Chapter 38

“Yes, I’ll contact you after I get back.”

<Fine. It’s not like I’m your babysitter.>

After hanging up, Jaeha went down to the living room. Then he called the spirits who were playing with Seungho.

“Hey, guys.”

<Jaehaaa~>

<Seungho’s picking on us~!>

The moment Jaeha called them, they flew over at top speed.

“Should I take all of you along?”

“No, not all of you—just one or two. Who wants to come?”

<I’ll stay home.>

<Me too.>

At Gnome and Undine’s words, Jaeha nodded.

“Alright. Rest up.”

With that, Jaeha left the house with only Salamander and Sylph. Once outside, he looked at the two spirits and spoke.

“Stay hidden so no one else can see you, got it?”

<Okay.>

<Okay!>

With that, the two spirits began to shrink. They became as small as when he’d first met them. Then they slipped into the pocket inside Jaeha’s suit. Jaeha smiled and started walking. Before long, he arrived at the meeting place.

It was a restaurant that operated quite discreetly. As he walked up, a person in a clean uniform looked at Jaeha and spoke.

“Do you have a reservation?”

“My party should already be here.”

“Yes. What name is the reservation under?”

“John Smith.”

“John Smith, right.”

The clerk glanced over the list, nodded, and spoke.

“I’ll show you the way.”

Jaeha followed. They arrived near a certain room. A guard standing in front of the door approached Jaeha.

“That’s enough. I’ll take it from here.”

“Ah, yes. Please call if you need anything.”

With that, the clerk disappeared. Jaeha followed the guard into the VIP room. Three people were seated inside, all wearing large robes. Jaeha walked to the opposite side of the room. Then they looked at him and spoke.

“It’s a pleasure.”

“Yes, likewise. So…… you’re from the group called Alchemist?”

“That’s correct.”

“We’re not much for small talk, so we’ll get straight to the point. Are you the one who made this?”

As they spoke, they pulled a Resistance Potion from inside their robe and held it up. Jaeha looked at it and thought for a moment. Then he spoke.

“Even if you’re not much for small talk, wouldn’t it be proper to show your faces and introduce yourselves first?”

“Ah, my apologies.”

With that, the three lowered their hoods. They consisted of two men and one woman. The one in the middle was quite advanced in age. The ones on either side were relatively young—mid-to-late 20s at most.

“I’m John Smith.”

“I’m Jane Smith.”

“I’m Von Dane.”

“A pleasure. I’m Na Jaeha.”

“May we talk now?”

As he said this, John Smith swirled the Resistance Potion.

“Mm. Yes, of course.”

“I’ll ask directly. Did you make this yourself?”

At his words, Jaeha hesitated for a moment. And then Sylph whispered in his ear.

<It’s fine. They’re not bad people.>

Hearing Sylph’s voice, Jaeha casually glanced around. But no one around seemed to have heard anything—there was no reaction.

‘Well, Sylph is a wind spirit, so blocking sound is well within its abilities.’

With that thought, Jaeha looked at the three alchemists before him. Spirits are pure and noble beings belonging to the world. Perhaps because they’d risen greatly in rank while purifying the polluted nature, they’d also gained the ability to read people’s intentions to some degree.

It wasn’t just anyone—if the spirits said they weren’t bad people, then it was certain they weren’t all that bad. So Jaeha smiled and spoke.

“Yes. I made it.”

“How…… did you make it?”

“How I made it…… Well, to put it simply, I refined troll’s blood.”

“No, I mean—how did you refine it?”

“……”

Jaeha smiled faintly and spoke.

‘Just because they’re not bad people doesn’t mean I have any obligation to do them favors for free.’

With that thought in mind, Jaeha looked at them and spoke.

“I’d rather not share what could be called my vision without any compensation.”

At that, they nodded as if they understood.

“Yes. We understand that as well. If you tell us the method, we’ll pay a fair price for it.”

“A fair price…… From what I’ve heard, the Alchemist doesn’t exactly have the means to pay one.”

At that, they bit their lips. Then they bowed their heads toward Jaeha and spoke.

“We beg of you.”

“Surely you’re not going to appeal to my emotions?”

At Jaeha’s words, they fell silent again. After a brief pause, Jane Smith looked at Jaeha and spoke.

“Fine. To be honest, we’re not exactly well-off materially. But we do possess information that can’t be measured in material terms.”

“Information, you say?”

At their words, Jaeha looked at them with slight surprise.

“I don’t know how much you know about us Alchemists. But we are a time-honored organization that has continued since the medieval era.”

“……”

Jaeha listened to her words without saying much.

“No matter how hard things are for us now, it wasn’t always like that. Our organization had its heyday too. The reason we’ve been able to maintain our legacy despite our current struggles is thanks to the information our ancestors left behind.”

“Information……”

At her words, Jaeha began to mull it over.

“Then would you care to show me? Whether the information you possess would actually be of use to me……”

At Jaeha’s question, Jane looked at John Smith beside her. John Smith pondered for a few seconds, then nodded. And then he spoke.

“We know exactly where and from which monsters various byproducts drop.”

“Byproducts……”

To be fair, information on byproducts was nice to have. But it wasn’t enough to trade for his vision.

‘But is that information really worth as much as the spirits I’d be revealing?’

Jaeha asked himself. And then, without a moment’s hesitation, he was certain that the information he held about spirits was several times more valuable.

He was the only one who possessed knowledge about spirits. Moreover, for alchemists, information about spirits wasn’t just important—it was essential.

“To be honest, it’s nice-to-have information, but it doesn’t really tempt me. Do you have anything else that might catch my interest?”

At that, they deliberated for quite a long time. Then they looked at Jaeha and spoke.

“Then what about the secrets of famous figures……”

“I don’t exactly have a hero complex. Knowing that sort of thing wouldn’t do me much good.”

“Th-then…… information on elixirs or the Philosopher’s Stone.”

“Well, I have a rough idea about those too. I even know how to make them.”

“Th-then……”

“No, that’s enough. It seems there’s nothing among what you have that I particularly want.”

“Ahh.”

At that, their faces fell with a hint of despair. Watching them, Jaeha took a sip of the tea set before him and began to think for a moment.

Should he send them off as they were, or make use of them? As he pondered that, Jaeha asked the spirits.

‘Sylph, Salamander.’

<Yeah!>

<What is it?>

‘You two are already contracted with me, so this wouldn’t apply to you, but could you help those people form contracts with spirits like yourselves?’

At Jaeha’s question, the spirits let out an “Hmm……” sound as they thought it over, then answered.

<Hmm. I think it’s possible.>

‘Really?’

<Yeah. We’ve grown strong enough. If we lend a hand, we could help other friends gain their own will. And after that, if we ask them, they’d probably be able to form contracts.>

<Of course, we can’t force those kids either. It’s true we’d be helping them, but making a contract means sharing everything you have with your contractor. If a spirit refuses, there’s nothing we can do—but if they agree, it’s entirely possible.>

At the spirits’ words, Jaeha nodded. Then, after a moment of thought, he spoke.

“To be honest, I didn’t even know an organization called Alchemist existed. Even when I searched for alchemy online, all I found were records saying it existed in the past.”

As Jaeha, who had been silent, spoke up, they lifted their bowed heads and looked at him.

“The reason I came here is simple. I was curious when I heard there were people keeping the tradition of alchemy alive—something I’d thought was long dead. I wondered what kind of people you were, and how much of that tradition you’d managed to preserve. That’s why I came.”

At that, they bit their lips and lowered their heads.

“But I’m a little disappointed. I can see the effort to revive alchemy, sure. But personally, I believe people who keep things to themselves and live selfishly have a higher chance of succeeding in this world.”

“I agree. If we’d lived a bit more decisively and selfishly, our organization might not have ended up in this situation.”

“One last question.”

“…….”

“If I were to get you out of that well, what could you give me in return?”

At Jaeha’s words, they couldn’t say anything.

Chapter 11

At Jaeha’s words, they found it hard to speak. Watching them, Jaeha rose from his seat.

“It seems our connection ends here. I’ll be taking my leave now.”

With that, Jaeha walked straight out of the building. As he came outside, the spirits asked him.

<Weren’t you going to help them?>

<Right. They seemed like nice people.>

At the spirits’ words, Jaeha smiled and spoke.

“Honestly, I did think about helping them.”

<Mm.>

“But it doesn’t feel like the right time.”

<Ooh?>

As Sylph let out a cute sound, Jaeha smiled and patted Sylph’s head.

“I gave them a chance. I asked what they could give me, remember. Once they’re in a position to offer me something, they’ll come find me. Until then, let’s wait while we work on the homunculus.”

<Ooh……. I don’t really get it, but we just need to wait, right!>

“Yeah. That’s right.”

At Jaeha’s words, Salamander burst out with a crackling blaze as it spoke, and Jaeha smiled as he replied. Then, together with the spirits, Jaeha headed home.