Editing Magdala de Nemure:Volume01 Chapter2

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== Act 2==

He tidied the books and the parchment rolls that were moved into the workshop. Kusla lined them alongside the items left behind by the former resident Alchemists, and swapped out the material he had yet to read. There were a number of books made from the leather of large animals like deer or items hard as a board, some of them even laced with gold foil. One would find, upon opening them, long and flowing print with vibrant illustrations. It was evidently a very labor-intensive process.

A workshop near the battlefront is really amazing, Kusla thought.

“But randomly approaching an Alchemist itself is a mistake. Nobody told you that before you came here?”

“But… I never…”

“Wayland… well, he’s that kind of beast who’ll eat everything. No matter how young that girl is, even if she’s a nun, he’ll take them all.”

“Also, those genuine Alchemists have something more terrifying than an appetite for the flesh. For a beast like Wayland, a pure maiden is the best toy that can provide three times the enjoyment.

“As for the second, of course, there’s no need for me to say this. The one being delighted… well, it’s painful.”

He probably understood that Wayland was the embodiment of evil in Fenesis’ heart, the emissary of Hell, a mad Alchemist of darkness and diabolism.

Kusla himself understood this relief, “God Bless You!” and thought this with realization.

<i>“Am I wrong?”</i> Upon hearing this, Fenesis widened her mouth as she stared at Kusla.

And Alchemists were of the complete opposite, despised by many.

<i>She’s so young.</i> Upon seeing this, Kusla thought. It would be easy to fool her no matter how many times he wanted to.

“For an Alchemist, there’s no such thing as a real name or what. An Alchemist is a seeker of something that goes beyond what humans can do. That is not what a human can do; to someone straying off the right path, a human’s name is not needed. Once we die, our names won’t be engraved on the tombstone. We’re often thrown deep into the forest or in the wilderness; and for that case, there is even less of a reason to have a real name.”

“So what is a non-human like you, {{Furigana|Kusla|Interest}}, looking for?”

Fenesis was slightly hesitant, probably wondering what an Alchemist was talking about.

<i>Perhaps he’s not as bad as I think he is?</i> This notion was clearly written on her face. Perhaps she was still not used to suspecting others.

<i>That was dangerous.</i> Kusla thought.

She was a thorough believer in the orthodox way, to a point where it was refreshing.

That was why, for Kusla, he had to be controlled even if he expected it.

<i>Are you comforting me?</i> Just when her eyes were showing signs of relief, there was shame and animosity. Perhaps Fenesis’ ideal image was to have a pure, firm, steel-like believing heart of a Sister.

It was not uncommon to have someone watch over an Alchemist.

Rather, it would be expected to send in an invigilator, as Alchemists would carry out experiments that bystanders would not understand, experiments where they would risk their lives nonchalantly.

This would not be the first time an invigilator was sent to watch over them.

Besides, Fenesis should have some knowledge of the subject of Alchemy, a requisite needed to be tasked with the role of an invigilator. However, it is obvious to see if there were pagan magic used if one were to compare the methods used with the books belonging to the priests with prestige.

The workshop below had a lot more items inside than the one upstairs, and at first glance, it was impossible to determine what items were inside, and where they were located.

“Ah, sorry. I was thinking that the predecessor was really a capable person.”

Even after Friche’s was killed, and her body was mutilated, Kusla merely thought about Alchemy. However, there was a damp feeling rising in his body.

A highly skilled Alchemist had gone.

It was probable that the name Thomas Blanket was simply a borrowed name, and nobody knew where he came from. There was no grave, and a few years later, nobody would remember this name. What he left behind was simply this workshop and the Alchemy knowledge, and since Kusla and Wayland moved into this workshop right away, it would inadvertently become something that used to belong to him.

This was the fate that awaited Alchemists.

“However, I suppose most of the amazing Alchemists end up like Wayland.”

“In that sense, I am a Second-rate as an Alchemist.”

“…That… as expected…”

“In an experiment, we might end up creating deadly gas that may be invisible to the eyes, undetectable to the nose, and will make you lose consciousness if your breath it in.”

With so many poisons around her, there was a high chance of her dying randomly, even as compared to the chances of her being killed. This felt more realistic than all the exaggerated rumors regarding Alchemists she heard of.

But Kusla was not completely joking when he said that. Originally, if Fenesis were to die at this place, they would definitely seize upon the opportunity to pursue Post because of the sacrificial pawn’s contribution. The logic was, <i>The killer is the Alchemist under your charge, so you have to bear responsibility.</i> In that case, there was a chance Fenesis’ superior would poison her food.

“Have you… always lived this lifestyle?”

Perhaps she was amazed by the Alchemists.

“Half of an Alchemist’s job is done in the workshop below, and the other half is done in the city.”

“The Alchemists who can’t develop good relationships with the craftsmen in the city are third-rate. It may be surprising, but those who aren’t adept at socializing can’t become Alchemists.”

It might be hard to imagine anyone who could force the terrifying Alchemists to kowtow.

“That… yes.”

“Ah… it’s fine. There’s nothing that defies the Church’s teachings. Your compatriots have already checked through them.”

The outside was dyed a dark red, and it was extremely cold. Before he closed the door, he glanced behind, and found Fenesis staring at the shelves replete with books with a jubilant expression. He recalled she was reading books when he arrived with Wayland. I guess this is to be expected of a well-cultured Sister after all.

With this as the signal, the city ostensibly heaves a sigh of relief after a long days’ worth of work, and all regular activities and stalls lined on both sides of the streets started to pack up.

She did give the vibe matching a Metalworks Guild, and the long red hair reaching out from under the handkerchief was as messy as a sailor’s, but gave a sense of reliability.

“So, you’re the one.”

“You are the new incoming Alchemist, am I correct?”

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“What about Mr. Robert Brunner?”

“I am an Alchemist affiliated to the Knights, and I come here without a name and without a home, only skills. I hope, for the sake of the Knights, crusaders of God who aim to bring justice to the land, and for the sake of the almighty God’s name, to get the maximum efforts of Gulbetty’s Metalworks Guild.”

“…I really am troubled by such direct words.”

“At the previous town, I really scoffed at those Alchemists.”

Also, the Blacksmiths, who work for a living, would have better experience in the field of Metalworks. Also, there was a vast difference in iron content in different regions, and even an experienced Alchemist could not match that of a local Blacksmith’s. For cities with powerful Guilds, the forestalling of an Alchemist’s materials was a common sight, and certainly, it was not rare to see even the backers of an Alchemist end up powerless.

Thus, it was a tradition for an Alchemist to kowtow to the workers when he arrives at a new town. This way, he could obtain skills, knowledge and materials, and the new techniques derived thereafter would be repayment to the craftsmen. This is despite it being a mere expression of formality.

Perhaps it could be said that even if there was a veteran bearded Blacksmith with a chiseled body, his body would appear small in the face of the Knights’ overwhelming finances, and had to remain silent as a result.

“The Knights sure are shady, but I do not think they are this primitive.”

This woman really has guts for choosing an Alchemist as someone she can vent her frustrations on, Kusla thought.

“One of these days, the Northern cities will fall, so will there not be a new influx of immigrants? Everyone is starting to save up their wealth to show their loyalty to the Knights. After a thorough discussion, everyone agreed that our Guild’s directive in the future is to give our all for the noble Alchemist.”

“An Alchemist has to seek truth.”

“He was a serious and just man who sought the truth.”

<i>Can drown like this.</i>

He placed the parchments on the workdesk, and Wayland too was surprised by this.

“I checked on the items left behind in this workshop, and the purity of the ingots are shockingly high. The purity is higher than the standard ingots I brought from my previous workshop. It is exasperating, to be honest. However, iron sand isn’t the only thing that can be mined in this region; there are a lot of inferior ores filled with sulfur and lots of other. If these are ingots refined from that kind of iron, that method he used is practically magic. There’s no way the Blacksmiths in town can do this.”

Kusla gulped. For an Alchemist, Magdala was a unique term, a place all Alchemists aimed to reach.

Wayland’s skills were better than Kusla even though they were fellow peers in the field of Alchemy, and thus, he would take this term more seriously. If he were to say it, it meant that it was not a joke.

“This might be the reason why that oaf Post chose to lock up this place and not tidy it up even if the Choir has to keep an eye on him. If that man is able to make such high-quality ingots, his standing must be high up there or something.”

Alchemists would never record their findings on parchment, and most of them choose to leave their records in a corner of the building. They could not predict what would happen, and may end up being eliminated for political reasons. For that reason, they would leave their findings in the furnace, roof beams, or under the floor tiles. Sometimes, they would even leave their results in the form of codes.

“Once he knows the technique, he can ignore the Choir’s interference, demolish the workshop, build another one somewhere else, and produce iron in masses while being heavily protected. I guess this is the reason why the workshop here was not demolished. This place might be the crux to solving the code, and then, we will be able to see Thomas’ refined techniques and how diligent he was.”

The symbols used could only be understood by Alchemists, and astrology knowledge was added as a distraction.

“It might be a little forced to treat this as blaspheming God… anyway, I guess the structure is that the results of each metal purifying will be used as a code written at the back end. Every time there is a development, he will use the records before to create a code and make it difficult for others to take what he achieved. I guess he was killed after he made that shockingly pure iron, and did not even have the time to make a proper conclusion.”

“If we want to find out how to make iron with such purity, we need to go back to the start, follow Thomas’ footsteps, and find out where did he make the mistake. There is no way an ordinary Alchemist can do this. I guess we are not just simple sacrificial pawns after all.”

And as Alchemists, there was reason for them to be excited.

“No matter the reason, this is an Alchemist who was outstanding enough to be killed.”

“Yeah. An overly strong mercenary may be killed not only by his enemies, but also his employer. It will be troublesome if he revolts. If the Church gets this technique… and I guess this is the reason. If the production of iron can be controlled, the Church will catch in in the war to purge the pagans.”

“Take note of your surroundings and watch out for more details than anyone else. If you keep staying in the workshop, you will not realize that the city is occupied by the enemy.”

Auripedes was a man from an ancient kingdom, hailed as an inventor, but was more of a forefather to Alchemy.

In this era, a fool like him would never be a good Alchemist.

But in regard to Wayland’s words, Kusla could only look over with a weary attitude.

“Correct. This is a workshop with two grown men living here, you know~. It is already a mistake to leave a nun here, and we cannot deny something might happen no matter how much we try to prevent it. Though it seems that you are not willing to do this, Kusla.”

“This is an Alchemist’s workshop, my country.”

Kusla wanted to ignore the person, for it works to chase him away. He however clearly saw who the person was when the latter tried to peek through the shutter gap.

She was probably a little lost, wondering if it was Kusla or Wayland inside. If she knew her trail of thought was seen through, what will her expression be like?

“What… is with this?”

But Fenesis’ answer was a little vague. There were stones and powder filled in little vessels of all shapes and sizes, laid out in front of the parchment on the table. There were also drawings of tools and stars on it, and the words gave a sense of stateliness. On first glance, it must be something related to magic or something.

“Uu… I will pay attention to that.”

Using Wayland as a demotivation certainly worked like a charm.

“Then… why are you dressed up like this?”

“Before I go, let me notify you of some things to take note of. It is still fine if there is a stench resembling that of rotten eggs, but if you smell anything similar to crushed rocks, or if there is black smoke appearing from the furnace chimney, hold your breath, quickly run outside, and run to the Baggage Corps’ headquarters. It is very likely that asphalt is being burned. I told you before, during the introduction to this workshop, that the hand of the Death God may reach out for you any time. Once you breathe in it, some colorless and odorless gases will take your life away. In that situation, call some people here immediately to stop Wayland’s madness; anyway, whether the town becomes a town of death… it will depend on what you do.”

<i>Please do not leave me here.</i> However, this was what her eyes were saying.

Kusla tried his best to look unwilling, and Fenesis used this chance to ostensibly regain some pride as an invigilator. She showed the expression of a drowning person who touched the bottom of a lake, trying her best to gain self-confidence.

In this town, one could find many mercenaries and knights strolling around, and many shops that were built to indulge them. On the other hand, there were also homicidal clergymen who did not want to linger around in the Church, and that they felt the battlefield was a place to test their faith.

In other cities, all moneymaking acts deemed as vile would be denounced, but at this place, things were completely different; they were rationalized for being a mean to finance the war against the Pagans. Not only that, but as long as they earn money, even if it meant trading with Pagans, it would be deemed as robbing wealth from the Pagans.

A running theme in this place was that if there were some varying circumstances, there would be an unfamiliar outcome. This was utterly similar to the acts of the Alchemists, and one could say this town itself was a smelting pot of Alchemy.

<i>Right now, if I point out that she has been timid up till just now, her face will be flushed red, and she will probably snap back at me while looking like she is ready to bite me.</i>

<i>Looks like she has more or less recovered a little. Since she is asking such questions so gleefully, I really want to pat her on the head.</i>

“I will not buy such things, and besides, there is none of those to buy anyway. What I need now is wheat, rye, oat, chicken eggs, goat’s milk; also, full-bodied grape wine, and…”

Her tone seemed to indicate she did not think Alchemists need to eat.

“Certainly.”

“They are normally used for tanning. Do you know what tanning is?” Kusla asked, and for a while, Fenesis did not answer. This lack of answer demonstrated the fact that she did not understand what it was.

<i>Am I correct?</i> Fenesis straightened her body and puffed her chest, looking a little delighted.

“The complicated part is when there is a lot of impurities other than iron. In that situation, the refining process is a lot more complicated. For example, when there is lead impurity inside, we have to first heat the ingot, melt away the lead that is easier to get rid of, and what is left is an iron block like coarse cotton. We take it out, cool it, smash it with a hammer to even everything out, and wash it in running water. After washing it in running water, there will be different layers in the mineral; some will sink fast, some will slowly sink, all due to the different densities. In that situation, we can simply choose to extract iron as far as possible, put it into the furnace, and melt it again. After that, we add some charcoal, some wood blocks with leaves on them, and afterwards, some lead. The reason why we have to add lead again is because it will melt sooner than iron, will melt away some of the extra impurities within, and allow us to extract them. The adding of charcoal and wood is to increase the purity. Sometimes, we may add things like egg shells and lime. Lime here… is some white rocks.”

“The heating lasts between sunrise and sunset, or about there. At this point, factors like adding charcoal, the method of heating, and time taken will affect the product. When waiting for the heat to take place, we have to remove the floating impurities and throw them away. Once everything is done, we remove the melted material and cool it, and after this phase, if we want to create things like swords or armor, we need to continue the processes of forging and quenching. If there is sulfur and other impurities, we need to change the temperature and additives used. That is probably the gist of it.”

“You are my invigilator, correct? It is necessary to exchange information and have mutual trust with you.”

“You Alchemists are all followers of heresy, spit upon God, disrupt the order in the world, and indulge in carousel, or so I heard.”

Kusla handed a sack over to Fenesis, and she instinctively received it. But soon after, she immediately frowned, for it was a sack filled with horse and cow feces.”

For she just called it a heresy in front of an Alchemist.

These were goods Alchemists would continue to look on at, but amongst them, there was something that caught his eyes more.

“I suppose this is pure silver?”

“My name is Kusla, and I am an Alchemist.”

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While he abides by this foolish-like bureaucratic procedures, Kusla would be able to secretly steal the Holy Mother statuette from Fenesis, melt it, and give some vague answers afterwards. It was unlikely the Higher-ups would have an argument over a mere statuette of the Holy Mother.

This was the basic of basic ways an Alchemist could accumulate money.

“Most of the people at the Knights misunderstand us. It is true that there are some Alchemists pursuing an elixir of immortality, or a miracle elixir that can cure all sorts of ailments; As for me…I too am chasing after for something a little ridiculous.”

“Because there is an unhinged mind.”

“Right, I cannot stop. Once I find a certain objective, I would have an irresistible urge to track it down to its origins. Those obsessed with metallurgy cannot bear it if they cannot find the perfect metallurgical method. What if I use this method do this, what about this, how about that? We will continue to work on it after countless attempts and countless methods, until we gain progress. In that case, what do you think will happen?”

If the purity of iron can be raised through the use of ample charcoal, what about other forms of coal? And so, they would burn all sorts of items to form coal, and add them little by little. In the end, the results would definitely vary. One would then wonder if it was due to something else. Someone said it was because of the type of wood, another said it was due to the humidity in the weather; another said, no, the constellations two days ago were not aligned properly, and finally, someone called out, saying it was best when he went to the Church to repent.

“Craftsmen gain their rewards through the production of items, and of what quality these products are of, but we are not like that. It is just that our interests coincide with those in authority. To an outsider, we may seem to be committing folly, and I myself to think this is the case. However, we just like what we like, and we pursue for whatever we want to pursue. the issue is that the people around us do not think of it this way. They will simply wonder what this person is plotting, what that person is going to come up with that. For that person is an Alchemist… someone who strayed off the path…”

“Anyway, we can only take the remarks the people around us make for the sake of our research. If we do not do so, we will not be able to ensure ourselves. But this will cause us to be more demented as a result, and in the end, we end up being watched by a Sister with an honest religious heart.”

In regard to this brief question from Fenesis, Kusla was startled for a while.

“Who knows? Nothing like this had happened to anyone else other than me. Do you think I can imagine the joy of {{Furigana|Interest|Kusla}} sleeping peacefully?”

“At this point, I am starting to realize how embarrassing this name is, but people everywhere seem to be suspecting me.”

<i>Did I express myself too plainly?</i> He did think of this before.

Those in this line of occupation would have to be more open-minded about such events that were to be expected, but as for why others would overreact to the things he did in his pursuit of his interests? This question often lingered in him. The motive behind an Alchemist becoming one was truly a trivial matter, and there was nothing to exaggerate.

But her smile gradually vanished, and with that remaining expression left on her face, she looked over at her hand.

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