"What is the Philosopher's Stone?

　He tilts his head and asks, "Angel.

Well, it's hard to explain, but ...... in a nutshell, it's every wizard's dream.
"Are you dreaming?
Yes, you can magically change matter and remake it into something else, and that's when you get the idea to make something of value out of something that has no value.
"Uh, ......

　Angier tilted his head further and looked annoyed, as if he wasn't sure.

That's true. Angel loved sweets.
"Yes.
"Yes, this

　I took a rock and magically turned it into a candy ball.
　It was much easier to turn a pebble into a candy ball than it was to turn it into gold.

Try it.

　kuku kuku.

　Angier's eyes twinkled and he shook his head again and again.
　The daughter of a quasi-baronet, the eldest son of the duke's wife.
　Angel was happy, but she was also subtly well-bred, not speaking with an object in her mouth.

　I continued to explain.

You'll be happy when candy comes out of rocks. A philosopher's stone would make any wizard very happy. But they're so difficult to make that no one seems to have ever succeeded in making them.
"Gokun. You made it, Master Alec!

　Surprised, Angier gulped down his candy balls and asked, "It looks like and it seems to be real.

It looks like ...... and apparently it's the real thing.
"Alec-sama awesome ...... but Alec-sama
"Yes.
"What exactly can ...... the Philosopher's Stone do?
"Yes, ...... for example.

　I asked the Philosopher's Stone.
　No words came back, but I sensed a kind of will.
　I followed that will and used the stone.

　I took a pen and paper from the room and wrote out a figure that came into my mind.
　Like a branch, the diagram is full of people's names.

　Angier, who had been quietly watching what I was doing, was surprised to see his name written at the end.

"Master Alec, what is this?
"It's a family tree of Angers.
"A family tree?　Oh, your mother and father's names above me.
Yeah. You've gone back five generations.
"Could those above your father's name be your grandfather and grandmother's names?　But your father was born an orphan and didn't know his parents, which is now an eternal mystery: ......
Yes, he's an amazing person who used being an orphan as a springboard to become a baronet in one generation. This is the power of the Philosopher's Stone. This is the power of the Philosopher's Stone.
"Su, wow!　That's a great thing!
Yeah, it's great. But it's hard.
"Is it difficult?

　I nodded.
　While I was explaining to Angel, I kept asking the Philosopher's Stone in my mind - I tried to use it, but it turned out to be a bit of a lazy horse.

It seems that the Philosopher's Stone has all kinds of knowledge, but I have to find it by myself. Do you know about the Royal Library, Angers?
"Yes!　It's a library with all the books in the world that was built by His Majesty the Emperor,
Yes. Whenever I make a 'book' in the Empire, I have to deliver one to the Royal Library.

　I suddenly remembered the time of my rebirth six years ago.
　The moment the previous emperor, who was judged by an angel to have gone to the extreme, was to be reincarnated as a D-ranked pauper.

　The emperor was a common type of tyrant, one whose life could be explained by "treason" for 90% of his actions.
　The emperor alone is credited with founding the Royal Library.
　His work in preserving the world's knowledge made him a commoner with a D grade.

　Without it, he might have been reborn as a daphne or something.
　Be that as it may, I'll explain further to Angel.

"It's like trying to find a book in the Royal Library, drawing knowledge from the Philosopher's Stone.
"It's hard!　Even the mansion's library is difficult.

　Angel is a serious person and quite studious.
　He frequents the mansion's library, so he understood my metaphor right away.

　Yes, it's that hard. Using the Philosopher's Stone.
　But.

　I took another piece of paper.
　I took another piece of paper and wrote down on it more information I could pull from the Philosopher's Stone.

"What is this, Master Alec?
All the names of healing magic that have existed throughout history and their effects.
"Healing magic!

　Angier's eyes sparkled.


　She became interested in it after she found out that I was good at healing magic.
　She stared at the paper I gave her as if it was her first picture book.

"...... Dear Alec.
"What is it?
"Isn't there a magic to bring people back to life?　There's a lot of magic, and some of it is written that no one can use it anymore, but there was no magic to bring people back to life.
That means there was no resurrection magic.
I see.

　Convinced, Angier again stares at the note I gave him.

　Here's another sneak test of the Philosopher's Stone.
　Resurrection magic is as much a wizard's--no, a human's dream as the Philosopher's Stone.
　It's as much a dream of man as it is of immortality.

　Information on that resurrection magic, enumerating the existence of "every healing spell that ever existed in history," turned out to be non-existent.

　Philosopher's Stone, I'm beginning to understand what it can do and how to use it.
　If you ask the right questions and use the right keywords, you can draw all the information about the world anytime, anywhere.
　That seems to be the case.

　　　　　Stars

　The next day, I went into town with Angier.
　As usual, I went around town and bought some clothes for Angel, handing him a signed testimonial on a piece of parchment.

Are you all right, Angier? Would you like me to carry it for you if it's too heavy?
"It's okay!　Not too heavy!　A gift from Alec, I want to have it myself!
I see.

　We could have had it delivered to the mansion, of course, but after trying it on in the store, Angier happily held it in his arms and wouldn't let it go, so we had to take it home ourselves.

　So, where to next...

　Don!

　I bumped into someone on the side and stumbled a bit.

"Oops, sorry about that,

　It was a boy of about fifteen or six who bumped into me.
　He apologized to me and then walked away.

"Are you all right, Mr. Alec?
It's okay, Angel. . ......
What's going on?　Did you hit something after all?
"No, not like that, but ......

　I looked for the boy as he walked away.
　I caught sight of him just as he disappeared around the corner.

Here I come, Angel.
"Huh?　Oh yes!

　I followed the boy, taking a puzzled Angier with me, wondering what was going on.
　Around some corner, in an alleyway that was a little dim even in the daytime, there was a boy.

If only this could be ......
I can't use it on you.
"Nah!

　The boy was startled and turned to us.

Oh, that's Alec's testimony.

　Angier surprised.
　Yes, the boy has a piece of parchment that I give to the witness as a testimony when I shop.
　When I bumped into him, he took it with him, so he's a pickpocket.

"Hey, I don't know what you're talking about!
You may have seen me shopping with it, but it's a free piece of paper unless I give it to you and I sign it.
The "become--

　The boy was fuming.

"I don't want to hear it!

　I didn't tell you.

So give it back.
"Humph!　I don't need this garbage!

　The boy slammed the parchment on the ground.

"The little bastard who doesn't even know what he's doing.

　You spit those words out, return the kibisu and walk away.

Wait, you don't belong in this town, do you?
"Do you understand, Mr. Alec!
Yes, you have a southern accent. You're a southerner.

　This is something I brought with me from a previous life.
　If you live long enough, you will see that even though we speak the same language, each region has its own accent.

　That's a given.

Dear Alec, that's great: ......

　Angier was impressed by that.

"I don't know!
You're a floater from the other side of the war. It's fine, but you shouldn't be picking pockets. Bad deeds will come back to you. If you do that, you will have a hard life in the next life.
"--Ha!　Like a kid knows what to do!

　The boy snapped up and came at me with his fists clenched.



"Bind

　Used magic to restrain the boy's movements.
　I used it often in my previous life. But it was much more effective.
　Each of the boy's hands and feet was wired with a halo of light, locking him in place.

What the hell are you doing?
"If you hit me, it's a sin.
"I know!　When you do it to a rich person like you, the crime is even heavier than usual, right?

　It doesn't matter, as the son of the duke and himself a baron, I can only forgive one thing: no assault.
　But that's just the laws of the human world.

　The laws of the human world. If you do anything wrong, the judgment of the afterlife will be tougher when you die.

　It's out of our hands.

"What's that look of pity in your eyes?　You don't know what we've been through, you dimwits!　In the land where we came from, we can't do anything because we can't do anything, so we have to work!
"Can't do anything, huh?

　I thought about it for a bit and made some sort of plan.

Let's go, Angier.
"Yes, Master Alec--she's with him. Are you okay?
"Don't even think about following me!　You're taking me where you want me to go!

　Bind, controlling the circle of binding magic.
　I moved the boy's limbs over here and forced him to follow me.

　We walked down the main street and entered a nearby store that I've been to a few times.

Welcome--Oh, this is Master Alec and Master Anger.
Is there a seat?
"Of course!　Would you like to see the view?
I'll be fine, just sit in the back.
"Okay. Let me show you around.

　Follow the guide of the clerk who knows my face.
　This is a coffee shop, a place where you can brew right in front of you with proper tea leaves.

　I follow the clerk into a private room in the back.

　Angel and the boy follow me into the room.
　Me and Angel sit down in the chairs and the boy lets them stand up.

"Do you want to order something?
One set of tea and a proper tea set. More hot water.
"I'll get right to it.

　The waiter bowed and left the room.
　A few moments later, tea leaves, a set of tea utensils, and a kettle of boiling water were brought in one after another.

Some of the tools are new to me.
"What are you going to do, Mr. Alec?
"Yes.

　I nodded and questioned the Philosopher's Stone, which I had made sure to keep close to my person, and drew the knowledge from it.
　I simulated it all in my head and then turned to the boy.

"Make me a cup of tea.
"Huh?　You don't have to do anything - you don't have to move people's bodies!

　The boy rants, but ignores and manipulates his body.

"First fill the pot with hot water to warm it up, discard the water once, and then put in the tea leaves.

　I brewed a cup of tea by manipulating his body while explaining to the boy the information I'd pulled out of the Philosopher's Stone.

"You think you can humiliate me like this?

　The boy ranted, but ignored it too.
　I'll go through the steps and then.

Remember?
What?
That's the manner in which only those who serve the upper classes know how to do it.
"Well, how?
If you can do this right, you can get a job in a rich man's house somewhere.
"......

　Stunned boy.

'Couldn't remember it all?　Then I'll go again.
Wait, wait. What the hell kind of thing are you doing?
The guideline in this case is the degree of steam in the pot, but that's not a rule of thumb, and it's a taste preference of the drinker, so you can learn as you work.

　Ignore him and show him how to make more tea.
　The bewildered boy becomes calmer and concentrates on learning how to make the tea properly.

　Finally, I unbind him and let him make the tea himself.
　He seemed to be a good learner, and he did just as I taught him.

　If he really couldn't remember, I could hire him at the house, but I didn't think it would do him much good to set him up that far.
　So I was a little relieved to see how well the boy remembered.

Oh, thank you. ......

　The initial pushy attitude became subdued, and when the boy understood my intentions, he was blunt and thanked me, even though he looked away a bit.
　I hope this will help him get his life back on track.