As the sun set and night crept in, the alchemist continued her work. This time, she started doing tests on the blood sample she had taken from the little girl, using the reagents and beakers that she had. It was honestly quite the fascinating process to watch, if I were to be honest. I had always possessed a minor fascination with chemistry back in my old world, though I never really actually got into it.

As she worked, she started the conversation once more.

“So, what brings you here, Lord Pendleton? Are you perhaps like those adventurers who came here looking for more challenging work? And more well-paying too, I imagine. If you have a Great Fairy as your summon, I imagine you’re quite the high caliber mage. Am I correct in that assessment?” she asked me, looking up momentarily towards me with a smirk, before returning back to her work.

Lord Pendleton? I guess she assumes I’m a noble? Just from my clothes, I suppose.

It feels really weird though, being addressed like that. And that smirk. It’s almost as if she’s half-mocking me as she says it.

“Hey, can you stop with the Lord stuff, please? It feels weird being called like that,” I replied, scratching the back of my head. “I might come from a noble house but I’m more of an adventurer than a noble.”

“Oh, but that won’t do, Milord,” she replied with the same smirk. “As the court mage of this kingdom, I have to give due respect to every noble personage I met, especially when he is a complete stranger."

Yep, she’s teasing me alright.

Not that I’m complaining though. "Lord Pendleton" has quite the nice ring to it, hehe.

“So, Flameu, I-I mean, Lady Flameu,” I quickly corrected myself. Damn, I forgot that she herself is a noble.

“Oh please, calling me just Flameu is fine,” she returned. “I’m not a noble like you.”

"What?” I exclaimed in surprise. “You’re a court mage, aren't you? So you should be a noble as well.”

She chuckled. “I wish I am. Unfortunately, the king has yet to confer me a title, even after all these years I have served under him.”

“Huh. So you’re not originally a noble? I continued my probing. At this point, I knew I probably was going too far with the personal questions, but at the same time, I couldn’t help but be curious.

“I was an adventurer before,” she answered. “The king offered me the job and I took it. It certainly paid better than even the S-rank quests.”

“Oh, so you were an S-rank adventurer?”

“Hmm, I suppose you can call me that.”

“That’s awesome! I’m still just a C-rank myself.”

If I were to be honest, I don’t think S-rank adventurers are that impressive. I only flattered her like that just so she would be less suspicious of me. Since I was still an eleven-year old boy, I should be able to play the innocent, easily impressed type. That would surely ease her with my presence. It’s kinda what I like to do with the strangers I met. 

"Well, it's my turn now to ask you some things, Lord Pendleton.” She smirked once again, as she shook the small vial she was holding before putting a couple of drops into the beaker she had in front of her. “You’re not from here, are you?”

“Yep.” How did she know that? “I came from Frastelleren actually.”

“Oh? That port city all the way to the south of the Holy Empire? How curious. What led you to go all the way to the north like this?"

"Nothing special. Just looking for better quests, that's all. Since the Holy Empire is a pretty peaceful place, there really aren't that many high rank quests around."

This was an excuse I learnt from the adventurers I had talked to on my journey. High ranking ones tend to prefer the northern lands as the base of their operations as better paying quests could be found there. The northern kingdoms still had a lot of monster-infested lands as part of their territory.

Well, that, or you camp at one of the World Dungeons. Though from Anton, I learned that there tends to be fierce competition between adventuring parties there, especially high-ranking ones.

"I see…" She paused for a bit as she adjusted the temperature of the small lamp fire under the beaker by turning a knob. As she did, she bent over forward, allowing me the lovely sights of her loose white dress failing to cover her breasts.

I gulped. She really isn't wearing any bra. I can see a hint of her nipples there!

But then, all of a sudden, her smirking face turned as pale as a sheet.

"No… this is…"

"Hmm? Is something the matter?"

"Lord Pendleton." Her voice turned grave as she straightened herself. "I believe we might have ourselves a problem here. The result of her blood test… she might have been infected by a version of the Black Blood plague.”

“The… Black Blood plague?” I raised my eyebrows. I've never heard of such a plague before.

Not that I go around reading books about plagues, mind you.

“You haven’t heard of it, have you? You really did come from the south…” She started to bite her thumb.”It’s the plague that infected this town six months ago.”

“Wait, seriously?” My heart skipped a beat. That can’t be good! Not in the slightest!

“Yes. But I have yet to determine what type she possesses. The Black Blood disease, even though it only has one name, actually has several versions, with some being contagious and others not. I just hope that the one she has isn’t, or else…”

“Another breakout would happen,” I finished her sentence.

Don’t tell me that the plague is similar to the Black Death Medieval Europe once had? That shit’s terrifying. Wiped out a third of the entire continent’s population.

Though I guess since this plague doesn’t seem to have spread beyond this town, it shouldn’t be that bad, right? 

“I shall do more tests to determine which type she has. But for now, I suggest you keep your distance from her as much as you can. Oh, and you might want to change out of those clothes, since you ought to have her sweat on them.

"It's fine," I replied with a grin. "I may look like this, but I have never been sick in my entire life. My immune system is pretty good, you know."

"Immune… system?" She tilted her head.

"A-ah, nevermind. Just some term I made up."

Oops, that's some modern knowledge right there.

As for why I am so confident in how I’m not going to catch the plague, well, I dunno. I just don’t feel like running away, after I’ve committed to helping that little girl. It might bite me in the ass later, but it’s a risk I’m willing to take.

And besides, Flameu here should have the cure, right?

I did as I was told though, and went to the knight's room to change my clothes (he said he didn't mind when I asked). The guy had been standing in the corner of the room like a statue, not even making a single sound. I am seriously impressed by how he can stand for so long in that suit of armor without any signs of tiredness. Just like the stereotypical silent knight.

His room, almost hidden away from sight as the door to the place was placed in the middle of two bookshelves, was, for a lack of a better term, bare. He didn't have a single decoration inside, unlike Flameu's room that had some flowers, a bookshelf (apparently, the ones in the main room weren't enough), and a study table filled with parchments. To be fair, the room itself was smaller, so it wouldn't make sense for him to have as much stuff as her. But come on, only having an armor stand and a chest (for his normal clothes, I assume)? What is this? It's like he doesn't have any other personal life other than being a knight.

I took off my clothes, keeping only my underpants on, and then changed to the light tunic I usually wore to sleep. It was of light brown color, with knee-length shorts. It’s pretty comfy, even though I bought it for quite the bargain.

...You know what? Maybe I shouldn’t be wearing this. I think it’s quite improper to be wearing your bedwear in front of a stranger. Though I didn’t hesitate wearing them when I was still with the Flaming Arrows. Not to mention that the shorts will sag if I try to attach my sword belt to it. And I don’t think I’m comfortable enough to not have it near me. I still barely know these people after all.

And so, I changed back out of this attire into my old clothes. Not the one I wore from before, but the one I wore all the way from the Magocracy. They still fit, though a little bit tight. And there were a couple of holes on them that I brought to the tailor to slap a patch on.

Really should consider buying a couple more clothes. Maybe some light armor?

When I returned, the alchemy table Felicia had been laboring on was working full force. Every single beaker was being used. Some remained still with their liquid, some was emitting colored smoke as the fire under them heated the mixture, and some still emitting a similar smoke even though there wasn’t anything burning them.

I wonder which part of alchemy is magic and which part is just chemistry. So far, this looks more like normal scientific chemistry more than anything… she wasn’t using her cauldron in the slightest. That’s probably where the magic happens. It’s like a witch, casting a spell while cackling maniacally, brewing the potion inside said cauldron.

I never really learned much about alchemy (mostly because I would rather learn about elemental magic instead). Marina could perform a little of it, at least according to the person herself, she was nowhere near as good in it as she was talented in elemental magic. Watching this Flameu person works though, I assume this is how a master alchemist performs her craft. And I have to say, it’s quite the bewitching scenery.

After some time, she let out a sigh as she examined the results of her test.

“You’re lucky. The type she has isn’t contagious.” She smiled.

“See? Nothing to worry about,” I replied with a grin.

“This is the first time though, finding someone this unconcerned when he encounters a plague. Usually, they would all run away at once, afraid that they would catch the illness as well, especially when they’re of the upper class. How curious...”

My grin disappeared as she started eyeing me up and down in quite the uncomfortable manner. Oh crap, did I just make her be suspicious of me?

"Not to mention how much you care for a random little girl you know nothing about. That's not how your typical adventurer or noble would react. Your typical adventurer would demand payment afterwards, and, if the person can't pay, they might just sell the person they had saved into slavery. After all, it's within the law to force someone into bondage if they can't pay their debt." She smirked.

I think I remember Fiora saying something like this. Criminals, including debtors that can't pay their due (since being unable to pay your debt is a crime in the Holy Empire and it's vassals), can be sold into slavery legally. The kingdom itself can do it, to raise funds for their coffers (though most of the time, the money will just get pocketed by the local lord), or a private individual, often an adventurer, if he's the one to catch said criminal.

Of course, she plans to do away with the system entirely. Which, ironically enough, might lead to criminals just being killed on the spot. Vigilantism is one of the big tropes of a fantasy world after all. Just count how many bandits you have killed in all those random encounters.

"As for a noble," the alchemist continued. "The only reason why they would go out of their way to help a peasant like that if they have a perverse motivation in doing so. That little girl is pretty cute. They might just want to take her home and do all sorts of depraved things to her.”

Her smirk grew wider. It’s as if she enjoyed talking about these grim stuff.

“You know, don’t you think that you’re being too negative?” I spoke up. “Not all adventurers and nobles are bad like that, you know.”

She snorted. “You don’t know anything, Milord. After all, I had—”

Suddenly, she stopped.

“...No, let’s not talk about this matter anymore.”

Wait, what? You can’t just stop your story midway like that.

“Now, I would like to discuss about—”

“Aaaahhhh!”

I heard a muffled scream coming from the door that led to the alchemist’s room. And she heard it as well without a doubt, as once again, her face turned gravely pale.

She rushed inside, with me following from behind.

“I-it hurts! M-my chest! It hurts!”

It was the little girl. And she was clutching her flat breasts with both hands, yelling how much pain she was in.

Flameu didn’t hesitate. She took the staff placed on the corner of the room and conjured what looked like a syringe filled with liquid out of thin air.

Wait, no, that’s not a conjuring spell. It’s the same Dimensional Storage spell Marina used.

She then promptly stabbed the syringe into the girl’s arm. Immediately, the effect showed. She stopped screaming as seemingly, her pain died down. And then, the alchemist lifted herself onto the bed before hugging the poor girl to calm her down.

“Shhhh, it’s fine. I’m here now,” she whispered, bringing her face close to her bosom as she gently petted the back of her head.

“L-Lady Flameu… y-you’re here…” the girl weakly answered. “Please… please save my village!”

Save her village? ...Wait, don’t tell me that—

“Hush, I know. Your village… they’re suffering from the same ailment as the one you have right now, don’t they?”

“Y-yes, miss! I was the only healthy one so I had to run all the way here on my own!" Ah, that explains the bruised feet.

"That's really risky, you know," she lightly scolded her. "But I suppose it's the best thing you could've done for the situation. Good job, Leila." She smiled.

"Hehe, thank you, miss!" She burrowed her face to her chest.

So they really are acquainted with each other. No, more than that. They're good friends. And seeing them like this, they even look like a pair of sisters, or even a mother and her daughter, seeing how both have red hair and all.

Aah, what a heartwarming sight.

"Miss…" The girl lifted her head. “Please, come back to my village at once. Father is ill. And the other villagers as well. I-I’m fine. I can bear it. I’m a strong girl after all.”

She didn’t respond. Instead, she had the most forlorn look I ever saw on a person’s face, as she continued to caress the girl’s crimson hair. It’s like she was experiencing some sort of a deep sadness, to the point that she had to hold back her tears.

That look… it’s just like Nicole’s when she failed to heal that little girl… The look of a Saint… or a Goddess of Healing...

She then sat up. “Rest for now.” She told her. “Don’t think of anything else. You can leave everything to me, alright?”

The little girl nodded, before turning her attention towards me. “You’re the one who brought me here, didn’t you? Thank you so much, Big Bro!”

Even in her current state, her smile was still as angelic as I had expected.

I beamed in return, with Flameu following suit.

“Big Bro”, huh? I once had a cute girl that would say the same thing to me every day. Aah, she probably hates me now though...

"Come." Flameu spoke to me. "We have something to discuss."

We exited the room, back into the main laboratory area.

"Lord Pendleton, how strong are you in combat?"

I raised my eyebrows. Where did that come from?

"If you're truly just an ordinary C-rank adventurer, then I cannot ask for your help any further. However, if you are hiding your true capabilities, then you might just be strong enough for the task I am about to ask you. For a mage who has a Great Fairy as his summon, I doubt you're the former. So please, tell the truth. That child… she will die with the rest of her village if we don't act fast."

"...Fine. I admit it. I'm stronger than I look." I folded my arms under my chest. "How strong do you need me to be? You need me to hunt some strong monster for the ingredient to make her cure right? I can guess as much.”

Her smile returned.

“I need you to kill a dragon.”

“...What?”

“Yes, a dragon. The strongest monster species on the Holy Continent. The S-rank monster you normally need an entire army to fight. I need you to kill one and bring its heart to me. That way, I can synthesize the cure that girl needs as well as the cure for the rest of her village,” she continued without skipping a beat.

Her smile turned into a smirk. It was clear that she wanted to see how I would react.

A dragon, huh? Maybe… just maybe… I’m strong enough to take on one.

Putting up my most confident grin, I replied, “I can already defeat A-rank monsters with ease. So I’m quite confident that I can take on a dragon. It’s just one rank above after all.”

Her smirk widened, nearly turning into a full grin.

And for some unknown reason, that grin scared me a little.