I Got Fired As an Adventurer, So I’m Starting Anew As an Alchemist! Frontier Exploration? Alright, Leave It to Me!

189. Knocking Before Entering A Room Has Rule, Isn’t It?

I was getting glares from everyone, but Sensei sighed deeply once again.

“Well, this matter is to stay confidential. Reporting to Kyle-sama and His Majesty will be left to Leafan.”

“Got it. Leave it to me.”

Leafan answered with a triumphant gesture.

“Continue asking the Adventurers’ Guild to collect and investigate the ‘black plants’.”

“I’ll pass on the message.”

Raidoc nodded lightly, taking on the task.

“I’ll be thoroughly investigating this myself for the time being, so Craft, don’t assign me any other work.”

“Understood! …Wait, what!?”

Does that mean my workload is about to skyrocket!?

“I’m counting on you, my dear apprentice.”

That phrasing is unfair, sensei!

“Ugh… I’ll do my best.”

“Oh, and make time to research as well.”

Sensei handed me a black plant with a casual gesture.

“I’ll die from overwork, you know!?”

“Research is an alchemist’s main duty.”

“I know that, but still!?”

Thanks to Sensei’s collaboration with Kyle, Golden Dawn was running smoothly, to say the least.

Was that hellish busyness about to return!?

“One should bear hardships while they’re young.”

“Looking at you, you’re the younger one here!”

“…What did you say?”

“Nothing! Absolutely nothing! I will dedicate myself wholeheartedly to my research!”

Aaahhh!

Why did I have to say something unnecessary!?

I had no choice but to accept my fate. As I slumped, perhaps taking it as agreement, Sensei folded her arms.

“…Hmph. Do your best.”

Thus, we were dismissed.

Everyone was about to leave the room, but Eva stayed still, muttering something to herself.

Thinking she might just be zoning out from boredom, I approached to call out to her, only to catch a snippet of her murmurs.

“The World Tree’s… mystery? Could this be why we’re scattered across the world?”

“Hey?”

When I placed my hand on her shoulder, she jolted.

“Ah, sorry. I was just spacing out.”

“You okay?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry about it.”

Saying so, Eva quickly stood and moved toward Raidoc and the others waiting by the door.

“Hey, if you’re troubled by something, talk to me.”

“Eh?”

Eva turned back in surprise.

“It’s none of your business, is it?”

“I’m not in the party, but we’re allies, right?”

An ally’s troubles are my troubles. I thought I was stating the obvious, but Eva’s eyes widened further.

“…Right. Maybe I’ll talk to you if I feel like it.”

“No need to hold back. We’re on the same side, aren’t we?”

“Wait, what!? What do you mean, ‘the same side’!?”

“Uh? I mean, allies…”

“Honestly! Don’t get carried away just because of one meal! That was just dinner, you know!”

Dinner?

What’s she talking about? The meal we had while camping during an adventure?

Just as I was about to ask, I felt a light impact on my leg.

Looking down, I saw Myrna, who’d apparently been there all along, kicking my leg repeatedly.

“…! …!”

“Eh? Hey, Myrna?”

“You truly are… an incorrigible man.”

Persia, who had somehow joined Myrna, sighed, placing her hand on her forehead as she cast a disapproving look my way.

“What!? What’s going on here!?”

For some reason, Myrna was glaring at me with teary eyes while continuing her light, non-painful kicks.

Seriously, why!?

I don’t get it…

Before I realized it, Eva and the others had left.

Wait! We’re allies, aren’t we!? Help me!

Let it be known: my silent scream reached no one.

◆

With my workload drastically increased, I began researching the black plant as Sensei had ordered.

I soaked small fragments of it in various reagents, casting analysis spells repeatedly.

Most of my efforts were fruitless, but I did manage to glean some details—for instance, it burns like regular wood and, despite its black color, isn’t carbonized.

Bit by bit, my understanding of the plant improved.

Then suddenly, knowledge of a crest overflowed in my mind.

The crest revealed an astonishing truth, leaving me trembling.

“You’re kidding, right?”

It must be because this was a transformed World Tree that the crest shared this knowledge.

After agonizing over it, I decided not to inform Kyle and instead consult sensei Jabir.

Sensei’s room was a part of my estate.

When the Golden Dawn relocated, I offered one of the many vacant rooms to her. The fact that my house had two alchemy labs was also a deciding factor.

And so, I burst into her room.

“Sensei, sensei, sensei! Something unbelievable—”

As I slammed the door open, there she was.

In her underwear.

“…”

“…”

Time stopped.

“Uh… um…”

“Yo… you…”

Will she scream?

I wouldn’t mind seeing that kind of cuteness.

“Don’t you know how to knock, you fool!”

“I’m so sorry! My apologies! Truly, I’m sorry!”

“Forget apologies! Get out of here now!”

I fled the room at the speed of light.

…

“Oops. My bad. Tehe★”

“It’s not ‘Tehe★’!”

It took until midnight for Sensei’s anger to subside.

◆

I now sit in Sensei’s room, kneeling on the stone floor.

Not on a carpet, mind you. Never mind, it’s fine.

Seated in a chair, Sensei stared down at me with a terrifying glare.

“…It seems I must teach you basic manners before alchemy.”

“Um, well, I’m really sorry about earlier.”

I transitioned from kneeling to bowing. I had no idea how many times I’d apologized, my sense of time completely numbed. My legs were numb too.

“Sigh… Honestly. I’ll settle this later.”

Still not enough anger vented!?

Although I screamed internally, Sensei glared at me as if she’d heard.

“I-I’ll do anything you say!”

“I’ll think about it later. For now, what’s this big deal you mentioned?”

It seemed she was finally ready to listen. I exhaled a breath of relief.

“Well, I was researching the black plant, and—”

“You’ve figured something out!?”

“Ah, no, not about the plant itself. But the crest whispered to me, revealing knowledge of a new alchemic potion.”

“Hmm?”

She gestured for me to continue.

“Normally, I’d report this to Kyle, but given the nature of the item, I wanted to consult you first.”

“Why all the suspense? What can you make?”

“Well…”

I looked around the room.

Even though the security of my estate was high due to its proximity to Kyle’s mansion, I couldn’t help but feel cautious.

Sensei seemed to grasp the seriousness of the matter and got up to close all the curtains.

“I lack the materials to create it immediately, but…”

“Just say it already.”

The required materials were extremely rare, and I didn’t even know where to get them. But if I did obtain them, the consequences would be terrifying to imagine.

“The potion I can now create is…”

My throat quivered.

“Yggdrasil Soma. …A resurrection elixir.”

Sensei fell backward in shock, fainting.

◆

I let out a breath and stopped writing in the seventh volume of my memoirs. It wasn’t yet filled.

What I’d written so far traced events from earlier in the timeline, but from here, I would pick up where the sixth volume left off.

Yes.

“News of a small nation south of Mizuho being wiped out overnight by a monster stampede spread rapidly across Mizuho”—this was where I’d continue.

Now then, thank you for waiting. Let’s move forward with the events surrounding the monster invasion of Mizuho.

At this point, I couldn’t even begin to imagine how drastically the world was about to change.