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“Hey, hey, Great Master Leafa! Next, I want to make the Ring of the Shimmering Starry Sky!”

Now that I had agreed to teach her alchemy, Melua wasted no time voicing her next request.

“Huh? Why that one…?”

The Ring of the Shimmering Starry Sky was another of my creations from my past life, just like the Bracelet of the Gentle Unicorn. The fact that Melua specifically mentioned Glass’ work felt a little too convenient to be mere coincidence— almost like Aurora’s setup.

“Why? Because it’s super pretty!”

With that, Melua pulled out the real Ring of the Shimmering Starry Sky.

It was a golden ring, as dark and vivid as condensed darkness itself, adorned with tiny magic stones that twinkled like stars. The runes engraved on the surface weren’t just for function— I’d carefully designed them to be visually stunning as well.

Wearing the ring granted the ability to see through darkness, making it possible to distinguish objects in low light with just enough clarity. It also prevented the temporary blindness that came from stepping into bright light after being in darkness for too long.

“But… it doesn’t really do anything that special, does it?”
“No way, it’s super useful! With this, I can look at Estea in the middle of the night without going, ‘Gah, that’s bright!’”

Ah, right. If both her eyes were Pure Eyes, she’d naturally see the flow of aether. And if Estea was as talented as I imagined, her aether must have been overwhelming in quantity.

“Plus, your aether is probably blindingly gold, right, Great Master Leafa? It’d be helpful to have a spare before I return this one to Ms. Matilda.”

Given how close Melua had come to completing the Bracelet of the Gentle Unicorn despite lacking full material analysis, she probably could have made the ring herself. So why was she asking me?

“…I get what you’re saying, but teaching Alfe magic comes first. I already made the bracelet, after all.”
“I’ll teach Alfe, don’t worry! So while I’m teaching her, can’t you just whip it up real quick?”

Melua clasped her hands together in front of her face, pleading with me.

“Come on, Great Master Leafa, this is a piece of cake for you, right?”

Well, since I had mass-produced these in my past life, I figured I could make it in less than an hour. Still, being called Great Master Leafa felt… strange.

“Hey, Melua. Just call me Leafa, okay?”
“No way! A disciple can’t just call their master by name!”

Melua shook her head vigorously at my suggestion.

“I don’t really plan on taking a disciple, though…”
“Come on! Having a special-class alchemist like me as your disciple is a steal! I mean, you get unlimited access to this atelier, and besides, passing down techniques to future generations is part of an alchemist’s duty, right? And I wanna be your very first apprentice, Great Master Leafa!”

Melua seized the opportunity to pile on her argument. And, well, she had a point. In the world of alchemy, the master-apprentice bond and the transmission of knowledge were considered sacred. In my past life, I trusted no one— I remained alone until the end, burning every trace of my research to elude the eyes of Kamut.

But since I’d decided to pursue alchemy again in this life, maybe it was time to accept the idea of sharing my craft with others.

“…I guess you’re right. It feels a bit weird taking my senior as a disciple, but if that’s what works best for you, then sure.”

Melua made it sound like this atelier was some kind of perk of being her mentor, but I had no intention of monopolizing it for personal use. The engineering department’s facilities would be more than enough for customizing Mecha Soldiers for Hom and Alfe or modifying my own Arkecius for the upcoming Zersteller—Canalford Cup.

“Yay! Then I’m your first disciple, okay? And as proof of my discipleship, please make me the Ring of the Shimmering Starry Sky¹, Great Master Leafa!”

Melua, ever the opportunist, made sure to press the request for the ring again. Well, if making it would give Alfe a solid hour for training, it wasn’t a bad deal.

“…If you stop calling me Great Master Leafa, then I’ll do it.”
“Okay! I’ll call you Master instead!”

Ah, so she had no intention of calling me by name, huh? At this point, arguing over what she called me felt like a waste of energy, so I decided to just accept Master. If Melua saw me as her teacher, it meant I could treat her normally without overthinking things, which might make communication easier in the long run.

“Alright then, Alfe! Let’s get started! So, why do you want to train in magic?”

Buoyed by my approval, Melua turned to face Alfe with even more enthusiasm.

“I want to win the Zersteller. That’s why I want to get stronger.”
“…Oh, wait— are you saying you want, like, hardcore magic training? So, Master, are you gonna make a Magic Soldier!?”

Melua seemed to catch on to Alfe’s goal instantly, and just like that, she spun back around to face me again.

“I’m not exactly making a Magic Soldier— I’m planning to customize it so it can use magic.”
“Wooow! That’s my Master! You just casually drop insane things like it’s nothing! F-Class is stuck with machines that are basically fossils, and you’re gonna upgrade them? That’s straight-up magic-level modding! I’m shook!”

So I was right— the machines were different from Class A. It seemed the discrimination against non-humans extended to the equipment itself. I’d heard that policy started last year, so Melua, as a second-year student, must have seen it firsthand.

“You know a lot about this, huh, Melua?”
“Well, yeah! I was on last year’s championship team, and we’re in the seeded bracket again this year ♪².”
“What!?”

I’d only thought of Melua as Estea’s roommate and a member of the student council— I hadn’t realized she was actually a rival. Seeing how stunned Alfe and I were, Melua just smiled and carried on like it was nothing.

“I’m not really into helping my opponents, but if it’s for Master, that’s a different story. I can’t wait to see how strong Alfe gets ♪”

1. Robinxen: I feel this is backwards!
2. Robinxen: Plot twist! I like the musical note here.

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