Although Nanali had long known that her friend had an offbeat side, she had to admit that she was stunned when she heard Kuliya answer so confidently.
Is that even an option?
"You just don't understand this, do you?"
Seeing her friend's expression, Kuliya had to take her hand and explain it carefully.
"You shouldn't think that judging by appearances is unreliable because, in our line of work, it's fundamental."
Kuliya's words were not false. As an employee of the Alchemists' Association, her main job was exactly this—identifying who came to genuinely collaborate and who came to freeload. Given the nature of the Alchemists' Association's work, you have to discern what is pseudoscience, what is advanced science, and what is layman's science. Otherwise, you might end up reporting some trifling alchemy innovation like turning water into oil, and that would be truly embarrassing.
