The Shocking Black Smoke Incident in the Alchemy Club
The old alchemist’s kick against the black crystal hadn’t been a bomb, but it still exploded in a massive burst of black smoke that filled the air faster than anyone could react.
We inhaled it before we could even turn and run.
“Cough… cough!”
“Cough, cough!”
Only moments after breathing the poison, my body turned rigid, every muscle seizing as if paralyzed from the inside out.
“This… is paralytic poison!”
Even as Professor Morphe shouted and identified the toxin, my body was already too far gone to stop it.
“Damn it, I got some too.”
The old alchemist who had been standing a short distance away also tasted it and clicked his tongue in frustration.
He immediately reached into his pocket, pulled out a small vial, and gulped down a portion of its contents.
I knew instantly it was an antidote.
I have to snatch it!
I tried to move, but the poison had already slowed my limbs to the pace of a snail. Even taking a single step felt like wading through mud, and I collapsed face-first onto the floor.
Thud!
“Hah… hah…”
The old alchemist stood over me, laughing coldly as he slowly approached. A smug smile curved his lips.
“How dare you insolent brats frighten an elder like that.”
He checked my belongings first—nothing dangerous there—then turned to Professor Morphe’s.
Her pouch spilled out all the alchemical tools and potions she carried, clattering across the floor.
“Now I see. You’re a fellow alchemist?”
Grabbing the scattered items, he stripped her clothes and undergarments away with practiced, cruel efficiency.
“Kkht—”
Even naked, Professor Morphe glared back at him with unflinching defiance, though her cheeks burned with humiliation.
“Between us, alchemists, we should have at least negotiated a truce… but no, you had to complicate things and make this mess.”
“Shut up! You don’t even deserve the title of alchemist!”
Professor Morphe’s voice rang out, defiant and loud despite the poison locking her muscles. The thug’s face twisted with irritation.
“A little brat who hasn’t even grown a beard, challenging an elder… How bold!”
Crack!
“—Hik?!”
A sharp cry tore from her lips as his palm cracked across her bare backside. The sound echoed sharply in the room.
“Even your chest needs spanking now? You’re big and bouncy—plenty of grip!”
The old alchemist kept laughing and spanked her again and again—crack, crack, crack.
With her body paralyzed, Professor Morphe had no choice but to endure every strike in helpless silence.
“S-stop…!!”
“Hahaha. What manners. Lying face-down and begging for forgiveness would be more fitting than ordering others around.”
The old alchemist forced her into a new position: kneeling, forehead pressed to the floor, back arched like a dog in the street.
His eyes widened at the sight of her plump, perfect rear, then he licked his lips in disgust and struck again—crack, crack.
“Ugh…! Hic…! You bastard!”
Professor Morphe’s face flushed crimson with shame, but she bit her lip and fought to keep from screaming.
“Stop right now!”
I writhed against my own paralyzed limbs and shouted, but the old alchemist ignored me completely.
That crazy old bastard…
I started spouting nonsense in a desperate attempt to draw his attention away from Morphe.
“A perverted old geezer… with that creepy, shriveled ball sack trying to get one last hard-on, but everyone can see how pathetic it is!”
“Can’t even get hard for young girls’ butts anymore? How sad for you!”
“Your ancient cock won’t get excited just from spanking a young witch’s ass. Go make some more Stamina Booster instead!”
“Aah— without money to pay for waste disposal, you’re just a third-rate alchemist spraying poison everywhere!”
“If you’re that irritated, come spank my ass too! Your twisted old dick might actually work better on this side!”
Whip!
The old alchemist’s head snapped toward me, clearly annoyed that I’d hit too close to home. His face had twisted into something almost demonic.
“Fine, you want a beating? I’ll give you one!”
He charged at me, delivering brutal kicks—thud, thud.
“Damn kids! You youngsters have zero respect for your elders! You’re all trash!”
Every stomp carried the weight of someone who had been disrespected by the young all his life.
“Hah… hahaha… You don’t lack respect for elders—you just aren’t worthy of it.”
Even as I was kicked, I kept taunting him, trying to force his gaze away from Morphe.
But this old demon’s patience had a much lower limit than I expected.
“I’ll kill you!”
His eyes burned with killing intent, as if he truly believed no one would come looking for him in this remote spot.
“I’ll rip that dirty mouth off!”
The old alchemist reached for a large rock, lifting it high above his head to smash me.
With a heavy thud, something pink and slimy crashed down from above, smothering him completely.
“Kkreeeeh?!”
A glistening pink slime mass clung to the old alchemist’s face.
It was Jjonddeugi, the mutated pink slime I had befriended after sharing peaches with him. My intelligent familiar.
Jjonddeugi had slammed his mouth shut and suffocated the criminal who polluted the lake.
“C-cough… ugh!”
Even as the old alchemist struggled, barely able to breathe, I heard a small bottle rattle in his pocket.
He frantically poured its liquid over Jjonddeugi.
Splash!
Burrr…!!
Jjonddeugi convulsed violently, as if electrocuted, and scrambled away from the poison.
“Hah, hah… Damn… Even a slime like you is interfering with me?!”
The old alchemist glared at my familiar with barely contained fury, teetering on the edge of death.
“Useless pest!”
He reached into his pocket again for another vial, clearly intending to spray it on the slime.
Snap!
Someone seized his arm.
“Wha—how?!”
Startled, the old alchemist looked up. I punched him square in the face.
Thud!
“Gah!”
He crumpled to the floor with a scream.
I stroked Jjonddeugi’s trembling body and whispered, “Good boy, Jjonddeugi.”
Thanks to him, everything had been recovered.
This genius slime had not only found the antidote but had stolen it during the initial attack and brought it straight to me.
I forced my frozen limbs to move, downed the antidote, and only then attacked the old alchemist.
“Hold on just a little longer.”
Jjonddeugi still trembled, but finishing the criminal came first.
I channeled my heart’s mana and wove it around my body like a protective shield. In emergencies like this, or when defending a student’s life, the usual restrictions on using mana outside the Cradle didn’t apply.
He was the one who tried to kill me.
From now on, this was self-defense.
***
Using every combat technique I had learned from Professor Meibao and Senior Olga, I systematically disarmed and beat the thug until he begged for mercy.
Just as he had done to Morphe, I stripped him of everything, then pummeled him with fists and kicks until he confessed everything and broke down.
I even made him kneel and confess his crimes.
“These pills… are antidotes?”
“Y-yes…”
Even now he spoke in the most servile, groveling manner, nothing like the arrogant elder he had been moments ago.
I took the antidote from him and administered it to Professor Morphe and Jjonddeugi.
Next, I began questioning the criminal’s identity, but…
“Die! Die! Die!!”
“Krrreeee…”
Professor Morphe, now free of the poison, unleashed a savage revenge on the old alchemist. He collapsed unconscious before he could even finish screaming.
I had to postpone the interrogation and drag him back to Tomeron in chains.
By the time we reached the city gates, dawn was breaking.
Professor Morphe had already gone ahead and returned with Professor Velvet.
“We have heard the situation. I’ll explain everything to the guards. Let’s enter.”
I worried that Professor Velvet might scold her own students for fighting, but she actually praised the old alchemist.
“An alchemist who harms the natural world and innocent lives… how disappointing.”
Her voice dripped with disgust as she glared at the captured man.
“I will handle the punishment. He will lose his license and face severe penalties.”
After the matter was settled.
“…I’m sorry.”
Back in the clubroom after class, Professor Morphe bowed her head in shame.
She admitted she had caused nothing but trouble and disgrace this time instead of helping.
Her pride was so strong that her apology actually made me feel more uncomfortable.
“It’s fine, senpai.”
The end result was good, and I had gained the trust and affection of a beautiful witch from a wealthy family. It had been a profitable trade.
“Besides, the real hero of this incident is right here.”
Jjonddeugi wriggled on the desk, his pink translucent slime body glowing softly.
He had performed heroically against the lake polluter and followed me all the way to Tomeron.
Professor Morphe, who had been hiding her face in embarrassment moments ago, peeked out from behind me at the slime and quickly ducked again.
She still hadn’t fully recovered from the “jelly incident” that had happened earlier.
“A slime that can be tamed… that’s never been recorded before. Truly amazing.”
She even promised to supply Jjonddeugi with unlimited peaches because he had helped capture the criminal.
“…Dorn, if you ever need help, just say so. For any request of yours, I’ll do whatever I can.”
Professor Morphe saying something like that after everything that happened made me realize my trust with her had grown a lot.
I teased her playfully.
“So you really mean you’ll help me with anything I ask?”
“If it’s something I can… do…”
“Then you have to keep that promise.”
“…Yes.”
Professor Morphe’s cheeks flushed a little.
Maybe she caught a cold from the long march last week?
She’ll take care of herself. Anyway, getting close to this wealthy witch’s family network means later on my job prospects will be fine.
Although it had been rough, trading for connections with the daughter of a rich family was definitely a good deal.