It had been five days since the masked man's attack.

　Wraith had been busy during the five days, performing experiments on Light and Silver and offering an audience.

　And now.

　In the Audience Room, a room in the royal castle towering over the royal capital, Wraith was having his second audience.

'Raise your face.'

　Feeling a solemn atmosphere that feels like it's been a long time since he's seen a knight standing by his side, Wraith raises his face as he was told. As usual, the Rulimes next to him has a sleepy expression on his face, and I can't feel a shred of nervousness.

　If I were to point out a difference from the last time, it would be that Wraith and Lurimes are the only two people who have an audience with the king on this occasion. Aside from Orda, Seth is not here either.

　Originally, there was also a promise that Wraith would be the one to accomplish the request, but again, Seth is busy right now with another matter.

　The king turns his gaze expectantly to Wraith and Rulimes.

''Is it safe to assume that we have a way to save the crystal dragon?
Yes, sir.

　The Wraiths try to say it out in response to the question. Of course, it's because he's confident, that's why he's here. I look at the crystal dragon on the pedestal in front of me and regain my spirits.

''Then I asked.

　Wraith stood up and went to the crystal dragon. Shouryuu, who seemed even more debilitated than before, looked at Wraith and cleared his throat in a small way.

　It's not a hostile one, but a calm voice.

''Leave it to me.''

　Wraith also said this as if to remind him, and took out a mineral from his bag. It is a pure white mineral that is large enough to fit in your hand.

　Its true identity was a type of magic tool created by Wraith and Lurimes.

　The sword made by Lurimes hand made by Ruffy when the Wraith was attacked by skeletons before. The principle is the same as that of the thing, the bag of magic tools held by the Wraith and Nicola, and it is a substitute that contains magic against matter.

　The content of the magic is freezing magic which is an application of water magic. The power is adjusted so that it can be made to the temperature at which light silver turns into a liquid, which has been found through experimentation.

　Wraith holds the mineral in his hand and presents it to the crystal dragon. It is to the Shouryuu, who hasn't had anything to eat for a while now.

　The shining dragon stared at the offered mineral and then slowly took a mouthful of it. The Wraith's cheeks involuntarily broke out, but it was still too early to rejoice.

　The Wraith's work began here.

　In a minute, a certain change begins to occur in the crystal dragon. The black cloudiness that was clearly floating on the crystal on its back became less and less visible.

　This was proof that the solid lighthouse silver within the crystal had turned into a liquid.

　However, this did not solve the crystal dragon's problem. Still, it was the result that Wraith and the others had expected.

''Alright. Now it's my job........''

　Wraith put his hand on the crystal part of the crystal dragon that had become less murky.

''Transformation.''

　Just like before, the alchemy will change the shape of the crystalline part of the crystal. In the past, he tried to remove the solids scattered throughout the crystal by doing so, but this time is different.

　This time, however, it is different. The scope of changing the shape of the crystals is narrowed, and they are "deformed" to form a small circle. By narrowing the scope of the 'transformation', it strengthens the power and even gets over the middle layer that it couldn't break through last time.

　After a while, Wraith felt the response of having reached the 'bottom'.

　Nothing, Wraith was not 'deforming' the dark cloud place into a circle. He was aiming at the tube that would channel the molten metal to the surface of his body - the place that had been blocked by the luminescent silver that was solid until a moment ago.

''Extraction.''

　Confident that he has reached the tube, the Wraith switches alchemy. He got rid of the lighthouse silver that had turned into liquid. If he left the liquid lighthouse silver in place, it would only turn into solid again.

''Master!''
Yeah, I know.

　The luminescent silver, which became a blue-black liquid that came out of a narrow hole in the crystal, was floated in the air by Lurimes' magic. Eventually all of the lamplight was removed and poured into a vial in Lurimes' hand.

''Transformation.''

　Finally, Wraith used alchemy to close the hole in the crystal.

　The black murkiness disappeared from the crystal dragon's back, and it regained the beautiful form it was supposed to have.

''It's done. It should be fine now.''

　As if to prove Wraith's words, a crystal dragon spread its wings and cried out in a crystal-clear voice. Beautiful crystalline fragments hovered in the air, reflecting the light.

　--Crackling, a round of applause.

　As Wraith looked around in bewilderment, he saw the king with a gentle smile on his face.

''You have done well, and as the king of this country, I thank you.''

　Even the king clapped his hands and thanked Wraith and Lurimes. Hurriedly, Wraith dropped to his knees and bowed his head reverently.

''Thank you.''
As for the reward, we'll pay you through the guild in the near future. You've done really well.

　Despite receiving unfamiliar applause, Wraith finished the request successfully.



　*****



So, what's going on?

　After finishing the request, Wraith was alone in the coffee shop, meeting with Seth. 'What happened,' he said, 'is about the attack that happened five days ago.

'Well, the guy seemed to be connected to Alda, of course. It's like he's the one who saw you and Raffi and the others. Orda and her father had been punished rather heavily by him. Besides, I don't think Orda will be able to hold any important positions in the future.
'It still seems too light, but well, that's not my place to talk about it. So does that mean that Seth will take over the house?
I'm sure you will.

　So, this accomplishes the goal of taking over Seth's house.

Congratulations.
'Thank you but I'm not sure I can explain it. Did the Wraiths successfully accomplish their request?
Yeah, it was all right.
'Then that's good. ........Speaking of which, how do I get paid by me to Wraith?

　Originally, Wraith and Seth started working together to achieve the goal of Seth taking over the house. A promise is a promise, even if it's accomplished in a slightly distorted way.

　Seth shows his willingness to pay a fair price.

The thing is, though, the reward doesn't have to be money, does it?
Well, I don't mind, but what do you want?
'Seth's family is famous for their medicine man, right?　Then, of course, you must have a unique route to purchase the ingredients to make the drug, right?

　In order to make medicine, you need ingredients.

　With a family of medicine masters the size of the four great noble families, the connections and logistics for this are at a level that could be called the best.

''Turn some of those materials over to me on a regular basis. Of course, I'll pay you.
I don't mind, but that's a very unusual reward.

　As an alchemist, materials are certainly important, but even so, it's unusual. When Wraith had initially accepted Seth's request, he had also intended to ask for monetary payment.

'There's something I want to do. I thought I needed to do that.
What are you going to do?

　Wraith grins and declares proudly.

'I think I'm going to open a store.'

　Wraith was about to implement an idea that he had been thinking about thinly since he started building the workshop.