Chapter 21 : The Alchemist of Adela (5)
"In fact. It is a lie."
"A lie? What are you referring to……."
"What do you think I mean? There is no such thing as words of request I need to give you. Haven't you known since a month ago? Which Prescription needs to be issued and how, for the Viscount’s son to recover."
"……Young Master, since I was foolish and committed a great sin, please with a generous heart……."
Jueskint’s legs, which had started trembling a while ago, began to shake in earnest.
"Rest assured. I am not interested in what you were thinking when you reversed the completed prescription, and I have no intention of going around talking about this fact either."
In fact, it really did not matter to me.
Whether the reason Jueskint pulled a trick on Gabriel’s Prescription was due to vulgar jealousy, or due to a sense of crisis that his position would be threatened.
There was only one problem I was interested in right now.
"There is exactly one thing I have to say to you. Release that friend right now."
"……."
"As quietly as possible. Since you seem to be a friend with excellent talent enough to dare deceive the eyes of the Viscount, something like that would not be a problem, right?"
The biggest reason I did not expose Jueskint’s evil deed was that I wanted to get Gabriel out as quietly as possible.
It was not what I desired for rumors to circulate that the Young Master of Reichart saved a ‘competent Alchemist’ who was in an unfair situation.
‘If by chance the greedy Viscount realizes Gabriel’s value and starts clinging to him, things could get troublesome.’
It was better to recruit talent as secretly as possible.
‘Because it is not my problem whether a rat-like bastard who does not know how to judge people and is only full of greed keeps this trash as an attending physician or not.’
For this reason, having decided to cover up this incident at this point, I grabbed the doorknob and said.
"I am saying this just in case, but it will be good for you to send that friend out with his body intact. If you do not want to end up in a state where your tongue is cut out and eyes are plucked out for the crime of insulting the Viscount and not properly caring for his son’s illness."
"I, I will keep it in mind. Young Master."
"Right. You must keep it in mind. Then, believing that you will act that way, I will be going now."
Clack.
With these words, I left the room.
Heavy silence settled over Jueskint, who covered his face.
***
"Elly, my beloved sister! I have returned!"
The action Gabriel took first upon returning to the research institute after finishing his long prison life was to tightly hug his sister, whom he loved more than his life, in his arms.
"Phew, it smells! What on earth did you do inside the castle before coming back!"
"What work! I came back after displaying this brother’s abilities to the fullest. Haha."
Elly flapped around in Gabriel’s embrace, but Gabriel held Elly in his arms for quite a long time.
"Phew, please let go of that hand and look at this!"
A short while later, Elly, who was barely released from Gabriel’s embrace, handed him a single letter contained in a blue envelope.
"What is this? Oh, this is the emblem of Reichart."
"Yes. While you were not home, a person who says he works at the Finance Department of the ducal family came to look for you twice. He came just a while ago and left this letter too, so just read it quickly!"
"Wow, that means the Reichart Ducal Family, which pays well and is clean, is looking for me. As expected, this popularity of mine!"
Gabriel trembled with exaggeration and unfolded the letter.
"Uh…… so who did you say brought this letter?"
"Who else? I told you it is a person working at the ducal family’s Finance Department. I think he said his name was Riley?"
"Ra…… iley? What did that person called Riley look like?"
"You ask what he looked like? Hmm, so, he is lanky and tall like this, his face is very white, and his eyes are very black. Ah, right. He is a man but his hair was very pretty. The hair was not very long but whenever he moved, it flowed down like this……."
Perhaps feeling good just recalling Riley’s pretty appearance, Elly smiled bashfully and diligently explained his description.
"……Ah, ahaha……."
But for some reason, Gabriel was only making a dazed expression.
If it was a pretty man with white skin, black eyes, and glossy black hair, he also had a memory of meeting him not long ago.
Gulp.
Gabriel swallowed dry saliva and turned his eyes to the letter sent to him.
On the letter, the following content was written in handwriting that was neat beyond measure.
-Come to the forest entrance by the east wall by twelve o'clock tonight.
Hein Reichart,
***
"I must have told you to come by twelve, but seeing that you are already here waiting, you are a friend who knows manners."
"Gabriel Ba, Bastin greets the Y, Young Master of Reichart."
The time I notified was twelve o'clock, but the actual meeting of the two people was achieved even before it became eleven o'clock.
I, who had many things to think about, came out a little early, and Gabriel had been waiting for me here since 9 o'clock.
"We will have the serious talk a little later, and before that."
In my hand as I appeared at the spot, a basket containing the same food Gabriel had eaten in prison was held.
"I thought the food I prepared last time suited your taste, so I prepared the same thing. What would you like to have first?"
"For the Duke to go to such trouble for a lowly person like me. I……."
"If you were truly a person insignificant like dust, I would not have made time for you either."
I stopped pouring the wine and spoke looking at Gabriel’s eyes.
"You. Looking at you like this, your eyes are quite sparkling."
"Th, thank you."
"It would have been truly regrettable if these intelligent eyes could not see the light again. If I was even a little late, a very big trouble almost happened, right?"
I proceeded with the story in a deliberately exaggerated tone.
"Uh! Was there some problem with my eyes!"
Gabriel wrapped his hands around both eyes with a startled expression.
"Ah, you were unaware. Where shall I start telling the story?"
I explained in a calm tone what happened while Gabriel was locked in prison, and what was scheduled to happen to Gabriel if I had not appeared.
"Well, whether you believe my words or not is your freedom, but."
"No. I believe you. Come to think of it, it does seem there were one or two things that looked suspicious."
"Thank you for believing my words. Ah, would you like to have one of these too?"
To Gabriel who shuddered as if goosebumps rose on his back, I handed a pie.
"Th, thank you."
"The reason I called you at this late hour is because there are two reasons. First, because I wanted you to know that I am the benefactor of your sister and your two eyes. And second."
Although my tone was relatively gentle, at this moment, Gabriel felt goosebumps on his back.
In my eyes staring at him, a chill that could not be explained in words was felt.
"To make a proposal to you, asking if you would not like to work for me."
"For you? Young Master, then are you perhaps saying you want to employ me?"
"Employment. Although what I want is a relationship a little deeper than that, starting like that for now would not be bad either."
"……."
Gabriel, who heard my proposal, was silent for a while.
Going under a child of the ducal family was undoubtedly a big opportunity for a drifter Alchemist who barely operated a small research institute.
However, the reason Gabriel could not readily nod his head despite that was because he felt a weight that could not be explained in words from my proposal.
"I have something I want to ask, would you permit me? Young Master."
"As much as you like."
"Why are you making a ‘proposal’ to me, Young Master?"
"Asking why I make a ‘proposal,’ with what intention do you ask that question?"
To my counter-question, Gabriel answered with a calm voice unlike his usual self.
"So, if you really wanted me, Young Master, weren't there plenty of opportunities to use my abilities regardless of my will? So, for instance……."
"Ah, and here I wondered what you were saying. You mean it would have been possible to take you over while maintaining your status as a sinner in prison, so you are curious why I bothered to get you out and then make this proposal?"
"That is correct."
"Right, since I am locking you up anyway, it would be more effective if I locked up your sister in another prison using a suitable excuse, right? Since that way I would be able to hold onto you a little more certainly."
"Uh…… that is. So that is……."
Hearing my somewhat extreme subjunctive mood, Gabriel’s face turned white.
"Do not worry. Because the kind of thing you are thinking of will not happen. I have no thought of holding your family and doing something like blackmail for my purpose. I do not like applying Collective Punishment either."
Toward Gabriel, I shook my head with a firm expression.
"Is that so? Oh my, I also thought it would be so. Since you, Young Master, are overflowing with elegance even at a glance, unlike those bad guys, oh my, I apologize. So those narrow-minded, no, so."
Perhaps relieved by the words that I had no intention of touching his sister, Gabriel mobilized all sorts of rhetoric to praise my broad magnanimity.
"I told you last time, you seem to be a person who has a naive corner unlike what I thought."
"Yes, you have said that. Hehe."
"It seems my eyes were not wrong. Seeing you acting naively like this."
"Pardon?"
"Surely you are not thinking that I would not have set up any safety device on you, right?"
At the subtle remark I threw, Gabriel’s complexion became pale again.
"Since you only studied alchemy, you probably do not know well about magic. Among magic, there is something like this."
I picked up the wine glass I had drunk half of and shook it in front of Gabriel’s eyes.
Vwoom.
Blue light rose from the purple wine and then disappeared.
Splash.
I poured the wine just like that onto the rock that was next to me, and a short while later, lightly flicked my finger.
Then.
Boom!
Letting out a roar, the upper part of the quite large rock shattered into pieces.
"……!"
Gabriel, startled by the spectacle he witnessed for the first time in his life, opened his mouth wide.
I extended my finger and pointed to the wine glass held in Gabriel’s hand and said.
"How is it? Did the wine I prepared suit your taste a little?"
Hic.
Gabriel ended up hiccuping without realizing it.
His gaze was touching his own wine glass where only half remained.
He remembered clearly. The sensation of the wine that was contained in this glass passing his throat and going over into his esophagus.
"Young Master, clearly, ju, just a moment ago you said you do not do things like blackmail……."
"I said I have no mind to hold your family and blackmail them, but I never said I would not do blackmail itself?"
"Th, that is true. You certainly did say that."
"There is no need to worry too much. Because I have no intention of holding a fireworks display just because you do not accept my proposal. This is just like insurance prepared for the case you might go around blabbering stories about me here and there."
I lifted a new glass and poured wine with a nonchalant expression as I spoke.
"And I am the lifesaver of you and your sister. Then isn't there no reason I shouldn't hold the life of just you, one person, in my hand?"
Hic.
For a while, only the sound of Gabriel hiccuping was heard between the two people.
Around the time he emptied all of the newly poured wine glass, Gabriel, who barely found his composure only then, threw a question again.
"Why was it me?"
"Because I need your ability."
"My…… ability……."
"And because I also know that your dream is to see a wider world."
Gabriel’s eyes shook violently upon hearing my words.
This child of the ducal family, who seemed only eccentric, knew exactly the old dream he had been harboring in his heart.
"You probably know too, but this world has an unfair corner, so no matter how outstanding the ability one possesses is, there are frequent cases where they cannot blossom that ability. There are too many cases where talent that could sufficiently leap if only a very trivial opportunity was given gets buried because there was not that one chance."
"……."
Gabriel ended up nodding his head without realizing it.
Since just in his case right now, if there hadn't been my help, he would have almost ended up in a most miserable state.
"You probably know very well yourself how outstanding your own ability is, and also that your desire to see a new world is great. Right?"
"……That is correct."
"Then the story becomes simple. The thing you have to do now is only one. Grabbing the hand I held out."
I said while sitting on the rock I had smashed a moment ago.
"Guiding you to a wider world is what I will do. So you just have to trust and use your ability for me."
"……."
"This seems like not such a bad condition? For both you and me."
"If, hypothetically. If the ability I possess is lacking and I cannot meet your expectations, Young Master, if that happens, what do you intend to do?"
"I will do that worrying, so you do not have to think about things like that. Well, seeing how it is now, it does not seem like a problem to worry about much, but."
Having finished speaking, I picked up the wine bottle which was emptied about halfway before I knew it.
And around the time my glass, which had been emptied, was fully filled.
"Thank you. Young Master. Although it is a lacking body, I will do my best to meet your expectations, Young Master."
Gabriel bowed his head wearing the most determined expression since meeting me tonight.
"Right, that is a very good answer. That is how you should be."
Checking the desire contained in Gabriel’s eyes, I emptied the fully filled glass in one breath.
When I took out a glass for Gabriel, Gabriel spoke in a determined voice.
"Young Master, there is one thing I really want to say but……."
"Try saying it."
"Excuse me, could you please take some measure regarding the wine I drank a little while ago? Hehe."
"Hm?"
"Excuse me, because my courage is small……."
"I am sorry, but let’s make that something I give you later."
Toward Gabriel who returned to his usual appearance, I showed him a slight shake of my head.
"Excuse me…… exactly when would that later be?"
"Well, when the trust between us has become a little more solid?"
"Excuse me…… I will be waiting for that day to come quickly……."
"Right, I will also be waiting for that day."
On a moonlit night, a smile that seemed clearly different yet resembled each other was formed on the faces of the two people facing their glasses.