“Huh?” Doctor Ansel froze, completely blindsided by how massive and explosive this so-called “big business” actually was. He even wondered if he had misheard, pausing momentarily. “Uh... what did you say?”
Freya said, “Buy potions. Is there a problem?”
To be honest, even Euphemia was taken aback. She hadn't expected Fufu to be so blunt. But thinking back, she felt it wasn't all that surprising. After all, when they first met, hadn't Fufu's every word been just as mind-blowing?
Doctor Ansel wiped away the sweat that had somehow beaded on his forehead. In fact, shortly after sitting down, he had tried using his Mind Reading ability. However, he found that it seemed completely useless here. Forget about reading her mind—he couldn't even tell if the girl in front of him was lying.
Euphemia chimed in to support her. “Money is not an issue. Or, if you have other requirements besides money, I, in the name of 【Euphemia M. Holmes】, will do my best to satisfy them.”
“H-Holmes?!” Ansel stammered. Euphemia's words sounded humble, as if she were willing to agree to any condition.
But in reality, the opposite was true. Revealing her full name was a display of power, because the 【Holmes】 family was one of the three great Duke families of the Kingdom of Tarapaca!
A Duke—that was the highest-ranking noble title besides the King. When Freya first found out about this, she had been quite shocked herself. But on second thought, it wasn't all that surprising. After all, Euphy's grandfather was someone who could easily secure detailed intelligence from the military.
Although they were currently in the Empire and Euphemia was a noble from the neighboring kingdom, the title of Duke was still far too terrifying. At the very least, a nobody like Ansel certainly couldn't afford to offend her.
Ansel had only joined the association by a stroke of luck, drinking a Rank One Mind Pathway potion. Currently, he worked as a regular psychiatrist at the Mind Research Association just to earn a living. Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead again, he said, “Normally, to obtain a Mind Pathway potion, one must pass the evaluation of the branch president. If you qualify, you will receive a bottle upon joining.”
“If you don't want to join and wish to purchase it directly, I don't know how much it would cost. This isn't something a D-class psychiatrist like me can decide. Tell you what, let me take you to see the branch president!”
Ansel stood up and walked back the way he came. Freya and Euphemia followed. Along the way, Freya casually asked, “By the way, what are the specific conditions for joining? What kind of people pass the evaluation, and what kind of people fail?”
“Well...” Ansel hesitated. “I don't really know either. There doesn't seem to be a unified standard. If the branch president says you qualify, then you qualify.”
Freya asked again, “Then how did you pass back then? What was the specific evaluation process?”
Ansel said, “I actually remember that quite clearly. In his office, the branch president asked me some trivial questions about my life. At the time, I happened to be unemployed, so I vented to him for a long time about how rough things were. Then, he approved my application and gave me a potion.”
“Huh?” Freya raised an eyebrow slightly. This was completely different from what she had imagined. The Mind Research Association was definitely a large organization, so why was the joining process so... simple? Just a chat, and he was in?
Or rather, Freya suddenly realized that the branch president must be a high-rank extraordinary of the Mind Pathway. Although his exact rank was unknown, he had to be extremely skilled at manipulating minds. Perhaps the branch president had done something back then that Ansel simply didn't remember at all.
The group made their way to the third floor, stopping before a white office door. Faint voices could be heard coming from inside. Ansel knocked, and the conversation within instantly ceased. He called out, “Branch President, are you there? Two... grand nobles from the Kingdom of Tarapaca would like to speak with you. Do you have time right now?”
Although Freya had never said she was a noble, she hadn't said she was a commoner either. Ansel naturally assumed both of them were prominent figures.
“Grand nobles from the Kingdom of Tarapaca?” An unexpectedly young voice came from the room. “Let them in. I happen to be free right now.”
Ansel pushed the door open, stepped aside, and said, “Go ahead and chat! I'll be waiting right outside. Just call me if you need anything!”
Upon entering, Freya first looked around. The room was more spacious than she had expected, and it was kept impeccably clean and tidy. On the left, she could see two large bookshelves packed with books.
In addition, there were currently two people in the room. Sitting behind the office desk was a young man who looked about Freya's age. He was likely the one who had just spoken, as well as the branch president of this branch of the Mind Research Association.
Standing beside the young man was a sleek, capable-looking woman with long blonde hair tied in a single ponytail, light makeup on her face, a pencil skirt, and black stockings. Upon seeing Freya and Euphy enter, she winked at them and said, “In that case, I'll head out to attend to other matters.”
However, the moment she spoke, both Freya and Euphemia froze. What came out of her mouth was a remarkably deep, masculine voice!
This person was actually a man?!
After the man left, the young branch president smiled at them and said, “I am 【Thorne Grant】, the branch president of the 【Mind Research Association】 in this city. How may I help you ladies?”
Calming her bewildered state of mind, Freya got straight to the point. “I want a bottle, or rather, many bottles of Mind Pathway potions. Ideally, from Rank One to Rank Four.”
“?” Thorne's gentle expression froze. Never in his wildest dreams did he expect this so-called “big business” to be this massive. Who on earth directly asks for Rank One to Rank Four potions right off the bat?
How was this any different from visiting someone's house and immediately asking them, “What's your safe's combination?”
Thorne said, “My apologies, ladies. Mind Pathway potions are crucial assets of our 【Mind Research Association】. Such things are not for sale to outsiders.”
Hearing this, Euphemia was equally direct. “Not for sale simply means the price isn't high enough. I am 【Euphemia M. Holmes】. My grandfather is a Rank Five Artisan. If you want a custom-made extraordinary item, I can get it for you. How about we exchange that for the potions?”
Sure enough, Thorne fell completely silent. Euphemia's offer was simply too enticing. Although extraordinary items didn't have explicit quality tiers, items crafted by higher-rank Artisans were bound to be much more powerful. And a Rank Five Artisan was an incredibly rare find.
Being able to have such a person customize an extraordinary item was, in a sense, practically equivalent to gaining a new extraordinary ability out of thin air.
“Ahem!” Thorne coughed, putting on a serious expression. “Actually, I think you're right. Rules are dead, but people are adaptable. There's always a way.”
But Freya looked at Euphemia and couldn't help but say, “Would this be a bit inappropriate? To trouble your grandfather like this for my sake?”
Euphemia said, “It's fine! Didn't we just resolve General Jerome's crisis a while ago? After my grandfather found out, he praised me several times and asked what reward I wanted. I didn't actually help much with that; it was all your doing. So, it's only fair that I use this reward on you, right?”
“Alright.” Of course, though she said that, Freya was thinking to herself: Anyway, we're currently in a simulation. Even if Euphy really uses up this reward opportunity to get the Mind Pathway potions, once the simulation ends, her grandfather's reward will still be there, and I'll still have the potions. Isn't that basically getting them completely for free?
Thorne had no idea what Freya was plotting. As a branch president, he was actually a Rank Four Mind Pathway 【Mind Reader】, but that didn't mean he would constantly use his Mind Reading ability to pry into others.
Ansel had only used Mind Reading right away because he treated Freya and Euphemia as ordinary people. Knowing that the two in front of him were far from ordinary, Thorne certainly wouldn't do so lightly. What if they noticed? How would they even have a proper conversation then?
Thorne said, “How about this? You join the Mind Research Association in name. In my reports to the 【Headquarters】, I will heap praises on you and try to apply for your Mind Pathway potions as quickly as possible. In reality, you'll just be nominal members and won't have to do anything. What do you think of this approach?”
Freya couldn't help but complain, “So even if you want the potions, you still have to ask others for them?”
Thorne said, “I actually know the potion recipes, but I have no way of procuring the materials.”
It was worth noting that while people said the official pathway of the Kingdom of Tarapaca was the Law Pathway, and the official pathway of the Fanipaca Empire was the Moon Pathway, this didn't mean these countries could only produce extraordinaries of those specific pathways.
For example, wasn't Jerome a citizen of the Kingdom of Tarapaca, yet also of the War Pathway?
The actual meaning of an “official pathway” was that besides having a deep understanding of it, the nation also controlled all the materials, processing, manufacturing, and the complete workflow for producing the final product. The Kingdom of Tarapaca could mass-produce extraordinaries of the Law Pathway.
As for other pathways, with some effort, you could certainly obtain them if you insisted, but it would be very troublesome, and the quantity would be strictly limited.
Thus, Thorne was in a similar predicament. He knew the Mind potion recipes, but he had no channels to obtain the ingredients and couldn't brew them himself.
Freya nodded. “So that's how it is. Fine, if it's just a nominal membership and we don't have to do anything, I certainly have no objections.”
Euphemia said, “Me neither.”
Thorne said, “Then it's a deal?”
Freya and Euphemia said in unison, “Deal!”
Hearing this, Thorne pulled open a drawer beside him, took out two pale-gold potions, and handed them to Freya and Euphemia. “Well then, to welcome you both to the 【Mind Research Association】, these two Rank One Mind Pathway potions will be given to you directly as a welcoming gift. I wish you both get what you desire in the 【Mind Research Association】!”
Rank One potions weren't particularly valuable, so Thorne kept a few on hand. Seeing this, Freya didn't stand on ceremony. She took the potion, popped the cork, and drank it down in one gulp.
Surprisingly, it tasted quite good, like drinking orange juice or a sweet beverage. Freya smacked her lips. Immediately after, she felt a throbbing pressure in her temples, accompanied by a slight migraine at the back of her head.
It felt... like she was about to grow a brain.
The entire process lasted about three to four minutes. When Freya took a deep breath and opened her eyes again, a faint golden shimmer seemed to trace the edges of her originally amber eyes, but other than that, there was no other visible change.
Freya calmed her mind to feel the changes. She now had two more extraordinary abilities, which were the previously mentioned Mind Reading and Hypnosis.
Strictly speaking, her combat strength was definitely extremely weak, barely on par with a Rank One Earth Pathway. No... with this Hypnosis, she was actually a tiny bit stronger than the Earth Pathway. Of course, only a tiny bit.
Euphemia asked, “How does it feel?”
Freya pondered for a moment. “Hmm~ pretty good, actually?”
Then, she turned to Thorne and asked, “By the way, what is the method for digesting the Mind Pathway potion?”
Thorne smiled and said, “Follow the deepest desires of your heart. Whatever you want to do, just let yourself do it.”
That sounded pretty cool, but Freya frowned. “The deepest desires of my heart? But what if I don't know what my desires are?”
Thorne said, “Then go find that desire. That is also one of the reasons why digesting the Mind Pathway potion is so difficult.”
Freya asked again, “Then... is it convenient to disclose what your desire is, Branch President? Could I use it as a reference?”
Then, Freya clearly saw Thorne's expression suddenly freeze. His lips twitched slightly. “Apologies, I cannot tell you that.”
“Alright.” Freya wasn't surprised. Euphemia then said, “Then let's discuss customizing the extraordinary item. Customizing it will take a lot of time.”
Thorne said, “I understand, I understand! I have plenty of time, I can wait.”
...
Rate on N.U.
