Chapter 62
Chapter 62
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: Preparation #02
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The next morning.
After the second-period lecture ended, Teacher Senia Reeves headed to the annex building with an excited spring in her step.
"The alchemy club got approved! I didn't expect it to happen this fast!"
It was probably thanks to the dean pulling strings for her and Arthin. Her eyes had nearly popped out of her head when she saw the massive budget listed on the documents from the academic affairs office—a level reserved for major clubs.
Of course, it was just a provisional club for now since they had no members yet, but Arthin had said he'd bring in his friends, so gathering the minimum of seven shouldn't be a problem. Worst case, she could recruit some of the students who had crushes on her.
"Hurry up and figure out where to place the experimental equipment~!"
Truth be told, she'd wanted to check it out first thing in the morning, but Charles and Danny had overslept and shown up late for some reason today. She'd ended up spending two whole hours grading their unfinished assignments in their place.
"Hehe, maybe Arthin's friends are already there goofing around?"
...Senia's excitement stemmed from fond memories of her own school days in a club.
Back then, she'd been part of the alchemy club, enjoying happy times under the guidance of great seniors, cute juniors, and a strict but deeply caring old professor who always put his students first.
So when Arthin had said he wanted to start a club with his friends to learn from her, it had made her even happier.
"Hehe, we'll brew tough potions together, go on retreats to gather ingredients! Staying up all night for intermediate potions is rough, but it's great experience, so we have to do it!"
In fact, Senia had already dipped into her own savings to buy materials ahead of time for brewing Ogre Strength Potion—one of the more common intermediate potions.
They were pricey for an assistant professor's salary, but the effects were solid, and with it taking a full 24 hours to make, it would foster plenty of teamwork and that sweet sense of accomplishment upon completion.
"Hehe, I hope it becomes official soon! Oh gosh, I can't say 'hehe' in front of the students!"
She hurriedly glanced around, but the first floor of the annex was empty—no sign of any students. It was class time for most of them anyway. Letting out a sigh of relief, Senia scampered up to the second floor where the clubroom was located.
"Oh? Is someone already inside? One of Arthin's friends?"
By the time she reached the third floor, she sensed a presence from the alchemy club room. Senia slowed her excited steps, treading carefully.
'I wonder what the kids are up to~ Not badmouthing me, I hope?'
If they were, maybe she'd give them a little scolding. Peeking through the slightly ajar door, Senia froze in shock before pushing it open and slowly stepping inside.
"...What is all this, Arthin?"
Drug processors bubbling with vibrant mana as they chemically treated the ingredients inside. Shaping devices firmly fixed in midair, using mana stone energy to mold materials. And circuit engraving devices etching alchemy circuits onto the processed ingredients.
These were the latest alchemy apparatuses she'd only ever seen in the imperial family's workshops back in the day. Senia couldn't close her gaping mouth.
"Aren't these the kind of devices that would take years of applications to the academy's finance team just to purchase...?"
In the center of it all, Arthin—who was wearing goggles and working on engraving an obviously ultra-rare gemstone—paused his task and looked at the wide-eyed, terrified Senia with a perfectly calm expression.
"Ah, hello, Teacher. Looks like your lectures are done?"
His utterly casual morning greeting made Senia briefly wonder if the surreal scene before her was just a hallucination from overwork.
"Wh-where did all this equipment come from? And those materials... Eek, i-isn't that World Tree?"
"Ah~ that's not World Tree; it's Sun Pine Tree. Looks similar, but it's pretty cheap in the Republic Federation. Jorba got these machines cheap through his connections, too."
After explaining so nonchalantly, Arthin slipped his goggles back on and resumed engraving the gem. Senia hesitated, wondering if she should believe him. But no matter how she looked, there were materials everywhere that defied explanation.
"Th-that one's a Sky Eagle talon, isn't it? It's an endangered species—nearly impossible to get now...!"
"No way does that look like a Sky Eagle talon! Just look at the claw pattern—it's clearly a Thunder Hawk talon."
"That's definitely Orkonhile! The 'god's metal' left behind by the fallen dwarves!"
"Not Orkonhile—I'm using imperial steel. It's from the Sultanate, so it's expensive, but nothing that legendary."
Arthin's responses sounded so plausible that Senia felt like all the alchemy knowledge she'd amassed through her doctorate was being invalidated. But to insist her eyes were right... where had he even gotten such precious materials?
"H-ha, but that one! That's definitely a Dragon Heart!"
With trembling eyes, Senia pointed to the largest apparatus, where a heart radiating immense mana even at rest was being processed in a steaming solution.
"No heart in this world emits mana like that except two! That's gotta be a Dragon Heart!"
At her words, Arthin stopped gesturing and stared straight at the Dragon Heart. What excuse would he come up with now? Senia glared at him triumphantly.
"It's a Dragon Heart."
"See! I was right! Dragon Heart! ...A real Dragon Heart? The kind that's national treasure-level for making artifacts even with just one?"
"Yeah, that Dragon Heart."
Arthin admitted it so readily that Senia, who couldn't wrap her head around it either way, stared at him in horror. Where on earth had her student gotten a Dragon Heart? She couldn't even imagine a supply route.
"Ah... about that."
Arthin rummaged in his pocket and pulled out what looked like a perfume bottle. Why a perfume bottle all of a sudden? The moment that thought crossed her mind, a mist sprayed toward her, and Senia's vision began to blur.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Phew, that was close.
I pocketed the perfume bottle as I watched the teacher's eyes go all glassy.
The drug inside was Breath of Illusion—a concoction used by the empire's secret organizations for brainwashing. Its effects were guaranteed.
I'd prepared it just in case, but I hadn't expected Senia to spot the materials right away. I figured passing them off as natural would work.
No choice now—time for countermeasures. I'll input some basic commands first.
"From now on, Teacher, you won't doubt anything I say, got it?"
"...Won't doubt Arthin's words..?"
"Right. No doubts—just follow along. Teacher."
At my whisper laced with mana, like a true incantation, Senia nodded with a blank expression.
'Good thing I whipped up a hypnosis drug.'
This stuff dragged out the subconscious and could only be made from ultra-rare ingredients like a succubus core. Of course, with my status window shop, that was irrelevant.
The materials were pricey, but brewing it wasn't hard, so I'd made it first for potential emergencies.
It would take Senia about five minutes to snap out of it. Thinking that, I shone light on the gem I'd been working on to check its status.
"Hm, not bad. Just needs the circuits engraved, and it'll be done."
Satisfied, I took off my goggles and white coat, then surveyed the artifacts in progress around me.
Shaomei's divine power greaves, Agnes's cloak, the staff for Violet, my sword—everything was on track.
"..Ugh, did Senia Teacher catch you?"
"Whoa, you've got all kinds of stuff in here!"
Right then, Shaomei and Jorba Pelkas walked into the clubroom, marveling at the setup. Shaomei hurried to my side and claimed her spot.
"Teacher's fine. I hypnotized her not to doubt me."
"Huh? Hypnosis drug? You can make that too?"
"Ah, just stumbled on it while alchemying. Never tried it myself."
As Shaomei snuggled warmly into my arms and asked suspiciously, I hurriedly explained. "Hypnosis drug" just had that naughty ring to it.
'No way I can admit I thought about toying with Teacher Senia for those five minutes...'
Honestly, I'm innocent. Nah, I deserve praise. I'd blown through a whopping 300,000 points on this alchemy setup and materials.
My points had been around 600,000 after conquering Violet—now sliced in half. So yeah, expanding the harem for the future sounded smart.
"Hmmm... you really never used it for anything naughty?"
"Not at all. For real."
"And you won't in the future either?"
"...Well, I'm leaning toward not using it."
"What does that even mean! Tell me straight—will you use it or not!"
Under Shaomei's piercing glare, not wanting to lie, I pulled the flailing girl into a tight hug and buried my face in her jiggling breasts.
"W-wait! What are you doing! I'm mad right now!"
"But I've been juggling all these tasks since morning—I'm drained. If you don't help me de-stress, my hair's gonna fall out in clumps..."
At the mention of hair loss, Shaomei made a resigned face and started patting my head, still buried in her cleavage.
'Phew, mission success.'
That way, I hadn't lied. Gotta try it on a girl next time. For the greater good, of course.
"You two being all lovey-dovey is fine and all, but could you remember I'm here...?"
Jorba gave a wry smile at being completely ignored, peering curiously at the Dragon Heart being processed in the glass container.
"This... isn't this a Dragon Heart, Arthin? That's World Tree over there, plus Turtle Stone and a kitsune tail. How much did all this even cost?"
True to his status as heir to the Republic Federation's top trading company, Jorba recognized the materials' value and gawked as he looked everything over.
"Gotta splurge this much if we're potentially fighting a Demon King's legion commander. I still think it's not enough."
"No.. yeah, sure, but.. I'm speechless.. Any of this for me, by chance?"
At the mention of "legion commander," Jorba nodded in understanding, then asked slyly with a hint of hope as he eyed the items.
"Nah, nothing for you. You're not fighting—why would you need an artifact?"
"...Still, better safe than sorry for unexpected stuff, right?"
"That's why Shaomei's glued to you. No artifacts for Kaiyen either, so quit complaining."
"Kaiyen? Why not him? Isn't he on the combat team?"
"He's a guy. Pretty sure he's gay, so no interest in hooking him up."
Jorba looked dumbfounded at my firm declaration, but my resolve was ironclad.
Why would I personally craft artifacts for a munchkin protagonist who levels up just by breathing?
...Okay, fine, in the third round I'd made him a ring, necklace, and potions. But the way he looked at me back then was way too affectionate—gave me the creeps. Haven't wanted to make him anything since.
"So you're really convinced Demon Army execs are gonna show up, Arthin?"
"Eh, maybe not. It's not like I've regressed a hundred or thousand times."
I dragged over a desk, sat facing Jorba, and had Shaomei sit beside me. I'd tried to seat Senia Teacher next to me too, but Shaomei's glare felt a tad sharp, so I put Teacher on Shaomei's other side.
"Even if they don't, it's good to prep useful artifacts ahead of time. Running into an exec unprepared? That's the real nightmare."
"...Fair. Then shouldn't we alert the empire and let them handle it? A legion commander is a threat the whole empire needs to mobilize for. If even a familiar shows up, we could actually die."
"...I'm a little worried too. If Big Brother Arthin dies, there's no guarantee I'll regain my memories..."
Their sudden concerns threw me for a loop. Why bring it up now?
But thinking it over, they had a point. If we really faced a Demon King exec, one slip could mean hundreds or thousands dead.
Academy collapse? Key figures slaughtered? All possible. The absolute worst? Me dying to some unlucky mishap.
And if memory regression doesn't trigger next round...
...Shaomei, who knows me best, was looking at me with especially worried eyes.
This vibe wasn't good. Even I was starting to imagine grim possibilities, weakening my own resolve—who knew how the others felt.
"You two, quit worrying so much. I'm not just banking on regression here. You scared or something?"
But I flashed a grin. Kneading Shaomei's slumped shoulders, I teased them for being such fraidy-cats.
"Don't forget, I'm the guy who nearly assassinated the Demon King? With your help, a legion commander—or even a familiar—ain't no big deal. Easier than you'd think."
Pure bluff, of course. If commanders were pushovers, I'd have cleared this world ages ago.
But the moment I showed anxiety, negativity would spread among us.
"So quit freaking out and trust me. Thanks to the unicorn contract, I might even be stronger than you now, Shaomei?"
I put on a sincere act of unwavering confidence. Better I suffer a bit more than watch my friends panic.
"...Still. We're just worried, that's all."
"Yeah, with all that awesome gear you're making, Big Brother, it might actually be easier than we think."
My bold claims seemed to land somewhat—their tense expressions eased a little.
Or maybe they were just clinging to what they wanted to believe. A faint trace of anxiety lingered in their eyes. But that was enough.
Now I had just one job: like every regression, turn my big talk into reality.
"Well, when you think about it, you're the one who knows the Demon Army best out of all of us. Maybe we're just overthinking it."
"Okay! I'll hustle whatever Big Brother wants—just tell me what you need!"
Yeah, this was the mood we needed.
This happiness I'd claimed wasn't getting stolen by some two-bit villain.
I wasn't Yang Hee-min, the idiot who let everything get taken in the real world. I was Arthin—the one who could save everyone.
I'd steal other guys' women and happiness if I wanted. But I'd never let anyone take my woman. My happiness.
I'll protect it all. My precious friends and lovers. And this perfect harem life.
"Ah, Big Brother, you just peeked at Teacher Senia's boobs! And I was right here!"
In my final moment of resolve, I'd slipped up on my gaze. Shaomei pinched my thigh. Ow.