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 5

Episode 5: “Finding a Book from Another World”

　──In the throne room after Thor left──

“──What do you think of him, Kelve, Mabel?”

　Demon King Luquier said.

“It is unexpected that such a valuable alchemist would come from the Empire, but even more than that, his abilities are extraordinary. Is it true that he created magical mithril without any materials?”
“Yes, Demon King.”

　Mabel held out the pendant that Thor had repaired.
　Next to the Demon King, Chancellor Kelve received the pendant.

“──『Appraisal』”

　Chancellor Kelve activated the skill and immediately opened his eyes.

“Mabel!”
“Y-Yes.”
“This pendant was a keepsake from your mother.”
“…That’s right. It’s something that’s been passed down in my family for generations… but its powers should have been lost by now. The magic stone inside has been damaged…”
“It’s repaired.”

　When the Chancellor poured magic into the pendant, the surroundings turned foggy.
　At the same time, the pendant glowed pale blue.

“The 『Water Spirit Stone Pendant』 was something that could not be repaired with the technology of the Demon King’s Territory. It seems that Thor-dono has managed to repair it.”
“……I can’t believe it.”
“That is true. And we must consider the reason why he came here.”

　Chancellor Kelve looked at the Demon King.

“There are two meanings to Thor Regus’ arrival. The first is that there is an alchemist who can instantly repair valuable magical items. The second is that there are likely many alchemists of that calibre in the Empire.”
“I know. Otherwise, there’s no way the Empire would let go of such a person.”

　The masked demon king nodded gravely.

“So, why did the Empire send Thor Regus?”
“It’s probably a threat, implying that there are mountains of alchemists like him in the empire, and resistance is meaningless.”

　Chancellor Kelve thought for a moment, then

“It’s possible that the Empire was too foolish to understand his abilities…”
“Don’t be absurd! The Empire couldn’t possibly be that lenient!”
“──My apologies.”
“Our ancestors looked down on humans and became complacent. That’s why they nearly perished! What will we do if we don’t learn from that!? Looking at the strength of the Empire today, how can you use words like 『Foolish』!?”
“I apologise. It was just my wishful thinking.”
“…I just need you to understand.”

　The masked Demon King, Luquier, was born to be a king.
　Ever since he was a child, his parents have been telling him the history of the demons.
　What he heard over and over again was that the demons had been defeated by humans.

　A battle that once took place between demons and humans began with a skirmish.
　It was just a minor accident that occurred as each side expanded their territory.
　However, the demons, who thought they were strong, did not know when to back down.
　As a result, it turned into an all-out war between the demons and humans.

　As a result, the demons were defeated.
　It was once on the verge of destruction due to the superior technological capabilities of humans and the power of a hero summoned from another world.
　Even after signing a truce with humans and retreating to the Demon King’s territory, they had not forgotten that history.

　Humans are scary.
　Don’t underestimate humans.
　Don’t make humans your enemy.

　That was the slogan of the Demon King’s territory that had been passed down from generation to generation.

“I’m sure there’s nothing in the warehouse you gave to Thor Regus that could be used as a weapon.”
“Don’t worry. It’s just junk over there.”

　In response to the Demon King’s question, Chancellor Kelve shrugged.

“Tools and books brought by heroes from another world. There shouldn’t be anything that could be used as a weapon.”
“It should be possible to create weapons using alchemy.”
“We’ll keep an eye on him. If he tries to attack us, we’ll make sure he’s immediately apprehended.”

　Chancellor Kelve looked at Mabel standing behind him.

“Then, Mabel Refrain, I assign you to watch over and look after Thor-dono.”
“Yes. With pleasure.”
“…Why do you look so happy?”
“I think Thor-sama is a very good man.”

　Mabel picked up the hem of her skirt and bowed.
　The Demon King and the Chancellor tilted their heads in confusion at that smile.

“You’ve just met Thor Regus, haven’t you? And yet you seem to have a lot of trust in him…?”
“I owe him a debt of gratitude.”
“Because you had your pendant repaired?”
“That’s true. The rest is just my elven intuition.”

　Mabel smiled gently.

“Elves are a race that once communed with many spirits. There are fewer spirits now, but the bl00d that remains within me tells me to have faith in Thor Regus. I must not lose him.”
“I trust Mabel’s intuition, but…”
“Of course, as a direct subordinate of the Demon King, my loyalty to his Majesty will not waver.”
“…Uh, yeah.”
“However, I have a feeling that Thor-sama will bring changes to the Demon King’s territory.”

　Saying this, she put her hands together as if praying.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to witness this. My dear Demon King Luquier.”

　Mabel smiled happily.

　──Thor’s point of view──

“Ohhhhhhhhh! Awesome…”

　When I entered the room that had been prepared for me, I couldn’t help but make a strange noise.
　This was the Demon King’s castle warehouse.
　It was a windowless stone room, about the size of a small hall.

　And──countless books and items were piled up on the floor.

　I could see why it was called a junkyard. It was completely disorganised.
　If I think that only the scabbard of the sword was lying around, next to it was armour with broken joints. Distorted shield. There were also tools for farm work.

　A broom and bucket were probably for cleaning.
　There was no dust on the floor, so someone must be cleaning regularly.

　But if that was the case, they should at least classify the books… No, that was impossible. The words written on the covers of the books were not from this world.The letters and pictures were too elaborate.
　This was a book left behind in this world by heroes from another world.

“Amazing… the Demon King’s Castle… amazing.”

   In the Empire, there were very few of those from the era when the summoning of the hero was being carried out.
　The hero summoning ceremony was no longer held.
　According to a story I heard as a child, even after performing the summoning ritual, the hero never came. I didn’t know why.
　Perhaps now that peace had returned, the rituals had lost their meaning.

“No, the Empire’s situation doesn’t matter. Right now, I need to investigate the warehouse first.”

　The Demon King hadn’t given me the warehouse out of kindness.
　This was something like an upfront investment in anticipation of me being useful to the Demon King’s territory.
　If I didn’t meet their expectations, everything would be taken back.
　To prevent this from happening, it was necessary to create something that would please the Demon King and the inhabitants of the Demon King’s territory.

“What would be good? Maybe something practical would be good?”

　I was so excited.

　While looking around the warehouse, I thought about what I could make.
　There were many things in the warehouse. Shields, armours addition to these, there were coats and boots whose owners were unknown. All of them looked like they could be used as materials.

　The book was currently unusable.
　Because I couldn’t read the language of another world…wait, what?

“…『Mail order catalogue』. Is that the name of this book?”

　I was able to read it normally.

　What I picked up was a book made of a smooth material.
　What was more, every page was in colour.

　What was drawn was a picture that was so elaborate that you might be mistaken for the real thing. Did people from different worlds call this a 『Photograph』?
　The photos were on every page, and various items were introduced.

“But how can I read the characters of another world?”

　Perhaps it was the power of the 『Appraisal Grasp』 of skill 『Creative Alchemy』.
　That skill could read the abilities of items.
　That was probably why I was able to read the characters from another world.

　With that in mind, I turned the pages…

　The first thing that caught my eye was 『Health Goods』.”
　It must be a recovery item from another world.
　There were things to relieve eye fatigue, things to relieve stiff shoulders, things to help you sleep soundly, and so on.

“I see. Now I understand why the heroes from another world were so strong.”

　Perhaps they were using items like this to increase their recovery.
　Next to the items, it said things like 『Two minutes a day improves your eyesight 20 times (from 0.1 to 2.0)』 or 『Two hours of sleep have the same effect as 10 hours.』
　If a hero used items like this to boost his abilities, it was only natural that he would be strong.

“…I wonder if I can make something similar.”

   When I asked the 『Creative Alchemy』 skill a question, it would give me an answer.

『You can.』

　It would be impossible to make something exactly the same.
　But I felt like it might be possible to create something with similar capabilities.
　Then… I decided to give it a try.

   To catch up with the technology of the other world with the help of my 『Creative Alchemy』.
　Let’s use all the items in this warehouse for that purpose.

　The Demon King said, “Learn from humans.”
　He wouldn’t complain if I made a copy of an item from another world.
　The items I create could be used however the people of the Demon King’s Territory like. If they would make the Demon King’s Territory a more comfortable place than the Empire, then I had no complaints.
　It was what we call a win-win relationship.

“Alright.”
“…Umm, Thor-sama.”
“────!?”

　I thought my heart was going to stop.
　I turned around to see Mabel standing at the door dressed as a maid.

“I’m sorry to have startled you. I brought you some tea, but… you haven’t replied when I knocked.”
“No… don’t worry about it.”
“You looked very immersed. What were you looking at?”
“It’s a book from another world.”

　I spread out the 『Mail Order Catalogue』.
　Mabel looked at the book for a while,

“──I’m sorry. I don’t understand what it says.”
“After all, you can’t read it, right…?”
“These books were collected by the former Demon King as a hobby. He… seemed to collect anything, regardless of whether he could read it or not.”

　The previous Demon King had collected various things in order to learn from humans.
　It seemed that the ones here were collected and picked up when the demons fought against the hero.
　The hero from another world had a habit of boasting, saying, 『I’m super awesome』, and would have proudly handed over a few books from his world.

“The Demon King, two generations ago, shoved everything he acquired into this warehouse, thinking that it might be useful someday. In his will, he said, 『I might use it someday』, so he left it there.”
“That’s what someone who can’t keep their room tidy would say.”
“Anyway, would you like to take a break for a while?”

　Mabel held up the tray.

“I made some tea. I don’t know if it will suit your taste, though.”
“Itadakimasu.” (TL: Thanks for the meal.)

　When I said that, Mabel’s face relaxed.

　Afterwards, Mabel and I moved to the next room.
　Next to the warehouse was my personnel room.
　Mabel seemed to have arrived earlier, and tea was already prepared.
　There was a copper cup on the table, from which the smell of tea wafted.
　Besides the tea, there were baked goods. Were they sweets from the Demon King’s territory?

“From now on, I will be taking care of Thor-sama. I look forward to working with you.”
“Thank you very much.”

　Well, it was probably partly like a supervisory role.
　The Demon King was a good person, but he wouldn’t let the Empire’s alchemists run wild.

　But with Mabel by my side, I somehow felt relaxed.
　I wondered why, since I barely knew her.

　All I knew was that maid uniforms suited her very well and that she was in a position to enter the Demon King’s audience chamber.
　She had beautiful, pointy ears and a large chest.
　And… if I looked closely, I could see that she was wearing very thick socks.
　It was made of fur.
　The skirt of the maid’s uniform was short, exposing her long legs, but those parts were the only ones that stuck out.

“Oh, is this?”

　Did she notice the line of sight?
　Mabel pointed to her feet.

“Sorry… I actually have poor circulation.”
“Poor circulation.”
“The doctor said that maybe the magic in my body wasn’t flowing properly.”
“The magic flows inside you?”
“Does the Empire not have that kind of knowledge?”
“There are magicians out there, after all. But I’ve never heard of someone becoming sensitive to the cold temperature due to magical powers.”

　Or rather, imperial magicians didn’t think about their bodies.
　When someone joined the Imperial Capital’s Magic Squad, the first thing they did was cast 100 fire spells in a row.
　After that, they would follow the knights in a running session and then cast 100 water spells in succession.
　There was no concept that magical power was related to health.

“Because of that, I can’t use magic very well.”

　Mabel muttered softly.

“Elves are supposed to be good at magic… so I was cast out by my fellow elves… Fortunately, I had a talent for cooking and housework, so the Demon King picked me up.”
“…Mabel-san, you had a hard time too.”
“Ah… I’m sorry! I blurted it out…”

　Mabel quickly covered her mouth.

“Anyway, these socks. They’re not very cool, are they? If you think they’re unsightly, please let me know. I’ll take them off.”
“No, that’s fine. I don’t mind, but…”

　I remembered the 『Mail Order Catalogue』.
　There must have been something in there that I could use.

“Could you be a test subject for a bit?”
“Test subject?”
“I’d like to try out an item from the Hero World.”