TDAA Ch 35

Ladie smiled softly at Siol’s answer, which brought back their conversation from that day.

Siol felt a little sorry for the joyfully watching Ladie, but for some reason, he also felt a little lonely. Not just Ladie, but all the other knights were amazed by the alchemy Siol had shown, and were even sending him looks of awe.

If this were the land of the beastmen, if it were Eorzen or Ryufen, the reaction would have been different. Eorzen would have lifted him up, looked at him tenderly, and told him over and over that he had done something amazing. Ryufen would have patted him on the head, pressing down firmly until it hurt. Maybe they would have even cheered “Woooah!” and thrown Siol’s body into the air and caught him several times. Compared to the land of the beastmen, the people in the land of humans were very polite. Even that Luber.

Lord Meric, who had followed Ladie, had an expression of disbelief, but he seemed to have no will to fight anymore. That’s a relief. The reason Siol had performed alchemy in this spot, knowing he would draw people’s attention, was to stop the fight, so it was a success.

“But how much can you make? Is it possible to make enough for the entire domain?”

“Uh…. First, I need high-quality lumber. With just lumber, I can turn one piece of high-quality lumber into two pieces of that kind of firewood. If you want a lot more like just now, you need mana stones. Pearls, gold, and things like that would probably be pretty good too. But I’ll have to try it to know for sure. But, probably… it’s possible.”

“…When the envoy came from the land of the beastmen, I wasn’t exactly thrilled. But now, I can only say it’s a relief.”

The gold, rubies, emeralds, pearls, and mana stones brought by the blue dragon’s envoy. Without them, he would never have even thought of such a solution.

Ladie, who had mentioned it casually, flinched and glanced at Siol. She had remembered Siol’s confession. But Siol just smiled. He couldn’t say it was okay. But, for Siol too, their visit had been a fortunate thing.

If the beastmen envoy hadn’t come, if they hadn’t given those luxurious jewels to Ladie as gifts, Siol too would not have been able to produce such an amazing result. If the lumber storage had still been intact, even Siol, who had nothing, might have been able to somehow manage the domain’s lumber consumption. But in the current situation, with the lumber storage burned down and half the firewood stock gone, it was an impossible task.

Instead of lying and saying it was okay, Siol changed the subject.

“My lord, what’s been on your mind?”

Lord Meric, who had been looking like he wanted to say something all this time, stared blankly at Siol with a stiff face when he was pointed out.

“…You, you were holding firewood that day, too.”

“Pardon? That day… Ah. You mean the day Ladie left.”

“Yes, you were holding firewood, weren’t you? So that day, too… were you trying to talk about this?”

“Uh…. That’s right…”

That day, Siol had run up the stairs as if flying, holding a piece of firewood to show Ladie the results of his research, only to spot Ladie and Lord Meric fighting and hide himself. Though he had been caught by Lord Meric after Ladie left.

Lord Meric was looking at Siol with a face full of confusion and bewilderment, as if he didn’t know what to say. Siol felt his chest swell with emotion as he discovered the completely different feelings in the eyes that had been filled only with anger and contempt when they first met. Lord Meric’s eyes held a mixture of goodwill, gratitude, bewilderment, and apology. There might be something more that Siol hadn’t noticed, but at least it wasn’t contempt or disgust.

It meant that the man before him was no longer looking at the Alchemist of Death. He was now facing Siol, the ordinary alchemist, not the Alchemist of Death.

“…I…”

“My lord. I know what you were worried about back then.”

“……”

“I understand. I’m worried about the same thing, too. So… you don’t have to say any more.”

Only then could Siol truly accept the various expressions of goodwill that Lord Meric had sent to his room. The thought of just letting things flow, without worrying about the meaning of whatever was given or taken away, might have been a resolve not to get hurt no matter what happened.

The moment that goodwill truly seeped into his heart, Siol felt a joy that shook his heart to a bewildering degree.

He was not yet a person who deserved such treatment. He had always talked about wanting to shed the stigma of the Alchemist of Death, but it had always felt like something unreachable, like a mirage or a rainbow.

The evil deeds of the Alchemist of Death were so clearly known in this land that they were even recorded in history books. So he thought that no matter how much he shouted that it was all actually the king’s doing, people wouldn’t listen. It was clear that Siol’s alchemical tools had been used, so he thought he would never be able to prove he wasn’t an accomplice.

So, if he helped the victims, and helped raise Ladie to the throne, and then used Ladie’s power to reveal that everything was the former king’s evil deeds, then maybe people would believe him a little…. Then maybe he could wash away a little of the stigma. He had only held onto a small hope.

He hadn’t solved anything yet, so why was Lord Meric thinking of him and the Alchemist of Death as separate?

Questions remained, but still, Siol could not suppress his joy, the overwhelming feeling.

Looking at Siol’s face full of smiles, Lord Meric opened his mouth with a displeased expression.

“Don’t understand.”

“Pardon?”

“In a situation like this, you’re supposed to receive a proper apology. It’s not something to be understood and moved on from so easily!”

“Uh…. Pardon?”

As Siol just kept asking back in confusion, Lord Meric let out a deep sigh while looking at him. It was a sigh that seemed a little tired, a little weary.

“Letting a situation like this pass ambiguously doesn’t suit my temperament.”

Lord Meric looked directly at Siol and continued.

“I’ve been sorry until now. I’ve been swayed by rumors all this time, but now I believe that you… are a good person. At the very least, I’m certain you’re not the kind of person who would create weapons of slaughter for war.”

“…You too, my lord…. You’re a good person, too.”

Siol felt like he might cry a little. He knew how difficult it was for someone with the title of a lord to apologize to another person in a place crowded with knights. This apology was not just Lord Meric’s apology, but also the apology of Lord Meric’s domain.

The atmosphere between Siol, who had his lips tightly shut to keep from crying, and Lord Meric, who was looking away to endure the awkwardness, was strange. Ladie, looking back and forth between the two, shrugged and suggested.

“Well. Now that the firewood problem isn’t urgent, you won’t be leaving, will you, Lord Meric?”

“…No.”

“Master Siol. Let’s continue our talk tomorrow afternoon. I think we’ll need some time to figure out how much high-quality lumber is left. There are some things to organize, too.”

“Alright.”

Ladie had just returned from participating in a war in another domain. The fact that Ladie, who had left to help another domain that had requested aid, had returned safely like this meant nothing less than that the domain had fallen into Ladie’s hands. There would be administrative work to handle related to that, so Siol could gladly wait.

As Ladie and Lord Meric went into the mansion first, the knights who had been waiting all this time also began to disperse. However, Eriad, who had helped Luber carry the firewood, did not leave his side and quietly approached Siol.

“Master Siol. May I take Luber for a moment?”

Luber was originally part of Eriad’s platoon, but he was currently serving as Siol’s guard under Ladie’s orders, so it seemed he was asking for permission.

“Uh…. May I ask why?”

“…He has gained a lot of weight in the past few days. As a knight, this is unacceptable.”

Siol recalled the debauched life Luber had enjoyed throughout his time as his guard. Eating, lying down, rolling around, eating, lying down, rolling around. He had enjoyed a truly idle life, eating sausages, bread, cheese, and butter-filled bread and snacks. Siol, who could not say he was without responsibility for Luber’s weight gain, flinched and nodded.

“What? Master Siol, no! Please say no! I don’t want to!”

“…Sorry, Luber.”

“Nooo…. Why. We were having a great time together. Don’t abandon me! Take me with you!”

“…Sorry.”

“I don’t want to! I won’t train! Master Sio—mmph. Mmmugh, mmmph—!”

Luber, shouting like the tragic hero of a novel abandoned by his lover, reached out his hand toward Siol before being dragged away by Eriad, his mouth covered. Siol could only quietly look away from the scene. The look in Eriad’s eyes as he looked at Luber’s love handles held such a hint of disgust that he couldn’t possibly say no.

One thing he felt sorry for Luber about was that he had fed him sweet things from time to time because he ate well. If he had known this would happen, he wouldn’t have given him the candy earlier either.