The Journey (10)
After browsing the night market for a while, we returned to our lodgings. Though we entered quietly given the late hour…
"You're late."
When we stepped into the room, Sister Mary was waiting for us with her arms crossed. Through the dim light I could just make out the angry look on her face.
"W-we thought you'd already gone to bed."
"Isn't this a bit too late?"
It was late, certainly. Still, I didn't feel it was late enough to warrant this kind of reception.
"Come on, this is pretty normal."
"So, did you enjoy the casino?"
"Yeah, well… it wasn't really my thing."
"Then that's a relief."
"What did you do, Mary?"
I asked while changing out of my clothes. Sister Mary naturally pulled out my nightclothes and began folding the ones I'd taken off.
"I went to a nearby temple and offered prayers."
She said she hadn't had a proper chance to pray lately and had simply taken a little time for herself.
Once I was in my nightclothes, the interrogation about the sparkling water began in earnest.
"You bought it because it's unique water and you wanted to use it in combinations?"
"Yes. I'll only use the water and return the glass bottles for a refund."
Being grilled when I hadn't committed any crime was a little uncomfortable, but I knew Sister Mary was only doing it out of concern for me, so I went along without complaint.
Once my sister finished changing as well, she climbed into bed and settled in to sleep.
Hmm… today had been fun.
No—it had definitely been fun.
Tomorrow I would return to normal, research alchemy, and prepare to leave.
Perhaps because of that, the moment I lay down sleep came easily.
Maybe because we'd stayed out so late, I slept in a little the next morning. After breakfast I prepared to practice alchemy right there in the lodgings.
"I've already gotten everything ready."
Of course I hadn't prepared a thing—Sister Mary had set it all up early that morning.
Probably because I'd told her the day before what I planned to do.
Still, it left me feeling a little as though I were being forced to research. Well, it was work I'd agreed to… so I supposed I had to do it.
"First I should try this water."
I decided to use only the sparkling water—no other materials. When I poured it into the pot, the carbonation escaped and formed bubbles.
"What curious water."
Sister Mary was seeing it for the first time.
"Yes, that's why I wanted to try it."
With no other ingredients at all, I infused the carbonated water with Holy Power and attempted a combination.
I stirred the water in slow circles; more bubbles rose. Inside the pot, nothing particular happened. As expected, using water alone without anything else didn't count as a proper combination.
The first attempt was a failure.
I'd only used sparkling water as a material from the start, so I hadn't expected much.
To confirm whether it truly possessed the properties of water, I decided to try it in combination recipes that normally used water.
When I asked Sister Mary to fetch some herbs, she promptly put Priest Daniel to work.
"Yes, yes, I'm going."
Priest Daniel ran the errands without complaint, working diligently.
I first attempted an ointment. It failed. Aside from substituting sparkling water for ordinary water, the recipe was identical—yet it failed.
"As I thought, it's a completely different material from regular water."
The carbonation was clearly the reason for the failure.
To be absolutely certain, I tried other recipes as well. I obtained easy-to-find sand and ash and attempted to craft an Attunement Agent…
"Another failure."
"Yes. I think we have to treat it as an entirely different material from ordinary water."
I recorded what I'd learned so far. Sparkling water—the fizz water—was strictly a different material from plain water.
"To be treated as a different material just because of the state of the water… alchemy really is difficult."
Sister Mary shook the bottle of sparkling water as she spoke.
"The problem is that even if we discover a combination method with this, obtaining the water itself will be hard."
That was a problem too…
I had some knowledge about carbonation, but I didn't really know the method. People said you just needed to inject carbon dioxide, yet I had no practical way to do that.
Would forcing carbon dioxide into ordinary water produce it? But I didn't have a good method for forced combination either…
I used the remaining sparkling water to attempt a few more combinations. I tried making poison with toxic herbs and poisonous mushrooms, and I mixed twigs and grass in an attempt to create wooden planks.
Of course everything failed and the materials vanished, but I didn't feel the loss.
"Isn't it a waste to keep combining when you already know you'll fail?"
Young Master Maximilian, who had come over at some point to watch, started lecturing me.
"Because it might suddenly succeed. The materials have changed, so the results might come out differently too."
"That is true."
Well, it was a bit of a shame when materials disappeared after a failed combination…
I made the most of every material I had on hand, and the sparkling water was nearly gone.
"One bottle left."
"Shall we use this one for drinking?"
I'd experimented enough with combinations.
Young Master Maximilian looked reluctant, while Sister Mary and Priest Daniel showed a flicker of curiosity.
"There should be a tasty way to drink this too."
I asked my sister to fetch fruit juice and sugar.
"Fruit juice?"
"Yeah. Think it'll be hard to find?"
"No."
My sister left at once and returned with sugar and a citrus-like fruit. She put the peeled fruit into a cloth and squeezed hard; juice ran out in a steady stream.
A little sugar mixed into that juice and the preparation was done.
"A fruit-juice drink?"
"Not yet. Now for the finishing touch."
I poured a little of the juice into a large cup, then added the sparkling water. I stirred gently so the water and juice would blend. Stir too hard and the carbonation would vanish, so I was careful and light with the spoon.
"Done."
I'd made a simple fruit-juice drink. People usually drank pure juice without mixing water into it, so adding water made the method a little unusual. Of course drinks mixed with water or alcohol existed, so it wasn't anything special—just a bit different.
"There's not much, so let's share it in small portions."
I divided the drink among everyone's cups.
Young Master Maximilian eyed the orange liquid with open suspicion.
"It should be pretty good."
I tipped the last mouthful left in my cup straight into my mouth. The mild carbonation and the sweet-tart juice harmonized beautifully into a delicious drink.
Still, it lacked the magical punch of the carbonated soft drinks from my previous life. It was just a pleasant beverage.
"It's good."
My sister's usual blank expression melted into a look of pure happiness.
"That good?"
"Mm."
It seemed to suit her tastes perfectly. As for Priest Daniel…
"I'd like to try mixing it with alcohol."
He brought up liquor, and Sister Mary didn't seem opposed either.
"It's nice."
Young Master Maximilian hesitated, then downed his drink. He tilted his head with a look of surprise.
"Pretty good, right?"
"Y-yes. I never imagined it would change this much. The sparkling water really brings out the fruit's flavor."
A snort of laughter escaped me. His evaluation was so apt that I found myself nodding.
"Now we should return the glass bottles."
I carefully packed the empty bottles into a container.
"I'll go."
Priest Daniel offered, but I stopped him.
"No. The merchant doesn't know you, so that won't work. Young Master Maximilian and I, whose faces he knows, have to go."
"That makes sense."
I told my sister to rest, and Maximilian and I left the lodgings with the bottles. We quickly found the merchant and returned them.
"Here's eight gold."
Fortunately the merchant neither played games nor tried to keep the money. Glass bottles were expensive goods; cheating would only hurt him.
With the refund in hand, should we head straight back to the lodgings?
"Shall we go in right away?"
"We should, yes."
"Understood."
Maximilian hesitated, then simply nodded. He'd seemed about to say something and then stopped—what was that about?
Back at the lodgings we organized our luggage. The reservation ran until the morning after next, so we still had time, yet we decided to pack anyway.
"We've used a lot of materials for alchemy…"
Tomorrow I might need to restock some of the consumables.
"Nothing's gone missing from the luggage, right?"
I asked Priest Daniel.
"No. The lodgings have been managing everything carefully. The horses are in good condition as well."
Expensive rates for a reason, I supposed…
After roughly organizing the alchemy tools and the rest of our gear, we decided to enjoy the hot springs once more.
"We ought to soak at least once a day."
"Yes. We paid good money—we should use it."
Sister Mary seemed to agree. I invited my sister to bathe with us, but she declined. This time I intended to take it slow and relax…
The moment I sank into the hot spring, my body went limp and every knot of tension melted away.
"Ahh… this is nice…"
Being able to rest without a single worry felt wonderful. I lowered my head, washed my face with the spring water, and simply enjoyed the bath.
"Hmm…"
Then a sudden thought struck me.
The sparkling water had been treated as a separate material.
In that case, couldn't the hot-spring water also be used as a combination ingredient—as a material? The idea hit me out of nowhere.
"Is something wrong?"
Sister Mary looked worried at my reaction.
"No. It's just… since the sparkling water worked as a material, I wondered whether this hot-spring water might work too."
Sister Mary gazed at the bath we were soaking in.
"There's a possibility… yes, there is a possibility."
But I'd already packed away all the alchemy tools.
"I was going to put the tools away a little later…"
"We can simply take them out again."
I didn't believe success was likely, yet establishing the facts was important.
"If only I'd noticed earlier, it would have been easier."
When I grumbled, Sister Mary laughed.
"Then failing to notice is partly my fault as well."
"Ugh, this is so annoying I want a drink."
After we'd thoroughly enjoyed the hot spring, we tried using the spring water in combinations as well.
The result? Everything failed except one single combination.
Only the red Attunement Agent succeeded, and the finished agent was a far deeper color than the ordinary version.
"It seems the quality has improved…?"
I still didn't know what difference that made, but it was a result all the same.
The high sulfur content in the hot-spring water was probably responsible.
Alchemy really was complicated and difficult…
Should I write this down too?
The hot-spring water of the Therme territory appears to assist fire-attribute combinations.
That was truly the end for today. I mustn't do anything more…
I glanced at the alchemy tools scattered across the table and quickly looked away. Sister Mary quietly began putting them away.
I watched her for a moment, then awkwardly rose and helped. Sister Mary smiled and said she could manage alone, but I couldn't smile back.
Had we been together for more than half a year already? She handled everything so well that I was growing lazy.
If I wasn't careful, I might become someone who couldn't live without Sister Mary in the blink of an eye…