kscans

Chapter 36 - The Box Left Behind, The Alchemy Records

Mireille couldn't hold it in any longer and burst into tears, throwing herself into my chest. It wasn't a reflex. Without a moment's hesitation, I wrapped both my arms tightly around her.

--I knew it. But at the same time, I thought, she's held up so well, so much that my chest ached.

It was like the me who had been so hesitant to touch her was a lie. If I let go now, Mireille would break. I couldn't shake that feeling.

"It's okay. I'm here. ...Don't worry anymore."

I whispered in her ear, and Mireille's shoulders trembled. The feeling of her slender fingers gripping my clothes tightly squeezed my heart.

Eighteen years old. An age where she was still very much a child, yet her guardian had gone missing. She had been beaten. She had lost her home and her job, and yet she had forced herself to keep moving forward, somehow trying to stay the same. And on top of that, she had probably just learned some very bad news.

She was long past her breaking point.

So she didn't need to think anymore. All I had to do was hold her and protect her.

"It's okay to cry. I'll take it all in."

The warmth of Mireille's tears seeped into my chest. It was painful, and precious--and I held her even tighter.

I don't know how much time passed like that.

Mireille, in words that were barely coherent, began to explain things bit by bit.

--The Knight Order's job is to eliminate threats. If a monster appears before us, we defeat it. That's all. Encountering a large monster is just bad luck, we don't even think about the materials.

But the essence of an alchemist is different. They actively seek out the materials from monsters that they need for alchemy. So they don't hunt needlessly for materials they don't require. However, large monsters have more abundant materials and can lead to the development of new tools, so they welcome them. I had never thought of it that way.

But overhunting causes stampedes. They want them, but they can't take too many. Being an alchemist, it seems, required a surprising amount of self-restraint.

Fortunately, Mireille's master was about the only one who went out on hunts. So a balance was maintained. ...But if that same master was overhunting, that was a different story. If there were others doing it too, it was no wonder she couldn't remain calm.

After talking for a bit, she seemed to calm down, but her eyes were still vacant.

I held her and stroked her head. I wish I could create a time for her where she didn't have to think about anything. This was about all I could do.

"Mireille, besides alchemy and the shop, how did you usually spend your time?"

Anything would do. I thought talking about hobbies might distract her... but I myself was a workaholic and had nothing to suggest, which was frustrating.

"...There's only alchemy. Really, every day, I just studied, made alchemical items, took a bath, and went to sleep."

I had just made her feel worse. ...No, wait a minute. A bath.

There was no bathtub, but if I heated water over the bonfire...? But she wouldn't be able to relax while being wary of monsters, and I wouldn't be able to relax either, for a different reason.

"Hey, do you have any alchemy tools for a bath?"

At those words, Mireille's dull eyes flickered slightly.

"I'll heat the bath. The problem is a bathtub. If we had a large metal can--"

"...A bath, you say."

Still in a daze, she stared at me from close range. Her face looked as if she hadn't yet realized she was being held.

"You're tired. You're going to collapse if you keep this up. So you should try to relax a little."

Mireille gave a small nod. But she couldn't move. She didn't move.

...Then I'll have to be the one to move. There was one other method I could think of.

"Wait here for a bit."

I gently let her go. The lingering warmth of her body vanished into the air. I went outside, cleaned up the bonfire and the soup, and returned.

"Mireille, let me try something."

Saying that, I lifted her into my arms. At this point, neither of us had any resistance to an embrace. The next moment, after I removed the ring--

The two of us were in my room at the Townhouse.