WTARS 30

Chapter 30 ….

Allen spent a long while craning his neck this way and that as he looked around the farm. Then, as if he’d finally noticed Lysian and me standing there, he turned toward us with an awkward smile.

“Haha, hello. We meet again.”

I smiled back and greeted him as well.

“Hello, Mr. Allen. What brings you here…?”

From Lysian, who was standing very close at my side, a sharp, hostile aura leaked out.

If Allen showed even the slightest sign of ill intent, Lysian looked ready to dash forward and cut him down on the spot.

“Well, you see… actually….”

What Allen hesitantly explained was this.

As someone assigned to rear support, he had always felt heavy-hearted, thinking that his mediocre abilities weren’t much help to his guildmates.

So, wanting to contribute even a little, he had begun searching everywhere for an alchemist who could supply potions to the guild.

“Recently, a dungeon appeared in the Winterberg territory. But of all times, our guild’s elderly alchemist decided to retire….”

That alchemist was already seventy years old this year, so even if the guild wanted to hold on to him, they couldn’t.

If someone wanted to spend the rest of their life in peace, how could anyone shamelessly ask them to “work just a little longer”?

In the end, there was only one option left: find a new, skilled alchemist.

“But these days, finding a capable and trustworthy alchemist is like plucking a star from the sky….”

The last time a dungeon had appeared was three years ago.

From already-cleared dungeons, all the resources—magic stones, gold, silver, copper, iron ore, and so on—were being steadily depleted.

So the appearance of a new dungeon was an opportunity adventurers who made their living from dungeon raids couldn’t afford to miss.

Naturally, competition to recruit talent became fierce.

“All the truly skilled alchemists have already been snatched up by other guilds. And the one person we could still rely on got hired by Duke Winterberg himself…. What’s left are either people with no real skill or outright frauds. You know how hard it is to find an alchemist in the first place, right? Sigh, if I’d known it would turn out like this, I should’ve built up more connections beforehand. But our guild members seriously lack social skills….”

Unable to find a suitable alchemist, Allen suddenly remembered Lysian and me—the two people he had met in the forest a few days earlier.

Seeing Lysian collect monster cores, he had guessed that we might be an alchemist duo, and clinging to that faint hope, he had come all the way here….

I’m sorry, but… you’ve come to the wrong people….

I’d only just started reading Introduction to Alchemy. I was a complete newbie.

The chances of someone like me becoming an outstanding alchemist in just a few days… weren’t they extremely low? Even if I did have a system as a cheat.

That aside… so a dungeon really did appear.

And not just anywhere—it was on the eastern coast belonging to the Winterberg territory. From here, it would take about two days on foot.

By now, the nearby village would probably be turning into a hub city, and adventurers from all over the continent would be swarming in like bees.

If that happened, there was a high chance that my farm would be exposed to not just Allen, but countless others as well.

With Lysian around, who can take down dozens of monsters on his own, I’m not too worried…

The real problem was that it would become harder and harder to hide my own abilities.

What should I do….

I was stroking my chin, lost in thought, when Allen continued speaking.

“I really found this farm by pure chance. You know how, if you keep walking along the main road, there’s a fork, and one of the paths is a narrow trail? Usually, no one chooses that one. But I… I was so distraught over failing to find an alchemist that I was walking absentmindedly and took the wrong turn. Straight onto that little trail.”

“……”

“And then—what do you know! The path I chose was the right one! I got to meet the two of you again!”

Allen looked at us with sparkling eyes, as if he had encountered his destined partners.

Feeling awkward, I realized I needed to correct his misunderstanding.

So I stepped closer to Allen, placed a hand lightly on his shoulder, and spoke calmly.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Allen… but we’re not alchemists. As you can see… we just run a small farm here.”

“W-What? Then the monster cores…?”

“Well, you see… my main job is farming, but I’m also an aspiring alchemist. I collected the cores because I need them to practice making potions.”

“Hey—an aspiring alchemist?”

“Yes. Aspiring.”

Boom. It was as if lightning struck over Allen’s head. His mouth opened and closed blankly, and only after a long moment did he mutter,

“So… you’re an aspiring alchemist….”

“Yes. Unfortunately… that’s right.”

An aspiring alchemist wouldn’t be of any help to an adventurer guild. Allen slumped his shoulders in resignation.

Feeling sorry for him and thinking at least I should feed him, I patted his shoulder a couple of times and made a generous offer.

“You must be tired from wandering around. Why don’t you come in and have a meal before you go? We have plenty of food.”

“Wow… your house is really beautiful!”

Allen exclaimed as soon as he stepped inside the entrance.

I thought to myself, Is it really that impressive? but hearing the praise made me feel good, so I smiled and nodded.

“Please wait here for a bit. Lysian will keep you company. Right?”

“…….”

Lysian merely gave a faint smile without answering.

In any case, I left the task of entertaining the guest to him and headed to the kitchen alone—well, not quite alone. Ninabel came with me.

Ninabel popped out of my skirt pocket and began chattering nonstop.

“Master! If you need clean water, just say the word! Nini is a 24-hour automatic water supply system dedicated solely to Master—!”

She was practically rapping. I covered the talkative spirit’s mouth with one hand and warned her,

“Be quiet. They’ll hear you outside.”

“Oh—!”

Only then did Ninabel lower her voice and continue whispering.

“Master, what are you cooking today? Nini likes tomato soup~ Oh, right! How about growing onions? Onion soup would definitely be delicious. Or carrots are good too! You could make carrot cake and—”

For the record, our kitchen had a small oven bestowed upon us by the system god.

It ran on magic stones, so it was essentially a magical device… though honestly, I had no idea how it worked.

Anyway, since we had flour and sugar… if I got a few more ingredients, making a cake wouldn’t be impossible.

I should stop by the general store later.

Feeling grateful once again for my surreal transmigrator benefits, I washed the vegetables thoroughly in clean water.

Eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini.

Next, I took out a cutting board, placed it on the counter, and gripped a very sharp kitchen knife.

If I don’t concentrate, I might slice my finger off.

I carefully cut the vegetables into neat, round slices.

Then I arranged them nicely in three rows on an oven tray, sprinkled olive oil and salt on top, and slid the tray into the preheated oven.

While the vegetables were roasting, I poured some oil into a pan and made simple scrambled eggs. Naturally, I used wild bird eggs stolen from the forest….

Birds, I’m sorry…. I held a brief moment of silence.

I also made potato soup using milk and butter bought from the general store with coins.

Slowly stirring the thick, milky soup with a wooden ladle, I hummed to myself. A rich, savory aroma filled the kitchen.

Beside me, the water-drop rice cake spirit, who had been helping here and there, swayed its body side to side and danced.

Forty minutes later, all the dishes were complete.

“Looks delicious!”

“Looks delicious~!”

Ninabel perfectly mimicked my cheerful voice.

I pinched the round water droplet’s cheek once, then carried the beautifully plated dishes to the dining table.

I had Ninabel fill a glass bottle with water, and just in case, I wiped the chairs clean as well.

The food on the table, steaming gently, looked colorful and appetizing.

It’s a simple menu, but this should be more than enough to welcome a guest.