Chapter 2-15 : Meeting An Alchemist (part 1)
「I think this is the place.」(Sheila)
After learning that Sheila knew an alchemist who was researching magic weapons, I immediately asked her to introduce me to him.
His name is Arcel. It seemed that Sheila was planning to visit his house today, so we decided to go there together.
I heard from the magic item shop clerk that alchemists who make magic weapons are mostly rich, so I thought our destination would be a huge alchemy workshop, but never mind that what was before us was a rundown house.
「Sh, Sheila-san… Are you sure this is the house…?」(Kako)
「Hmm, according to the address Morwa-san gave me, this is indeed our destination.」(Sheila)
「But… It looks like a haunted house… What do you know about this person?」(Kako)
「Well, I only heard about this man from Morwa-san, so I know little about him. That’s why I decided to pay him a visit. If I know my client well, I may be able to do my job better, right?」(Sheila)
「I see.」(Kako)
Sheila stepped forward and knocked on the fragile-looking wooden door.
「Excuse meー Arcel-san, are you thereー?」(Sheila)
ーCreeeeeeak…..
We were expecting an answer from the alchemist, but no one was answering, instead, the door slowly opened by itself.
「I, it’s opened… Wait… could it be… this door looks worn out but it’s actually an automatic door made with alchemy! What a technology!」(Kako)
「Uhh… No, this is just a normal wooden door. It’s just not locked.」(Sheila)
「Ahh…」(Kako)
Even though this house looks horrible, its owner is still an alchemist.
I thought it was an invention made by him, but… what a let down…
Now that the door was opened, we could see inside the house, but we didn’t see anyone there.
「Hmm, he must be in the back room. Let’s get in.」(Sheila)
Saying that, Sheila barged in without hesitation.
「Wait! Sheila-san, can we just go in without permission?」(Kako)
「Morwa-san told me that this person lost awareness of his surroundings when he was absorbed in his research. I don’t think he can hear us, so let’s see he in person.」(Sheila)
「Ah, so he’s that kind of researcher, huh?」(Kako)
「Arcel-sanー I’m coming inー Where are youー?」(Sheila)
When I followed Sheila entering the house, a weird smell tickled my nostrils.
「Ugh, it stinks-nya…」(Nyat)
Nyat, who was following us from behind, covered his nose with his paws as soon as he entered.
It was dimly lit inside. We could only rely on the light coming through the door, but I could see many strange items inside the room.
There were some kinds of medicines, potions, and various ingredients on the shelves by the walls. The weird smell probably came from those things.
I could also see piles of tools and various kinds of weapons cluttered on the table and on the floor.
「Whoa… There are so many strange things here…」(Kako)
「It’s an alchemist’s house after all.」(Sheila)
I slowly approached the table and picked a sword from the pile.
I was curious what kind of weapons this person had, so I used my appraisal skill on it.
〈Poor Quality Flame Magic Sword : A magic sword made from low-quality materials using a poor manufacturing method. It was imbued with a poor magic formula and had been enchanted with weak fire magic. The blade will be wrapped in a weak, low-temperature fire when activated. It can be used by anyone with mana. It has poor efficiency, so it consumes a lot of mana.〉
「It’s… It’s a magic weapon!」(Kako)
Amazing! This is really a magic weapon!
It’s a terrible weapon with poor quality, but still… It’s a magic weapon!
I don’t think its poor quality will be a problem since I have my Synthesis Skill!
「Sheila-san, are all the weapons here magic weapons?」(Kako)
「I don’t know. Mostly, maybe?」(Sheila)
This is great! I have a strong feeling that the owner of this house is the person I’m looking for!
I have to buy these weapons!
「Arcel-sanー Are you homeー? Arcel-saaaaanー! …He’s not answering…」(Sheila)
「Maybe he’s away?」(Kako)
「I’m not sure. Normally, you won’t be so careless as to leave the door open when you leave your house.」(Sheila)
That makes sense. Even in Japan, where public safety is relatively good, people don’t leave their houses unlocked unless they live in a small village.
「No, wait… Judging from how messy this house is, this man is probably a careless person… Perhaps he really forgot to lock the door and went somewhere.」(Sheila)
「Uhh…」(Kako)
I was so happy a moment ago. I thought I found the right person, but I feel kinda anxious now…
Can I really trust this person?
「No matter how engrossed you are in your work, I think you will notice someone shouting in your house. I’ve been shouting, calling his name for a while, but he doesn’t show up.」(Sheila)
「Meaning…」(Kako)
「There are four possibilities. He’s currently away, he has an extremely strong concentration that he really doesn’t notice us, he’s sleeping in his bed, or…」(Sheila)
「Or…?」(Kako)
「He died from overworking.」(Sheila)
「Eh!?」(Kako)
He died!? Is it possible?
「Morwa-san said that this person sometimes lost track of time and worked for a few days non-stop when he was engrossed in his research.」(Sheila)
「I see…」(Kako)
That’s totally possible.
Death from overwork is not unusual, after all.
「B, but he is probably exhausted from working and is currently sleeping in his room.」(Kako)
「Yeah, you’re right. We shouldn’t barge into someone’s room, but there’s nothing else we can do. Let’s check inside for now.」(Sheila)
I nodded and followed Sheila walking toward the door at the back of the room. It probably led to his room or his workshop.
「Arcel-sanー Are you thereー?」(Sheila)
Before opening the door, Sheila called him again, but there was no answer as expected.
She gave up on waiting for him to answer and just opened the door.
Soon after, a strong weird smell stung our noses.
「Eww! What is this smell?」(Kako)
「Ugh… Medicines or something, maybe?」(Sheila)
The room was dark because the sunlight coming through the door didn’t reach it, so we could barely see anything. However, Sheila entered without hesitation.
I immediately followed after her, butー
「ーAwawa!」(Kako)
「ーEeekk!」(Sheila)
「Careful-nya!」(Nyat)
Sheila and I stumbled on something on the floor, but Nyat quickly grabbed our hands before we fell.
「Phew. Thank you, Nyat.」(Kako)
「Geez! Who the hell put a sack of flour here!?」(Sheila)
Just like Sheila, I thought it was a sack of flour that was used as an alchemy ingredient or something like that.
However, it seemed that we were wrong.
Nyat, who could see in the dark, knew what it was.
「It’s not a sack of flour-nya… It’s… a dead body-nya…」(Nyat)
「…Eh!?」(Kako)
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Oh boy…storm is coming
Oh my! This is bad news!
Not only the dead body…but no more chapters?