World’s Cutest Alchemist

Time rewinds to just before Luna headed to her gate clear.

“Mhm,” Luna nodded, opening her arms, “Alright, I’m heading out.”

I jumped into her embrace and we kissed.

“Come back soon.” I said.

“I’ll try.” Luna nodded before leaving.

I stared at the closed door for a solid few moments and sighed. I hope she’ll be okay.

I did everything I could on my end so that’d she be safe, all that’s left is for her to clear the gate.

“Haah…” I sighed.

I just dare her to come back with a scratch on her! She’ll get so punished!

“Hehe…” Giggling to myself, I pulled out my phone.

“Well, If she’s going to be gone for that long…Then, I guess I might as well get that done with.”

Opening my direct messages with Ashley, I sent her a message.

[Me: Ashley, can you come pick me up?]

[PA Ashley: Affirm. 10~ mins.]

To understand the context, you’d have to look at our messages from yesterday.

[Me: Ashleyyyy, are you smart?]

[PA Ashley: Ms. Stella, what kind of smartness are you referring to?]

[Me: Legal! Do you know how contracts work and stuff?]

[PA Ashley: For legal matters, it is always recommended to get a lawyer.]

[Me: You can’t do that?]

[PA Ashley: I am not specialized in legal matters. If you’d like, I can recommend a lawyer.]

[Me: Darn! Well, whatever, can you schedule a meeting for me plz!]

[PA Ashley: Of course, please give me the details.]

[Me: ALG that battle royale game wants me in it! I told them a while ago that I’d talk to them about it, but, I’ve been sooo busy! Looking to meet with them tomorrow.]

[PA Ashley: Confirmed. What time works for you?]

[Me: Any time after 14:00! Also! Could you drive me?]

[PA Ashley: Any time? Got it. Yes, I can drive you.]

[Me: tyyyy, also! There was this game show, can you see if it’s a good place? It’s called ‘Productionist’.”

[PA Ashley: Productionist? I’ve heard good things about it in the past. I’ll see if it still has its reputation.]

[Me: Okieeee, thanks!!]

In other words! I have a meeting with the company for the battle royale game that Luna and Rumi plays! If all things go well, Raccoon, the Little Bomber, should be a skin in the game soon!

I don’t know how long they take to make updates and skins, but, it shouldn’t be that long, right?

Hehe! I can’t wait to see the look on Luna’s face when she sees me in the shop!

…

[PA Ashley: I’m parked outside.]

[Me: Coming!]

I got up, put on my shoes and mask before heading out.

When I left the apartment building, I didn’t have to search for Ashley for long. She was standing on the sidewalk in front of her car.

“Hi!!” I said, waving to the brown-haired girl.

Ashley was wearing a more casual outfit than when I last saw her. She wore tan trousers and a long-sleeved shirt.

As for me, I was wearing black pants, a shirt and a varsity jacket.

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“Good afternoon, Ms. Stella.” Ashley slightly bowed.

Ashley drove a luxury car. It was a four door sedan with a sleek black look. Honestly, even though I’m not much of a car person, it looked pretty nice.

Ashley walked me to the passenger door and opened it for me as if it was natural. I wondered if she had to drive for awakeners a lot, she seems accustomed to this.

When we got in the car, Ashley spoke,

“I looked into that game show you were talking about, Productionist.”

“Oh?”

“It still has a good reputation from what I can tell. I talked to the latest guests on it, and no one has had any complaints. I actually hear more compliments than anything.”

“That’s good!” I nodded, “Great, I watched a few episodes and it looked pretty fun! They invited me before, can you schedule a meeting with them too?”

“Confirmed.” Ashley nodded, “Is any time fine?”

“Yep~”

“Understood. Would you like the radio on?” She asked.

“Mm, how about bluetooth?”

“I have an aux cord which may be easier,” She said, looking into the center console, she grabbed a wire and handed it to me, “Does this fit?”

It was a charging cable. When I plugged it in, the radio naturally changed to play the music on my phone.

“Perfect!” I nodded, “Do you have any music you dislike?” I asked.

“I’m not really a hip-hop fan.” Ashley replied.

“Confirmed.” I said, mimicking Ashley’s voice.

I played a more chill, relaxed playlist Luna and I had created.

We drove for a bit, just listening to the music. At some point, I expected her to ask about the meeting, but, she never did. Ashley just calmly kept her eyes on the road and drove.

“By the way,” Ashley broke the silence, “I’ve been looking into suitable land and I’ve currently found a few plots you may like.”

“Oh! Really?”

“Yes,” Ashley nodded, “I’m in the process of compiling everything in a list.”

“It’s just land, right?” I asked.

“Yes, I’ve also been searching for reliable construction companies; I’ve found a few options that I’ll send alongside the plots.”

“Thank you, thank you.”

“Just my job.”

“Right, do you know what ALG is?” I asked. I remember that she handled Lightning Lord before, and that guy is also a skin in the game.

“ALG is a company that works directly with the association.” She said.

“Eh? They do?” I said, surprised, “I knew they worked with a lot of rankers, but, I didn’t know they had direct cooperation.”

“Yes, to make sure the skills and traits in their games are generally accurate, they often communicate with the association.”

“Wow, so, ALG is like very trusted then?”

“They’re still a company, but, as far as I know, there’s no reason not to trust them. Plus, I think they’d be worried about messing with someone titled ‘Little Bomber’.” She said blankly.

…Did she mean the latter half of that sentence as a joke? Wow, I didn’t think she had it in her.

Well! I obviously have to play into it!

“Hehe! Of course, if they dare try to screw me over, I’ve got some dynokali potions I’d love to gift them!”

“Please don’t make terroristic threats, even as a joke.”

“…You set me up for it and then you back down?”

“I don’t know what you’re referring to.”

Gah! I see! She’s trying to mess with me! Pfft, fine, I guess that means we’re getting closer.

“Ahem! So, you know their game, ALG Royale, right?”

“Yes.”

“You managed Lightning Lord before and he’s in there, were you there with him when that happened?”

“For contract negotiations? No.” Ashley shook her head.

“Darn, so, you don’t know what I should expect them to offer? A shame.”

“Even if I did know, I wouldn’t disclose how much he was paid.”

“I know, I know.” I shrugged. Part of the reason I accepted her as my personal agent was because she didn’t leak any information about the awakeners she managed in the past.

“I’m just curious~” I said, “So, do you play ALG Royale?” I asked.

“Occasionally.” She said, “I’m not very good at it though.”

“Is that so?” I said, tilting my head. For some reason, I got the odd feeling she wasn’t telling the whole truth, though, I didn’t push into it.

“Yes.”

We continued chatting back and forth until we finally arrived at the ALG building in Florida. Unfortunately, their headquarters was in LA, so, I couldn’t try to peek into their top secret projects.

I should visit them sometime~

Their company office was huge. It wasn’t a skyscraper, but, it definitely had at least three or four floors. It looked modern, having large glass windows on the walls with bright white LEDS lighting them up.

Ashley parked her car.

“Should I wait outside?” She asked.

“No way! Come in with me,” I said, “I need you to do personal agent things! I’ll look way more official!”

“…Personal agent things?”

“Yeah!” I nodded.

“Like taking notes?”

“Notes? Oh! Sure!”

“…” Ashley looked at me in silence for a moment, “Understood.”

Hehe!

Ashley and I headed into the building. I looked around in surprise, the reception area looked very nice. I didn’t think I’d like the modern design, but, it’s more aesthetic than I thought it’d be.

A large white desk with computers and receptionists were near the wall opposite of the entrance. There were multiple seats surrounding small coffee tables on the sides of the room. The plants gave the room a nice pop to it.

Before Ashley and I could walk to the receptionist, a lady in a business skirt approached us with a smile.

“Excuse me, Ms. Raccoon?” She said.

Around her neck was a lanyard with a picture of her on it. Below the picture were the words: ‘Employee ID - Janette Cruse’. And below that was a bar code.

“Thats me!” I said brightly, “You are?”

“I’m Janette, I’ll be guiding you to the correct room.” She said before looking at Ashley, “And this is?”

“Ahem,” I cleared my throat, “This is my personal assistant/agent, she’ll be documenting things for me. I do hope that is fine.” I said, bringing my most mature and professional voice.

Ashley stared at me blankly when I brought out that voice.

Pfft!

“Of course, that’s fine, Ms. Raccoon.” She said, “Now, please follow me.”

I nodded and we started to walk. We crossed the door behind the receptionist’s desk and my eyes widened. Instead of the corridor I thought we were about to enter, instead, we were in a large open area. It was more like a lounge than anything; A large statue of one of the ALG Royale characters stood in the middle of the room.

Paintings and plants acted as beautiful decor. A large screen was projected on one of the walls. On it, was gameplay of ALG Royale.

It was lively and bright. The tables and chairs scattered around the room were filled with people casually chatting. I noticed that on the tables in front of people were food trays. Was this actually the cafeteria?

It seemed like Janette noticed my curiosity as she started to speak,

“This is the common area,” She said, “Employees like to take their lunch break here. They can get free snacks or drinks from the bars on the side.”

“Oh, that’s quite a nice employee benefit.” I said.

“Of course, we at ALG offer employees the best benefits out of any company.” She said with pride.

…Is this a shill for ALG or something?

“I see.” I nodded, “What’s with the screen?” I asked.

“That’s so employees can all watch gameplay together. During tournaments the common area fills to capacity. When its off-season, popular streams, videos, or even one of our employee’s gameplay goes on screen.”

“Eh? Really?” I said, “That’s cool! So, if an employee is making you mad, you can just pull up them sucking at the game and play it for everyone to see?! Awesome!”

“Well, haha, I can’t say that hasn’t happened before.” Janette chuckled.

“Do you have a go-to streamer you pull up?” I asked.

“A go-to? Hm…Well, definitely the most popular ones. Like ‘Alggied’ or ‘Inkytone’. Some employees put in requests to see specific streamers though.”

“I see, I see.” I nodded.

Mm…Well! Might as well shill for a friend! Hehe.

“I have a streamer to recommend.” I said, “She plays a lot of ALG Royale.”

“Oh? A streamer Ms. Raccoon herself recommends? Who is it? I’ll definitely have it showing one day.”

“RumiVT,” I said, “You may know her from the person who was with that alchemist who popularized the ‘Little Bomber’ strategy in the game.”

“Oh! Her!” Janette nodded, “We’ve had her stream up before, especially when that strategy was dominating the meta.” She said before pausing, “Hm? Ms. Raccoon, you know of that strategy? Do you play ALG Royale too?” She asked as we approached a door.

“A little,” I chuckled, “I quite liked that strategy, it’s just a shame that the alchemy isn’t more realistic.”

“Haha, I see,” Janette nodded, “Well, you might be pleased later in this meeting.” She said cryptically. She opened the door and revealed a cozy looking office.

There were two people in the room, one man in his mid-forties, and one old-looking charismatic looking man.

The younger of the two had slicked back black hair and was wearing a navy suit; He had a square chin and generally, he was a good looking dude.

The older man had a white comb over and neatly trimmed beard. He oozed charisma, but I didn’t know if that was from a trait or not. He was also wearing a navy suit, but, I must say, he fits it way more than the other dude. This grandpa looks powerful.

I wonder how high ranked he is?

“H-Huh?!” Janette let out, “Chairman! When did you get here?!” She said, shocked.

Turns out he’s super duper high ranked!

I stared at Janette incredulously.

…And how do you not know your own chairman is here?

“I told you, Janette, call me Grandpa.” He said, his voice naturally powerful; It naturally drew my interest and I felt that he was a reliable from that alone, “And, I’ve been here since the morning.”

He turned to me and continued,

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Raccoon. I am Eugene Cruse, the chairman of ALG Studios.” He extended his hand for a handshake.

“Nice to meet you too, Mr. Eugene. I’m Raccoon, or Stella, or the Little Bomber, you’re free to call me whatever you think sounds best!” I shook his hand with a smile.

I hope I can get through this meeting smoothly.