An Alchemist for the Witch

EP 2 High School Graduate Myth

Lee Ah-rang had once loved old fairy tales. Princess fairy tales, to be precise. Rapunzel, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White… The simple stories of unfortunate women being rescued by men had stirred something in her heart. But after her appearance grew ugly and her body began to weaken with illness, she could no longer enjoy them. The princesses in those tales were always beautiful, yet her own looks were hideous. Ugly. There could never be a princess like her in this world. The knight is looking at someone else. The ugly witch is fated to burn in the furnace. I am the witch. Therefore, no knight will come to save me. That simple equation of self-loathing had taken shape.

But today, Lee Ah-rang imagined something different. If it was not a knight or a prince, but an alchemist who chased after money, perhaps he could make quite a good match with a witch. No matter how ugly the woman, if there was a man who simply looked at her as she was, he might stay by her side. She did not need to be saved. It would be enough if things simply stayed as they were now.

“He said he would come.”

Lee Ah-rang giggled and buried the hand he had touched against her chest beneath the blanket, clutching it as though it were a treasure.

*****

After returning to my room, I checked the list of points I had just received.

I opened the point window and checked the total points accumulated so far. That brought my current points to 75 in total. It was still not enough to reach the points required to synthesize the panacea Alkahest. But the real problem lay elsewhere.

A mountain of blatantly expensive materials. The following week passed in much the same way. I visited Lee Ah-rang every day and checked the workshop equipment. The hotel’s breakfast and bed were comfortable, and visiting the patient amounted to nothing more than ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠listening to a child’s whining. Even though she was a woman, I could not bring myself to ignore a powerless patient. Well, it was just a matter of taking a few deep breaths and managing my expression before going in.

“Today I’ll read you Romance of the Three Kingdoms. You could call it an old boys’ comic.”

“What… that… Can’t you read something else?”

“Today it’s Records of the Grand Historian. You could call it a BL romance.”

“Fine. Do whatever you want.”

“Today it’s Water Margin. You could call it a young adult novel.”

In the end, it was an extension of the job. My required points had not been met yet. One unexpected thing was how easily Lee Ah-rang felt grateful. At first I thought it was because she was emotionally rich, but gradually I realized that was not it. Lee Ah-rang spent her entire day curled up in an all-white room, sleeping, waking to eat, then sleeping again. She had a complex about her appearance and never went outside. For someone like that, if she simply gained a friend to chat with, this was how ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it would turn out.

But I had not spent my days idly collecting only points. Scratch, scratch. The red apple in my hand revealed its white flesh without resistance. As I put a slice of apple Lee Ah-rang had peeled into my mouth, I spoke.

“You’ve gotten really good at peeling apples.”

“Well, yeah.”

My eyes, as I answered casually, reflected a translucent window.

I finished peeling the apple. The condition Apple Peeling (10/10) was met. When I pressed the window afterward, a change occurred.

And a new window appeared.

Honestly, even raising it like this did not give much noticeable change. Still, it was better to keep training. As I started peeling apples again, Lee Ah-rang wore a deeply worried expression.

“But are you really here to make Alkahest?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s too bad. My aunt has zero interest in curing me. She’s only doing it because she’s worried about Grandmother. She won’t help at all.”

“Is that so?”

The person who had said she would do everything herself. Could that really be true?

“It’s true. My aunt wants me dead. Everyone… wants me dead.”

I told her that was not the case and left the room. I had almost gathered all the points by now. I needed to request the materials from Lee Ji-eun. To cut straight to the result: Lee Ji-eun did not seem interested in curing Lee Ah-rang.

*****

“Oppa, are you okay? Your complexion looks bad…”

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

The conversation with Lee Ji-eun had aspects that reminded me of talks with my mother in the past. I pulled the blanket over myself and accessed the Alchemist Association’s internet community [Alchemist]. Someone must have taken on this request before. They might know some solution.

The comment section exploded.

“…What is this.”

As I refreshed, I saw posts from people who had actually taken the request.

So that was it. The final question remained. How had Llywelyn received support? The workshop equipment could not be called cheap even as a joke. There were even new products.

“Teacher L?”

The comments that followed were a sight to behold.

…Ah. So that was it? I had wondered why a world-class alchemist was doing clown acts on TV variety shows. So that was why. I turned off my phone. Was there really no other way? What would happen if I reported it to the police… In truth, Lee Ji-eun had not really harmed me. It could not even be called abuse. I kept thinking, but the conclusion was the same. There was nothing I could do. So I went to Lee Ah-rang and said this.

I’m sorry. There is nothing I can do for you in this matter. From the very beginning of obtaining the materials, it was impossible with my own power. After saying that, I added one more thing.

“So, could you contact your grandmother for me?”

I could not solve it with my strength. Therefore, it was time to borrow someone else’s.

*****

What had allowed Lee Ji-eun to become the representative director was largely thanks to her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mother, Madam Lee Seon-hee. Following Madam Lee Seon-hee’s intentions after managing the group, the board had elected Lee Ji-eun as representative. But that hinted at one weakness of Lee Ji-eun’s. Lee Ji-eun had still not inherited her shares. Madam Lee Seon-hee, Lee Ah-rang’s grandmother, had lost hope after Lee Ji-an’s disappearance and the illness of her daughter Lee Ah-rang. But she could not discard her. That was why she had not yet transferred the shares. So Lee Ji-eun had volunteered to treat Lee Ah-rang to some extent in order to finally extract the shares from her grandmother. Madam Lee Seon-hee had also been impressed by Lee Ji-eun’s attitude and, having lost hope that Lee Ah-rang’s illness would not be cured, had even considered passing on the shares. But no matter how hard she tried herself, if Grandmother received such a message from her granddaughter, her eyes would roll back.

To Lee Ji-eun’s eyes, that looked like a bomb. A bomb that could destroy the position she currently stood in. Her mother had never particularly liked her. If she came to think that her cute granddaughter had been left to die for money, the representative director position would fly away.

*****

The materials arrived. However, Lee Ji-eun seemed quite angry with me. The maids, who had apparently been thoroughly scolded by Lee Ji-eun as well, only stood behind and stared at me. In a room with nearly thirty maids, Lee Ji-eun vented her anger at me.

“Honey, I really wanted to make things work with you. That’s why I specially asked the maids to pay attention, and even gave you a card.”

“But… this isn’t right, honey. Just because I acted a little that way, how could you call my mom right away? Do you know how scary my mom is? I was really startled.”

Lee Ji-eun held out a document.

………

Yoo Hyun-ah, the secretary working at the Male Management Department headquarters, stretched after seeing the text.

“Well, I thought something like this would happen.”

Women would never leave a man wandering around without a wife alone. Calling the secretary directly suggested the situation was something the police could not handle.

“Alright. Let’s give it a try.”

Yoo Hyun-ah sent a text to the minister.