Chapter 165 - Chapter 164: What Comes After Reading?
The 2nd Day of Fire, Week 1.
After school, Mika had come to Paraleira's room in the dormitory.
He had finally finished reading the book assigned by Paraleira and had come to have a concrete conversation with her about alchemy.
In truth...
To put it lightly, Mika had succeeded in generating gold using magic.
If iron was doable, wouldn't gold be doable soon? He gathered mana with Absorb Wing and consumed more mana than with Implosion, succeeding in creating gold smaller than the tip of his little finger.
"...................."
But he felt nothing special.
It was an unbelievable change in mindset even for himself, but he did not think, "Now we have more money, yay."
(Would it be fun to increase money with something like this?)
That was his first impression.
The moment he realized it was possible, his enthusiasm suddenly cooled down.
If he were living in Rish Village or studying in Sarbengeal, he might have been so happy he would have jumped around screaming.
However, he already held over seventy-five million rats in money, and requests were pouring in to the point where he had to stop accepting commissioned requests.
To be honest, it felt like, "I can earn as much money as I want myself!"
Shut himself up in the room and become a machine that just endlessly creates gold?
If that were the case, playing with Wraiths and playing with Curse Puzzles would still have more meaning.
He might do it if he were really short on money, but he had already lost interest in money itself.
Furthermore, Mika had acquired a new source of income.
It was the Salvage from the Magic Bag a few days ago.
Since he had done it in front of so many spectators Gallery within the Guild, the news spread instantly to adventurers all over the capital city.
And those adventurers talked about it in various places.
They changed it a bit for fun as a drinking game topic.
Because of that, requests poured in again.
These were also commissioned requests costing over one million rats, but if they could salvage items worth millions to tens of millions of rats, over twenty requests came in within a week.
It seems there are quite a few Magic Bags that wealthy people who once possessed expensive gems or artworks suddenly died and could no longer retrieve them.
So, although he hasn't finished everything yet, just like the cursed item custody service, this is also being entrusted to the Guild.
Honestly, is it okay to earn money this easily?
"How is it?"
Mika spoke to Paraleira, who was staring at the small gold ingot with a serious face.
This gold ingot was gold generated by Mika's magic.
However, he had not told her that.
He could make gold, but Mika could not judge whether this was truly gold.
He could have taken it to the Appraisal Shop Owner, but since Paraleira said she could do something like component analysis, he tried it out on her.
By the way, that component analysis involved putting the target object into a strange box-like thing, and watching numerous small crystals flicker and glow, which was not interesting at all to watch.
"It's strange, isn't it... this..."
Paraleira muttered softly while staring at the gold ingot.
(Strange?)
Could it be that it wasn't gold?
"The purity is too high. What is this? Where did you get it!"
She turned towards Mika with a serious expression.
Um... it's a bit scary.
"Even if you ask me where, I bought it at a street stall when I was in Sarbengeal before. It was cheap."
"Where would a fool put such an item at a street stall!"
"You should tell the seller, not the buyer."
Well, it was a lie.
He didn't want to be in trouble if he was pursued on the acquisition path, so he decided to go with that.
It was an old story, so even if you investigate now, you won't know.
After making gold, Mika also tried making silver and copper.
And it seems those were also real silver and copper without a doubt.
Magic is really omnipotent.
"Rather than that, the main topic today is rare metals, right? I have to go home too, so I don't have that much time."
If he were living in the dormitory, he could talk all night, but now he has a home to return to.
Tonight's dinner was a request from Mika, that super delicious roast beef-like thing.
Kistil and Nerisfeene liked the white bread, so they even built a kiln in the garden.
Thanks to Kistil, who could originally cook dishes directly taught by Yaroibarov, they were able to have a more luxurious meal at home than eating outside carelessly.
With the addition of white bread, it was now at a level surpassing even high-class restaurants.
It was so extravagant it felt like punishment.
Mika quickly snatched the gold ingot from Paraleira's hand and also collected the silver and copper blocks placed on the desk.
Paraleira gave him a suspicious look, but Mika kept a cool face.
"So, one of your stolen research results was that, that, was it?"
Saying that, Mika pointed to the component analysis magic tool.
This component analysis machine was a homemade item of Paraleira.
It seems she made the same thing again after being kicked out of the Court Magic Institute.
It can examine the composition of substances, and it can also examine the contained mana.
And this was a great invention that shook the alchemy world.
Before, the old man from the magic tool shop had told Mika, "Rare metals do not possess mana."
But that was merely one of the academic theories.
There were two schools of thought: one that said "Rare metals contain absolutely no mana," and another that said "Rare metals contain mana but cannot be detected."
In other words, the old man belonged to the former school.
How much mana does a substance contain?
There are several ways to examine this, but the most popular method is to suck it out.
Originally, mana was something that humans simply manipulated for the sake of God's Miracle.
So for a long time, only technology to measure or suck out the mana possessed by humans progressed.
But then, a mage thought, "Do living things other than humans also possess mana?"
When he tried various things, the result came out that other living things indeed possessed mana, albeit in trace amounts.
Moreover, it was also found that monsters and magic beasts possessed even more mana.
While investigating the mana of various living things, he wondered, "Why do living things possess mana in the first place?"
Mages recover mana by sleeping even if they consume it.
Where does that recovered mana come from?
Is it produced inside the human body?
Or is it taken in from the outside?
While researching this question, a mage appeared who thought, "Perhaps there is mana in the atmosphere, and they take it in?"
However, until now, they had researched measuring the mana of living things, but how to detect mana from the atmosphere?
For a long time, many mages were troubled by this, but somehow they succeeded in examining the mana in the atmosphere.
In that process, people began to think, "If there is mana in the atmosphere, shouldn't other things also possess mana?" and methods to measure the mana of various substances were researched.
It seems the most effective method among these was the method of sucking out the mana inside the substance.
As soon as the mana was sucked out, the substance would take in mana from the surrounding atmosphere, but the approximate amount of contained mana could be determined by the initial amount that could be sucked out.
However, for rare metals, the amount of mana that could be sucked out was zero.
With other methods, they could not obtain results stating they contained mana.
Because of this, it seems quite a few people thought, "If a special state of zero mana is created, the substance will have completely different characteristics."
Such things were written in detail along with their history in the books handed to Mika by Paraleira.
And the one who settled this controversy was the component analysis machine developed by Paraleira.
With this component analysis machine, the mana of rare metals that could not be detected until now could be detected.
However, this result has not been made public in general.
It seems the Court Magic Institute was also divided into two schools, but now it has been unified under the theory that "Rare metals contain mana."
But it seems it is strictly prohibited to leak it to the outside as an important secret.
"............You leaked it."
"It is my own business who I talk to about my research results."
This component analysis machine that Paraleira had developed.
Before reporting it up, Paraleira had been kicked out.
Her research style, which she never reported or submitted unless told, backfired, and it was taken over by a talented young man she didn't get along with.
And after Paraleira left, the result that "Rare metals contain mana" was shared in the Court Magic Institute and made an important secret.
That means, since it happened after she was kicked out, is it safe to leak it?
No, since she still seems to have a record in the Court Magic Institute for now, normally thinking, it would be a no-go.
"I was researching various other things, but it seems several things, even half-finished ones before results came out, were reported as 'achievements'."
The superior probably realized it was originally Paraleira's research.
But perhaps they thought it was better if the talented young man took over and achieved results instead of the difficult-to-handle Paraleira.
A subordinate's achievement is a superior's achievement.
They probably calculated that if the talented young man achieved results, their own evaluation would rise.
"So, that talented young man went missing, so they want you to come back and take over?"
"Are you kidding me?"
Not just kidding, isn't it okay to beat them to death right there? That's what it feels like.
At least, it is certain that that talented young man was excellent.
Since he could understand Paraleira's research and take it over.
It seems no one else, including the superior, could fill the hole left by the talented young man.
(Considering the efficiency of kicking her out, the superior is in on it too.)
Hearing the details of the incident where Mika was doused with ale, he felt a slight urge to kill, even though it was none of his business.
But, well...
"Reporting is important, you know?"
If you are receiving a salary, you should at least submit reports and achievements equivalent to that salary.
The salaryman part of Mika was shouting that.
"No results worth reporting came out."
To Paraleira who said that, Mika pointed to the component analysis machine.
But Paraleira snorted.
"The component analysis machine such a thing is just a tool for experiments, right? Do you report every time you prepare a tool!? Do you want me to report if I buy a single flask or mortar!?"
"Again, taking things to the extreme..."
What can I say, it's like that.
Paraleira is the same as the mage who first made the Potion.
Only the goal she set is important and valuable.
The things in the process are probably not important at all.
Maybe in Paraleira's mind, the component analysis machine and the flask are of the same value.
It seems like a trivial matter of cost or effort required to prepare them.
But isn't it normal that reporting is necessary even when purchasing a single piece of equipment?
"I'll ask straight out, what is the final goal? Gold generation? Rare metals? Immortality?"
"I want to say all of them, but well, rare metals. Regarding immortality, it's just for amusement."
"You don't make gold?"
"What would I do with making that?"
Paraleira took the cup on the desk and took a sip.
"If I can make rare metals, I can sell them and get money. If you want gold, just buy it."
I see.
If I can make rare metals, I can get gold.
But even if I make gold, it is difficult to get rare metals.
Actually, with enough money, I could probably buy some.
"I'm relieved to hear that rare metals are the goal. Our purposes match."
"So you are also targeting making rare metals? Why?"
Why...?
(Now that you mention it, why? Before I thought about getting rich quick, but money has already left the purpose. If I could create rare metals, what would I want to do?)
Mika asked himself.
Why he sought rare metals.
But he reached the answer immediately.
"I want super equipment. Armor made of pure Copper-type Rare Metal Orichalcum, or a Short Sword made of pure Gold-type Rare Metal Hihiirokane. A Knife made of pure Silver-type Rare Metal Mithril might be good too."
When Mika said that, Paraleira made a dumbfounded face.
"Oh, you said you were an adventurer. So you are just making rare metals specifically to want your own equipment?"
"You say that, but what is your purpose for making rare metals, Paraleira-san?"
"Me? I have intellectual curiosity."
Paraleira said with her chest puffed out.
"In other words, you just make it and don't think about how to use it afterwards, right? At best, you sell it to make life easier, or just immerse yourself in research, isn't that it?"
"Ugh..."
Paraleira made a bitter face at Mika's retort.
Well, Mika had thought the same thing before, so he couldn't say anything about Paraleira.
"Well, let's think about what to do after it's made, once it's made."
Saying that, Mika placed three gold coins on the desk.
This was the research funds for this month.
"Three coins? Wasn't it two coins a month?"
"I had some temporary income. The books you recommended were very helpful too. That was the value of it."
In fact, the books recommended by Paraleira were very useful and contained a vast amount of information.
Most importantly, the fact that he could pack that knowledge in without waste was Paraleira's merit.
If he had searched for books himself, read them, and done so with this much knowledge, how many years would it have taken?
After finishing reading, it would have been normal for him to say, "It was all things I already knew."
So, since he also gained a new source of income, the Salvage from the Magic Bag, he increased the gratitude by fifty percent.
Besides, this was not a story of giving it to Paraleira.
It was an investment for the purpose of generating rare metals.
In other words, it wasn't much different from an investment in himself.
He would give it to Paraleira, but if the goal was achieved, it would return in kind.
He was just uneasy about giving it all at once, but he didn't mind giving three or four gold coins if necessary.
"You are very generous. Even adults would hesitate to pay such an amount."
Paraleira made a slightly dumbfounded face.
But she quickly put the gold coins in her pocket.
I don't hate that straightforward part.
"Yes, well, adventurers earn quite a lot. If you are a full-fledged adventurer, earning five gold coins is normal, you know?"
Including expenses.
"Ho, that's quite a good income."
Saying that, Paraleira placed a bundle of papers with a thud-thud sound on Mika's knees.
How many hundreds of sheets are there?
"What is this?"
"These are ruin investigation materials. What I have investigated so far. There are various other things in there too. Well, just take a look for now."
"...................."
The weight resting on his thighs made Mika think of old tortures from the past.
Sitting seiza on a triangular wooden block and placing stone tablets on top, that one.
The so-called Ishidaki-zeme (Stone-holding torture).
Mika let out a big sigh, but still silently put the materials into the Magic Bag from the top.
It seems the days of being immersed in reading will continue.
After putting away all the materials, Mika stood up.
"I'll come again when I finish reading."
Saying that, he tried to leave, but stopped his foot.
"............Are these all the materials I need to skim through?"
Perhaps finding Mika's unusually heavy tone funny, Paraleira burst out laughing.
"Don't worry about that. There are a few things I can't find, but that's almost everything. Ku ku ku..."
She shook her shoulders and chuckled secretly.
Mika looked at Paraleira with a suspicious gaze, let out a small sigh, and headed home.
"............You really do that. How much passion does it take to go this far?"
Reading the materials in his own room, he gazed at the arrangement of ruin remains and patterns on the walls that were copied there.
The patterns were probably characters.
They were characters more suitable for writing than hieroglyphs, but what kind of hint would such things provide?
Moreover, copying those written densely on the walls by hand.
The materials had notes inserted here and there, such as 'Silver? ...Liquid?', 'Magic Element?', 'Construction?', 'Copper?', etc., annotations on the meaning of characters based on past investigation results.
"It might be better than hieroglyphs, but do you really intend to decipher ancient characters?"
Mika sighed.
"It's impossible without Champollion, this kind of thing..."
Jean-François Champollion.
A genius of linguistics who deciphered the Rosetta Stone.
It seems that not only geniuses of physics are needed in this world, but geniuses of linguistics must also be born.
"......Wasn't it to find the most common character?"
In the method of code decryption, if the plain text is English, he remembered seeing somewhere that the most frequent character is the letter E.
But unfortunately, this is not a code, and the plain text is not English either.
In fact, the string of unknown characters in front of him is the plain text. ...Probably.
"This is going to break my heart............"
Mika could not treat the material in his hand roughly, so he carefully placed it on the desk.
There, Fee floated over ~fluffy~... and brightened three times with a flicker flicker flicker.
"What? Tea?"
When Mika asked that, Fee brightened once.
Dinner was already over, washing up was done, and it seemed Kistil and Nerisfeene were taking a breather.
She probably asked him to call her.
No, maybe she came to call him with consideration before being asked?
Mika put the materials into the Magic Bag and headed for the dining room.
Fee floated over ~fluffy~... and landed on Mika's shoulder.
"Oh, Mika-sama. Just in time. I'm about to brew it now."
When Mika went to the dining room, Kistil and Nerisfeene were preparing tea.
"By the way, can both of you take a day off next sunny day?"
Sitting down, Mika asked the two.
"Sunny day?"
"It's fine, but is there something, Mika-sama?"
"Shopping to Sarbengeal."
"Sarbengeal?"
The two tilted their heads as if they didn't understand well.
Well, they sell it in the capital city too.
"I want to buy a Magic Bag for both of you. It would be convenient, right?"
"That is, of course, convenient, but..."
"It's fine, Mika-kun. You just need to bring it back normally."
Kistil had previously not wanted to go out alone.
Except when with Mika, she was in a state where she would not go outside the house grounds at all.
That tendency still remains, but she has started going shopping with Nerisfeene.
Before, Mika always went shopping with them, but now they often go shopping together with just Nerisfeene.
The Magic Bag is very convenient for shopping, but that is the surface reason.
If I say it now, the two will strongly oppose, so I won't say it, but the real purpose is money.
The real reason is that he intends to give each of them ten million rats in cash.
After all, adventurers are dangerous.
He realized that again through the incident of the party that lost a companion the other day.
He had asked Cleiria to take care of the case if something happened to Mika, but he decided to do what he could himself properly.
"I wanted to go buy it sooner, but it got dragged on for some reason. Since there is a mana registration, the person themselves must be there. A shared Magic Bag is dangerous."
Saying this while drinking the tea brewed by Nerisfeene as if it was decided.
The husband is the master, long live.
He is not a husband yet, though.
"If Mika-kun says so much, it's fine to go buy it, but..."
"Why Sarbengeal?"
"There is a magic tool shop I am close with, or rather familiar with, in Sarbengeal. Magic Bags are expensive, right? I want to buy it there if I buy it."
Even Mika, who was specialized in teasing, was treated very well.
If he is going to buy it anyway, he wants to buy it comfortably.
"Oh, I should go see the Appraisal Shop Owner too. I wonder if she is doing well."
He felt a very nostalgic feeling.
"Nerisfeene, you might want to thank that old lady."
"Is that so?"
Nerisfeene made a face as if she didn't understand well.
"I was able to dispel curses because of that old lady. If that person hadn't cooperated, I wouldn't have been able to dispel them this well."
"Well, that is so!"
"I should thank her again too. My current life and various supports are definitely due to the power of Curse Dispelling."
Although he could dispel the curse on the Talisman, he accumulated experience with various cursed items afterwards and honed his skills.
He learned that there are curses too powerful for him to handle alone, and by accumulating experience, he became able to dispel curses even stronger than that.
The cooperation of that old appraisal shop lady was indispensable for such growth.
Mostly, the old lady might not have thought she cooperated at all.
She was just being swung around by Mika's whims.
"Then I should say thanks too."
Yes, Kistil said with a smile.
"Ahahaha, then she will definitely be surprised, that old lady."
She is a person with a somewhat blunt side, but she is a very good person.
If the three of them suddenly went to thank her, she would surely be embarrassed and act tsundere.
The three of them laughed while having such a trivial conversation.
It was a happy family gathering time for Mika that could not be replaced by anything.