Chapter 41: Take as Much as You Want? Me?

On the top floor of Academy Building No. 3 was the Alchemy Workshop.

Lomio pressed the flask-shaped sigil that Ankater had given him onto the metallic access control.

“Beep.”

A faint mechanical sound rang out, and the door opened in response.

A pungent scent, a mix of alcohol and herbs, instantly flooded his nose.

Lomio frowned slightly and stepped inside.

The interior of the workshop was more spacious than he had imagined.

It wasn’t as cluttered as the usual alchemist’s workshop.

Rows of temperature-controlled crystal cabinets neatly held all sorts of materials, each shining with a distinct luster.

Along the wall stood several automatic alchemy dolls, their exteriors clean, quietly awaiting orders.

The level of automation was remarkably high.

Yet, right at the orderly center of the workshop, there was utter chaos.

A woman was lying on the floor.

An empty wine bottle had rolled to her side, and her long, crimson hair was splayed messily across the ground.

Her teacher’s uniform was torn open, revealing bare skin and her collarbone—completely defenseless.

“As expected of Russell’s boozehound…”

Unconcerned about the dead-drunk legal loli, Lomio walked lightly, sweeping his gaze around the workshop.

He stepped into the materials area.

Soon, he found a storage cabinet.

Inside, dozens of vials of Silver Bell Marrow sat on display—at least a hundred and twenty tubes, by his count.

“No wonder the duchy spends so much on its alchemists—they’re rolling in wealth…”

Locking in on his target, Lomio wandered around a bit more.

Tier 3 and 4 materials were everywhere; above Tier 5, the materials were slightly fewer, but still not all that rare.

He even spotted something categorized as Tier 7—a rare resource with golden quality in the game!

Just this section alone was worth more than his whole team could afford!

“Teacher, you’re so wealthy—it’s only right to lend a hand to your students, so don’t be stingy…”

Muttering thus, Lomio quickly formed a plan, and walked straight to Ankater.

He wetted his hand at the faucet and crouched down, gently wiping Ankater’s forehead, his tone full of concern:

“Professor Ankater? Are you alright? Please wake up.”

“Ugh…”

The girl on the floor didn’t respond, only turned over and muttered something.

“Please wake up, even the Headmaster just said—”

Lomio pressed a little harder.

“If you sleep any longer, they’ll deduct your funding.”

“…Mmm.”

“Latest news: The Academy is about to launch a weeklong ‘No Alcohol Awareness’ campaign…”

“Wah! Don’t!”

Ankater’s eyes shot open.

It took her several seconds to recover from her daze, and her gaze finally focused, recognizing Lomio’s face.

“Whew, it was just a nightmare…”

“Oh, Lomio… Y-you’re just in time…”

Her voice was hoarse, still thick with hangover.

When she tried to sit up, Ankater realized how disheveled her clothes were.

“Ah—!”

A woman barely 1.5 meters tall, a good decade older than Lomio, sprang up from the floor like a coiled spring.

“No looking!”

At her command, several alchemy dolls activated at once.

They hurried to Ankater’s side, their metal shells unfurling to form a screen and shield her from view.

Behind the screen came the sounds of machinery and fabric rustling.

A few seconds later, the screen collapsed.

Ankater was now back in uniform. She cleared her throat, trying to regain the dignity of a teacher.

“Ahem! You… What are you doing here?”

“Professor, your alchemy dolls are amazing.”

Lomio looked at Ankater’s fresh outfit and her still-messy red hair, and immediately began to flatter her.

“To change and tidy up in mere seconds—far more efficient than any professional maid.”

“T-that’s obvious!”

Ankater puffed out her chest, the flush fading from her face. She immediately felt like herself again.

“So why didn’t you show up today? Was something the matter?” Lomio pressed.

“The teacher just… worked on a project late last night, a little tired.”

She came up with an excuse for her lapse.

She’d lost the artifact she used to hide her presence, didn’t want to deal with her hair, so she holed up in the workshop drinking…

If a student found out…

“I see.”

Lomio didn’t expose her.

He put on a look of understanding.

“No wonder you weren’t at this morning’s freshman meeting—I thought something had happened to you.”

“Meeting?”

Ankater was stunned. Her expression twitched.

Crap!

It had only been a day, but under the power of alcohol, she’d completely forgotten that she was now a class advisor.

“Ah, that… I—I asked for leave from the Academy!” she insisted stubbornly.

“Is that so.”

Lomio didn’t pursue it, steering the topic away.

“By the way, Professor, your alchemy dolls are really cute. Are those rabbit patterns on their shells?”

He pointed at the design on the arm of one of the dolls.

It was a delicately crafted carving of a rabbit hugging a carrot.

“Hm? Oh… T-that’s just a little personal preference,” Ankater replied.

Lomio nodded, then pulled something from his pocket.

“This symbol looks a lot like something I found.”

He opened his hand.

That aura-blocking ring lay in his palm.

The rabbit carving on the ring was identical to the one on the doll.

“I wonder—could this be your work, Professor?”

“You!”

Ankater froze when she saw the ring.

“Where… where did you find that?!”

Her reaction was much stronger than Lomio expected; she rushed up to him, her voice trembling.

“In the trash heap.”

Lomio’s face showed embarrassment and helplessness as he answered.

“Before the class exam, I needed to make cards but didn’t have enough materials, so… I could only try my luck at the waste station.”

“I was hoping maybe I could extract something useful from the discarded materials.”

“In the end, I found this among a pile of scorched crucibles and slag.”

He described his ordeal, bitterness coloring his tone.

Ankater was stunned.

She looked at Lomio, then at the ring in his hand.

To think the object she cherished had been dug out of the trash by someone else…

Her face turned an odd mix of blue and white.

But then, shame and anger surged up inside her.

A disciple of the Sage!

A junior she personally recognized as talented!

Had actually been so desperate for materials he had to dig through garbage?!

What humiliation!

It wasn’t just a slap in Lomio’s face—she, as the teacher, had been shamed as well!

If word got out, she’d probably become the most wretched advisor in the entire academy—the only one whose student scavenged the trash for card making!

“Recently, everyone’s buying materials—the Academy’s all sold out, and prices are so high. As a guy, I really can’t afford it.”

“Unacceptable!”

Ankater slapped the alchemy table with a bang.

“This absolutely won’t do! A disciple of the Sage can’t live so miserably!”

Snatching the ring from Lomio’s hand and sliding it onto her own finger, Ankater looked gratified at regaining her lost treasure:

“I won’t allow my students to go to those places ever again!”

“Uh…”

Lomio immediately put on a troubled expression.

“But the material fees are really…”

“Any material below Tier 4 here, you can use as you please! I, Ankater, mean what I say!”

Ankater waved her hand boldly, full of bravado.

“But don’t forget, we had an agreement! Show me, then, just how far a disciple of the Sage can go!”

“As you wish.”

Lomio was no longer polite.

He walked to an empty alchemy table and deftly took items from the material cabinet.

Focusing his mind, his hands traced patterns in the air. Magic guided the materials to fuse, break down, and reform within the alchemy array.

He closed his eyes, activated the synthesis mode on his talent tree, and QTE prompts flashed before his eyes.

As each command registered in his consciousness, Lomio’s body moved like an automaton.

[Perfect]

[Perfect]

[Perfect]

Every prompt hit exactly!

When the final step finished, a brilliant light burst from the alchemy table.

A gleaming Experience Card floated in midair.

[Experience Card · D-Rank (Excellent)]

Ankater, standing beside him, gaped.

She’d only wanted to see Lomio’s skill level, but witnessing him create an excellent card with his eyes closed was still shocking!

That fluid technique!

That control over magic!

No freshman could do this!

“So this is the Sage of Lumen’s technique…?”

“Just a little trick Professor Ginova taught me—nothing that impressive,” Lomio said, watching Ankater.

“Professor, I want to try making a more advanced card.”

Lomio made his request.

“I’ve already mastered several Tier 1 cards. Lately, I’d like to challenge Tier 2 synthesis.”

“Tier 2… Sure, no problem!”

Ankater immediately caught on.

“No problem! Take as many as you want!”

She didn’t care at all about the material cost for Tier 2:

“Just don’t grab too many types, or it’ll mess up my budget report!”

“Thank you very much—I only need one type. I’ve already bought the rest myself.”

With permission, Lomio walked to the temperature-controlled cabinet holding Silver Bell Marrow.

He didn’t take it out vial by vial.

Instead, he pressed his palm against the cabinet door and activated his Talent Storage ability.

The next second—

Under Ankater’s expectant gaze—

Rows upon rows of Silver Bell Marrow inside the cabinet…

Vanished in an instant.

More than half of it disappeared into thin air.

A huge empty space appeared in the storage cabinet.

Ankater’s smile froze.

Her mind went blank.

What just… happened?

Where’s my marrow?

All that marrow I saved up?!

She looked at Lomio, then at the now half-empty cabinet, mouth opening and closing, but no words came out.

She’d just said he could use as much as he wanted.

But…

But this was way too “as much as you want”!

That was her stockpile from half a year of hard work!

Ankater felt as if an invisible hand was clutching her heart, squeezing so hard she could barely breathe.

But the words had been spoken, and as a teacher with both pride and a damnable need to save face, she couldn’t take it back.

She could only look at Lomio, forcing out a twisted smile between clenched teeth.

“Is… is that enough?”

“Hmm… It still seems a little short!”

With another gesture from Lomio, half of the remaining Silver Bell Marrow vanished from the cabinet.

“That should be enough for me to practice until I’m skilled. Thank you, Professor! You’re incredibly generous!”

“…”

Ankater’s vision went black.

You little brat—are you a dog or what?!