TRPM 261

chapter 261

“Geon-woo….”

“Hm?”

“… I was scared….”

Well, of course she was.

Kim Eun-yeon was one of the few alchemists in the world, so it wasn’t like she had never been surrounded by people before. But those alchemists we just saw….

“Their eyes were full of madness.”

Like professors who were desperate for slaves… no, graduate students.

When exposed to that kind of gaze, even most adults would shrink back.
There was no way a minor like Kim Eun-yeon could endure it.

“Eun-yeon.”

“Yeah?”

“Next time people like that come up to you, shout: No, stop, don’t do that!”

“Pfft…!”

At my words, the Association staffer walking behind us couldn’t hold back and burst into laughter.

I guess it was funny to treat famous alchemists like sex offenders.

“… Is it really okay to do that?”

“Of course. If you say no, they can’t force you to go with them.”

So there was no need to worry.

“Really…?”

She still looked uneasy, but since I told her it was fine, she seemed a little more at ease.

“Then… can I ask you something…?”

“What is it?”

“What’s Magnum Opus?”

I almost lost my footing when I heard that.

I knew Eun-yeon was self-taught in alchemy, but I didn’t expect her not to know the concept of Magnum Opus.

“Well, I guess that’s not too surprising….”

I glanced at the Association staff following us.

He averted his eyes, as if guilty.

“It must’ve been impossible for her to get alchemy knowledge on her own, so she studied based on what the Association gave her.”

And the Association must have thought it would be disadvantageous if Eun-yeon pursued the Philosopher’s Stone and the process of creating it—Magnum Opus.

After all, rather than some ultimate material that might or might not be completed someday, with unknown effects, what the Association needed were potions they could circulate on the market right now.

So they must have provided her with alchemy knowledge but withheld anything about the Philosopher’s Stone and Magnum Opus.

“And the one in charge of that… is probably the staffer right behind us.”

To separate out information relating to the Philosopher’s Stone and Magnum Opus, you’d need some alchemy knowledge. And someone like that would naturally be assigned to assist Eun-yeon.

“Wait… in my previous life, wasn’t it also because of the Association controlling information that Eun-yeon never pursued the Philosopher’s Stone…?”

Anyway.

I could tell Eun-yeon about this, but then she would feel betrayed by the staffer she trusted like an older sister.

“… And it’s not like that staffer did it out of malice. Better to stay quiet.”

Eun-yeon still needed adults she could trust.

With that in mind, I was about to explain the Philosopher’s Stone and Magnum Opus to her.

But we arrived at the classroom mid-way, so I cut it short and gave her a very brief explanation.

“To put it simply: the Philosopher’s Stone is the ultimate goal of an alchemist, and Magnum Opus is the process of making it.”

“Umm… I don’t really get it….”

… Did I oversimplify?
Or maybe it just didn’t sink in because she never cared about things like the Philosopher’s Stone or Magnum Opus in the first place.

“The Philosopher’s Stone? Isn’t that the thing that uses human souls…?”

“That’s just the one from manga.”

Lee Doo-min started saying nonsense, and I immediately shut him down.

“… Human souls…?”

“Don’t get hooked. That’s just a story from fiction.”

But Eun-yeon’s eyes sparkled at Doo-min’s words.

… The real problem was—

“In theory, it might actually be possible to use human souls in alchemy….”

Ordinary alchemists couldn’t perceive souls, let alone use them.

But I was different.

Through samadhi, I could perceive something resembling souls. If I wanted, I could try using that in alchemy.

Though I had no idea what the result would be.

“Eun-yeon probably won’t aim for a Philosopher’s Stone made that way… but it’s best if she doesn’t even get curious.”

Thinking that, I called out to her before Doo-min could feed her more nonsense.

“Eun-yeon. Are you doing club activities today?”

“Huh? Well… I was planning to go to the lab….”

“I’ll come with you after class today.”

At that, the other girls in our class—the ones in the alchemy club—approached.

“What, are you making a new potion or something?”

“I wanna see too.”

Good grief….

Since I rarely joined in the club activities, now that I said I’d go, everyone else wanted to come as well.

Come to think of it, our “club activities” usually just meant hanging out in Eun-yeon’s lab, not actually working. That was probably the problem.

Anyway….

“I only planned to give her a bit of light advice on alchemy, but with all of them coming, I’ll actually need to make a real potion.”

I recalled some potions I knew recipes for, ones that hadn’t been developed yet at this point.

“… Maybe the Satiety Potion? It makes you feel full without actually filling your stomach. It got famous as a diet potion.”

Incidentally, the creator of that potion was none other than Kim Eun-yeon, standing right in front of me.

From what I knew, she came up with it because she kept forgetting to eat while researching in her lab.

Originally she wanted a potion that also replenished nutrition, but it came out wrong.

Bang! Bang!

“Everyone, take your seats.”

While I was still deciding which potion to make, Teacher Son Ji-hye tapped the blackboard.

Homeroom had begun.

The kids quickly went back to their seats, and once everyone settled, the teacher started announcements.

“First, everyone who joined the volunteer activity on Saturday should have received the pre-announced volunteer points. They’re already on the volunteer certification website, so check there. Next, Elena and Elliot.”

“Yes?”

“Us?”

“Yeah. You have visitors. Go meet them before first period.”

Visitors for Elena and Elliot?

Then they must be acquaintances from England.

Maybe family, checking up on how they were doing at school.

… Except those two were royalty.

“So their visitors must be royalty too?”

I spread my senses across the school to check who it was.

If there were members of the British royal family around, I’d recognize their presence easily.

I’d met plenty of royals at Arthur and Rachel’s wedding, and I remembered all of their presences….

“Huh? Arthur and Rachel are in the teacher’s office?”

… I almost missed it.

I just assumed Elena and Elliot’s family had come, but it turned out Arthur and Rachel were the visitors.

“Well, Arthur did teach Elliot swordsmanship.”

The swordsmanship Elliot used now was Arthur’s creation.

So Arthur was basically his teacher. It wasn’t strange for him to visit.

“Homeroom’s over. Elena, Elliot, follow me.”

“Yes.”
“Yes.”

The teacher left with them for the office.

And a moment later….

“(Rachel?!)”
“(Arthur?!)”

Elena and Elliot’s shocked voices carried all the way back.

[(Rachel?!)]
[(Arthur?!)]

The exact same voices we just heard played from Arthur’s smartphone.

“(Delete that right now!)”

“(What the—why did you even….)”

Elena blushed furiously and demanded he delete it, while Elliot looked completely baffled as to why Arthur had filmed it in the first place.

Arthur grinned.

“(Sorry, too late. I already sent the video to your families.)”

“(What?)”
“(Huh?)”

They didn’t seem to have been caught in anything particularly embarrassing, but still, the fact he had instantly sent it to their families left them flustered.

“Unbelievable….”

“Was Arthur always this mischievous?”

“He’s only like that with Elena and Elliot. Says they’re like his younger cousins.”

That was Rachel’s answer when I asked.

Younger cousins?

Was it really okay to treat royalty like that?

Well, I guess Arthur wasn’t ordinary—he was an Aura Master.

“Whatever. That’s not what matters.”

What mattered was—

“Why did you follow us all the way to the lab?”

Because right now, we were in Eun-yeon’s alchemy lab.

After school, I’d gone there with the alchemy club kids, but for some reason Arthur and Rachel had tagged along.

And now Arthur was just teasing Elena and Elliot.

“Lately we’ve been researching homunculi. But homunculi aren’t puppetry, they fall under alchemy, right?”

“Well, yes….”

That was true.

Homunculi were creations alchemists like Paracelsus had dreamed of making.

“Of course, I’m not saying we expect you to make one right away.”

Rachel spoke as if making a homunculus were simple.

If she’d said that to any other alchemist, they’d think she was mocking them.

“… It’s not that making one is impossible, but….”

In fact, the “Doppelgangers” used by Oracle—the Martian organization—were essentially a type of homunculus.

Because they were created by inserting human genes into monsters, they were known as a kind of chimera. But if they’d been made solely with human genes, they would’ve been classified as homunculi.

Still….

“Even so, asking me out of nowhere to make a homunculus is….”

“Oh, I already know what essential materials are needed for a normal homunculus. I had Arthur store them in his subspace so they’re always ready.”

“……”

So in other words….

“… In Arthur’s subspace….”

I couldn’t finish my sentence.

I just glared at Rachel with disdain.

“… Please, just this once! Arthur and I can’t have children!”

“… Ah.”

Arthur was a doll.

And Rachel had married him.

There was no way they could have a child together.

So Rachel had given up on conceiving, and instead wanted to raise a homunculus as their child.