The Greatest Genius Alchemist Of All Time Wants To Retire - Chapter 15 - Welcome to the Canovarian Alchemist Society -
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- Chapter 15 - Welcome to the Canovarian Alchemist Society - - A Brief Rest and Disaster –
Chapter 15 – Welcome to the Canovarian Alchemist Society –
Translator: Xean
Editor: SevenTails
After escaping from Alice, we quickly got down to business.
「Actually, I talked to the Alchemist Society about the research in question… but they said no one could understand it. However, from now on, they’ll be funding your research on a regular basis.」
「… Seriously? My research will be funded!?」
「Yes. I mean, it’s weird that you haven’t been funded yet. The president wants you to come over after school today to finalize the application. Are you available?」
「Yes, I’m available… I’d love to do some more research on Proto, but it’s unavoidable. Funding is very important to me.」
「Okay, see you after school. I’ll come with you.」
「Why are you coming along? Can’t I go by myself?」
「Ha~a… You’re still a minor, you need to have a guardian or a witness.」
「Hmm, okay. I understand.」
「Okay, well then, please take care of me.」
And then, I headed to my lab.
Research funding. With that money, I can do a lot of things. There are projects that I want to do which cost a fortune. No matter how much money I’m making, it’s always good to have more.
After school ended, I and Fii walked side by side to the Alchemist Society, the largest in the world being in this country. The Canovarian Alchemy Society is so well-known that everyone knows about it, and such an association was just a ten-minute walk away from the Academy. It’s only natural that both the Alchemist Society and the Academy were located in the center of the country. It’s more convenient that way.
「By the way, how is Noah-san doing?」
「Ah, Uncle? I think he’s doing well. He’s looking forward to seeing Elle today.」
「I see. I’m looking forward to seeing him too.」
Noah Medis. He was Fii’s uncle and Rita’s father. He was also the second son, so he didn’t take over the family, but he’s been the president of the Alchemist Society for decades now. Noah was such an outstanding figure and was considered the closest thing to a Blue Stellar Class Alchemist before I became one.
He was a person who I consider a friend, someone who knew about my love for crops. Anyone else who heard about my agricultural projects raised an eyebrow, especially when it came to nobles, but Noah was open to my project from the start. According to him, “Whatever the purpose, we can’t afford to not respect the contributors to the advancement of alchemy.” Noah-san has been a big help to me since the first time we met, and I think this research funding was also made possible by his help. I’m truly grateful.
「We’ve arrived.」
「Okay. Well then, let’s go to the top floor.」
We took the elevator to the top floor. Normally we’d have to go through the formalities at the reception desk, but since our faces were well-known, Fii and I passed by without additional paperwork. The lady at the reception desk just smiled at us and we went through.
*Ding* We arrived at the top floor, and after a short walk, we arrived at the Chairman’s office.
Fii knocked on the door with a thud.
「Uncle, it’s Fii. I’ve brought Elle with me.」
「Oh! Come in.」
「Excuse me.」
「… Excuse me」
Fii and I bow our heads and then enter the room. It was a simple room. It had a bookcase, was filled with papers, and only a desk and a chair in it. Noah-san had been working here for a long time. He wore glasses making him look very smart, even at a glance. He was the chairman of the association, so it’s only natural for him to be talented.
I greeted Noah right away.
「Noah-san! It’s been a long time.」
「Hello, Elle. Yes, it’s been a long time. How’s the research going?」
「Well, that’s actually…」
「Get to that later, but right now we have important things to do!」
「Hahaha, Fii is as serious as ever.」
Noah-san laughed and held out a piece of paper.
「You’ll have to sign this. I’m sorry for the late research funding.」
「No, I should be the one thanking you. As a Blue Stellar Class Alchemist from a farming family, there must be a lot of things going on among the nobility and associations. I understand completely.」
「It a relief to hear you say that.」
「Here, I’m done writing.」
「… Unn. It’s all good. So, starting next month, we’ll give you your research fund every month.」
「Thank you very much.」
As I bowed my head, Noah’s eyes became more serious than before.
「So Fii told me you have a new paper?」
「Yes! Listen to this, Uncle! Elle did an amazing thing!」
Fii exclaimed while looking quite excited. I then took out a thick stack of paper from the bag I was holding.
「Here it is…」
「Ho… The evolution of full independent artificial intelligence.」
「Yes, sir.」
「Let me have a look.」
Noah-san skimmed through my paper briefly. It didn’t take long, though. The research paper was so long, but there was a summary at the end. If you just look through it, you’ll get the gist of it.
「Proto is the carrot, right?」
「Yes.」
「It walked straight up.」
「Yes. There’s no doubt about it. It’s walking around the workshop today.」
「This here… states that the self-supporting bipedal technique was learned naturally…」
「Right now, it’s only a possibility. If we study it a little more closely, we might be able to control that natural learning process. 」
「So you’re saying that modifying the homunculi after birth is possible?」
「Theoretically, it’s possible.」
「Hmm. Interesting. And this feat so soon after you just created the homunculus. You truly surprise me. 」
「Thank you for the praise, Noah-san.」
「But I’m sorry…」
「I can’t publish it yet. Isn’t that right?」
「Yeah. There’s been a lot of movement among the mystics lately, I’m sure Fii has told you about it.」
「Yes.」
I told him what I’ve heard from Fii, and Noah added more information.
「Fii. You left right after that, didn’t you?」
「Yes, but… did something happen?」
「Apparently the mystics are planning to make Elle the sect leader.」
「「Eeeehhh…!?」」
Fii and my voices overlap. We were in serious trouble.
「Didn’t they just lose their leader last year? And here I thought, the second prince was leading them.」
「Oscar Canovaria, I believe, right? Princess Alice said the same thing today.」
「Hmm. Apparently not, Prince Oscar is there to make you a sect leader whatever it takes. He’s really determined to make you one.」
「Bu-… but I’m not a mystic or a theorist. I’m a farmer.」
「It would be nice if they could understand that as well but… Elle-kun will probably be approached in the near future. Be careful.」
「Yes, I understand.」
I nodded casually and Fii next to me paled a bit.
「Well, uncle… are you telling us they’ll do something?」
「It’s still just a rumour, but there can’t be smoke without fire, right?」
「… I see. Elle, what would you do if your crops were ruined?」
「What? I’ll be mad of course.」
「… What if the homunculi are kidnapped or destroyed?」
「… ha?」
I imagined the scenario. Proto and corns destroyed? Were they going to die? My precious children, whom I raised and cared for? I won’t forgive them… and I might lose myself if that happens.
「I’d definitely lose my temper… I might send them flying.」
「I thought so. Look, Uncle, it’s really bad! If Elle took them seriously, there would be a bloodbath! Take action now!」
「… I’ll leave it to Fii.」
「Eeeehhh?!! You think I can stop Elle? I can’t! Elle is super strong in real combat!」
「But as of now, you are the only alchemist with Elle-kun. I am already old. You’ll also need to take tight security measures.」
「Ha~a… Well, I think it’s safe to say that our apartment is tightly guarded.」
Then we chatted about a lot of things and headed back home. On the way, we stopped at the supermarket. We’re going to eat dinner at Fii’s room today. It was a hot pot. Winter has long since ended, but since we’re going to eat together, we decided to make an unseasonal hot pot.
We then went to Fii’s room, made the hot pot, and started eating. Suddenly, Fii said something unexpected.
「Did you read the news today, Elle?」
「No, I didn’t, even I don’t know the basic stuff.」
「I’ve heard that the third labyrinth has been conquered.」
「He~e~ I didn’t know anyone could conquer the labyrinth.」
「Yeah. It’s amazing.」
Labyrinths were considered meaningless constructions.
Fii was talking about the third labyrinth, one of the world’s seven labyrinths. It was a huge underground facility, filled with demons roaming inside that, for some reason, never left the labyrinth. It is said that the labyrinth was made with lost technology.
They have existed for a long time, but the technology in the present is not able to create a labyrinth like that, making it a mystery. It’s believed that the method to create it has been lost. Some theories say that lost technology was a type of alchemy, but that too is a mystery. However, conquering the third labyrinth means that you have reached the bottommost level of it.
「So, what happened at the lowest level of the labyrinth?」
「Well… I don’t know, but I’m sure something happened. Though, I don’t think they’re going to publish it.」
「Yeah, I see. So, who captured it?」
「Allan Rafe, a very famous adventurer.」(TN: レイフ・アラン, Reifu Aran)
「Ah… that makes sense.」
Allan Rafe. The most famous of all adventurers. In this world, there was a self-proclaimed group of people known as adventurers that didn’t belong to any kind of organization. They weren’t registered with an association like the alchemists and did it more as a hobby. Making a living out of it was quite difficult, causing there to be few adventurers, probably not even half the number of alchemists. Occasionally, some alchemists do adventurer-like things, but basically, their main source of living is out of alchemy. That was how harsh, unstable and unrewarding an adventurer is.
Among them, there was one adventurer who tried to conquer the world’s labyrinths. That was Allan Rafe, someone who even I, who am ignorant to the world news, knew of.
I’m sure he got rich from his achievement of capturing the labyrinth.
「Well, it’s none of our business.」
「A~ah. That’s right.」
I continued eating the hot pot and went straight back to my room.