The young man’s face turned red. “Listen, you—”
I thrust my bag into his face before he could finish. “This bag contains several alchemy pills that could change the course of alchemy as we know it. With these, I can get your Alchemist Association back onto the path of true alchemy. Take me to see the Head of the Alchemist Association now.”
The man stared at the bag as though he wasn’t sure he believed me, but I also noticed the faint glimmer of hope in his eyes. I’d noticed it the last time I came here. These people were desperate. They were on the verge of collapsing. If someone presented them with a chance to turn things around, even if that someone was a boy who didn’t look a day over seventeen years old, they would at least be willing to hear that person out.
“I… fine,” the young man said with a frown. “Follow me. I’ll take you to see our association head.”
“Thank you,” I said, returning the bag to my side.
The man eyed the bag with a mixed expression of hope and disbelief, then turned around and walked through the double doors. I followed him.
Like the outside, the inside of the main hall looked like it had once been majestic. A red carpet lined the floor, columns stood on either side of the walls, which were, or had been, a cream color. Even the ceiling was made of intricate ribbing that lent this place an ostentatious air. Unfortunately, the carpet had become coarse over time, the walls and columns were cracked, and the ceiling had paint peeling off it.
I was led down several hallways with a number of doors, and then up a flight of stairs. The second floor opened into a wide space that looked like a refinery. There were a number of alchemy sets sitting on several tables, but there were only a few people working at them, and I could see that they were making the beauty products that the Alchemist Association had become known for.
“This way,” the red-haired young man said.
I followed him as he led me to a door on the far end, which looked a little better than the rest of this place. The black door had intricate red motifs and symbols painted on it. I recognized them as runes. Fehu, the rune of wealth. Kenaz, the rune of vision, revelation, knowledge, and creativity. Isa, the rune of challenge. Dagaz, the rune of awakening or awareness. These runes were combined and still active, despite being old, keeping this door in better shape than the rest of the building.
No one should know runes in this place. I assumed whoever had created these had done so long ago. Perhaps the first Alchemist Association head was responsible for them.
The young man knocked on the door. “Sis, there’s someone here who wants to see you.”
Sis?
“Send them in,” someone said from the other end. I perked up. That voice sounded like it belonged to a young woman.
The young man opened the door and beckoned me to enter.
This room had the same once opulent but now destitute appearance as the rest of the building… except for the door I had just passed. It was empty of any real decoration. There were a few columns lining either side of the wall, but there was nothing else. At the far end of the wall opposite from me was a simple desk with an advanced alchemy set sitting on top of it. Someone stood behind that desk, pouring over several sheets of parchment.
The person behind the desk was a young woman who couldn’t have been more than twenty-five or thirty years old. She had the same orange-tinted red hair as the young man beside me. Her tall and elegant figure was clad in purple silk robes that looked a little shabby, but she somehow made them work. It must have been her figure. Her chest was a fair bit larger than even Kari’s. Her breasts flowed into a curvy, well-proportioned figure that most men would have called a perfect hourglass.
As the young man and I walked up to the desk, the woman looked up, revealing doe-like brown eyes that contained a sharp glint. She glanced at the man, and then at me. She frowned.
“You are the one who wanted to see me?” she asked in a polite but confused tone. “Is there something I or my Alchemist Association can help you with?”
I shook my head. “In a way. However, you could also say that I am here to help you.”
“I’m afraid I don’t follow.” The woman shook her head, a strand of hair falling in front of her face, which she quickly tucked behind her ear.
Nodding as I realized she wouldn’t know what I meant, I looked at the desk. The advanced alchemy set was off to one side of it, while the rest was covered in parchment. Numerous notes were scribbled on the parchment. I realized they were alchemy notes relating to different ingredients and how they interacted when mixed. She was probably trying to refine alchemy pills from scratch.
That was really impressive, actually.
I opened my bag and took out six different pills, which I set on the desk. One of them was a small blue pill with a wave-like pattern, another was a deep brown, the next was a dark pink, the one immediately after it was purple, the next looked like it had lightning inside, and the last was red. The woman’s eyes widened as she studied the pills.
“These pills are—”
“Tender Healing Pill, Spiritual Booster Pill, Temporary Enhancement Pill, Clarity Pill, Endurance Pill, and Elemental Pill,” she said quickly, eyes sparkling in wonder.
“That’s correct.” I blinked. I was surprised. “You certainly know your pills.”
“The fire over one hundred years ago destroyed all of our notes containing the instructions on how to refine pills, but that doesn’t mean it destroyed our notes on the pills themselves. The association head back then managed to save some of our research materials. I have been trying to recreate that lost knowledge using what little information was left.” The woman looked at me, her eyes containing a hint of curiosity and caution. “How did you get your hands on these?”
“I refined them myself,” I said.
“Refined them yourself? You are an alchemist then?” she asked, but I shook my head.
“I wouldn’t call myself a true alchemist.” I spread my arms. “I only know how to make a few dozen pills that I learned specifically because there was a need for me to learn them at the time. A true alchemist is someone who understands the reactions between alchemy ingredients so well they can create original pills without needing instructions.”
“Perhaps that was the case in the past,” the woman said with a sad smile. “However, in this day and age, no one possesses the ability to make even one of these pills, nevermind all six.” She paused, the look in her eyes slowly shifting from one of confusion to one of respect. “My name is Feinrea Kuunis.”
“Eryk Veiger,” I introduced myself.
“If you are presenting me with these pills, I can only assume you are here to talk business,” she said, grabbing the notes littering her desk and putting them in an orderly stack.
I glanced at the young man who brought me here, her brother, and almost snickered at the sight of his bulging eyes and gaping mouth. However, my attention didn’t remain on him for long. The person I needed to deal with now was this woman.
“I can create instructions and even teach several of your alchemists how to create these pills,” I said.
Feinrea nodded. “And in return, you wish to have a cut of the profits, right?”
“That is correct.”
Going silent for a moment, Feinrea eased herself into a straight-backed chair, locked her fingers together, and placed her hands on the desk. She eyed me with a speculative gleam. I bore her scrutiny. This woman seemed to be intelligent. She was probably trying to determine whether or not a partnership between us would work, and if it did, what the details of our partnership would be.
“I certainly do not mind making a deal with you,” she said in a slow voice, her brow furrowing. “However, as of right now, our Alchemist Association is at an all-time low. The people of Nevaria think we are a joke, and I can’t blame them. With our current reputation, there are very few people who will believe us if we were to try and sell these pills right now.”
“That… sounds like a probl
em,” I admitted.
“Indeed.” Feinrea gave me a self-deprecating smile before her eyes turned to the pills on her desk. She bit her lip before speaking again. “It might be possible to sell these if we were to auction them off. The Auction House is also experiencing hard times, but they still have a good deal of clout. If they were to present these pills to the nobles who attend the Auction House, the news would catch, and then we could begin selling them once people realized they are the real deal.”
I only vaguely knew of the Auction House. Because of my position as a simple librarian, I never had any dealings with them back in my previous life. However, Kari had mentioned going there once or twice.
“Can we not do that?” I asked.
“We can try, but the Auction House is owned by a minor noble family that our Alchemist Association has no connection to,” Feinrea admitted. “Convincing them to auction off these pills when we don’t even have a good reputation might be a problem.”
“Which minor noble family?” I asked.
“The Valstine Family.”
I froze. Was this coincidence or fate? I wondered about that before deciding it probably didn’t matter. What was important was that I could do something about this.
“You can leave the matter of getting in contact with the Valstine Family to me,” I said.
Feinrea raised an eyebrow. She looked me up and down, noting the threadbare clothes I wore. My clothes clearing denoted that I was a simple peasant. Of course, she was going to be skeptical. At the same time, I had just brought her six alchemy pills whose refinement process was thought to have been lost.
“Do you know someone from the Valstine Family?” she asked.
“I do.” My smile widened. “In fact, I am very familiar with the current heiress to the family.”
Feinrea took in a deep breath and considered my words. They were hard to believe. A peasant was familiar with a noblewoman? The very idea seemed ludicrous. However, this woman was not only smart, she was also desperate, and if what I said was true, then it could turn the Alchemist Association’s situation around for the better.
After another moment passed, she nodded, having come to a decision.
“I will leave this matter to you, then,” she said.
“I’ll be sure to bring you good news,” I replied.
After exchanging a few more pleasantries, I placed the pills into my bag, noting the longing look in the woman’s eyes as she stared at them, and then left the Alchemist Association.
Tomorrow during our training, I would speak to Fay about auctioning off several alchemy pills.
Chapter 3
Refining Pills
We fled all the way to the desert. Chased by a horde of Demon Beasts, our group was left with no other choice.
Nearly a hundred kilometers away from Nevaria was a vast desert that stretched out further than the eye could see, an innumerable number of dunes made of bright, yellow sand. The sun bore down from overhead. Waves of heat distorted the air. Within this desert, the heat was unbearable, enough that if a person wasn’t careful, it would surely kill them. And that was to say nothing of the Demon Beasts that roamed this desolate land.
Many of our companions had already died. Men, women, children. All six Spiritualists aside from Kari and myself were gone now. Of the fifteen civilians who had fled with us, only one survived. Many of them had died from heat stroke and dehydration, but quite a few had also been killed by the Demon Beasts that lurked beneath the sand. Strange creatures with long bodies and fins that let them swim through the sand like they were swimming through water. Massive worms with gaping maws that could swallow a person whole. The number of dangers that lurked beneath these dunes was almost more vast than even the sands themselves.
Had I known beforehand of the dangers that hid beneath the endless mounds of sand, I would have taken my chances with the Demon Beasts we ran from.
The only good thing about this desert was that the Demon Beasts were few and far between. Most of the people who’d died had done so from dehydration and the heat.
Kari, myself, and a young boy were the only ones left from our group. The boy had already passed out. His lips were chapped, his skin was dry, and his breathing was shallow. I’d seen the signs of heat stroke enough times by now to know that if I didn’t find shelter and water soon, he would die.
Unfortunately, no matter where I looked, there obviously wasn’t any water to be found, nevermind shade. All I saw was sand.
“Ha… ha…”
My breathing came out in ragged gasps. Sweat poured down my forehead and neck, only to evaporate underneath the intense heat seconds later. My footsteps were halting and weak as I climbed the hill, carrying the young boy over my shoulder. The sound of footsteps behind me let me know that Kari was following. I could tell from the sound of shifting sand that, just like me, she was not having an easy time of it.
I stopped after cresting the latest dune, only to groan in disbelief as I found more dunes waiting for me. No matter what direction I looked in, that was all I saw.
“I don’t think we’re going to find anything,” Kari muttered, her throat dry and cracked. That beautiful voice I’d heard so many times was nowhere to be found.
“Yeah…” I muttered. My own throat felt parched. Even talking caused it to feel like the inside of my throat was going to bleed. “I’m sorry. We’re in this mess because of me. I made a poor choice in coming here.”
Kari shook her head. Her lips were chapped and her skin looked raw, but she still had the strength to smile at me.
“I do not believe any of this is your fault. Given the situation, you made the right call based on the information you had. There was no way you could have known what would happen.”
I closed my eyes. “I know, but somehow I feel like that makes it even worse.”
Kari said nothing to that, but I think she knew I’d blame myself no matter what she said. This mess we were in was due to my carelessness, because I hadn’t picked a safe enough spot for our group to live, because I had led us into this desert. If Kari died because of me… I shook my head. If nothing else, I wouldn’t let that happen. I would kill myself before that happened.
“Let’s keep going,” I said. “Just a little further.”
“Okay,” Kari agreed.
Time seemed meaningless in this vast world of sand. Nothing seemed to exist here. It was surprising there were Demon Beasts who could live in this world. How could anything survive under such a harsh environment?
We climbed another dune and I looked around, ready for more disappointment. However, just as I was going to apologize again, something caught my eye. There in the distance were several black dots. I squinted. It was hard to tell what they were, but it looked like… carriages?
“Are those people?” I muttered before my eyes widened just a bit. Those were indeed carriages. They were a bit different looking from what I was used to, and there were strange creatures pulling them, but they were most definitely carriages!
I turned to Kari.
“Kari, look! There are people coming this—KARI!”
I hadn’t realized it, but Kari had fallen down the dune. Her body had rolled all the way to the bottom. Panic shot through my heart as I raced toward her, kneeling and placing my hand on her neck. She had a pulse, but it was growing weaker. Her breathing was becoming labored. Just like the boy, her body was close to giving out.
“Damn it!” I gritted my teeth. “I am not letting you die on me!!”
I used what strength I had left to lift Kari over my other shoulder. The weight of two people threatened to crush me as my already flagging strength sagged further. It wasn’t just my body that was weakening either. The sand underneath me seemed incapable of holding our combined weight.
But I refused to give up.
I climbed back up the dune, taking it one step at a time. Once I had crested that dune, I moved over to the next one, constantly making sure I had those carriages in my sight. One more dune. Jus
t one more dune. I kept telling myself that as I walked.
However, as I took my next step, a sense of vertigo came over me. The world became blurry. Everything was falling. I hit the ground face first before I even realized what had happened.
Something landed beside me. It was Kari. Her eyes were closed, and it looked like she wasn’t breathing. The panic from before returned. Yet just as my mind surged with an abrupt strength, it fizzled out.
An exhausted sigh escaped my lips as everything turned to black.
“You want my family’s auction house to auction off your pills?”
It was early in the afternoon, with the sun having reached its zenith; Fay had come again today despite my harsh words the previous day. It seemed that regardless of whatever happened to make her so depressed, this girl was not the type to stop just because of that. Her determination in the face of adversity and emotional hardships was something I couldn’t help but admire.
“I went to the Alchemist Association the other day, and the head of the association mentioned that your family are the owners of the Auction House.” I nodded toward her. “I would like to begin selling my alchemy pills, but without a family or anyone with a strong reputation to back me up, no one would be willing to buy them. Reputation is everything when selling, after all.”
Our exercises for the day were done. Whatever emotional turmoil Fay had been going through the other day seemed nonexistent today. Either she had completely overcome her issue within a day, or she was blatantly ignoring the problem, shoving it into the deepest corners of her mind and pretending it didn’t exist. I wasn’t sure which she was doing. However, I could say that she did a much better job during our training today than she had yesterday. She completed the course and her exercises in record time.
Fay furrowed her brow as she pondered my request, crossing her arms as the two of us sat beside a large boulder. This caused her breasts, barely confined by her training shirt, to push together. I’d like to say I didn’t look at her chest. However, I was a straight male. No matter how loyal I was toward Kari, even I was not completely immune to the wiles of women. Even so, I didn’t let the sight of her large boobs as they squished together or her flat stomach covered in sweat bother me… too much.
WIEDERGEBURT: Legend of the Reincarnated Warrior: Volume 2 Page 4