Chapter 384 - 384 - A Sale You Chase Isn't a Sale

Listening to the urgent shouts echoing down the corridor, Margaret, draped in a red cloak over a high-slit winter formal vestment with a red base and black trim, her feet in over-the-knee black heeled boots, frowned.

She lifted a hand to tuck her fiery red hair behind her ear, the emerald, agate-bright earring swaying and catching the light with the motion.

Just three days, and the Treatment Center's situation... has already gotten this tense.

Thinking of Evilus's usual methods, Margaret's gaze narrowed slightly.

So this was part of their calculations too? Wounding rather than killing, using a never-ending stream of casualties to grind down the treatment system and drain the logistical strength of the Order Alliance...

Hss...

They're having a hard time, so they won't let us have an easy time either?

...Truly a thorny strategy.

The thought left her expression all the more grave.

Her wariness toward that [Arachnia] deepened a few notches.

"Hello, are you a member of Demeter Familia?"

"Um, I don't think I've seen you before... so, are you a newcomer who joined recently?"

A voice laced with curiosity and warmth came suddenly from the bench across the way.

Margaret pulled herself out of her thoughts, lifted her head, and a textbook ladylike smile surfaced on her face as she extended a hand to introduce herself:

"Hello, I'm Margaret Odius, from Demeter Familia."

"Hello! I'm Anakitty Autumn, from Loki Familia."

Loki Familia?

Margaret studied the catperson girl across from her, who looked a few years younger than herself, with a touch of surprise. She'd never have guessed... that this girl came from the famous Loki Familia.

It had been a good while now since Leon summoned her to this world.

Back in her original world, Margaret had been the academy's renowned top student, possessed of both beauty and brains. So after arriving in this world, her excellent way of thinking and her curiosity about new things led her to immediately read books like A Brief History of Orario and Familia Myths, the historical and reference sort. Add to that the various anecdotes about other Familias that Jeanne and the others would bring up in conversation, and she quickly gained a clear grasp of the common knowledge and the lay of the land here.

It was precisely because of this that she understood exactly how much weight Loki Familia carried.

Only, her angle on the matter was different.

She didn't just see the formidable strength of one of Orario's "twin pillars," nor did she merely know the thunderous titles of [Braver], [Nine Hell], and [Elgarm]. What left the deepest impression on her was how high the bar was for joining a top-tier large Familia like that.

As far as she knew, that goddess Loki had extraordinarily high standards. Anyone she didn't click with, whose temperament didn't suit her, who didn't sit right with her, or who lacked talent, basically had no chance of being taken into her Familia.

The number of people across the whole city who longed to join Loki Familia could probably line up and wrap around Orario a hundred times over, easily.

But how many of them actually got their wish?

Setting aside the Lv.2 and Lv.3 Adventurers who joined as immediate combat power through conversion, the ones who managed to join straight from the newcomer stage could probably be counted on one's fingers.

Clearly, this Anakitty Autumn before her was one of them.

At that thought, Margaret's attitude shifted subtly, and she asked with a hint of curiosity:

"For you to be here, that means... a guard duty?"

Aki nodded, saying a little sheepishly:

"Well, the thing is... I'm only Lv.1. A guard assignment like this normally wouldn't fall to me, but lately everyone's been so busy there's no one to spare, so..."

Margaret's eyes filled with understanding.

"So, Miss Margaret, are you a newcomer too?"

"Oh? Why do you think that?"

"Um... because during the expedition earlier, I saw the team Mr. Leon was leading."

The moment she said it, Margaret understood.

"Aki! Come give us a hand!"

Just as the two were about to keep chatting, a Loki Familia healer girl not far off called out loudly.

"Miss Margaret, they're calling me over there, I'll go help first! Let's talk again when there's time!"

"Of course."

Watching her figure disappear around the corner of the corridor, Margaret gently crossed her legs, her fingers unconsciously brushing the tights on her thigh, a thoughtful look flickering through her eyes.

"A newcomer who got to join Loki Familia directly... by Leon's way of putting it, this should count as a 'promising prospect.'"

"If it's her..."

Thinking of the task Leon had handed her, Margaret felt a headache coming on.

"Pitching merchandise, of all things... with skin as thin as mine, how am I ever supposed to do it well!"

"Honestly, you should just come do it yourself..."

She lightly rubbed her temples, as if they really did ache faintly.

"Wouldn't it be simpler to just go straight to that Braver or Nine Hell? Why go to all the trouble of these big detours..."

"And on top of that, this is the Dian Cecht Familia Treatment Center."

Margaret sighed, finally giving up on stewing over it.

Since she couldn't puzzle out the twists and turns of it, she might as well set it aside for the time being.

...

Leon's house, the basement workshop.

"So you're saying, you had Margaret use the chance of Iri and Lydia supporting at the Treatment Center to show off the 'Wild Mixture' while she was at it?"

Rose leaned elegantly against the door frame, arms lightly folded, watching the busy figure at the workbench with interest.

A faint glow of Magic swirled in Leon's eyes as he held a stirring rod in one hand, standing steadily beside the alchemy cauldron, guiding Magic into the solution and mixing it to a certain specific rhythm.

Working away with practiced ease, he chatted with Rose unhurriedly:

"There's an old saying in the East: a sale you chase isn't a sale."

"If I went and pitched the 'Wild Mixture' to Loki or Freya Familia myself, versus them coming to our door on their own, do you think those two would be the same?"

Rose nodded thoughtfully:

"Flip it around, and if they come to us on their own, then the bargaining power and the initiative... are in our hands."

Leon watched the solution gradually bubbling away inside the cauldron, carefully put on his alchemy goggles, then slowed his movements and increased the flow of Magic.

"That's exactly the delicate part."

"I can't come across as too eager, but I still have to find a way to sell the stuff. So I need to find the right occasion, and let them 'happen' to learn that the 'Wild Mixture' exists."

"Once they get wind of what this thing does from Margaret, then with how obsessed these fanatics are over glory, ambition, reputation, faith, and all that, I won't have to lift a finger. They'll come take the bait on their own."

"So that's why you thought of the Treatment Center?"

"Well, lately the only place to get close to them... is pretty much just there."

Rose still seemed a little puzzled:

"But what we're running... is an exclusive business."

Leon smiled, his expression heavy with meaning:

"Even an exclusive business comes down to the strength and posture of both sides."

...

...

[Read 20+ chapters ahead on Patreon: patreon.com/NiaXD]