Chapter 1 - Part 1
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***
“You guys have no idea how surprised I was. I don’t know what Elizabeth looked like when she was young, but she must have looked a lot like this child. Her hair color is different, though… but that’s it.”
“They do not look alike at all…” Carius, who was listening to Atias, murmured. At that, Xenon chuckled.
“Obviously Elizabeth looked a little different from when she was young and when she had grown up. Her eyes, her expression, and manners changed over time. She was very mischievous when she was young.”
“I was a few years older than her… I also remember my sister’s childhood.”
“You were close to Elizabeth as an adult, so you probably remember her more after she grew up.”
“…”
At Xenon’s words, Carius fell into deep thought. His childhood memories were sometimes erroneous.
It was difficult for Carius to fully accept the fact that the girl and his dead sister looked alike.
Even after Xenon and Atias returned to their work, Carius sat there and pondered. After a while, he got up and headed out.
He was in front of Elizabeth’s room where Lelia was currently staying.
***
Lelia was relaxing alone in her room after her grandfather left. The maids said they would be back in a bit. There was nothing much to do, so she decided to unpack first. Her most cherished treasure, a rabbit doll, was placed on the bed. She carefully put her watch inside the music box that she had received from her grandfather. She also put the physical strength recovery tonic, that she had taken out of her inventory, on the table.
Her heart was filled with pride. She wondered if she could stay safe and happy here…
‘Every cloud has a silver lining…’
Lelia enjoyed a moment of happiness before touching the jewel on her necklace and looking at the ‘Alchemy Lottery’ screen.
As if pleased, the alchemy tool said in a speech bubble.
[System: Let’s proceed with optimization for the new environment.]
[Optimization in progress! A new recipe will be added according to the environment.٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و ]
[T/N: The emote is so cute!]
Perhaps a new recipe was added every time the location was changed and she moved to a new one.
[I don’t know what the principle is…]
In the original game, dragons traveled around the world looking for materials. The system seemed to be applied as a part of reality.
Lelia looked at the list of additional recipes.
[If there are too many recipes, I’ll never be able to make another Philosopher’s Stone…]
A Philosopher’s Stone could only be made by unlocking and completing all recipes.
[It definitely does grant wishes…]
If the hero’s sacred watch was not obtained, there was another way to break the magic of the Golden Words by using the Philosopher’s Stone.
It was hard to guess which would be easier.
But now that she has half of the sacred watch, wouldn’t it be easier to find the rest of the watch?
Lelia looked through the list with a hum…
The new list was full of magical drugs with unknown purposes.
Earthworm Infectious Disease treatment, Turnip Fertilizer, Conciliation potions, Lantern of Truth and Lies, and more. There were all sorts of things on the list.
There were some really strange ones among them.
‘Wait, what’s this? Game Addiction Prevention medicine?
She felt guilty for some reason.
Since it was a game played in a previous life, modern words from that world often appeared.
Lelia wrinkled her brows as she skimmed through the strange list. It was then…
Oh, wait a minute!
Lelia’s hand paused at a recipe.
[Alzheimer’s treatment]
[Alzheimers, maybe…?!]
Lelia looked at the ingredients in the recipe. It was grayed out with question marks because it has missing material.
[Hmm…]
On her way to the Superion estate, Lelia found quite a few materials through the automatic material search function.
But there were more ingredients that were not found yet.
[Maybe I can help her with this medicine.]
Lelia read the names of the ingredients with hope.
99 beautiful plants, 10 pieces of memory, a piece of old fiber, ethe list continued.
What’s wrong with this recipe?
Leria narrowed her eyes and returned to the main screen.
【♪(·o·) 最適 Optimization ♪ ⑦(·o·) ♪♪ In progress~】
It was then.
Knock knock.
For some reason she heard a powerful knock. She was convinced a maid would never knock like that. Lelia quickly pushed the necklace jewel and closed the alchemy screen.
It was not a maid who came through the door, it was Carius.
As soon as she saw his face, Lelia felt shaky with tension.
“…….”
Carius entered the room as if he didn’t need permission. He approached Lelia, who was sitting in the living room space, and sat down across from her. A cold glance was shot at what was on the table.
“What is this?”
He asked with a hostile look. It seemed like he had to restrain his anger since he had been scolded by the duke.
What he pointed to was Lelia’s medicine. There was a clear red syrup in a small glass bottle.
“It’s a tonic.”
“Hah!”
Carius burst out laughing in amazement.
“You little swindler, do you know it’s illegal to make such a magic potion?”
“….”
Lelia felt a little scared of him, but then looked at him with shock. Now that her grandfather had warned him, Carius would not be able to drive her out of this place.
Carius was very surprised to see that bottle. After his outburst of anger, he said;
“Can you use that phoney alchemy?”
“….”
Lelia was silent.
When he said; “Are you an alchemist?” He meant; “Do you want to be caught by the priests and burned?”
At first glance, the question was intended to frighten her, but Lelia was not scared. The most powerful member of the Superion family is the Duke. Her grandfather believed in her and took her directly to this room, so she knew she was protected from any accusation. Moreover, Lelia was not the imposter that Carius accused her of being.
Lelia’s psychological state, which had been unstable when she left the city and came to the Superion territory, was stable now. For Lelia, the Imperial castle was the root of her anxiety. It was the only place where she did not have anyone to rely on, and she did not know when she might die. The existence of Emperor Perseus and his twin sons, were another source of anxiety. Her mother’s cabin was a potential source of solace, but it was not a place where Lelia could live comfortably. Back in the cabin she had been frightened by Carius, and Emperor Perseus had shouted at Lelia when he found her in his dead wife’s cabin.
All of these factors demoralized Lelia and made her passive.
After returning to her home country, she became more cautious and sensitive than when she was in the temple. She was in a constant state of fear while in the Imperial palace. During her escape, Lelia became close to the Knights of the Superion and received love from her grandfather.
Today she arrived at this home that she really thought of as ‘safe’. All these things brought Lelia back to her former vigor. Lelia stared at Carius with confidence.
“…….”
The look left Carius feeling embarrassed which put in a foul temper.
His eyes were completely different from when they met at the Imperial Castle. At that time, Lelia had such a fragile and pitiful look. While Carius had been angry, he’d also felt strangely guilty.
Regardless of Carius feelings, Lelia managed to say after much trouble;
“Yes, I can use alchemy.”
“You!”
Lelia shrugged her shoulders.
[So what are you going to do?]
Alchemy is a forbidden magic that the temple clearly defines as heresy. Temples are always sensitive to alchemy. There were considered heathens who challenged God’s authority and burned them.
But things have been a little different in recent years. There were signs that the light dragon would wake up soon. Everyone born and raised on the continent of Dracanea were paying attention to it.
[The temple doesn’t have the time to catch alchemists like they used to.]
The temple would be busier than anyone else because of the Mad Dragon. They used this opportunity as a stepping stone to once again inform the Five Empires of the importance of the pact, and use it to increase their influence.