Chapter Ninety-three: Searching for a Master
Karen thought Natalia had just called her over just to chitchat, but she ended up taking her to a private room at the Alchemists’ Guild. The last time Karen had been in this room was when she accepted Julius’ request.
“Karen, after I spread the word that you were looking for someone to apprentice under, several alchemists have stepped forward offering to be your master. Multiple ones, in fact.”
“Really!?”
Karen let out a cheer.
“From B-rank alchemist Oliver who serves adventurers to A-rank alchemist Violetta known as the Ageless Witch, there are quite a few well-known alchemists showing interest.”
From across the sofa where Karen sat, Natalia handed her a list with the names of alchemists. It contained the names of many famous alchemists lined up, making Karen’s heart race with excitement.
“It’s unheard of for so many high-ranking alchemists to offer an apprenticeship to an E-rank alchemist. Normally, you’d rarely even get approached. Usually, even if you bowed your head and begged to be taken as an apprentice, you’d be turned away at the door. In other words, everyone truly values your paper that much.”
“I see, I see!”
After returning to the royal capital from the Ehlertt territory, Karen completed her paper on a non-magical potion that could heal the Bloodline Blessing and submitted it to the Alchemists’ Guild.
If approved by the guild, she could present her paper at the alchemy section of the Royal Exhibition held in the fifth month of the year. And if it gained international recognition, she would receive an invitation to the Continental Alchemy Union meeting, a gathering of alchemists that transcended national and racial boundaries.
Of course, Karen hadn’t set her hopes that high.
But for Sieg’s sake, who had agreed to receive treatment based on her sweet persuasion, she did feel some pressure to gain recognition. And she hoped this paper would serve as her calling card as an alchemist to find a good master.
“Now I can study alchemy… thank goodness.”
Karen slumped down onto the sofa in relief.
To study alchemy, one method was to read papers. However, there was a limit to what an E-rank alchemist could learn from the papers they were allowed to read. So when considering what to do next, the obvious solution was to become an apprentice to a high-ranking alchemist of C-rank or above.
Karen had consulted with Natalia about possibly finding a master. Most aspiring alchemists already had a high-ranking alchemist as their master through connections with parents or acquaintances. But for alchemists like Karen who discovered their talent at school and had no connections, seeking a master through the Alchemists’ Guild was the standard practice.
“Normally, the guild representative—in this case, me—would start by introducing you to high-ranking alchemists. Even with an introduction, they wouldn’t accept you right away. You’d have to approach many alchemists and, if you finally got a positive response, negotiations of terms would begin.”
“But I’m getting so many offers, right? Amazing! Can I choose from this list?”
While independent alchemists might be different, only C-rank or higher alchemists were qualified to take apprentices.
Karen had thought she would be fortunate just to find a C-rank alchemist as her master, but now even B-rank and A-rank alchemists were reaching out to her.
Seeing Karen flustered with excitement, Natalia smiled warmly.
“I’ve declined all the offers from the alchemists on this list.”
“Why would you do that!?”
Even as she cried out, Karen had already guessed that Natalia must have had good reasons.
“To protect your techniques.”
“Protect my techniques?”
As Karen tilted her head in confusion, Natalia let out a sigh.
“Several useful non-magical potions are currently considered special potions that only you can create. For these potions to be officially recognized as your creation, you need to submit a completed paper to the Alchemists’ Guild before anyone else.”
“But I already submitted the paper, didn’t I?”
There was the paper about the Bloodline Blessing that had prompted so many alchemists to recognize her and offer to take her as an apprentice.
“When an A-rank alchemist from the Alchemists’ Guild tried to recreate the potion from that paper, they couldn’t make it. In other words, that paper is incomplete.”
“Not again…”
“It would be fine if this were truly a special potion that only you could make. But if that’s not the case, then as I mentioned with your previous paper, you’re forgetting to write down something about the understanding.”
“I wonder what it could be…?”
As Karen pondered, Natalia leaned forward with a serious expression and lowered her voice.
“Once you enter a master-apprentice relationship, you basically can’t disobey, and it becomes difficult to keep your research secret. If the person who becomes your master discovers what you’ve forgotten to write before you do, and then submits a paper with the complete recipe on their own, that non-magical potion will become your master’s invention. All your effort, research, achievements, and honor will be for nothing.”
“You mean my research could be stolen while I’m still working on it? Can such terrible things happen?”
“Whether it’s unethical or not depends on interpretation.”
As Karen’s eyes widened, Natalia shook her head.
“The foundation of many potions today was originally invented by elves.”
“Elves, huh.”
Elves were a race that worshipped the World Tree, a gigantic tree considered a divine manifestation of the goddess, and lived in the forest where the World Tree stood. It was said that the blood of spirits flowed in their veins. They had long ears, blonde hair, and skin that was white with a slight greenish tint. Born with abundant magical power, they excelled at magic and were often beautiful in appearance.
They didn’t live in Karen’s neighborhood, but she occasionally saw them walking around town. Rarely, they were part of high-ranking adventurer parties, and she had spoken with some at adventurers’ bars. Her impression was that talking with them wasn’t much different from talking with regular humans.
“They have an oral culture and don’t leave written records, so many recipes have been lost. And even if they know the recipes, they don’t necessarily share them. Say we humans research and rediscover these recipes on our own. Would the credit go to the elves who once made the potions but didn’t leave records? That wouldn’t be right, would it?”
“Hmm?”
Seeing that Karen still didn’t quite understand, Natalia continued:
“Some of them live for about a thousand years, you know? Even for things humans invented over several generations spanning hundreds of years, if an elf says they started the research first deep in the forest and have been researching for five hundred years so the rights should be returned to them, humans would be left with nothing.”
“Ah… so even what we humans build over lifetimes or generations could be considered theft from an elf’s perspective…”
Karen’s face twitched as she finally understood. Her values were concepts that only applied in a human-only world and wouldn’t work in a world with multiple races.
“That’s why the Continental Alchemy Union, which includes elves, has agreed that whoever submits a recipe that can be reproduced by anyone with certain skills will be registered as the inventor.”
“Without that, short-lived races wouldn’t be able to accomplish anything.”
Despite being called short-lived, humans in this world lived long lives, with those having large amounts of magical power reportedly living up to three hundred years. Even so, they couldn’t possibly match the elves’ thousand years.
“So, it’s not a crime for a master to steal their apprentice’s research.”
“You’re calling it stealing though.”
“Well, such complaints are occasionally filed with the Alchemists’ Guild. But most apprentices end up giving in. Then again, the testimony of an apprentice who only has enough skill to beg for teachings from their master is questionable regarding how true it is.”
“So that’s what would be said if my work was stolen too.”
“Exactly.”
Between the testimony of a high-ranking, accomplished master and Karen’s word—if people who didn’t know Karen had to choose whom to believe, ten out of ten would side with the master.
“So, is it impossible for me to have a master?”
As Karen’s shoulders drooped, Natalia smoothly pulled another piece of paper from her bag.
“There’s one alchemist who wants to be your master so badly that he has agreed to extremely unfavorable conditions, including confidentiality agreements. I’ve secured him for you.”
“…Isn’t that extremely rare?”
“It’s common for apprentices to get the short end of the stick, but for a master to accept such a disadvantage—it’s unheard of. Still, he agreed. That’s why I recommend this person as your mentor.”
“If you’re recommending him, Natalia, I’ll choose him!”
Since Karen was certain that Natalia had chosen with her best interests in mind, she spoke before even looking at the documents Natalia was holding out.
At that moment, a hand was placed on Karen’s shoulder.
“Waah!?”
“I’m Yuluyana, Ms. Natalia’s recommended master. Pleased to meet you, Ms. Karen.”
Standing behind the startled Karen was an elf with long blonde hair and round glasses. The beautiful elven man showed Karen, whose eyes were wide with surprise, a beaming smile.
I wanna see Yuluyana illustrated so badly!
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