"H-Here you go."
Clatter.
With trembling hands, the boy set the tea down in front of Lucian and Raymond.
Lucian didn't spare the tea so much as a glance, fixing his gaze solely on the boy.
Is this really the boy who developed that Nektar?
Lucian knew well enough that years accumulated didn't always correspond to ability.
At times, a genius could appear in another field, rivaling even Felicia.
But sword techniques, which relied heavily on instinct and sensation, and scholarly disciplines that required deep background knowledge, were different matters entirely.
Taking that into account, the boy before him was far too young to be calling himself an alchemist.
"What's your name?"
"Y-Yes? I-Ian."
"And how old are you this year?"
"Seventeen…"
"You're young."
I asked just in case, but as expected.
When I let that honest impression slip without thinking, Raymond, who had been standing beside me, stepped closer and whispered.
"Third Young Master, have you forgotten your own age?"
"…Is he Haide's assistant? Or his disciple?"
Lucian quietly ignored Raymond's remark and asked again.
After hesitating for a moment, the boy—Ian—answered with a dark expression.
"A disciple candidate."
"What? No, if you're a disciple, you're a disciple. What do you mean, a disciple candidate?"
"My master said I'm not a formal disciple yet. He said if I help well with the work, he'll promote me later."
"Hah."
A hollow laugh escaped Lucian's mouth as he roughly grasped what was going on.
If he acknowledged him as a disciple outright, he couldn't keep him firmly in hand—so he stuck him in an ambiguous position and threatened him instead.
The more he learned, the more distasteful that man became.
After a brief moment of thought, Lucian decided to get straight to the point.
If the other party wasn't even a formal alchemist, there was no need to beat around the bush.
"Not long ago, I met the alchemist Haide outside. I was quite interested in Wilgwang Grass, so I had a few things I wanted to ask. But that man went beyond having no interest—he practically mocked it."
"Honestly, I was disappointed. When I heard he was an alchemist, I thought he might know something. In the end, I was just going to buy some Wilgwang Grass and head back."
Lucian paused and looked at Ian with a meaningful gaze.
"It turns out there's a record showing that, during the time Haide met with us, Wilgwang Grass was purchased."
"I don't have a habit of meddling in other people's affairs, but embezzling your master's money for personal use—isn't that a problem? Especially when that money comes from state subsidies. That would mean it's connected to His Majesty the Emperor."
At the mention of the Emperor, Ian looked at Lucian with a face drained of all color.
When Lucian jerked his chin as if telling him to explain himself, Ian began to speak haltingly.
"L-Like I said earlier, it's a misunderstanding. My master gave permission for everything…!"
"Permission? You're saying Haide told you to spend his money however you pleased?"
"Strictly speaking, he said it was fine as long as it was used for alchemy! He said results were all that mattered, so I used it!"
I see.
So the portion of the imperial subsidies that couldn't be converted into entertainment expenses was dumped onto the disciple instead.
And if any decent research results came out, he could just seize them and present them as his own.
Still, there were parts that Ian's explanation didn't fully clear up.
"All of it? That entire amount?"
"I don't think so. With a sum this large, doesn't it go far beyond the range your master allowed?"
There were limits even to letting a disciple use part of the subsidies.
Judging by the amount, it was clear that even the share Haide could have funneled into entertainment expenses had been spent on buying Wilgwang Grass.
As if struck at the heart of the matter, Ian lowered his head deeply, his face full of resignation.
"Are you going to tell my master what I did?"
"That depends on your answer. First, I want to ask where you used all that Wilgwang Grass."
"That's…"
"Physical enhancement through amplification of magic power."
"From the look of it, the ingredients would be Wilgwang Grass, Red Thorn, Winged Lantern Grass, and so on. Am I wrong?"
When such detailed ingredients flowed from Lucian's mouth, Ian's body trembled violently.
Raymond, unable to follow the conversation between the two, tilted his head in confusion.
"What are you talking about? Just from the name, it sounds like an ingredient for a potion."
"More precisely, it's an ingredient for a potion that can change the world. If it succeeds, it can turn even the greatest dullard into a prodigy remembered in history."
"D-Does that mean… someone other than me has researched it?"
Unable to hide his excitement, Ian stepped toward Lucian.
Raymond, his guard, quickly pressed a scabbard against Ian's chest to stop him, but as if he felt no pain, Ian only moved closer instead.
Lucian nodded, lightly pushing Ian back as he spoke.
"There was. It ended unfinished, though. As for the other materials, there's Stemflower and—"
"Stemflower!"
At that single word from Lucian, Ian staggered back as if screaming.
"Why didn't I realize it?! Yes, if I just mix in Stemflower, everything will be solved! Why couldn't I think of—khk!"
Crash!
In the midst of his outburst, Ian caught his foot on a chair leg and fell.
Yet seemingly unable to feel the pain, he scrambled back up and dashed to the second floor.
It looked like he wanted to test the insight he'd just gained immediately.
Lucian stared blankly at his retreating figure, then let out a bitter smile.
"Let's go up as well."
"This is someone else's house. Is that really all right?"
"Once scholars get into that state, there's no stopping them. If we just wait around, he won't come back down even after everything's finished."
The true scholars Lucian had seen were always like that.
Driven mad by curiosity and the desire to verify their own hypotheses, they cast everything else aside and devoted themselves entirely to research.
Without someone beside them to rein them in, expecting them to show consideration on their own was meaningless.
****
"Hah, honestly."
After coming up to the second floor, Lucian clicked his tongue as he took in the inside of the laboratory.
Small scraps of paper were crammed full of all kinds of notes, while larger sheets were piled here and there to the thickness of entire books.
Used-up ink bottles and pens littered the floor, and crumpled research journals thrown away in frustration filled one corner completely.
Ridiculously enough, amid all this chaos, only the potion ingredients and some finished potions were meticulously sorted and organized.
Unbelievable. If someone said this was the laboratory of a seventeen-year-old greenhorn, who would believe it?
Even most fully fledged alchemists wouldn't be able to immerse themselves in research with this level of passion.
As Lucian looked around the laboratory and skimmed through the journals, his gaze soon shifted to Ian, who was moving about frantically.
"Please, please… please let this work…!"
Ian murmured as if praying to someone, staring intently at a glass flask being heated.
As the contents gradually began to boil, a sharp, pungent smell spread through the room.
It was the same reaction Lucian had seen when producing degraded Nektar.
Right—when the smell gets stronger and the potion starts turning red…!?
Smiling as he watched the flask, Lucian suddenly widened his eyes.
The sharp odor vanished all at once, replaced by a fresh, almost refreshing fragrance that filled the laboratory.
The liquid that had been about to turn red slowly shifted to blue, then even began to emit a faint glow.
What is that? Shouldn't it be turning red?
"W-Worked…! It worked! It really worked!"
Unlike Lucian, who was flustered by the completely different reaction, Ian leapt into the air on the spot, even bursting into tears.
Stopping the heating, Ian took out the glass flask and stared at the result of his work with dazed eyes.
While Lucian stood there, overwhelmed by the heat of the moment, Raymond approached and whispered.
"Young Master, just what on earth did that kid make?"
"What are you talking about all of a sudden?"
"Look closely. Mana is resonating around that liquid."
Startled by Raymond's words, Lucian focused his vision on mana.
Sure enough, he could see mana rippling around the potion like waves, sweeping through the surrounding space.
This is impossible…!
He hadn't even drunk it yet, and mana was already emanating from the potion itself.
He couldn't even begin to guess how potent the effect would be if someone actually consumed it.
Just then, Lucian saw Ian tilt the bottle toward his own mouth and panicked.
"You lunatic! Stop!"
"Ghk!"
Lucian swiftly struck the back of Ian's neck and snatched the bottle away, and Ian looked up with an aggrieved expression.
"W-Why are you doing this?!"
What are you doing all of a sudden? Why would you just try to drink it?"
"Clinical testing! Once you've finished a potion, you have to check the effects yourself!"
"Hah…"
At Ian's bold declaration, Lucian frowned deeply.
An academic—someone who wasn't even a knight—trying to pour such an outrageous potion straight down his throat?
There was a high chance he wouldn't be able to withstand its excessive potency and would suffer a backlash instead.
At the very least, it should be taken by a knight who has opened their mana pathways to produce a proper effect.
"Give it to me! I need to check it!"
Lucian shoved Ian aside as he looked ready to lunge again and spoke firmly.
"If you want to run a clinical test, I'll do it in your place. You just watch. What are you going to do if you die after taking it with that frail body of yours?"
"R-Really?"
"Third Young Master?!"
Raymond stared at Lucian with a face so shocked he looked like he might faint.
That potion was radiating such intense energy, yet he was going to consume it without even knowing its effects?!
"Are you out of your mind?! Stop this at once! If you want to verify the effects, I'll drink it instead!"
"No, that won't do."
"Why not?!"
"I'm confident I'll be fine. You're not."
"That's absurd…!"
Raymond glared at Lucian as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing, but Lucian had no way to explain it in more detail.
This was ultimately a matter of constitution.
With my body, any mana that exceeds the acceptable limit will be expelled on its own. But Raymond won't be. No matter how long he's trained, his mana pathways can't possibly be as clean as mine.
Mana rampage or backlash occurred when excess mana couldn't be properly discharged after exceeding the body's tolerance.
For someone with a constitution like Lucian's, such rampage or backlash was effectively impossible.
His mana pathways were so vast and pristine that even if something went wrong, the excess would be expelled in an instant.
It might be arrogance, but this might be a potion that only I can consume in this world.
As Lucian looked at the potion—Nektar, or perhaps the prototype of Nektar—he felt a strange thrill.
What would happen when a potion no human could endure met the one human who could?
"Third Young Master!"
Deciding that words were useless, Raymond roared and charged toward Lucian.
But Lucian, having already made up his mind, was faster—he tipped the blue liquid into his mouth.
By the time Raymond snatched at the bottle, everything but a drop or two had already gone down his throat.
"You damn fool! Spit it out! Do you even know what kind of potion that is—?!"
Puhwaak!
Just as the horrified Raymond was about to force Lucian's mouth open,
a dazzling torrent of mana erupted from Lucian, shaking the entire laboratory.
***
PuhwaaAAAK!
The violent surge of mana overturned the lab.
Papers scattered in all directions, glass bottles holding ingredients shattered, and bookshelves toppled backward like dominos.
Faced with the force of what was like a small storm, Raymond clenched his teeth.
"You insane bastard! What the hell did you make?!"
"Ghhhhh!"
Raymond shouted at Ian in a murderous voice, but Ian couldn't even collect his thoughts as he struggled just to withstand the mana raging through the air.
Amid the chaos where everything was being overturned, the only one who remained calm was Lucian.
Good heavens…
Lucian forcibly swallowed the exclamation that almost slipped from his lips.
If he carelessly opened his mouth right now, the torrent of mana felt like it would blow the entire room apart.
Even so, I never imagined it would be to this extent.
The amplified mana boiled like a blast furnace, crazily sweeping through Lucian's pathways.
For an ordinary human, it would have meant their entire body bursting apart on the spot—but to Lucian, it was merely a bit refreshing.
Within that terrifying deluge of mana, every time Lucian blinked, the mana reacted and pressed down on the air itself.
This much just from blinking my eyes… what would happen if I swung my sword?
A small temptation stirred in his mind, but he didn't act on it.
If he did, there was a real risk that Raymond and Ian would be killed by the aftershock.
More importantly, this power wasn't something Lucian could control.
It was less like wielding strength and more like moving his body inside molten lava—causing the lava itself to splash and surge.
If only I could fully control it and condense it within my body, I'd want for nothing…
With his current state, Lucian was like someone trying to stop a flood with the palm of his hand.
Yet if he simply left it alone, the power would seep out of his entire body and its effects would fade away.
As Lucian pondered whether there was some way to gather even a trace of it—
Throb.
One of the mana pathways running from his spine up to his head twitched in response to the overflowing power.
It was a pathway he had avoided, as it was of little use for strengthening the body and inefficient for circulation.
Don't tell me…?
On a hunch, Lucian opened that unused pathway.
The moment it opened, the raging power surged straight through and shot up to his head.
The mana rose without any backlash and began to swirl inside his mind.
Lucian was startled for an instant, but was soon flooded by a clarity unlike anything he had felt before.
At the same time, he sensed something coming into view that he had never been able to perceive until now.
Mana?
Even without enhancing his eyesight, mana appeared vividly before him.
Not only that—he could even see the mana inside the human body, something impossible to perceive no matter how much one strengthened their vision.
The movements of Raymond and Ian, who were struggling to endure the torrent of mana, felt as if they could be grasped in his hands at any moment.
As Lucian stood there, bewildered by the sensation of having gained a prophet-like field of vision—
Felicia.
One person suddenly came to mind.
The sword prodigy who could see mana directly, predict every movement of her opponent, and find the optimal path.
Only then did Lucian realize what he had obtained.
So this is how she was seeing the world.
READ MORE CHAPTERS HERE : pokemon-translation-2.myshopify.com
AND FOR DISCOUNT USE CODE : LAUNCH20