The Corrupted Daily Life of an Alchemist Who Returned on His Own - Episode 1: Return in Natural Form

Shiranami Holdings Arc

 

Episode 1: Return in Natural Form

 

“—Uwah!!!”

 

I… I seriously thought I was going to die.

 

Twisting my neck, I looked around. It was a place that felt nostalgic to me.

 

And at the same time… it was more than enough to remind me of the unpleasant parts of the past.

 

*Bang!*

 

“Onii-chan!! Geez, do you even know what time it is—”

 

Yeah. My little sister.

 

It was only a few seconds. But looking her up and down, I couldn’t help but be reminded of her proud proportions.

 

Wow—this is the real Minami.

 

Also, she looks so young……

 

Wait, no.

 

To Minami, I’m filled with feelings of guilt.

 

I’m so moved I can’t even speak.

 

“Hey, Minami, by the way───”

 

*Whap!!*

 

“Ughnnng!?”

 

Faster than any magic, a more devastating blow than any shield guard smashed into my vision.

 

My body bent into a perfect angle. And I smacked the back of my head into the window behind me.

 

*Cough, cough*

 

Looking down at my feet—it was a pillow.

 

I looked up at Minami.

 

Wow… it was the perfect blend of disgust and embarrassment on her face.

 

“Onii-chan! Don’t tell me you were 〇〇-ing yourself or something?!”

 

“…Sis, come on, I wouldn’t make that kind of mist—…”

 

(Huh?)

 

No wonder I felt a breeze down there…

 

“I knew you were 〇〇-ing!! Gross!!”

 

*SLAM!!*

 

As the door slammed shut behind her, I thought to myself:

 

No. I swear I wasn’t doing anything like that.

 

…Apparently, while I *did* manage to return, I had come back exactly as I was in nature—completely naked.

 

More importantly…

 

“That girl… she could still get that mad, huh.”

 

Nostalgic. But somehow it doesn’t feel real.

 

Was Minami always this energetic?

 

No, yeah. That’s how she always was, I think.

 

Even though she’s right in front of me, she feels a little far away.

 

—And that’s the report from the scene of me picking up the pillow.

 

＊

 

When was that, I wonder?

 

—Right.

 

It was around the year 2022, Earth time.

 

I was a 25-year-old black-company wage slave at the time.

 

You might think I was still young. But well, there were circumstances.

 

I had siblings.

 

My younger brother Kensai, and younger sister Minami.

 

And my wonderful parents, a couple overflowing with love.

 

You might think we were a normal family. But we were dirt poor.

 

To be honest, I didn’t really know the details.

 

Even so, we got along well and helped each other to survive.

 

We got teased and bullied for being poor ever since elementary school. But I never really minded.

 

Why?

 

Because… we were united as a family.

 

Even without money, everyone smiled and stayed positive.

 

Fake smiles?

 

You might say there must’ve been complaints.

 

But really, it wasn’t a big deal.

 

Even though we were poor, we saved up, found little bits of happiness, talked about good or bad things from the day…

 

There were tough times, sure, but I was pretty happy.

 

Until—

 

One day, it all came to an end.

 

That day, my parents and Kensai went out together.

 

They never came back.

 

I heard it was a crash with a delivery truck.

 

Instant death.

 

For Minami and me, it was such a shock we couldn’t even speak for a long time.

 

Kensai, and both our parents… gone in an instant.

 

—Honestly, I don’t even want to remember what happened after that.

 

Apparently, they had borrowed money from all sorts of places, even shady ones.

 

At the time, I was young and ignorant. I didn’t even understand money. All I could do was nod along.

 

Minami and I couldn’t even go to high school—we dropped out and scraped together money however we could.

 

I’m ashamed as a big brother. But I couldn’t even raise my head to Minami, who ended up in the nightlife industry.

 

I did whatever I could to help, and we fought hard to survive.

 

That was when we were 17.

 

And yet—I can’t remember how—but within just two years, we paid off all the debts.

 

After that, I saved up a little and attended night school. I eventually entered the workforce.

 

But as soon as that ended, a new problem arose.

 

…Minami developed depression.

 

Later, I was also diagnosed with something similar.

 

But in Minami’s case, it was serious—so much so that she couldn’t even speak to anyone but me.

 

At least I was relieved she could still talk to me.

 

If she couldn’t even do that, I wouldn’t know what to do.

 

At the time, I didn’t understand why—but later I realized, she must’ve gone through a lot of awful experiences in the nightlife industry.

 

I was also pretty badly off at that time.

 

But still… I could go out into society, I could talk to people.

 

What changed was—I lacked emotional nuance. I couldn’t hold eye contact, and other things like that.

 

Looking back, I think I had a lot going on.

 

I had put Minami through so much.

 

So I told her:

 

“You don’t need to work anymore. I’ll earn for us.”

 

And every day, I sat beside her as she lay in bed with lifeless eyes.

 

We ate together, and I told her stories about my day—just like we used to.

 

A little later, I still remember when she quietly asked me if she could have a gaming PC.

 

“Sure,” I said. I cut my own food budget and bought her the best one I could.

 

…Of course, she immediately became a full-on MMO addict—it was bound to happen given the times and our lifestyle.

 

But even Minami started to change.

 

She started telling me things like, “I played this game with my friends today,” or “I tried working out.”

 

Little by little, she became brighter.

 

Yeah… it wasn’t a bad life for the two of us.

 

—But then.

 

—

 

“I don’t know this place.”

 

Without thinking, I muttered something like from an anime.

 

I turned my body in a circle to take in the situation.

 

A forest. Where is this? Was there a place like this in Japan?

 

While grumbling, I spotted an old building nearby.

 

From it emerged a man—somewhere past middle-aged.

 

But on closer look, he was young.

 

And the first thing he said was:

 

“You. Run to that hill.”

 

Crazy old man.

 

Never in my life did I imagine that he would become my future master.

 

＊

 

“Hey, Master?”

 

“Hm? What is it?”

 

“Weren’t you the alchemist who contributed to the hero’s party?”

 

“Well, yeah.”

 

“How did that feel?”

 

It was something I dreamed about as a kid.

 

If you’re a guy, you *have* to admire heroes, Kamen Riders, Super Sentai… so I was curious.

 

This man may be crazy. But he joined the hero’s party that stood up to defeat the Demon Lord, and saved the world.

 

And not only that, he left behind many various achievements… hmm. In today’s words, you could say he’s the kind of person who would be in textbooks, no doubt.

 

“Well yeah. Hmm, well, it was fun. The weapons made by dwarves were truly top-class. Even the basic armor they made could match the highest quality armor made by humans. Oh, and the elves were all beauties. And the beastfolk had weird ears or super strength… I got to see all kinds of different worlds.”

 

In the battle against the Demon Lord, Master blocked and removed curses and instant-death attacks using his potions. And they say he defeated the Demon Lord with a special potion filled with holy power.

 

“And now, it’s boring, you know? I’ve got nothing to do besides raising you. Ah, next week I’m going to visit Bishu-chan. …You want to come too? Ase-chan and Kurze-chan said they wanted to see you.”

 

“…I’ll go.”

 

“Aren’t you glad you became my apprentice? You get spoiled by those kinds of beautiful women, after all~”

 

It’s frustrating. But what you say is true, Master.

 

“Also, please don’t talk about what we just said in public? We don’t know who might be listening, after all.”

 

“Isn’t it fine? Honestly, I don’t mind if you shout it out! …They’re the ones who want to borrow my power anyway. I’d like to see who thinks they can order *me* around.”

 

I’ll never forget. This Master seriously acts like this even around royalty, it’s scary. Especially for someone like me who’s Japanese.

 

This guy is seriously dangerous.

 

One time he casually talked down to the queen and made her mad. But in return… this Master stopped all trade.

 

No more made-to-order items.

 

He just left the country to fall apart until it was on the verge of collapse. That’s how insane his ability and personality are.

 

“Well, that’s assuming the guy who talks back to Master is still alive the next day.”

 

“Hah, right?”

 

As my Master bared his teeth and laughed like a beast way too wild for his age, I could only shrug in agreement.

 

He looks like he’s not even in his 30s. But he’s over 300 years old.

 

And with all kinds of potions, he’s not exactly the strongest. But he’s pretty close to it.

 

“Anyway, hurry up and start making the Rabbit Potion.”

 

“Yes sir.”

 

“I’m being nice with my tone and words. So hurry up and show some results~”

 

I glance sideways at Master.

 

“Hm? What is it?”

 

People like the royal family and others call this man a god.

 

But to me, he’s just a reckless, insane guy.

 

If you met him without any preconceptions, you’d just think he’s some messed-up dude.

 

But when I actually traveled with him to many places, I saw he was kind to the poor. And though he spoke harshly to kids, his actions were kind and he was basically sweet to them.

 

No doubt he was the kind of wild man I used to admire.

 

…But I’m never telling him that, or he’ll get a big head.

 

*

 

Time passed since then.

 

When I first met that crazy Master, our relationship wasn’t like this from the start.

 

For some reason, before I knew it, I had become like his errand boy.

 

Well, you might have guessed. But even if I explained my situation, people would only think I was crazy. I ended up living outside, homeless and sad for a while.

 

Looking back now, that crazy guy was probably just *pretending* not to know.

 

About a week later, he approached me for fun with a proposal.

 

‘You probably have some blessings or whatever, so I’ll raise you as my apprentice.’

 

How arrogant can you get?

 

That’s what I thought at the time. But now I know he was definitely right.

 

From that point on, I was pretty much treated like a toy to experiment with.

 

I had to gather materials, and learn basic housekeeping duties.

 

If that was all, it wouldn’t be a big deal. But the rest was crazy. I don’t have the words.

 

Yeah, he’s just a totally insane person. But from an apprentice’s perspective, he was someone to be very grateful for.

 

I broke tools like it was nothing, accidentally destroyed research notes, made a mess of many things.

 

But all he ever did was scream a bit—he never punished me or anything like that.

 

…Honestly, I was deeply thankful, no doubt about it.

 

“*Cough! Cough!*”

 

“Master, please drink a potion.”

 

“Hey… I’m going to… die soon…”

 

“You’re joking, right? Just drink the potion already.”

 

The so-called “Life Potion”.

 

It restores various things in the body, like cells and organs, and heals the whole body.

 

It’s so versatile it could make you a fortune by itself. But this guy uses it like water for all kinds of things.

 

And only he and I can make it.

 

I let out a sigh without thinking. Especially because it works not just on humans.

 

I even witnessed an unprecedented event where royalty bowed their heads begging for it.

 

In short, while there are many alchemists in the world, the original developer, the quality, the effects—

 

All of that was created by Master and me.

 

That’s why no one else can imitate it or reproduce it.

 

The world began to call our arrogance this:

 

—“The Laws of the World.”

 

“I’ve… lived enough…”

 

“You could just use a Druid heart or Dragon heart to get back to full strength. Besides, how many times have we had this same conversation?”

 

“No, this time I’m serious. I’ve really lived enough…”

 

“Did you get dumped or something?”

 

Before I knew it… Master and I had surpassed death.

 

We could maintain our youth completely. And we even become stronger than before.

 

We could run faster, our minds evolved, we even extended our perceived time.

 

It’s been quite a while since I became his apprentice.

 

Among all that, I discovered I had talent with water-related magic and control. And now I’ve reached a level beyond Master.

 

Nowadays, all the water used in potion-making comes from the water I create.

 

“Well, with that, I guess you’re a full-fledged alchemist now.”

 

Even if it sounds arrogant, I’ve gained enough ability to rival or even surpass Master.

 

The requests Master receives are mostly handled by me now. And people send thank-you letters thinking he did them.

 

We’ve confirmed that the effects are identical. So there’s no issue.

 

But since my alchemy obsession bloomed in my late 30s, I’ve been progressing at a freakish pace.

 

Using potions that extend thought and time perception, I did research with 70 hours of thinking time per day.

 

“My… one and only apprentice… I gave you the name Kelvin… my apprentice…”

 

He sounded weak. I thought of forcing a potion down his throat. But the shaking voice and those eyes…

 

For once, I could tell he truly wanted to die.

 

“Are you sure?”

 

“Yeah… I’ve got nothing left I want to do.”

 

…At that moment.

 

“Kelvin…”

 

“Yes?”

 

“At first… I treated you terribly…”

 

“Yeah. You told me to go into the forest and bring back a horn, or find rare herbs. Even though I had just arrived in this world.”

 

“Haha… yeah…”

 

“And then you tried to make me meet a duke or queen even though I didn’t know any manners, and told me to go squeeze money out of them.”

 

When I looked down at the lifeless Master lying beside me, he was staring straight at me.

 

“What’s wrong? Did I talk too much?”

 

“No… Actually, there’s something I have to tell you.”

 

Hm? What is it?

 

“Yes… Wait, Master?”

 

Master tried to sit up despite trembling.

 

In the past, he would have used a Strength Potion. But now that would be poison for him.

 

I quickly stood and supported his waist.

 

“The reason you came to this world is…”

 

“…?”

 

“It’s because of *me*.”

 

—I see.

 

So that’s why, back then.

 

“It’s fine. You took care of me plenty, Master.”

 

“Haha… Who would’ve thought my experiment would actually work…”

 

“Does that mean I can go back?”

 

Master nodded slowly.

 

“…I see.”

 

“Well… transcending dimensions… isn’t easy. But—”

 

Yes.

 

“For us, nothing is impossible.”

 

“…Heh.”

 

“Haha.”

 

The magical words my Master always said.

 

This man is, through and through, an alchemist.

 

And the supreme power granted to him by the gods is still alive and well.

 

“I’ll give you… all of my research.”

 

Those words, years ago, would’ve made the old me jump for joy.

 

“Is it really okay?”

 

However. My current state of mind is not happy at all.

 

Because I myself am also an alchemist.

 

There is nothing more foolish than using someone else’s legacy.

 

Because alchemy is something you pursue.

 

Just like an academic discipline.

 

It is equivalent to inheriting that person’s entire life.

 

I wonder if I can truly follow in those footsteps.

 

“You don’t seem pleased… you used to want it, didn’t you?”

 

Yes. Back then, maybe.

 

“Even if I receive the legacy of someone I respect, in this place where you no longer are, I feel no joy.”

 

“…………..”

 

Master opened his eyes wide, smiled for a moment, and looked away.

 

“Won’t you live a little longer? It really is lonely.”

 

I understand. I truly understand. But the more than 100 years I spent here—I’ve grown so attached that I now feel like one of the locals.

 

“……”

 

From Master’s silence, I understand that it’s impossible.

 

“In the end, is there anything I can help with?”

 

“No. There’s nothing left unsaid… nothing left undone. I’ve done everything I was supposed to do.”

 

“…I see.”

 

“Kelvin… I’m counting on you.”

 

With those words left behind, Master passed away.

 

＊

 

Time really flies.

 

The crown prince came to the house and we played chess. Or a princess from a neighboring country visited.

 

So-and-so is critically ill…

 

So-and-so has an incurable disease…

 

Hmm… and then some guy whose bones I can’t even recognize came all the way to this hellish place to ask me to take him as a disciple.

 

Well. In the time that flowed after that,

 

“I ended up becoming like Master.”

 

My mind had entered a state where it was hard to react to anything.

 

When I spoke informally to royalty, at first I thought, “I’ve done it now.”

 

But no one said anything. No one could say anything.

 

Before I realized it, that became “normal”.

 

Even when the princess from the neighboring country visited, my feelings didn’t stir like before.

 

“Oh, you came again?”—that was all.

 

Just a beautiful-faced woman, standing alone.

 

“I end up snorting through my nose.”

 

──The current me is no longer someone who moves for the sake of helping someone.

 

But back in the day, I was desperate to make Minami smile. And I even risked my life just to keep Master’s spirits up.

 

But now, it’s different.

 

My goal is just one thing: to go home.

 

Everything else doesn’t matter.

 

…*Clack.*

 

“Memories… really never fade, do they?”

 

I stopped gazing at the beautiful flower garden. I had closed the research book in which I recorded everything until now.

 

“It’s finally complete.”

 

It took quite a lot of time.

 

Finally, huh.

 

I stood up from the chair and faced the heavy distortion that appeared before me.

 

“Literally, what result will come of this… even I don’t know.”

 

Among the legacies, there was only one thing I looked forward to.

 

It was the summoning magic circle that I myself had once called forth.

 

Though it took time, I analyzed it, and finally completed it.

 

A gate to return to Earth──.

 

“I have no idea what kind of situation might be waiting…”

 

I no longer believe in atheism.

 

Though I was Japanese.

 

There were the eight million gods originally. But since gods actually exist in this world, there’s no longer any reason to deny it.

 

And. Master wrote in his diary that creating this door would be about the limit of what an alchemist would be allowed to do.

 

The price of this gate… well, maybe not quite a price—but hmm? Maybe it is. You can choose the coordinates. But you don’t know what will happen to the time, or your soul, or your memories—there are quite a few downsides.

 

But even now, in my old memories… the image of my one and only little sister still comes to mind now and then.

 

I left her life insurance, and also… some savings, I guess. I left quite a lot. But I don’t even know if Minami is living happily.

 

──That’s why, I have to go back.

 

“…………”

 

I turn around on the spot.

 

To my eyes, the scenery still looks like it did just recently.

 

The shelves that are now gone. The bucket of herbs.

 

The research documents that Master left in messy piles because of his habit of neglecting things.

 

The dust-covered Homunculus remains──

 

Nothing remains.

 

Even though it was all from so long ago, I can still clearly see and remember it.

 

Ahh, back then was fun… or something like that.

 

Now, I’m about to abandon this land where I spent hundreds of years alongside Master.

 

For the record, I already recovered all of my belongings stored in the subspace linked to my magic. So nothing will be stolen.

 

Because of that, what’s in front of me is just a simple room with not even furniture left.

 

Well, nothing was overlooked.

 

“It’s lonely.”

 

*Thud*—I sit in formal seiza posture and slam my forehead to the floor.

 

“This fool!!! I, Kelvin!! Offer my respects to my master, Regulus Silphiel de Astreorum!!!”

 

I suddenly felt like I had to do it.

 

I had to, before I left.

 

To the one and only man who took care of me.

 

“Until now──I’ve learned so many things from you.”

 

It’s really true.

 

Everything you taught me remains in my mind.

 

“I will return to the stars from here, but! I will never forget you!!!”

 

Even if my personality changes, even if my way of speaking changes, even if my attitude changes—

 

There are only two things that have never changed since the old days.

 

My family, and… my respect for you.

 

I swore I would never forget that.

 

“Until now… truly, thank you very much!!!!”

 

All right, let’s go.

 

This will be the last time I show such an embarrassing sight.

 

“Really… truly…”

 

It’s been a long time since I was choked up.

 

And since I trembled like this.

 

ーーHey you, what’s your name?

 

ーーI’ll give you a name. Kelvin! In my homeland’s language, Kelvin means “the one who inherits the stars”! See, I’m a genius, right? Inheriting a genius is like inheriting the will of the stars!

 

ーーWhat? Don’t talk nonsense? You idiot! It’s fine, the reason can be anything!

 

I remained motionless for a while.

 

I thought I wouldn’t cry anymore.

 

Surprisingly, humans are really quick to tears… huh?

 

And then. After a while──I stepped into the distortion with a refreshed feeling.

 

I wonder what I’ll see. I’m looking forward to it.

 

This time, I think I can manage.

 

──’Onii-chan!!’

 

“…So I’ve returned to this place, huh.”