The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 855  Let Her Choose

Karl knew that things were going to go sideways the moment that Lotus followed Remi out to vet their candidates.

The candidates that had gathered were mostly nerdy demon children in their early teens, too small for a heavily physical trade, and too timid for business.

But Karl had some hope that they would make a reasonable selection, even if it was mostly based on who could get to the posting the fastest. It had been up less than an hour, which didnʼt seem like much time for good candidates to find out about the job. Especially if they were already in the city working day labour.

But luck was part of the requirement when it came to getting the best jobs. The ones who were in the right spot at the right time were the ones who got the opportunities.

With the assistance of the Guards, they quickly formed two groups. Ones who had seen Alchemy done before and ones who had not.

The first group was very small, and under the most perfunctory questioning by the gate guards, they were all moved over to form one group again.

So Remi decided to sort them another way. Ones who were willing to wear black and white uniforms every day, and ones that were not.

For Alchemists, that was just a splash resistant lab coat, but it did remove a few who didnʼt really want to be there.

Then Lotus asked them random questions about plants that were used in the Alchemy process, followed by more common-sense questions about handling dangerous liquids. Simple questions, ones that you could have learned in a kitchen as well. But that gave them ones with quick minds.

This was the point where it became arbitrary, as they had half a dozen candidates still, and they only needed two.

But Lotus and Remi had a dilemma. Two of them were small and fluffy, two of there were brilliant and knew a lot about plants, and the other two had answered all the safety questions right.

So, they brought all six back on a temporary basis, intending to give them a few days of temp work to see if they were qualified.

Dana laughed as Remi led the procession back into the city. ”What do you think the odds are that they picked only cute girls?” She whispered.

”Not as high as expected. The Satyr is a boy, and thatʼs a young incubus, not a succubus.” Karl noted.

”Iʼm proud of them, they might have taken their jobs seriously for a whole ten minutes.” Dana whispered.

”And then brought back three times as many employees as they went looking for.” Rae agreed.

That was a minor detail. But Karl didnʼt honestly expect that any of the young Alchemists would actually be fired.

Remi led them straight inside the house to the second floor, where she had them pick rooms and change into the outfits that Rae had made for them.

Only a few minutes later, an angry young Incubus came stomping back out of the house, ignoring Karl and everyone else as he left the city.

[What happened?] Karl asked Remi.

[He was mad about the Lab coats. Apparently, itʼs insulting to tell an Incubus that he needs to cover up at all times while working.] Remi laughed. [He tried to flirt with someone, didnʼt he?] Karl guessed. [Yes. And he didnʼt take it well when Lotus shot him down without a second thought.]

That brought them down to only five new Alchemist apprentices, but Remi had them all changed into white lab coats and was herding them into the illusionary city outside the Library for their first day of study.

[Itʼs a good thing that we got all those books. Iʼve got the textbook that they need to get started right here. Oh, I need a teacher outfit. Maybe Lotus can make me glasses. Teachers always look smarter with glasses.]

Karl laughed a little at her enthusiasm for teaching. Two of her new students were newly advanced Commanders from strong Demonic bloodlines, but the others were going to struggle to ever make it to that standard.

That would make for an interesting dynamic in the alchemy shop, as they would now have three lead potion makers. Once the students learned alchemy, that was.

Commander Rank potions were good enough to sell, and as the new hires grew up, the pair of them shouldnʼt have any problem becoming Royals or even Monarchs. And then there were three more who could work as assistants, portioning, chopping and prepping ingredients for Remi and the stronger Alchemists. Naturally, they would split into pairs, working with one person more smoothly than with the others. But for now, they all needed to learn the basics, and Remi wanted them to study for a while before she resorted to cheating and having Karl just teach them Apprentice Runic Alchemy as a reward for their hard work.

According to a teaching book that she had found in the houseʼs Library, that was the proper way to instill discipline and order among students.

Cara and Rae both disagreed, but for different reasons. Cara didnʼt believe that mental discipline was necessary, as long as you had time management and creativity. Rae thought it was just more effective to make them too terrified to misbehave.

They debated it for a few minutes, and then Thor suggested that life was about compromise. Some hatchlings needed a good tail swat to the head, and others just needed encouragement. It was better not to set your limits too strictly, in case something more, or something different, was needed to keep them on the right track.

Honestly, Thor didnʼt know much about raising hatchlings. But he had read a book in the Library about it one day.

That left Karl to work on inscriptions on the second floor, while the Professors finished their last few projects and prepared for their trip back home.

”You know, I could have Hawk fly you back, it would save days of travel.” He suggested as Moira finished a template for the latest challenge he had set.

”I appreciate the offer, but we are to accompany a bulk order back as part of the security detail. With all the trade disruptions lately, the Academy wanted to be extra sure that they got their orders.”