Story 9 - Nothing Bad Ever Happens at the Alchemy Convention (2)
She must have been holding that position for hours thanks to our… er, my tardiness.
Oops.
When she saw us, she bowed respectfully.
“Assistant Lina welcos the Indomitable Will sect to the Island of Alchemy. I’m here to guide and assist you during your stay.”
“We look forward to working with you,” Grass Sprout said. “We’re already late. Let’s hurry and set up our building at the convention site.”
“For security purposes, we’ve changed how we do things this decade. You’ll have to take your invitations and exchange them for a jade token that will prove your identity while you’re here. We will also provide a helpful schedule that lets each of you know what lectures are happening, where to go, and when they’re taking place.”
Grass Sprout’s smile faltered. “Are you kidding?”
Lina nodded, spun and walked toward a group of orange buildings with hip-and-gable roofs clustered together. “This way, please.”
It didn’t take long before we stood in a long line where various different groups queued. I turned to Lina and raised both brows. “As late as we were, shouldn’t this line be empty?”
She still wore her professional smile as she said, “The token creation line appears to be having so… difficulty with their new process.”
Ah, the Alchemy Convention. The only place that dares make Immortal Bone Creation experts wait in line for their con badge.
“But don’t worry,” she said lodically. “They will clear things up soon. After all, Nothing Bad Ever Happens at the Alchemy Convention.”
I nodded. What nostalgic words.
Everyone else in our group beca very quiet for a mont.
“Excuse . I’ll make sure everything goes well.” Lina bowed before quickly rushing off, looking like she had a fire to douse.
Little Spring jerked toward . ::Sister Lin, isn’t what she said a very weird?::
::What? No, that’s just what they always say. Don’t worry about it. Everything’s good.::
He tugged on my sleeve. When I glanced down, he gave a skeptical look.
I sighed. ::Alright. I used to think it was weird too, but they’re right. Nothing bad ever happens. In the thousand years I’ve been going, I can’t think of one single terrible incident.::
::That… that’s even more suspicious! How could nothing awful happen for that long?::
I shrugged. ::This is Alchemists’ Association we are talking about, not so mysterious cult.:: I noticed that everyone but us had moved up a couple of places. ::Don’t worry about it. Now, co on, we’re falling behind.::
His jaw hardened. Fuck. I knew that look. This protagonist was about to get into trouble. I had to stop him before he did sothing stupid, like find a rare material sowhere deep in the island, take it into his space causing the whole piece of land to break up… or whatever. Xianxia protagonists were the most destructive when they were greedy… or curious.
::Okay. Sure. Their little saying sounds like brainwashing::
He gave a look like he couldn’t believe I’d dissented, then just agreed with him.
::But what good company didn’t brainwash their custors and employees with cute sayings like that? Huh?::
Milk, It Does a Body Good. What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas. Nothing Bad Ever Happens at the Alchemy Convention.
All the sa… except that the first two were lies.
And sure, Lina looked like a bad blue and orange-thed knock-off of Joo Dee from Ba Sing Se, but that didn’t an anything weird would go down at this con!
This was one of the few places my paranoid ass could relax a bit. I was not letting anything ruin this for .
::I still don’t trust this place.:: He pointed to the cultivators in front of us who were grinning or chatting animatedly while in line. ::Everyone here is too happy.::
::Of course they’re happy! They’re at a convention! They can finally talk with like-minded individuals. If you throw an alchemy question to this crowd, you’ll get them shouting back the answer… though so may ask for a price in exchange.::
He shook his head. ::Sothing isn’t right here.::
Fuck. Well, I had to follow my Transmigrated into a Novel Club Rules. Number 4 - Always stay on the main character’s side, even if the odds seem bad.
But that sounded like a lot of unnecessary trouble and shenanigans when I just wanted to go on a fucking vacation. ::Tell you what. As long as you don’t piss off a high-realm cultivator, this Con is the safest place you’ll ever visit. So, why not investigate this once we’re inside? But don’t go putting random treasures into your space::
He nodded, fist clenched in determination.
::And talk to Peak Master Enduring Fla and Elder Grass Sprout if you need anything, because I’m going to spend my ti here relaxing, understood?::
His eyes softened. ::You do need a break. Don’t worry. You’ve trained perfectly! I can handle this on my own or with our junior’s help.::
I grinned. ::Good.:: I paused for a second. This wouldn’t co to bite in the ass later, would it? No. Maybe if I was sowhere else. But this was the Alchemy Con. Nothing bad ever happened here.
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