Chapter 3
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Kicked Out of the Hero Party
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1. Kicked Out of the Hero Party.
Lunarin had her reasons for thinking that way about Edin.
She knew very well the environment he was trapped in.
She had previously formed a temporary three-person party with Claude and Edin to carry out a commission, and she was one of the few who had watched their activities right up close.
What was generally known was how heroically Claude had performed.
And how overflowing with talent he was.
In truth, Lunarin hadn't been interested in Edin at first.
She was merely a bit intrigued that Claude, a rising star like herself, insisted on dragging along a C-Rank Adventurer.
Most of the attention had been focused on Claude.
But the Claude she saw firsthand was more disappointing than expected.
He wasn't completely ignorant of dungeons, monsters, terrain, and the like, but his knowledge was awfully shallow.
To the extent that he'd let a C-Rank monster land a solid hit due to carelessness.
'What an idiot.'
She even questioned whether he'd properly graduated from the Adventurer Academy.
Of course, his raw abilities were exceptional.
Whether he took hits or not, he simply crushed everything with overwhelming magic power and stats.
'Nothing impressive. Just a brute.'
As her interest in Claude faded, her gaze naturally shifted to Edin supporting him from the rear.
'Potions...'
Various types, used precisely where and when needed.
And their performance was impressive.
'At that quality, B-Rank... fifty to sixty silver each, at least.'
Higher-grade potions and consumables cost exponentially more.
Fewer people could produce them.
B-Rank wasn't unobtainable, but it still cost a pretty penny.
Fifty silver could cover comfortable meals and lodging at an inn for about two weeks.
No matter how well Claude was performing lately, casually using items that pricey?
Rumor had it he was just a commoner from some rural village.
"Did you buy those?"
Unable to contain her curiosity, she finally asked Edin.
Her inability to hold back her inquisitive nature had gotten the better of her.
"Ah, I made them myself."
"...?!"
His words hit her like a thunderbolt, and her eyes went wide.
An alchemist capable of crafting B-Rank potions.
She realized he was quite the talent.
She'd wondered why Claude kept a C-Rank Adventurer around, but now it made sense.
His personal combat prowess was relatively weak, keeping him stuck at C-Rank, but his alchemy more than made up for it.
'Definitely the kind of talent even A-Rank Adventurer parties would fight over.'
She found herself more intrigued by Edin than Claude.
But her interest truly ignited after that.
"Kuhahat! I handled it all by myself again."
"Good work, Claude. Here, a Stamina Potion."
"Hmph. Don't need it. I'm not even tired."
As time wore on, she realized Claude and Edin's relationship wasn't what she'd assumed.
Claude fundamentally didn't trust alchemy-made potions or consumables.
Later, even his Adventurer Academy classmates confirmed it: he trusted nothing but his own abilities.
'Some guys are like that.'
The type convinced their power was the pinnacle of the world.
Guys who dismissed trivial consumables as unnecessary.
Often, they were among those who rose fast on raw talent alone, scorning all aid.
But Lunarin knew better.
'None of those types ever truly reach the top.'
Three paths awaited them.
Realizing their power alone fell short and reforming.
Struggling forever, never breaking through a ceiling.
...Or dying from their own arrogance.
Anyway, with a teammate like that—one talented enough to be floated as a Hero candidate—Edin's alchemy was perpetually sidelined.
Gathering herbs for potions, buying materials, and such.
He wouldn't spend a dime on it, viewing even the time investment as a loss.
So Edin always rushed with low-grade herbs he'd foraged himself and cheap substitute ingredients for his alchemy.
Yet the products he made—as she'd witnessed firsthand—defied belief for such materials.
Healing Potions, status recovery potions, antidotes, Sticky Potions, Monster Lure Pheromone Pouches, and more.
Those ingredients should've yielded D-Rank or worse junk.
The sort you could buy in bulk at a corner shop for a handful of silver.
But his were astonishingly B-Rank caliber.
Quality even A-Rank Adventurers would stock.
'Pulling that performance from that time and those materials? Impossible.'
She figured he had some special technique.
So, despite the grave rudeness to an alchemist, she begged to observe his potion-making process just once.
'Well, after agonizing for days to even ask, he accepted with surprising ease.'
He wasn't hiding anything; Edin granted her request casually.
Thus began the alchemy demonstration.
Lunarin was dumbstruck.
'Nothing different at all.'
Extraction, separation, purification, concentration, mixing.
More steps if subdivided, but potion-making boiled down to those five processes.
And Edin was pulling off the unimaginable in them.
The basics were identical.
Just... executed with insane precision, yielding substances over 90% pure.
Lunarin could use appraisal magic, spotting the difference; otherwise, even she'd have been clueless.
'Not human skill.'
Monstrous focus and precision.
She understood why he'd shown it so freely.
'Not even a century-old alchemist could match that.'
Bare hands, no tools.
High purity from junk materials.
She'd met plenty of alchemists, but this bordered on the impossible.
Such precision likely required one of the Alchemist Guild's ultra-precise purifiers—millions of gold apiece, or so she guessed.
Yet in squalor, he produced transcendent quality through superhuman focus and finesse.
His top-tier creations treated like trash? No wonder Edin's self-esteem was shot.
They couldn't appreciate his genius.
You had to utilize it properly to grasp its value.
Not that she'd seen other alchemists at work.
'Letting a talent like this rot?'
That's why Lunarin despised Claude.
No—loathed him.
Dragging a continent-class genius around, treating him like refuse while playing Hero.
She acknowledged Claude's prodigious talent, sure—but at best, S-Rank Adventurer material.
Consider non-adventurer geniuses: forty or fifty continent-wide with comparable gifts.
Even she, Lunarin Brettis, was a Hero candidate.
But Edin was singular.
Search the continent: any human matching mega-guild or national ultra-precise magitech?
At best, mages or warriors rivaling strategic siege weapons.
That was why Lunarin would do anything to poach him.
She was among the precious few who saw his worth.
She yearned to witness his potions in ideal conditions.
Of course, more than that.
Adventurer lore deeper than the faculty's.
Unlike Claude, polite and kind.
A plain yet endearingly honest face.
Everything aligned perfectly with Lunarin's tastes.
And now, a golden opportunity to recruit him anew.
'That moron Claude finally ditched Edin.'
The world's priciest gem, tumbled to the dirt, rolling ownerless.
And she alone here knew its true brilliance...!
Lunarin's heart raced uncontrollably.
'I'd love to snag him now, but... hogging that talent solo is too greedy.'
So she proposed.
The Academy's general store slot had just opened.
Supplying students consumables and sundries near gratis.
Called a store, but really training for real adventuring commerce.
Put Edin there?
Equipment, materials, setup, condition—all Academy-backed.
Storekeeper in name, teacher in truth.
His genius unleashed in perfection—what wonders?
She could hardly wait.
'Heh. A storm's brewing at the Adventurer Academy.'
Once he shone for real, selection was inevitable.
If the faculty weren't blind.
Historic alchemist and potions at the Academy.
Lunarin anticipated the fun.
'And I'll see him up close every day.'
Her personal cravings sated too.
A win-win for her.