Published: July 4, 2025
On the morning of the eighteenth day since the darwei public ship No. 10 departed from the port town of Hoi An in the Duchy of Atinjo.
"Today, we are making port, right? In the town of Shunbore or something?"
"Seems so."
Ryo asked, and Abel answered.
Both of them tend to be active fairly early in the morning.
Abel wakes up at six o'clock.
Since becoming the king of the Naitorei Kingdom, he had been waking up at six every day, so even now, as an adventurer, he finds himself waking up at six without fail.
Ryo also wakes up around six-thirty.
However, when he's in the mood, he sometimes stays up until midnight... for instance, when reading alchemy books or conducting alchemy research...
On such days, he might wake up a bit later the next morning, but still manages to get up by six-thirty.
And now.
On the first deck, Abel swings his sword while Ryo pulls out a block of ice and tinkers with it.
This was their confirmation session for the day, doing their own things.
"Hey, Ryo."
"What is it, Abel?"
"That thing you're messing with, you've been at it for quite a while, huh?"
As Abel swings his sword, he glances sideways at Ryo's hands and points it out.
"You noticed, huh? Well... I've been experimenting with it for about ten days."
Ryo smiles but continues to write something on the ice block in front of him.
In other words, it’s a study of something related to alchemy.
At the tip of the ice block, there’s something resembling a tabletop fan about the size of a cup... or rather, it looks more like a handheld fan.
He seems to be tinkering with various magical formulas and testing how their behaviors change.
"I've always thought... could it be that string of 1024 characters?"
At Abel's words, Ryo looks up in surprise.
His expression clearly shows that he’s taken aback.
"You got it! Huh? Did I mention it?"
"No, you didn’t say anything... I just kind of thought so when I saw you working on it."
"Abel... actually, you might have a remarkable talent for being an alchemist. Once we return to the kingdom, let's have you apprentice under Kenneth right away!"
"Why would I do that..."
"They say strike while the iron is hot. They also say a good day is when you think of something. It’s better to go for it while you can!"
For some reason, Ryo is pushing for an engagement in alchemy and an apprenticeship under Kenneth.
But Abel just shrugged and replied.
"I can’t use magic, you know."
"Ah..."
That's right; a top-notch alchemist is also a top-notch mage... alchemy and magic are essentially two sides of the same coin.
It seems you can't be an alchemist without the ability to use magic.
"It’s alright. They say if you believe, the path will open. Let’s aim to be the world’s first alchemist who can’t use magic."
"If I get too into alchemy... who’s going to handle the paperwork? Are you going to do it for me?"
"Well, that’s not going to work."
Ryo panics at the sudden influx of work.
However, there’s a good idea.
Abel will enter the field of alchemy... then!
"We should create an Abel substitute golem!"
"Huh?"
"A golem that will approve paperwork in your place, and we can assign the work to that golem!"
"Will it really... judge the contents of the documents properly and approve them? What if it just signs anything?"
"That’s up to Abel’s skill."
Ryo confidently states with a strangely assured expression in response to Abel's concern.
"Whether or not you can make a proper golem is entirely up to you."
"That’s... can I really make a golem after just a few weeks of starting alchemy?"
"That’s impossible. You need to be proficient enough to stand at the edge of the abyss of alchemy..."
"Then I won't make it in time."
"Y-Yeah, maybe..."
To become top-tier at anything takes time.
"I'll abandon the Abel the Alchemist project."
Ryo shakes his head sadly.
"Well, that’s fine with my alchemy, but there’s that string of 1024 characters."
"Right."
"If we use that, it amplifies magical power, right?"
"Yes, that’s certainly correct."
"Are you saying you want to use that in Ryo's alchemy tools?"