“Tori, you look really happy today.” Xilika looked at her cheerful daughter, curious.

Tori didn't hide it. “I went to see the Chief today and asked him about the Magic Academy. He said I could come to him anytime with questions, and he'd answer them for me.”

“Oh? The Chief? Really? He’s willing to teach you?”

Tori furrowed one eyebrow. “I wouldn’t exactly call it teaching. He just said I could come ask him questions—and that he might have some snacks for me.”

Xilika couldn't help laughing. Kids that age were always so eager for treats.

Then she told Tori, “You have to be a good girl, okay~? If the Chief kicks you out, there’s nothing Mom can do for you~”

“He won’t do that~ The Chief is really nice.”

“Hehe~” Xilika chuckled. She'd never attended the Magic Academy herself, but her daughter might get to. That left her with plenty of worries, so if the Chief could pass on some advice to Tori ahead of time, all the better.

Everyone in the village had seen what Fusi looked like when he became the first person from their village to enroll at the Magic Academy. He didn't want to drop out, but whenever he came back to the village during the holidays, his gloomy expression was hard not to worry about.

Xilika was an adult, after all. She knew how cruel the world could be. Surviving was no easy thing, and the Magic Academy might not be any kind of paradise, even if tuition cost a whole gold coin.

But to think that paying that one gold coin meant the Academy would treat everyone equally? That was probably wishful thinking.

Still, children had to grow up. If they didn't have the means, there was nothing to be done. But if they did, she wanted her daughter to have every chance to grow into someone exceptional.

“Don’t worry, Mom! Once I get into the Magic Academy, I’ll become really strong and earn lots of money. Then we can buy a house in the city and live there, with plenty to eat and wear!”

Xilika ruffled Tori’s hair again. “Then I’ll look forward to that day~ Don’t forget to water the crops for me tomorrow. I have to go into town to buy some cloth, then visit your dad.”

“Okay! Leave it to me!”

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Xilika set out.

After watching her mother leave, Tori carefully took care of everything Xilika had asked her to do. By the time the sun was high in the sky, she went to see the Chief again.

“Chief~”

“Tori, what are you doing here?” A boy about as tall as her stood at the door. His name was Boris, the Chief’s grandson, and he was a year younger than Tori. He always acted like a little adult, though, and looked down on playing with kids like her.

Tori answered frankly, “I came to ask the Chief some questions.”

“My grandpa’s busy.” He didn't seem too happy about Tori coming to his house.

“Why don’t you ask the Chief first?”

Just as Tori said that, the Chief appeared at the door. “Boris, open the door and let Tori in. I told her to come.”

“Huh? Grandpa, what do you want her for?”

“Tori’s thinking ahead about enrolling in the Magic Academy, so she came to ask me some questions. Unlike you, kid—you never want to listen when I tell you this stuff! Come sit down and listen with Tori!”

“Huh?!”

Boris wasn’t having that. The old man loved going on and on about useless things, and listening to him gave Boris a headache. He slipped past Tori. “I’ve got plans to go play with my friends! I’m off!”

Then he bolted out the door.

The Chief looked thoroughly exasperated. “Oh, that boy! One of these days, he’s going to learn the hard way!”

Tori thought he probably wouldn’t learn too hard a lesson. After all, she’d heard the old man gave him two doses of Meditation Potion every week. He might even be able to one-shot her with magic as she was now.

The Chief sighed. “Kids that age are supposed to be like that. It’s not so bad, really. But don’t you go copying him, Tori.”

Tori didn't know what to say.

The Chief invited Tori to sit in a chair, then brought her a cup of warm milk. “Are you really that curious about the Magic Academy? Most kids aren’t this interested in it. You should be at an age when you can just enjoy yourself.”

Tori puffed out her chest. She was sure he had that completely wrong. “Grandpa Chief, a few days ago I went out by myself and gathered a lot of ice mint. Then Mom and I sold it for one silver coin and eight copper coins.”

“Hmm?” That was surprising—not because the amount was so large, but because it was unusual for a child that age to do something like that.

She put on an innocent expression. “Then we used the money to eat a really big meal. So I want to know, can you earn lots of money if you go to the Magic Academy?”

And there it was: somehow, the conversation had come back around to food.

The Chief chuckled. “Yes, you’re right. Leaving everything else aside, if you can master the right knowledge, you can make money after going to the Magic Academy… Can you use magic?”

The girl proudly put her hands on her hips.

She held out one hand, and a fine layer of frost formed over her small palm.

“Not bad. Have you been drinking Meditation Potion?”

The girl shook her head. “I just meditate every day—Mom says it can make me stronger.”

“Impressive. Looks like you’re very good at meditating. You’ll be much stronger than your parents someday, at the very least.” The Chief didn't skimp on his praise.

The girl bashfully scratched her cheek.

“I just… really like it.”

The Chief beamed with approval. “Interest is a wonderful teacher. If you’re interested in something, that says a lot about what you’ll achieve in the future! You’re going to go far!”

“Grandpa Chief, I mean… I’m really interested in money.”

Just like that, the conversation turned rather mundane.

The Chief looked a little awkward. “Uh… you mean you like money, so you work hard at meditating because you want to earn more?”

“Mm-hmm!” The girl nodded firmly.

“Well, that’s not a bad way to look at it.”

The girl gazed at the Chief with shining, expectant eyes.

The Chief gave a light cough. “Well, if you want to make money, you should become a merchant. Merchants are the richest people around. Just like those people who came to the village to buy red peppers a couple of days ago. Do you want to be like them?”

“Hmm… I think I could do that!”

The confidence behind that answer seemed to come from nowhere, and it made the Chief laugh.

“Actually, there’s a profession that makes even more money than being a merchant.”

The girl’s eyes sparkled. She really did see money and light up, but the Chief didn't mind people like that. Sometimes they were surprisingly simplehearted.

“Potion Maker.”

“A Potion Maker!”

“That’s right! Take Meditation Potion, for example. What we can buy right now—and what I give my grandson—is Miniature Meditation Potion. Miniature Stamina Potion, Miniature Cold-Resistance Potion, Hot Potion, Blood-Flow Potion… Those are all made by Potion Makers. If you can make potions like those, you can earn a lot of money.”

“Grandpa Chief, are you a Potion Maker?”

The Chief paused, then shook his head. “I’m not. I was a Potion Maker’s apprentice for a while and learned a few things, but in the end, I wasn’t accepted as a disciple. It was a real shame. I wanted to become a Potion Maker, too.”

“But Grandpa Chief, don’t Potion Makers sell their potions to merchants, and then we buy them from the merchants? Doesn’t that mean merchants still make more money?”

The girl was clever.

Cleverer than he’d expected.

The old Chief came to a conclusion. “For ordinary potions, merchants probably do make more money—if you don’t count advanced potions.”

“Advanced potions.”

Tori repeated the words slowly, one at a time.

“That’s right. Mages meditate constantly, and when their magic reaches a certain level, it undergoes a qualitative change. After that, they become much stronger. Usually, their stamina, magic, and intelligence all improve. But if they take an advanced potion when that change happens, things are completely different.”

The Chief described it with some pride. “Take Tier One potions, for example. I know of one advanced potion called Firebird Potion. If you take it while advancing to Tier One, your fire magic becomes especially powerful. Even if you simply release your magic, you can form a firebird to attack. It puts you on a completely different level from someone who hasn't taken an advanced potion.”

Tori froze. This wasn't what she'd imagined. She'd thought advanced potions were something you took to level up, but it turned out they simply made you stronger in battle.

“There are all kinds of advanced potions in the world. I’ve heard there are hundreds of Tier One advanced potions alone—and that’s just the ones people know about. But only Potion Makers can brew them. Even when it’s the same potion, the recipe changes subtly depending on who’ll take it. That’s the heart of what makes a Potion Maker valuable. If you keep meditating, you should have a chance to break through to Tier One by the time you enroll next year. But if you want a Potion Maker to brew an advanced potion for you, you’ll need at least… ten gold coins.”

“100k?!”

Why not just rob people?

The ten gold coins had clearly stunned Tori. She fell silent for a long while.

“One way or another, people with greater strength are the ones who earn respect. Someone who’s taken an advanced potion and someone who hasn’t are on completely different levels in a fight. The Fusi family clearly couldn’t afford to buy him an advanced potion. But city people can afford at least the first three tiers of these potions. So… he probably felt enormous pressure from his classmates.”

The old Chief sighed.

“Then! Then, Grandpa Chief! What do I have to do to become a Potion Maker?!”

Damn, the ultimate technical monopoly. Now that was the real way to make money. Money had Tori completely blinded, and she could hardly wait to give it a try.

“Grandpa Chief doesn’t know how to become a Potion Maker. I never made it, after all. But there are things you can start learning ahead of time—at the very least, you should learn to recognize ingredients, like the basic ingredients for Tier One potions…” He went inside and came back with a book.

“These are the notes I kept when I was studying. You can borrow them and learn from them. If there’s anything you don’t understand, come ask me. And once you’ve learned, you can make some money for yourself, too.”

He smiled as he mentioned money.

Tori smiled, too.

She accepted the book. “Thank you, Grandpa Chief!”

“If you really do become a Potion Maker, could you brew some potions for Boris someday?”

It was a kind of investment, though the chances of paying off weren't high. Still, in a village like Lusaka, it was rare to find a girl willing to study this kind of knowledge. He might as well help her out. Besides, plenty of adults wouldn't study these notes even if they were this age. As they put it, they’d be better off planting a couple more red pepper plants.

He hoped the girl would stick with it for more than a few days.