WIEDERGEBURT Chapter 15

I was facing a crisis. It wasn’t a life or death crisis… at least, it wasn’t yet, but it was still a serious problem.

Fay was at the Spiritualist Academy, so she didn’t train with me that morning.

The evening sun sprinkled into the library as I sat behind the counter and lamented my situation. I was all out of Three Way Spiritual Widening Pills and Body Forging Pills, and I didn’t have the money to buy more ingredients.

This was a problem that I knew would come eventually. I’d been trying to think of ways I could earn more money. My first thought had obviously been to sell another Spiritual Technique to the Spiritualist Academy, but I discarded that thought quick. Going there once to sell a Spiritual Technique Scroll I happened to find in my “family’s possession” could be written off as me just being lucky. Going there twice would raise suspicion.

It wasn’t that I didn’t trust the academy, but I also didn’t know them. Furthermore, I didn’t know which potentially dangerous elements were attending there. Grant Leucht was one such element. He was even in Kari’s class. The Leucht Family was something I needed to avoid at all costs until I was strong enough. If possible, I would like to avoid meeting him and anyone else from one of the Three Heavenly Families.

Also, I didn’t think I could stop myself from killing him if we met right now.

There was also the fact that several people from the Spiritualist Academy had been watching me. It wasn’t anything serious. I sensed no ill intent and the people stopped once they realized I lived in a squalor. Still, I’d prefer it if I didn’t have to deal with people I wasn’t sure I could trust.

I could always try to fight in the underground arena. There was an underground fighting arena where many people bet money on fighters. If I signed on as a fighter, I could make a good deal of money. The problem was the underground arena was also owned and operated by one of the Three Heavenly Families, the Kriger Family, I believed. If I went there and defeated everyone opponent, they might take notice of me.

While I was trying to think of a way I could earn some money, the door opened. I ignored it. There were already several people inside. More importantly, I needed to think of some way I could turn this situation around. Without those medicinal pills, I would be in a lot trouble. My training speed would be cut by at least a three-fourths!

“Eryk…”

At the sound of the soft, despondent, but very familiar voice, I looked up.

Kari stood before the counter. Her eyes were a little red and puffy. Her shoulders were slumped as though a great weight was pushing them down. I stared at her trembling lips for a moment, and then met her blue eyes.

“Come on,” I said as I stood up and walked around the counter. I gestured for her to follow me and went over to the stairs. Countless eyes trailed after us, but I was used to that by this point.

“What do you think is going on?”

“Princess Kari looks depressed. Did something happen?”

“I don’t know, but it looks like she’s coming to that damn pretty boy for help!”

“Damn all pretty boys!”

Like me, Kari also ignored the peanut gallery and followed me up the stairs and to a table, where we sat down. The almost boneless slump that was the complete opposite of Kari’s normally upright posture told me about her emotional state more than words ever could.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“I…” Kari stopped talking, sniffed, and began again. “I used to be really good friends with this girl in my class. We would always play together when we were younger, but something happened and she eventually distanced herself from me. I’ve kept trying to bridge the gap that separated us. However… nothing I’ve done is working.”

Her words made me flinch, and not just because I felt for her. This was a side of Kari I’d never seen before. It was a new side. However, this new side made me feel helpless.

I was positive that the problem was that back then, back in my previous life, I had been too blind to see the trouble that she had been going through. Then when Nevaria was destroyed, most of those troubles were replaced by new problems we needed to confront together. The situation now was probably a situation she’d had in my previous life, and I had likely just never noticed it.

“I’m assuming something happened today,” I said, urging her to continue.

Kari nodded. “I learned today that my friend recently began training with someone. I’ll admit, I was a little jealous of whoever is training with her. I think that’s why I asked her if she’d let me join them.”

“I’m assuming she said no,” I deduced.

“Yes… she said it wouldn’t be a good idea for us to train together because of my social status…”

Kari had never looked more miserable than she did right now. Of course, this misery she felt was that of a young girl dealing with the problems of a young girl. If I were to compare her to the woman I knew from before, these problems weren’t a big deal, but at the same time, I didn’t make light of her current plight. This wasn’t a life or death situation. However, it was still something that affected her happiness.

While she spoke, Kari had placed her hands in her lap, her fingers tightly clenched as she gripped the fabric of her soft blue gown. I hesitated for a moment. Then I reached out and placed my hand over one of hers. Kari’s eyes grew wide and round as she jerked her head toward me.

“I do not think there is anything I can do about your friend,” I admitted. “That said, I will never treat you any differently because of who your mother is. I don’t care if you’re the Princess of Nevaria. To me, you will always be Kari.”

Kari’s lips trembled, moisture gathered in her wide blue eyes, and her porcelain cheeks became dusted with a light shade of pink. Many emotions flitted across her face. The one it settled on, however, was gratitude.

“Thank you.” She turned her hand, the one I had placed my hand on top of, over and slowly curled her fingers around my hand. “That means a lot to me.”

“You’re welcome,” I said. “Come to me any time you have a problem you wish to share. I will always be here to lend you my ear.”

Her smile brightened a little more.

We talked for several more hours, but the conversation was not heavy like our previous topic. Kari would not realize she was still holding my hand for several more hours.

***

Something was wrong with Fay as well. The girl normally responded enthusiastically to training, pushing herself hard to keep pace with me, but not that morning. She seemed listless. Her body was sluggish. Not only was she not acting like she normally did, but she didn’t seem to hear a word I said. I’d call her name several times, and all she would do was respond with grunts.

Finally, I couldn’t take it.

“What is up with you today?” I asked, placing my hand on her forehead.

That got a response.

“W-what are you doing?!” Fay asked, jerking her head away from me and stumbling several steps backward.

“I’m checking your temperature, obviously.” I rolled my eyes. “You’re barely paying any attention to what you are doing and you haven’t responded to a word I’ve said. You know, if you’re sick, you don’t have to come here to train. In fact, training while you’re sick is quite possibly the worst thing a person can do.”

Fay’s cheeks looked like someone had lit a bonfire on them. “I-I am too paying attention!”

I gave her a hard look. “Fay, you tripped over a root while running the obstacle course and face planted on the ground. After which, I had to haul you to your feet and drag you back here.”

“Y-you did?” Fay asked. “When did this happen?”

As she spoke in a startled tone, Fay reached up and rubbed her face as though checking to see if there was dirt on it. I sighed.

“I already cleaned your face off,” I said. “The fact that you didn’t even realize it is merely another point in my favor.” As the woman blushed all the way to the tips of her ears, I gave her a concerned look. “Seriously, though. Are you okay? I’ve never seen someone spacing out so badly before.”

“I’m fine.” Fay looked away. “I’m just dealing with some problems.”

“Like what?”

“Just personal issues.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose, wondering whether I should push the issue or not. Her issues, whatever they were, were currently affecting her training. If this continued, her training would stall. That would subsequently make my training stall as I tried to care for her. It was better to nip this problem in the bud now than deal with it later.

At the same time, if these were personal problems, it wasn’t necessarily something I should meddle in. I wouldn’t want someone meddling in my affairs. I also realized that there was a chance telling me about her problem wouldn’t help. I could help her train, but that was all. There were many things I couldn’t do for her.

“If you don’t want to tell me, then that’s fine,” I said. “But perhaps we should stop for today. It doesn’t look like our training is going to go anywhere.”

Fay looked like she wanted to argue with me, and in fact, her mouth was halfway open as though she was prepared to do just that. Then she paused. Her mouth slowly closed as her brow furrowed. I could see the thoughts going through her head before, with a gentle sigh, she conceded.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized.

“It’s okay.” I grabbed the bag of Three Way Widening Pills that Fay had brought and handed them to her. “I get that these things happen. Just do what you can to fix the problem soon. We can begin training again once you are in the right state of mind.”

Fay nodded as the two of us began walking back to Nevaria. I grew silent as we did, my thoughts turning to my own personal dilemma. Money. I needed money to buy more ingredients for my alchemy, but I was still running at a dead end. The harder I thought, the less ideas I had. It felt like I was running around in circles!

“I know I’ve said this before, but these pills of yours really are incredible,” Fay said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“Thank you,” I replied almost absently.

“You’d probably make a lot of money if you sold these,” she added, speaking with the sort of absent-mindedness of someone who was saying this almost as though it were an afterthought.

I stopped walking. Fay continued on for a bit longer before she realized I wasn’t walking beside her. After which, she stopped walking and turned around as well.

“Eryk?” she questioned as I stared at her.

“You are a genius,” I said, walking up to the girl. I could feel the smile stretching across my lips as I reached Fay and pulled her into a fierce hug. In any other occasion, I would have never hugged this girl, and I even recognized that what I was doing wasn’t appropriate, but I was so happy I didn’t care.

“E-Eryk!” Fay squawked, too surprised to do anything. “W-what are you doing?!”

I pulled back and placed my hand on her shoulders, still smiling as I eyed the now beat red girl.

“Thank you,” I said simply.

“Um, uh… you’re welcome, I guess?” Fay looked completely unsure of herself. “But I still don’t know what I did.”

***

I had 500 valis left from when I sold that Spiritual Technique Scroll to the Spiritualist Academy. That wasn’t enough to buy the ingredients I needed. However, I broke into my savings, which contained another 500 valis. It was enough. Just barely.

Returning home from shopping, I set all of the bags with me on the floor and brought out my alchemy set. There were quite a few bags this time. They were much smaller than usual, but that was because I hadn’t bought anything in bulk like I usually did.

I was actually glad Fay and I had ended our training early today. Had we ended our training later, the apothecary would have already been closed.

Once my alchemy set was ready, I grabbed several metal sheets and used them to keep my floor from burning as I lit a number of fires underneath the 500 mL beaker and the 250 mL flask. I poured regular water in each of them.

While I worked, the snake that was now a more or less full-time resident of my humble abode slithered over. It stared at me as I worked. I did my best to ignore it. However, when the snake tried to reach into one of the bags and nose around in the ingredients, I gently pushed its face away.

“Don’t do that,” I said, a warning in my tone. The snake hissed in an angry manner. At least, I think it was an angry manner. Either way, I was not putting up with that today. “I spent all my valis buying those ingredients. They are extremely valuable to me. I will not let you contaminate them.”

It was hard to know if the snake was making a face, but I somehow felt like it was pouting at me. I gave the snake an even glare. I had to let this creature know I was dead serious right now. Perhaps it understood what I was trying to tell it. Perhaps it didn’t. This staring contest lasted for a full minute before, with a gesture that really did make me think it was sulking, the snake slithered back onto my bed.

That was one problem out of the way.

As I waited for the water to come to a boil, I crossed my legs and stared at the bags. I wondered what I should make first. After giving it a moment’s thought, I nodded to myself, and then grabbed the bag nearest to me. Inside the bag was small piece of bark-like substance. Woodchip Shell. It was part of a Wood Slug, a harmless F-ranked Demon Beast found in the Demon Beast Mountain Range.

I used the mortar and pestle to grind the Woodchip Shell into a powder. I set the powder into a 100 mL beaker, cleaned the mortar and pestle, and then grabbed the next ingredient. It looked like a cabbage. However, it was extremely small, able to fit on my palm with ease. Grass Heart was what it was called. I mashed that up using the mortar and pestle as well. Then I added the paste it created into the boiling water of the 500 mL beaker. After stirring the contents until it mixed completely with the water, turning it into a murky brownish green color, I cleaned the mortar and pestle again, and then worked on my next set of ingredients.

This continued all through the night.

***

I think my eyes were a little dead as I walked through the streets. I didn’t sleep at all last night. The entire night had been spent refining pills, which wasn’t exhausting, but this body of mine wasn’t used to pulling all-nighters. I might have been able to do that in the past… in my previous life before I was sent back to the past I mean. However, it seemed I wasn’t capable of it right now.

“I should create an energy pill,” I muttered. “I’ll call it Red Bull Booster Pill.”

Rambling to myself, I turned down several streets, which were made mostly of limestone and cobblestone. It tended to change every so often when someone entered a new district. As I left the peasant quarters, the buildings also became more spaced out instead of jammed together. Their design also changed a little. The buildings where I lived were like two-story rectangles, but these seemed more extravagant. Some of them had columns, a few featured stone statues, there were some with balconies and verandas, and one even looked like a small palace.

I shook my head and continued traveling. It took fifteen minutes to reach my destination. As I held the bag of alchemy pills in my hand, I stared at the stairs that would lead to the Alchemist Association.

While the stairs were made of stone and appeared like they’d once been extravagant, they were now in a state of disrepair. As I looked further up, I saw that the wall surrounding the Alchemist Association was cracked, chipped, and faded in several places.

I walked up the stairs and entered the Alchemist Association’s main courtyard.

I stood in an empty courtyard that contained several large buildings. The buildings looked like they had once been majestic. I could see the remnants of several dragon motifs etched into the stonework; the roof was decorated with ceramic tiles, a sign of influence; what’s more, there were two large dragon statues located by the entrance to what I assumed was the main hall. Even the doors, large contraptions painted red and studded with gold, spoke of the majesty this place had.

Or the majesty this place used to have.

The paint on the walls of the Alchemist Association’s buildings had long since faded, there were cracks running along the buildings themselves, the ceramic tiles looked old and worn, the dragon statues were similarly unkept, and the doors looked like they were in great need of repair. Derelict was the word I would have used to describe this place. It looked like the Alchemist Association had fallen on hard times.

None of the stalls I remember from last time were set up yet. I guessed it was too early in the morning. However, there were still people present, including the young man who I had bought the alchemy set from.

I walked up to the young man, who was maybe a few years older than myself. His shoulder-length red hair contained hints of orange that complimented his brown eyes and pale face. He was wearing a deep blue robe this time. It looked like the outfit used to be nice but time and a lack of proper care had given it a somewhat raggedy appearance. As I walked up to him, the young man spotted me. His eyes became empty for a second as though trying to place where he’d seen me before, but then they regained their vibrancy.

“You’re the kid who bought an alchemy set from me last month, aren’t you?” he asked. He looked me up and down, his frown growing.

I almost twitched at being called a kid. At least he didn’t call me a woman. I’ve gotta be thankful for the little things.

“That’s right,” I said, forcing myself to smile. “You have a very good memory.”

He shrugged. “Not many people come up here, and a young kid looking to buy an alchemy set is a pretty rare thing.”

If this guy kept calling me kid…

Shaking my head to dispel the violent thoughts, I looked at the young man again and tried to present a calm, serious exterior.

“I was hoping you or someone else could introduce me to the Head of the Alchemist Association,” I said.

“You want to meet our leader?” The young man frowned and looked me up and down. “I’m sorry, but I’m not sure we have time to deal with you.”

“Because you have so many customers?” I taunted. He twitched, but I didn’t care. I was a little angry myself. “Look, just tell your leader that I have something I think they would be interested in.”

“And why should I do that?” The young man stepped up to me. We were about the same height, so the intimidating demeanor he tried to pull up didn’t work. What’s more, I was a lot more muscular than him now.

“Because your Alchemy Association is currently in dire straights, and if you don’t do something to rectify the situation, you will probably end up becoming little more than a rundown shop selling beauty products to old women for the rest of your life.”

I’ll admit, that probably wasn’t the best thing I could have said. I could have definitely put that a little more diplomatically. At the same time, not only was I a bit pissed at this guy for being so confrontational, but I wasn’t a diplomat. Back when I was running the Brave Vesperia Sect, I was more of a figurehead. Kari had done pretty much all the work when it involved dealing with other sects.

The young man’s face turned red. “Listen you—”

I thrust my bag into his face before he could finish. “This bag contains several alchemy pills that could change the course of alchemy as we know it. With these, I can get your Alchemist Association back onto the path of true alchemy. Take me to see the Head of the Alchemist Association now.”

The man stared at the bag as though he wasn’t sure he believed me, but I also noticed the faint glimmer of hope in his eyes. I’d noticed it the last time I came here. These people were desperate. They were on the verge of collapsing. If someone presented them with a chance to turn things around, even if that someone was a boy who didn’t look a day over 17 years-old, they would at least be willing to hear that person out.

“I… fine,” the young man said with a frown. “Follow me. I’ll take you to see our association head.”

“Thank you,” I said, returning the bag to my side.

The man eyed the bag with a mixed expression of hope and disbelief, then turned around and walked through the double-doors. I followed him.

Like the outside, the inside of the main hall looked like it had once been majestic. A red carpet lined the floor, columns stood on either side of the walls, which were, or had been, a cream color. Even the ceiling was made of intricate ribbing that lent this place an ostentatious air. Unfortunately, the carpet had become coarse over time, the walls and columns were cracked, and the ceiling had paint peeling off it.

I was led down several hallways with a number of doors, and then up a flight of stairs. The second floor opened into a wide space that looked like a refinery. There were a number of alchemy sets sitting on several tables, but there were only a few people working at them, and I could see that they were making the beauty products that the Alchemy Association had become known for.

“This way,” the red-haired young man said.

I followed him as he led me to a door on the far end, which looked a little better than the rest of this place. The black door had intricate red motifs and symbols painted on it. I recognized them as Runes. Fehu, the Rune of wealth. Kenaz, the run of vision, revelation, knowledge, and creativity. Isa, the Rune of challenge. Dagaz, the rune of awakening or awareness. These Runes were combined and still active, despite being old, keeping this door in better shape than the rest of the building.

No one should know Runes in this place. I assumed whoever had created these had done so long ago. Perhaps the first Alchemy Association Head was responsible for them.

The young man knocked on the door. “Sis, there’s someone here who wants to see you.”

Sis?

“Send them in,” someone said from the other end. I perked up. That voice sounded like it belonged to a young woman.

The young man opened the door and beckoned me to enter.

This room had the same once opulent but now destitute appearance as the rest of this building… except for the door I had just passed. It was empty of any real decoration. There were a few columns lining either side of the wall, but there was nothing else. At the far end of the wall opposite from me was a simple desk with an advanced alchemy set sitting on top of it. Someone stood behind that desk, pouring over several sheets of parchment.

The person behind the desk was a young woman who couldn’t have been more than 25 or 30 years-old. She had the same orange-tinted red hair as the young man beside me. Her tall and elegant figure was clad in purple silk robes that looked a little shabby, but she somehow made them work. It must have been her figure. Her chest was a fair bit larger than even Kari’s. Her breasts flowed into a curvy, well-proportioned figure that most men would have called a perfect hourglass.

As me and the young man walked up to the desk, the woman looked up, revealing doe-like brown eyes that contained a sharp glint. She glanced at the man, and then at me. She frowned.

“You are the one who wanted to see me?” she asked in a polite but confused tone. “Is there something I or my Alchemist Association can help you with?”

I shook my head. “In a way. However, you could also say that I am here to help you.”

“I’m afraid I don’t follow.” The woman shook her head, a strand of hair falling in front of her face, which she quickly tucked behind her ear.

Nodding as I realized she wouldn’t know what I meant, I looked at the desk. The advanced alchemy set was off to one side of it, while the rest was covered in parchment. Numerous notes were scribbled on the parchment. I realized they were alchemy notes relating to different ingredients and how they interacted when mixed. She was probably trying to refine alchemy pills from scratch.

That was really impressive, actually.

I opened my bag and took out six different pills, which I set on the desk. One of them was a small blue pill with a wave-like pattern, another was a deep brown, the next was a dark pink, the one immediately after it was purple, the next look like it had lightning inside, and the last was red. The woman’s eyes widened as she studied the pills.

“These pills are—”

“Tender Healing Pill, Spiritual Booster Pill, Temporary Enhancement Pill, Clarity Pill, Endurance Pill, and Elemental Pill,” she said quickly, eyes sparkling in wonder.

“That’s correct.” I blinked. I was surprised. “You certainly know your pills.”

“The fire several hundred years ago destroyed all of our notes containing the instructions on how to refine pills, but that doesn’t mean it destroyed our notes on the pills themselves. The association head back then managed to save some of our research materials. I have been trying to recreate that lost knowledge using what little information was left.” The woman looked at me, her eyes containing a hint of curiosity and caution. “How did you get your hands on these?”

“I refined them myself,” I said.

“Refined them yourself? You are an alchemist then?” she asked, but I shook my head.

“I wouldn’t call myself a true alchemist.” I spread my arms. “I only know how to make a few dozen pills that I learned specifically because there was a need for me to learn them at the time. A true alchemist is someone who understands the reactions between alchemy ingredients so well they can create original pills without needing instructions.”

“Perhaps that was the case in the past,” the woman said with a sad smile. “However, in this day and age, no one possesses the ability to make even one of these pills, nevermind all six.” She paused, the look in her eyes slowly shifting from one of confusion to respect. “My name is Feinrea Kuunis.”

“Eryk Veiger,” I introduced.

“If you are presenting me with these pills, I can only assume you are here to talk business,” she said, grabbing the notes littering her desk and putting them in an orderly stack.

I glanced at the young man who brought me here, her brother, and almost snickered at the sight of his bulging eyes and gaping mouth. However, my attention didn’t remain on him for long. The person I needed to deal with now was this woman.

“I can create instructions and even teach several of your alchemists how to create these pills,” I said.

Feinrea nodded. “And in return, you wish to have a cut of the profits, right?”

“That is correct.”

Going silent for a moment, Feinrea eased herself into a straight-backed chair, locked her fingers together, and placed her hands on the desk. She eyed me with a speculative gleam. I bore her scrutiny. This woman seemed to be intelligent. She was probably trying to determine whether or not a partnership between us would work, and if it did, what the details of our partnership would be.

“I certainly do not mind making a deal with you,” she said in a slow voice. “However, as of right now, our Alchemist Association is at an all-time low. The people of Nevaria think we are a joke, and I can’t blame them. With our current reputation, there are very few people who will believe us if we were to try and sell these pills right now.”

“That… sounds like a problem,” I admitted.

“Indeed.” Feinrea gave me a chilling smile before her eyes turned to the pills on her desk. She bit her lip before speaking again. “It might be possible to sell these if we were to auction them off. The Auction House is also experiencing hard times, but they still have a good deal of clout. If they were to present these pills to the nobles who attend the Auction House, the news would catch, and then we could begin selling them once people realized they are the real deal.”

I only vaguely knew of the Auction House. Because of my position as a simple librarian, I had never had any dealings with them back in my previous time. However, Kari had mentioned going there once or twice.

“Can we not do that?” I asked.

“We can try, but the Auction House is owned by a minor noble family that our Alchemist Association has no connection to,” Feinrea admitted.

“Which minor noble family?” I asked.

“The Valstine Family.”

I froze. Was this coincidence or fate? I wondered about that before deciding it probably didn’t matter. What was important was that I could do something about this.

“You can leave the matter of getting in contact with the Valstine Family to me,” I said.

Feinrea raised an eyebrow. She looked me up and down, noting the threadbare clothes I wore. My clothes clearing denoted that I was a simple peasant. Of course she was going to be skeptical. At the same time, I had just brought her six alchemy pills whose refinement process was thought to have been lost.

“Do you know someone from the Valstine Family?” she asked.

“I do.” My smile widened. “In fact, I am very familiar with the current heiress to the family.”

Feinrea took in a deep breath and considered my words. They were hard to believe. A peasant was familiar with a noblewoman? The very idea seemed ludicrous. However, this woman was not only smart, she was desperate, and if what I said was true, then it could turn the situation of the Alchemist Association around for the better.

After another moment passed, she nodded, having come to a decision.

“I will leave this matter to you, then,” she said.

“I’ll be sure to bring you good news,” I replied.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, I placed the pills into my bag, noting the longing look in the woman’s eyes as she stared at them, and then left the Alchemist Association.

Tomorrow during our training, I would speak to Fay about auctioning off several alchemy pills.