Indeed, there was an alchemy competition, but with paid entry. Even then, looking was free. Since it wasn’t any big tournament or similar, there weren't that many watchers, which let Velvet observe from the front seats.

The participants were crushing ingredients in a mortar, putting them in some glass beakers that were filled with a boiling, green colored solution.

She went closer to a group of cloaked figures that were talking. Like similar places where there wasn’t such a tight grip under the concealment spell, talking wasn’t that restricted.

“The Four is the one that will win, I’m telling you.” One of them said to the others.

“No, just look how she’s handling the temperature. She’s too careful. The Eight is the one winning.”

“No way, he messed up already in the mixing phase. Dried perororia eggs don’t have to be grinded to dust.”

“They can, if you lower the fire temperature at mixing. Which he did.”

“What about the Six?” Velvet said, “Seems like a real dark horse.” She had taken the two figures' comments upon consideration, choosing the participant that didn’t mess up yet.

“The Six…” They seemed to ponder for a bit, watching the competition. “He is doing too much by the books…”

“Yes, he is not messing any step, but is neither doing anything remarkable. Not bad enough to fail, but not good enough to win.”

Huh, so the way he’s working is the basic? Good to know.

“What about the Three? She is my student.” A new voice added, joining the conversation. Even when the cloaked figurines looked and sounded the same, there was a certain tone of pride on those words.

Velvet looked at that participant, comparing her actions to the other three. She didn't find her bad, but not as good as the others.

“I prefer the Six. Going by the book can’t be bad.” She decided, even when she really wasn’t sure.

“Is she your student? You should've put her a bit more time in the oven. Too undercooked for a real competition.” One of them said.

Instead of getting offended, the figure nodded. “I know, but failure builds character. Having no competition back at home was making her too cocky.”

“Being cocky is good.” The other figure said. “Imagine if she wins, her pride would become unstoppable.”

“Don’t curse me.” Participant Three’s teacher said. “If she wins, I’ll eat my alchemy set.”

“Better give it to me in that case.” Velvet said.

“Who are you cheering for?”

“Number Six.”

“If he finishes second, I’ll give it to you.”

“Hey, not fair. I want in too.” One of the other figures said.

“Fine, fine. She’s not winning anyway. Pick a number to be second.”

“The Four, obviously.”

“Since you all are playing, I’m joining too. The Eight.”

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Like that, the competition’s winner ended up becoming a second thought, the first now being who was going to end in second place.

They kept silent after that, paying attention to the alchemists. Until Velvet felt one of the cloaked figures lean slightly towards her.

"Say," They started saying. "Wanna change numbers?"

"Eh?" She made a deliberate pause. "No, I'm fine with my choice."

"It's not gonna end up second. The Eight is gonna be the one ending second."

She snickered. "Why change then? I'll just take the loss."

"Which of those has better skill at mixing? The Six or the Eight?"

Velvet looked at the participants. Their mixing techniques were different, but as to which one was better… she had no way of knowing at this moment. "The Six.” She answered with fake confidence.

“The Six is mixing in clockwise direction, using the Hasdrubal method. The Eight is using the Bramas method, going counter-clockwise. Do you know the difference? Not counting the direction.”

Velvet looked at both competitors. She was a damned knowledge mage, she wasn’t taking the loss that easy. “Bramas method uses more heat, and the mixing is slower. The Hasdrubal method uses less heat, and the mixing is being done in a spiral motion.”

“That’s just the visual explanation. Which one is better for dissolving perororia’s eggs?”

Velvet swallowed the groan that wanted to escape. She didn't know! Why the need to keep pressing?! She looked at how the other participants were doing it. Most used the Hasdrubal method, still… “Bramas.” She didn’t explain her answer, but seeing how the majority of competitors were using that method, made her feel like it was a trap question.

The figure chuckled, reclining back. “But the Six is using the Hasdrubal method.”

I know that! At least tell me which one is better!

“He is going by the book.” She repeated what the cloaked figures said before.

“What book? ‘Road to Alchemy’? The one written by Bramas himself?”

Velvet flinched at that. “I guess…?”

The figure didn’t answer that, choosing to observe the competition again.

Do not ignore me now!

“Why do you want to change numbers?” She ended up asking.

“Why? Do you want to change numbers?” The figure repeated, not answering her question.

“No. I want to know why you want the number of the one you think is not ending second.”

“I have no use for an alchemy set. You look inexperienced, and I like playing guess the Paradigm with novice mages.” He raised a finger, continuing. “Why did you choose the Six? It was because we praised the skills of the Four and the Eight. Then you used the things we praised as base to find someone that also possessed those skills.”

“Hm, seems like it’s a nice game.” Velvet confessed. “It can be useful in certain scenarios. But targeting only novice mages is going to make it end up as a detrimental skill. Like stealing candy for a baby. Yes, it’s easy, but no one lives only with candy.”

“Hahaha!” The figure laughed. “True! Oh, but I’m not doing this with ulterior motives, I-”

“That’s what someone with ulterior motives would say.” She interrupted him.

“Eh, we are on the Mergifari. I cannot touch you without that owl kicking me out. And once you step out of here, tracking you is going to be impossible.”

She thought for a moment. “You're right. Okay, let’s play. I want to see how your deduction ends.”

“That’s the spirit!” They seemed to like the idea. “You are of a Paradigm that uses information. I’ll bet it is either remembrance or knowledge.”

“I am from the Remembrance Paradigm, true.” She lied.

She didn’t know anything about that Paradigm, but if it sounded believable, the cloaked figure never had to find out.

They continued. “Now, what if we were just lying or making stuff up? Then all you guessed based on that information would be wrong. Therefore…” They seemed to think. “Your Paradigm is very delicate on things you don’t know. You should keep that in mind.”

She did already realize that on the train, she didn’t need someone reminding her. Hell, she only wanted to get some information about alchemy!

“Did you lie about those things?” If they had, she might have to change what she had understood as correct.

The cloaked figure raised their fingers to their face, making a curve with the thumb and the index. Since the concealment spell didn’t let them show any facial expression, it was a strange way of making a smiling face.

“Guess.”