The Alchemist (1)

I was met with some resistance from the servants, who were not at all keen on helping their masters sneak out of the house. I had to bribe them to keep it a secret from Bain, because I was sure the old man, bless his heart, would report everything to the Duke.

And in the end, I ended up having to take one our knights for safety reasons. It wasn't that the servants were particularly worried about us, but if something were to happen to us, their heads would be the first to roll.

Though, it was annoying to think that the burley man standing in front of me would be following us around everywhere we went. And if he walked into town brandishing his sword like that, it would be obvious to everyone he was our escort, there to protect us, and our cover would be blown.

I looked him up and down with a scowl, while Mary tried to ease my apprehensions.

"Brother, I understand why you're upset, but it is true we cannot leave the house without proper protection. I myself was a bit nervous at the prospect of us going all alone. In a way, this is somewhat relieving, no?"

Relieving my foot. If I was going to be forced to take this hunk of meat, I was at least going to make him useful. Looking at him from where I stood, he was at least six and half feet tall, with the muscles of a body builder, and a beard to rival Gandalf. He looked to be in his mid-thirties, and his face was remarkably average. Brown hair, brown eyes, no especially defining features. At the very least, he wouldn't stand out for being beautiful. But I had to do something about that sword at his waist, and his quiet demeanor.

I let out a frustrated groan, "Alright sir- what was your name again?"

"My name is Collen, Lord Isani."

"Okay, Sir Collen," I looked him up and down again, "If you're going to come with us, we have to make it less obvious that you are our knight. First, I want you to conceal your sword with this cloth and keep it on your back instead of your waist."

I threw the cloth to Collen, and he caught it with unsurprising ease. But he looked displeased.

Mary tugged at my sleeve, and I bent over so she could whisper in my ear.

"A knight's honor is their sword brother. By asking him to cover it up, you have asked him to throw away his dignity as a sword master, and in turn, as a human being."

My eyes went wide. Could his sword really be so important to him?

The knight caught on to what Mary had told me and turned to address her.

"It is no problem, Lady Mary. If Lord Isani orders me to conceal my sword, then I must obey. If it is his will, I must comply."

I groaned at such a stoic response. My conscious was battling with my inner sense of logic, but eventually my conscious won out.

As the knight began to wrap his sword, I reached out a hand to stop him.

"When you are serving me, you are to tell me immediately if you cannot comply with my orders." I said.

"But I am law bound to do everything you command, sir."

"Then I command you to tell me if something is difficult. I am not so disgustingly low as to tell you to throw away your dignity as a human being. Master and servant we may be. But first, we are both human. And upon those grounds, we are equals."

I gave Collen a stern look before releasing my hand and turning away. Hopefully, that got the point across to him. He seemed shocked, but he kept his sword at his waist after that.

I was still annoyed to have him following us around, but I supposed in the end, it really was for the best. The previous owner of this body may have been training to become a knight, but I hadn't even tried to pick up a sword after I'd transmigrated. Who knows how much of Isani's knowledge I'd actually retained? If someone did manage to find out who we were, our lives could be put in jeopardy. While I wasn't at all worried about my ability to take care of myself, I couldn't say the same for Mary. I didn't want to put her in danger when it could be easily avoided.

Finally, we were underway. We left the estate grounds while wearing cloaks to cover our faces. Collen told the guards at the gate we were servants being sent out on an errand for Lord Isani. They seemed to trust him and felt no need to confirm our identities. I guess taking him along did have some other uses as well.

When at last we found ourselves outside, I threw back my hood and took a deep breath of fresh air, feeling truly free for the first time since entering this body.

"It feels amazing to finally be outside those stuffy walls, doesn't it Mary?" I turned to look at her, but she was preoccupied.

Her eyes were once again sparkling as she took in the view before us. She seemed entirely engrossed by the image of the village nestled sweetly at the bottom of the hill. The Hessian estate had been built on high ground, in the same way all noble households were built, and you could see the entirety of our domain from where we stood. It stretched for boundless miles, before being cut off by a mountain range to the south.

We really were quite wealthy. It brought a grin to my face.

"Mary!" I called in a burst of inspiration.

"Yes brother!" She jumped at the urgency in my voice.

"Do you know what the most important thing about being a Hessian is?"

She shook her head no.

"Money!" I laughed, and didn't stop even as both Mary and Collen looked at me like I was insane. I couldn't care less. Money really was all I needed in this world.

We continued our trek down the hill and towards the village in high spirits. Of course, I hadn't informed either Collen or Mary of my plans to venture into the slums. I knew they weren't going to be at all excited at the idea, and might actually succeed in convincing me not to go. My plan was to lose them in the crowd and sneak off for a while, only to reappear at just the right moment. Hopefully, they wouldn't call for help. But I figured they'd at least try to look for me themselves before doing anything like that, and I didn't plan on actually getting lost.

The addition of Collen to our party really was starting to look more advantageous than anything. If it had just been Mary and I, I might have run into more of an issue.

But before I ran off, I decided to have some fun first. I took Mary through all the different streets full of pop-up shops, stopping here and there to buy here small trinkets and bits of food. Though Collen insisted on checking for poison every time, which was a bit of nuisance. But it seemed to put Mary at ease, and that made sense after the recent incident, so I let it go.

Eventually, it was midday and I decided it was time to get going. I waited for the opportune moment, watching as Mary and Collen were distracted by yet another dish to be tested for poison, and I slipped into an alley without them noticing. Then I ran as hard as I could in the direction of the slums. I would have to be quick if I wanted to make it back to the square before sundown.

The reason I had decided to look for an alchemist in the slums was based off reasoning, and something of a gut feeling. Surely, with the practice being so unpopular, no alchemist would make good enough money to live anywhere besides the poorest part of town.

The trouble was actually pinpointing where one might be living. I had absolutely no leads, so I just started knocking on doors.

To be honest, it was a little spooky. Many people that came to answer my knocks were very scrawny, to the point you could see their bones, and they seemed eager to please me as it was obvious I had money. I think they were trying to lure me into their homes so they could strip me of everything I had, but I kept my wits about me. Still, it was disturbing.

I had been repeating this practice for hours now, and was beginning to feel more than a little discouraged. It was possible I wouldn't find a single alchemist in all of the Hessian lands, and I was upset my efforts would be in vain.

I looked to the sky to check the location of the sun and decided it would be best to start heading back soon. But as I turned to go, I heard a strange moan from one of the nearby buildings. Upon closer inspection, I found a door cracked open and went to investigate.

I slowly pushed the door open and called out hello to try and elicit a response. At first, I heard nothing, but then another moan sounded from a room inside the house, and I flung the door the rest of the way open to rush inside.

As I looked around the space frantically, my once diminished hopes began to change into uninhibited joy. All around me were rooms full of alchemy equipment!

Glass beakers, vials, burners, flasks! The list went on! It was obvious someone had been performing alchemy here! But I was snapped out of my excitement by the sound of another painful moan. I whipped around to find a body lying flat on the ground in a particularly messy room. I rushed over and checked it's pulse.

"Who… are you?" The body moaned.

"That isn't important right now, are you okay? What's wrong with you?"

"I need…" they started, and I held my breath waiting for their answer.

"I need…"

"Yes, what is it?" I was beginning to feel impatient.

"… Foooood."

I nearly walked out of the house at that very moment. But I shook my head. I couldn't leave now, not when I might have finally found the alchemist I searched so desperately for.

"Where is your food supply? I will grab you something to eat." I glanced around the room, but saw nothing edible. Only dried herbs and suspicious looking liquids.

"I ran out… several days ago. My apprentice was supposed to return with our food stocks yesterday… but I suppose something must have happened to him."

I frowned. That was unlikely. It would make more sense if this supposed apprentice had just run off with the food himself and left his teacher here to die. That was the sad reality of the slums, everyone was only out for themselves.

"Well in that case, I'll bring you home and feed you some of my food."

"Why…?" The alchemist tried to raise a question, but was cut short by a full body cough that rendered him speechless.

"Just come with me," I said, "I'm sure I'll find some way for you to repay me."

And with that, I helped the man into a standing position, while supporting his arm on my left shoulder. Slowly, we walked forward, and began to make our way outside the slums.

When we finally reached the center square again, I headed for the guard house, where I figured Mary and Collen would be to ask for assistance in their search. When they saw me coming, and practically dragging a body with me, Mary came running out of the guard house to greet me. Immediately, she began hitting my chest with her fists.

"You dummy! I was so worried about you! I thought someone had taken you! Or worse, you were already dead!" Mary was screaming at me, tears rolling down her face.

I was taken aback. I didn't think my disappearing would have such an effect on her. I knew we had grown closer in the past couple weeks, but was it really enough to elicit such a response?

Suddenly, I felt rather regretful about my actions.

Collen too, had a look of concern on his face.

"That was very irresponsible, young master. What would we have done if you'd gotten hurt?"

I was surprised to hear him speaking so brazenly, and even he stopped himself short after hearing what he'd said.

"I apologize, sir. I spoke above my station."

"No need for apologizes Sir Collen," I said, almost too quietly, "I should be sorry for causing you both so much worry. It won't happen again."

Collen nodded his head, then turned to the man I was supporting on my shoulder.

"May I ask who this man is, Lord Isani?"

I smiled then, as I was reminded of the hen to lay my golden eggs that now leaned on me.

"This, Sir Collen, is the man who will bring me my golden spoon."