Chapter 12

After getting myself together, I proceeded to the Alchemy Guild, today’s main event. In this guild, not only can people register as alchemists, but also they can take care of various kinds of jobs.

”I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of requests they will give me. My first step as an alchemist starts here.”

”Before that, I hope you can become an alchemist successfully.”

”Yes, I hope so.”

I was starting to feel uneasy when I saw Kabirumba’s smile. Maybe I should change the date? No, now that I’ve come this far, I’m going to show some guts. Push, push, and push!

”Okay!”

The receptionist looks surprised. The atmosphere on the first floor of the building freezes. But, I didn’t use any ice magic… I glanced at Kabirumba who was standing on my shoulder, but this guy never made eye contact with me.

”Excuse me, I’d like to join the alchemy guild.”

”Eh? Ah, yes, welcome to the Alchemy Guild!”

The receptionist made a smile to serve the guests. She is indeed a beautiful receptionist. She seems to know how to live in the world. At the same time, the atmosphere in the room became like “What is it? Isn’t it just country bumpkin?”

I’m sorry for being a country bumpkin. After all, it’s the first time in a hundred years that I’ve been in this world.

”First of all, you have to go through the procedure. Please show your school diploma or a letter of recommendation from someone.”

”Huh?”

The receptionist smiles.

”Let’s see, uhh, to become an alchemist, you need a certificate. It can be a diploma or a letter of recommendation. The diploma is given when you graduate from the alchemy school, and the letter of recommendation can be written if you become an apprentice of a famous alchemist and your skill is recognized.”

”Um, is there any other way?”

”There’s no other way~”

”No other way, huh…”

That’s no good. I don’t have any of those. It seems I’ll have to go to school or get an apprenticeship from someone. What a pity.

”Kabirumba, is there any way out of this?”

”You could buy a license as an alchemist with some money…”

”Please don’t do that~, you will be severely punished if it is found out~”

The receptionist smiles at me. Her temples are twitching. Somehow, her smile also seems to have lost some of its reserves.

”Is there nothing I can do but give up?”

”It can’t be helped. Even if you don’t become an alchemist, you can sell alchemical items.”

”Ugh… I was planning to become an alchemist and live with my left hand…”

”I’m sorry, the world is not that easy~”

The receptionist smiles at me again. She looked at me as if she wanted me to leave early, so I gave up and left. Anyway, I was not taken seriously at all. It was regrettable.

As I was leaving, I looked at the request forms on the wall.

What kind of alchemical items do people need? If I knew the trend, I might be able to find other items to sell besides potions.

The requests were divided by ranks, and the request form of the highest difficulty level contained the words “Request for a Curse-Breaking Charm”. The client was the Margrave of Amand Badia.

”It seems that the Margrave of this town needs the ‘Curse-Breaking charm’ that was requested at the store earlier.”

”It seems so. The request seems to be of the highest difficulty. Good thing you didn’t tell him you could make it, Leo-sama. If you had said it, there would have been a lot of trouble.”

Indeed, Kabirumba is right. If I get the attention of the local ruler, I can’t afford to live a slow life. They could be watching me secretly. Ah, it’s scary.

”Well, someone might bring it to them sooner or later. It’s not too much of an alchemical item as long as the materials are available.”

”Hmm, but this request is dated half a year ago…”

”What!? Why has this request been left unattended for such a long time?”

I couldn’t help but look at the reward. The amount of the reward had been rewritten many times, and now it was ten platinum coins. This doesn’t make any sense.

”Kabirumba, how much is one platinum coin worth?”

”It’s worth a hundred gold coins.”

”Really?”

”Yes. Anyway, there’s no point in trying to accept it. You have to be an alchemist to accept the request posted here.”

”Yeah…”

If I can’t accept it, there’s nothing I can do. But there’s a way to sell the “Curse-Breaking Charm” at the previous store. I may get a lot of money for it, but it is just half of the full price, about 5 platinum coins.

”No, you can’t do that. This request has been left abandoned for six months, that’s why it is so difficult. With such a large amount of money, the whole kingdom must be talking about it. And once you accomplish it, you’ll be bombarded with requests of the same high difficulty level, and you’ll end up working like a cart-horse, and then you’ll end up like a living corpse.”

Kabirumba spoke quickly. Never before has Kabirumba lost its cool like this. This is not good. It is dangerous to fulfill this request.

”Okay, Kabirumba. I promise. I will never accept this request.”

”That’s good. I am pleased to see that you understand me better than I expected.”

After leaving the alchemy guild, I had no choice but to register as a member of the commercial guild. Here, anyone can get an ID card as long as he/she pays for it.

”But, then, the person who needs the ‘Curse-Breaking charm’ will continue to suffer, right? He/she has been suffering for more than half a year already…”

”Hmm, that’s also true. I don’t know what kind of curse this person is under, but seeing as the amount of money is going up and up, it may be a serious situation.”

Kabirumba put its mycelium to its chin and began to think.

There is someone here who can create an alchemical item that can help someone who has been cursed, and I can’t just turn a blind eye to it, right? I would be laughed at for calling myself the best alchemist in the world if I were to do such a thing.

”Let’s do it.”

”Are you really going to do it?”

Yes, I have made up my mind. All I have to do now is to quietly hand the completed “Curse-Breaking Charm” to the gatekeeper of the house of the Margrave.