“Me, become your exclusive mage?”
Loyd made a foolish face while pointing to himself, and I responded with a big nod. I had my heart set on Loyd being my exclusive mage for a while.
He was a little childish, but he showed me funny reactions every day, and I saw him being kind a lot.
Also, he was the most honest person I knew. If people asked him something, he would grumble a lot, but would definitely see it through.
For example, he didn’t know the truth about those tasks the director gave us, but he did them.
“Eh, no way. All the materials you want sound like a pain to get. I pass.”
I was instantly rejected.
He could have at least pretended to consider it. Loyd’s insensitive answer annoyed me, but it was nothing new, so there was no point in complaining.
“Can you come with me to the alchemist guild? That much is fine, right?”
“Yes, if that’s all… But I’m not becoming an exclusive mage.”
“I know I know.”
He grumbled, but accompanied me.
We left the orphanage, and walked side by side through the main street.
Loyd was taller than me, so he looked down as we talked.
“How have you been doing, Loyd?”
“Normal. I registered in the mage association, but there’s no events or anything. I’m almost fourteen, so I’m thinking I have to look for a job soon.
The mage association was an organization that managed mages, and mages had to register with them to work in the Kingdom of Merzelia.
I think it was near the alchemist guild, where I was going to be registered from then on.
In either case, being registered did not put restrictions on our lives, but just being registered did not earn us any money either.
In Loyd’s case, he would have to get hired somewhere after registering.
Also, people living in the Jeru Orphanage graduated at fourteen. It could vary a bit depending on their employment status, but most did it at fourteen.
Loyd was already registered with the mage association, so he could already work as a mage. He could even leave the orphanage the next day if he wanted.
I’m getting off track, but if one were to work as an exclusive mage, they would also have to register with the mage association.
For me, there was no one I would rather have as an exclusive mage than Loyd.
After walking for a while, we reached the small, two story building that was the alchemist guild. It felt a lot like a normal home.
I opened the front door, and saw a beautiful entrance, with two female employees sitting in the back.
They noticed us, but didn’t really pay us any mind, as they kept on chatting. They were talking about stuff not related to work at all, like meeting a handsome blonde elf the other day.
Loyd looked around, and said what was on his mind.
“There are a lot fewer tables than in the mage association.”
“That’s a matter of scale. There are way more mages than alchemists.”
“I see. Go on and register then.”
“Yes.”
I walked up to the reception desk, and said I wanted to register in the guild.
One of the employees took out a pen and three documents.
“Write your name and age here please.”
I did that, and Loyd watched me from the side.
“Becoming an alchemist comes with restrictions for on-site picking.”
“Restrictions?”
Asked Loyd instead of me.
“When working on-site, you must have an exclusive mage with you. Also, you must not fight monsters you encounter. Breaking these rules comes with a penalty, and if a serious incident were to occur, your license could be revoked.”
“I don’t really get it, but basically, you can’t pick stuff without an exclusive mage, right?”
“Basically, yes. An alchemist’s job is to transmute and sell, not procure materials. That falls on an exclusive mage”
“There’s a lot of annoying restrictions. Is this why you said you needed an exclusive mage?”
“Yes, I can’t go pick materials. There used to be a lot of alchemists that died picking their materials.”
“It is as she says. Alchemists just focus on working in their ateliers, for their own safety. Dividing work in this manner is good for everyone’s sake.”
What she said made sense, but I wished I could do field work too.
“But reality is quite different. A lot of alchemists do field work.”
“So there’s a rule, but no one follows it?”
“Yes. We want alchemists to work safely. It is very easy for promising young alchemists to get immersed in picking materials and get killed. Please leave the dangerous work to your exclusive mage.”
“Mu, that implies it’s fine if the exclusive mage gets hurt.”
“Hahaha… Excuse me. I only meant that you should avoid getting hurt.”
The employee said with an awkward smile. It really felt like a businesslike back and forth.
But there was no point in grumbling to them, so I completed the paperwork.
But then, suddenly, Loyd picked up a piece of paper and wrote his name on it.
“W-what are you doing?”
“You can’t pick materials without an exclusive mage, right? Then I’ll act as your exclusive mage until you find an official one for you.”
“But you just said you would do it…”
“You want to do alchemy, right? Then don’t worry. Just focus on what you want to do.”
He said with a smile.
His kindness burned just a little behind his eyes. He complained, but always helped me when I needed it.
I felt Loyd’s kindness once again, and really felt how much I liked him.
And this was how Loyd became my temporary exclusive mage.
◆ ◆ ◆
I finished registering in the guild, but it was not like I could just open an atelier right after.
I needed a reputation, money, and a rank.
Reputation: Basically, that meant regular customers. I had not done a request yet, so I had none.
Money: I needed between a hundred to a hundred fifty gold coins to open an atelier. That was money I did not have.
Rank: I needed rank C in the guild. My current rank was E.
Haaaaaaa (sigh).
I had a long way ahead of me.
There were requests provided by the guild, but their fee was high enough that they were not very profitable.
Being independent as an alchemist was not easy.
“Complaining will get you nowhere. You don’t eat if you don’t work, so let’s just do requests.”
“It looks like I won’t be leaving the orphanage so soon.”
“Yes. Ah, I know. Learn how to make curry before you graduate.”
“Eh… Can’t you just make it instead, Loyd?”
“Don’t forget that I’m an exclusive mage (temporary). And that I’m going to quit as soon as I see an opportunity.”
“Loyd you meanie…”
We chatted while going to the board to the right of the reception desk, where requests were ordered by rank.
I was an E rank, so what I could do was limited. I picked one up.
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Rank: E
Job: Make red potions
Reward: Three silver coins
Job description: Make five red potions
Time limit: One week
Notes: Working on-site alone is dangerous. Please refrain from doing so.
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Red potions were common items seen for sale in markets, and it seemed a lot of them were made by novice alchemists to earn some money.
Three silver coins was not enough to buy food for a few days, but without any experience under my belt, I had few options.
“Are you doing this one?”
“Yes. I know how to make red potions, and I think I can do it well.”
I opened my recipe book to check, and found it right away thanks to tags I glued on it.
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■ Red potion
Originator: Ruby
◆ Necessary materials (10 level of materials)
《Red slime piece》, 《red herb》
◆ Transmutation process (difficulty level 5)
Up up down down left
◆ Final score: 15
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We could get the materials in a nearby forest, so it seemed I could start transmuting that day.
I told Loyd about picking the materials there.
“You can get red herbs in the market. Don’t you want to buy them there?”
“No, it would cost too much to use those as materials.”
“I see. You’re really talking like an alchemist.”
“Well, I am an alchemist starting today.”
I pouted at Loyd’s rudeness and responded.
We went to the forest right away, and it took us an hour to get to our destination.
I had been in that forest many times, so I knew exactly where to go.
The sun illuminated the forest well, and we had good vision.
That said, we still had to be careful about monsters as we walked deeper.
We walked there for a while, until we found a bouncy red slime.
Since it dropped one of the materials I needed, I wanted to take it down.
“Loyd, over there.”
“Okay. Waterball.”
Loyd chanted quickly, and fired a Waterball.
It hit the red slime right in the face, and it let out a quiet scream as it disappeared.
And in its place, was a red slime piece. Yes. I got my material.
“Thanks Loyd.”
“That’s kind of my job.”
“Fufuh, be a bit more honest, Loyd. You’re always helping me.”
“…Let’s just get going.”
Loyd scratched his cheek while looking a bit embarrassed, and answered brusquely.
I thought this was charming.
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