Alisa's Stirred Ambition

The agenda remained the same.

However, thanks to Lan Qingyou's previous threat and the presence of someone within Tarot Villa capable of doxing them, everyone was now deliberating with clear-eyed sincerity and calm temperaments.

Though some were still anxious, none dared to let their tempers flare.

“So, after all that, she wants materials for Level 7 too?”

“Aren't you just stating the obvious? That's exactly what the agreement says. Or were you planning on not giving them to her?”

“Bullshit! Did I say I wouldn't give them to her?”

The council member was startled.

Refuse to give them?

Out of everyone, the last person anyone would dare refuse was the Witch of the Tower. Otherwise, what would they do if they got doxed?

Consequently, the council members who were prone to panicking immediately jumped to defend their stance.

“While we all want to give them, the warehouse should be empty by now. After all, we just gave a batch to the Witch of the Tower not long ago.”

Indeed, that was the true problem of the meeting.

The current situation was only possible because the Council President had managed to coordinate some resources from his end.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have even been able to put together the last batch.

For a moment, everyone shared a sudden, startling realization: 'I'm actually poor.'

They were council members! They were the ones who controlled the operation of the entire Supreme Council and held the power over the entire society of Transmigrators!

And yet, they had fallen into such a predicament where they couldn't even scrape together a few materials?

But they had no choice but to provide them...

As for whether Lan Qingyou would lie or overreport the numbers, they weren't worried at all.

After all, a witch had her pride. Moreover, the Witch of the Tower specialized in equivalent exchange. How could she do something so disgraceful for a few measly materials?

“What about printing more money? The market demand for currency is still very high anyway. Can't we just print it and use it to buy the finished products?”

“I think that's feasible.”

“Of course it's feasible, but the problem is that the money printing machines can't even keep up with the current demand!”

“Hmm? What do you mean by that?”

“The money printing machines have basically never stopped except for maintenance. How long do you think it'll take to print the funds for the material costs we're just now putting on the schedule?”

“...”

That was right; they had completely forgotten about that.

After all, they had to rely on a single institution to print enough currency to meet the needs of over seventeen billion people.

Because of this, the printing plant always had its own schedule.

For instance, which region's currency to print this month, or which days they needed to work overtime to print a batch for a certain Adventurers' Guild.

The printing plant's schedule was packed tight, leaving no room for extra projects.

Even if they managed to let this 'material cost' cut in line, they would still have to wait until the current batch on the machines was finished before they could start.

Clearly, the Witch of the Tower wouldn't give them that much time.

“Chu Yuan, go talk to the Witch of the Tower. Tell her that we can manage the other items, but the last few—especially the Beast Emperor Ore—will take time to gather intel on. After all, she probably doesn't even know where it is herself, so she'll need to wait a bit.”

Seeing that the others were at a loss, Durandal offered a delaying tactic.

However, while it was a delaying tactic, the investigation would be genuine.

After all, they had given their word. Failing to deliver would be a blow to the reputation of the entire Supreme Council.

When the others heard this, they realized he was right!

One by one, they all began to plead with Chu Yuan, who could only roll his eyes incessantly.

But there was no helping it; he was the one who held the communication channel with Lan Qingyou in his hands.

He had to do this bit of work.

“Then what about the S-grade mental-type monster materials the witch needs?”

Chu Yuan finally remembered another item on Lan Qingyou's list of requirements.

“Investigate that together. After all, no one has encountered an S-grade monster yet,” Durandal said.

That was true...

Aside from world-class ones, he hadn't seen an S-grade monster either.

Thinking of the big-eyed cutie, Chu Yuan silently gave a slightly humblebragging nod before sending the message to Lan Qingyou.

Lan Qingyou, who was currently conducting research with Ursula, agreed without a second thought upon seeing the message.

She really didn't know where to find things like Beast Emperor Ore, and the experiment she was currently working on was very interesting. To avoid wasting time, she simply replied with an 'OK' emoji.

In truth, some things really required trial and error.

Just like these toy-style pieces of equipment.

Although their appearance and texture as toys slightly hindered research efficiency, they brought a bit of fun to the otherwise tedious research.

In a way, it actually helped promote the progress of the research.

Most importantly, Ursula, the primary party involved, was thoroughly enjoying herself.

Watching Ursula happily humming a tune while pouring medicinal liquid into test tubes, Lan Qingyou also accelerated her own research.

...

On the other side.

Alisa, who had slept for over a day after returning, climbed out of bed.

After rubbing her sleepy eyes and washing up, she grabbed a quick bite of food made by a homunculus.

Then, she sat at her magic desk, staring blankly.

Yesterday's battle couldn't exactly be called heart-stirring.

But for Alisa, it was of extraordinary significance.

She had become the alchemist her family had always wanted her to be, and yesterday, she had even met and fought with an alchemist of a different school.

This momentous event left Alisa with much to savor as she thought back on it.

However, thinking of the other woman's subordinates made her feel less cheerful.

Whether it was that Ursula she had fought or the other witches, they all possessed their own unique Magic Eye abilities and excellent combat skills.

Although it had seemed like her branch of 'White Witches' had many people earlier...

In reality, including the first three who had appeared, they were all just homunculi she had created.

Now, Alisa decided to initiate the plan she had wanted to do for a long time but had never pushed forward.

She stood up and walked quickly toward her alchemy workshop.

Unlike Lan Qingyou's vertically developed tower, Alisa's shelter was laid out horizontally. Because the shelter was located within a city ruin, the materials used were all stone.

Due to its large footprint, the people here called it the 'Stone Workshop.'

Inside, many homunculi were carrying out uniform tasks according to the orders Alisa had given them.

These were the lowest-grade homunculi, not even worthy of being called Children of Danu.

They could only repeat simple tasks and were even inferior to Lan Qingyou's golems.

But for things like brewing medicine, they were very suitable.

Therefore, compared to Lan Qingyou, Alisa's output of potions was actually far greater.

It was even greater than the entire High Tower Clan.

Upon entering the workshop, Alisa didn't stop for a moment. She turned a corner and headed toward the depths of the facility.

There were two types of equipment that were most abundant in Alisa's workshop. One, naturally, was the crucible, which no alchemist could do without.

The other was the incubation vats filled with green nutrient solution.

Row upon row of neatly arranged incubation vats held newborn homunculi, all growing vigorously inside.

“The Aurelius Kingdom... perhaps building an alchemy kingdom and becoming the Alchemy Queen isn't such a bad idea after all.”

Resting her hand on the cold incubation vat, Alisa looked at a homunculus inside and murmured softly to herself.