Iron-Blooded Alchemist
Iron-Blooded Alchemist
Lately, trends among the empire's children had been changing rapidly.
Until just a little while ago, children all over—whether village kids or noble young ladies—had been busy imitating the characters from <Kingdom of Ice>.
Each of them pestered their parents for an Elza dress and swung wands around, and there was a sad behind-the-scenes story of parents having to memorize entire lines from Kingdom of Ice just to play along.
But recently, a new trend had arisen.
"Equivalent Exchange!!!"
"I am Edmund Eldric, the Iron-Blooded Alchemist, an Imperial-Certified Alchemist!"
"Look at this! I drew the Transmutation Circle exactly like it was in the book!"
The children were utterly absorbed in the new manga volume <Iron-Blooded Alchemist>, busy reenacting its contents.
In particular, whereas before it had mainly been girls going wild, this time it was boys going crazy over it, which was a bit different.
One might wonder, why alchemists, of all things? But boys swinging sticks around and reciting lines were now a common sight.
What was even more surprising was that this was not limited to children—among adults, too, <Iron-Blooded Alchemist> had become a common topic of conversation.
They didn't recite lines like the children did, but each of them would argue that the Iron-Blooded Alchemist was surely the strongest, or that the Flame Alchemist who appeared at the end of Volume 1 must be stronger.
Serious debates like this were frequently witnessed in taverns.
While everyone was enjoying <Iron-Blooded Alchemist> in their own way, there was one place that could not smile.
That place was none other than the Alchemy Guild.
The headquarters of the Alchemy Guild was located in Chaldea, the capital of the Borus Empire.
Normally, only alchemists coming to procure alchemy ingredients or merchants coming to purchase finished goods like potions stopped by, so it was relatively quiet.
Until last week, that is.
"I'm not asking you to reveal the secret for nothing. I've brought ample compensation, so please, just tell me!!!"
"I apologize. But we know nothing about Human Transmutation either."
Harun, the empire's greatest alchemist and head of the Alchemy Guild, was on the verge of losing his mind from the recent flood of visitors.
'Human Transmutation? I've never even heard of such a heinous act.'
If they had been nobodies, they would have been thrown out at the entrance immediately, but the problem was that some of the visitors were high-ranking nobles.
If the person currently pestering him to teach them Human Transmutation were not Count Christian, he would have kicked them out on the spot.
"Hmph, then what is all this in the book? Are you saying it's really all lies?!"
"That is..."
Yes, that damned book was the source of all his problems.
A manga volume he had assumed was only for children.
But when a new release was announced under the title <Iron-Blooded Alchemist>, his curiosity had gotten the better of him, and he remembered buying and reading it—and being shocked.
'Where in the world did they find out about the components of the human body, things even we don't know, and this Transmutation Circle?'
If it had been absurd, he could have dismissed it as mere fiction, but astonishingly, the contents of the manga volume were partly true.
In particular, there were many aspects of the human body's composition that even they had not yet fully understood.
The fact that this manga volume described them accurately sent chills down his spine.
Not only that, but the Transmutation Circles that appeared were not entirely nonsense either.
They clearly had the form of a Transmutation Circle, but it was a new type of Transmutation Circle with something else added.
Some young alchemists had even shut themselves away, declaring that this was surely new knowledge and that they would study it, so it could not be dismissed as a mere children's book.
'A rebound... This is undoubtedly a side effect that comes from alchemy related to forbidden secret arts.'
It was still only at the stage of speculation, so he couldn't confirm it, but wasn't the author who made this book surely someone who knew forbidden alchemy or lost ancient secret arts?
Rupert Somerset.
Harun engraved that name into his mind. This was clearly someone who knew something and was hiding it.
For such a person to embed these secret arts in a book seen by so many people—there was no doubt that they were planning something.
***
"Rupert, just what are you..."
Alex could not stop his tears.
It was because his emotions had welled up after seeing Rupert's newly published manga volume <Iron-Blooded Alchemist>.
A father who left home, and a mother and brothers left behind.
The Crown Prince could not stop crying at the scene where the brothers, who had even lost that mother to illness, reached for the taboo of Human Transmutation.
"Were you... that desperate too? So I wasn't the only one."
When he himself had lost his mother as a child, he had been so consumed by longing that he had spent every night weeping.
So much so that if someone could have brought his mother back, he would have done anything.
Others might not understand, but he at least understood the hearts of the brothers in this manga volume perfectly.
Why they had done such a dangerous thing.
If an adult had been there—if their father had been there—this never would have happened.
"Why was there not a single adult by those brothers' side to stop them?"
When he substituted his own father, the Emperor, for the father who left home in the manga volume, he felt even more pity for the brothers, and anger surged up.
As he read the remaining pages of the manga volume, Alex thought.
'Please, let these brothers find a happy ending.'
***
『"Are you two the Eldric brothers, the alchemist brothers of this village? I am Lloyd Cavallo, an Imperial-Certified Alchemist."』
"How can it end here... The next volume won't be out for a while yet."
Iolin was lying on her stomach, reading the manga volume with a secretly hidden magic lamp covered by her blanket.
In truth, she wanted to read it in broad daylight in a bright room, but since she couldn't, she had to read it like this.
'Your Highness the Imperial Princess, you can no longer send attendants to procure books or summon the second son of Somerset back and forth.'
It was because of a special measure by Aiton, the head attendant.
At first, Iolin had demanded how he could do such a thing and whether it wasn't too harsh a measure.
'Last time, an attendant fell ill after camping outside for 3 days trying to procure a book. Your Highness as you were before would have noticed that first.'
At those words, she had been left utterly speechless.
Because the attendant who had gone to get the <Kingdom of Ice> limited edition not long ago had fallen ill from the hardship, and it was entirely her fault.
It was true that when it came to Rupert's books, she lost all proper sense of judgment.
It was bad enough that she'd sent a letter revealing her identity because she disliked the story, then summoned him in person.
But now she'd even overworked an attendant. Even with ten mouths, the Imperial Princess had no excuse.
'If you refrain from reading for a while, you will return to your usual calm. Please endure it just a little.'
After that, the imperial princess truly tried to restrain herself. But when her guard saw her dejected appearance and felt sorry for her, that became an opportunity.
'Your Highness. If you truly wish it, I shall procure the book for you.'
'You? No... This new release is said to be more popular than usual. It might take days of waiting...'
'Hahaha, that much is nothing for someone like me who has endured harsh knight training. Leave it to me!'
Sure enough, just as he had boasted, he procured the new manga volume <Iron-Blooded Alchemist>, which was said to be especially hard to get this time, and secretly delivered it to Iolin.
And so, at bedtime—the only time she was free from the eyes of Aiton and her maids—she secretly read it like this, and the imperial princess was happy and sad at the same time.
"The next volume... Why isn't there a next volume!!!"
***
"Mm, what a wonderful aroma."
As a modern person, not being able to drink coffee was a truly sad thing.
Especially for a webtoon artist who had lived on coffee and caffeinated drinks instead of water.
Coffee existed in this other world too. But the places where coffee grew were extremely limited, so it was even more expensive than the Ceylon tea imported from the East, and until now I hadn't dared to try it.
But who am I?
"A monster heir who paid off the entire family debt can certainly afford the luxury of drinking coffee."
In truth, the family debt could have been resolved with the sales profits from the picture books alone, but there had been quite a lot of money going out here and there, including banquets.
It was only after the publication of this <Iron-Blooded Alchemist> that I was able to clear it all at once.
So right now, I was savoring expensive coffee as a way of celebrating my success.
'Ah... no!!! Pouring cold water and ice into coffee!'
I remembered Alain's scream when he personally brewed the coffee, saying that the late Countess—Rupert's mother—had enjoyed drinking it back when the family was still wealthy.
The coffee Alain brought was a thick concentrate, like espresso.
I mercilessly turned it into an iced Americano, and Alain screamed.
'He doesn't know what he's missing. Alain would probably understand too if he tried an iced Americano once in the summer.'
Of course, it was winter, but Koreans drank iced Americanos even if it killed them.
I couldn't even imagine blowing on hot coffee to drink it.
"Ada wants some too!"
Apparently finding the sight of me drinking coffee amusing, Ada sidled up and stared at the cup in my hand, saying she wanted some too.
'She was sulking and wouldn't even meet my eyes.'
I sat Ada on my lap and carefully placed the cup in her hands.
The new manga volume <Iron-Blooded Alchemist> seemed too early for Ada to read, so I had hidden the manuscript from her thoroughly.
She had sulked, refusing to answer or meet my eyes, but now—whether she had gotten over it or was just too curious about the coffee—she sat quietly in my arms.
"Ugh! What is this, it's gross..."
Ada took a sip of the cold coffee, then grimaced and went "ptooey, ptooey."
"Ada, your brother is drinking that, you know."
It was so ridiculous I could only laugh.
"Don't care, give me something sweet, quick!"
At Ada's whining, I had no choice but to take out a piece of candy hidden in my desk drawer.
"This is the last one for today, got it?"
Ada nodded at my words while unwrapping the candy.
Apparently, when that strange guest came last time, they had been horrified by Ada's chubby figure and grubby dress and scolded the maids.
Since then, Ada had all her Elza dresses and snacks confiscated, so she had to get by on what I secretly gave her like this.
'Whoever it was, how dare they slander my adorable Ada like this.'
Of course, even accounting for the baby fat children her age had, she was a bit on the chubby side, but that was exactly what made her cute.
I reached out and pinched Ada's cheek as she munched on the candy.
She made strange noises and tried to resist, but Ada, already conquered by the candy, soon gave up and complied.
"Ada, wanna read a picture book."
"A picture book?"
Ada nodded at my words.
I felt a pang at that. In truth, the reason I had started making picture books was originally for Ada.
But before I knew it, the roles had reversed, and I had only been drawing what I wanted to draw, not realizing that Ada had gotten bored.
'Hah... I need to work on Volume 2 of Iron-Blooded Alchemist, and drawing a picture book on top of that is going to be rough.'
Come to think of it, the merchant company head had also told me that other merchant companies had started making picture books of their own.
He had said they weren't a threat yet, but a decent picture book could come out at any time.
"What kind of story does Ada want to see?"
"Hmm... I dunno!"
How very confident. It was like seeing the most difficult type of client from my freelancing days before I drew webtoons.
I racked my brain, thinking of fairy tales I knew, but nothing particularly stood out.
I had already used the romantic fairy tales featuring princesses like Cinderella, Snow White, and The Little Mermaid, leaving out the ones still too cruel for Ada to see.
Wait, how had I forgotten this one?
A fairy tale that comes to mind in cold winters.
And the story wasn't long, and while it was sad for children to see, it was clearly a work that would be educationally helpful.
"Ada, your brother will make you a picture book right away!"
"Really?"
At my words, Ada hugged me with a bright smile.
When Ada's face touched my neck, I flinched, remembering the time she had bitten me there.
But now Ada was hugging me and shouting that I was the best.
Ada could just wait. Before long, I would make her cry.
I was already looking forward to making the picture book.