The Girl Who Looted Tomorrow

“Huh?”

Doctor Ansel froze. He had never expected this supposed “big deal” to be quite so big, or quite so explosive. For a moment, he even wondered whether he had heard her correctly.

“Uh... what did you just say?”

“I want to buy potions,” Freya said. “Is something wrong?”

Even Euphemia was briefly stunned. She had not expected Faye to be so direct.

But after thinking back, it did not seem all that surprising. When they first met, had Faye not dropped one shocking statement after another in exactly the same way?

Doctor Ansel wiped away the sweat that had somehow appeared on his forehead.

In truth, shortly after sitting down, he had already used [Mind Reading]. But the ability seemed to have stopped working. Forget reading Freya’s thoughts, he could not even tell whether the girl in front of him was lying.

Euphemia stepped in to support Freya.

“Money will not be an issue. And if your organization has other requirements besides money, I, [Euphemia Mo Holmes], will do my best to meet them.”

“Hol... Holmes!?”

Ansel nearly stammered.

Euphemia’s words might have sounded humble, as though she were willing to meet any condition they set.

In reality, it was the exact opposite.

Revealing her full name was itself a show of force, because the [Holmes] family was one of the three ducal houses of the Kingdom of Tarapaca.

A duke stood at the very top of the nobility, beneath only His Majesty the King.

Even Freya had been surprised when she first learned this. But after thinking about it, it was not strange at all. Euphemia’s grandfather was someone who could casually obtain detailed military intelligence.

Although they were currently inside the Empire, and Euphemia was a noble from the neighboring kingdom, the title of duke was still intimidating enough.

At the very least, a nobody like Ansel absolutely could not afford to offend one.

Ansel had only joined the Society through a lucky coincidence. He had drunk a Rank One Mind Path potion and now worked as an ordinary therapist in this branch of the Mind Research Society, simply trying to earn a living.

He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead again.

“Normally, anyone who wants to obtain a Mind Path potion must first pass an assessment conducted by the branch director. If they qualify, they receive a bottle after joining the Society.”

“If you do not wish to join and instead want to purchase potions directly, I honestly do not know how much that would cost. This is not something a D-rank therapist like me can decide. How about this? I’ll take you to meet the branch director.”

Ansel stood and walked in the direction he had come from. Freya and Euphemia followed him.

On the way, Freya casually asked, “By the way, what are the exact conditions for joining? What kind of person passes the assessment, and what kind of person fails?”

“Well...” Ansel hesitated. “I don’t know either. There doesn’t seem to be a fixed standard. If the branch director says you qualify, then you qualify.”

Freya asked again, “Then how did you pass? What exactly happened during your assessment?”

“That part I remember pretty clearly,” Ansel said. “We were in his office, and the branch director asked me about some ordinary things in my life. I had just lost my job at the time, so I spent a long while complaining about everything that had been going wrong.”

“After that, he approved my application and gave me a potion.”

“Huh?”

Freya raised an eyebrow.

That was completely different from what she had imagined.

The Mind Research Society was unquestionably a major organization. Why was its admission process so... casual?

They had simply chatted, and then he was accepted?

Or perhaps...

Freya suddenly realized that the branch director had to be a high-ranking Mind Path practitioner. She did not know his exact Rank, but he was surely extremely skilled at manipulating the mind.

Perhaps the branch director had done something during that interview, but Ansel simply did not remember it.

The group made their way to the third floor and stopped before a white office door. Faint voices could be heard from inside.

Ansel knocked. The conversation beyond the door stopped immediately.

“Branch Director, are you there? Two... high-ranking nobles from the Kingdom of Tarapaca would like to speak with you. Do you have time right now?”

Freya had never said she was a noble.

But she had not said she was an ordinary person either. Ansel naturally assumed that both girls were important figures.

“High-ranking nobles from the Kingdom of Tarapaca?”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

A surprisingly young voice came from inside.

“Let them in. I happen to be free.”

Ansel opened the door, then stepped aside.

“Please, go ahead and talk. I’ll wait outside. Call me anytime if you need anything.”

After entering, Freya first looked around.

The office was more spacious than she had expected, and everything had been kept extremely neat and clean. Two large bookshelves stood against the left wall, both packed with books.

There were also two people in the room.

A boy who appeared to be around Freya’s age sat behind the desk. He was probably the person who had just spoken, as well as the branch director of this local Mind Research Society.

Standing beside him was a person with long golden hair tied into a high ponytail. They wore light makeup, a fitted skirt, and black stockings, giving them a sharp and professional appearance.

When Freya and Euphemia entered, the person even winked at them.

“I’ll go take care of something else, then.”

The moment they spoke, both Freya and Euphemia froze.

What came from that elegant woman’s mouth was an unmistakably deep, masculine voice.

That person was a man?

After he left, the young branch director smiled at them.

“My name is [Thorn Grant]. I am the branch director of this city’s [Mind Research Society]. What can I do for you?”

After recovering from her brief confusion, Freya answered directly.

“I want one Mind Path potion. Or several. Ideally, I want everything from Rank One through Rank Four.”

“?”

Thorn’s gentle expression stiffened.

Before this moment, he had never imagined that this so-called “big deal” would truly be this big.

Who opened a conversation by directly asking for potions from Rank One through Rank Four?

Was that any different from visiting someone’s home and immediately asking for the combination to their safe?

“I’m sorry,” Thorn said. “Mind Path potions are important assets of the [Mind Research Society]. They are not sold to outsiders.”

Euphemia answered just as directly.

“When people say something is not for sale, it usually only means the offered price is not high enough. My name is [Euphemia Mo Holmes]. My grandfather is a Rank Five [Craftsman]. If you want a custom-made extraordinary item, I can help arrange one. How about exchanging that for the potions?”

As expected, Thorn fell silent.

Euphemia’s offer was genuinely too tempting.

Extraordinary items did not have a clearly defined quality system, but items made by higher-ranking [Craftsmen] were naturally more powerful.

A Rank Five [Craftsman] was extraordinarily rare.

Having someone like that create a custom extraordinary item was, in a sense, almost equivalent to gaining an entirely new extraordinary ability.

“Ahem.”

Thorn cleared his throat and put on a serious expression.

“Actually, I think you are right. Rules are fixed, but people can be flexible. There is always a way.”

Freya looked at Euphemia.

“Wouldn’t that be a little much? Making your grandfather go through all that trouble just for me?”

“It’s fine,” Euphemia said. “Didn’t we resolve the crisis involving General Jerome recently? When my grandfather learned about it, he praised me several times and asked whether I wanted any reward.”

“But I didn’t really contribute much. Most of the credit was yours. So using my reward on you is perfectly reasonable, right?”

“All right.”

Of course, although Freya said that aloud, her actual thoughts were different.

They were inside a simulation right now.

Even if Euphemia used up the promised reward, Freya could simply obtain the Mind Path potions and then end the simulation. Euphemia’s grandfather would still owe her the reward in reality, while Freya would also keep access to the potions through the save file.

Would that not be getting everything for free?

Thorn knew nothing about Freya’s little scheme.

As the branch director, he was actually a Rank Four Mind Path [Mind Reader]. But that did not mean he constantly used [Mind Reading] to spy on everyone.

Ansel had treated Freya and Euphemia as ordinary people, which was why he tried to read their minds the moment they met.

Thorn knew both girls were anything but ordinary. Naturally, he would not casually use the ability on them.

What if they noticed?

How were they supposed to continue negotiating after that?

Thorn said, “How about this? You can officially join the Mind Research Society in name. In the report I submit to [Headquarters], I’ll praise both of you as much as possible and apply for Mind Path potions on your behalf at the fastest possible speed.”

“In reality, your membership will only exist on paper. You won’t need to perform any duties. What do you think?”

Freya could not help commenting, “So even though you’re the branch director, if you want potions, you still have to ask someone else for them?”

“I know the potion formulas,” Thorn said. “But I have no way to obtain the required ingredients.”

It was worth mentioning that although the official Path of the Kingdom of Tarapaca was the Law Path, and the official Path of the Fanipaca Empire was the Moon Path, that did not mean those countries could only produce practitioners from those particular Paths.

General Jerome, for example, had been born in the Kingdom of Tarapaca, yet he followed the War Path.

An official Path simply meant that, aside from possessing deep knowledge of that Path, the country also controlled the necessary ingredients, processing methods, manufacturing techniques, and the entire production chain required to create finished potions.

The Kingdom of Tarapaca could produce Law Path practitioners in large numbers.

As for other Paths, obtaining their potions was still possible with enough effort. But it was troublesome, and the supply could never be very large.

Thorn was in the same situation.

He knew the formulas for Mind Path potions, but he lacked a reliable source of ingredients and could not produce them himself.

Freya nodded.

“So that’s how it works. Fine. If it’s only membership on paper and I don’t have to do anything, then I have no objections.”

“Neither do I,” Euphemia said.

Thorn asked, “Then do we have a deal?”

Freya and Euphemia answered together.

“Deal.”

Hearing this, Thorn opened a drawer beside him. He took out two bottles of pale golden potion and handed one to each of them.

“Then, to welcome you both into the [Mind Research Society], these two Rank One Mind Path potions will be your membership gifts. May you find what you seek within the Society.”

Rank One potions were not especially valuable, so Thorn kept several on hand.

Freya did not stand on ceremony. She accepted the bottle, pulled out the stopper, raised her head, and drank it in one gulp.

Unexpectedly, it tasted rather good.

It was like drinking orange juice mixed with sweet syrup.

Freya smacked her lips. Then she felt a swelling pressure at her temples, followed by a throbbing ache near the back of her head.

It felt...

As though she were growing a new brain.

The process lasted roughly three or four minutes.

When Freya took a deep breath and opened her eyes again, faint streams of golden light seemed to have appeared around the edges of her amber irises.

Other than that, there were no visible changes.

Freya calmed herself and examined what she had gained.

She now possessed two extraordinary abilities.

They were the previously mentioned [Mind Reading] and [Hypnosis].

If one insisted on judging their combat strength, they were extremely weak. They belonged at the same table as Rank One Earth Path abilities.

No...

With [Hypnosis], the Mind Path was probably a tiny bit stronger than the Earth Path.

Only a tiny bit.

Euphemia asked, “How do you feel?”

Freya considered it for a moment.

“Mmph~ Pretty good?”

Then she turned to Thorn.

“By the way, how does someone digest a Mind Path potion?”

Thorn smiled.

“Follow the deepest desire within your heart. Whatever you want to do, let yourself do it.”

That sounded rather impressive.

But Freya frowned.

“My deepest desire? What if I don’t know what my desire is?”

“Then search for it,” Thorn said. “That is one of the reasons Mind Path potions are difficult to digest.”

Freya asked again, “Then... would you mind telling me what your desire is, Branch Director? Could I use yours as a reference?”

Freya clearly saw Thorn’s expression freeze.

The corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

“I’m sorry. I cannot tell you that.”

“Fine.”

Freya was not surprised.

Euphemia spoke next.

“Then let’s discuss the custom extraordinary item. Commissioning one will take a great deal of time.”

“I understand, I understand!” Thorn said. “I have plenty of time. I can wait as long as necessary.”