VII

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  Arc VII Chapter 20

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  19th Aqua Solar XI AAC 753

  Aurora paused, standing still, her trusted doll safely nestled in her arms. The wooden boards beneath her boots creaked. Her eyes and her mind wandered. Her gaze swept across the room, taking in every single detail, regardless of how trivial, regardless of how minuscule.

  The air was stale, uncharacteristically so, layered with the scent of oxidised copper and rendered animal fat, with the scent of sharp sulphur dampened by beeswax and the scent of herbs and spices, both either peculiar or exotic in origin. Wrapped and strapped together, bundles of herbs were hanging from the ceiling, firmly attached to the beams above. Leaves, fronds, ferns. Some of them either dried, pale, nearly brittle. Others still firm and fibrous. Others knotted, gnarled, twisted, or even thorny. And others translucent, luminous, almost crystalline.

  Beneath it all, lay the faint metallic tang of residual aether, raw, wild, enough to prickle at the back of her tongue. Considering the magic nature of their profession, the latter was hardly surprising. In fact, it was only to be expected. Even in this age, alchemy was a science grounded in the realm of magic.

  To her left, shelves lined the wall, the wood aged, weathered, possibly antique, not to mention covered in layer upon layer of dust. And yet the shelves proved to be far more sturdy than their decrepit appearance might suggest.

  Despite their apparent age, they were heavily laden, stacked to the brim with concoctions of every kind imaginable, either liquid or in the form of powder. Ranging from simple brews to more complex philters, from potions to elixirs, blue, red, yellow, green, violet, orange, enriched with aether. From tinctures to oils, to spirits, from reagents to solvents, to solutions, to extracts, to distillates, to essences, the shop had them all, and more. They were contained in numerous phials, some of them heavier, some of them lighter. Some were made out of glass, some out of simple ceramic. Some were stoppered with cork. Others, meanwhile, sealed with resin, wax, or lead.

  The phials were all neatly stored with great care, every single one of them, each labelled, each accounted for, which was probably a wise decision considering the strongly volatile and flammable nature of their contents. Their shop would neither be the first, nor the last in history to burn down to the ground because of negligence. A single spark at the wrong time, at the wrong place, would be enough to spell catastrophe.

  Further ahead, on a workbench, there sat a battery of mortars, pestles still resting inside them together with whatever remained of what had been crushed earlier. Beside them, stood a row of alembics, cucurbits, retorts, glass flasks, crucibles, furnaces, cauldrons, all the heart of a true alchemist could wish for, she supposed.

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  “...” Aurora pondered. So this was the workshop of an alchemist ... A curious sight, indeed. Almost like it was straight out of a history book. To think that she would ever see one from the inside.

  A familiar voice interrupted her thoughts. Johann returned with a man accompanying him, his master presumably. The boy scratched his hair while laughing uneasily. He appeared to be embarrassed, probably for making her wait what felt like a small eternity. “Thank you for your patience, and sorry for the wait. It took me a while, but here he is. Master, if I may introduce you, this is Edelgart. The girl I told you about.”

  His master studied her closely, from tip to toe. He even raised his monocle and stroked his abundant beard. The man was old, or rather, he looked far older than he was supposed to be. His skin was wrinkled, his hands scarred, the burn marks never properly healed, his hair ashen white, and yet his azure eyes were sharp, calculating, much graced with intellect and even traces of mana. His line of work had aged him beyond what was natural. The fumes, the acids, the bases, the aggressive properties of unrefined aether, they were not necessarily conducive to someone’s health.

  “It is a pleasure. Master Severin, my name, Magister Alchemiae by occupation and profession.” He lowered his gaze, giving her a polite bow. “So, you are the girl that my learned apprentice was talking about?”

  Aurora and her doll nodded in confirmation, beaming. “That’s correct~.”

  Master Severin stroked his beard, his eyes still observing her, still watching her. “Hmm, Johann has told me much about you, much good, no less. Though, I must confess that I am quite surprised ... To think that you would be this young, ... and so short ...”

  “... ... ...” Aurora maintained her gentle smile, even when significantly strained. Granted, she was admittedly remarkably short for her age, not to mention cute and cuddly, with an adorable doll on top. But still, why did everyone feel the need to remark on it?

  Aurora tilted her head. “Is that supposed to be an issue, Master Severin?” Her question was poignant. Her voice laced with irritation, slight, yet noticeable.

  The alchemist was quick to realise his blunder, raising his hands in defence. “Oh, no, not at all. I am merely surprised. Nothing more. I would not doubt you, or Johann, for the matter. I know him. Johann would never lie to me, right?” The man turned to his apprentice. “I fully believe him when he says that you drove those men off. After all, you are an adventurer. And you know how the saying goes, never judge a book by its cover.”

  “...” Aurora eyed Master Severin with suspicion. The man was slicker than she gave him credit for. At least, he had his ways with words, which was something.

  The man cleared his throat, “That aside, you have my sincere thanks, Edelgart. Thank you for saving Johann. Judging by what he said, my apprentice got himself in quite the pinch ...”

  Johann reacted promptly, his face visibly fuming. “Quite the pinch, you say? Don’t you think that is quite an understatement, Master? Especially, if the whole mess was entirely your fault. The guys were Matthias’ men, and you know exactly what they were going to do with me. Your research, all well and good, but I told you a million times already, we need to repay him before he gets really pissed.” Considering what had transpired, his anger was more than justified.

  His master diverted, to the best of his abilities, “I know, I know, Johann. Trust me, you do not need to tell me. I know Matthias. I know he is not the most patient man, but I did not think that he would resort to such unorthodox methods.”

  “Unorthodox? Unorthodox, you call them!” Johann glared at his master. “That’s easy to say when you aren’t on the receiving end of it. The guys were fricking serious, I tell you. Next time, they won’t get just me, but also you, don’t you get it?” Once again, the boy’s irritation was noted. It was also noted that they had completely forgotten about her and her cute doll as a result of their bickering, which was somewhat suboptimal.

  Alchemy workshop

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