Rubber Human Project 8: A Genius and Her Sweet Tooth
Hersene was utterly bewildered. What… what is this? Is she actually serious?
To think she had unraveled all of this through solo research. The girl before her looked, at first glance, like a fresh-faced young woman who had only just turned twenty. No matter how much of a genius someone was, alchemy was not a field that could be mastered that way. It demanded countless trials and errors, failures, and those fleeting sparks of insight that came only after. That was a domain of time and accumulated experience that talent alone could never shorten.
Or… is she just messing with me?
It was possible she had simply told a convenient lie to avoid the hassle of being pestered about her reclusive mentor. That story felt far more believable than the idea that a newly graduated alchemist had developed all of this from scratch.
Now that I think about it…
Hersene recalled the way Serian had brewed the potion just moments ago. The movements had flowed like water, the precise combination of ingredients without a single hesitation, the perfect control of the flame. Those were clearly the kind of instincts built over a lifetime, yet Serian’s hands moved with the effortless grace of someone who had performed these actions thousands of times. There was the unmistakable aura of a veteran master in every gesture.
And then there was the way she had completed this entire proposal in a single day, along with that audacity to treat a colossal magical beast like a child. Hersene’s gaze returned to Serian. The girl continued stirring the cauldron with the same indifferent expression.
Strangely, Hersene could not bring herself to believe it was a lie.
Throughout her life, Hersene had been hailed as a genius among alchemists. As a child she had been her master’s favorite, and both colleagues and juniors had always praised her as the Golden Hand. Precisely because she stood at that level, she could tell.
The young girl standing before her was undoubtedly a genius. And not just any genius—someone possessing an overwhelming talent on an entirely different scale from her own. If she had already reached this realm at such a young age, just how far would she climb in the future…!
The greatest genius alchemist in history—one who might even blaspheme the gods.
Hersene had the sudden, powerful intuition that she was witnessing the beginning of that genius’s legend.
“……”
She could not easily shake off the shock of encountering a talent so far beyond her own.
“…S-Sir Serian?”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“If… if I were to visit your laboratory separately later… could we perhaps have a deep, thorough discussion about alchemy?”
For Hersene, this was the opportunity of a lifetime. For years now she had felt her studies stagnating, trapped in a growing sense of doubt. Meeting a brilliant young genius like this—one with such dazzling talent—felt like the key that could propel her own blocked alchemy to an entirely new dimension.
“Hmm, what should I do? I’m rather busy…”
So it really is impossible. Of course. There was no way she would easily share techniques of that level.
“What a shame. I was planning to bring a truly wonderful gift…”
Hersene added the remark with clear regret. Still, pushing too hard would only backfire. She resolved to slowly build a relationship with Serian.
But then—
!
Serian’s busy hands suddenly froze.
“Ahem… When you say gift, you naturally mean dessert, right?”
“P-Pardon??”
Hersene, who had been planning to arrive with armfuls of gold and treasures, was completely thrown. What? Dessert? Is there some hidden meaning I’m missing?
There was no way the woman called the Empire’s glory would sincerely want to have a cozy tea time with her over something so simple. Is she joking? What does she mean?
She had to answer first. Whatever it was, Hersene needed to accept the proposal.
“…Yes, of course?”
Serian stopped stirring the potion and turned around. Their eyes met.
Those bright, sparkling eyes.
This… this isn’t a joke. She’s completely serious.
Only then did Hersene realize Serian was not teasing her. She quickly improvised.
“Oh my, of course! I just happened to receive some incredibly delicious desserts from a close friend abroad. I thought it would be lovely to share them with our Chief while enjoying a nice tea time together.”
Serian spun back around with a quick “Hmph.”
“Hmm. Hmmmmm.”
She made a mysterious humming sound whose meaning was impossible to decipher.
Did… did that work…?
Looking more closely, Serian’s movements seemed subtly different from before. Despite her earlier show of complete disinterest, her shoulders and hips were now swaying gently from side to side.
“Ahem. Well, if you truly wish to have tea time with me that badly, then I suppose we can arrange it.”
She had maintained a cold, expressionless face the entire time—the very woman called the Empire’s hero—yet Hersene somehow felt she had glimpsed the hidden preference beneath that mask.
I’ll build a tower of desserts if I have to. I’m definitely securing a seat beside that girl.
She had the strong feeling that working alongside this young genius would upgrade her own knowledge day by day. Perhaps even beyond her prime. Maybe even further than that!
*
“All right, now just stir it evenly with consistent force so the ingredients don’t clump together, and we’re done.”
The creation of the Rubber Potion was already reaching its final stage.
At that moment, Sitta—the senior alchemist on the team—stepped forward.
“If it’s stirring, you can leave it to me! I’ll take care of it, Chief.”
Of course, she too was hoping to earn even the slightest bit of favor from this next-generation genius alchemist, but—
“Hm? Why would you stir it by hand?”
Serian simply stared at her with genuine confusion. The moment her hand brushed near the magic engraving she had carved into the cauldron earlier, the potion inside began swirling on its own.
Whoosh—!
Ah, no way—!!
Serian’s secret technique: Self-Mixing!
Only then did Serian notice the rest of the team standing there with their mouths agape. She thought to herself,
Haha, since they’re all potion fanatics, the magic engraving must look amazing to them. This is what we call technology~ If you’ve got a good head, your body doesn’t have to suffer! Ahem.
After that little commotion died down—
Ta-da—!
The completed Rubber Potion, now stored in a transparent glass bottle, sat on the table.
“See? Pretty simple, right? Since I’ve shown you the demonstration, from now on you’ll have to make it without me. You can do that, can’t you?”
“……”
The alchemy team members quietly exchanged glances with one another.
That was… simple?
Well, it had certainly looked easy when Serian did it. She had only moved her hands a few times in a casual manner and it was done. But!
When someone else’s work looked easy, it usually meant that person was an absolute monster. The team had simply done their best to record every single motion Serian made without missing a thing.
Wow… she’s insane. So this is what a real genius alchemist looks like.
They had thought Hersene was a genius whenever she occasionally guided them, but after watching Serian, Hersene now seemed like nothing more than a talented enthusiast.
Hmm… no one’s answering. Did I go too fast?
Well, if they asked, she would explain again. No big deal.
Clap!
Serian clapped her hands.
“All right, everyone, snap out of it. Since we’ve finished it, let’s test it right away.”
“What?! Right now?”
The alchemy team members were already exhausted from trying to record every single one of Serian’s actions and every tiny detail onto their parchment scrolls.
“Of course. Potions are always most effective when consumed immediately after being made.”
Serian gestured and called out to Kaizen.
“Major. Come over here.”
Kaizen, who had been watching Serian’s alchemy in a daze from afar, came back to his senses and approached. When Serian pointed at a chair, he sat down obediently.
“Right, Major. Remove your upper garment.”
Without hesitation, Kaizen began taking off his uniform at Serian’s command.
“Kyaaaa—!”
The Armaments Bureau’s alchemy team had an unusually high number of women. They let out a collective cheer at the sight of Kaizen’s perfect physique.
Serian tilted her head at the sudden noisy reaction. Hmm, is it that impressive? Well, his body was unnecessarily well-built—one could probably wash laundry on those abs. But to her, it simply looked inhuman.
People should have a little fat on them, you know.
It was the kind of body that looked like it had never touched a dessert in its life.
“Okay, okay. Quiet down. We will now begin the test.”
The exact moment Kaizen received the potion from Serian and prepared to drink it—
“Wait. I will observe this experiment as well!”
Someone was standing at the door.
Neatly trimmed white hair in a bob cut and an impressively large curled mustache. It was none other than the real Marquis Edan—the Director of the Imperial Academy and tutor to the Princess, the man who had been deceived by the Salad Liberation Front spy Valerius and sent off on vacation to a distant coastal city.
Where have I seen this guy before…?
Serian furrowed her brow, trying to place the familiar face. That seagull-shaped mustache that looked like it had been set with half a bottle of hair gel every morning…
Ah! It’s the mustache uncle.
It was definitely the person she had seen at the imperial banquet—the one introduced as the Princess’s tutor. Serian usually had trouble remembering the faces of people she wasn’t interested in, but that ridiculously comical mustache had left an impression.
Marquis Edan looked at the potion in Kaizen’s hand.
Hmm… so they really were making a potion.
It had been that same morning at the imperial palace. He had been summoned by the Second Prince Kaion at the crack of dawn.
Me? To the Armaments Bureau?
Yes. I need you to go help Elhardt.
Your Highness, I am a mage, not an alchemist.
Mages typically delved deeply into a single school of magic. Different attributes were like learning different languages; the more one specialized, the better the return on investment. There was no reason to spread oneself thin when focusing on one school could double or triple one’s proficiency.
Therefore, the Second Prince had assumed that since Serian specialized in armament manufacturing and alchemy, she naturally would not be able to use other types of magic.
“As you know, Serian’s main focus is on weapon production. The situation on the western front is urgent, so your insight regarding lightning magic will be of great help.”
That was why he had sent Marquis Edan directly. In his youth, Edan had been a lightning mage who conquered lands alongside the Emperor. He had been elevated to the rank of Marquis for his contributions, but at the Emperor’s request, he had left the management of his territory to a steward and now served as Director of the Imperial Academy.
Hmm, so that’s the girl? The one they call the Empire’s Flash. She looks far too young.
Marquis Edan had also heard the full details of Serian’s achievements at the imperial banquet. If not for her, he might have been falsely accused of treason and executed without ever knowing why.
He approached Serian and patted her on the shoulder.
“I am Marquis Edan, Director of the Imperial Academy. I came at the Second Prince’s command, but I have been wanting to meet you and express my gratitude in person.”
“Pardon? Gratitude?”
Serian could only look confused. After all, both the Prince and Knight Commander Leon had received the spy from her. They must have explained the whole situation, so she had assumed there was no need for further details.
“…Hmm. I don’t recall doing anything that would warrant gratitude.”
Marquis Edan was deeply moved by Serian’s nonchalant response! The attitude that treated the act of exposing all the spies hidden in the imperial court and saving him from taking the fall for everything as nothing more than a natural duty.
So everything was simply something that had to be done for the Empire…
For the first time, Marquis Edan felt he understood why such a young lady had earned the heroic title of the Empire’s Flash.
“In any case, since you are creating equipment to counter lightning mages, I should be of assistance. Let us begin.”
Serian could not hide her bewilderment.
“But we’ve already… finished making the potion?”
“Already?”
Already? What the hell.
Serian figured the mustache man had come because he wanted to get his foot in the door of this project. After all, creating a potion that could overwhelm an outstanding lightning mage would be an enormous achievement. Given that he had managed to maintain a high position in the imperial court despite his age, it made sense that he would possess at least this level of shamelessness.
Of course, this was only because Serian had succeeded in development far faster than anyone expected, and Marquis Edan had come the moment he received the request. If he had heard her inner thoughts, he would have felt deeply wronged.
Serian answered awkwardly.
“…Well. In that case, why don’t you take a seat over there and watch the test?”