Episode 948

Episode 948

Lee Han quickly gave up.

Thinking about it, he’d been far too careless in front of someone like Yoanen.

‘Damn. Imitating Gainando is even harder than the Skull Headmaster.’

It turned out that mimicking Gainando was actually harder than mimicking the headmaster.

Having given up, Lee Han pointed at Yoanen’s amethyst glasses and asked,

“Did you confirm my identity with those?”

“No. Lord Wardanaz’s mana causes so much interference that it’s not easy to check with the glasses.”

“…Then how?”

“Logical deduction.”

Yoner’s sister shrugged her shoulders.

A mage obsessed only with magic was always liable to miss important details.

There weren’t many intelligent people who hung around Yoner. Of those, Wardanaz was the only one close enough to borrow Gainando’s name.

“Lord Wardanaz, you should remember this as well.”

“Thank you. I’ll remember what I learned today.”

The two gave up and obediently dropped their disguises. Suddenly sensing something amiss, Lee Han asked a question.

“But… what brings Ms. Meikin here…?”

He realized that this was Prince Bogajun’s atelier, not Yoanen’s. Yoanen had no reason to be here.

Yoanen and the other alchemists hesitated. Maybe it was his imagination, but some of them seemed to avoid his gaze.

“For alchemical reasons, of course. Isn’t inter-alchemist exchange simply wonderful?”

“Then where are the alchemists from this atelier…”

“Lord Wardanaz. That’s not what’s important right now.”

With an elegance that penniless Einrogard students could never imitate, Yoanen deftly changed the subject.

She did it with such poise that even Lee Han and Yoner didn’t catch on.

“You two brought a Nago Family reagent?”

“…Ah. Yes.”

“You two know Lord Nago?”

“Well… yeah.”

They answered while shifting their eyes.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a lie.

“Is he a new professor?”

“That… might be the case.”

Yoner thought to herself that her friend would surely become a professor at Einrogard someday, so it wasn’t really a lie after all.

Unaware of the wicked thoughts the red-haired mage beside her was having, Lee Han spoke up.

“Do you know Lord Nago as well, Ms. Meikin?”

“How could I not? That rumor is even more prevalent than the stories of all the transports sinking on the way to Granden City. Of course I heard. By the way… would that reagent happen to be flame root?”

‘S-Something’s off. Something really off!’

Unlike Lee Han, Yoner felt a cold chill rake her spine.

Something…

Something was off!

Unfortunately, her friend beside her didn’t seem to sense the danger.

“It is flame root.”

“May I check it for a moment?”

“That’s not a problem.”

Since it wasn’t a difficult request, Lee Han easily took out one flame root.

At other ateliers, they could only show it with a formal appointment, but the students carried one each so they could always show it.

At the uniqueness so unlike regular flame root, the alchemists exclaimed in admiration. Yoanen’s smile deepened.

“Excellent.”

“Indeed. As expected from the Nago Family…”

The alchemists nodded in agreement.

Coincidences never happened just once.

The rumor about the eccentric mage currently spreading around Granden City, and the rumor about the special reagent—these two were bound to be connected.

Sure enough, it was a reagent cultivated by a wizard’s family. The alchemists exchanged triumphant glances.

They’d finally found it!

“Then, Lord Wardanaz, may I ask one more thing?”

“Please do.”

“Why didn’t you bring this flame root to my atelier?”

Yoner’s sister gave the biggest smile she’d shown all day. The alchemists behind her also spoke up, sounding disappointed.

“We’re hurt, Lord Wardanaz. Didn’t you work at our atelier?”

“What misdeed did our atelier commit?”

Lee Han was a bit flustered at the reproachful voices from the alchemists. Glancing over, Yoner was even breaking out in a cold sweat.

‘What’s with her?’

Not expecting his friend to be any help, Lee Han answered.

“I was planning to v—”

“…You weren’t perhaps going to say you were going to visit next, were you? Here are the ateliers that have received visits regarding the Nago Family’s reagent right now, so is there any reason to skip mine along that route?”

Now cold sweat started trickling down Lee Han’s back as well.

It felt almost like the pressure from facing the Mad Clone.

‘I got careless. Even if she’s just Yoner’s sister, she’s at least professor-level. Some say she’s like Professor Verdus, after all.’

Who knew how long she’d been going around collecting all the rumors about the Nago Family at the surrounding alchemy ateliers.

But why even do such a thing?

‘Maybe she doesn’t have anything else to do?’

“I was planning to save the most important place for last and visit after I’d prepared thoroughly.”

“I see. Lord Wardanaz. For a moment, I wondered if someone had spread bad rumors about my atelier. Maybe some nonsense that it wasn’t a good place to sell reagents… just like that.”

Yoner started hiccupping in small spasms, and Lee Han struggled to keep his expression in check.

‘I’d better start sneaking in to check the headcount before visiting any mansion from now on…’

To Lee Han, Yoanen seemed almost wholly convinced.

Honestly, saying you skipped a place on the route to save it for last was not a good excuse. Someone of Yoanen’s caliber would see right through it.

“Lord Wardanaz, let me say this first—I never skimp on good things. Remember when you worked at our atelier before? Did I cut your pay?”

“No.”

“Right?”

When Yoanen smiled gently, Yoner chimed in nervously,

“B-but… reagents are different…”

She hadn’t hesitated to spend gold for great talent, but it was a different story with reagents.

Yoanen wasn’t the kind of alchemist to pay extra gold just because of reputation or rumors.

She would never pay even a bronze more than what she felt was the exact value.

That was Yoanen Meikin.

“Yoner. Of course reagents are different. In the case of reagents, there are so many substitutes.”

Yoanen explained, as if patiently instructing her little sister.

Reagents were not the same as talent.

You could get them anywhere, and they could be replaced, so there was no reason to pay more than necessary.

But if it was truly a good reagent, and especially in limited quantity, the story changed.

Yoanen was someone who paid the exact value—not someone who would underpay a valuable reagent.

“But with a reagent like this, I can pay even more than other ateliers. Now, look.”

As she neatly stacked gold coins on the scale, both their eyes widened.

It was double the price that other ateliers had offered.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this price?”

“This reagent is worth that much. Lord Wardanaz, I pay only what something is worth.”

Lee Han and Yoner exchanged glances and nodded.

There was no need to hesitate at this point. They even worried if this was too much of a loss for Yoanen.

Though she’d get the benefit of monopolizing the needed reagent…

“If anyone offers you more, make sure you let me know.”

Yoanen’s eyes were calm, but there was a steely resolve burning within. Yoner whispered, flustered,

“My sister must really like this reagent. I didn’t expect her to go this far.”

“Is it because Granden City is out of flame root right now?”

Still, even considering that, Yoanen’s reaction felt extraordinary.

Lee Han and Yoner realized that the reagent they made was even better than they had thought.

“Yoner. We just might become Granden City’s top merchant…!”

“M-maybe not that much, but this could really turn into something stable.”

Listening to their conversation with a gentle smile, Yoanen spoke up.

“Then may I ask just one last question?”

“Yes.”

“Who bad-mouthed my atelier?”

With that surprise question, Yoner inhaled sharply.

The way Yoanen stared at her as she asked made it seem like she’d already fingered the culprit.

‘She got us…!’

While Yoner screamed inside, Lee Han sighed and said,

“There’s nothing we can hide from you, Ms. Meikin. Please keep this a secret.”

“Of course.”

“It was Gainando.”

“……”

This time, Yoanen looked completely caught off guard.

Could it really have been Gainando and not her little sister?!

• * *

“Investment wave. Investment wave…”

“How come you get so into the plays at the palace but can’t remember this?”

Salko asked Angrago with a puzzled look.

He’d been all about Stedal when watching plays at the palace, so how come he couldn’t remember this?

“That’s not the same! That time the shock wiped my memory! And I wasn’t paying attention to the investment wave then, just the treasure map!”

Angrago snapped when his painful past was prodded. It was still a sting of betrayal.

Who would have thought Stedal Nago wasn’t real?

The tale of the charming Stedal and the forced study sessions with Lee Han might share a subject, but they were completely different experiences. The latter was no different from studying at Einrogard.

‘What a strange guy.’

Salko thought so as he knocked on the door of an alchemy atelier.

“Anyone there?”

No one answered. There were lights in the window, but no response, so Salko and Angrago exchanged glances.

What the?

“Anyone there? Hey!”

Thump, thump, thump—

When they knocked repeatedly, someone answered from inside.

“S-sorry. I was asleep.”

“In the middle of the day? Did something happen to you…”

“It’s nothing. Some fellow alchemists visited and we had a drink, but I overdid it a bit.”

Salko and Angrago peeked into the atelier.

Several alchemists lay sprawled about, drunk.

“Uh. We’ll come back another time.”

“Yes, sorry. Ugh…”

The alchemist who opened the door looked very hungover and immediately dashed inside.

The two tilted their heads and walked away.

“Do Granden City’s alchemists usually drink during the day?”

“No way. Don’t be ridiculous. Must be a coincidence.”

Thump, thump, thump—

They moved on to the next mansion.

It wasn’t an atelier this time but the house of a merchant interested in alchemy, so it was a likely candidate.

“The master is quite intoxicated. I’m sorry, but please come back later.”

“Huh?”

“Some alchemist friends visited and they had a little party. My apologies.”

“…???”

Everywhere else they went, they found alchemists or merchants drunk, and the two began to feel a little afraid.

Was there some festival going on in Granden City that they didn’t know about?

“I-isn’t this some prank by the Headmaster?”

“…No way! Don’t say such ominous things.”