I get, I have to actually work.' A sigh leaves his lips.

  Arriving at Reiyo's store, he only sees the man himself with a few other customers.

  'Guess I arrived early. I should probably consult Reiyo about the gains from the potions.'

  After waiting for Reiyo to be available, he begins a conversation.

  "Good morning, boss. I guess I arrived early? I am not seeing my assistant anywhere..." Kei pretends to look around in a sarcastic way.

  "Morning kid. There is no need for the title between us we are friends, aren't we?" He says in a calm tone.

  "If you say so... by the way, as good friends, I wanted to ask about the revenue of the potions."

  "I was wondering when we're you gonna talk about it." Reiyo reaches below the counter and brings a considerably hefty pouch. "Here you have it. They sold pretty well. Despite the low level, they were extremely good. Especially those mana potions I heard one of the mages that used them that they were really good. How did you do it, kid?" Reiyo tried to get an answer.

  "Sorry, but that's a trade secret. I told you you wouldn't regret this decision." Kei says while pocketing the money.

  At the same time, the store door opened, and a woman's figure appeared. Both Kei and Reiyo looked at the figure, and Reiyo quickly explained.

  "That's your new assistant. Her name is Claire. The kid knows her stuff, even has a bit of experience due to working as an assistant before." Reiyo said in a whispery tone.

  When Reiyo finished his explanation, he then proceeded to introduce him.

  "The kid's name is Kei. He will be who you will be working with."

  The girl flashed a disappointed look but quickly corrected herself and started her presentation.

  "My name is Claire, and I guess I will be your assistant for the time being..." she reached her hand and was expecting a handshake, but it was obvious she didn't like the arrangement.

  "Hope we get to know each other better." Kei shook her hand.

  "If you both finished introducing yourselves, then you better start working. Kei, you already know the way, so guide her to the workplace." Reiyo said while resting on his chair.

  "Right on it, Reiyo. This way, Claire." Kei proceeds to take the both of them to the back of the store.

  _____________

  "I am really sorry if this is not the kind of workplace you expected... Reiyo is currently testing me, so he doesn't wanna invest too much in me..." Kei's embarrassed tone was obvious. But what was more obvious was Claire's disappointment of the conditions she will have to work in.

  "I can't believe I was lowered to this..." her voice almost a whisper.

  "Well... why don't we get the materials needed and start working? Try searching for the basic materials for mana and health potions."

  "And why don't you go and do that? You already know where everything is."

  "It is so you can start familiarizing with the place. Come on, let's start!"

  And like that, Kei started gathering the materials while also checking for any irregularities.

  'Nothing was moved again... something is not right... I can feel it... I gotta check this later.' And with that thought, Kei finished inspecting the place and gathered the last materials.

  "Hey, before we start, why don't you tell me about your qualifications?" Kei asked with genuine curiosity.

  "Well, i -" She began explaining.

  "Oh wait. You can just do a demonstration! Why don't you attempt to make a mana potion, and we will see how it goes?"

  "..." she appeared annoyed.

  Even then, she still prepared herself and started working.

  A while later, a beginner level mana potion was put on the table.

  "Wow... first try and relatively quickly, too. Incredible to be honest. No wonder Reiyo chose you." Kei said while appearing impressed.

  Claire's smirk became really noticeable, but Kei said nothing.

  "Seeing you are so good at making mana potions, why don't you make those while I make the health ones? A fair 50/50 split." He says with a relaxed attitude

  "No problem with that assignment. You better not take a while "boss"" The sarcastic gone was notorious, but still Kei said nothing about it.

  With that, both got into a calm atmosphere and started working.

  'At least she is silent while working...

  Gathering everything shown until now, I can see a few things. First, she is actually good.

  Second, her attitude clearly shows her disdain for this kind of role. She probably wanted to go solo, but now she is stuck with me for now.

  Third, she doesn't give out the vibe that she is in Reiyo's payroll. She looks like she really is just a normal person...' A quick flash of regret appears on his face.

  'Why did Reiyo give me a normal person? Why not someone more trustworthy or talented for espionage?

  The most probable theory is that the girl is loyal to him but in a respect kind of way. Probably helped her before or, more simply, he is respected due to being the hero of the district.

  .

  .

  .

  Fuck... why couldn't it be someone worse...

  .

  .

  .

  Remember Kei. If the path to hell is filled with good intentions, then the path to heaven is also filled with bad actions...

  Although thinking that ME of all people would go to heaven is pretty funny.' A small laugh scapes his lips.

  _____________

  'That was quick. I think what takes most of the time is making lower quality potions than what I can truly do.' With his part finished, he checked the progress of his assistant and saw that she still had a bit to go through.

  'She looks really focused... better leave her in peace.' With that, he went back to his station and simply started to think.

  Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

  'How to get rid of you... maybe I could try... no, it wouldn't work... if I... no, it's too risky... but if I... yeah... that could work... it would take a while, but it almost guarantees success.' While finishing his thoughts, he hears a certain someone exhale from tiredness.

  "Guess you finished?" He asks calmly.

  "Yes, I did. You did too, didn't you?" She asked while throwing an annoyed look.

  "Good news is that I did! So it looks like we finished for today. Let's pack everything up and get going."

  And with that, they both cleaned the place up.

  '...I am gonna check again just to make sure.' While cleaning, he keeps inspecting the different cabinets and boxes in the place.

  'Nothing out of the ordinary... or at least nothing I can see... but... let's try something.'

  After checking that Claire was busy cleaning, he quickly grabbed a piece of paper and drew a symbol on it.

  'Let's see if this works...'

  "Algiz"

  And with that, he hid the paper among others that were inside the cabinet.

  'Let's see how it is tomorrow.'

  With that, both Claire and Kei finish cleaning and go to the front.

  ___________

  "Delivery coming!" Kei says in a joyous voice while leaving his share of the potions.

  "Everything went well, Mister Reiyo." Claire says while setting down her own box.

  "Well, let's see how good they are." With that, Reiyo took out a magic tool from last time and began inspecting.

  "Mhhhh..." Reiyo was inspecting the mana potions now.

  'Just in case...'

  "I don't know where you found her, but she is quite the capable assistant. She was much quicker than I expected and also knew quite a bit. Couldn't have asked for a better partner. Like look at the quality of the mana potions and consider the speed in which they were made. Should have given her the job first, to be honest." Kei talked while Reiyo was inspecting the potions. Kei could swear he also felt a look coming from Claire.

  Reiyo gave him a quick look and then put down the potion.

  "...As you said she is quite talented and the quality is good. Good work, kids." He ended up congratulating both of them.

  "Then I guess that is the cue for both of us to leave, isn't it? It's a pleasure working with you, Claire. See you tomorrow." With that, he left the store.

  ___________

  'Now, taking everything into account, Reiyo will hold her up for a little asking about what we were doing in general. Nothing specific.'

  Kei was walking not to his home as always but to another place.

  'It's no use thinking about that now. I gotta see if a replacement is possible.'

  With that, he arrives at the local library.

  ___________

  Inside the library, the place was pretty empty except for a few people.

  'I should have asked Leroy how she looked like... well it's not like a lot of people want to learn alchemy, most people around here just learn about swordmanship due to the closeness to The Great Forest Of The South and even then due to the constant flux of adventurers wanting to test their abilities and them wanting to complete a variety of quest, the city itself is pretty safe and calm.'

  He begins checking the people reading and eventually finds the one he is searching for.

  He finds her in one of the corners of the library, surrounded by a bunch of books, and she herself completely absorbed in one of them.

  'Those are all alchemy books... I didn't think she would be this dedicated to them... considering she knew at least the basic recipe of an elixir, then I guess it was obvious.'

  With that, he proceeded to approach the table she was in.

  "I see that you are pretty interested in alchemy, huh?" He attempted a casual opener.

  "..." She completely ignored him.

  "It's not usual for someone to study it. At least in this district of the city. Or that's what I heard anyway." He tries again.

  "..." Again, she ignores him.

  'Really? Ugh, then I gotta go to the point.'

  "Heard from someone you know quite a lot of alchemy. Wanted to see it it was true. If it is, I may be able to help you with it."

  "...!" And with that, she finally lowered the book from her face and looked at him.

  Her hair was a deep blue and was quite... messy. Her eyes had prominent bags underneath them, which contrasted with the blue in her eyes. Her attire was normal, but wrinkles could be seen here and there. It was obvious to the naked eye that she didn't take great care of herself.

  "What did you say?..." The tiredness was obvious in her voice, but a hint of excitement was also present.

  "As you heard," he sits on the chair in the opposite of her."I will help you become an alchemist, but first, I need to know how good you are."

  "Really?..."

  "Yes, so let's first do a few questions, shall we?"

  ___________

  Not a long time after.

  "I am telling the truth. If you combine the blood of a tusk boar with a strength potion, it will have quite an interesting effect."

  "Although that may be truth, the side effects can be catastrophic if a balancing sustance isn't added."

  Like that, the two went from a questionnaire to a talk where they shared their theories and experiences.

  'She really knows her stuff. If I had to compare it then... it would be almost similar to the level of knowledge that Mary had during her academy days. How is it that I didn't know about her?'

  "So what do you say?" He interrupts their current talk with a question.

  "Say about what?" Her previous tiredness completely gone after their talk about the different themes of alchemy.

  "Did you forget? When we first started this, I asked you if you needed help getting started in Alchemy. Heard from someone that what you are lacking are the funds, so I may be able to help with that." He then puts the hefty pouch he received from Reiyo on the table. "This should be enough to get a basic set if spent properly."

  She then reached for the pouch and looked at the money inside. Her eyes now glowed with excitement.

  "W-w-why would y-y-you help me?" Her previous confidence now was replaced with a timid tone.

  "Well, you see... I will be needing an assistant in the future. And I think you are a great choice. But if you don't want to, then there's nothing to be done..." he then takes the pouch and stands up, but before he can leave, he hears her.

  "W-WAIT." She stands up, trying to reach him. "I a-accept." She says with determination.

  'Bingo'

  "Will you really? Keep in mind this won't be easy." He asks to confirm.

  "Y-y-yes!" She replies with enthusiasm.

  "Then I guess presentations are in order. My name is Kei, and I will be helping you for the time being." He extends his hand.

  "M-my name i-is Amatsu. A-a-and its a p-pleasure being your a-acquaintance." She also reaches and shakes his hand.

  "We will do many great things, Amatsu." Kei smiles.

  ___________

  "So how did it go?" Leroy asks while reading a few papers made by him.

  "Oh, the library endeavor, right? It went better than expected. That girl has a lot of potential." Kei replies while looking outside at the night sky.

  "And why do you need her?" Leroy asks with a hint of suspicion.

  "Would you believe me if I said out of the goodness of my heart?"

  "..." Leroy decided not to press further, knowing that he would not say the reason. "Heard you got an assistant too. How's that?"

  "It's a good assistant. I'm a bit talented if my eyes don't fail me. She still has a lot to learn, though." Kei replies with sincerity.

  "..." With that, they both continued their class in silence.

  ____________

  The next day, after entering the workplace, he checked the cabinets and boxes again.

  'Nothing moved... let's check the paper'

  He opened the cabinet and took the paper out. And his eyes opened in surprise.

  'The rune... activated. Algiz is a Rune in which one of its interpretations is Spiritual Protection. If it activated, then it means that a spirit was around here.

  That's why nothing changed! He just checked with a spirit. But what kind of spirit? What are its properties? What kind of ability does it have? Range, time, control, there's too many variables...'

  He closed the gabinated after taking the paper out and throwing it in the trash. After that, both he and Claire got to work.

  Still, Kei's head was quickly running through all possibilities thanks to the discovery.

  'Why does he check with a spirit? Maybe the easy of use? Why does he even have a spirit in the first place? And what kind of spirit is it?

  Wait... did he spy when Leroy and me first did alchemy here? Did he spy us elsewhere?'

  A cold sweat starts appearing on his face.

  'Does he know everything? Is he just playing with me?... fuck... fuck...

  .

  .

  .

  No. There's something that makes it impossible.

  When Leroy first concentrated mana, he didn't note anything out of the ordinary. If a spirit was present, he would have noted its presence. But he only saw the dots. So, at least he didn't see that. There's an extremely limited number of ways to hide the presence of a spirit, and I am sure Reiyo didn't have them.

  But he also didn't inspect by himself the place after that... so he probably checked it with the spirit later...'

  While working, Kei sneaks a peek at Claire.

  'She doesn't seem to notice anything strange... huh...

  The spirit isn't here while people are here, but it is used to inspect the place once everyone leaves... maybe it's a... Shadow Spirit?

  It would fit a few of the characteristics. They don't like the light and prefer to work at night. They are sneaky bastards with an incredible capacity of espionage.

  But why wouldn't he spy... wait...'

  He then looks at the window, which brings light to the workplace.

  'That's why! Due to the light, Reiyo can't use the spirit to spy here. And due to the latest time which I left was the afternoon, I couldn't notice its presence anyway. So he only uses it to check the place.

  Is he really that suspicious that he uses such a being? Maybe it's because how talented I appear? No... I don't think so... that's not important right now anyway.

  The fact that he has such a thing is more important. If I am not careful, he might discover my deal with Leroy. But I think I can use this too...'

  An idea starts formulating in his head the rest of the day.

  ___________

  After work, he meets with Amatsu in the library, but this time, he brings someone with him.

  "Leroy this is Amatsu. Amatsu, this is Leroy." He quickly presented each other and got to the point.

  "Leroy, you are gonna help Amatsu get the instruments necessary to make a basic alchemy set. Just enough to be able to practice making mana and health potions."

  "A-a-are you sure you w-want to spend so much in m-m-me?" Amatsu was still hesitant to accept the fact that she would soon be a proper alchemist.

  "Of course, I am sure. I told you I might need a future assistant, didn't I?" Kei responded without missing a beat.

  Leroy gave him a confused look but decided to let that matter for later.

  "And why I am here?" Leroy asked.

  "You know a lot more about the layout of the city and because... you will be going to another district."

  Both Leroy and Amatsu looked surprised.