CH 10

“So, about my reward…”

I start saying, and their faces stiffen.

“How about a reasonable amount of kagero branches for me to use as materials?”

The village chief and Zahle look perplexed.

“That? There are a lot of kagero growing near here, but they are useless.”

Says the confused village chief.

I guess that’s what most people would think. There’s an old custom to decorate the door of the village chief’s house with kagero, but that’s about the only use they have for most people, so lately less and less villages and towns have been planting kagero trees. But according to old literature, there’s always been at least one in every village.

“Are there a lot of them? That’s great! Can you take me there? Their fruits should be ready to be picked too.”

“Understood, then follow me Master Rust.”

I follow the village chief out of the village.

As we walk, villagers start gathering for some reason. After a while, there is a row of people with the chief in front.

I guess it can’t be helped since this is a small village with not much in the way of entertainment. Alchemy can be a nice show too. But still, there really aren’t a lot of children in this village.

Eventually, I see a small kagero forest.

“Wonderful. Now, I don’t mind if it’s the ones on the ground, but can you gather some kagero materials?”

“Yes. Everyone, since you followed us, you can do some work as well. Gather kagero branches and fruit like the master alchemist said.”

The villagers look at each other at first, before following the chief’s instructions.

Two big piles of kagero branches and fruit are made in front of me.

“This is enough.”

I say, and Zahle tells the villagers to stop.

I take one of the fruits and whisper to the village chief.

“As I’m sure you know, magic crystals are usually made from monsters’ magic stones. But that’s not the only way to make them.”

I quickly take three scrolls from my backpack.

“《Activate》, 《Activate》, 《Activate》.”

The scrolls open, and the villagers around me start whispering to each other.

I hear surprised voices.

“What’s that?”

“Are you stupid? Those are scrolls.”

“So those are scrolls. I heard master alchemists make them with their best secret techniques…”

“But look at that, three at the same time! I’ve never seen that!”

While hearing the villagers speak, I’m impressed that there are some who know a lot about alchemy here. Since they seem starved of entertainment, I might as well be flashy and put on a show.

Having that said, the process is the same as always, so I don’t think I’m going to be able to do that.

I apologize in my mind for how plain this is.

“《Purify》.”

I activate the first scroll. Yes, the same scroll I used to make the potion before. The one I’m so proud of.

I used it to purify water before, but this time the air is my target. I focus on the magic elements within it and activate it.

The magic stones taken from monsters are magic elements from the atmosphere solidified after a long time.

Because of this, I can skip the monsters and filter them straight from the air.

The activation of the purification scroll creates a black haze in front of me. These are magic elements in very high concentration.

The villagers start whispering again, but this time they don’t know what is happening. They don’t look too surprised either.

That makes sense, since the purification scroll is my creation, and I’m the only one who uses it.

This is the crux of this transmutation.

I thrust the fruit in my hand into the black haze, and the haze is sucked into it. The fruit suddenly turns black as well.

Kagero fruits are used for a lot of transmutations, and they are especially good at housing magic elements.

“《Polish》.”

I activate the second scroll, and wind starts swirling on top of it. It quickly turns into a small tornado.

“Wow! A tiny vortex of wind!”

“That’s called a tornado.”

“Incredible, look at it spin.”

The villagers are agitated again. This one is easy to understand, so there is a bigger response.

I throw the kagero fruit on top of the mini tornado, and it falls straight into it.