Chapter : 165

“Ah…!”

Pop! With a sound, the potion that was about to glow golden turned pitch black, as if it were a complete failure.

He had only failed to recall one crucial ingredient, but he had managed to create the All-Purpose Soothing Agent, so he had hoped it would be completed soon.

However, after repeated failures, he was now left with only enough reagent—the Golden Elixir—for one last attempt.

“……”

This was the last chance.

Lerwon stared at the failed creations he had made over the past four days and sank into a chair.

Theo, Lerwon’s biggest investor, had believed he could do it.

He himself, though he hated his mother enough to want to kill her, had not thought he would fail, having learned under her.

And yet, he had failed.

“Is the Golden Elixir truly in the realm of the gods?”

Is it something humans cannot create?

If he failed this time as well… he would have no choice but to wait for another time when Theo might obtain the Golden Elixir.

And by then….

“My business with my mother will be over.”

His long-held intuition whispered.

The day to finally put an end to all the ill-fated ties with his mother was not far off.

And that intuition whispered something else.

To part with his mother without losing anything, the Golden Elixir was absolutely necessary.

“Let’s be careful.”

There must be something he was missing.

Lerwon slowly read the recipe for the All-Purpose Soothing Agent that he had been constantly referring to.

He had been trying to adjust the timing of adding the reagent to this recipe.

“…What if that wasn’t the right answer?”

What if the effects of the All-Purpose Soothing Agent and the Golden Elixir clashed, causing it to turn black and fail?

There was no way that aiming for soothing and aiming for perfection could be the same.

If he was aiming for the Golden Elixir, referring to the recipe for the All-Purpose Soothing Agent was the wrong answer.

He had to solve this difficult problem from the beginning.

But strangely, he didn’t feel like he couldn’t solve it.

He had analyzed the reagent dozens of times, and the results were practically engraved in his mind.

And Lerwon could solve this problem paper that he had received again.

* * *

The caretaker of Lisitoel’s villa stared at the door in front of him with an anxious heart.

The young master’s guest, who was cooped up in his room, had not come out for days, skipping meals.

The only proof that he was still alright was the occasional neatly placed note outside the door, and the fact that the ingredients listed on the note would disappear without a trace when left in front of the door.

“Should we just open the door?”

At the maid’s question, the caretaker shook his head.

“The young master ordered us not to open it before his friend did.”

The caretaker, who had personally procured the ingredients, knew that the ingredients requested by the guest were mainly used in alchemy.

He had heard that some potions were so sensitive that even a handful of air getting in before completion could easily change them, so he understood the young master’s request.

He had occasionally slipped in some bread with the ingredients, but he couldn’t tell if it had been eaten or not.

It was then. A bizarre laugh, the likes of which he had never heard before, came from inside the room.

“Ahahahahahaha!!!!!”

At the sound from beyond the door, the maid was momentarily terrified, as if she had seen a ghost.

“W-what was that?! Shouldn’t we really go in?”

“You’re right. Should we?”

Even the caretaker, who had been trying his best to remain calm, was flustered and was debating whether to open the door when it burst open.

Lerwon, looking paler than an undead, laughed and then collapsed.

“S-sir!”

“Should I call a doctor?”

While the caretaker was panicking, the maid who had cautiously approached Lerwon let out a sigh of relief.

“He’s sleeping.”

“Really?”

“Yes, let’s take him to bed first, and when he wakes up, we should make sure he eats.”

At the maid’s words, the caretaker nodded in agreement.

With the maid’s help, the caretaker carried Lerwon on his back, and the maid, without a moment to look inside, firmly closed the door and hurried off to help the struggling caretaker.

That is why neither the caretaker nor the maid knew.

That inside that room, an elixir, shimmering with a golden hue just like its name, had been completed, scattering a brilliant light.

* * *

Lerwon, who had woken up from a long, deep sleep, ate the food prepared by the maid and immediately went to find his biggest sponsor.

“The young master was invited to His Majesty the Emperor’s party and is in the capital.”

At the maid’s explanation, Lerwon slowly put down the spoon he had been elegantly but quickly using.

If he had been invited to the Emperor’s party, there would have been no room to refuse.

Still, couldn’t he have said something before he left?

Then again, if he had heard that Theo was leaving for the capital where Iris Viden was, with the elixir still incomplete, he would have been anxious.

“He said he will be preparing for the new semester in the capital after the party today. Will you be going up to the capital as well, sir?”

At the maid’s question, Lerwon stared blankly at the smiling maid.

“……”

The young Lerwon was not a particularly sensitive person. In fact, he was rather dull.

But after being adopted by Iris Viden and going through countless things, he had become quite sensitive.

Especially when it came to matters related to Iris Viden.

“……”

He felt a sense of unease.

“It’s fine.”

Lerwon knew Iris.

The mother he knew would not do anything to Theo, who had been invited to a party by the Emperor.

If that were to be revealed, Golden would be insulting the Emperor.

Iris Viden was a person who cherished the Golden she had built more than anything, so she would not do something so reckless.

“Could you tell Theo that I will just prepare for the new semester here and go up on the first day of school?”

The anxiety he was feeling now was probably just a kind of nervous breakdown from not sleeping properly and being engrossed in research for several days.

After finishing his meal, Lerwon immediately stood up.

“Thank you for your help.”

The completed potion was a perfect golden color, just like in the old legends, but he had not yet confirmed its effects.

He was sure he had completed it perfectly, but he was an alchemist after all.

There was no harm in checking twice, or three times.

“Let me know if any problems arise.”

Leaving a quiet word for the maid, Lerwon headed back to his temporary laboratory.

It seemed he would have to keep himself busy to forget the anxiety that he had not yet completely erased.

* * *

“Ha, damn it.”

Lilia, who had been planning to stay at the villa until the end of the vacation, swore as soon as she saw the note that had arrived for her teacher.

“Is this for real.”

The content of the note itself was not very long.

Theo Lisitoel is missing.

This fact must be kept from Lerwon.

Place a prohibition on it.

“Damn you, teacher.”

It was Beatrice who had taught Lilia magic other than her magical girl magic.

Besides being a professor and student at the academy, Lilia personally served Beatrice as her magic teacher.

Even if the relationship between a teacher and a student was an absolute one that could not be defied among mages, to tell her to place a prohibition.

“Does she think everyone is a genius like her.”

Of course, she had learned the magic to place a prohibition to prevent someone from speaking easily, but it was so difficult to use.

Her teacher abused the prohibition to hide things like the content of a midterm exam, so she seemed to think that the magic to place a prohibition was easy.

“This is why I hate geniuses.”

Speaking of geniuses, she thought of Theo Lisitoel, who was said to be missing.

Laurel, Lilia, and Lucian, who were ignorant of magic, and even Zephyros and Lerwon, who knew a little but not in depth, would not know what a monstrous talent Theo Lisitoel possessed.

Movement magic was one of the few magics that even Lilia, who had started learning magic as she learned to walk, had not yet mastered.

Theo himself had spouted, ‘Splitting space? I just tried it and it worked,’ but most mages just give up.

Splitting space, how on earth are you supposed to do that? There’s no way space can be split so easily!

But for a first-year to succeed, she didn’t know whether to say that Evan who taught him was amazing or to be horrified by Theo’s talent.

And Lilia had been praised by Beatrice for having a talent for magic.

“It says missing, but it’s probably a kidnapping.”

The culprit must be… Iris Viden.

That woman made it her virtue to break shining things.

Iris probably knew that her time was not long.

Theo Lisitoel was Evan Lisitoel’s only son, and the academy professors, including Evan, would be on the hunt.

“At most, three or four days?”

But she could say with certainty that Iris could break a person in that short amount of time.

Because Iris Viden was the person in the Lapileon Empire who knew best how to break a person.

“Phew.”

Theo Lisitoel was certainly a person who got caught up in incidents and accidents.

Lilia just hoped that Laurel and Cecilia would keep a moderate distance from Theo.

Just as Theo was important to Lerwon, what was important to Lilia was Cecilia and Laurel.

The note sent by Beatrice burst into flames in Lilia’s hand.

The fiercely burning letter quickly turned to ash, and Lilia opened the door wide and scattered the ashes out the window.

“Well then, let’s go to work now.”

Before the maids who had heard the news in the capital started blabbering in front of Lerwon.

“…My teacher is really rough in how she handles people.”

Lilia grumbled and left.

* * *

Lerwon, who had been watching the ashes scatter outside the window, created a wind and gathered them together.

He then poured mana into the small pile of ashes in his palm.

The purpose of the magic was 「Restoration」.

It was a magic that was said to be better for merchants to learn as early as possible.

Being able to restore a confidential document that a competitor had burned or erased meant that one could gain a considerable advantage.

However, restoration magic was not perfect.

If one was not skilled at restoration magic, only a part might be restored, or in severe cases, it could be restored in the wrong direction.

But Lerwon was skilled enough to be ranked in the top ten in the Empire when it came to restoration magic alone.

Lerwon slowly read the note, which had been perfectly restored without a single trace of being burned.

Theo Lisitoel is missing.

This fact must be kept from Lerwon.

Place a prohibition on it.

“……”

At the words clearly written on the restored note, Lerwon’s complexion froze in an instant.

The surging anxiety instantly took the form of Iris Viden.

“…Theo.”

He was missing.

The kidnapper was surely Iris Viden, his mother.

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