The Unexpected Gift
We were heading to the nearest city on our schedule.
Even if it meant a slight delay, it was necessary to let off some steam and rest after the village.
Of course, that was for the guild members and escorts. Gerik and I, half-turned into nobles, could rest comfortably inside the carriage.
With the guild's cargo at eighty percent capacity, the three of us had nothing much to do.
That's why.
Even though it was a bit sad that I couldn't use my tools, Kairon, who had a clear head for accurate judgment, made himself speak up and pulled our carriage.
"I didn't do anything! So I'm pulling it too!"
Thanks to that, the ride felt much smoother.
That was the moment I proved Kairon wasn't as stupid as he looked despite being a warrior.
Three days later.
We arrived in the nearby city of Balag.
"...I feel like the tension is finally lifting."
"You said it."
"Today's probably going to be a rough night."
"It wasn't like that until now? I kept getting chased in my dreams."
"Sleeping in a tense state means you don't have dreams, so it was fine until now, but today it'll be tough."
The carriage came to a complete stop with a jolt.
Gerik, patting my shoulder with a cheerful face, opened the carriage door.
"Even so, Lulu, you've made it easy for us. I don't know how to repay this kindness."
"Heh, just pay me back yourself. Your life isn't cheap, you know."
Those words were directed at Gerik, but Sera answered. With an overly smug smile.
Gerik accepted Sera's arrogance with grace.
"Yeah, you helped me too. I'll definitely repay you. Just wait until we reach the Escart Empire."
"What? Did you hide a gold mine in the Empire? You're really confident? I'm actually looking forward to it."
Gerik, shrugging his shoulders, stepped down from the carriage first and helped me and Sera out.
Since both of us weren't tall, Gerik always helped us down from the carriage.
Thus, I could see the view of the new city, Balag.
"Oh..."
If Karkadum was a city of neatly carved statues, Balag here was the very definition of a medieval fantasy city.
From alleys, the periodic sound of hammers striking iron.
The rumble of carriage wheels on the road, alchemists arranging goods at stalls and selling them, and the messy row of brick buildings.
Especially the one that added emotion was the smoke rising thick from chimneys, soaked in the sunset.
If it was a medieval fantasy city, I'd think of a blue sky and vast plains, but the living atmosphere inside this sunset city also came to mind.
Balag right now was exactly that.
"Adventurers! Let's go to the inn first! There's a place right there!"
I followed the guild master Palmon, who was leading us, with my heart pounding.
*****
The pounding in my chest might have been just fatigue.
Upon arriving at the inn, I ate and drank without a moment to examine the leftovers, took a warm shower, and immediately fell asleep.
I thought I'd rested well on the carriage, but with walls all around and a bed to lie on, a heavy fatigue came rushing in.
After sleeping like that and waking up, it was already afternoon the next day. I hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch, so it was time for dinner.
"Finally awake."
"Good morning."
Stretching and rubbing my eyes, I turned my head to see Sera sitting at my feet with a grumpy expression.
"By the way, why is Sera in my room."
"People came in thinking I was dead and asked me to check only."
"No way."
"It's true."
"Wait, I didn't say I was dead."
"Your voice is all crackly. Here, drink some water."
"Thank you."
Yawning, I jumped off the bed and gulped down the cold water Sera handed me.
But the fact that I'd slept too long still left me feeling groggy.
"Are you going to eat lunch?"
"Yes, but when are we leaving?"
"They said we'd rest for four days."
Sera, saying that, stood up from her seat and moved to the wooden chair.
"I have good news and bad news. Which should I tell you first?"
"Good news."
Sera answered with a bright smile.
"The escorts are no longer needed until we reach the Escart Empire. We're guests now. They're going to hire new escorts from here. Of course, they'll add more pay for the job!"
"So we're resting for four days? What's the bad news?"
Sera's smile from moments ago had faded into worry.
"I heard there's a rumor of an alchemist in this city."
The drowsiness completely left.
"Really?"
"It's just a rumor. But... it probably means they're calming the residents down, and it seems like someone is really hiding here."
"How did they hide?"
Sera stared at me intently.
I immediately understood.
"Ah."
"Be careful."
"I'm planning to meet them lightly and just talk. Don't worry."
"Yeah, if it's you, you'll be careful on your own... what?"
"I'm planning to meet them lightly and just talk. Don't worry."
Sera, muttering with pursed lips, suddenly stood up with a start.
"Are you crazy?!"
"You surprised me."
"Meet? Meet who! Absolutely not!"
"It's not like all alchemists are bad."
"No! Most of them are bad!"
"Most of them. I exist, a kind alchemist like me. In books, it says there are more bad non-alchemists than alchemists when you count simply."
"Huh? Really...?"
Sera, who had been persuaded right before my words, scrunched her face.
"Wait, hold on. Hey, that's obvious since there are more commoners than alchemists. And what exactly is a non-alchemist?"
"A non-alchemist is a non-alchemist."
"Anyway, we can't meet. How are we supposed to meet? Even if they're hiding, it's dangerous. What? Meet? You're crazy! No!"
"I'm not crazy. But if Sera is this insistent, I'll meet secretly."
"Then until now, you've been openly meeting?!"
"Because no one knows who the alchemist is, that's why you haven't caught him yet."
Sera sat back down with a thud.
"...That's true?"
"And even if Pantheon dark mages are evil, in the end they treat other dark mages from the same organization well."
"That... is true?"
"So openly meeting is safer."
"But in the end, you might not find them?"
"Can Sera recognize the same magician?"
"...If you look closely? It feels intuitive?"
"I can also find them with that feeling."
Actually, I don't have that feeling.
But following Sera's words, if I look for someone with intuition, I think we can manage somehow.
"Just for three days. I need to buy supplies for one day."
"Then I'll go too, I'll accompany you."
"Why are you going, Sera?"
"I'm worried you'll cause an accident while wandering alone! And you have weirdly dark vision of the world. I'll have to tell you everything step by step."
"Okay."
It seemed a bit boring to wander the city alone.
As I nodded cheerfully, Sera's face brightened again.
"Let's eat first!"
"Didn't you eat too?"
"Yeah."
Sera, answering briefly, had already placed the water she poured on the table.
Then she personally tied my hair and took soap from her waist pouch.
How could I ask why she took soap from such a place, but soap with plant oils and spices is a luxury, so she carries it so carefully.
The soap Sera handed was lavender-scented luxury soap.
Next, she handed a medieval version toothbrush and toothpaste.
You might think there's no toothpaste in medieval fantasy, but it's a product from the golden age when alchemists were active.
I learned about it during the process of my dream of selling soap and toothbrush toothpaste at the orphanage being shattered.
"I have one too. You can keep it as a gift."
Scrub, scrub, brush, brush.
After brushing my teeth and washing my face diligently, drying off with the towel Sera handed, I asked her.
"Sera, did you wait for me to wake up?"
"I-I also woke up late."
I didn't ask the oblivious question of how she heard the guild's news and the city's rumors, prepared water, and prepared new toothbrush and toothpaste even though she woke up late.
I'm a kind alchemist who can protect the weak heart of a non-alchemist.
"I see. I like it. Let's eat together."
"Hehe."
"But before leaving, let me check one thing."
"Check? What?"
I pulled out the mana residue from my mouth.
Sera, seeing that, jumped back in shock.
"That... that, it's my master's."
"Correct."
"What... what are you going to do with it?"
"I'm going to investigate it starting now. Please keep an eye on it."
Immediately after Sera nodded, I added the residue to the tablet I had prepared separately in my bag.
And just as I was about to swing it wildly, for some reason, Aaron's face, who had been sighing, appeared in my mind.
I carefully placed the tablet down and dismantled the residue.
"...What? What? Did you check?"
"No, it probably won't work for now. Let's do it in a place with no people."
"Why?"
"I remembered my master's face sighing."
"...What does that mean?"
"It's a sign to stop immediately."
"Talking to you makes me feel like my mind is getting weird."
How could a non-alchemist follow an alchemist's thoughts.
I understand it well enough.
"Let's go eat now."
With my mind clear, I pondered the presence of the residue in the workshop.
The residue left by Gerik's master contained at least the power of a high-level knight.
I couldn't tell its characteristics yet, but at the very least, it would definitely have the best property among the residues I've used so far.
Enough to make a dark mage who commands monster legions feel attachment.
*****
Palmon's claim that the Autumn Hills Inn served delicious food wasn't false.
Having eaten the food there and now comparing it to the inn where I'm staying, I felt a significant difference.
Even in a situation where I'd skipped breakfast and lunch and my stomach was empty, I'd think of this as truly disappointing food.
"Sera, how was the food?"
"It was delicious? Especially the chicken stew was good."
"There was a shell in it."
"What?! My stew had no shell?! Hmph, I should add some ingredients next time."
Non-alchemists live such a harsh life.
"How was the Autumn Hills Inn meal?"
"It was too, too delicious. Honestly, I never ate such delicious food in my life."
"Sera, don't you have parents?"
Sera looked at me with a bewildered face.
She even had eyes that seemed to say how could I say something like that to her.
"I don't have any either."
"...Really?"
"Yes, as I said. I was in the orphanage and sold for four silver coins to a Pantheon dark mage."
"Sniff."
"It's okay. As I said before, I have good memories of it."
Sera, carefully watching my eyes, said softly.
"I-I am from the back alleys."
"Then maybe the mom who abandoned you was a bit kinder."
"...Kinder?"
"Yes, kinder. You weren't abandoned in the back alleys."
Sera's eyes twitched.
"You... don't know why the Empire's orphanage was built?"
"Is there a secret in the orphanage? Maybe a secret cult to raise members of a crime organization?"
"...It's a place to buy playthings for nobles to play with."
"Ah. Then our mom probably hated me."
"...Let's stop talking like this. My heart is getting uncomfortable."
"Yes."
Sera's complexion paled, and she patted her chest hard. It looked smaller than yesterday, so it was understandable that she felt constrained.
"Whew... So where should we go first?"
"As expected, we should go to a place with many people."
"...Isn't that the opposite?"
"The darkest place is under the lamp."
"What does that mean... huh? There's logic? You know, if it's a lamp, the place right under it is the darkest, right. What? You have really good analogies?"
"Thanks for the compliment."
"By the way, if it's a place with many people... I know a good place, how about it?"
"Where?"
Sera's eyes sparkled as she grabbed my hand.
"Tea Salon!"
"Is it a place to drink tea?"
"Yes! It's a bit expensive, but since we made money on this job, maybe we can splurge a little."
It was the medieval fantasy cafe.
And these places always gather noble daughters.
Curious about the lives of nobles, I silently followed Sera.
And not long after, I saw something quite familiar.
"Sera."
"What? Why did you stop?"
"I found it."
"What?"
"The alchemist."
"...Really?"
"Yes. There he is."
My fingertip pointed to a man with a bizarre tattoo on his finger, looking around restlessly.
Yes. That tattoo was similar to Aaron's workshop.
But similar was as far as it went. Completely different. Aaron's right hand and my tongue tattoo weren't that crude or inferior.
"...How did you know?"
"He looks like a broken alchemist who messed up while following my master."
I led Sera to approach him.