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The day after we visited the orphanage to say goodbye, we went to the Alchemists’ Guild to announce our departure date.

“No, not our precious healing…!”
“I really wanted to pet you at least once.”
“Alice and everyone, stay safe. All of us big sisters are praying for your safety.”

Upon learning of our planned departure, the older sisters were incredibly reluctant to say goodbye.

The children at the orphanage were actually much more matter-of-fact about it. Aside from a few of the younger ones, most just said things like, “Take care! We’ll definitely meet again!” or “I’ll definitely come see you off!”

Since they were fussing over, I left the older sisters to look after Sufi and the others, and instead spoke with the group of supervisors while watching them with a wry smile.

“Chytis Philip, Chytis George… Everyone, thank you.”
“No, no—I’m actually sorry I couldn’t be of much help. Sir Sigrun was also disappointed he couldn’t meet you.”

In the end, I didn’t even get to say hello to Chytis Sigrun, the branch master. He’s always been a very busy man, and with all the recent commotion, he’s apparently been running around all over the place.

The only time he was at the guild happened to be when I was bedridden, so I ended up leaving town without ever seeing him. I had mixed feelings—part of me was glad I didn’t have to meet him, but another part wished I had.

“You’ll probably be visiting the headquarters in Alveria for conferences, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, we’re the one who should be thanking you. There are hardly any alchemists who can make potions with that level of precision. Thanks to you, many patients survived.”

I thought that was a bit of an exaggeration, but I kept quiet, thinking it wouldn’t be right to dismiss the opinion of an expert who was also involved in clinical work.

“I just did what I could.”
“You need to understand what’s important, Chytis Alice. What you’re capable of, no other alchemists could… that’s what it comes down to.”
“……”

It had been a long time since I’d been praised so directly like this, and it felt a little awkward.
Grandpa did praise me, but there was always a hint of exasperation or an unhidden sense of awe.

Being praised by a grown man reminds me of when Captain ruffled my hair. It somehow makes me let my guard down.

“Oh, right. This is a parting gift.”
“?”

Taking advantage of a pause in the conversation, Chytis Philip lifted the wooden box that had been sitting at his feet and placed it on the table. Judging by the sound, it seemed quite heavy.

“What’s this?”
“It’s the alchemy equipment I used to use. It’s a bit old, but it’s good for all the basic tasks.”

Inside the box were glass and ceramic alchemy tools: flasks, test tubes, cylinders, and a stand for holding test tubes. Of course, there were mortars and pestles, as well as a full set of extraction stands and cleaning tools for maintenance.

They looked well-used, but you could tell just by looking at them that they were high-quality items.

“Are you sure?”
“I just didn’t have any use for them anymore.”
“Why go to such lengths?”

Since tools like these are custom-made for alchemists, they’re certainly not cheap. With a set this complete, it would easily cost more than a few gold coins.

I had no idea why he would go to such lengths, so I was a little confused.

“…Do you know that Old Master Haumass used to be the court alchemist of the Kingdom of Roud?”
“Yeah.”

Grandpa never liked to talk about it, but I’d heard a little about it.

He’d been asked by the king to serve as a court alchemist and devoted himself to researching magic implements but I think he eventually retired, worn out by the political strife within the palace.

“Back then, I was studying pharmacology as an apprentice to a certain alchemist…”

Chytis Philip spoke of the past, his words occasionally trailing off.

Back then, Chytis Philip was a young man who had just become an alchemist, conducting research on medicinal herbs at court as the apprentice of a fairly well-known Third-Tier alchemist.

His research focused primarily on herbs to counter a wide range of poisons. Fortunately, the research was going smoothly, and he was steadily achieving results.

That was when Old Master Haumass—my grandfather—arrived.

A genius alchemist and magi-engineer who had reached the 9th Tier in his 50s. As soon as the king confirmed the return of this great alchemist to the Kingdom of Roud, he personally went to recruit him.

Grandpa, who harbored the ambition to spread alchemy and bring prosperity to his impoverished homeland, accepted the offer and went on to contribute significant research achievements to the Kingdom of Roud.

It seems that was around the time Chytis Philip first met Grandpa. Roughly twenty years ago, I suppose.

“That’s why the Kingdom of Roud—which used to have little to boast of besides its cities along the trade routes connecting the East and the port—is now gaining the strength to counter the influence of the Luminism Church.”
“I thought it was the Alchemists’ Guild that allowed them to hold their own.”
“Unfortunately, the western branch isn’t that powerful. The Forligen branch is a crucial base for the Guild, so they can’t take too many risks.”
“Is that so?”

“They say the western region is teeming with unexplored territories and undiscovered ruins. To obtain materials and artifacts, this branch—which serves as the gateway to the west—is quite important. Above all, the Luminism Church is a very powerful organization…”
“I didn’t realize they were that powerful.”
“That’s because they control some of the essentials people need to survive.”

Basically, even the largest guilds are specific to a single country; they’re usually professional associations organized on a town or village level. There are almost no guilds with influence spanning multiple cities, and the only ones with influence across national borders are the three major international guilds: Adventurers, Alchemists, and Mages.

However, there are a few other guilds that expand their influence under the umbrella of a single organization.

“Once they control the staple food, salt, and medical care, we’re powerless against them.”

The Luminism Church holds a tight grip on three key privileges: bread baking, salt, and medicine. Vatical, which controls the continent’s largest rock salt mine and its breadbasket region, leveraged the advantage gained from this to the fullest, backed by the authority of the Luminism Church.

It forced the nations under its influence to accept laws prohibiting the trade of salt and bread outside the church’s control. In the West, while bread is becoming widespread as a staple food, the techniques for baking it are kept secret by the Church.

In the East, there are no such restrictions, so the methods are apparently common knowledge, but due to the law, it can’t be sold in most Western countries.

“Since it’s the buying and selling that’s prohibited, an alchemist has plenty of ways to get around it, though.”
“I’ve hardly ever eaten bread, so I didn’t know that.”