Chapter 56

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Episode 12 - Find the murderer [2]

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"Who are you?"

Charlotte’s question reached my ears so softly that it even caused a slight pain.

My expression did not change at all. I kept my head held high, "looking" toward the main building.

The sound of the wind, footsteps, conversations, and countless other noises entered my ears and faded away.

At that moment, both Charlotte’s breathing and mine were calm and brief.

’Heh, well, I was already expecting her question.’

Just like Lumina, when the player suddenly appeared in the story, Charlotte asked that exact same question.

There were two possible routes if you did not answer her question.

The first: being honest and telling Charlotte that you were a transmigrator.

However, in exchange for that, there were two possible endings.

One of them happened when the player faced a possible death. Charlotte, looking at her only companion and knowing that both of them shared the same thoughts, sacrificed herself and naturally died, leading to a bad ending.

The second option was to lie to Charlotte and give vague answers.

Charlotte would consider you an enemy and could hinder you several times in order to prevent the future she knew from changing too much compared to the novel.

’The second option will definitely be very helpful to me.’

First of all, so what if Charlotte interferes with the Main Missions?

She is not strong enough and, right now, I already have problems with my fate.

Why should I care if someone bothers me, as long as I achieve my goals?

’And I’ll be able to prevent him from dying in such a useless way, like sacrificing himself for a companion from the same origin.’

With a long sigh, I opened my mouth and slowly said:

"I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m Adel, nothing more and nothing less."

Charlotte tilted her head, then turned her face toward me and stared intently.

She parted her lips and said:

"Don’t play dumb. Who are you really? You shouldn’t be Rank 1, and you shouldn’t even exist."

This time, I turned my head toward her and put on a pitiful expression.

"That hurts, you know? You’re the first person who has openly shown hatred toward me to my face without any hesitation. Shouldn’t you watch your words?"

In response to my outburst, Charlotte smiled calmly.

"I don’t care, but for the sake of my survival in the future, I have to kill you or get rid of any anomaly."

I smiled calmly as I turned my attention back to the main building.

Then, without saying a word, I stood up, walked away, and finally said:

"Try it if you can, and who knows, I might end up wiping out your family. It would only be a matter of time, and you’re not strong enough to even leave a single scratch on me."

Without saying anything else and without even waiting for Charlotte’s response, I headed straight to the classroom.

In any case, Marcus was not a suspect, so we only had to keep an eye on the others.

***

"If you can, then try it. And who knows, I might even wipe out your family. It would only be a matter of time, and you’re not strong enough to leave even a single scratch on me."

After those words, Adel calmly walked away.

Charlotte remained staring at his back for a brief moment.

Then, she clenched her fists and felt a great rage rising inside her.

’Does this anomaly really think he’ll get away with this?’

Charlotte abruptly stood up and started walking.

She did not shout at him or try to say anything, because, in a way, Adel was right.

It truly was only a matter of time before Adel became stronger, and with Charlotte’s current strength, she was no match for him.

’Fine, then I’ll ruin everything for you as much as I can.’

***

After returning to the classroom, I quickly went to my seat. Shortly afterward, Rinna appeared and sat beside me.

"Oh, Adel, how did the investigation of the suspects go?"

I sighed and shook my head.

"Nothing. None of them are truly suspicious. Even so, there are still a few left, but..."

The drawn face of a woman appeared in my mind, although I did not know exactly what she looked like.

Honestly, she could be the most suspicious one, but so far, she has not done anything particularly strange.

It is as if she were...

’Perfect... her actions are perfect.’

I was talking about Celestia, the guide who has been accompanying the entire group.

I ignored her since, regardless, she is our guide and will be staying with us during these days.

So I did not bother thinking about Celestia, but now that I think about it...

In the game, the guide was a man, but now it was a woman.

’Alright, for now, let’s keep her on the blacklist.’

After hearing my words, Rinna said:

"But... what?"

I shook my head and sighed.

"It’s nothing. Anyway, what class do we have now?"

Rinna immediately replied:

"Alchemy."

I gave a slight nod and then waited for the alchemy teacher to arrive.

Shortly afterward, a fairly young woman entered the classroom.

By the way, this was the alchemy classroom; there were plants and glass containers everywhere.

Above all, there was the smell of different medicinal herbs, and if I use Mana Sense, every plant here contains mana.

Anyway, the teacher looked exactly as she did in the game.

She had platinum-colored hair and eyes, and she was short, at around 1.65 meters tall.

Her name was Lunia Blander.

Upon reaching the center of the podium, Professor Lunia got straight to the point.

"We’ve already had classes on alchemical manipulation, material research, chemical composition, and more, so today you will create a medium-high quality potion."

Instantly, the cadets showed various expressions on their faces.

Then the complaints began.

"Professor Lunia, isn’t that far too difficult for us? Besides, almost no one here specializes in alchemy."

"That’s right, Professor. I wouldn’t complain if it were a low-quality potion."

"We’ve only had one month of classes, and there are only two alchemy classes per week. We still don’t know how to properly handle alchemical creation."

"Professor, this is unfair. Even someone talented would need three months."

They were not the only ones surprised. I was also shocked and confused.

What reason was there for first-year cadets, in their very first month, to start creating medium-high quality potions?

’If you touched alchemy for the first time, then no matter how talented you were, one month still wouldn’t be enough to prepare you.’

In response to the complaints, Professor Lunia’s voice remained calm, but at the same time...

"If you don’t do it, minus twenty points for each of you."

"..."

The cadets’ mouths shut instantly, either bewildered or in shock.

"Now then, no more complaints and get to work. The potion you will create is the Liquor Drop."

Next, Professor Lunia snapped her fingers, and out of nowhere, right in front of all the cadets.

Different types of plants appeared, some resembling fruits, others extremely small, and so on.

They were rather strange materials.

There were even a few eyes covered in a viscous liquid.

Then, Professor Lunia clapped once and said.

"You have one hour to complete the creation of the Liquor Drop potion."

Without wasting any time, the cadets forced themselves into silence and began working on their potions.

Professor Lunia took a seat at her desk and picked up a book, probably one related to alchemy.

In any case, I focused my attention on what was in front of me.

Naturally, all the equipment needed to create the potion was also placed before me.

I picked up a few plants and then used my Mana Sense. Instantly, I figured out what kind of plant each one was. After that, I examined the remaining ingredients, and it did not take me long to identify them as well.

’All of these ingredients were explained by the professor in different classes. Does that mean she had this lesson planned for a long time?’

I slightly raised my head to briefly "look" at Professor Lunia.

Then, I lowered my head once again.

"..."

"What are these ingredients... and this thing, an eye? Ugh, disgusting... and what is this supposed to be...?"

Rinna murmured. I turned my head in her direction and spoke.

"We’re the same, aren’t we?"

She turned toward me.

"What, you don’t understand anything?"

I shook my head, and she smiled as if she were my accomplice.

"Heh, heh, my dear empty-headed friend, allow me to demonstrate my great intelligence."

"No, thanks."

Letting out a long sigh, I couldn’t help but think.

’This... I don’t think I can do it.’

Or at least, that’s what I thought back then...

***

Ten minutes later.

My expression was blank as I held a literally finished potion in my hands.

’What is this? It was so easy.’

The process of creating a potion was so complex that, normally, you would fail nine out of ten times if it was a Low-Quality one.

But this, in my hand, was an already completed potion.

Only ten minutes.

Just ten damn minutes.

Maybe I had talent for alchemy, but it wasn’t a talent Adel possessed.

It was probably my own natural talent.

Then, a thought crossed my mind.

’Wait, if I have talent for alchemy... wouldn’t it be cheaper to make the potions myself? Besides, there are ancient potion recipes that could be really useful.’

The thought quickly crossed my mind, then I stood up from my seat and said.

"Professor Lunia, I’m done..."

The other cadets turned toward me, and Rinna, who was standing beside me, froze completely.

"W-what... you liar, you told me you didn’t know how to do it."

I shrugged and simply said,

"Well, uh... I didn’t know I had talent for alchemy."

Rinna grabbed her hair and muttered things that were better left unheard.

For a moment, I wondered whether this Saint’s future would be mentally stable.

A few seconds later, Professor Lunia was already standing in front of me.

She took the potion from my hands, examined it for a few seconds, and her surprise became visible on her face.

"It’s not Medium-High Quality, but a genuine High-Quality potion."

’What...’

Even I was surprised. The ingredients I used, the same ones everyone else was using.

were low quality, which meant that, at best, only a Medium-High Quality potion could be produced.

And the worst part was that the chances of succeeding were lower than 10%, not even counting how many times you would fail and have to repeat the process.

Then Professor Lunia said,

"Cadet Adel, would you like... to have a child with me?"

"....?"

’Oh, right, I forgot she’s crazy about alchemy. I think there was a period in the game that talked about a madwoman who forced an alchemy genius to have a child with her.’

And all of that just so an absolute genius of alchemy could be born.

It can’t really be her, right?