Chapter 132 – In the Rain.

“You know. How does Mina want to live later?”

It was a pouring rain day. That lovely voice tickled my ears. When she said that, she herself said how. The question was soon resolved.

“I hope I never go hungry.”

She could have spoken a little warmer, but her words were dry and hard. At the time, the only thing that came to my mind was that I was busy barely surviving each day.

“Ah, other than that, it’s something I want to do more of.”
“…What do you want to do?”

There could be no such thing. For her, her work was simply an act to live by desperately clinging to and fighting for her needs.

“I mean. I want to be an alchemist.”

At the time, she didn’t even know what it was, but she thought she could.

“…A dream, that’s it.”

Because she was immersed in research, she never even had a dream. Could it be because she met the man? Or is it because she met a girl who looked exactly like her? She has been dreaming of her childhood for a long time. She misses her so much, and it’s a nostalgic dream, something she’s always avoided because she’s afraid to have it. She had fallen asleep on her desk, so she straightened her aching back and looked at the top of her desk. Even while she was tired, she looked at the things she had roughly arranged, as if she had the spirit to put away the things she was studying.

People sometimes mistake her alchemy or alchemists for those who use special powers like wizards or witches, but to her direct use of alchemy, it was a thought that made her laugh. She had no special powers for an alchemist. They were merely those who gathered knowledge and necessary materials and used them where possible to create more convenient objects. It just seemed like magic to people.

Sometimes, like her, making her medicine was a side job. The reason she became an alchemist and the reason she developed medicine and researched it all disappeared. Still, it was true that many people were looking for medicine, and thanks to it, life became easier. If there is a side effect, it is because there are many things that lead to doctors rather than alchemists. She didn’t hate it, but at least it was unpleasant to be considered that way by the man. Then it was inevitable that the girl would come to mind again.

Her transparent, her golden light shimmered before her eyes as she gazed at her mournfully. While doing so, she watched as the liquid boiled and evaporated in one flowed through the tube into the other flask. This reagent, which is made using a plant called latia, which grows naturally in Lantua, has a unique property, so it was easy to identify the disease. The downside is that it takes a long time to purify, but the effect is clear. We are still far from being able to gather enough of the necessary reagents.

“It’s pathetic that you care so much just because you look alike.”

I knew very well that now all I had to do was wait for the results to come out. My heart was anxious to erase the sad expression from the girl’s face as soon as possible. It was painful just for the girl to make such a face. Her room was dizzy with the smell of the reagents she was making. She eventually decided to get some air to allay some of her uptight mind.

“Aren’t you a doctor?”

As she casually walked along her rainy street holding her umbrella, there were people who recognized her and started talking to her. The man who mainly sold her bread had taken care of her child when she was sick, and even now he sometimes gives her a bonus when she buys her bread.

“Aren’t you running out of food?”
“Yes, I already have some, so I’ll come back to buy them later if I need them.”

After giving such a rough answer, I walked down the street, and at first glance I saw children chattering and running among the people. Even though the rain was pouring like this, it couldn’t dampen the children’s spirits. The reason why I inadvertently pursue that figure is probably because of the memories that are still filled in this street. Her only strength is the old town, but that’s why she couldn’t get out of here, even though she could live in a better place. No matter how much her memories made her sad, it was something she missed in the end.

As I walked, recalling the memories, the destination was always fixed. Even in the streets that are getting old enough to be old, it is the dark back alley that is especially old. It was a lonely place where no one cared and did not want to enter, but there was no other place that stimulated children’s curiosity as much as that place. The sky is as narrow as the narrow alley, so the rain doesn’t penetrate easily, and it was also her refuge as a child. And here was someone who understood her memories.

When I went into the alley, I could find a small door next to it.

“It’s been a while. Helena.”

Her old green dwarf greeted her when she opened the door that said De Valin’s Magic Bookshop. It’s been a long time since I haven’t visited, but it’s unchanged.

“Yes, it’s been a while.”

They didn’t know if it was because they were really welcoming to each other or if they were just happy with their kinship. Maybe it’s just that they understand each other, so they know each other, so they’re obliged to pretend to know each other. To her, he was also a grateful person. She was the one who allowed this place to be her refuge when she sought her refuge. She exchanged a brief greeting with him and approached the bookshelf where her books were kept. He left her alone as if he was familiar with her.

We both knew very well that there was no point in reading magic books. Magic is something that can only be used by the chosen ones who are allowed to use it. Knowing this, she opened the book. Hoping she would understand magic at least a little bit. Even after memorizing it, I always looked for new books and compared them. For her, magic was something she didn’t understand when she was young, but after she became more familiar with it, she couldn’t even comprehend its existence in the world.

How on earth can magic exist? It was a question that all alchemists had in common, and solving it was the alchemist’s dream. Alchemy is a very strange science. Obviously, the science that the wizard revived was alchemy. Conversely, alchemy could not understand magic. If alchemy achieves results through strict rules and processes, magic has nothing like that.

If you need qualifications to use magic, what are those qualifications? Why can a witch’s magic run from blood to blood? How on earth can magic be exercised for something totally irrelevant? Magic was a power that could only be called magic, omitting all the steps required to exercise power and bringing only overwhelming results. To the point where I wonder if it’s true that the wizard revived alchemy again.

She, too, was one of many alchemists who sought to unravel the mystery of how magic exists. I felt like if I understood her magic even a little bit, I would be able to understand her in her memories. Then she found an empty seat between her bookshelves.

“Has anyone ever been here?”
“Yes, they were cute little customers. They come from time to time, but lately, because of the vicious rumors, they haven’t come.”
“Okay.”

She looked at the traces and stood up.

“Are you leaving already?”
“Because I have work to do.”

Her reagent would be ready soon, so I thought of looking at the place she remembered a little more and going back. He never caught her. When I left the bookstore and went further into the alley, there were roads the girls had made when they were children. If you follow it there, in a small clearing, you will see a lifeless, dead tree and a broken swing withering pink bouquets beneath them. Then she opened her mouth to her teeth, which had been pursuing her until now.

“I still don’t know. With what qualifications and with what shame are you coming here?

Where she turned, there stood a handsome man with her tousled hair holding a freshly picked purple bouquet, ignoring her getting wet in the rain. How many times is this? Even though she warned him not to come, she couldn’t understand him who kept coming here. Because he

“Sasha went through that because of you. She really doesn’t get tired of coming back.”

Originally, this vacant lot was a secret place only for them. It was a precious place with memories of her friend who was worth giving her all. She couldn’t help but feel displeased with him every time he crawled into such a place with dirt feet and ruined it like this. No, if it was someone else, she could pass it off as she would have come just out of curiosity. But as much as that man, I couldn’t tolerate or forgive him for coming to this place.

“Don’t come. At least if you have a conscience.”

She passed him, but she never got her answer back from him. She already knew that these warnings were of no avail, but she went back to finish her own business, again disillusioned. When she arrived at her own home, her reagents were collected in sufficient quantities. When she promptly dripped her reagent into her blood and checked her reaction. She hardened her face.

“This is fine. Really.”

Lyudmila let out a sigh at the tightness of the leather mask covering her mouth and nose as she grunted. Her strong scent of herbs penetrated her nostrils. The mask she was wearing now had a small pocket on the side of her cheek, filled with her cotton and herbs. It was a lighter version of the gas mask used by knights and soldiers. She wondered if it was necessary to do this, but she couldn’t help it because her uncle said she wouldn’t allow it unless it was done.

“Ugh, frustrating.”

On the second day since Usher became ill, she had barely been allowed to visit Usher. Even with the same condition, Medea was not allowed, so she decided to check her condition with Usher alone and tell her about her condition. And there was no one near her room. She said that no one other than Usher had the disease yet, but she didn’t know. It didn’t matter if it was a simple cold, but it’s always something to be careful about.

She knocked on her door, and it wasn’t long before her Sif poked her head out through the crack in the open door. She looked briefly surprised when she saw Lyudmila, but she soon smiled.

“Did you come to visit me?”
“Yes, is Usher okay?”

Sadly, Sif shook her head. What Lyudmila could see thanks to her opening the door. It was Usher, lying on her bed, wearing only one pair of underwear. If that was all she would have left the room blushing right away, but she couldn’t because of the girl next to him. Belka was beside Usher, wiping his body with a wet towel. With a desperate face, she wanted to lower the heat even a little.

“Did you come because you were worried about Belka?”
“Yeah, it’s because I can’t see it.”

Usher was still sick and Belka couldn’t help but worry as Belka didn’t even think to look out of her room. She wouldn’t be sick to her, but she wouldn’t come out. At least she wished that she had at least shown her face while telling him the news of Usher. The face I finally saw was like that, so I didn’t feel comfortable.

“When I’m taking care of them, they don’t think about falling off, even if it’s okay to take a break outside.”
“I know.”

It’s usually so extreme, but it was obvious if you didn’t see how anxious he would be when he said he was in pain. Approaching Usher, he didn’t look well at all. My body is shaking as if it is cold, but my body is red as if it is overripe. Belka didn’t seem to notice even though Lyudmila came right next to her. It was a time when she couldn’t bear to interrupt, so she just watched. Suddenly, I discovered something strange. It was a small dot. It’s so small and faint that it’s hard to notice unless you’re paying close attention.

But what if there are multiple of them? It seemed as if dark dots, red and red that I didn’t have to pay close attention to, were spreading forward from the back as if they were trying to cover Usher’s skin. And Lyudmila remembered seeing something like that.

“This… This, it’s not like a cold.”
“…Lyuda?”

Only then did Belka seem to have found Lyudmila, but this time, on the contrary, she didn’t care about her Belka. Lyudmila had a memory of seeing these little dots.

“…My mother said the same thing.”

She couldn’t stop her trembling voice. At the same time, the door she had just entered slammed open.

“Everyone please get away from the patient.”

There was Helena wearing a mask similar to Lyudmilla’s.