Chapter 12
"Will it really remain as a series of potions? It kind of looked like our honoured genius alchemist is working alone without a workshop…. Ah, but how could he meticulously craft this kind of potion all by himself? Looking at things like this, you can really feel that geniuses do exist in this world for real."
Right now, they were taking a short break from answering the endless deluge of phone calls. When the employee spoke in admiration, Hazeline let out a sigh and leered at him.
"…Uh-whew. What will I do, when even you start referring him as a genius? That’s just an empty shell of a praise tacked on the guy to make the mass media and the Knights Orders sweat extra hard for a bit. So, what d’ya mean, he’s a genius?! Just give it a rest, already. A genius, a greatest, a maestro, a virtuoso - none of those words should mix up with our profession, and neither should we try to use them."
"Eiii… But it’s all coming from the community chat room sites first. Right now, even the Alchemy Cafe is in an upheaval. They are asking if they could meet him…" (TL: a Cafe is not a physical coffee shop but an internet forum a la Discord or Reddit. Just your everyday Korean slang term…)
Feeling good in the knowledge that this great sales result would lead to fat bonuses for everyone, the male employee was chatting away in a high-enough spirit, but he calmed right down the moment he came in contact with inexplicably icy gazes. He had stepped onto a potential land mine without realising it. Seeing the sight of Hazeline lightly biting her lower lip with the corner of his eyes, the employee’s forehead broke out in drops of sweat.
"Hey, you. Are you still looking at those? Didn’t I repeatedly tell you not to waste your time in those damn gossip sites? Because that’s where the f*cked up bastards hiding behind the veil of anonymity spread around vile, baseless rumours!"
"I’m truly sorry."
The employee apologised in earnest as he knew the Manager deeply hated excuses and hasty explanations.
"Fuu… No need to apologise, instead, just go and do your job. I’ll make sure to ask what our genius alchemist’s deepest thoughts are or what the plans of his future happen to be."
"Yes!"
The employee left her side and as soon as all signs of people around her were gone for good, Hazeline grabbed her mobile phone. She was acting complete opposite to how she’d been coldly treating her subordinate just now, her demeanor currently full of respect.
– Ring, ring.
She waited for a while, but in the end, all she got was "The person you dialled is busy…"
"He said he’s got only a home number so why isn’t he picking it up?"
Hazeline cocked an eyebrow in dissatisfaction. She’s been calling the number 10 times already, but for some reason she couldn’t even get a single answer.
– Ppiiii…. Please leave a message after the tone.
"Hello…. Sir Alchemist? This is Hazeline speaking. I’m the only person who knows this number so please relax. The reason for me calling you this time, is… I was wondering if you’d like to have a work-related dinner with me some time…"
***
Thanks to Alchemy, his worries over money had been solved. The reserve price for his potion per bottle was $450K US. On top of that, he had already sold 2 through the sales commissions, one for over $620K, and the other for over $530K.
Even after deducting the sales tax and the Alchemy House’
;s cut, he would still end up pocketing well over $1.3 million US. This was an amount he’d never even dreamt of having in his life. However, he also couldn’t have imagined seeing this amount leave him in one go, either.