For once in a while, today’s weather is pretty fair. The sun is high, pushing away the freezing cold of Winter, allowing a bit of warmth to linger inside the castle. The students’ mood is pretty good today thanks to such a nice day, me included.

“A perfect day for shopping.”

That was what Deborah said this early morning. And indeed a nice day it turned out to be. That being said, I’m not really a fan of shopping and wasting money, especially when girls are involved, but…as I am essentially Deborah’s glorified pet, it’s something to be expected when I get dragged into her little venture at the shops as her bag holder.

A week has passed since Amadia’s defeat. For some reason, since then, Deborah started to talk less and less whenever I’m nearby, and sometimes, she abruptly ended the rare conversations we had and just disappeared to god-knows-where places. It made living in her room pretty awkward, since it’s her room to begin with and yet she was acting like she’s a nuisance to me - a glorified freeloader. Made me feel pretty bad myself.

Which is why it was such a surprise when she asked me to go shopping with her. I couldn’t bring myself to refuse, for fear another chance to reconnect with her won’t come again.

“Here we are, the general shop.”

Says Deborah when we both arrive at the school’s general shop during today’s lunch break. Our journey to this shop is rather uneventful, without any small talks coming from both side. It’s hard to accurately guess which side has issues, I or Deborah. (I’m leaning toward her side).

The shop is located in a big room within one of the castle’s keeps. As its name implied, it’s just a mid size shop and most likely the only general shop in the castle. The interior is displayed with a wide variety of goods for customers to browse, including various trinkets and oddities, but also mixed with daily necessities supplies like towels, clothing, medicine, and other trivial products. Hell, this shop even sell weapons and armors like swords, spears and many others. It’s basically a “You name it, we have it, please buy it!” kind of shop.

“Welcome, young students!”

The shop owner – still standing behind a counter – gives out welcoming words when he catches sights of his customers. As weird as this shop is, the shop owner himself is probably the weirdest sight around. He is essentially a talking animated skeleton, wearing clothing akin to that of the old Mongolian’s traditional clothes back in my world. He’s also wearing a black bandana around his forehead, make him looks like a street peddler tending his own agora rather than the owner of a school’s shop. Although with his appearance, he has more potential earning his “living” as a street performer than as a merchant.

“What are you lads looking for? Oh, isn’t it Lady Deborah? It’s been a while since the last time you came. Fidus was pretty sad since you didn’t show up lately, you know.” – Says the skeletal shop owner.

“I was busy with problems of my own, sorry.”

I think Deborah is giving me a side glance as she speaks. In another note, though, I’m more curious about this…Fidus person. And no, this is not jealousy or anything!

“It’s fine, really. Since you’re here. Let me call Fidus out. Fidusssss!!!”

Despite being a skeleton with no visible larynx, the shop owner’s shout is so loud to the point I fear it may throw all of his merchandise off the counters. After three seconds, a loud bark can be heard from the backside of the shop.

Wait, a loud bark?

“Woof woof!”

From the back of the shop, there’s a dog come running. A big, fluffy white dog. I don’t care what breed it is. I only classify all dogs as dog, since after all, they are my mortal nemesis!

The large dog with white fur covering his eyes lunges at Deborah with his massive body. Despite the imminent danger from the foul beast, Deborah has no trouble grabbing a dog nearly as big as her in mid air like he is merely a cute little pup (no, pups are not cute!). He begins to lick her hands with his tongue, resulting a laugh from Deborah due to the tickleness.

“Oh stop it, Fidus. I was absent for some weeks and you missed me already? Stupid dog!”

Deborah’s current genuine smile is something I haven’t seen on her face for quite sometimes. Everytime she puts on that smile, a part of me feel at ease for some reason. That being said, the times that she smiles without making it look like an evil smirk can be count on one hand.

“That girl used to come here everyday just to pet that dog.”

Says the shop owner, his words directed at me.

“Dogs aren’t a common sight in this continent, you know? They only breed dogs and cats in the West continent, the place they originated from. An old acquaintance of mine left Fidus here as a mistake. Since he never showed up again, I intended to sell the furball to anyone interested, but none showed any. So I have to take care of that big glutton myself. What a hassle!”

After hearing the shop owner’s story, I’m pretty amazed, though I’m not sure about what should I be amazed of: The fact that this world has dogs and cats, how a skeleton man can raise a dog without having his bones devoured by it, or the revelation of Deborah as a devout member of the Dog faction.

But no matter, my love for cats will never be swayed. All hail the Cat faction!

“Woof!”

“Hey, where are you going?”

The dog suddenly leaps out of Deborah’s arms and…comes to the opposite of me. I can feel that his sight is fixed upon me through those eyes hidden by his fluffy white hair, the eyes of a predator confronting its prey. Likewise, I become tense myself and keep my gaze focused on my mortal nemesis while doing nothing, making this ridiculous scene look like a cowboy standoff between human and dog.

“WOOF!”

“Oh no you don’t!”

The dog lunges at me as his attack. But of course, using my superior human intelligence, I anticipated such attack and just back step from my original position and…run away. No, I should say this is a tactical retreat! Ain’t no way I’m gonna face a dog in direct confrontation! It may drool upon me, and that’s bad!

Despite having an early edge over my enemy, outrunning a dog on foot proves to be far more difficult just as I thought it would. I get caught within seven meters from the place I started. The dog utilizes every natural advantages he has. He pins me down to the ground using his massive frame. Then, the dog lightly bites the left leg of my trouser and drags me back to the shop, happily waving its tail in celebration for the successful capture of his prey.

“Seems like he’s happy to finally found one of his own kind.”

Says Deborah. I definitely don’t want to figure out to whom that comment was directed to.

“That’s strange, Fidus rarely open up to strangers. Maybe he likes you, young man.”

“I’d prefer that he doesn’t.”

I answer.

“Woof!”

The dog barks, as if he wants to confirm the words of the shop owner. Yeah, like I would be happy to be loved by you, and stop licking me all over the place!

“Okay boys, let’s stop this charade at once. We are here to shop, playing is for later.”

Says Deborah as she grows tired of our comedic standoff.

“Right right. Fidus! It’s lunchtime! Leave the customers to do their thing, or how else can I get the food to fill your gigantic stomach!”

The very moment the word “Lunchtime” reaches its ears, the fluffy dog happily turns his attention to the shop owner and follows him to the backside of the shop. Before I get a chance to comment on how cold-hearted Deborah is, she gives me a helping hand to stand up from the ground, thus shunning every chances I had. Following her lead, we come to the clothing section of the shop.

“So, what do you want to buy?”

“Some clothes for you.”

Deborah bluntly answers my question.

“Clothes for me?”

“You can’t keep wearing those same clothes forever, right?”

I looked back to myself. I’m still wearing the very clothes I have ever since I came to this world. Well, with the help of cleaning magic, my clothes are still fresh and not smelly. But I guess she’s right, I can’t wear these all the time.

“You’re buying clothes for me ? That’s very kind of you. Do you know that in my world, when a master gives their servant clothing, that means the servant is free?”

Of course, it’s not true, but she doesn’t know that.

“Good thing this isn’t your world, then.”

Deborah looks at me with an irritated gaze, finding next to no humor within my joke. She handpicks several white shirts and asks me to try for the size. We exchange some opinions about clothing for me to wear. Personally, I prefer something that look remotely similar to my old clothes. Ironic as it sounds, I like the clothes from my old world more than this world, they give me a sense of familiarity, and help remind me of who I am as someone who does not belong to this world. After several tries and picks, Deborah is finally able to chooses several shirts and trousers that fit my criteria. Though, she still has yet to announce the end of our shopping trip.

“If you want anything else, take it now before we leave.”

This begins to look more and more like a mother taking her child to the supermarket, rather than two teenagers having a good time shopping, or in our case, maybe a master buying some stuff her pet dog needs.

Well, I remember that there’s still a promise I have to fulfill, that is to make Amadia’s her own Mr.Cat. And this is a chance for me to obtain the necessary materials, can’t let it slide before my eyes.

“I wonder if this shop has some kind of fabric. And a sewing kit, I need tools as well.”

I search for several counters, and finally find some of them, along with a sewing kit. Since I don’t have any tools in my possession, I take a sewing set along with the fabrics I need.

“Are you going to make a dress or what?”

Deborah asks a question when I return to the shop owner’s counter..

“It’s a secret.”

Secrets make a man man. Or was it the other way around?

“Heh? Just what are you intend to do behind my back? Let me guess, you got invited to a tea party somewhere and need a fancy dress to go along with it? If so, just let me know, I don’t think you have what it takes to make an astonishing dress for yourself.”

“Oh shut up. I bet you can’t even sew.”

“You never know until you try!”

Deborah shouts, accompanied with a blush on her face. That’s how people give away their weakness to others, you know?

Despite having all the things we need in hand, the shop owner hasn’t show up yet. Maybe he’s still in the middle of feeding Fidus. Since Deborah is pretty talkative today, how about I ask her about her recent strange behaviour? I won’t have another chance like this if she’s going back to sulk by herself once again after today.

“Hey Deborah, you know what? Ever since Amadia’s defeat, you have been acting very strange, you know?”

“I was?”

Deborah answers as she averts her gaze from matching mine.

“Maybe I was.”

Strangely, that girl doesn’t bother to deny her odd behaviours. Somehow, that makes her even stranger than her normal self. And for the first time ever since our endeavor to this shop, Deborah looks at my eyes, actively looking at me like she is searching for something deep inside my eyes, but soon, she gives up as she sighs and replies.

“Sorry, it’s just me being weird. Don’t mind me. Just do as you always do.”

Is that her way of saying “I’m PMS-ing, don’t come near me” in her mental dictionary? That should be the most logical reason for her recent behaviours.

“Well, I’m always here. If you need someone to lend an ear, feel free to ask me.”

I’m not exactly an expert of girls’s mentality, but this is the least I can do if someone near me have problems that they need to let out. My mouth may not say the wisest words, but my ears know how to be a good listener.

Deborah just briefly smiles before giving out her answer..

“Isn’t that what pets are for?”

“Well, you should let me act my part once in a while.”

“Ha ha, right. Forgot about that.”

Unlike earlier, Deborah’s current smile looks forced and unnatural, as if she doesn’t want to talk to me anymore about anything, like I’m a real nuisance to her. From what little I know of her, Deborah won’t hesitate to let me know she hates my guts, but this...is something else that I don’t understand. This isn’t just a simple hate...

“You don’t have to worry about me. It’s not like I’m holding a terrible secret or anything. Maybe it’s just because of recent weather. Give me sometime, I’ll become normal again before you know it.”

“If you say so.”

I’ll take her words for granted for the time being. I’ll stop pursue this topic. It’s not like getting pushy can solve any of our already complicated communication problems.

“Beside, I just got words that the Headmaster wanted me to come to her office after lunch break. Everytime she does, it means something bad will probably happen, one way or another. So I’m rather irritated since I don’t know what is she plotting this time.”

Well, she got that right. I know full well of what she just said, since I have experienced the Headmaster’s “summon” first hand.

“I see. Good luck to you then.”

After the end of our conversation, the shop owner finally shows up to end the deal. A bunch of clothes, some fabrics, and a sewing kit. Deborah pays for all of them, though for some reason she doesn’t look very happy afterward. Of course, she’s using her own wallet to pay for my stuff, after all.

We give out our goodbye when the school bell is tolled at the end of the lunch break. Deborah will have to see the Headmaster, and I have plans of my own, that is to take a look at my final choice of Department – the Alchemy Art.

--------------------------------------

Ever since my first adventure during the search for Departments, I already have a firm grasp for the scale of this Academy. Learning from my prior experience, before my departure, I asked Iola – my class president – about the way to the Alchemy Art Department. Apparently, this Department is located far away from the other two, in a small keep which also houses a supply storage and a library. And that’s it, even Iola herself didn’t know the exact location of the Department’s classrooms since from her words, she described this Department as “a class of hermits”.

From what I know of, the art of alchemy isn’t held with high regards in the eyes of many students of this academy. This academy is a military academy, which serves to train able-bodied warriors and sound mind mages to fight on the frontline. However, an alchemist’s role is purely for support – something even combat mages are capable of, and sometimes excel at it. And so, this Department is seen as a type of Hufflepuff house – a place for those who need to stay away from weapons lest they stab themselves, along with those who can’t get past the requirements to become a member of the Magic Art Department. A leftover Department.

That sounds like a place perfectly made just for me. My own haven.

The problem is how to find the location of that haven.

I have come to this keep myself, only to find myself welcomed by literally nothing. This place is empty, without anyone around to ask for direction. It also has many vacant classrooms, yet none is in use at the moment. As much as I know it lies on the student’s duty to find his own classroom, it’s still pretty jarring and annoying without any guidance of when and where.

Before I waste more time to complain however, from my behind, there is a girl suddenly walks toward this keep with some books on her hand. She puts no restraint on her feet, and gracefully runs like she’s in a hurry. The strange thing about this girl is how she dresses: With a black noble-lady-like dress, dark opera gloves and a pitch black veil covering her head and face, the girl looks like she’s more well dressed for a funeral rather than a class. Her black cloak uniform probably doesn’t help. Her movements are pretty graceful, like a noble, educated girl. Her dress code makes her a very mysterious person. And her long dark blue hair flown down to her hips contributes much to her own charm.

But enough internal flattering, ain’t no way I’ll let this chance to ask for directions slides before my eyes.

“Excuse me?”

When the girl nearly walks past me, I let out a voice. She stops, but not in a hurry to give her reply, not until she takes a look around of her in search of something.

“Are you…talking to me…?”

She points her finger to herself as she answers.

“Well yes. I don’t see anyone else.”

As if not convinced by my words, the girl starts another search around her before returning to continue the conversation.

“Right, you’re talking to me…”

Yep, another girl with issues. You can’t be far too normal in this kind of time.

“How can be of help? Please make it brief, good sir, since I’m already late for my class.”

“Your class? Are you by any chance a student of the Alchemy Art Department?”

Obviously, since I learned from Iola this is the only Department that held classes at this place. That means I hit the jackpot this time.

“Yes, I am. What is your business with our department, good sir?”

The girl locks her hands in front of her dress, a very lady-like gesture.

“I want to take a look at this class since I transferred midway to this Academy, and I’m not fit to join either the War Art or Magic Art.”

“Oh, so that’s your story, I see.”

The girl subtly nods.

“If so, then allow me to escort you to my class. Let us make haste, since the class is probably already in session by now.”

I guess that explains her hurried attitude earlier. No reason to keep her busy, then.

With the mysterious girl leading the way, I follow her to the class. After climbing two set of stairs, we arrive at the alchemy classroom. Just as the girl predicted earlier, the class is already in session. The girl silently knocks on the door for courtesy’s sake before coming inside with me following behind.

“My deepest apology for my late arrival, Mrs.Prophetissima.”

The girl lowly bows her head as she faces the teach. The teacher in charge is an old woman, and a real one, not just in behaviour like the Headmaster. The woman before me is old in both appearance and spirit. Her dried skin, whitened hair due to old age do nothing to hide her eldery image. There’s nothing suggesting a fake youthfulness. Her attire is just a simple antiquated knee-length white tunic, making her look like an old oracle hiding from society more than teacher for a bunch of wannabe alchemists.

“Must be due to jobs of the Student Council again, I presume?”

The girl just bows again in response.

“That’s alright. You may take your seat, Miss Asphodel. But I suggest you should spend more time as a student of this class more than as this Academy’s Student Council President.”

“My deepest apology. I shall take heed of your advice.”

The old woman’s attention suddenly turns at me, the stranger she has yet to meet.

“And the young cadet behind you, who is he?”

Asks the old woman, her question directed to the girl.

“He is someone who have yet to choose his own department, and wishes to observe our class before making his own choice.”

“I see. I see.”

The old lady mumbles to herself.

“Young man. What is your name?”

I walk deeper into the class. At that very moment, the gaze of this whole class turns upon me. There are about thirty students in this class, most of them look like the “serious” type of student, the kind that won’t be any fun at parties. Well, I had worse classmates before, so it’s not like it will affect me much.

“It’s Akuma.”

I introduce myself to the old teacher in the briefest way possible. I’m here to observe and learn, not to make a show and entertain people, so there’s no point dragging this out.

“Akuma? You’re that rumoured rising star? Intriguing indeed.”

Despite being aware of my recent deed, the old lady doesn’t look very amazed, just like her whole class, with no one bother to bat an eye when they hear my name. Seems like the rumor of this class being a nest for hermits is true, or the feat of defeating Amadia isn’t that impressive as I thought it is. However, if the old teacher at least knows about me, then it saves me the trouble of making a long introduction about myself to people who don’t give a damn.

“Enough talk. If you wish to observe, then please do it in the back in silence. I still have a class to teach. And you, Miss Asphodel, please return to your seat. We don’t have much time left to spare.”

“Yes, teacher.”

The girl bows yet again, and takes her leave to the very back of this class, sitting near the corner by the windows, keeping a far distance from all of her classmates. This whole class doesn’t give any special look for her choice of seat, like it is just an everyday thing. Strange…

I don’t know anyone in this class, and with my first look, this class doesn’t seems to be very newbie friendly. I guess there’s no point sitting near anyone, except with the girl I just met. I’m curious about her and it would be better than sitting next to some goody two shoes. And thus, I choose to sit near the anti-social girl. Only at this moment does the whole class pays attention to my choice of seat, with the girl herself sounds equally surprised.

“You’re sitting near me…”

“Yes, I am sitting near you in case you haven’t noticed. Is there a problem?”

I don’t think the girl has some prejudice against men in general, but I guess she does has her own issues regarding people breathing in the same air as her.

“No, but…”

“Since I’m new here, it’s best to have someone experienced to give me some pointers here and there. Don’t you think?”

The girl falls silent, at least for a few seconds before she makes her mind.

“...Alright, I’ll help you with what I can. Though it would be best if you stay away from me after we’re done. It’s…for your own good. I’m sorry, but I hope you understand.”

“…It’s okay, I’m used to it.”

Living together with Deborah eventually gave me some bravery for situations like this. I don’t know what gimmicks this girl has, but I’m not scared, at least for the time being.

The period finally resumes when the old lady continues her lectures. On the blackboard are several formulas that I know nothing about. The lecture keeps going on and on, with nothing goes inside my head due to obvious reasons as a know-nothing observer. The girl sitting beside me however is diligently writing notes on her notebook, without letting go of her gaze upon the blackboard. Although it’s rather rare to see someone writing notes while wearing opera gloves, however.

“Since the finals are coming in less than a month, let us do some reviews on past lectures. Let’s begin with the basic 「Synthesization」.”

All of the students’s attention are fixed upon small cauldrons placed on all the study desks beforehand. The old lady suddenly pulls out a knife from her own desk and said.

“Let’s practice with an easy task. Your job is to make a replica of this knife with materials of your choosing. You have fifteen minutes.”

All the students suddenly stand up and leave the class.

“So, what are we gonna do now?”

I ask the girl sitting near me.

“We need to go to the material storage room first.”

Says the girl as she stands up to do the same as her classmates. I follow her to the storage room. It is located beneath this floor, near the school library and the supply storage. In this room houses various materials, which were classified into types and categories, the basic ones are organic and metallic materials. It probably helps that most materials names sound the same like they were back in my old world, like iron, steels, chrome…et cetera…Why they have names similar like the ones from Earth is beyond my understanding, however. I doubt they would have the exact names like iron or copper. Maybe magic is once again at work here...

Well, it’s not like I can clear it up if I waste time thinking hard about it. Better focus on the immediate task.

Only at this moment has I realize how convenient it is for the Alchemy Art Department to be located in this building. Or should I say that this is the very reason it was located here? Since this whole keep also serves as the castle’s own big storage, it provides many necessary materials for the Department’s own use. The library itself also acts as a storage of knowledge, something the more egghead alchemists would certainly appreciate.

I only pick what the mysterious girl picked, and return to the classroom together with her. The very moment we return, the class’s atmosphere becomes tense when every students use their own cauldron to complete the task bestowed upon them. I guess the only exception is our table, with me and that strange girl included, since we haven’t start our job yet.

“Now that I think about it, I have yet to hear your name.”

Since I “introduced” myself earlier, I guess it would be unnecessary to do it again. Before the girl even gives me her name, she just bows before doing her introduction, like a true proper lady, unlike that rebellious teenager Deborah.

“My name is Kardia Asphodel. It is a pleasure to be acquainted with you, Sir Akuma.”

“It’s okay. Akuma is fine. You don’t have to be so fancy with words.”

I’m not the fan of honorifics to start with.

“But that is against my teachings.”

Says the girl.

“But you’ll make me feel uncomfortable. I would prefer if you be more casual around me.”

“…”

The girl just silently nods.

“Very well, I will just call you Akuma from now. Please forgive me for my rudeness.”

“Alright alright, Kardia. You didn’t do anything wrong to apologize.”

Damn, this girl is so polite it’s actually hurt. Though, let’s get to business, we don’t have much time left, shouldn’t waste what little we have.

“Since I’m new here, would you care to elaborate on how should we do this stuff?”

“You mean the synthesization? You have no knowledge on how to perform one?”

Technically, I know some, though it’s just a basic knowledge of alchemy back in my world, like “turning lead into gold” or stuff like that. Since I have no idea on how this things work, it’s best to venture through this with a beginner’s mindset and rely on my beginner’s luck.

“Nope, not a clue.”

“I see. Then please allow me to give you a basic explanation on synthesization.”

On the desk right now is several materials to make a knife which we just acquired earlier. And about a gallon of water, taken straight from the storage room. Though my guts tell me this is no ordinary water, for some reason.

“First, we need a medium for synthesization, that is soul energy-infused water.”

The girl picks up the gallon of water and pours some of them to the small cauldron.

“It will become the catalyst to help mold materials into our ideal final product.”

The materials that we acquired are ingot-shaped, with variable sizes to serve different purposes of the Alchemist. Kardia takes several iron and steel ingots and drops them into the cauldron full with water.

“After that, we need to prepare a place for our product to appear, an output. This is only possible using Image Magic.”

Using her finger, Kardia focuses a small chunk of soul energy on her finger and begins drawing, she puts one magic circle on the cauldron itself, and one on the wooden desk. After she’s done, her drawings begins to take shape and becomes visible for human’s eyes. They are pretty simple, she drew two small circles opposite of each other within one big circle. One circle has a small tree representing the Wood, the other with a fire symbol representing Fire. Between each of them, there are two directional arrows, as to symbolize the combination of the two of them. It may be just a speculation, but my interpretation is that the bigger circle is the universe, with the Wood circle is Jupiter, and the Fire circle is Mars, the arrows representing the link between the two planet.

This is only getting harder, though that doesn’t make it any less interesting.

“Here come the hard parts. We need to break down the materials to the molecular level by manipulating the soul energy in water with our own soul energy.”

Kardia puts her hand on the cauldron.

“This process needs a lot of focus and concentration. You need to mentally structurize your desired product. Mapping every inch of the thing you want to make, its shape, its hardness, its properties. Then, you combine all of them into one being, mold them into the shape you have in your head. It’s a tiring process that takes time to train. But maybe one day, you can do it without any trouble.”

As she talks, the water inside the cauldron starts to boil, with steam and smoke keep spewing out like an ancient steam locomotive. After a few seconds, the magic circle on the desk lightens, and before my very eyes, the knife we were tasked to make begins to appear, slowly, with every part of it down to the tiny dusks of metal taking shape from start to finish. And finally, the knife is done.

“Can I?”

The girl just nods when I ask that question.

I pick up the knife. It’s light, yet still have the weight of a weapon. I slowly swing the knife to test it out, it doesn’t feel any less natural than a normal-made knife you can find anywhere. This knife is perfectly crafted, or should I say, synthesized.

“That concluded my explaination on synthesization.”

I’m amazed, really, not just because of the knife, but the fact that Kardia made one in a flash while giving me a simple lecture on the whole process, with her concentration never waver even just a bit during the making of this knife.

“It’s a pretty simple lecture. Thank you.”

“You asked me for help. It’s only my duty to comply, please don’t think too much of it.”

For some reason, I feel a faint smile beneath the veil that covers her face.

So, the whole synthesization business is: Take materials, mold them using soul energy manipulation and concentrate, make them appear on a magic circle and profit. Sounds easy…on paper, but my experience with practical magic begs to differ.

The other students are already done with their own knives, though it seems like each student need to make one for themselves to qualify for this little test. While I’m just an observer for today, as I received Kardia’s lecture, I feel inclined to make one myself.

“Feel free to give it a try, Akuma.”

Like she was reading my thought, Kardia lets out a voice. All the materials are here, I think I can resuse Kardia’s magic circle. The groundworks have already been laid out. Yep, this should be easy.

“Okay. I’ll try.”

First, I need to take the materials. She didn’t mention, but I think the materials need to be in the right amount, not too many, nor not to few. After I gauge the number of required materials, I drop several to the cauldron and begin to imitate what Kardia did earlier.

Break down the materials => Structurize the shape => Mold the materials to the desired shape.

My soul energy manipulation is bad, due to not being proficient in using magic, but I think I am capable of accomplishing this job, though it would take longer than normal. The last part has become true, as it takes me about five minutes before the knife starts to take shape and appears in the output magic circle.

It’s a good timing, since the very moment I’m done, the teacher of this class, with the name that is whispered into my ear by Kardia - Miriam Prophetissima – is already standing by our desk after she’s done inspecting products of others.

“As good as always, Miss Asphodel. You’ll be a fine Alchemist in the future.”

The teacher comments as she examine the knife Kardia made. The girl just replies “Thank you” in return. Then, the next one is my knife. The shape is a little different from the sample knife, a tad uglier and by no means fancy, but I think I did my best. At least it did come out on my first try. Beginner’s luck, please do you work.

“Acceptable, Mr.Akuma.”

I let out a small sigh of relief and drop down my guard as I hear those words from the teacher’s mouth. But that was my mistake.

CLANG!

The old lady swings the knife down to the desk, a light swing, hardly poses a danger to anyone. But the very moment the knife’s blade touches the desk’s surface, it breaks down to numerous pieces, small as specks of dust. I find myself awing in shock, since seeing my first alchemy work destroyed before my very eyes isn’t exactly a pleasant scenery to witness.

But, I need to stomach what just happened with an objective view. Miriam is an old lady, a real old lady, with the arm strength of an elder standing near Death’s door. If an old lady can break my knife without putting any effort, then it really has issues. Also, instead of pieces, it broke down into specks of metal dust. That’s not a good sign of a well-made craft.

I guess my work wasn’t as good as I thought. Though I don’t understand why the old woman said “Acceptable” before destroying my knife. That really bugs me.

“The word acceptable is the lowest critique an Alchemist wants to hear.”

After the teacher leaves our desk, Kardia begins to explain the old teacher’s action.

“We craft items not for our own use, but for others. A bad or failed item won’t be used by anyone, but an acceptable item may. We need our items to be at the finest quality, to ensure they can work the way they were created to work, for as far as we know, even simple items can be the key standing between the gate of life and death. This is how those who don’t wish to fight like us can contribute to the war happening on our soil.”

Says Kardia. I can sympathize with this kind of view, somewhat. As I was the heir to a Pharmacy Group, I understand how important it is about the consistency of the quality in the drugs we made.

“Please forgive teacher for what she just did. It’s...her own way of teaching.”

Before I can answer, I suddenly hear a subtle laugh coming from behind Kardia’s dark veil.

“I myself got into the same situation like you the first time I tried to perform alchemy as well.”

“Really?”

With how perfect her knife is, I can’t imagine this girl as someone who failed her first assignment.

“It takes time, but one day, you too can get better at using Alchemy. Only if you join this class, that is.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

As much as I hate to admit it, but I’m pretty thrilled when the teacher did her stuff earlier. It’s a kind of tough love in my eyes, though not to the extent of Mr.Bjarni’s MANLY COMMUNICATION. It’s a thing I really need right now to mold myself to my ideal self.

Right, I have already made up my mind.

“I’ll join this class.”

“Are you sure? Akuma. We are hardly the most relevant Department in the big picture. Yet, you still want to join?”

“I’m not a scaredy cat. People’s words ain’t stopping me from doing what I want.”

Beside, it’s not like I can meet the necessary requirements to join the other Departments anyway.

“I see. Then, allow me to make the arrangements. As the student council president, this is the least I can do as a member of this class.”

Wait, what? This girl is the academy’s student council president?

I think I heard something like that during the beginning of this class. But to think I forgot such important detail…

After the class ends, most of the students rapidly leave the class. Only I, Kardia and the old teacher remain. When we are done with all the paperwork stuff, as per request of the teacher, Kardia gives me an armband, with the symbol of a red snake biting it’s tail inside a circle.

“From now on, please embark the symbol of 「Crimson Serpent Ouroboros」 – the forefather of Alchemy – on your arm. We welcome you to our Department as a fellow Alchemist. It is nice to meet you, Akuma.”

Says Kardia as she bestows my armband to my hand. I take the armband and wear it on my right arm, finally sealing the deal.

From this day onward, I am an Alchemist!