Beginner Alchemist pt.1
(If I'd wanted to become a doctor, what would I have done?
After a consultation with a high school teacher, I'd have gone to a
university and studied at a medical facility. I'd take classes from
professors. So what should I do to become an alchemist?)
. . .
"You should go to the school in town."
"I see. Where is it?"
"Ummm, you know, go over there, then go that way, then go this way
again."
I gave the little girl a few copper coins for her help.
(These directions are always so vague. Am I really going to find
anything from that? I wouldn't believe it if this system hadn't always
worked so far.)
"OK, bye-bye!"
"Thanks."
She walked
away energetically while smiling and humming.
(Ah, she's cute.)
I watched her walk away and disappear into a crowd, and noticed I was
smiling too. I followed her directions, going over there, then that way,
then this way again.
(I never expected there to be a school in the
town. Looking back, I miss being in college. In high school I had cram
school and homework at night. Then I had entrance exams to get into a
university. After I graduated, I was working long hours as a salaryman. I
don't know if I learned much in college, but isn't that fine? College was
like the summer vacation of life.)
I somehow ended up at the school,
feeling like someone in their 30s who was finally entering medical school.
◇◆◇
The solemn building in front of me looked like a
cross between Buckingham Palace and a castle.
I walked through the
large plaza in front, and went inside. Wandering around for about 10
minutes, I finally found a place like a ticket counter with a receptionist.
Like most of the inside, it was made of marble. The woman there had a
solemn, fixed expression. She was pretty, with long blonde hair and charming
big eyes, and she was wearing tightly fitted clothes.
"Are you a new
student?"
"Um, yes."
"We are one of the top schools of both
this country and our allies, so it's understandable that you want to study
here. But you should understand that with the entry fee, the class fees, and
various other expenses, a certain amount of money is necessary."
(I
knew that much. Even the maintenance on this building must cost a lot.)
"How much is it?"
"The entrance fee is 10 gold. Taking a class
for a term is 5 gold. With various other fees, studying here for a year
typically costs 50 gold."
"Eh, 50 gold? Seriously?"
(That's
even more expensive than universities in Japan!)
"As such, there are
few commoners here, and they sold their property in order to pay for their
education. Most of the students are nobles."
"Is that so..."
"I'm very sorry that your long travels have ended with this."
(Oh,
she thinks I travelled here from another country to study.)
"I
understand."
(That crazy magic noble said he'd give me 50 gold next
month, which is just enough. How convenient. But I'm not spending enough
money to buy a house on classes for nobles that might not even help, and I'm
not going to count on getting money from him. Maybe I'll just have to learn
on my own.)
"Is there a different sort of school that I could go to?"
"Any institution of comparable quality to ours will have strict entry
requirements. However, with a smaller local school or some sort of education
cooperative, walk-in admission may be possible."
"I see..."
(She has an impressive ability to be polite and rude at the same time. Oh
well, I should just leave.)
I turned and started walking towards the
exit.
(Actually, why was I asking her? I should just use the
little
girl information network.)
As I was thinking about that, someone came around the corner and called out
to me.
"Ho? Why is someone like you in a place like this?"
I
remembered that boldly arrogant voice.
(It's him.)
"No, why
are you here?"
"Why am I here? Because I teach here, of course! Are
you a student here?"
(Suddenly, I don't feel bad about not being able
to afford this place. Thanks.)
"No, I just decided not to enter. It's
too expensive."
"It certainly is difficult for someone poor to enter.
That's exactly why this school is known internationally for its high class
and nobility!"
"Oh yes, mixing poor and rich people together would
cause all kinds of problems."
"Exactly!"
He started nodding.
(No, I don't really want to be your friend...)
The receptionist
cut in, sounding slightly hysteric.
"...Fo, Fouren-sama?!"
"What?"
He looked towards her, and his tone turned cold.
"Um,
is he your acquaintance, Fouren-sama?"
"Why else would I be talking
to him?"
"Sorry for interrupting!"
She started bowing to him.
(So this is the standard noble-commoner relationship.)
"You,
what's your name?"
"Kkk..."
She was shaking, and looked like
someone in a TV drama that had just been sentenced to death.
"Hey,
hurry up."
"Sabrina..."
I started thinking about how I could
intervene.
"Stopping him here was the correct decision. I'll see
about getting you a promotion next month."
"Eh?"
"What,
dissatisfied?"
"No, of course not! Thank you very much, sir!"
"I'll provide the money. Enter this school."
"That's really, too
much, I couldn't, and I might be so busy with classes that I couldn't come
to your mansion..."
"Don't make me repeat myself."
"Riiight!"
The receptionist was still trembling.
"She will register you. I
have a class now, so I'll be going."
(If I get more confident with my
magic, is my personality going to become like that...? No, it definitely
won't.)
"Then, this, here is the paperwork."
"Ah. Thanks."
◇◆◇
It happened to be at the start of a new term when I
was admitted to the school.
The receptionist led me around to various
places, where I was given thing after thing after thing. Talking to her, I
learned that many of the students came from other allied countries, and that
all the students lived in the school dorms.
(Living in the dorms
here? No, I don't think so.)
Asking about the dorms, I found out that
each student got a private room with a school-provided maid.
(How
should I handle this? Simply not using the room they give me seems like the
best option.)
Eventually, I'd collected everything, and the
receptionist headed back towards her desk. I looked up where the alchemy
classes were held in a guide booklet, and started walking that way.
(Walking here from my house takes a bit over an hour. Going back and forth
every day would be too much. If only I had a bicycle, that wouldn't be a
problem. Oh, a bicycle might actually be possible. I should remember that.)
After a while, I reached a long hallway with several classrooms that
seemed to be dedicated to alchemy. It seemed to be the time between classes
when I arrived, with students going in and out.
(Can I just go into
one, then? Eh, it's probably fine. What's the worst that could happen? It's
probably just a lecture. One or two extra people won't stand out.)
The classroom was made of shiny marble, with inset patterns and letters made
of glass and stones. It looked unnecessarily expensive. There were rows of
wooden desks with fine craftsmanship and carved details, all facing towards
the front. I sat down at a desk, as did most of the other students.
With the fancy desks, the marble building, and the noble students, it really
felt like a fantasy school, even if the same thing could have been done in
Japan.
"......."
The other students were all staring at me.
They were all young, mostly in their teens with a couple in their early
20s, and they all had fancy clothes. I stuck out like a sore thumb. My
instincts about classes from my college days had betrayed me.
"...hello, nice to meet you."
I gave a group of them a nod.
(I
should have sat closer to the exit.)
They started talking quietly to
each other.
"Who's that old guy?"
"And how old is he?"
"He's
not a teacher?"
"He's sitting down at a desk."
"What country is he
from? His nose is too small."
"His skin is all yellow, like a lizardman."
"His face is so flat, too."
(I have a bad feeling about this.)
◇◆◇
The students kept talking like that until the teacher
arrived, then they suddenly stopped. I wanted to just leave and go home, but
the class was starting.
The students were still occasionally glancing
at me. I tried to ignore them.
"I am the teacher for the second-year
alchemy class, Lydia Nannuzzi."
I wrote down her name in a notebook
I'd received.
"Let's get started immediately."
Lydia started
talking.
"Perapera pera peraperapera pera peraperapera perapera
perapera. Perapera pera peraperapera pera pera perapera. Perapera
peraperapera peraperaperapera pera perapera perapera pera."
(She
talks too fast! I can't understand what she's saying at all.)
I tried
to write down some of what she was saying in the notebook, feeling like I
was in the middle of a test I hadn't studied for.
(This all seems new
to me, so there must be some good information in here.)
It was
several minutes later when I realized something.
(This is only part
of the information in the book I read! She's just confusing!)
My
hopes for learning alchemy at the school were deflating.
(Maybe I
need to find a more advanced alchemy class...?)
"These ingredients
can only be found in the southern wetlands. However, there are lizardmen and
powerful monsters there, so alchemists join parties of adventurers to
collect them."
(Lizardmen, huh? Didn't someone say I looked like one,
earlier?)
I had been serious when the class started, but I was
starting to get sleepy. Having returned to the college life that I'd missed
and yearned for, I just wanted to go home and sleep.
"Does anyone
here know what's necessary to raise the level of a mid-grade potion?"
At the university I'd gone to, grades were only based on exams. Students
didn't want to get involved, so when a professor asked the class a question,
nobody would answer unless the professor asked a specific student to. During
the class, I got to experience that unique kind of awkward silence a couple
times.
By the time the class ended, I was leaning towards going home
instead of attending more classes.
◇◆◇
Walking through
the corridors, I encountered a certain blonde loli.
"...hey, wait,
why are you here?"
Ester was dressed in a Middles Ages nobility sort
of way, with colorful clothes and a cloak.
"Ah, well, as of today I'm
a student here."
"Hmmmmmm? At your age?"
(You don't have to
put it like that. I hope you get treated that way when you get to be my
age.)
"And why are you here?"
"I'm also a student here,
obviously."
"Ah, I see."
"Were you a noble, then?"
"Eh?"
"There's no way that someone could pay the entrance fee here
from one job as an adventurer."
"I just happened to have a personal
connection that got me admitted."
"The board of directors here
doesn't allow that sort of thing, though."
Her high-tension side of
the conversation was drawing looks from passing students.
"Don't
worry about it. And weren't you an adventurer too?"
"Don't compare me
to you! I'm an adventurer, but before that I'm a noble!"
"Ah, is that
so."
(I knew she had rich parents. Low-level adventurers don't
normally travel in nice carriages like that.)
"Well then, I have to
get to class, so I'll be going."
"Hey, wait!"
I made a smooth
escape from Ester by going to another alchemy class instead of going home.
◇◆◇
After the second alchemy class I went to ended,
classes were mostly over for the day, and I started walking home.
It
had been over 10 years since I'd been in college, and I'd always thought of
that time fondly. But unlike then, I had no friends my age there with me.
(It's just not the same without a friend here. And the material in those
classes was...questionable. At the school's pace, getting to the elixir of
youth would take more than a lifetime. I think the students there only take
alchemy classes so they can keep up with conversations at dinner parties
with other nobles.)
I hadn't learned anything useful that wasn't in
the book I'd read at home, and I hadn't seen a workshop for actually
practicing alchemy.
(For now, I'll just forget about the dorms and
head home. I should try studying from the books there, instead. I don't
think I'll be going to those classes again, at least not for a while.)
◇◆◇
When I got back to my house, there were two soldiers
standing in front of it, each holding a spear in one hand. They were taking
turns knocking on the door loudly, "Kon kon, kon kon, kon kon."
(Why
are they here? Is this about my jailbreak after I was arrested?!)
I
heard them talking to each other between knocks.
"Do you think he's
out, or just pretending to be?"
"I don't know, but we should keep
trying. We'll get yelled at if we go back too soon with no results."
(I know my appearance is unusual here, but at the time, staying here and
hoping they focused on that woman who was getting executed was my only
choice. I could have died if I'd tried walking to another town.)
(Of
course, I could have died in that forest, too. That did work out, but
treating this like a RPG where I only needed to follow appropriate-looking
quests was a huge mistake. I do have a status screen and skill points, which
is very game-like, but I seem to be the only one with them, and I still
don't know what they really mean.)
(I had been hoping that they
didn't care about me. I have different clothes, and a rank as an adventurer,
and I bought a house, and I think I lost some weight, so I was hoping I
didn't seem like the same person. Maybe that was naive.)
(I still
have enough money to get a carriage to another town. I could probably stay
at that village with the orcs for a few days, and maybe even earn some money
there.)
(No, I shouldn't assume that's why those soldiers are here.
Maybe they're here about my fight with that noble. Wait, that might actually
be worse. But I can't bring myself to just abandon my house now! I'll talk
to the soldiers, and if I really, absolutely, definitely have to, I'll hit
them with fireballs and leave town.)
"Hello, was there some incident
with my house?"
"You're the owner here?"
"Yes, although I just
moved in recently."
"We're here for the tax collection."
"Tax?"
"The sales tax, land tax, and interest. The taxes on this
property haven't been payed for 7 years, so the total amount is 150 gold."
"Ehh?!"
Needing to pay some kind of tax was completely
unexpected.
"Um, 150 gold, that's more than the property is worth!"
"People kept moving in and out here, so the taxes built up. I understand
your complaint, but this is the system in our country. If you own a house,
it's your obligation to pay taxes on it."
"If there were taxes due on
it, why didn't you collect them from the people I bought this house from?"
"That's because property owned by nobles is exempt from those taxes."
"But I have to pay any back taxes if I buy it?"
"Right, the
nobles wanted to discourage property going from nobles to commoners."
I felt like I'd been hit in the head with a hammer. This somehow seemed
even worse than if they had actually come to arrest me.
(I let my
guard down because it was fantasy! Argh, I never thought that I'd get
manipulated like that! Taxes?! Fantasy doesn't need taxes!)
"Payment
is due by the end of the month. If you're late, your house will be seized."
"What, the end of the month?!"
"It sounds like you were tricked
by the real estate agent. People coming here from other countries seem to
get taken by frauds more often. You should learn from this and do things
properly in the future."
In my mind, I saw the smiling face of the
real estate agent, and heard the voice of the bald guy from the guild
telling me, "Don't get taken by some scam artist."
(He got me. I was
completely fooled. No wonder it was cheap!)
"We'll come again at the
end of the month. Get the money together by then."
After that, I
stood outside for a couple minutes, just staring at my house.
◇◆◇
The first thing I did was buy a calendar at a nearby store.
I
put it up on a wall and glared at it. 25 days remained until the end of the
month.
(The tax payment doesn't match the building's value. I
remember that real estate agent telling me that most of the buildings in
this area were 50 to 100 gold. If that's right, then if I payed the full
amount, it would be enough to buy 2 houses here. Letting my house get seized
would be the logical option. But I can't just give up on it! It's my house!)
(But there's no way I can realistically get 150 gold in a month. That's
15 high orcs worth of gold! I couldn't do that. For that matter, I don't
know where I'd find them.)
(Should I try to borrow it from that magic
noble? On the one hand, he definitely has the money, but on the other hand,
no.)
(From now on, I'm not going to blindly trust someone again like
I did with that real estate agent.)
I went down to the first floor,
and looked at the bookshelves.
(Maybe there's something described in
here that I can sell.)
◇◆◇
Reading through books in
the atelier randomly, I noticed something.
Most of them were written
by hand, probably by the same person, and probably in the same building I
was living in.
Reading on, I realized their goal. They had been
trying to cure a certain disease.
(They must not have made it in
time.)
The handwriting towards the end of some of the books grew more
and more erratic.
In the last entry I saw, a complicated process was
described with a mixture of joy and sadness. At the end, there was a note:
"I have identified the necessary materials for the medicine. But there is no
way I can get the liver of a red dragon."
(...a dragon? I somehow
thought dragons would exist here. Red dragons must be strong. If it says
"red dragon" then that must mean there are other colors too, like blue or
yellow.)
The disease the author had was called "Alvecchio's Disease."
It gradually caused muscles to stop working, until eventually afflicted
people died from not being able to breathe. The mortality rate was 100%,
with humans dying within 6 months of contracting it, and elves dying within
3 years.
It apparently had a magical component, like a curse, so
recovery magic would only treat the symptoms, and the worse the disease got
the faster the symptoms would return.
(This author was actually an
amazing person. If I can, I'd like to finish their work and make this
medicine someday. But right now, I have other problems.)
Feeling
sentimental, I looked out a window, and it was dark out. At some point, the
magic lighting in the first floor had come on, so I hadn't even noticed.
(Was that automatic? I don't remember it turning on by itself before.
Maybe I turned it on and forgot about it because I was focused on reading.)
(...I'm hungry.)
I decided to go get dinner.
◇◆◇
I went to a small nearby restaurant, and ordered some food and
drinks.
As I was eating, two adventurer-looking men in their 20s were
talking near me.
"Seriously?! 1000 gold for one medicine?"
"It's true, it just arrived today."
"Still, Alvecchio's Disease? I
don't think it matters how much you pay, nobody even knows what causes it."
"Come on, you know you're thinking about what you could do with 1000
gold."
"Of course I am. The king is notorious for being stingy, but I
guess it's a different matter when it comes to the life of his only
daughter."
(Alvecchio's Disease. They definitely said Alvecchio's
Disease! It's a quest! It's a special event!)
I got up from my seat.
(Didn't I take down one of the country's top magicians easily? And I
took down a high orc by myself, too.)
I went over to their table.
"Hey, you two."
"Eh? What is it, geezer?"
"I'd like to
hear a little more about what you were discussing."
"Who are you? Is
he someone you know?"
"I don't know him."
"Hey miss, a round
of drinks for this table, on me."
◇◆◇
(Information GET!)
Apparently the king had a sick daughter. He'd hired the best doctors, but
only learned the name of her disease, which was diagnosed by a certain magic
noble.
A few
days ago, he had finally offered a reward to anyone who could cure his
daughter.
(I'll just have to make that medicine, then.)
All
but one of the ingredients were either in the atelier's supplies or
available in the town. The problem was the liver of a red dragon, the same
thing that had stopped the author of those books.
I decided to go for
a red dragon.
Thinking about it, I was filled with determination.
(I'm going to need more firepower.)