After that experience, I teleported to the break room since I didn't feel any presence in there. Next time, I should think twice before recklessly entering someone's private room. I'll make sure to remember that scene forever, though.

Should I prepare myself some tea while waiting?

 

*        *        *

 

"H-Hiro-sama??"

She froze. Her face is getting quite red too. I would be the same in her shoes.

"Good morning, Siliva"

"G-good morning!"

"It's been a while since the last time I came, hasn't it?"

"Yes! Have you been in the Black Devil Forest all this time? I honestly thought you forgot about me and continued your travels..."

"How could I possibly leave you hanging like that after I make a promise? I merely had to go somewhere for some urgent business."

"Umu, I see."

"Besides..."

"Besides...?"

"Last time I left in a hurry, so I need to at least get the clothes I wore the day before leaving back~."

"Y-your clothes?!"

"Could it be that you lost them? If so, it's not a prob--"

"I have them! I-I just need to wash them again, they were lying around for such a long time, so they need to be cleaned again!"

Yeah, sure, that's why.

"Silvia, do you have some today or tomorrow? If yes, I would like to seriously start learning some Alchemy."

"Hmm, sure. I probably won't have too many customers anyway because of what happened yesterday."

"What do you mean by that? Something happened yesterday?"

I tilt my head questioningly. If I don't play dumb here, things could get bad.

"Didn't they tell you at the gates? The second prince died yesterday. The knights even checked my store in the middle of the night."

"Huh? The second prince died? How did that happen?!"

What?! Did someone assassinate him after I left lying there?

"Apparently, they don't know. He was simply lying on the floor in his office, he didn't have any wounds or signs of poisoning. It's as if he died without any reason."

Could it be...?

"No signs of anything?"

"Yeah, that's what they told me. I don't know too much myself. But it seems serious, I even had to show the knights all my goods to prove that I didn't have anything here that could accomplish such a murder."

"That must've been tough on you. No wonder you woke up so late."

I'm sorry, it looks like it was my fault... Brains are more complex than I thought. I wonder where my mistakes were, I'm pretty sure he was also still alive after I was done. Did his basic body functions stop shortly after, perhaps? But if he stopped breathing, there would be signs of that, right? I wonder what really happened after I left. Maybe I should visit the king again? I'm not really in the mood for royalty, though...

"Yes... But I'm fine now! Do you want me to start teaching you right away? Do you still remember what I showed you last time?"

"Shouldn't we get a few ingredients first? I don't want to impose on you more than I have to."

Hmm? I quickly check for presences outside the shop... There are a lot, looks like the city is in quite a hectic state right now. If I 'came from outside' I should know that...

"Actually, never mind, with how hectic the city is I don't really want to walk around the streets anymore today. How about I pay you for what I use while learning?"

Safe.

"You really don't have to, but I won't refuse if that is how you want to do it."

"Then, let's get right to it!"

"Yes!"

 

*        *        *

 

<You acquired the [Alchemy] skill>

<The [Alchemy] skill fused with the [Production Mastery] skill>

Finally!

"Say, Silvia, how long does it normally take to learn the Alchemy skill?"

"Huh? Why are you already giving up? We haven't even been at it for a mere 13 hours!"

You workaholic! What do you mean, not even 13 hours?! I'm pretty sure we've been doing this for 14 hours at least!

"No, no, I was simply curious."

"Hmm, most people with a bit of talent in alchemy would take two to three months, if you don't have any talent, you would obviously take much longer. Well, if you're a natural genius like myself, two weeks are more than enough!"

She is bragging like that, but I'm sure everyone worked for only 8 to 10 hours, including breaks, while she worked at least 23 hours each day nonstop...

"I see..."

Grrrrr ¹ Stomach growling sound(?)

"Maybe, we should still take a break at least? Please...?"

"Haaah, sure. But we continue afterward, okay?"

"Uuuhh, sure..."

It would be better if I tell Silvia that I will continue my training on my own for a while. It would be too weird if I suddenly get much better. I could pretend to not have the skill yet and purposely fail, but considering her limited stock of items, I don't want to burden her too much. She said it was fine, but it still feels bad imposing on someone that much.

But getting the skill was much harder than I first thought.

Name	Fukuda Hiro
Occupation	None
Race	Human
Level	443
Magic	11,413
Strength	11,413
Defense	11,413
Agility	11,413
Intelligence	11,413
Luck	16,923
BP	0
Skills	[Appraisal] [Item Box] [Martial Arts Mastery] [Social Mastery] [Nature Mastery] [Movement Mastery] [XXX] [Mana Mastery] [Commonplace Mastery] [Special Combats Mastery] [Body and Mind Mastery] [Production Mastery] [Foresight]
Titles	[Master of The Door] [Master of The House] [Otherworlder] [Person who visited a different world] [The greatest sage's apprentice] [Inheritor of the most powerful Magic Circuits]

I already have plenty of experience getting new skills. Not that that ever helped me. My Mana Control sits at a proficiency of 138 and my Mana Circulation is at a proficiency of 87. After I reached a proficiency of 100 on my Mana Control, I could somewhat control pure mana outside of my body without the help of spells. My Circulation is at a point where I have Mana Veins all over my body, no spot in my body is left without a supply of mana.

Yet, I still barely succeeded in the basic potion creation only 1 out of 10 times. And those I succeeded in were all trash. F grade with a low level of purity. A few healing potions and light potions. I also wanted to learn how to imbue items with magic and create other consumables, but apparently, that's still a far-off goal.

"It's already pretty late, so many shops should already be closed, right? Luckily, I brought some food with me, let's use the break room, okay?"

"Yes."