"Raine, wake up! It's morning!"

As Raine opened his eyes, he saw Helen, the cat, playfully tapping the comforter with her paws.

"Come on, hop in," Raine invited, lifting the comforter.

"Meow! It's so warm in here... Wait, that's not the point! It's your first day at work!" Helen said, snuggling in with a happy look on her face before quickly changing her tone to remind him.

"I know, I know. I'm getting up," Raine replied, moving the comforter aside and sitting up.

Helen skillfully opened the curtains, allowing the morning sunlight to flood the room.

"It's a refreshing morning. A perfect start to your new chapter, Raine," Helen remarked.

"Indeed. It seems challenging, but first, I’ll focus on what I can do," Raine replied.

With that, he got up, took a quick shower, and ate breakfast. After preparing for the day, he checked out and began walking towards the guild branch.

After walking for several minutes, Raine finally arrived at the entrance of the branch and looked up at the building.

"After what I heard yesterday, it looks even more rundown," he thought.

The building wasn't particularly dilapidated, but it somehow gave that impression.

"There are only four of us, even with you, Raine," Helen noted.

"Yeah," Raine agreed.

He opened the door and walked inside. As expected, there was no one there, and the reception desk was empty.

"It's unbelievable that there's no one at the front desk," Raine commented.

The reception is essentially the face of the branch. If it's left unattended like this, it raises doubts about whether the branch is even operational.

"There's a bell here, at least," Helen pointed out.

"Yeah, I see it…"

"Well, never mind. Let’s head to the workshop."

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"We should greet everyone first," Helen suggested.

"Alright," Raine nodded.

He ascended the stairs and arrived at the workshop, where Erica was already at her desk.

"Good morning," Raine greeted her as he took a seat beside her.

"Good morning! It's such a lovely day today!" Erica replied with a beaming smile.

She seemed genuinely happy to have company.

"Yes, it’s a perfect day for a first day at work. Looking forward to working with you," Raine said.

"Likewise, I’m looking forward to it as well," Erica responded with a polite bow.

"Erica, let’s think about what we need to do going forward," Raine began.

"Sure. But first, let me explain our current tasks," Erica offered.

"Please do," Raine encouraged.

"We currently have three orders," Erica informed him.

"Three orders… That’s pretty few," Raine thought.

"What are they?" he asked.

"We need to deliver 30 potions to the military, 100 sheets of grid paper to the town hall, and 50 bricks," Erica listed.

"Pretty basic stuff… They could have just asked a local alchemist... No, wait. These are probably orders created just to keep us going," Raine mused.

"And from private clients?" he inquired.

"None. We haven't received a single order in the past few months," Erica replied.

"That confirms it…" Raine thought. While about 80% of the work of the Alchemist Guild comes from public institutions, there are usually at least a few private orders. The fact that there are none speaks volumes.

"Understood. What's the deadline and the progress on these tasks?" he asked.

"We have until the end of the month, so about ten days left. The bricks are nearly ready, and we are currently working on the potions. As for the grid paper... I’ve never done that before..." Erica admitted.

"Well, you’ve only been here for about a year or so..." Raine reasoned. He looked around at the equipment on the floor.

"These machines are quite old. Nowadays, making grid paper is as simple as pressing a button," he remarked.

"Yes, I’ve heard of such machines, but we don’t have them here. Those advanced machines are only available in major cities like the capital," Erica explained.

"That’s the way it is, huh. So we’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way. It’s been a while since I last did this back in school," Raine thought.

"Alright. I’ll handle the grid paper. Erica, could you take care of the rest of the potions?" he asked.

"Got it!" Erica agreed enthusiastically.

"For now, it seems like we can manage these tasks," Raine concluded.

"Next, we need to decide what to do about the branch. Erica, do you understand that these orders are more of a lifeline, a favor from the mayor?" Raine asked.

"What? Really?" Erica looked surprised.

"She didn’t realize… Well, she must have been too overwhelmed managing the tasks all by herself," Raine thought.

"Yes. Without any orders, the branch would shut down. That would be a problem for both the mayor and the guild. So, they’ve distributed these orders here to maintain appearances for now," Raine explained.

"Normally, a branch with only two alchemists would be shut down. Especially when both are of the lowest rank, it's unsustainable as a branch. But they probably see this as a temporary situation due to recent staffing changes," Raine continued.

"I-I see... But why is that?" Erica asked.

"We can't just shut down a public institution like this branch. If the branch were to close, the town would fall under the control of private trade unions, which could cause prices to skyrocket. Unlike us, they prioritize profit over everything else," Raine explained.

"That makes sense," Erica nodded, though she still seemed unsure.

"Maybe my explanation wasn't very clear… I'm not great at explaining things," Raine thought.

"Anyway, it's not for us to worry about that. That's for the branch manager or the mayor and headquarters to decide. We need to focus on revitalizing this branch," Raine suggested.

"Yes! How should we do that specifically?" Erica asked eagerly.

"Well, the most obvious issue is the lack of personnel," Raine pointed out.

"Indeed... Even with Leonora, that only makes three of us," Erica sighed.

"The branch manager gave us permission to scout freely. Do you know any alchemists who might be interested?" Raine asked.

"My classmates from the magic academy mostly moved to big cities or have family businesses. They aren't likely candidates for recruitment. But what about you, Raine? You were in the capital, right?" Erica inquired.

"Hmm… Recruiting from there would be tough…" Raine thought aloud.

"Oh?" Erica was curious.

"Let's think about that later. For now, we need to focus on the tasks at hand. We need to make the grid paper. Do we have any wood materials?" Raine asked.

"Yes, they are upstairs," Erica confirmed.

"Right, the third floor is the storage area," Raine recalled.

"I'll go get them," he said, standing up and heading toward the stairs.

"Be careful… Did I upset him?" Erica wondered aloud.

"No, actually…" Helen began to whisper to Erica as Raine went to retrieve the materials.