I Reincarnated Into A Single-Celled Organism! - I Reincarnated into a Single-celled Organism! - Chapter 161

“Master Li… I’m a bit confused.” Penny spoke up. “Aren’t you here to protest the employment of this young master at the store?”

“Absolutely!” He declared, causing Penelope to smile until he continued. “Do you think I’d be complicit in training my replacement? Although I’m getting on in years, have I not served you loyally these last few years when you needed me most? Now that you have someone younger trained, you plan to remove my position?”

“Master Li, we have no intention of removing your position,” Abigail stated. “I think there is a misunderstanding. We were indeed hoping my fiancé would be able to work at the store, but only as a herbalist under you. We wanted to take some pressure off your workload, not replace you!”

“Herbalist? Herbalist! You think I wouldn’t notice a prodigy when I see one?” He growled, waving the crinkled paper in his hands.”

“May I see that?” The Young Lord spoke up.

“Hmph, whatever.” Master Li walked up to hand him the papers.

“Ah! I don’t think they’re important!” Penelope tried to intercept them, but a sharp look from the Young Lord and she sat back down.

Her father glared at her questioningly, but she held her head down like a child who had been caught lying. Meanwhile, Master Li tried to smooth out the papers before handing them to the Young Lord. No matter how upset he was, he couldn’t afford to offend the other man.

The Young Lord flipped through the pages. “Although I am inexperienced in the world of alchemy, this does appear to be the test given to botanists, not herbalists.”

Everyone shifted in their seat, and the uncle sat forward. “That’s ridiculous. This must be a mistake!”

He reached out to take the paper from the Young Lord, but Abigail was quicker. She got the papers and looked through them.

“This is the botany exam, and the writing appears to be Spirits. The exam score is perfect, and it has both Grandmaster Bai and the guild master’s signature on it. In other words, this is a confirmed result.” Abigail was a bit breathless when she finished her explanation.

I could tell that she was as stunned as everyone else. I also noticed her dad was hiding a glare he was giving her way. She sunk further into herself, but she also looked confused. She was probably wondering why her grandmaster allowed the results out, but how could he stop them? Even if Grandmaster Bai was a corrupt man, the guild master was probably not in on his corruption. Such a result would get out whether he tried to suppress it or not. Thus, the only thing Grandmaster Bai could do was leak the info to Master Li to stir up trouble.

This was one of the reasons why I had done the test perfectly. Of course, I could have been more low-key by barely passing the test, but that had several issues. The Grandmaster could use some method to force me to lose enough points to fail. Even if my grade didn’t catch the eyes of the Guildmaster, Grandmaster Bai might have been able to quietly sweep things under a rug where he wouldn’t notice. Only by getting full marks would I ensure that Bai couldn’t deny I passed and get enough attention that he couldn’t hide things in bureaucracy. That aside, any passing grade on the botany exam would have been abnormal, so I might as well go all out to ensure things went my way.

“You can’t be claiming that you sent a botanist prodigy just to be an alchemist, are you?” Master Li frowned.

“We weren’t aware of Spirit’s ability,” Abigail responded, glancing at me. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

“Huh?” I asked while cleaning my ear.

“The exam?” She asked in irritation, handing me the papers.

I flipped through them briefly, only taking a second to memorize the contents, and then I shrugged, lowering them to my side.

“I just took whatever exam they put in front of me. Was it a more difficult exam? No wonder I had to try so hard. I must be smarter than I look.”

I tilted back my head and laughed, causing everyone else to frown. Would they all believe such an excuse? I believed they’d come to accept it. They couldn’t deny what was in front of them, and it was sometimes easier to accept absurdity over the practical.

“Hmph, can you all not see that he is plotting something?” Master Li snapped. “Someone like him just happens to end up in the Capala family? There is a conspiracy.”

“I agree.” The uncle chimed in. “You only gave him a week to learn. There is no way he could pass with such little preparation.”

“Unless…” Penelope spoke, seemingly lost in thought. “He knew everything already. Everyone assumed he made the poisons he used in the martial competition, but maybe he did make them himself.”

Her father and brothers all shot her glares, and she turned red realizing she had ended up helping my case.

“None of this is important!” The uncle turned back to us. “He may have used some special means of cheating to pass. Master Li, could you ask him a few questions to prove if he has the required knowledge?”

“Hmm… alright. I’ll humor you,” Mistress Li crossed his arms before turning to me. “If you fancy yourself a botanist, then answer me. Where can you grow a whisperwood sprout?”

I glanced over at Abigail, but she gave a slight nod. “Please bear with it.”

I sighed. “The whisper wood sprout can only be planted in an area where ancient voices still linger. A temple, a school, or a stage.”

He winced, “Lucky guess, when is the proper time to pluck the leaf of an ever frost orchid?”

“It’s ideal to pluck them under the light of a frostmoon, while the temperature is between -10 and -25 degrees,” I answered.

“Hmm…” He continued to ask a dozen more questions before he was finally satisfied. “It seems you know a thing or two.”

“Either way, an agreement is an agreement,” I interjected. “I passed the exam under the eyes of Grandmaster Bai and the Guild master, so this reality can’t be faked. You said if I passed the exam, I could have the job. You never asked me how much I knew ahead of time. I asked for a week to refresh my memory, but I never suggested I couldn’t pass it. If all of you bothered to read the letter at the end, because I was officially signed up for an alchemy exam, they can only grant me the alchemy position. So, I’m only recognized as an alchemist according to the guild. Although the Gulld Master encourages me to take the botany exam again free of charge, I do not currently have that position and couldn’t work as a botanist even if I wanted to.”

“Hmm?” Abigail immediately snatched back the pages I had in my hand and flipped through them until she found my letter of acceptance at the end of the document; after reading it for a bit, she slowly nodded. “He’s right. This is a certificate for herbalists only.”

“I’ve already stated my position. If you put him in the shop, I will quit!” Master Li declared.

“That may not be necessary. Perhaps, we can work something out.” The young lord spoke up. “Would you at least hear us out?”

Master Li looked reluctant, but he had calmed down ignorantly since he first arrived. “I… will listen.”

“Spirit… so you mind stepping out for a bit. We need to discuss things in private. I will contact you once a decision has been reached.”

I raised an eyebrow, but I still nodded. “Very well. I’ll be in my house.”

I excused myself and left the room. I had left a sentinel in there so it wasn’t like I couldn’t still listen in on their conversation. As I was walking away, a voice called from behind. Mara had left the room too and she was quickly scurrying after me.

“Spirit!” She called, running down the hallway until she was right in front of me .“Are you doing alright?”

A small smile appeared on my face. Mara seemed to still care about me even though we hadn’t talked to each other much lately. Although I was facing some trouble, at least Mara’s life looked to be peaceful. I reached out and took her hands in mine. Even if everything else in this world was a disaster, at least I could keep Mara happy.

“Things are going well,” I told her simply.

“Is that so…” She looked slightly thoughtful. “Then why did you feel the need to go to a Pleasure Palace.”

‘Geh…” I coughed. “That… um… Sammuel took me, you see? It wasn’t my choice…”

“You also met some mistress and spent the night in her bedroom?” She asked.

“Ah… you’re squeezing my hands a bit hard.”

“I wonder what Spirit was doing in a mistress’s room late at night.” Her eyes were staring at me unblinking.

“My hands….”

“You were even there until the morning. It must have been exhausting, whatever Spirit needed to do in another woman’s room and not my room.”

“M-mercy!”

I was not shown mercy.