The Corrupted Daily Life of an Alchemist Who Returned on His Own - Episode 13: Beginning of Two-Base Life

Episode 13: Beginning of Two-Base Life

(Note: Special for this chapter, dialogues from the telephone are in this bracket: ‘……’ .)

“Morning, huh?”

An unfamiliar ceiling.

That’s a lie.

It’s already been about a week since that incident.

Using this place I got from the deal as my main base, I’ll earn money. And if possible, I’ll bring in girls and have fun.

No, does it even have to be here?

“It’s soundproof though.”

No, that’s not it.

——*※※※※※*

“Hmm? A call?”

When I opened my flip phone,

the display showed “Mother.”

“Sigh… she’s worrying too much.”

*Beep.*

“Hello?”

‘Good morning, Shō-chan!’

“Mom, what about work?”

‘Thanks to Shō-chan, Papa said I can quit work and focus on housework.’

The bankbook had around a total of one billion yen.

I wanted to ask Dad what the real story behind the debt was. But I decided not to.

I just asked if that amount could repay it. He said it was about 800 million.

What the heck did he do?

Let’s not go there.

If we paid the 800 million, the debt would all be gone anyway.

So I put 100 million into the household, and made the remaining 100 million mine.

Of course, Dad, Mom, and Minami were against it. But for me, I knew I could earn money as much as I want from now on. So it didn’t matter.

“I see. That’s good.”

‘And, you know?’

“Yeah?”

‘Shō-chan’s dorm? Was it? Can you tell me where it is?’

“What’s up?”

‘Well, I’m just worried…’

“It’s fine. Shiranami secured it—it’s a solid place.”

And it’s a secret base, too.

‘Really? Mommy’s worried. Minami is worried about her big brother too… like that.’

Right. Right after that incident, I came here the very next day.

To put it bluntly, I had no intention of living like a normal citizen.

But still—

Of course, I’m not talking about extremes when I say “not normal.”

Just, my existence is too dangerous. It’s like a double-edged sword.

If something happens from now on—

No matter how strong I am, I probably won’t be able to avoid unwinnable events.

──In front of overwhelming numbers and power.

At the very least, not with the “me” right now.

That’s why I figured it’s better to stay away for now.

Harsh as it sounds, in training magic control, they’re only a hindrance.

Besides, mentally, I’m hundreds of years old.

It’s not bad. But things are very different than if I had just gone back to the past normally.

If I were just a regular person with no powers, I probably wouldn’t go this far.

However—

Right now, I have power.

I don’t know if they still exist.

But for “mages,” and “alchemists” to be here already means this world’s system is broken. So it’s not surprising if there are others too.

‘Shō-chan?’

“Ah, sorry.”

Ever since that incident, it’s been kind of hard to face my family.

Not that I don’t want to see them.

But for me, the name “Kelvin” is already the norm. And my personality as Kelvin is complete.

Being the old Izaki Minato Shō feels nothing but awkward and itchy.

Honestly, even if someone calls my name, I might not respond sometimes.

I’ve killed people, loved people, broken people.

Talking about girls all the time, mocking people with a smile, acting high and mighty.

ーーI-I’m so sorry!! Please! Please!!

ーーHmph. You—will pay with your eyes.

ーーGyaaaaah!!

Yeah. That’s who I am.

I devour screaming old men.

Devour and devour.

So yeah, my personality as Kelvin is 99.9%.

Honestly, I don’t want people to see that side of me that would casually do things utterly unacceptable in this country or Japan.

So I don’t want them to see me.

It makes me itch.

Feels gross too.

‘Why don’t you just come back home?’

“No, it’s fine. I told you before I left, right? I’ll come home for half the week.”

‘That’s true, but…’

“Besides, I get a lot of jobs from Shiranami. And they pay me!”

‘…Is that so? Shō-chan, you’re all grown up now.’

“So don’t worry. I’ll come home properly, and I’ll bring back that sponge cake you love from the neighborhood.”

‘W-Why do you know that!?’

“Well… you had such a drooling face staring at it, I could tell.”

It’s not really something to laugh about. But when we went shopping at the arcade the other day, she stared at that castella cake like a child. Anyone could tell.

‘Th-That one’s kind of expensive…’

“I’m not bragging. But with 100 million yen, you can do whatever you want, right?”

It’s not 2022.

The value of 100 million is way different.

I’ll have to go give a gift to the Chairman and Kimura-san sometime soon too.

‘I-I can’t possibly spend that much!’

“Use it. That’s what it’s for. We checked out the new place the other day, right?”

‘Y-Yeah, but…’

“It’s fine. The maintenance cost of this dorm is nothing. And I’m planning to send everything I earn back home.”

For me it’s probably fine. But 100 million is still hard to manage.

‘Y-You’re right…’

“It’s fine. Oh, by the way──”

＊

“Phew. My family’s way too overprotective.”

Well, I don’t hate it—maybe because my body’s still Izaki.

Or maybe…

Right after a morning bath, I passed through the living room, tossed my flip phone onto the sofa, slouched terribly with my elbows on the table, and opened the NacBook nearby.

“Hmm. So slow.”

Well, in the future, the performance is like 10 times better than this.

Humanity has come a long way.

I mean, the famous Nac brand doesn’t even cost 100,000 yen now, right?

Makes me laugh.

Wi-Fi still sucks, and there are a million things I want to complain about.

“Well, for now…”

I laid out the info I gathered from various sites.

Right now it’s early to mid-August 2012.

“Yeah. Even without powers, I probably would’ve become rich.”

Looking at the names on those websites, I jotted them down on a torn piece of paper.

“Alright, time to move my body a little.”

This past week—

Honestly, I barely moved.

No, it’s more accurate to say I couldn’t move.

Because I drank that.

To put it simply: if you think of magic power as bl00d, it makes more sense.

After drinking that stuff, I had to force bl00d to flow to places it normally wouldn’t.

──So what happens?

The body needs to rapidly produce bl00d and circulate it.

It feels like you’re about to die.

That part is basically magic power.

The strain is on a whole other level.

That’s why I gave up, stayed home, and nearly died alone on my bed.

“Looks like I’m finally okay now.”

Let’s go out for some exercise.