Big Brother!

Greg silently gave himself a thumbs-up, feeling that his judgment and decision-making were incredibly wise.

By doing this, he not only avoided trouble himself but also allowed Victoria to meet Chloe as a customer beforehand. This way, they might avoid the nonsensical conflicts that had occurred between them in the original game.

However, just as the thought that everything was under control crossed his mind, Silvia, who had been quietly observing from his side, suddenly covered her mouth instinctively. Her pink eyes widened slightly, filled with surprise and a hint of... unease.

"Oh! How... how could it be her?"

"Hmm?"

Greg's heart skipped a beat as an ominous premonition surged within him. He turned to Silvia and asked, "You two... know her?"

Silvia nodded, the worry on her face deepening. She spoke quickly in a low voice.

"Y-yes... on the very first day the rumors of your disappearance started spreading through the academy, Victoria and I were stopped by her on our way to the library."

She paused, seemingly recalling an unpleasant experience.

"She... she seemed to be in a very bad mood at the time. When she saw us, she started saying some... well, not very nice things. She went out of her way to make things difficult for us, questioning Victoria's magic control and saying we were in her way... basically, she was just picking on us for no reason."

Silvia's voice carried a hint of grievance.

"In the end, a young professor who happened to be passing by stepped in to handle it, and she finally left. Otherwise, that situation would have definitely become even more troublesome... and to this day, we still don't know why she did that. We didn't even know her before then."

Greg: "..."

He silently raised his hand and covered his face.

As expected... the butterfly effect had struck again.

Because of his disappearance, a conflict that should have happened much later had been inexplicably moved forward... and just like in the original game, it was a case of her making trouble purely because she didn't like the look of someone.

Chloe Ivy and Victoria Cecil—were these two destined to be incompatible, fated to clash the moment they met?

At this point, Greg had basically lost all hope for this transaction.

It seemed that all three of them were fundamentally incompatible with the aura of this bratty representative in the shop; they were born to be at odds.

The scene inside the shop unfolded exactly as Greg had anticipated.

The moment Victoria realized the person walking out was Chloe, she froze. The expression on her face quickly shifted to one of wariness and annoyance.

And Chloe, who had looked so urgent just moments ago, underwent a total 180-degree transformation the second she pulled back the curtain and saw Victoria standing at the counter.

That urgency and faint expectation vanished like snow under the sun, replaced by an undisguised look of annoyance and contempt.

She crossed her arms over her flat chest, tilted her chin up slightly, and squinted at Victoria with eyes full of irritation. Her lips curled into a sneer.

"Heh, so the 'acquaintance' Mary mentioned turned out to be a small fry like you. I thought—"

She seemed to swallow the second half of her sentence, her annoyance becoming even more pronounced, as if Victoria's appearance had ruined something she had been looking forward to.

"Hmph. Anyway, a small fry like you has ruined my rare good mood. Now, how do you plan to compensate me?"

It was the same unreasonable, bratty attitude as always.

Victoria already had a poor impression of Chloe, and the frustration from being harassed for no reason last time was still bottled up inside her. Now, hearing the girl call her a small fry and demand compensation, her temper flared up instantly.

"Ha? Compensate you?"

Anger burned in Victoria's gray eyes. She didn't have Silvia's gentle temperament and immediately fired back without hesitation.

"You're that nonsensical alchemist girl! It was the same last time—picking trouble with us for no reason. Is there something wrong with your head? Do you need me to introduce you to a professor from the psychiatry department?"

Her words were sharp; she wasn't afraid in the slightest.

"You—! You arrogant little small fry! How dare you look down on me!"

Chloe's cheeks flushed red with rage at Victoria's words. She uncrossed her arms and balled her hands into small fists, looking as if she were ready to pull some dangerous alchemy tool from her pocket at any moment to teach the other girl a lesson.

The atmosphere inside the shop became instantly tense, thick with the scent of gunpowder, as if a single spark could set it off.

Outside the door, Silvia grew even more worried.

She looked inside anxiously, then back at Greg, whispering, "Senior Greg, things look bad... should we... should we go find a professor like last time?"

Greg looked at the two girls inside, facing off like a pair of bristling kittens, and felt a headache coming on.

His intention had been to avoid conflict and complete the trade smoothly, but he hadn't expected it to trigger an even bigger confrontation.

It seemed there was no other way.

Even though going in would likely result in him being targeted by a troublesome character like Chloe and getting dragged into a mess...

But if he just let Victoria keep arguing with her, God only knows what would happen.

He couldn't let Victoria fall into danger because she was trying to help him.

"I'll go in and handle it. I still have the title of a Disciplinary Committee member, after all. I'll just consider this overtime."

Greg said to Silvia, then took a deep breath, pushed open the shop door, and stepped back inside.

His entrance immediately caught the attention of the two people within.

Victoria frowned when she saw Greg enter, her expression seeming to say, "What are you doing in here? Didn't I tell you to wait outside?"

And Chloe, her back to the door, turned around impatiently upon hearing the sound of the door and footsteps. She seemed ready to spit out a new insult.

"Which blind small fry is it now? Can't you see I'm—"

Her gaze landed on Greg's face.

In that instant, time seemed to freeze.

The arrogant, battle-ready expression of a standard bratty girl on Chloe's face vanished without a trace, like a chalk drawing wiped away by an eraser.

The moment she saw Greg's face clearly, her beautiful eyes widened, her pupils shrinking slightly as a light seemed to ignite within them, bursting with radiance.

Then, before Greg could even react.

Ignoring everything else, like a puppy that had finally found its master, she suddenly threw her arms wide and lunged forward with absolute determination toward the completely stunned Greg!

"Bi—Big Brother!!!"

With a voice that seemed to carry endless excitement and grievance, Chloe cried out the address that caused everyone present to instantly experience a mental crash.

Victoria: "???"

Silvia: "!!!"

Greg: "...!!!???"