Chapter 15: I can’t resist the urge to do academic research!
After Monet signed this humiliating contract, Luvia calmly used Appraisal on her.
[-1 Gold Coin]
[Monet]
[Strength: 5]
[Endurance: 4]
[Intelligence: 98]
[Charm: 9]
[Mana: 1067]
[Affection: -24]
[Obedience: 1]
[Value Assessment: 120 Gold Coins]
[Trait 1: Alchemist (B)]
[This unit is diligent and eager to learn, extremely intelligent, and has attained profound achievements in alchemy.]
[Trait 2: Rune Mastery (B+)]
[This unit is proficient in magic circuit craftsmanship and receives additional bonuses when performing magitech-related tasks.]
[Trait 3: Drunkard (D-)]
[This unit is addicted to alcohol. When drunk, her creative inspiration increases.]
[Trait 4: Academic ?? (??)]
[This unit can convert ?? of ?? into ?? toward academics…]
Over a thousand points in mana… This was the highest total mana Luvia had ever seen on a beautiful girl.
She remembered that in the original setting, a total mana of one thousand was the level of a third-tier mage. In the Avalon Kingdom, that was already enough to apply for some quite important security positions.
That said, why was the affection so deeply negative?
Luvia felt she had already tried very hard to keep a smile. Although the contract was indeed somewhat unfair, the affection shouldn’t be this low, right?
Her gaze continued downward… The value assessment was actually 120 gold coins?
Luvia clicked her tongue inwardly.
She had looked through Monet’s resume, and it was indeed worth 120 gold coins.
It was just hard to imagine that such a promising alchemy professor would have fallen into such a wretched state.
Luvia thought of Floshi, who was worth 70 gold coins… However, her own maid’s value actually came entirely from her wanted poster.
Finally, there were Monet’s traits…
Seeing the string of question marks on Trait 4, Luvia suddenly felt a surge of excitement.
Monet’s traits actually included an unknown entry?
In “Bonds”, to prevent players from only raising characters based on color and ignoring those below golden traits, there existed a type of blind box trait whose effects could not be seen through Appraisal.
They could only be unlocked through攻略 or long-term interaction… and there was a high chance of revealing gold-rank or higher entries!
From the looks of it, Professor Monet wasn’t completely without value for nurturing…
Luvia shifted her attention to the remaining traits…
Monet’s Alchemist trait was only B-rank potential?
Luvia recalled Floshi’s A- rank alchemy potential, and her eyes flickered.
It seemed that nurturing Floshi’s alchemy talent had been the correct choice…
“…”
There was just one thing…
Thinking of this, Luvia suddenly fell into thought.
During this week,
she had trained Shuang Sha for free, hired Shuang Na to gather magic materials, and paid out of her own pocket for Floshi to learn alchemy…
Such behavior…
Did it still fit the character setting of “Villainess Luvia”?
Luvia had never forgotten the existence of the plot correction mechanism… But at the same time, she also wanted to test where exactly the “bottom line” of correction lay.
The plot required Luvia to bully young girls and then suffer their revenge.
So, would “bullying” in the form of employment be recognized by the plot?
If… the evil female villain turned into an evil capitalist, and bullying turned into exploitation,
what would the revenge from the heroines become then?
Luvia could only try hard to stop herself from thinking about these things…
There were less than four weeks left until the first reckoning in the plot.
Before that, she must continuously strengthen her own forces.
Not only to guard against the revenge of the angel Floshi… but also to prepare for the “plot correction” that could happen at any time!
…
“Hey, the contract has been signed. It’s time to give me the new healing potion formula, right?”
Hearing Monet’s impatient tone, Luvia slowly pulled back her thoughts…
“Of course, no problem…”
“But before that, let me show you your future laboratory first.”
Luvia smiled slightly at Monet…
Speaking of this alchemy laboratory, it was all thanks to Floshi.
She had written a letter to the Caris Duke who was far away at the border, saying that Floshi wanted to learn alchemy and that she hoped to build a private laboratory for her.
The result needed no explanation. Upon learning that Luvia was willing to reconcile with Floshi, the Duke had almost shed tears of joy.
Thus, in just a few days, the framework of the laboratory had already taken shape…
“By the way, Monet, how much research funding are you expecting?”
Luvia asked casually, pretending to be indifferent…
During this week, Shuang Na had collected quite a lot of alchemy materials, but the liquid funds in Luvia’s own hands were truly quite limited.
“Funding?”
Monet snorted. She had just been threatened by this little runt in front of her and forced to sign an overbearing contract. Her anger had not yet subsided.
“At the very least…”
Her eyes rolled. “20 gold coins a month!”
Monet spoke quite forcefully, but upon hearing this, Luvia suddenly stopped in her tracks.
Immediately after, that pair of deep eyes fell upon Monet.
“Uh…” For some reason, a few drops of cold sweat appeared on Monet’s forehead. “Actually, 10 gold coins should be enough…”
Monet tactfully lowered her demand…
But the silver-haired girl’s extremely oppressive gaze still did not disappear.
“7 coins, I can’t go any lower!” Monet gritted her teeth and said,
“Even if your potion formula is truly promising… if the research funding is less than 7 gold coins, I won’t be able to do anything!”
But even after she put it this way,
Luvia’s face once again revealed that chilling smile:
“I’ll give you this much…”
She stretched out one small hand, spread her five fingers, and gently waved them in front of Monet.
“5 gold coins a month? Are you trying to send off a beggar??”
Monet finally could no longer endure Luvia’s exploitation.
You want the horse to run, yet you don’t want it to eat grass? Where in the world does such a thing exist??
“…”
But Luvia simply looked at Professor Monet, who had opened her mouth like a lion, and felt secretly amused.
She didn’t explain. She simply turned and walked into the laboratory door…
“Hey, wait… a moment…”
Before Monet could finish her sentence, the words got stuck in her throat…
Because behind that heavy magic crystal door—
For the first time, Monet wanted to use the word “magnificent” to describe alchemy equipment…
“Hey… why are there mithril inlays on the reagent bottles?”
“What is this? Using magic beast crystal cores as glass??”
“The isolation room walls are 50 centimeters thick refined gold? Are you planning to lock a dragon inside!?”
Monet clutched her head in disbelief, her eyes losing focus, as if she couldn’t comprehend what she was seeing.
She was so poor she couldn’t even afford food, yet suddenly she was seeing someone using gold to pave their floors?
“Pick a laboratory room to stay in. There are living quarters inside.”
Luvia paid no attention to Monet’s shock.
Her fingers twirled in her hair, her tone completely casual.
“The material storage is at the end of the corridor. For now, there are only low-tier materials. You can take them freely after registering.”
“Also, regarding research funding, it will be 50 gold coins per month. If you need more, just report it to me…”
[Beep~]
Before she could finish, a familiar notification sound rang out.
[The girl’s heart is pounding because of you. “Monet” is very much looking forward to what will happen next!]
“…”
This could trigger a romance option too??
Luvia’s eye twitched. She couldn’t help but glance sideways at Monet beside her,
only to find…
The latter was breathing heavily, her face flushed red as she stared fixedly at her.
“Hey, I only approved some research funding for you…”
Luvia said, somewhat puzzled.
“What kind of reaction is this…?”
In the next second, three option boxes had already unfolded before her eyes.
[1. Suggestively say to her: Want more funding? Come to my room after work. (Affection)]
[2. Take out a whip and lash her hard: You’re getting happy too early! Did you think this young lady’s money is so easy to get? (Endurance)]
[3. Teasingly say to her: I know, it’s been a long time since you’ve engaged in any academic activities… You’re almost at your limit, aren’t you? (Unknown Trait Clue)]
Luvia: “???”