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chapter 469
That afternoon.
After school ended, I went to the alchemy lab.
There were the alchemist Kim Eun-yeon and Grandma Kim Bok-ja.
‘Both of them have really started to feel like proper alchemists after studying abroad during the winter break.’
Even when I opened the door to the lab and came in, they were still completely absorbed in their work.
Alchemists, once they focus on something, usually become so immersed they don’t notice anything else.
‘Looks like they’re reviewing what they learned abroad.’
The potion they were making now was one I knew well.
A vitality potion.
It’s something ordinary companies can’t manufacture—only alchemists can—so the supply is scarce and it’s expensive. But because it relieves even heavy fatigue, the demand is high.
For reference, the effectiveness of a vitality potion depends on which alchemist makes it. Not only do the methods differ from alchemist to alchemist, but the alchemist’s skill has a huge impact too…
“… Whew! I’m done with mine! Grandma, are you done?”
“All that’s left is bottling it up.”
“I’ll help you!”
Looks like both of them just finished their vitality potions.
“Oh, Geon-woo… when… did you come?”
“Have you been waiting long? Sorry.”
“No, I just got here.”
I said that and checked the vitality potions they’d made.
Hmm…
“You’ve made them well enough, but the effect itself won’t be very good. At best it’ll be like shaking off the fatigue from a quick nap.”
I evaluated after observing the potions with Sam-mae (my spiritual sight).
Depending on the person, the effects might be stronger or weaker, but for an average person that’s about what they’d get.
“Ugh… so my mistake earlier really was a big one, huh?”
“It was an unfamiliar technique, so mistakes were bound to happen. Don’t worry about it.”
They seemed to know why the potion’s effect had dropped.
Still, I decided to praise them.
“No, it’s amazing you managed to produce vitality potions of this quality with the equipment you have.”
The alchemy lab equipment they were using wasn’t very good.
The reason was simple: the equipment here was what Kim Eun-yeon had bought with her own savings before she even earned her alchemy license—mostly second-hand or slightly inferior equipment.
“And the location isn’t great either.”
This wasn’t a place built for alchemy in the first place but just an ordinary school classroom.
If you’re wondering why a school classroom is a problem: there are other minor reasons, but the biggest issue is simply the lack of space.
“Modern alchemy equipment is mostly large-scale.”
Because of all the built-in functions, the machines are inevitably bulky, and there’s no way to fit them in this classroom.
Thinking that, I glanced over at the Association staff on one side of the lab.
“Uh… um…”
“If the two of you want, the Association is willing to clear out part of our building to provide you with a large-scale lab. But… when we asked before, you said you preferred the school.”
The staff member in charge of Grandma Bok-ja looked flustered at my gaze, but the staff member in charge of Kim Eun-yeon calmly explained why they still hadn’t been given a proper lab.
“You prefer the school?”
This time, I looked at Kim Eun-yeon and Grandma Bok-ja.
“Yeah… the Association… is a bit…. We like… the school….”
“How could this grandma go anywhere alone without Eun-yeon?”
If that’s how they feel, I can’t force them.
But at least I can offer this:
“I’m building a building right now, and I’m planning to set up an alchemy lab in it for myself. Want to use it together?”
It’ll still be a little over a year until it’s completed.
“… Really? We can?”
“Yeah. It’s not like I’ll be in the lab 24/7 anyway.”
“Oh my, I’ll feel so bad about it.”
“No need to feel bad.”
I answered Grandma Bok-ja.
She really didn’t need to feel guilty.
If sharing an alchemy lab I’m already planning to make means I can keep two alchemists close to me, that’s a win for me.
“Then… can we go see… the lab right now?”
“No. It’s still under construction. It’s set to be completed next year.”
“… I wish next year would come quickly….”
Kim Eun-yeon seemed happy at the thought of experimenting in a bigger lab.
After wrapping up our conversation and watching their alchemy work for a while, a certain thought popped into my head.
‘The Bell Witch.’
The reincarnator living in my apartment—originally a woman, but a man in this life.
Could he also use alchemy?
When I visited his home before, I think I saw a cauldron or something.
That day, after going home, I visited the Bell Witch and, while being served by his fairies, asked him if he could use alchemy.
“Alchemy? Of course. What kind of potion do you want? One that turns you into a frog? Or one that makes your bones all mushy?”
“… Excuse me, what?”
“Pfft… kidding. But those potions really do exist. They were my bestsellers in my previous life.”
… There was demand for a potion that turns you into a frog or makes your bones mushy?
“That’s right! Everyone who came to the Witch’s hut came to buy those!”
“They came often!”
“You heard them.”
Even the fairies said that, so it must be true.
“Uh… why though…?”
“The frog potion sold well because, in that world, wizards used frogs, not white mice, for experiments. When the experiment ended, they’d take the frog legs for other experiments. But they over-harvested frogs so badly that their numbers dwindled and it became too hard to find them. So they’d catch insects or small animals, give them the potion, and turn them into frogs.”
Oh…
“And the bone-mushing potion was mainly used to make bone meal for farming. The bones used were mostly monster bones, which are so hard you need to soften them first before grinding them into meal.”
“… When you put it that way, I can see why they’d sell well.”
I wasn’t sure it merited “bestseller” status, though.
“Back to your question… you’re asking if I can make healing potions like the ones currently on the market, right? Basically, yes.”
“I see.”
“But…”
“?”
The Bell Witch sighed.
“The pain during the healing process is horrific.”
“… Pardon?”
“In my past life, I only sold cheap potions. My main customers were low-level wizards or commoners. They couldn’t afford expensive potions, so to lower costs, I didn’t include any painkilling effects. Naturally, I never researched that either.”
Still, my customers said as long as it healed them, they didn’t mind the pain, and bought my potions.
“Wizards catering to nobles sold potions with painkillers, but at least I never learned how to make them.”
“I see.”
So his potions would be a downgraded version of the ones on the market now.
I’d assumed, as someone from another world, the Bell Witch might have the skill to completely upend the current paradigm of alchemy, but I guess not.
… Maybe that’s just my bias about reincarnators.
Anyway…
“How long are they going to keep this up?”
I said, watching the fairies put down tea and cake in front of me and pat my whole body as if trying to give me a massage.
“I told you—they love serving guests.”
“Even massages? Were they like this in their past lives too?”
“No way. If you’ve got complaints about the massages, take them up with Little Archmage.”
Little Archmage… Lee Ha-eun?
Previously, the Bell Witch had said it was okay to tell Yeon Mirae and Lee Ha-eun about him, so I had.
Looks like she’s visited the Bell Witch’s home while I wasn’t around.
“Yeah. While you were in America, she came by and played with the fairies. I guess she taught them how to give massages, because they’ve been practicing ever since.”
“… Why did she even do that at someone else’s house?”
“That’s what I’d like to know.”
The Bell Witch looked at the fairies with a complicated expression.
And the fairies…
“Oh dear guest! Your muscles are so tense~”
“One-two! One-two!”
“Guest, are you uncomfortable anywhere? Is your shoulder stiff?”
“… Where on earth did you learn to talk like that.”
“… TV or the internet, probably. I only banned them from going outside, not from using those.”
The funny part was, despite their small and cute appearances, the fairies were actually strong enough that it really felt like I was getting a proper massage.
No, that wasn’t all.
Each time they patted my body, a cool energy seeped into me and spread throughout my body.
… Even my Harmony Divine Art didn’t try to absorb that energy.
It was as if the art itself was telling me it would be more beneficial to leave the energy as it was than to absorb and learn it.
‘Or maybe because the fairies are beings from another world, my Harmony Divine Art can’t absorb their energy.’
As if reading my thoughts, the Bell Witch said there was no need to worry.
“These kids won’t harm your body. If you were evil, maybe, but otherwise they’ll instinctively do what you need.”
“Instinctively… what I need?”
“Yeah. Because of that ability, in my previous world there were many attempts to capture them. Of course, spirits never helped those they judged evil, but they’ve judged you as good, so they’ll surely help. I don’t know exactly how, though.”
Hearing that, I used Sam-mae to observe my whole body.
The fairy energy spreading through me was slowly fading.
I watched the process closely.
‘Energy doesn’t just disappear for no reason. But it’s not being absorbed into my body, nor dissipating into the air.’
The fairies’ energy was definitely doing something as it vanished.
It was just hard to tell what.
At least I could tell it wasn’t directly affecting my body…
“If it’s not acting on my body…”
Something other than my body.
I had a guess.
[If the three of them keep working hard, maybe someday I’ll have a mind that matches my physical age.]
[And if my physical and mental ages align perfectly…]
[Then I believe I’ll be able to grow again.]
[Right now, one of the reasons I can’t reach the next stage is the gap between body and mind.]
My mind.
I could tell the fairies’ energy was interfering with my mind.
