Chapter 19 : The Alchemist of Adela (3)
Step. Step. Step.
As Gabriel, who had been sprawled out uselessly on the floor, listened, that sound—now quite familiar—reached his ears.
‘It’s not mealtime yet…… then, it must mean a letter came from Elly!’
Gabriel, who had been slumped limp, quickly pushed himself upright.
It was his adorable little sister’s letter, after all, and there was no way he could just sit there blankly.
“Oh my, hello there, sir. You truly work so hard every single day.”
With a frivolous voice, Gabriel greeted the guard and stretched a hand out through the bars.
No matter what he truly felt, if he got on the guard’s bad side, he wouldn’t be able to exchange letters with his sister anymore, so for now he needed to stay in the guard’s good graces.
“Is your name Gabriel Bastin?”
“Yes, it is……. Oh dear, you must be a newly arrived sir, huh?”
But the guard who had come to see Gabriel had a face he had never seen in his life.
‘Let’s see. No, really—this face looks far too refined to be working as some underground prison guard.’
Pale skin and delicate features that could be mistaken for a woman’s.
Even the fine strands of black hair visible beneath the pulled-down uniform cap.
The rookie guard, whose appearance didn’t suit a guard at all, looked down at Gabriel from beyond the bars and spoke.
“Gabriel Bastin. I heard you’re a fairly famous alchemist around here. Is that true?”
“Huh? Ah, yes. I am an alchemist, that’s right. And that I’m fairly famous around here is probably true as well. Hehe.”
Clank!
After confirming Gabriel’s identity, the guard opened the cell door and stepped inside.
In his hands were a bottle of wine with a fragrant aroma and various appetizing snacks.
“Good. I also heard that your fame and skill were recognized, and you were entrusted with the important duty of tending to the sick young master of the lord’s family.”
“Yes. Hehe. That’s how it turned out. Though there was a slight discrepancy, so now I’m stuck in this underground prison like this.”
Even as he answered the guard’s questions, Gabriel’s eyes remained fixed on the food basket again and again.
After being locked up for the past month and eating only dry, tasteless food, he couldn’t help but be drawn to the basket that gave off such a pleasant aroma.
“Then it seems I came to the right place. The truth is, I came here because there are a few things I’d like to ask you.”
“Oh my, is that so? Then please, just speak. I’ll answer anything I can.”
Watching Gabriel keep his gaze fixed on the basket, the guard lightly shook it.
“Before that, shall we have a light drink?”
***
“I have a younger sibling, and that kid is currently enrolled at an academy in the capital.”
“A sibling enrolled at an academy, huh. You must be happy to have such an outstanding sibling. Munch munch.”
Even as Gabriel agreed with the guard’s words, he didn’t stop bringing food to his mouth.
“The department my sibling is in is magical alchemy. Broadly speaking, it’s the same line of work as you.”
“How could this be anything but an honor? Munch.”
“Anyway, my sibling recently came home for vacation, but it seems the professor assigned quite a lot of homework. Thanks to that, my sibling came home for once but can’t properly rest, and I’m very worried.”
“Ah, I see.”
“They say you’re a very capable alchemist. Then wouldn’t you be able to help my sibling a little?”
In a secretive voice, the guard revealed the purpose of his visit.
Only then did Gabriel realize what the guard wanted, and he nodded without hesitation.
“Ah, of course I should help you.”
Having eaten his fill of the food the guard brought, Gabriel wiped the corner of his mouth once and held out his hand.
“Alright then, could you show me the homework the professor assigned?”
“Here it is.”
“Let’s see…….”
The guard pulled out a thick bundle of papers from his clothes and handed it to Gabriel.
The papers were packed full of writing that made one’s head spin just by looking at it.
“……Alright, here you go, sir. If you take it like this, your sibling will organize it themselves.”
“You…… you already solved all the problems here?”
It didn’t even take ten minutes for Gabriel to find every answer to the problems densely filling the stack of papers.
“Well, they twisted the formulas up in a pretty complicated way, but if you know the principles exactly, finding the answers is quick. I can guarantee the accuracy of the results, so you don’t have to worry.”
Gabriel’s expression was perfectly calm.
His tone and face seemed to be saying, ‘Come on, it’s only this much—why are you making that expression?’
“I heard these were fairly tricky problems that even upperclassmen at the academy struggle to solve. It seems you’re an even more excellent alchemist than I thought.”
“You flatter me. Heh heh.”
“Then even with such an excellent alchemist handling the prescription, why has the lord’s young master’s illness shown no improvement for over a month?”
“Oh, that? I’m not worried. Originally, there are cases where the effects of medicine vary from person to person in how long they take to manifest, and in any case, the lord’s young master is still quite young, isn’t he?”
Even while imprisoned on the charge of failing to produce a prescription that would cure the lord’s son, there wasn’t a trace of worry in Gabriel’s expression or tone.
It must have been because he had absolute confidence in his own prescription.
“Because he’s young, if you adjust the dosage, the effect might appear later. But at the latest, the effect will show up in about half a month, and then the lord’s young master will quickly become fine. Then I’ll be able to return to my laboratory, too.”
“I see. So you’re saying that at the latest, the effect will appear in half a month? Meaning, if they ‘properly, just follow’ the prescription you compounded.”
Gabriel didn’t notice that the guard’s eyes flashed with a cold light for an instant.
“When that happens, sir, please use our laboratory often. For you, Guard, I’ll make it especially cheap. And while you’re at it, if you could promote us to the people around you, I’d be even more grateful.”
“How could I be more thankful? Understood. Then I’ll see you again next time.”
“Please take care. Thank you very much for the food you brought today. I truly enjoyed it.”
The chill that had gathered in his gaze vanished in a fleeting moment, and soon the guard lightly waved a hand and moved away from the bars.
“Gabriel. You know.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
But just as the guard was moving away from Gabriel, he suddenly stopped.
“You have a more naïve side than I expected.”
“Huh? Ah, actually, my sister tells me that a lot too. She says even though I’m old enough, sometimes I’m so naïve it feels like I haven’t grown up.”
Standing there, the guard recalled what Elly had said, then spoke in a low voice.
“She’s not entirely wrong.”
Clank.
With that, the guard left through the underground prison iron door.
As the guard climbed the stairs leading up to the surface, he stopped, pulled out the bundle of papers he had received from Gabriel earlier, and looked at it.
‘He solved this in under ten minutes. And he did it purely by calculating everything in his head.’
Because Gabriel had never received formal education in magical alchemy, he had believed the problems were simply academy homework.
But in truth, the problems Hein had handed over were not at a homework level.
The problems Gabriel had solved were so difficult that even if the academy’s professors gathered together and spent an entire day and night poring over them, they might not be able to solve even a single one.
Gabriel had solved twenty such problems on the spot.
‘It looks like I really did come to the right place.’
After confirming that Gabriel’s talent remained intact even in this life, I, Hein Reichart, nodded.
However, even after confirming Gabriel’s skill, a question still remained.
‘You’re telling me that a prescription written by an alchemist this skilled had no effect even after a month?’
I urged my steps up the stairs once more.
The answer to the doubt I had just felt would likely be found not in the underground prison, but above ground.
Creak.
“Have you returned?”
“Was everything alright?”
As I opened the door and stepped out, the guards stationed at the entrance rushed to ask after me.
“That’s enough. There’s nothing to worry about, so tell the chief jailer to come over here for a moment.”
The expression I wore while dealing with the guards was cold beyond measure, unlike when I dealt with Gabriel.
“You called for me, Young Master!”
A moment later, the chief jailer of the Adela Inner Castle underground prison hurried over at my order and bowed his head deeply.
Even when dealing with the Adela lord, who held the rank of viscount, the chief jailer was someone who felt his heart tighten.
But facing a direct descendant of the Reichart ducal house that ruled this entire region, the chief jailer felt as if his legs were trembling.
“An execution is scheduled for a week from now?”
Normally, no matter that I was the heir of a ducal house, entering another’s territory like this and interfering in internal affairs would be forbidden.
But I had an official pass bearing Redin’s seal.
“Yes. If there is no notable improvement in Young Master’s patient by a week from now, he will be punished for deceiving the lord and spreading specious lies.”
Judging by how deeply the chief jailer was bending his waist toward me, even if there were no official pass, it didn’t seem like he would have dared refuse my commands.
“What punishment is scheduled?”
“Gabriel will have both eyeballs extracted and will live ten years in the underground prison. Gabriel’s sister will be subject to collective punishment and will be sold as a slave.”
“I understand. You may go.”
My brow furrowed.
Now I finally understood.
Why a young man who had been so cheerfully frivolous had to become a madman who dyed half the continent in darkness.
In a place where Gabriel was not present, his future had been decided without his will.
And in the worst possible form he could imagine.
‘If his eyes and his future are stolen, and the younger sister he treasures more than his own life is sold into slavery, it would be stranger if he didn’t go mad.’
Generally, when someone became a slave as punishment for a crime, they were placed in far harsher circumstances than slaves sold for money.
For a fairly pretty woman like Elly, it wasn’t hard to imagine what kind of fate she would suffer.
‘While Gabriel was imprisoned, she must have lived a miserable life and died in pain. And after learning that, Gabriel must have planned revenge on the world.’
My brow furrowed even deeper.
Even just up to this point, there was more than enough reason for Gabriel to become a madman.
However, the most serious problem in this case lay elsewhere.
‘There’s a strong chance Gabriel was framed.’
Gabriel had been taking it easy, saying there could be a time lag before the medicine’s effect appeared, but I couldn’t shake the sense of suspicion.
A prescription made by an alchemist of Gabriel’s caliber showed no effect for over a month?
Rather than the effect manifesting late, as Gabriel claimed, it was more likely……
‘Someone must have tampered with it.’
After organizing my thoughts, I nodded.
Now that I had grasped the situation, it was time to move in earnest.
“Where is the Viscount of Adela?”
“Yes. He is waiting for the Young Master in the guest room.”
The moment the question fell, the guard waiting beside me hurriedly prepared to escort me.
I spoke in a cold voice.
“Lead the way. I am going to meet the viscount.”