Chapter 62: Obtaining The Alchemist

Chapter 62: Chapter 62: Obtaining The Alchemist

Derrick stood near the doorway. He did not say anything and watched Beth work.

This is why she needed the money so badly.

Within a few minutes, the woman’s eyes grew heavy, the medication pulling her under.

Beth waited until her breathing evened out into a slow, steady rhythm before gently pulling the blanket higher and stepping back.

She led Keira and Derrick out into the living room, closing the bedroom door softly behind her.

"Please wait here for a minute. I will put on some tea—"

"There is no need for such formalities." Keira could see her injuries were still bleeding, and the fact that her mother did not see it told her how bad her condition was. "Come, sit down. You need more rest than this idiot student of mine does."

Derrick shot her a look but nodded nonetheless, "for once she is right."

Beth sat down on the worn couch, hands folded tightly in her lap, staring at the floor.

"If you don’t mind, can you tell me why those people are trying so hard to interfere in your business?" Derrick asked once he noticed she had calmed down.

Beth was surprised by the sudden question. A flicker of hesitation passed through her face before it disappeared once she saw him patiently waiting for her response.

"My dad died when I was young," she said finally, voice quiet. "Mom raised me on her own after that. She worked two jobs just to keep food on the table."

"A few years ago, she got diagnosed." Beth’s jaw tightened. "It is a chronic disease that is hard and expensive to get rid of. All the money I took on loan went into keeping her injuries from getting worse, but those medicines too won’t last more than a year."

"So you took a loan to get her medicine?" Keira said quietly from where she leaned against the wall. "Why not take one through a bank?"

"The bank never gives loans to people like us." Beth let out a humorless laugh. "I have to stand in a line and wait just to feel like a simple employee who will eventually reject my request."

"I opened the Alchemy shop hoping it would be enough," Beth continued. "But it wasn’t. So I borrowed money I shouldn’t have, from people I shouldn’t have trusted, because I didn’t have any other choice left."

Derrick nodded silently. I have to approach this topic delicately or else everything might turn into shit.

"Now I take care of her," Beth said, voice steadying, some quiet resolve settling back into her spine despite everything. "But ever since I took the loan, every day has been hell. They come and harass me at the shop every time a customer approaches me to buy something."

"They scare the customers away, and I have been dealing in secret just enough to keep the lights on and not to get noticed by them."

She is smart. The thought appeared in both the teacher’s and the student’s heads at the same time.

"That’s it. That’s the whole story."

Derrick glanced toward the closed bedroom door before finally opening his mouth.

"Beth. I did not get to explain myself clearly before." Derrick leaned forward in the chair and explained truthfully. "I did not come for any pills. I came here just for you."

"Me?" If someone else had said this, she would have recoiled in fear or disgust, but Beth only tilted her head with confusion.

This womanizing student of mine... Keira clicked her tongue and looked away.

"I have been looking for a talented Alchemist to sponsor for a business of mine. Honestly, I was doubtful at first, but your talent in alchemy is unquestionably great."

Both Keira and Beth looked at Derrick as if wondering what he was just saying.

"Believe me. No one else can claim that they have been practicing alchemy for a few months on their own and managed to produce a 40% pure Unranked pill."

When he finally explained his reasoning, even Keira looked at the girl in a new light.

The indifference from before flickered into something new. She was analyzing the girl, wondering if she was really capable of something like that.

"I am... not that good." Beth lowered her head, her shoulders trembling.

Derrick sighed and got up from the seat. He walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You should be proud, Beth. I tell no lies; you have good talent but no guidance. Come with me, and I will give you everything you need to climb as an alchemist."

Keira wondered where he got the confidence to boast those claims from, but then she recalled the pills he had taken.

Does he have another teacher? Someone who is teaching him alchemy.

That thought stuck in her head. She was curious to know as fast as possible, but she also decided to respect her disciple’s privacy.

"Go with you? I don’t know anything about you? Where do you come from? Besides, I have to take care of my mom here."

Beth was right. She did not even know him, so she could not expect him to leave everything and follow him.

But Derrick was prepared.

"Because I will pay you. I will give you a monthly wage of 50,000 Social Credit. In return you will work for me and create the pills I ask you to create." Derrick sat beside Beth and calmly explained. "You can move with your mom to TianChen Town; I will provide you the materials and..."

One by one, he started listing all the benefits that she would get if she worked for him.

She wanted to take some time to think everything over, but Derrick told her a simple answer.

"Beth. I can give you time, but I am not sure if you have it. Those people might come here in search of you to take revenge. Even though there are people who are looking for them, there is no guarantee they can be taken down all at once."

Hearing that, the color that had returned to Beth’s face disappeared.

"There are many questions I want to ask. Many doubts I want to clear, but I guess I have no other choice..." Beth lowered her head in defeat, her voice dropping to a whisper.

"How about this? Why not first come to the city back with us, and then w e calmly sit back down and talk?" Derrick’s final concession gave her a lot of relief. The fact that he was willing to go that far for her meant that he was serious about the offer and did not want to take advantage of her.

Before Derrick could do anything, Keira dumped cold water on all of his dreams. "Before you get your tits all riled up, do you even have a place to make them stay at?"