The Arch-Alchemist's Golden Rule

A chill blue light flared in the Revenant's eyes.

【Hmm. Hmm. So this is the sensation that comes of inhabiting a dead man's flesh?】

The Revenant pushed himself upright. The man once known as Megus de Cradle began pawing at his own body with undisguised curiosity.

【Ohh. How fascinating!】

"Hey."

【I'd heard that those who become liches lose most of their five senses. But this body is different, is it?】

"Alchemist."

【Remarkable. Truly remarkable.】

"That's enough."

I laced the command with mana, and Megus froze mid-fumble.

【What is it, young man?】

"Talking I can live with. Why are you groping yourself?"

A corpse fondling its own limbs. Not exactly a sight for sore eyes.

【Your abilities seem rather unlike those of an ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ordinary necromancer. Should I not investigate a little?】

"It's Great Lord."

【Hmm? Young lady, what did you just say?】

"Use proper honorifics when addressing the Great Lord."

【Hah. Forcing honorifics on the great arch-alchemist Megus de Cradle— Gweh!】

"How dare the youngest run his mouth like that!"

Zaug's dropkick sent Megus sprawling. Roan's foot came down on the alchemist's back in a relentless barrage.

【Youngest. Insolent.】

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The wet, meaty impacts rang out one after another. Strange. In life he'd been called a saint, yet here he was thrashing Megus like a man rolling a straw mat — and not for the first time, by the look of it.

"A familiar who shows no reverence for the Great Lord is rotten goods, that he is."

【Gweh!】

"Bookish types always have too much to say. When you're told to do something, you do it."

【…….】

Whump! Whuumph!

I honestly couldn't tell whether I'd crafted an undead or a drum. The cheerful percussion was so lively I had no desire to stop them.

【Khuhurk!】

"Has manners been injected into that body of yours yet?"

【Y-you. Do you have any idea who I am?!】

"Do you have any idea who our lords are? The Greatest Sword on the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Continent and the Witch of the Solar Eclipse, that they are."

【What?】

"This humble servant doesn't know the full particulars himself, mind you. But they look rather more impressive than a mere arch-alchemist, don't they?"

【Wait! Wait!】

"Break time is over."

Whuumph!

Megus's body was in tatters. Sigh. And I'm the one who has to repair that.

"Ah. Great Lord. Won't you use a healing spell?"

"And melt my undead? No thanks."

My familiars could receive healing only because they carried the dual attributes of human and dead. The arch-alchemist, whose Resurrected traits had yet to fully awaken, would need to be patched up by hand. We weren't in combat, so the Ring of Life could stay put. No sense wasting the blood I'd stockpiled.

【Cough. To feel pain even after becoming undead…】

"My undead are a special blend."

【More importantly, young man. I have a question.】

"Ahem. Has the proper way of addressing the Great Lord still not been carved into that body of yours?"

【Once my curiosity is satisfied I shall do whatever you ask. Now be quiet.】

I raised a hand to call them off, and Zaug — who'd been grinning ear to ear — reluctantly stepped back. Any more and the alchemist really would fall apart.

【This 'Witch of the Solar Eclipse' — does that refer to the girl there?】

"Hmph. That's me. Arch-alchemist."

【Ohh! Ohhhhh!】

Megus lurched upright in a frenzy of excitement, every trace of pain wiped clean from his face.

【So you are that witch!】

He staggered toward her, and Ingrid's expression curdled with open disgust.

"What. You know me?"

【Of course I do. You are the last witch — the one who brought the age of witches to its end.】

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

For a moment, the Death Blacksmith fell utterly silent.

The last witch?

I looked at Ingrid without thinking. The disgust from a moment ago was gone; her face had gone paper-white.

Don't tell me…

Was this Megus fellow from the same world as Ingrid?

"Arch-alchemist. You and I need to have a talk."

I've got more than a few questions for you.

The youngest's etiquette lessons would have to wait.

Megus planted himself on the floor. His body was a wreck from the recent "education," but he didn't seem to notice the state he was in.

【The being who annihilated the supernatural art known as magic. That is the Witch of the Solar Eclipse.】

Long ago, the Witch of the Solar Eclipse had unleashed such overwhelming power that she tore the continent apart. The land split into four pieces under the shock, and both the witches and the art of magic itself were swept away in the aftermath — their lineage severed forever.

【It is regarded as half legend, of course.】

"So the witches were completely wiped out?"

【In the age I lived in, no witches remained.】

"And magic vanished entirely as well?"

【Elementary-level magic was eventually restored, but it was a far more fringe discipline than alchemy.】

At those words, the strength drained from Ingrid's legs and she sank to the floor.

"You okay?"

"J-just a second."

Ingrid, betrayed by the Witch Coven. She had poured out the colossal mana inherited through generations without holding anything back, and punished the traitors. In the dream, her final moments had been wrapped in a brilliant light. What came after, I had never known — whether the Witch Coven and magic had been eradicated exactly as she wished, or whether some remnant had survived to keep the lineage alive.

"Ha… haha."

At first it was a hollow little laugh. Then it frayed into something like a sob, and at last she hung her head. Her shoulders trembled.

What am I supposed to do with this? Leaving her alone didn't sit right with me. I walked over slowly, crouched beside her, and matched her eye level.

"Ingrid. You okay?"

"……."

Pat, pat.

I gave her shoulder a light tap, and she lifted her head. Her face was flushed deep red, moisture beading at the corners of her eyes.

She'd been carrying a lot, hadn't she. Severing the lineage of magic with her own hands couldn't have been easy on the heart, no matter the reason. I was still groping for the right words of comfort when—

"Pwahahahaha!"

Ingrid burst out laughing, clapping her hands.

…Huh?

"Are you all right, Ingrid?"

"Me? What's there to be 'all right' about? I feel amazing!"

Ah.

So that's how it is.

"Waaah! That is so satisfying. I set out to smash everything to pieces, but I never got to see it through to the end, and it's always bugged me."

"I… I see."

Terrifying. Familiar or not.

"Karma, right? I still don't get why they had to pick a fight with someone who was minding her own business and try to finish her off."

The Witch of the Solar Eclipse. The supreme being who inherited the Coven's entire body of knowledge and the mana of every generation before her. The strongest witch, passed down through single succession, had always been an object of dread. Through her dreams, I had seen clearly enough just how deeply the Witch Coven feared her.

"Heehee. I think I'll sleep like a baby tonight."

Watching Ingrid beam like that, one thought settled firmly in my mind.

I am never, ever going to put her in a situation where she gets angry.

【Oh. To behold with these very eyes a being known only from legend!】

After that, Megus told his own story. In a world where the miracle called magic had been extinguished, what flourished in its place was alchemy. The essence of the craft lay in inscribing transmutation circles upon objects or the earth itself, reshaping their mana structures, and putting the results to whatever use one desired.

【This old man was the greatest alchemist of his age.】

"Is that so."

【You doubt me?】

"We've got a lot of 'greatests' among our familiars."

The Greatest Sword on the Continent. The Saint of an Evil God. And just now, the Witch of the Solar Eclipse who'd been gasping in admiration. Even an arch-alchemist might have to take a step back in front of a roster this stacked.

"And why am I being left out, if I may ask?"

"Thief. Know your place."

"I'd rather not be ranked on the same level as a thief, thank you."

【Knows. Not. His place.】

The combined pressure of the three familiars sent Zaug scurrying into a corner with a squeak.

"Master."

"You want to try persuading him?"

"Give me a chance."

"Sure. Knock yourself out."

Ingrid skipped over to Megus with a spring in her step.

"I'm the legendary witch, right? Right?"

【Proof would not go amiss.】

"What should I show you?"

【I have heard that the Witch of the Solar Eclipse possesses a unique formula.】

"Easy."

Lightning fused with flame surged into the air, then — boom — shattered into hundreds of branching strands. A dazzling cascade of sparks, like a festival of fireworks, seized every eye in the room. No ordinary Flame Beat and Lightning could ever have produced a performance like that.

【To shatter the very framework of magic… You are without question the Witch of the Solar Eclipse!!】

What is with this dramatic about-face?

"Didn't you just say magic had died out?"

【So it had — yet elementary magic was restored. It is simply inefficient, and thus treated as a fringe art.】

Ah. He'd said something similar earlier.

Megus abandoned every last shred of his lofty demeanor and panted at Ingrid's feet as if ready to lick her boots.

"This man is the one to whom the Witch of the Solar Eclipse has offered her loyalty and her heart."

【Indeed!】

"Shouldn't you do the same?"

【I shall offer it. No — I shall offer even this very soul!】

Then what was the point of all that careful back-and-forth I did in the Rift Authority warehouse? Megus's sudden docility drew nothing but a dry laugh from me.

"Heheh. Now you understand the greatness of our seniors, don't you!"

【Frivolous one. What I revere is the Witch of the Solar Eclipse and her Master — not an ignorant creature like you.】

"I beg your pardon?"

【Violence may bend this body, but it cannot break the spirit.】

"You simply haven't tasted enough of it yet."

Those two were clearly going to need a bit more traffic control.

And then—

Zzt—

"Ah. Here it comes."

Maybe I'd gotten stronger in my own right. It ended with just one sharp jolt of pain.

Eheheh. This body is growing too, I'll have you know…

Zzzt-zzzt-zzzt!

"Gweh! Ehk! Ghk!"

"Are you all right, my lord?"

No. I was not all right in the slightest.

The pain that hit when Megus's talent transferred was different ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from the usual. Like something tickling the inside of my brain. And no amount of clawing at my scalp made it stop — I thought I was going to lose my mind. For about a minute the itching sensation wracked my skull, and then—

"Hoo."

I finally came back to myself. Ugh. The afterimage still lingered.

"What ability did you inherit?"

"Something called the Golden Rule."

【So you have obtained the ability that is the sum of all I am!】

The sum of an arch-alchemist, huh. The grand phrasing got my hopes up for no good reason. Time to take a look at whatever this "sum of all he is" turned out to be.

"Huh."

This is… jackpot, isn't it?