*****

Busy days blurred together as we rushed to complete the King’s request for purification potions.

I worked alongside Leon to produce the Holy Water while Master Clein compounded the final purification potions. We repeated this process endlessly, but gradually, the gears began to slip, and chaos took hold of the workshop.

Preparations for the compounding were delayed, Holy Water that had absorbed too much sunlight began to denature, and we even mixed up the field deployments for Enchantment and Compounding.

Since we were crafting a potion we didn't usually make, unexpected problems cropped up one after another, leaving us in a state of constant, frantic motion.

Nevertheless, by pooling our strength, we somehow managed to finish. Rows upon rows of purification potions now lined the workshop.

There was still the matter of loading them up for transport to the site, but for now—

「Whew... Finally, it's over...」

「Haaa... Finally finished...」

For the moment, we allowed ourselves to rejoice in the successful completion of the potions. At the very least, Leon and I had reached the limit of our physical stamina; we were practically collapsed on the floor.

Master Clein, on the other hand, showed no signs of fatigue. Looking as if he still had plenty of energy to spare, he picked up a purification potion to inspect it.

「Good work, you two. I’ll handle the final check and finish the preparations for departure. Take the rest of the day to get some proper rest.」

「Okay...」

「Understood...」

Normally, I would have insisted on doing that myself, as it’s an assistant’s duty, but this time I decided to take Master Clein up on his offer. If I tried to work in this state, I’d likely just chain together one mistake after another.

(A Court Alchemist really is on another level...) I thought, though at the same time, I couldn't help but wonder if he had always been doing this kind of thing all by himself.

These are more labor-intensive than healing potions; if you have to handle everything from the initial prep to the final loading, the exhaustion must be immense. To then head out on an investigation request in that state—it’s nothing short of overwork. Even as much as I love alchemy, I found myself thinking I’d never want to do it like that.

Master Clein, however, was the opposite. If anything, he seemed revitalized, performing the final checks on the potions in high spirits.

Having tackled difficult requests solo for so long, perhaps he felt a deep sense of fulfillment in accomplishing this with the full power of the workshop. He was likely savoring the joy of practicing alchemy with others.

Well, even if I call it the "full power" of the workshop, there are still only three of us.

One of those three—our temporary member, Leon—was so exhausted his mouth was hanging slightly agape.

「Is Master Clein’s workshop always this busy?」

「Usually there's enough leisure time for me to receive lessons in alchemy. I think it was only this busy because the workload for this specific request was so high.」

「I don't think that's the point. This workshop is catastrophically understaffed. The fact that work progressed this smoothly is nothing short of a miracle.」

Since there were only three of us rattling around in this vast workshop, I understood exactly what Leon was trying to say.

「I know, right? Even though I’m just an apprentice, he treats me like a veteran who's ready for immediate deployment. It’s definitely weird.」

The root of this problem lay in Master Clein’s mistaken notion of not treating me like an apprentice. Anyone would understand that that is the part that's off.

Right? Leon-kun!!

「I don't think you realize this, but the weirdest part is that you actually kept up, Mia-san. You were doing about five times as much work as I was.」

An unexpected answer came back, scoring a direct counter-hit on me.

I thought he must be joking... but Leon’s flat, unimpressed gaze told me he was dead serious.

「Wh-what are you talking about? I’m still just an apprentice alchemist...」

「Purification potions are classified as B-rank. A normal apprentice alchemist would never be able to make them.」

Having been hit with this shocking truth, I stole a glance at Master Clein as he performed the final checks—

「You heard him, 'Apprentice Alchemist.'」

—only to be teased like that. This would mean that I was the one who was strange...

Wait. Am I really the weird one?

「By the way, Leon-kun, this isn't some punchline where you were actually just struggling with the compounding, is it?」

「It's been three years since I've done compounding, but it didn't feel particularly off. Even though I was mainly handling my specialty, Enchantment, the fact that you were doing more work than me is clearly bizarre.」

「Oh, stop it. You don't have to tell such tall tales.」

「I pride myself on being an alchemist with a common sense. You are definitely the strange one here, Mia-san.」

Oh, please. He’s making it sound like I’m not a normal alchemist or something.

Well, I suppose that is exactly what he’s saying.

I didn't know how much of it was true, but if I was working five times harder than someone serving as an assistant to a Court Alchemist, I was forced to concede the point.

Come to think of it, I had been so excited about making my first purification potions that I’d lost track of time and worked late. I also remembered being unusually fired up despite all the chaos.

Thus, I came to realize that Leon’s argument wasn't entirely wrong.

「No wonder I felt so tired.」

「Please start questioning things during the work. From my perspective, it felt like there were two Court Alchemists in here.」

「But Master Clein has always been strict about compounding. Even with potion trade deals, it’s always in units of a hundred...」

When I told Leon the details of our usual potion trades that day, he looked at me with even colder eyes.

Realizing that the more I spoke, the more it backfired, I finally accepted that I was working far harder than I had imagined.

*****

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