A Creative Alchemist Enjoys His Freedom – After Being Banished from His Hometown, He Is Now Free to Create Magical Items with Incredible Effects Under the Control of the Demon King - Episode 47

Episode 47: “Going to check out a place suitable for a workshop” 

　A few hours had passed since we left the western forest.
　Mabel, Agnis, and I stopped off in a certain town.
　Today we were to meet up with General Raizenga’s men here.

“I have been waiting for you. I am Rondal, General Raizenga Freyzadd’s butler.”

　Waiting for us at the entrance to the town was a well-built old man.
　He had short red hair and a long beard.

“By order of the General, I will be guiding you to a potential location for the alchemist Thor Kanan-dono’s workshop. I am honoured to have been given such an interesting job. I look forward to working with you!”

　Rondal-san said this and bowed.

　The reason I came to General Raizenga’s territory was also to preview the location for the workshop.
　For that purpose, the General had arranged for a guide.

“Sorry for the trouble, Rondal-san.”
“Oh no, no need to thank me, Thor Kanan-dono!”

　Rondal-san sneezed his beard and laughed.

“Thanks to you, Agnis-sama can now take off her armour. When the young Master Raizenga—no, the General was pleased to see the smile of a young lady without a helmet. It makes my work worth it! Fuhaha!”
“Rondal. If you shout, Thor Kanan-sama will be frightened.”
“That’s rude!”

　Saying this, Rondal-san took my hand──

“From here, let me act as a driver. I’ll show Thor Kanan-dono the places I’ve picked out, along with General!”

　He declared it with great confidence.

“The best place to set up a workshop would be somewhere close to town and with plenty of water, right?”

　Rondal-san said from the driver’s seat in the carriage.

“Yes. It would also be helpful if there were mountains or forests nearby where we could gather the ingredients.”

　I nodded in response to the words over my shoulder.

“I have heard that mining development will be progressing in the General’s territory in the future. Of course, I have no intention of taking any silver from you. However, I would be happy to collect some alchemy materials at the foot of the mountain.
“I understand. In fact, if you would like to make a request, we will gather the necessary materials for you.”
“No, I can’t ask you to go that far…”
“Don’t worry about it. The General has asked me to do everything possible to accommodate Thor Kanan-dono!”

　Rondal closed one eye and grinned.
　…General Reizenga was such a nice guy.

“As for the location of the workshop, I chose a place that was previously used by a merchant or magician.”

　Rondal continued his story.

“Those places are close to the town. If the buildings remain, we can just renovate them. It will be quicker to set up a workshop.”
“Indeed”

　It was quicker to renovate an existing building than to search for land.
　If someone had lived there before, it was a good place to live.
　As expected from General Raizenga’s subordinates, it made sense.

　Next to me, Mabel nodded.
　Agnis was preparing the documents that Rondal brought.
　I was looking at the building plans and the blueprints I drew for the workshop.
　It seemed like it would be okay to leave the choice of location up to the others.

　Also… it would be helpful if the land were filled with magical power.
　『Creative Alchemy』 was easy to use in places with magical powers of light, darkness, earth, water, fire, and wind. Even the magical power of magic stones accumulated quickly.
　It would be the perfect place to do alchemy.

　But even with my skills, I couldn’t grasp the magical power of the land.
　Besides, there was probably someone already living in places with a lot of magical power, so I couldn’t really be too extravagant.

“I wish I could have asked winged fairy (pixie) René to come with me.”

　If the winged fairy was sensitive to magic power, maybe she had found a magical piece of land.
　But I couldn’t ask someone to work when they were sick.
　I would ask her when the Light Fairy was feeling better.

　While I was thinking about such things, the carriage arrived at its first destination.

“This is a building that used to be a store.”

　The General’s butler, Rondal-san, said.
　We were on a small hill overlooking the town.
　There were mountains to the south and a town on the other side. Far in the distance, I could see the General’s mansion.

“We have three candidate sites, but this one has the best condition of the building. Please take a look around to your heart’s content.”
“It’s a big building…”

　Mabel’s eyes widened as she looked at the mansion in front of her.
　I was surprised too. This mansion was too grand for just Mabel and me to live in.

　In front of me was a two-story stone building.
　Since it was a shop, there were two entrance doors.
　One would be a commercial space, and the other would be a residential space.

　Agnis was checking the documents at hand.
    She read it out loud so that Mabel and I could understand.

　Apparently, this used to be a residence and restaurant.
　It was owned by a well-known merchant and took pride in its cuisine made with locally sourced ingredients.
　The restaurant was quite popular, but the chefs were old and couldn’t work. Another person took over the business, but the food tasted worse, and the restaurant eventually closed down.
　It seemed that it hadn’t been used since then.

“The location isn’t bad. The forest and mountains are close by. It looks like we’ll be able to go gather some food quickly. There are a lot of rooms, so I think we can use it with very little renovation…”

　There were traces of a vegetable garden around the mansion.
　Maybe they used to grow herbs or something. It was deserted now, and nothing grew there.

　There was also a well in the garden, covered with a board and held down with stones.
　This was to prevent dirt and sand from getting in.
　The General owned the land and building, so it seemed they carried out regular maintenance.

“Father said that the building would be remodelled according to Thor Kanan-sama’s wishes.”

　Agnis handed me the documents.
　The document included a diagram of the mansion’s floor plan.

　The size and number of rooms were absolutely fine.
　If there was a vegetable garden, the magic of the earth would be sufficient. If there was a well, the magic of the water would be flowing as well.
　There was a nice wind blowing, so the wind magic would be fine.
　Fire… I was not sure.

“Thank you for introducing me to a great place.”

　I bowed to Rondal-san and Agnis.
　I never thought I’d find such a great place on my first visit.
　I really had to thank the General.

“I’m glad to hear that, Thor Kanan-dono.”
“Agnis also recommends this place. The mansion is nearby, so you can come and see me anytime…”

　Rondal-san seemed satisfied.
　Agnis was also looking at me with an excited look on her face.
　The location was fine. The magic seemed fine, too.
　In that case, there was no need to go around here and there. If I decided on this place…

　Flap, flap.

“Hmm?”

　There was a strange noise.
　It sounds like a child clapping his hands. What is it?

　Not Agnis or Rondal-san.
　Mabel was checking around the house. It’s not her either.

　Flap, flap, flap!

　The sound was coming from the roof of the building. Maybe a bird?
　Was there a bird’s nest on the roof?
　Thinking about it like that, I looked at it…

“”””….””””

　Few small figures were sticking out from the top of the roof.
　They were banging on the roof, like they were trying to get my attention.

　All four of them were about a few dozen centimetres tall and had transparent wings growing from their backs.
　Winged fairies (pixies).

“…Why are you here…?”
“What happened, Thor-sama?”
“No, on the roof…”
“On the roof?”

　Then.

　The moment Mabel looked in that direction, the winged fairies hid behind the roof.
   I heard a faint voice say, 『Shhh』.
　Apparently, they wanted me to keep it a secret.
　Come to think of it, winged fairies were shy around people.

“…There doesn’t seem to be anything here.”
“There doesn’t seem to be anything here.”

　For the time being, I decided to respect the will of the winged fairies (pixies).
　When Mabel looked away, the winged fairies appeared on the roof again.

　There were four of them.
　Their hair colours were yellow, blue, red, and green.
　These were the colours of earth, water, fire, and wind, respectively.

　That meant they were winged fairies with different attributes.
　But why were they here?

　Flapping.
　Flapping.

　The winged fairies once again tapped on the roof, trying to get my attention.
　Then the two of them swayed back and forth… and hid on the other side of the roof.
　The other two were waving their hands.
　Their hair colours were red and green. Or so I thought, but then another person with green hair appeared.

　Huh? What’s this? Is it some kind of message?
　…I thought that was probably true.
　I couldn’t imagine that a shy, winged fairy would do something like this without meaning to.
　So… maybe they were trying to teach me something.

　If there was one thing the winged fairy could understand and I couldn’t, it was probably magic.
　Winged fairies are sensitive to magical power.
　Because they understand the flow of magical energy, they have assisted the Demon King in the past in choosing land.

　The first four to show up had different hair colours.
　They were the four elemental colours of earth, water, fire, and wind.
　Two retreated, and one child with a fire attribute and two children with a wind attribute came out.
　That meant…

“This place does not have all four magical elements. There is strong wind and fire magic, but the water and earth magic is weak… or something?”

　When I muttered that, the fairies started clapping their hands.
　There was no sound, but it seemed to be correct.

“What happened, Thor-sama?”
“Um… I was thinking about the magic of the land… I guess?”
“The magic of the land?”
“I thought that the reason nothing was growing in the vegetable garden was because the magic of the earth was weak.”
“……Eh”

　Mabel’s face became shocked.

“Y-You’re right. Normally, there would be weeds growing here. The fact that there aren’t any… could mean that the power of the earth is insufficient. It’s entirely possible that the magic of the earth has weakened!”
“……on second thoughts”

　Then I looked at Rondal-san.

“Um, Rondal-san.”
“I wonder how it went. Thor-dono.”
“Could it be that the well in this building is…dry?”
“What a stupid thing to say. Hahaha.”
“──Thor Kanan-sama, it is as you say. The well has dried up…”

　Agnis cried out, lifting up the plank and the heavy stone that covered the well.

“It’s completely dry. It doesn’t even feel damp…”
“That’s ridiculous… They should be doing regular maintenance…”

　Rondal-san peered into the well.
　Mabel and I looked down together and…

“It’s so dry.”
“It’s completely dried up.”
“There’s no sign of water.”

　Amazing. The winged fairies.
　In an instant, they seemed to have discerned what kind of magical power this place possessed…

　When I saw it earlier, the water-attribute winged fairy had completely disappeared.
　This meant that the magic of the water here was really weak.
　Maybe the groundwater flow had changed.
　That might have been the reason why the merchant who was here quit his job.

“How did you know? Thor Kanan-dono!”

　The butler, Rondal-san, looked at me with an excited look on his face.

“I can’t believe you were able to tell the state of the well with just one glance. This is the land managed by Master Raizenga, and I patrol here once a month. Even I didn’t notice that the well had dried up… So how could you…”
“…Umm.”

　I looked towards the roof of the building.
　I saw white arms.
　The winged fairies were sticking their arms out from the roof and making the sign of an X.
　I guess that meant just shut up.

　Bouncing bouncing.

　I thought for a while, and then a green-haired girl—a wind-winged fairy—appeared.
　She was lying on her stomach on the roof, desperately trying to make an X sign. Oh, her clothes got caught on a splinter in the roof. But she kept clapping her hands, and… her clothes came undone.
　The half-naked, winged fairy hurriedly hid behind the roof.
　But she still kept 『No way』 pose. She was desperate.

　Winged fairies… seemed to be really shy around strangers.
　I guessed I had no choice.
　I would explain it properly to everyone later, but for now──

“…It was instinct that made me realise about the well.”
“The power of the alchemist is incredible!”
“You can tell without even looking inside the well… That’s amazing.”

　Both Rondal-san and Agnis were impressed.
　Mabel was──

“As expected of Thor-sama. Um… you’re very kind.”

　She said… looking sideways… at the roof.
　It seemed she realised what had happened.
　It seemed even the winged fairies couldn’t fool Mabel’s eyes.

“For now, let’s put this place on hold, and could you show me to the next place?”

　I said.
　Rondal-san nodded.

“Understood! Thor Kanan-dono!”
“By the way, where is the next location?”
“It’s a mansion located a little south from here, along the highway. There’s a hot spring nearby. I recommend it.”
“It’s a mansion located a little south from here, along the highway, and there’s a hot spring nearby?”
“Why is it being repeated?”
“…Just because.”

　I looked towards the building and saw fairies on the roof, sticking their thumbs out.
　Apparently, because I said it twice, my message got across.
　That meant they were planning to come with me.

“When I’m by Thor-sama’s side, strange things happen that I’ve never experienced before…”

　Mabel said, taking my hand.
　As expected, she looked out of the corner of her eye towards the roof and said, with a happy look,

“But this is the most enjoyable journey I’ve ever had in my life. Let’s go to the next place, Thor-sama.”
“Yeah. Let’s go together.”
“Yes. Thor-sama.”

　Mabel declared with a smile, while the winged fairies flapped their wings on the roof.
　Agnis returned to the carriage to check the documents, and Rondal went to the driver’s seat.
　When Mabel and I entered the carriage… we heard a sound like something landing on the other side of the ceiling—or so we thought.

　I couldn’t hear it because it was drowned out by the sound of the carriage, but Mabel, who picked up the sound with her elven ears, told me.
　Of course, it was the sound of the winged fairies climbing onto the roof of the carriage.
　It looked like they would continue to be our guides.

　By the way, while Mabel and Agnis were making the 『Light-attribute Clothes』 in the Western Forest, I was talking to the dark-winged fairy René. I was going to go and check out the workshop.
　Perhaps they heard about it and followed us. The winged fairies.

　…Well, that was fine.
　I decided to thank them later, but for now I would continue looking around for potential locations for my workshop.

“Well then, please depart, Rondal-san.”
“Understood!”

　The carriage started moving along with the driver, Rondal-san’s voice.
　There was a sound of tapping on the carriage roof.
　While listening to that, Mabel, Agnis and I were looking at the information for the next location.

　That was how we headed to the next candidate site.