Chapter 12: Overworked

"Didn't I say to be out by five?" Miya said in a bossy tone, hovering near Kai's head.

"I don't remember there being a rule like that," Kai replied, wondering why he had to be out by five.

"You didn't read the rule book, did you? The working hours are from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.," Miya reminded him. Before yesterday, Kai never worked more than four to six hours, so he usually left before the end of working hours. Yesterday, Miya didn't disturb him because she thought he was taking leave for a few days and let him work extra hours.

"What? Since when?" Although it was true Kai had never read the rule book, he had never heard about working hours. If it was true, then he was cooked.

"Since this shop was established," Miya replied.

"Then what will I do if my workload is high and I need more than ten hours to complete it?" Kai asked, knowing that in two months, his brewing list would increase to the point where he'd have to work more than ten hours a day.

"Then you'll just have to rent the alchemy room. It's not expensive—just one silver an hour," Miya replied. Naturally, as an alchemist shop, they rented out alchemy rooms.

However, this is just the beginning of the Ascension Program, and people are still exploring. It won't be long before they settle down and begin learning truly useful skills.

There are also Alchemists trained by different alchemist shops whose contracts will expire in nine to ten months. Wouldn't they also need alchemy rooms to continue practicing alchemy?

"What? One silver coin per hour!" Kai exclaimed. One silver an hour was too expensive. Working for the Honey Pill shop, he earned about four gold coins a month.

Considering all his daily expenses, his monthly pay wasn't even enough to use the alchemy room for thirty hours.

"You're just an Apprentice Alchemist, so you think this is expensive. Once you master a skill like Herb Weaving, earning money becomes as simple as moving your hand," Miya said. As an official 2nd Rank Alchemist, she could refine a batch of Basic Vitality Pills in under five minutes, while it took Kai two hours.

Even if she only refined 10 Basic Vitality Pills per batch, she could make 600 pills in an hour, from which she could easily earn eight to ten gold coins.

This is just for entry-level pills; refining higher-rank pills and potions can earn even more money.

"Will I even have the chance to become an Official Alchemist?" Kai mumbled under his breath.

"What was that?" Miya asked, having seen Kai's lips move.

"Nothing. Just let me clean up; I'll be out in a few minutes." Not wanting to argue, Kai began tidying up the place.

"Then finish quickly. I'll be waiting for you." With that, Miya left the alchemy room.

Kai cleaned the room, put everything back where it belonged, and made a list of all the herbs he had used. After leaving the alchemy room, he handed over the pills and potions he had made, along with the list of herbs used.

"Here you go. You now have 993 Honey Points," Miya said as she handed Kai his employee card.

Taking the card, Kai didn't say a word and left the shop.

Along the way, Kai fished out the tiny rule book he had received when he first joined the Honey Pill Shop. After flipping through many pages, he found what he was looking for.

"It's true—the working hours really are from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m." Reading the section on employee working hours, Kai tossed the rule book back into his storage pouch.

"If I only earn 35 Honey Points a day, it'll take me four months to gather enough. But… can I really keep going at this pace?" Kai wondered.

Although four months isn't long, what worried Kai was the increase in the brewing list. If the list increased just two more times, he would have to spend at least eight to ten hours just completing those tasks.

Then he wouldn't have any time to earn Honey Points, and one more increase would turn him into a slave.

"Can I use the alchemy room on Sunday?" An idea came to Kai's mind, and he once again started flipping through the rule book.

After carefully reading it, Kai didn't find anything that mentioned employees couldn't use the alchemy room on their day off.

"Counting the Sundays, I can probably earn enough points in three months. However… will the brewing list increase again?"

Thinking about the possibility, Kai felt a dull ache forming in his head.

Pushing aside his worries, Kai headed toward Kato Bakery to get a dose of dopamine.

"Kai, this makes it twice," Alex greeted him as he entered. He knew a little about Kai's addiction to sweets.

"Get me some muffins," Kai said in a tired voice.

Yesterday, he had been physically tired—today, he was both physically and mentally exhausted.

The sword of becoming a slave was hanging over his neck, and no matter what he did, he couldn't escape it.

"What happened? You look tired," Alex asked as he noticed Kai's weary expression.

"It's the contract I signed. It seems that in a month or two, I'll become a slave," Kai said, trying to empty his heart.

"You mean the contract you signed when you went to learn alchemy?" Alex asked, recalling when Kai had mentioned the Honey Pill shop.

"Yes, that one. The workload keeps increasing, and I can't find any way to use my Herb Weaving skill. The current tasks already take about six hours to complete. In two months, I won't even be able to finish the tasks assigned to me," Kai said, helplessness in his voice.

"Why can't you use the Herb Weaving skill?" Alex asked as he handed two chocolate muffins to Kai, wondering what was wrong. Didn't Kai used to brag about how talented he was in alchemy?

"In simple terms, the Herb Weaving skill uses power like Ki or Soul Power to extract the essence of herbs. But I don't have Soul Power, and whenever I try to use Ki outside my body, it just dissipates," Kai answered while munching on the muffins.