'Leigh, you're a girl who isn't Raffy and the rest of the girls... you flirt!　I don't remember raising Ray-kun like that!
''Shut up Master. I don't remember being raised by my master. My parents raised me properly. And me and Raffy and Sylvia didn't date.

　As far as Raffy is concerned, you could say she's a lover (tentatively). However, Wraith has the certainty that teaching Rulimes won't turn out to be a rogue, so I'll keep quiet.

''Gusagussa, ten damage to the master's heart. ........I'll cry if you say that!

　As soon as you return to the shop and walk in, you are given a generous welcome by Lurimes. Whether the person being welcomed wants it or not is another story.

　By the way his cheeks are faintly red, he must have been drinking during the day. The fact that he's strangely high-strung is a good sign. Wraith, who saw through Lurimes' state in an instant, sighs lightly.

　Rotia, who was standing next to Wraith, tilted her head at Coten and looked at Lurimes curiously.

''It's bothersome........''
'Did you just say it's a pain in the ass?　Don't look so lazy from the bottom of your heart!　More attention to me!
'I don't know what you're talking about, old man...'

　His drunkenness has made him 50 percent more troublesome than usual. The sight of him raising his hands and shouting shamelessly is not something he could show to someone he has never met before, though it's not very nice.

　Well, neither Rotia nor Mimi seem to be bothered by it.

''I'm sad that my lovely apprentice is so cold...''
'Yes, yes, yes...'
Crap!　You're a pain in the ass, Mr. Ray!　Be a little nicer to me!
Hey you're really drunk.

　Wraith forcibly pulls off the sticky, tugging Rulimes away and takes Rotia and takes refuge upstairs. From downstairs, "Wow, Ray-kun's thin-skinned! The words "I'm not sure I'm going to be able to do this," echoed, but I went through it brilliantly. I pretend I didn't hear it.

'It's finally quiet ... haha, I'm tired.

　Even though it was only mid-afternoon, Wraith's strength was already nearing the bottom. I put down the bag on my shoulder and sat down on a chair appropriately and took a breath.

''Who was that...?''
'My mentor. I live here for a while but, well, don't worry about it. It's just a pain in the ass to get involved.
So....

　It was an unexpected introduction, but Rotia easily accepted it.

　Rotia looks around the room with a scurrying glance and then sits down on the bed without hesitation.

''Are you sure you want to use this place...?　You won't take money later...?

　Originally, the second floor was supposed to be the living space, so all the necessary furniture for life is already in place. It would be a far more comfortable space to live in than those cheap lodgings out there.

　Perhaps that's why I'm worried, Rotia asks with a slight hint of anxiety on her face.

'Don't worry, I won't scam you like that. Use it as you please until you can afford to live on your own.

　It's no big deal to rent out a room that you're not even using as a lace. Besides, Rotia will be working as an employee of the store. I'm planning to pay her the exact amount of compensation.

　It would be nice if the shop could prosper a little.

　Wraith thinks about that absentmindedly while trying to recover his strength.

　Honestly speaking, despite her expressionlessness, Rotia is the kind of race that can be called a beautiful girl enough, so she couldn't be more of a signature girl. And since Mimi will be added to that, it should be promising.

　As I look at Rotia, I notice that she's glancing at her bag. As Wraith held the bag on the floor in her hand, Rotia's gaze shifted as well, as if she was being sucked in.

　That was interesting, and she repeated the process several times.

　Eventually, Wraith held out the bag towards Rotia.

''........Inside, do you want to see?''
Are you sure...?
There's nothing interesting in there, but if you care that much.

　When Rotia received the bag from Wraith, she looked inside as if she were opening a treasure chest. Then, a gaping black space was spread out. You can't see the bottom of it, just a black space.

It's also a type of magic tool. It's an application of spatial magic, and it can hold more things than it looks. Well, it's difficult to mass produce,

　Rotia fearfully reaches into her bag. Not being able to see her own hands is a little scary from a picture perspective, but it doesn't feel any different. She grabs the one that touches her fingertips and pulls it out.

　It pops up without resistance and is a blue potion in a bottle.

'An elixir, I suppose.'
'Oh....'

　Rotia looks at the elixir with a twinkle in her eye. It's not the first time she's seen it, but it's still valuable.

''Rumor, it was true...''
"Rumor?
Elixir, you can make...
Yes, I can make it.

　Rotia puts the elixir back inside and takes out other potions and magical tools. There are some suspicious black rings, beautiful red potions, and many other things.

　Rotia, who looks at them with a sense of curiosity, doesn't seem to get bored. Eventually, he was satisfied and closed his bag.

　And then, she stares at Wraith with emotionless dark blue eyes.

''........er, what?''
I want to see you use it...
Alchemy?

　Rotia nodded coyly in affirmation. Since Wraith came all the way to the royal capital for the purpose, it's natural to be curious about it.

　And since the Wraith is also teaching alchemy, I'm curious to see how good Rotia's abilities are.

''I'm sleeping, so if you need anything, wake me up.

　As soon as she said that, Mimi jumped off Rotia's head onto the bed and curled up to sleep.

'Then let's do it, shall we?'

　Lace and Rotia got up and walked out of the room. When they returned to the first floor, where the workshop is located, they found Lurimes sleeping disheveled in a hammock. He must be having a good dream because he is smiling happily.

　However, the bottle of alcohol in his arms was ruining everything. Nevertheless, it's good for now, since it's not good if he gets tangled up in a weird tension like he did earlier again.

　Wraith, who no longer has the urge to introduce Lurimes properly, breezed by as if she wasn't there. He aligns his tools, takes out his materials, and suddenly stops his hand.

''Wait, come to think of it...''
?
Just give me a minute.

　Saying that to Rotia, who tilted her head, Wraith went to the shelf where he kept his tools again. He remembered that just recently, among the things he bought while he went to look at the dragon wheel, there was something interesting.

''Um, I believe it was... here...''

　The thing that Wraith held in his hand was a pitch black crystal. It's an object that doesn't even allow light to pass through and even gives a sense of evil. However, it's not particularly harmful just because of its appearance, it's a magic tool that serves as a little measuring device.

　I'm not going to be able to get it to work.

''This, the black and white crystal........''
Do you know?
''Yeah, my country's magic tool......... If you use alchemy on the crystal in the manner of 'sublimation', you can find out the degree of alchemy skill....

　Rotia stands in front of the crystal and holds up a hand that is hidden in a stubby sleeve. She closes her eyes as if to concentrate and activates 'Sublimation'. Then the pitch black crystal gradually becomes transparent.

　It's as if you're watching a magic trick.

　When the crystal became transparent to a certain extent, the change stopped abruptly, leaving behind a slight black cloudiness.

Oh, it stopped.
''Like this, I'm going to become invisible........ With a skilled alchemist, it's roughly 70%...

　The crystal that Rotia had activated the alchemy on had become 90% transparent. The expressionless face crumbled, making Rotia look a bit smug.

　However, in fact, this result of Rotia would be a pretty good classification. In terms of talent, he has a perfect one.

''Well then, shall I try next time?

　The Wraiths hold out their hands to the crystal that has returned to pitch black in the same way. And then he activates "Sublimation" and--

...What?

　The crystal that I thought was pitch black instantly became transparent, and on the contrary, light leaked out of the crystal. When I thought it had reached such a state in just an instant, a crack ran through the crystal with a disgusting sound of crackling.

　-- instantly, the vision is dyed with light.

　Wraith held his eyes and winced as he felt the memory of a similar experience come back to him.