Chapter 74

Chapter 74: The Frontier of Alchemy

Arya no longer hid anything from Lan or glossed over the details of her homeland.

In her description, she was born on a continent divided into seven kingdoms. And she was the second daughter of the lord of the oldest and largest kingdom, The North. In terms of nobility, Arya's father was a Lord Paramount, second only to the ruler of the seven kingdoms.

This indeed matched Lan's speculation—she was undoubtedly a top noble.

During the meal, Arya also told Lan about many of her homeland's customs, beliefs, and other aspects of life.

These details, deeply embedded in daily life, naturally came up during her explanations. This greatly enhanced the credibility of her words. But at the same time, it made Lan frown deeply.

The young man took a bite of ham and looked at the little girl beside him, who was animatedly talking about her homeland.

Though she was bold and loved adventure, she was still a child who missed her family. The intricate yet coherent relationships in Arya's account weren't something a little girl could fabricate.

In other words, it was genuine.

But the problem was that this continent in this world didn't have seven kingdoms.

Could she be like him, here because of the Conjunction of the Spheres?

Arya had already mentioned that, according to her knowledge, magic had been a legend for hundreds of years. This ruled out the possibility of a large-scale teleportation accident.

They didn't even have portals over there. Tsk, how am I supposed to send her back?

The little girl looked at Lan with a mix of hope and fear in her eyes.

"Alright..." Lan pursed his lips awkwardly. "Your home is really far from here. It seems I can't send you back for now."

Arya was caught between missing her home and craving new experiences. Lan's words made her sigh, but she also let out a small cheer.

Let's hope this little brat can still smile after dozens of lonely nights.

***

The 1500 orens had already been reduced by nearly 100 in just one day.

That large bag of roughly processed herbs would have taken Lan months to earn on his own. But today, he was going to waste another large bag.

The staff at Aretuza's storage were baffled. What was this guy doing that required so many herbs?

Lan had already spent five hours yesterday continuously inputting herb data. According to Mentos's estimate, with three more hours of such efficient work, he could begin practical alchemy. And within two hours, he would have a qualified [White Honey] product.

Arriving at the alchemy classroom, which he had rented for another day, Lan didn't send Arya away this time. He let her sit to the side.

Yesterday, the two of them had spent an hour cleaning up the piled-up equipment. Today, he didn't want to work overtime again.

"Hundred-Day Red petals, mandrake root, flea grass..." The witcher checked the names as he arranged the herbs on the table.

The door to the alchemy classroom suddenly opened again, and Margarita entered in her wheelchair.

"Madam." Arya stood up and greeted her politely.

The formality of her manners made Margarita give her an intrigued look before turning her attention to Lan, who was still busy.

"You've always been polite before, Lan. Why is there no greeting this time?" Her tone wasn't accusatory but more teasing.

"I've taken your money, Rita." Lan didn't stop working, only turning his head to smile at the sorceress. "That's a huge sum. I thought employers who pay for work would be happier to see their employees focused on the task."

While turning his head, Lan noticed something different about the sorceress.

She was no longer wearing the long skirt that reached her ankles. Instead, the slit in her current outfit fully showcased her legs clad in white stockings.

Judging by the curves of those legs, even the nearly skeletal calves had filled out. Was magical recovery really this fast?

As if sensing Lan's gaze, Margarita chuckled softly.

She bent over, an action that almost made one worry whether her slender waist could support the weight of her upper body.

After all, slender branches bear heavy fruit.

Her long, pale fingers lightly traced up from her ankle, following the elegant curve to the lace edge of the stockings on her thigh. Her fingers hooked the lace, then suddenly let go.

"Snap—"

The plump thigh jiggled like jelly a few times.

Lan could hear Arya knocking over her chair in the background. This scene was a bit too stimulating even for a bold and adventurous little girl.

"The academy grew my flesh on crystals and then replenished the missing limbs. It's much faster than forcing the body to recover on its own."

Her words sounded like a lecture, but whether it was her outfit or her tone, Lan felt like the sorceress wanted to devour him.

Unfortunately, the witcher was currently a heartless, emotionless machine focused solely on grinding [Alchemy] proficiency!

"Growing flesh on crystals... Is this also alchemy? With this, wouldn't sorceresses be practically immune to serious injuries?"

Lan ignored the beautiful sight and instead focused entirely on the herbs and alchemy.

Margarita pouted in disappointment.

"Yes, it's a frontier research direction in alchemy. But for now, only muscle and skin tissue can be cultivated. Organs, eyes, and other more important parts are still beyond our reach. So being immune to serious injuries is still just a pipe dream."

"You're practicing alchemy? Why not ask for guidance from one of the academy's instructors? It would be faster."

Lan waved his hand, dismissing the suggestion. This was a sorceress academy, and the alchemy taught here was sorceress alchemy. It wasn't just about herbs—it involved magic. With the witcher's limited magical reserves, he couldn't produce even the lowest-level sorceress potion.

But asking an alchemy instructor to teach him ordinary alchemy?

The gap between ordinary alchemy and magic-infused alchemy in this world was vast. Magic-infused alchemy had already ventured into cell cultivation, while ordinary alchemy hadn't even caught up to the chemical experiments Lan had learned in high school.

The wonder of witcher potions mainly came from the herbs themselves, which had acquired magical properties in this world's environment.

What he lacked now was practical experience, not theoretical guidance.

Margarita tilted her head, her expression not surprised.

"Alright, I figured you witchers guard your secret formulas closely. Magic mushrooms, health herbs... whatever. It's fine. We're partners, and a healthy relationship requires respecting each other's secrets."

Lan had remained unfazed, but when Margarita mentioned "witchers' secret formulas," his cat-like eyes narrowed slightly.

So, the witchers had some alchemical achievements that even sorceresses found interesting?

Interesting.

He'd have to see if he could acquire that knowledge later. But at the same time, he'd need to be even more cautious in Aretuza. Lan didn't think these lofty sorceresses would use gentle methods to obtain the knowledge they desired.

But regardless, first, he had to perfect the three potions that made up his "medical kit."

*****

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