Novice Alchemist 1-15 part 1

 

Chapter 1-15 : Critical Situation Ⅰ (part 1)

 

「Welcome!」(Lorea)

When I went to the store area to replenish goods, Lorea-chan was just welcoming customers with a smile.

It’s been about a week since I hired Lorea-chan.

She was better than I expected.

Not only does she have no problems selling products, but she is also a fast learner.
I can now leave the purchase of materials from Collectors to her.

Since the area where the Collectors search for materials didn’t change, the materials they brought were generally fixed for each season, so Lorea-chan could learn to evaluate the materials quickly.

Of course, there were also materials that could only be judged by an alchemist, but it was kind of rare, so I was able to take my time to work more on alchemy in my workshop and make progress at finishing the Encyclopedia of Alchemy.

Now I’m about to finish vol. 4, by the way.

Actually, I was able to make progress not only thanks to Lorea-chan working here, but also thanks to Master giving me materials as a farewell gift before she left a few days ago.
Making things in volume 4 required materials that I can’t buy with my current cash, after all.

By the way, Lorea-chan wanted to cook me meals at first, but unfortunately… my kitchen is still empty…
She stared at my empty kitchen with an amazed face and said, “Sarasa-san… I think you should do something about your kitchen…”
Yeah, I know.
I need a stove and other stuff for my kitchen.

 

「Lorea-chan, have you got used to this work?」(Sarasa)

「Yes! I think I’m doing good! But the amount of money your store has is larger than my parents’ general store, and honestly, I’m a little worried…」(Lorea)

After nodding with a smile, Lorea-chan made a slightly gloomy expression.

Certainly alchemy-related items are expensive.
Because of that, we have to prepare countermeasures.

「Ahaha. Don’t worry, Lorea-chan. You know how to use the ‘security tool’, right? If there’s a suspicious person coming here, don’t hesitate to use it. It will hurt them a lot, but they won’t die… Probably…」(Sarasa)

Looking at me stroking Lorea-chan’s head while saying that, several Collectors in the store swallowed their saliva at the same time.

I turned to them and smiled at them.

They smiled back at me with a lot of sweat on their faces.

Don’t worry guys, as long as you don’t do anything suspicious, you’ll be okay~

「Call me if you have any problems, okay?」(Sarasa)

「Roger!」(Lorea)

Un. She’s a good girl.

Well, I don’t think the Collectors here would cause any problems.
If they did, let alone staying in this village, they wouldn’t be able to eat in this village anymore.

Bad rumors spread in an instant in small villages like this after all.

「Well then, I’m going back to worー」(Sarasa)

When I was about to return to the workshop, suddenlyー

BAMー！！！

「Please, help her!」(woman)

The front door was slammed open, and several people who seemed to be Collectors came in.

They were two men, and a woman who carried another woman on her back.

「ーHiiiyyy!」(Lorea)

It was natural that Lorea-chan raised such a voice, because they have wounds all over their bodies.

The one who was most seriously injured was the woman who was being carried by another woman.

She has rashes all over her body.
Her blood covered her face in red.
And…

She got her right arm torn off…

Her friends seemed to have bandaged her wounds to stop the bleeding, but her blood was still dripping onto the floor.

「Put her down on the floor! Lorea-chan, guide the customers out of the store!」(Sarasa)

「Y, Yes!」(Lorea)

As her face turned pale and her body trembled, Lorea-chan answered me and immediately did what I said.

I also immediately approached the woman who was put down on the floor and observed her wounds.

She was able to breathe, but her breath was pretty weak.

The cloth wrapped her stomach was dyed red with her blood.
Looks like she also has a terrible wound on her stomach.

Her left arm was charred black, and red rashes could be seen on the uninjured area of her skin.

「This is…. Not only was she terribly injured but she was also poisoned…」(Sarasa)

「Please! Help Iris, please!」(woman)

The woman who was carrying her was begging me to save her.

One of the men who was helping to put the injured woman down, stepped back a little to give me room.

「You have her right arm?」(Sarasa)

「Yes!」(woman)

The woman immediately handed me a severed arm wrapped in a cloak.

The condition was horrible.
It seems that her arm was forcibly torn off by something.

However, we’re lucky that we have her arm here.

「Don’t worry, I can help her.」(Sarasa)

「Really!? Then, pleー」(woman)

When the woman was about to say something, I raised my hand in front of her face.

「But! It costs a lot of money. You good with that?」(Sarasa)

The situation was really bad.

However, as an alchemist, I have to confirm this.

「You! Talking about money in this situaー」(man)

「ーShut up, you amateurs!」(woman)

The woman shouted to the man, who yelled at me, to silence him.

「We’re not amateursー!」(man)

「You ARE amateurs! Iris was injured because of you two!」(woman)

「「…………」」(men)

Being glared at by the woman, the two men looked away and snarled.

I see.
It seems like these four were a temporary team of two men and two women.

「If you really can help her, please do it!」(woman)

「Understood. There are two methods. I will definitely save her life, and she will be completely healed. Butー」(Sarasa)

「ーIf it’s about money, I’ll definitely pay! So, please!」(woman)

「Alright. Then, first of all, youー」(Sarasa)

「You can call me Kate.」(Kate)

「Kate-san, you draw water from the well in the backyard. Lorea-chan, can you guide her there?」(Sarasa)

「Understood!」(Lorea)

As Lorea-chan and Kate-san hurriedly headed to the backyard, I went to the warehouse to pick up some potions.

 

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