The Novice Alchemist’s Store

Lava that was quiet with only a slight wave.

That's where it starts making bumpy noises and there are disturbing signs.

"Whoa, this is! The magic concentration dropped rapidly."

"If you're saying it!! I don't care what you think, it seems dangerous!?"

Iris yells at Nordrad, who happily looks at the measuring instrument, but Nordrad doesn't look like he cares, comparing the measuring instrument to foaming lava.

And the surface of the lava thrives all at once -.

Zabah!

What appeared was a giant demon of red scales, which tormented the Iris a while back.

It brings the neck, and it grinds the Iris.

"Yay! Salamander!!"

"'Yay!', not!

"I'm getting away with this!

If Kate runs over to Iris with her luggage on her back, Iris also quickly takes charge of her luggage and enters the escape posture.

But only Nord was different.

"" What...?

Step toward the salamander and shrink your body on the spot.

"Huh!

And when I thought it had stretched up all at once, I poked my fist up over my head.

Dogong!

A dull, heavy noise sounded, his fist pierced Salamander's jaw and lifted his head.

"" Yeah!? "

"Again, can't you"

To unexpected behavior, Iris blinks and shudders for a moment, and Nord squeaks so calmly.

And when I took up my baggage very smoothly, I ran out to flow.

- Leave the Iris on the spot.

"Huh? Huh? Is that...? Ha!?, we're getting away! Iris!"

"Oh yeah!?"

Kate, who immediately returned to me, pulls Iris's hand, and they both start running after Nordrad.

Nordrad, who looks thin if only in terms of results, but he is the subject of the Iris and their escorts.

We should let him get away first if he's supposed to, and he's more thankful to have escaped.

His behavior is not wrong - except for the last minute uppercut.

"Iris, hurry up!

We reached the passage leading from the hall to the outside one foot ahead of Iris, and if Kate looked back, Salamander, recovering from Nordrad's attack, was breathing heavily in.

The behavior Kate saw the other day.

You can't even look at it wrong.

"The braces are coming!

"Wow!!"

Iris runs through Kate's side with a weird scream.

And, at the same time...

"Ugh, more debt again!"

With such a blood-soaking voice, Kate threw the stone out of her pocket.

It is a fragile condition of 'If you use it, pay for it', a smelter (artifact) borrowed free of charge from Sarasa.

Naturally, where it should have been purchased, it was a substitute that Kate was supposed to lend to me because of the luxury goods she had to abandon, and the effect was proportionate to the price.

Kim!

A clear, light sound sounded and the passage closed with thick translucent ice.

Immediately after that, it stained the red colour, but I don't feel any heat.

But Kate and the others have experienced the power of that brace.

No matter how thick the ice is, it's not always bearable, and this space itself is hot in the first place. I'm going to solve it, even if it's nothing.

I can never afford it in time.

Kate immediately turned her back on it and ran after Iris and the others.

◇ ◇ ◇

Iris, who had escaped from the salamander, had stopped his feet in a single passage, off the side of the passage leading to the ground.

Needless to say, if you're going to think about safety, it's better to escape all the way to the ground at once, but in this cave where you could die at high temperatures if you take off your coat, the three of you are not human apart enough to be able to go on such a long journey with heavy baggage on your back.

"Ha ha. I'm tired..."

Iris, who sat up to enter, lowered her luggage to the ground and wiped the sweat dripping from her jaw.

Iris and his coats are also equipped with cooling, but essentially to protect themselves from intense heat such as flames.

It has a mechanism to keep the inside of the coat at a comfortable temperature to some extent so that it can act normally, but sweat if you exercise intensely at any comfortable temperature.

So as to make up for the lost moisture, Iris glanced kickingly at Nordrad when he sipped a gook of the water he had removed from his luggage.

"I have a lot to say... Nord, why did you do that?

Did you bring Salamander back to life?

Unlike Iris, Nordrad, who was taking out his notebook rather than water, responds to Iris without even raising his face as he writes there.

"That's right. You knew that and you did it, didn't you?

I'm pretty sure you had a prediction that you'd be back.

"So why? You knew it was dangerous, didn't you?

"Because that was the theme of the experiment? You seem hesitant because it's dangerous, and you're disqualified as a researcher, aren't you?

In the first place, if we are to avoid danger, we have not become the researchers of demons.

I finally look up, and to Nordrad, who says so, Iris and the others have trouble disputing it.

Iris and the others were on the escort because of the danger, and bitterly complaining that it was dangerous would be a little different.

Although it would be debatable whether dyeing your own hands with dangerous behavior is the right thing to do as an escort.

"Mm-hmm, I don't know..."

"As far as I'm concerned, I'd like to ask if you needed that kind of experiment in the first place."

"Definitely helpful, you think? For example, if you need material for a demon. This country has relatively easy access to materials because of the tree sea at the foot of the Gerba Roch Mountains, but you still don't always get the materials you need"

"Well, I guess so. But you don't have to be in the country to import, do you?

"That's a risk. As a nation. Of course, we shouldn't normally do this because this is too dangerous. But what you can do makes sense."

This country, where the Iris live, is not currently at war with some country, but that does not mean that preparation is unnecessary.

Even if this one has no intention of attacking, he would be disqualified as the person in charge of the defense of the state if he hadn't kept it 'risky to invade' from the surrounding countries.

Preferences for alchemists adopted by this country are part of this, and smelters (artifacts) and smelters (potions) play an important role in the strategy.

But it is also because of the availability of those materials.

There is no doubt that alchemists are good, even if they cannot be smelted, but their value is greatly shredded.

"Nord thinks like an exchanger, doesn't he?... are you noble?

"Um, well, give me that end? But in my case, I'm just thinking about what my sponsors might be happy with."

It's all for the prize money.

Iris and the others can only smile bitterly at Nordrad, who says it without a shudder.

"Nevertheless, I don't think we have to experiment with salamanders..."

"But if you're a salamander, resurrection wouldn't bother anyone else, would it?

Salamander who rarely comes out of a nest hole if not a little bit.

It does not strike the surrounding settlements or anything, and it may indeed be suitable as an experimental subject.

Although there is a premise that the safety of experimental personnel must be considered.

And as for Iris and Kate, who have been made that 'experimental associate' sometime, it would be natural to want to file a complaint.

"You almost fed the braces, didn't you?"

"Though I have the coat the manager made for me, I don't know about that... and the luggage doesn't matter"

The luggage on your back is outside your coat.

Even if Iris' lives are saved, it is quite dangerous to see if he can make it back to the village safely if his luggage is lost.

"Finally, the attack on Salamander - hey, Nord, you were stronger than you imagined, weren't you?

"Well, I'm working out to some extent. It's a demon study, isn't it? I can't even look into it properly because I can't seem to get close."

If you just observe from afar, you can rely on an escort, but if you're studying living demons, combat ability is a must.

If you don't have the ability to withstand some attack, it's too dangerous no matter what you think.

"You weren't just physically fit. I don't have a weapon, so..."

"You can fight a little. The basics are in the form of not being like earlier and leaving it to the escorts later. And when you're obsessed with the investigation, you're neglecting your guard, so it's imperative that you escort them."

Incidentally, Nordrad doesn't have a weapon because he fights by physical surgery, and when it comes to why physical surgery, he doesn't hurt the subject more than he needs to.

No matter how far you go, research comes first.

That's Nordrad.