Everything Takes Legwork

I'd been visiting Ramiza-san's shop a lot lately.

She was an acquaintance and the best alchemist in this city, so I couldn't help but rely on her.

She was also the type to flatly refuse unreasonable requests, which in its own way meant we understood each other.

Finn couldn't afford to show her face, so she disguised herself as a towngirl.

Her manner of speaking changed slightly too, and after getting used to the normal Finn, it felt a bit strange.

"Well? Suits me, doesn't it?"

"Sure. Though for some random towngirl, your face might be a bit too pretty."

If the goal was to not stand out, she could've gone a little more plain.

"Flattery won't get you anything. A disguise just needs to change the impression. People's perception is unreliable enough as it is."

"Fair point."

I wondered if disguise kits might sell well as a product.

Wigs, for instance…

There might be a market among people who were self-conscious about their appearance.

Elza, Finn, and I arrived at Ramiza-san's shop.

Stepping inside, the sharp scent of herbs hit my nose.

"Welcome!"

Ramiza-san was at a large pot set over the fire, boiling down some kind of herbal extract.

No wonder it smelled so strongly of herbs.

"Yohane-kun, close the door quickly. It's cold."

"Got it."

The interior was warm, heated by the hearth as always.

"Another errand? I'm a busy woman, you know. I can't accommodate you every time."

"Don't say that. You're the only one I can turn to for anything involving medicine."

"If that's the case, you'd better make it worth my while."

Ramiza-san pressed the index finger and thumb of her right hand together to form a circle.

She usually prioritized her hobbies or seemed to space out, but running a shop had given her a practical streak where it counted.

"Sorry, but mind if I flip the sign out front?"

"Oh, so it's a real errand. Go ahead. No customers come in winter anyway."

"They never do."

Potions and other compounds from her shop were regularly stocked by mine and plenty of other stores.

That wholesale business accounted for the bulk of her revenue.

I recalled Ramiza-san herself saying this shop was half hobby.

"Oh, shush. So, what is it? We go way back, so if it's something I can help with, I'll hear you out."

I showed Ramiza-san the poppy pod.

The instant she saw it, she fixed me with a withering glare.

"What exactly are you playing at? You know full well what this is."

"Of course. Neither of us could ever forget."

At my words, Ramiza dropped the glare.

But the hard expression remained.

"So there's a story behind this. Fine. Explain. If it's something trivial, get out."

"I'll start from the beginning. And keep this between us."

"That depends on what you tell me."

I explained everything to Ramiza-san from the start.

This was both a show of sincerity and because I was certain she wouldn't cooperate unless she knew the full picture.

When I finished, Ramiza-san let out a long, contemplative hum.

"That's… well. Normally, you'd leave this to the authorities."

"I know. But I've learned enough by now to see it. If I hand this off now, they'll just get away."

"You're probably right. Still, neutralization, huh. Sure, it'd be ideal if we could manage it."

"Think you can pull it off, Ramiza-san?"

"I'd actually considered researching it once, but as you know, this stuff is a controlled substance. I couldn't get my hands on any. And trying too hard to acquire it would've drawn suspicion, given my profession."

"Nobody's going to trace where these came from. None of us will breathe a word."

"Well, I'll take your word for that. Plenty of people must have wanted to refine this into the drug, but I'd wager I'm the first to attempt neutralizing it."

Ramiza-san said this while examining the poppy pod.

A mix of righteous conviction and curiosity practically radiated off her.

Once she got like this, she was all but guaranteed to follow through.

"I'll take the job. No charge this time. But for both our sakes, this goes to the grave. We're walking a tightrope here."

"Of course. On all my money, and on that girl."

"Good. Then let's get started."

She took the pot off the fire and headed to the back.

I followed.

This was the same workspace we'd used before when filling the commission from Duchess Lecreune of the Empire.

It was equipped with every piece of alchemy apparatus you could need.

By rights, someone of Ramiza-san's caliber belonged in the Royal Capital, or even in the employ of the royal family. There was a reason she was here in this city instead.

… She was hopelessly bad at navigating politics.

I'd said earlier that she had a good head for finances, but that was only because my father had taken pity on her and taught her the basics.

She'd poured herself so completely into her craft as an alchemist that she'd neglected to build any political footing, and the Royal Capital squeezed her out.

Right now, though, I was grateful for that.

"Right, then."

She picked up a dried poppy pod, cut it into pieces with a knife, and began grinding it in a mortar.

With the moisture gone, the dried pod gradually turned into a slightly sticky, white, liquid substance inside the mortar.

A sharp smell rose from it.

"At this stage, it's actually almost non-toxic. The smell is a bit harsh, but it's just a plant. It's when you combine it with certain other things that it transforms into a drug that drives people mad. And no, I'm not telling you the recipe."

"I don't need it. I'd never make something like that."

"Good."

Ramiza-san pulled various plants and seeds from her supply shelves.

Among them were even rare World Tree leaves.

"If certain combinations produce the toxicity, then a different combination might neutralize it. That's what we're going to find. Yohane-kun, your job is to keep grinding these down as fine as you can."

"… I can manage that much."

This whole endeavor was, in a sense, my own selfishness.

Normally I'd have delegated grunt work like this to Elza, but this time, I put my own hands to work.

"You two, over here."

Finn and Elza were led off to handle other tasks.

And so began the painstaking experimentation that was alchemy.