episode_0015

Mandragoras are plants famous for being noisy. If you pull one from the ground, it emits a sound loud enough to burst your eardrums, and listening to it for too long can temporarily drive you insane. In severe cases, you might faint and be bedridden for months.

Therefore, handling mandragoras requires a great deal of caution, as carelessly touching one can cause significant harm.

Of course, Ruina Lindell was not an alchemist who would make such mistakes. She stunned it to prevent it from screaming and performed special treatments to maintain its freshness. All that remained was a few preparation steps before combining the ingredients.

However, there was a precaution to take at this time. Her technique was so delicate that any disturbance was unacceptable. In particular, she couldn’t be affected by sounds, vibrations, or the mana wavelengths of others; otherwise, the ingredients could be damaged or explode.

So, she was shutting up and tightly controlling the mana in her body.

But… the voices of her summons, Nene and Lana, and the sound of the door opening affected the ingredients she was working on.

Fwoosh-!!

The mandragora glows. A precursor to an explosion.

But something else was about to happen first. The mandragora was in a dormant state. But ruining the work scattered the mana that was keeping it asleep. In other words, the thing was about to wake up.

At that moment, the mandragora’s eyes flashed open. And its mouth opened.

Kkwe-

The sound was cut off abruptly as it tried to scream. Ruina Lindell blocked it. The quick and skillful response was reminiscent of a seasoned alchemist.

I exhaled in relief. All that was left was to watch her prevent the explosion.

She continued to squeeze out mana. Magic circles rose around the workbench. But the employer’s complexion wasn’t good.

‘Hmm? What’s wrong?’

I examined her more closely. Her face was slightly red.

Was she feeling embarrassed in this situation? No, from what I could see, that was an expression of being overwhelmed with pain.

‘Damn it!’

Every second was critical. It didn’t take long to make a decision.

“Ellaheim! Take Lana and get out of here!”

“Yes, Young Master.”

Ellaheim grabbed Lana. She was usually all smiles, but she realized the situation was serious and just let herself be dragged away.

Meanwhile, Ruina Lindell clutched her chest and frowned. She seemed to be having trouble breathing after taking a big hit from what just happened.

I quickly racked my brain to prioritize.

‘Mandragora first!’

If I rashly touched her in that state, she might have a seizure. And her body was special. It would be painful, but she would last for a few minutes.

I looked at the mandragora, which was about to explode. It had absorbed more mana due to her magic circle. It had enough power to destroy only the workbench before, but now it could blow away this workshop.

But I couldn’t think of a suitable solution.

Using mana in the same way, using magic circles. Magic and alchemy seemed similar at first glance, but they were clearly on different tracks. What they pursued and their roots were completely different.

That’s why I couldn’t touch the mandragora that had been plastered with alchemy. I was good at handling magic, but I was hopeless at alchemy. It’s because I didn’t have the talent for it. If I touched that thing, I would only amplify the damage.

Then the magic circle on the workbench caught my eye.

“Wait, that… .”

I certainly didn’t know how to handle alchemy. I knew the basics, but I didn’t have the ability to use them.

But a skilled alchemist’s magic circle would make it possible. Because it was already completed alchemy. So, if I poured mana into it and just adjusted it so it wouldn’t go wrong.

“Ugh, seriously!”

Even as I complained, I moved my body.

I placed my hand on the magic circle and poured mana into it. But the magic circle rejected my mana.

“Why is this… ugh damn it.”

I realized my mistake in my haste. I read and implemented Ruina Lindell’s unique mana pattern. I raised my hand again. The magic circle accepted the mana as if it had met its owner without resistance.

Crackle-!

Alchemy was activated. The mana combined with the mandragora’s toxicity was released. The mana that was about to return to nature flowed into the mana stone. But regardless of the smooth process, I was sweating profusely as I controlled the alchemy. If I made even a small mistake, it could deviate from the specified range and affect other areas.

The mandragora regained its original color. But the alchemy wasn’t over yet.

Crackle-!

The mandragora was broken down into cellular units. The divided cells were recombined and returned to their pre-work form. A technique that was difficult to consider simple alchemy. It was a technique on the same level as time reversal magic. It seemed to be used to prevent the material from deteriorating, but it wasn’t efficient to use it just for that.

But from a different perspective, it was evidence that Ruina Lindell was an excellent alchemist. The power to understand and rearrange the structure of the world. That was the essence of alchemy.

The mandragora was restored to its original state in that way.

“Wow… .”

I felt like I had glimpsed a new world. I was shocked as if I had gained enlightenment. Of course, that didn’t mean my alchemy skills improved.

Even now, I couldn’t even interpret it, let alone understand it. My abilities were woefully inadequate to delve into that complex and difficult technique. All I did in this process was handle the alchemy so that it wouldn’t deviate elsewhere.

“Hoo… that was intense.”

I slumped to the floor and wiped the sweat from my forehead. I only came to do a part-time job, but I had to do something like this. I deserve to be paid more.

Well, I’ll complain about that later, and there was still a problem left. I turned my head towards Ruina Lindell, who had collapsed… .

“Are, are you okay?”

“Yeah. My mana got twisted.”

My worries seemed to have been excessive. In the meantime, she had finished recovering. The color of her face had also returned to normal.

She got up. Then, after confirming that there was nothing wrong with the ingredients, she headed for the door. Ellaheim and Lana, who had left, had returned.

Ruina Lindell stood in front of Lana.

“I, um, Senior, I’m sorry… .”

Lana stammered, unlike her usual self, while hesitating. She knew too. How big of a mistake she had made.

“I hate you. Get out of here.”

The employer’s voice was slightly raised.

She didn’t have any emotional changes even when she died. It seemed like she was really angry.

Lana looked at me with tearful eyes. It was a look that wanted help. I shook my head and told her to stay still.

“Don’t ever come here again.”

Bang!

Before Lana could say anything, the door slammed shut. And then the employer, who was standing in front of the door, sighed deeply and said.

“…I’m ruined today.”

She trudged back to the workbench. She looked like she had lost her motivation to work. Unlike her tone, she was surprisingly emotional.

“I’ll help you.”

I stood next to her and helped her clean up. There wasn’t much to clean up. All I had to do was erase the traces of failure.

“That’s enough. Sit over there.”

“Yes.”

After having me sit in a chair, she headed to a white box in the corner of the workshop. And she opened the lid and took something out. It was a cake. A shortcake with strawberries on top. Two plates of it.

“Eat.”

“Thank you for the meal.”

I scooped up a piece of cake with a fork and brought it to my mouth. The sweet and sour taste swirled in my mouth. The dessert I had after a long time was very satisfying.

As I was doing that, I saw the employer eating the cake. The way she was munching on it reminded me of a hamster.

Ruina Lindell liked sweets. She especially liked cake the most, so she always kept it in the refrigerator.

‘Should I ask her to make one for me later.’

I suddenly coveted the refrigerator. It would be convenient to store alcohol or drinks if I had that. It was a special one she made, so its performance would be top-notch.

While I was having random thoughts, I felt a gaze from the front. Ruina Lindell was staring at me intently.

“Why are you doing that?”

She swallowed the food in her mouth in response to my question and asked.

“Why are you in the Department of Knight Studies?”

“Pardon?”

I wondered why she was being like this again. It was too out of the blue. Still, I answered.

“My father is a knight, and my family has been knights for generations… .”

“That’s not what I mean.”

She shook her head. She raised her hand and unfolded a magic circle as if to tell me what she meant. It was the magic circle that I had a hard time handling earlier.

“You can’t use this except for me. It’s an alchemy I made.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. Even the professor gave up.”

She nodded in affirmation.

I knew it was different from ordinary alchemy. It was no wonder she was surprised that I, who was in the Department of Knight Studies, used such an amazing thing.

“Even if you ask me that, I just handled the magic circle, so I don’t have anything to say. I haven’t even learned alchemy in the first place.”

“You haven’t learned it? Is today the first time?”

“Yes. I have the knowledge, but I don’t have the ability to use it.”

“……”

She stared blankly as if she was shocked. And then she suddenly jumped up.

“You’re amazing…!”

She showed a very big emotional change and came over and patted my head.

Even though she stood up, she was the same height as me, who was sitting down. Thanks to that, I faced her face, but it wasn’t a bad feeling.

“Kyle, Ardyn, was it… ?”

“Yes.”

“Want to transfer? I’ll help you. No, I’ll go to the professor and… .”

She was very excited. I thought she was going to do something big, so I quickly stopped her.

“I’m satisfied with my current department. I’ll decline.”

“Ah… .”

Ruina Lindell’s shoulders drooped at the rejection, but she didn’t give up easily.

“Want to be my assistant? I’ll pay you a lot.”

“Unless I have a talent for alchemy, I don’t really want to do it.”

“If you don’t have talent, then all the other alchemists should die.”

“I’m sorry.”

It was definitely an attractive offer, but I refused. As I kept saying, I didn’t have a talent for alchemy. If she were a wizard, I would have accepted it without hesitation.

“It’s a waste of talent… .”

She looked at me with pitiful eyes, and her eyes weren’t giving up either. So I changed the subject.

“Is there anything I can help you with?”

“Clean that up.”

“I understand.”

I cleaned up without saying a word. Then she quietly came to my side and whispered.

“I’ll give you 10 gold coins, no, 20 gold coins. Let’s do it.”

“I refuse.”

I refused firmly. Nevertheless, she didn’t give up.

“I’ll teach you my alchemy too.”

Her obsession continued until the end of the day.

***

On the way to the Land of Contracts after the part-time job.

“Kyle… .”

“What’s wrong?”

Lana called me in a more gloomy voice than ever before. Her face was very tearful. Thanks to that, people around us were whispering, thinking that I was bullying her.

“What am I going to do now… ?”

“What are you going to do? You shouldn’t go there as your Senior said.”

I answered indifferently.

“Kyle’s bad… Grandpa said that you should help others when they’re having a hard time.”

“Please think about what you did and say that.”

“Th, that’s… .”

Every year at the beginning of the semester, professors warn students. Be careful of your actions in the Department of Production building. Especially, don’t even knock on the 3rd year workshop if possible.

But Lana even knocked and burst open the door. There was no room for excuses. Other Seniors would show similar reactions. No matter how beloved she was, she couldn’t avoid the outpouring of criticism.

“And you too.”

I looked at the bird sitting on Lana. The startled bird covered its head with its wings.

“Nene did it because I told him to… .”

“Don’t cover for him. He’s a summoner who can make that kind of judgment.”

It’s a summoner that understands people well. There’s no way that such a summoner wouldn’t know the precautions near the Department of Production.

-Chirp….

The summoner was very discouraged and apologized. Of course, I don’t know what the words mean.

“Nene said he was wrong. He said he won’t do it again.”

“Sigh… More than that, why did you come?”

“I was going to watch Kyle work… so I came.”

The reason was so like her that it was hard to scold her more. At least she didn’t have any ill intentions. That didn’t mean that her mistake disappeared.

“Let’s go apologize later. She won’t kick us out if it’s a cake from the [Dessert Kingdom] shop.”

“Are you going with me?”

“Yeah. You don’t know what your Senior likes.”

“When? Today? Or tomorrow?”

“Not right now, in about 2 weeks. We can go then.”

She won’t be able to calm down no matter what she does for the time being, but she will allow her to approach in 2 weeks.

“Kyle! Thank you!”

Lana spread her arms wide and ran over. I blocked her as always.

Ellaheim, who was following behind, had a smile on his face, as if he found our 모습 interesting.

‘Ha… .’

I sighed inwardly and thought.

Lana and Ellaheim are both really annoying.

“Sigh… .”