Published: July 3, 2025
“Kenneth! Is Kenneth there~!”
A man dressed in a robe, resembling a mage, shouted something at the entrance of the Royal Alchemy Workshop.
After several calls, a response finally came from deep inside.
“Ah, yes, yes, just wait a moment!”
However, the person who came out was not Kenneth.
It was a scene I had seen somewhere before.
That feeling of déjà vu…
The Royal Alchemy Workshop had escaped the royal capital before its fall and relocated its functions to the City of Run.
After the liberation war of the Naitorei Kingdom concluded, just the other day, all of its functions finally returned to the royal capital.
As if he had been eagerly waiting for this moment, the robe-clad mage had come to visit.
Last time, the man had reached this entrance unnoticed by the guards.
This time…
The one who appeared at the entrance was Raden, a subordinate of Baron Kenneth Hayward.
“Huh? Ryo-san? It’s been a while… but I didn’t receive any notice from the guards.”
As Raden said this, a guard rushed from the gate, saying something in haste.
“Your grace, please wait~!”
This time, Ryo had properly shown the guard the identification plate of “Duke Rondo” to gain entry.
However, after retrieving the plate, he had simply used his water jet thruster to come to the entrance.
It was only natural for the guard to follow behind him…
Ryo was led to the same “Analysis Room” as before, one of the largest rooms in the alchemy workshop.
There, as before, were Baron Kenneth Hayward, the head of the workshop, and the captured artificial golem of the alliance…
“The golem… is gone…”
Ryo’s eyes widened as he looked around.
“Golem is gone,” he muttered repeatedly, as if in a trance…
Kenneth looked extremely embarrassed.
Ryo's wandering gaze continued until Raden came in with two cups of coffee.
At that point, Ryo finally accepted the reality.
He knelt on the ground, both hands and knees pressed down, bowing his head in despair.
“I’m sorry, Ryo-san. When we withdrew from the royal capital, we… well, we melted it down.”
“Eh…”
“By the instructions of his royal highness the crown prince. It was probably to prevent it from falling into the Empire’s hands.”
“Ah… so it was Prince Cain’s…”
The Royal Alchemy Workshop had escaped the royal capital before its fall and fled to the southern City of Run, all by the orders of the then crown prince, Cain.
On his deathbed, Cain had anticipated the defeat of the royal army and the fall of the royal capital, giving those instructions.
Thanks to this, Kenneth and the kingdom's alchemical materials were prevented from falling into the Empire's hands.
Ryo held a high opinion of Crown Prince Cain even during his lifetime.
“If it was the crown prince's instructions, then there's nothing we can do. After all, it did prevent it from reaching the Empire.”
Ryo nodded vigorously as he said this and stood up.
He was revived.
However, a sudden doubt arose in his mind.
“But, was it really… easy to melt?”
Even on the battlefield, the golem had been penetrated by Vaidra, and had been surrounded by many duchy forces, causing it to become inactive, but it should not have melted from fire attribute magic or anything like that.
When he saw it in the “Analysis Room,” it did not seem like it could melt easily either…
Kenneth smiled slightly and returned the question with a question.
“Do you know about fusion magic, Ryo-san?”
“Fusion magic?”
Ryo tilted his head but had a faint recollection of it.
“I think I heard of it when I had a discussion about magic with Ilalion before. Something about ‘fusion magic with alchemy’ was announced or something…”
“Yes, that’s it!”
Kenneth beamed as Ryo recalled the information from his dim memory.
“Actually, I announced it a year ago…”
Kenneth said shyly.
“Seriously…”
Ryo was astonished.
And it was only natural.
Ilalion had once said,
“It might change the future of magic in the Central Nations.”
Of course, Kenneth Hayward was a genius in alchemy, a person Ryo had unilaterally regarded as his alchemy master… but it seemed he was an even greater genius than imagined…