Alkimas Workshop (1)
A great city is a symbol of bustle and color. Yet the avenue my carriage now traveled was steeped in nothing but hushed silence.
Soldiers and knights lined both sides of the road at even intervals, swords held high, while the citizens looked on. Countless emotions flickered across the faces we passed, but tension and fear predominated. The solemn, heavy atmosphere made me feel as though I had become some terrible tyrant.
Because the Lord's seat has sat empty all this time, I suppose.
They were about to receive a new ruler after years of vacancy—anxiety was only natural. A Lord was an absolute sovereign of unbridled power, and if a madman sat on that throne, the land would become a living hell. The Tyrant Lord's 6th Territory and the Black Sea Empress's 8th Territory were prime examples.
But all their worry was wasted. I was too busy keeping myself alive to sit around the Lord's Castle playing emperor. I had no intention of interfering in the governance of this land. I planned to let things run as they always had.
Once I take care of what needs taking care of, that is.
The Alkimas Workshop, located here in the city of Buckhorn. Its master, the alchemist Scarlet. She was the problem I needed to resolve before leaving the Lord's Castle again in search of hidden pieces. More precisely, she was a talent I intended to bring over to my side. Like Ashel.
Powering up was still the top priority, but I figured I would pick up useful people along the way whenever I could.
Around this time… she's probably having a hard time because of the Velia Merchant Group, isn't she?
While I was lost in thought, the carriage arrived at the massive castle in the city's center. The military procession was ridiculously long, stretching all the way from the city gates to the front of the Lord's Castle. What a pointless waste of manpower.
After passing through the gates, I stepped down from the carriage. The two who greeted me at the front were an elf in luxurious attire and a white-haired elderly man who was unmistakably a butler. The elf offered a respectful greeting.
"I present my respects to the new master of Enrok. I am Vaslan, who has been serving as Lord Regent of the 7th Territory."
Lord Regent? So they had something like that. It made sense, when I thought about it. They wouldn't have just left the Lord's seat completely empty. I had assumed he would show me around the castle and explain this and that, but what he said next was unexpected.
"I have been waiting to pay my respects to the 7th Lord one last time before returning to the Grand Lord Castle."
"…Returning?"
"Yes. I am originally an administrator of the Grand Lord Castle. I was dispatched here by the Grand Lord's command to serve as regent."
Ah, so that was how it was. To be entrusted with a Lord's seat, he must have been a fairly high-ranking official. The elderly man beside him stepped forward to introduce himself.
"I am Ploto, Head Butler of the castle."
So this was the actual guide. The Lord Regent departed the castle immediately, and I followed Ploto's guidance into the central hall.
The interior was exactly as I had imagined. The classic image that comes to mind when you think of a castle in a fantasy world—vast, lavish, and majestic.
"A banquet has been prepared, my Lord."
I hesitated at that, then nodded. Ordinarily, I had no time to unwind and feast. But…
A single day should be fine.
I wasn't leaving the castle immediately anyway, and they had already prepared everything. Calling it off would just make the servants suffer for nothing. Besides, I needed to get a look at the castle's retainers at least once, so the banquet was, in a sense, an extension of my duties.
…Honestly, those were all excuses. I was human too, and I wanted to rest, even if just for a little while. I had gone through a lot to get here. With the resolve to work hard again starting tomorrow, I decided to enjoy a day of rest.
A massive mansion stood in the inner district of Buckhorn. It was the headquarters of the Velia Merchant Group, which had completely seized and monopolized the trade routes from Enrok's northern frontier all the way to the capital.
Two men sat facing each other in the merchant master's office, conversing.
"So, what intelligence do we have on the new 7th Lord, brother?"
The heavily built man shook his head at the words of the man wearing an eyepatch. He was Velia, master of the merchant group.
"Nothing of substance. The most I've heard is that he's a complete outsider of unknown origin. And a human. Did you catch a glimpse of his face during the procession?"
"Caught a peek from a distance. Looked pretty pale, if you ask me."
"Vark. I've told you to always watch your mouth, even when no one is listening."
"Come on. It's just the two of us. Can't I speak a little freely?"
The eyepatch-wearing man grumbled lightly.
"Anyway, this is a good situation for us, isn't it? Those stubborn alchemy rats have lost their shield now. Heh heh."
The Alkimas Workshop. A storied alchemists' collective based in Buckhorn. They had long been scheming to steal its secret techniques, but those plots had fallen through during the vacancy of the 7th Lord's seat. For the past few years, the newly dispatched Lord Regent had governed the city strictly by the book. Bribes, of course, had been useless. While the Lord Regent held Enrok, they had had no choice but to pull back every scheme aimed at the workshop and simply watch and wait.
But the arrival of a new Lord had changed everything. Lords were beings who reigned from the highest peak. The power struggles and competing interests of those below them were no more than insects squabbling—hardly worth their attention. The previous 7th Lord had been the same. So long as the new 7th Lord wasn't a lunatic like the Tyrant Lord or the Black Sea Empress, the situation would once again swing in the merchant group's favor.
"I'll pay the workshop a visit tomorrow."
"Planning to start squeezing them right away?"
"The situation has turned in our favor, that's true, but we still don't know what kind of man the 7th Lord is. The best course is to make them raise the white flag themselves, as quickly as possible."
"True enough. That workshop bitch and those old fossil elders must be shitting themselves right about now. Heh heh."
Velia and the eyepatch-wearing man looked at each other and shared a wicked smile.
The day after enjoying the banquet, I steeled myself once more and got to work on what needed doing.
He brought quite a lot.
I looked down at a barrel packed full of writhing larvae. The Head Butler had brought them on my orders. These larvae were experimental materials for a precise investigation of Instant Kill.
"Let's get started."
I picked up a knife. The purpose of the experiment was to determine how long after blood left the body Instant Kill's effect remained valid. The method was simple. Drip blood onto a larva and activate Instant Kill. Then, with each success, delay the activation by five more seconds.
Only after sacrificing dozens of larvae was I able to finish the experiment.
About three minutes, roughly.
The results showed that Instant Kill remained effective for approximately three minutes. Blood that had been outside the body for more than three minutes could no longer trigger it. A long time, or a short one, depending on how you looked at it.
Regardless, the key takeaway was that Instant Kill could be activated through blood. As I considered applications, the first thing that came to mind was a vampire's Blood Arts. If I could freely manipulate blood, the synergy with Instant Kill would be enormous.
The problem is, I can't exactly change my race.
There generally wasn't a way to change the race you were born as. And even if there were, I would rather stay human anyway. A way to use Blood Arts without being a vampire—one method did come to mind, but it would require taking on considerable risk.
I'll set that aside for now.
I had gained new information, but there was still a great deal I didn't know. For instance, the range of targets Instant Kill worked on. Would it work on undead or spiritual entities? Those were things I would have to verify when the opportunity arose.
Next on the list was the Alkimas Workshop matter. I spoke to Ashel, who was waiting outside the room.
"I'll be going out for a while."
I figured I should visit the workshop in person. I was curious how effective this world's potions actually were, and I wanted to look around besides.
Aria was an apprentice alchemist at the Alkimas Workshop. Her morning duty was manning the counter at the shop.
The workshop's main sources of income were the city councils of Buckhorn and neighboring cities, and adventurers. The city councils generally purchased in bulk, so they didn't come to the shop in person. And it wasn't yet the hour when adventurers were actively about. In short, few customers came calling, so Aria was having a rather idle morning.
"Aahh… hup."
Mid-yawn, Aria caught sight of customers who had just entered the shop. She hurriedly shut her mouth. The customers were a young man and a woman who appeared to be a knight escort. The man's features, in particular, were strikingly handsome. Thinking she had gotten a feast for the eyes first thing in the morning, Aria greeted them brightly.
"Welcome!"
The man nodded without a word and began browsing the displayed potions.
A young master from another city, maybe?
It was a face she had never seen, and his manner suggested he had come more to look around than to buy, so Aria guessed as much. After browsing the potions for quite some time, the man approached the counter.
"Are the potions on display all you have?"
"Ah, everything on display is mid-grade or below. High-grade potions can't be prepared in advance, so those are all made to order."
The man nodded and asked again.
"I'd like to purchase the highest-quality healing potion this workshop produces."
At that, Aria smiled inwardly. This clueless young master clearly had no idea how expensive a high-grade potion was—an Alkimas-made one, no less.
"If it's the finest healing potion of the highest quality, that would be the Scarlet Potion."
"Isn't that the workshop master's name?"
"Yes. It's a potion containing the workshop master's secret techniques, so it was named after her."
"How much?"
Aria answered with a bright smile, intending to give him a little scare.
"Three platinum coins!"
Three hundred gold coins, in other words. Even a reasonably wealthy person wouldn't casually drop that kind of money. Aria watched his face, expecting him to flinch in shock. But he simply nodded, his expression unchanged.
"I'll buy it."
"…Excuse me?"
"If it's made to order, how long will I have to wait? Can I pay the full amount in advance?"
As he spoke, the man pulled from his coat a coin purse stuffed full of mixed gold and platinum coins. Aria's mouth hung open in astonishment. She couldn't close it for a moment, then stammered:
"P-please wait a moment! I'll fetch the workshop master right away!"