WIEDERGEBURT Act V: CHapter 32

Kari had successfully brokered a deal with the Merchant’s Guild and Fay had entered the Alchemist Association as a part-time Master Alchemist. Both were done to better forge alliances between Nevaria and the Northern Plains. By introducing a new product that could help increase productivity like the storage rings, they were already helping improve the quality of living, and by having Fay join the Alchemist Association, they could form a close relationship with one of the Six Great Sects of the Northern Plain.

I also planned on having Fay deliver several forgotten recipes to Cathrine Hildre, but that was something we would only do after the Warp Gate established a link between the Nevarian Braves branch office in Midgard and the headquarters in Nevaria. That wouldn’t be able to happen for another month at least.

Commander Ashten had also shown up and brokered a deal with Kari in exchange for the communication devices. Since we already had their cooperation in the matter of finding an S-rank light element Demon Beast, Kari did not worry about the deal too much. In exchange for six hundred thousand valis, she sold the schematics and Rune Array to the Midgard Spiritual Knights.

Of course, she also sold those same schematics to the Paladin Sect and Battling Valkyries for the same price—460,000,000 valis.

We didn’t need the money. At the same time, giving something away for free was not Kari’s style.

About seven days passed after Fay joined the Alchemist Association. The six of us were all sitting down for breakfast. Fay and Kari sat on my left and right respectively. They normally rotated who got to sit next to me, but for the last seven days, these places had belonged to Lin and Siv because my other two wives were busy.

On the other side of our little table was Siv and Lin, and in between them was my son, quietly eating his food as if he was thinking about something. I was a little surprised since my son was often very outspoken. I didn’t know what he was thinking about, but I thought I might have to speak with him later.

“Siv and I are going to visit the dragons today,” I made this announcement while we were all sitting there.

Kari paused in her eating to look at me. She had a plate of steamed eggs in one hand and a fork in the other, but she slowly set them down upon hearing my words.

“Are you sure now’s a good time given how busy we are?” she asked.

“I think now is the best time,” I said. “At present, you are working hard on completing your end of the deal for the Merchant’s Guild and further brokering deals with the Six Great Sects in exchange for the communication devices. Meanwhile, Fay has been going to the Alchemist Association almost every day to exchange notes with their members and further increase her rapport with her peers. Both of you have been working really hard, but I have not done anything.”

Ever since the battle against Dunherr, the most I had done was help with the repairs. I basically had nothing to do now that the repairs were finished. During these last seven days, I had spent all my time with Lin, Siv, and Raul.

I wouldn’t say not doing anything wasn’t sometimes a good thing. Everyone needed a break. However, watching my wives work so hard while I did nothing was not my style and left me feeling restless. Furthermore, I understood that while the world might seem calm right now, that could easily change. The Sekbeist were still a threat. And I could not know peace while the Great Overlord of the Seventh Plain was still alive.

Kari did not say anything to contradict me, but instead accepted my explanation with a nod. I think she understood how I felt.

“Lin,” I said to the lamia.

“Yes, Darling?”

“Because the rest of us are going to be so busy, I’d like you to look after Raul,” I said.

Lin thumped a hand against her chest. “You can count on this princess.”

“Daddy leaving?” asked Raul with wide eyes.

“Only for a day,” I said. “Daddy and Sissy have something important to take care of. Make sure you’re good and listen to everything Aunty Lin says. If you are, daddy might have a present for you when we get back.”

Raul looked like he was debating with himself. The way he scrunched up his nose was kind of cute, but I hoped he wasn’t going to throw a fit. I’d dealt with his tantrums a couple of times now. It was not something I could say I enjoyed, especially when his Spiritual Powers run amok.

“Raul be good. And Daddy come back. Give Raul present,” Raul said in a very serious tone of voice.

I could only give a wry smile as I wondered who he got that deviousness from. Had he known I would give him a present for being good? It sounded like he was expecting this.

“What are you two doing today?” I asked Kari and Fay.

“I’m going to the Alchemist Association again,” Fay said. “I promised Sana and Lilac that I would help them with their alchemy.”

Sana and Lilac were a pair of girls who had taken a liking to Fay and began following her around at the Alchemist Association. I had yet to meet them. According to Fay, both of them had an interest in meeting the “man who had stolen my big sister,” but Fay had told them she would stop speaking to them if they bothered me. It appeared the threat was quite effective since I hadn’t seen either of them.

“I don’t know if Siv and I will be back in time for dinner today, but why don’t you invite those two over tomorrow?” I suggested.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” asked Fay. She sounded hesitant. “I don’t think they are bad girls, but they are very… attached to me, and they don’t seem to like you despite having never met you.”

“Isn’t that all the more reason to meet them?” I asked. “I don’t want a pair of girls hating me for no reason.”

“I think what Fay is most worried about is those two falling in love with you after meeting you,” Kari chimed in.

“Huh?” I made a confused noise.

Fay nodded. “You probably don’t realize your own charm, but if you were left to your own devices, I am certain most of the women you meet would fall for you.”

“Uh…”

“We have been very careful to limit how much you interact with other women,” Kari added. “Have you not noticed that we didn’t let Erica, Karen, or Janet train with you? That wasn’t because we were worried you would hurt them. It was because we knew the chances of them falling in love with you were high.”

“I don’t think that’s something you need to worry about,” I muttered, though it was clear no one was listening to me.

“Even though we’ve done that, Karen still ended up falling for Darling,” Lin could not help add as she thumped her tail against the stone floor. “Have you two seen the way she looks at Darling when she thinks no one is looking. This princess is certain she was hoping to gain his affection by offering to help us manage this large building until we can hire servants.”

“Isn’t that just a small crush?” I asked. “She only thinks she likes me because I saved her life. What was it called? The suspension bridge effect?”

It was a term that had seen in an old book that I had read in the Nadine Library many years ago. In the story, a young man and woman had crossed a rickety suspension bridge that was falling apart. They needed to get across for different reasons, and since neither wanted to go alone, they went together. The pair almost died, and the fear of death had caused their hearts to pound. This had somehow caused the two to fall in love. After crossing the bridge, the pair went on to complete their quests together and got married after they finished.

I remembered debating over this particular book with Kari once in my past life. My belief was that when these two experienced a psychological response related to their fear of dying, they mislabeled that response as romantic arousal for each other. They weren’t actually in love at the time but fell in love later on after agreeing to help each other complete their quests. Kari had a different opinion and argued that they fell in love while crossing the bridge.

“You can’t equate real life to those books we used to read,” Kari said with an amused smile, able to perfectly understand what I was thinking about. “It is true that she may have fallen for you because of what happened, but I don’t think it’s appropriate to demean her feelings by saying they aren’t real. Maybe they aren’t strong feelings, but they are still there, and whether you accept them or not, you should at least respect them.”

The other three women nodded at Kari’s words. Even Siv was nodding at them, which made me wonder if women had some kind of connection that made them understand the feelings of other women intuitively. It made me realize how differently men and women were from both a psychological and emotional standpoint.

“Daddy? What is the shushpenshun bwidge effect?” asked Raul. He seemed to have trouble pronouncing “suspension bridge,” but the four women in our company swooned at how he said it.

“I’ll tell you when you’re older, Raul,” I said with a sigh.

***

Eryk left with Siv after breakfast, Kari went off to speak with the Merchant’s Guild, and Lin was taking care of Raul that day. With everyone already doing something, Fay headed off for the Alchemist Association.

Well, she tried to.

“Mommy leaving too?”

Fay looked at her miserable three year old son. She knew this was hard for him. Ever since his birth, she and Eryk had never left him for long. During their trip through the Endless Desert, Fay had not been away from Raul’s side even once, and Eryk only left a few times near the beginning of their journey to deal with the Malik Family. Once the situation had stabilized, they had simply continued their travels together and crossed the Endless Desert without incident.

Folding her golden alchemist robes as she knelt down, Fay placed a hand on Raul’s head and began tenderly stroking his hair, so much like her own. She looked into the eyes that were a combination of hers and Eryk’s. As always when she stared at her son, Fay could not stop herself from feeling an incredible burst of love within her breast. This was her son. Even if his birth had been a complete accident, he was the culmination of hers and Eryk’s love for each other.

“I will be leaving for now, but I’ll be back later this evening,” Fay said in a soft and gentle voice. “Don’t worry. Aunty Lin is going to take care of you. Make sure you are good for her, okay?”

It was the exact same conversation Eryk had with Raul just a few seconds ago, but now Fay was the one having it.

“Raul will be good for Aunty Lin,” Raul said, nodding his head, but even though he said that, tears were welling up in his eyes.

Uh-oh.

“You had better go now, or he’s gonna start crying,” Lin said with a serious look on her face.

“Right.”

Fay leaned forward and kissed Raul’s forehead, then stood up and left. Almost before she had taken several steps, Raul began calling her name and crying. She didn’t need to turn around to know he was being restrained by Lin. She also didn’t turn because she knew her resolve would crumble if she saw her son crying.

Even though this had already happened seven times since she joined the Alchemist Association, leaving her son didn’t get any easier. She wondered if it would ever get easier. Fay didn’t think so.

Because the Alchemist Association was pretty far from here, Fay decided not to walk and used the Flash Step to arrive at the entrance within five minutes of leaving her home. She startled several other alchemists who were coming and going. However, the moment they opened their mouths to yell at her, they noticed the gold trim of her robes.

“Ah! It’s Lady Fay! Lady Fay is here!”

“She’s so beautiful! I can’t help but admire her.”

“She’s like a hundred heartspring blossoms blooming in the middle of an arid landscape.”

“It’s Big Sister Fay! Big Sister Fay is here!”

“I wish I could be like her!”

Fay wanted to blush at the words everyone was speaking. Actually, she wanted to head back home and hide her head under the covers. Did these people even hear themselves? How could they say something so embarrassing in public?! The only reason Fay did not turn around and Flash Step away was because she really did have an important responsibility.

Eryk was counting on her to build a strong rapport with the people here. He said the Northern Plains needed more talented alchemists, and that if possible, she should draw some in who could begin working for the Nevarian Braves as a member of their own personal alchemy squad.

Walking through the Alchemist Association, Fay rushed up to the thirtieth level, which contained several personal refining rooms. All the doors on this floor had golden plaques with a name on them. She walked across the black marble tile, ignoring the delicate curve of the donut-shaped hallway, and eventually reached the door with a plaque that had her name on it.

All Master Alchemists, also known as Gold Alchemists, had their own refining room. This room contained anything and everything an alchemist could ever want. The advanced alchemy set was the best money could buy, the room was about one hundred cubic meters, and there was even an area where Fay could grow her own alchemy ingredients.

“Ah! Big Sister Fay! Hello!”

Upon entering her room, she found two people already waiting for her. Sana and Lilac were sort of like her apprentices now. She never called them that and instead said they were her assistants, but she was helping them with their alchemy, teaching them what she knew, and watching them refine pills to point out when they made a mistake. They were basically apprentices.

She was a little embarrassed by the thought since she had told them previously that she wasn’t going to accept them as apprentices.

“You two are early,” Fay said as she locked the door and walked over to the refining table.

“I wanted to come early to surprise you!” Lilac thrust out her chest, looking quite proud, though the expression left seconds later as she glared at the albino next to her. “I also couldn’t let this pasty albino beat me here.”

“You only say that because you are insecure of your position,” Sana said in a cold voice. “You know that if you didn’t try your hardest, Fay would stop teaching you and work exclusively with me because she knows I’m better than you are.”

“That isn’t true at all! I’m way better than you!”

Fay took a deep breath as the pair began to argue. She had tried for the last seven days to make these two stop, but that was like a Spiritualist with the fire element who hadn’t even reached the First State of Spiritualism trying to build a dam in the middle of a flood using the earth element. Impossible did not begin to cover it.

“You two,” Fay mumbled. “Do you want to learn from me or not?”

“Ah! Of course we want to learn from you, Big Sister,” Lilac said.

“Then how can you expect to learn from me if you keep arguing with each other?” asked Fay.

“We promise not to argue anymore,” Sana said, then added, “For now.”

“I suppose that is the best compromise I can expect,” Fay muttered.

Since her task right now was cultivating this pair of talented young alchemists, Fay had them begin by refining pills of her choosing. Each day, Fay would ask them to refine a different pill. The previous day, that pill was the Body Forging Pill, but today she wanted them to refine the Three Way Spiritual Widening Pill.

The Three Way Spiritual Widening Pill was one of the most used pills on the market. It helped heal the Spiritual Pathways after a Spiritualist overexerted themself and could also be used to recover after strenuous spiritual exercises. It was a great training aid that healed and widened the Spiritual Pathways. This pill was also the reason the Northern Plains had more Spiritualists who had reached the Second State of Spiritualism than Nevaria.

The first step for refining this pill was adding nirnroot shavings into a 500 mL flask of water and bringing it to a boil. When the nirnroot coagulated into the water, it would become a light green color. During the time the nirnroot was mixing with the water, the alchemist needed to grind purple grass and kalt root using the pestle and mortar, then add it into the 500 mL flask after thoroughly stirring the nirnroot into the water so none of it remained.

“Be careful not to stir too fast,” Fay admonished Lilac. “If you stir too quickly, the ingredients won’t mix properly.”

“Ah. Yes, Big Sister. I’ll be more careful.”

The moment she chastised Lilac for trying to finish quickly, the girl in question slowed down her stirring pace. Beside her, Sana began snickering.

“What are you laughing at?!”

“You. Obviously.”

Before the two girls could begin bickering again, Fay frowned at Sana. “Make sure you don’t stir too slowly, Sana. That could result in the ingredients losing their potency.”

“S-sorry, Master Fay. I’ll be more careful,” Sana said, the startling shade of red impossibly vibrant on her pale face.

“Now who deserves to be laughed at?” Lilac asked with a snicker. Sana didn’t say anything, but her glare spoke volumes.

Sana and Lilac were using their own alchemy sets. Both were advanced alchemy sets that had been provided by their families, and they were almost as good as the one Fay had been given. They weren’t quite as good, however, as the one Fay had was something that Cathrine herself had provided for her. Saying that, their alchemy sets were a lot better than Fay’s personal set that she and Eryk had been using during their travels.

She continued to watch the two girls and make sure they didn’t make any mistakes. However, there was no need for her to worry. Both Lilac and Sana were very talented when it came to alchemy and learned any lesson she imparted after being taught just once. They had already learned to refine several beginner-tier pills. Fay believed that both of them would soon be able to get started on refining mid-tier pills if they kept at their current pace.

Just as the girls finished mixing the liquid that they would refine into pills, someone knocked on the door. Lilac and Sana frowned at the interruption. Fay just smiled and made a gesture.

“Keep refining the pills,” she said. “I’ll see who it is.”

“Okay, Big Sister,” the two said at the same time.

Fay wandered up to the door and opened it. She frowned upon seeing the man standing on the other side.

If she were to judge this man based purely on unbiased opinions, he was just as pretty as Eryk, with soft white skin, long black hair, and pale blue eyes. He looked feminine and scholarly. Dressed in his alchemist robes with gold trim, he exuded the kind of intellectual aura that Fay felt certain many women would fall for. Even the soft smile on his face made him seem amiable and gentle.

In her purely biased opinion, this man could never beat Eryk whether it was in looks, temperament, or personality.

Of course, this was not their first time meeting.

“Rohan.” Fay tried really hard not to frown, but she didn’t know if she succeeded. “Can I help you with something?”

His name was Rohan Incelflors. He was a member of the Incelflors Family, who were listed as one of the four great alchemist families of Midgard. Every member of their family was an outstanding alchemist, and he was the most outstanding of those outstanding alchemists, having become a Master Alchemist at the tender age of 25. Incredibly gifted. Intractably handsome. And he knew it. That was what made him so much worse than other people.

Rohan smiled at her. It was the same gentle and tender smile he always wore, but there seemed to be an extra amount of rosiness to it, like he was doing his best to make himself as appealing to her as possible. Even Fay could not fail to recognize what he was attempting to do.

“I just came down from refining some pills and was about to get something to eat,” Rohan said. “I would be honored if you could accompany me.”

Fay resisted the urge to sigh. It was an incredibly strong urge right now.

For the past seven days, this man had been coming onto her like this. Every day, he would ask her if she wanted to eat with him, or he would find her when she was having lunch in the Alchemist Association’s personal dining hall. He was actually the reason she had stopped eating in the dining hall and now ate all her meals in this room of hers. Well, him and one other person.

“I am sorry, but I am not interested in eating with you,” Fay said for what felt like the upteenth time.

A crack appeared in Rohan’s facade, but it only lasted for a moment before he mended it. That moment was enough for Fay. She had already taken a measure of this man, and while he appeared gentle on the outside, she could tell he was not like that at all on the inside. Of course, even if he really was as gentle as he appeared, she would not be interested.

“Is it because of your husband?” asked Rohan, his question mild but probing.

“That is part of it,” Fay allowed. Rohan smiled and opened his mouth, but she continued. “However, the bigger reason is that I’m just not interested in you.”

Rohan closed his mouth, his expression becoming cold. Fay was afraid of this. She knew he would not respond well to being told she was not interested in him.

While Fay loved competing and testing her physical strength against other strong Spiritualists, she did not enjoy confrontation. She never had. That was part of the reason Grant Leucht had been able to kidnap her. She had hesitated to simply take him out when she had the chance.

She really did have to thank Grant Leucht. It was thanks to him that Fay had gained the strength to confront people when they were being belligerent.

Rohan continued to smile, and while it still seemed gentle, shadows had been cast underneath his eyes. “Do you mind if I ask why you are not interested in me?”

“Do I need a reason to not be interested in someone?” asked Fay, shrugging like his question didn’t even deserve an answer. “I know you are interested in me romantically, but I am very much in love with my husband and have no real interest in interacting with other men.”

This was not strictly true since she had interacted with plenty of men back in Nevaria. Every member of the Nevarian Braves had their butts kicked into shape by her, Eryk, Kari, and Lin. She had gotten to know those men pretty well. However, none of them expressed an interest in her. They all knew she was Eryk’s woman and never tried to make any moves on her. Furthermore, they respected her.

She never felt that respect from this man. All he wanted was to possess her. He simply saw her as a plaything, a prize to be won, a trophy to be shown off.

“I see. It seems I am bothering you. My apologies. Have a good day, Fay.”

Fay almost couldn’t stop herself from grimacing when she saw the darkness on Rohan’s face and eyes. It was an ugliness that his pretty face couldn’t hide.

She closed the door as he left, then turned around and walked back over to Lilac and Sana. Both of them had finished refining their pills. They had used the mass refining process she had taught them, so each cauldron was filled with around 20 pills. There should have been 40 at least, but it looked like they couldn’t quite control their Spiritual Power enough for that yet.

“Is the jerk gone?” asked Lilac.

“He just left,” Fay said with a sigh.

“Are you okay, Big Sister?” asked Sana, concern in her voice and eyes.

Fay smiled. “I’m fine. Let me check your pills.”

She went over to their respective cauldrons and grabbed one of their alchemy pills. They were blue and maybe a little bigger than they should be, but they would get better at refining these with repetition and time. As she looked at Lilac’s pill, Fay found herself frowning. She turned her head to stare at Lilac, who suddenly found an intense interest in the latticework on the ceiling.

“Your pills are lumpy. You cut corners again.”

“T-that is true,” Lilac admitted before trying to justify yourself. “B-but I managed to finish refining mine before Sana. That has to count for something, right?”

“Between your pills and Sana’s pills, which do you think a Spiritualist is more likely to buy?”

“…”

Sana raised her hand and gave the victory sign. “This victory is mine.”

Lilac growled. “Shut up, Sana! I’ll do better than you next time! Just you watch!”

***

Rohan was not quite able to keep his mask in place as he stormed down the hall. He had never felt so humiliated in his entire life! How dare that woman reject him! Did she not realize what an honor it was to receive an invitation from him?! Thousands of women fell at his feet, he could have his pick of an entire generation of gorgeous dolls, but he had chosen her out of all of them! She did not have the right to refuse him!

“Rejected again?” an amused voice asked.

Rohan’s scowl became intense as he whirled around. “Gin! Hmph! I see you were watching me. Coward. You always just lurk in the corners and never go up and speak to Fay yourself.”

Gin was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed and his posture lazy. He looked like he didn’t have a care in the world.

“Because I am perfectly aware of how any conversation with her would end. All I have to do is look at you.” Gin’s chuckling caused blood to rush to Rohan’s face, but he didn’t get a chance to speak before the man continued. “I have a more subtle method of bringing Fay to me.”

“Hmph. I’d like to see what method you use,” Rohan grunted before turning around and stalking off. “You won’t be any luckier than me.”

“We’ll see about that,” Gin said in a singsong force.

However, Rohan was no longer paying attention. He was already making plans to acquire Fay, no matter the cost. If she wanted to deny him, then he would just have to use force.