Chapter 41
Chapter 41
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: The Path of an Alchemist
-----------------------------------------------------------------
After parting with Elbadin in the glass garden, Lucillea ran to the library without a moment's rest.
‘Two silver! Two silver!!’
Lucillea’s steps were light and excited as she replayed the scene from the glass garden in her mind.
Within the glass garden, hidden like treasures among the ornamental flowers and trees, were those blossoms.
Once considered mere decorative flowers, they were now rare herbs widely used for medicinal purposes after their effects were discovered.
‘I didn’t see them when I first entered the glass garden…’
No, to be precise, she hadn’t looked for them.
She had simply taken in the vast, sprawling, beautiful scenery as a whole.
At the same time, a strange sense of peace had settled over her body and mind.
She had only thought of it as a beautiful garden that soothed the soul, never considering a closer look at what specific plants were growing there.
‘Besides the Lumina, there were many other familiar flowers.’
There was the Shadow Bam with petals as black as the night, the Crimson Tear as red as a drop of blood, and the Frostweeper with blossoms as transparent as if they were coated in frost.
None of them were common flowers.
‘She said their effects become incredibly potent when processed into potions.’
Lucillea was able to recognize these rare herbs thanks to Briola.
Back when Briola’s health was good, she would often take Lucillea on walks in the mountains near their cabin.
During those times, Briola would dig up herbs and tell Lucillea all about them.
‘Of course! My grandmother is the best!!!’
In truth, all Briola had left Lucillea was a single, crumbling cabin.
But Lucillea now realized something.
Those small experiences and memories with Briola were her inheritance, a legacy for her future.
‘This is it… Alchemy is the right path.’
Lucillea recalled what Mei had told her about alchemy.
-“I heard that if a mage has knowledge of herbology, they can learn alchemy later on.”
-“I heard that if a mage has knowledge of herbology, they can learn alchemy later on.”
-“I heard that if a mage has knowledge of herbology, they can learn alchemy later on.”
-“Can you make a lot of money with that?”
-“Can you make a lot of money with that?”
-“Can you make a lot of money with that?”
-“Of course!”
-“Of course!”
-“Of course!”
Even without this, she had been worrying about how she would make a living after gaining her independence.
‘I don’t have the confidence to face monsters as a mage.’
It would be much better to quietly brew and sell potions from her own space.
‘And she did say some potions could be sold for whatever price you name.’
As the desire named greed filled Lucillea’s clear blue eyes, they began to sparkle with an unprecedented vitality.
‘I should visit the garden again soon.’
There might be something even more valuable deeper inside.
To Lucillea’s eyes, the plants in the glass garden no longer looked like simple flowers and trees.
They were just coins of silver and gold, rooted in the earth, shimmering.
A moment later, Lucillea stopped in front of the library. Cookie, who had followed her, landed gently on her shoulder and grumbled.
[How could you leave me behind, Lucy!]
At his words, Lucillea glanced at the parrot on her shoulder.
“That’s rich, coming from the one who abandoned me and fled. You were so fast, I couldn’t even see your wings flapping.”
[Abandoned you! We were in the same garden! I just temporarily departed from Lucy’s shoulder, that’s all!]
“What?!”
This parrot, and that tiny beak of his.
“How dare you run that shameless beak of yours?!”
Lucillea indignantly pinched his small, yellow beak with her fingertips.
[Mmph! Mmmphh!]
After a brief squabble with Cookie, Lucillea finally entered the library.
She exchanged a quick greeting with the librarian and made her way to find the books she needed.
Cookie, looking around the library, asked.
[But Lucy, those herbs in the garden aren’t yours, are they?]
Hm? Lucillea, who was picking out a book, replied.
‘Of course, I know that.’
[But the look on your face right now says you’re about to pluck all those herbs and sell them off.]
‘No way… I have a conscience, you know.’
[…Huuuh. Reallyyy?]
Cookie narrowed his eyes in disbelief.
‘Well, I mean…’
It wasn’t like the thought hadn’t crossed her mind at all.
Ahem, Lucillea cleared her throat and focused more intently on selecting books.
‘Alchemy, cultivation, alchemy, cultivation, alche-myyy…’
Muttering to herself, Lucillea pulled out books on alchemy one by one and tucked them under her arm.
[What’s cultivation?]
‘If I’m not going to pick the herbs from the glass garden, I have to grow them myself, right?’
Lucillea continued speaking as she carried the books toward a spot with good sunlight.
‘I’ll request herb seedlings or seeds, and a garden to grow them in, from the Grand Duke’s family.’
On the day her first dignity stipend was paid, she could request support for whatever she wanted from the family.
It could be an item, a place, or even a person.
‘First, I’m going to ask for a personal garden.’
The bigger, the better.
It didn’t have to be as grand as the glass garden, but I’ll carefully select and grow only the necessary herbs in high-quality soil!
‘That’s why I need to read these alchemy books. I have to decide what kind of potions to make.’
Time and land were limited. She had to consider which herbs to plant to use the land most efficiently.
Ooh! Hearing Lucillea’s plan, Cookie asked in admiration.
[Don’t tell me, Lucy! You’re going to grow the herbs and make the potions yourself?!]
‘Exactly!’
Lucillea smiled, pleased.
That was right. Even if she cultivated the herbs, Lucillea had no intention of selling them as they were.
‘There’s no money in just selling herbs.’
Briola’s case was proof enough.
She had picked and sold herbs until her fingertips were raw and calloused like stone, but Briola never became rich.
There were several reasons for this.
No matter how rare the herbs she gathered, there were no merchants in Millet Village who would buy them at a fair price.
And she couldn’t travel to a large city far away.
‘Because of me…’
She couldn’t leave the cabin for long with a young Lucillea there.
‘And even if she had taken the herbs to a big city, it would have been hard to make a lot of money from herbs alone.’
It was only natural that there was a price difference between a rough, uncut gem and one that had been faceted by a master craftsman.
No matter how precious the herbs Briola gathered were, they were ultimately just ‘ingredients.’
People were willing to pay much more for a single bottle of potion, distilled and compounded from various herbs by an expert alchemist, than for a handful of rare herbs.
Hmm, Lucillea mused as she sat down in a chair.
Growing herbs and making potions herself were both good ideas, but.
‘Right, it’ll also be important to find a merchant guild that will consistently trade for the potions I make in the future.’
One that she could continue to do business with even after she left the Grand Duke’s residence and settled down somewhere.
‘Okay. First things first, let’s start with growing the herbs.’
Making and selling potions will take time since I’ll have to learn alchemy first.
[But Lucy, raising plants is not an easy job.]
Cookie flew down to the desk and stood before Lucillea. Ahem, for some reason, he lifted his beak arrogantly and continued.
[Just like any living thing, plants don’t grow just by being watered, you know?]
‘…’
What in the world is this little guy trying to say? Lucillea watched Cookie silently. The parrot chattered on as if he were a professor of cultivation.
[Sunlight, wind, rain, soil, and temperature!]
Cookie tapped his tiny feet on the desk. Thump! Thump!
[Only when these five conditions are perfectly met will the plants grow big and strong. But you’ve never grown a plant in your life, have you, Lucy? In Millet Village, all you did was laundry and follow your grandma to pick herbs!]
The herbs in those mountains were all raised by nature, weren’t they? Cookie spouted irrefutable facts before delivering the final blow.
[Which means you can’t do it alone, Lucy. Are you going to kill all the seeds and end up eating dirt?!]
‘…’
Ah, this little guy. Why are his words so harsh today?
‘That’s why I came here to learn! I can just learn from the books!’
Pfft! Cookie scoffed.
[Do you think you’ll be good at dating just by reading a book about it?!]
‘Why are you suddenly talking about dating!’
[What I’m trying to say is!]
Cookie suddenly spread his wings wide and tapped his chest with one wingtip.
[With the great Cookie by Lucillea’s side, the story changes!]
What…? Lucillea asked, her eyes filled with suspicion.
‘What are you, some kind of big shot?’
Hoo, hoo, hoo. Cookie laughed like a mastermind, then walked over to Lucillea’s ear and whispered secretly.
[Lucy. I am…]
‘Yeah. You’re what?’
Lucillea leaned in, curious, focusing more intently on Cookie’s voice.
[You see, I’m actually—!]
Cookie’s voice grew even quieter.