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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Chapter 8
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It wasn't without reason that Dein had presented Mabel with the Horned Spirit summoning formula, of all things.
So far, only Sigmund had managed to decipher the Horned Spirit summoning formula to this extent.
In other words, if even a part of this deciphering method became known externally, it would mean it had been leaked from the Grand Ducal family.
What's more, if a child like Mabel was the source of the leak, it would be even easier to pinpoint.
'This is a chance to wipe out the Ashilonia Family.'
Dein swallowed hard, his legs trembling as he approached Mabel.
"Hmph, I've filled in the rest. Oh? You're here early?"
Just then, Mabel wiped the sweat from her forehead after writing all the characters.
Her slender arms ached after writing just a few characters.
"Uh, my work finished earlier than I expected. No, more importantly."
Dein, fumbling for an excuse, quickly snatched the paper from Mabel's hand.
"C-cough...!"
After examining the crookedly written answers for a long time, Dein suddenly gasped.
He took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes, patted his head, rubbed his eyes vigorously again, even tried wearing his glasses upside down, but the content remained unchanged.
It was then that Mabel looked at Dein as if he were slightly deranged.
*Swoosh, thud.*
Dein slumped to the side like a tragic heroine, looking up at Mabel with tears streaming down his face.
"Oh, Lord...!"
His face was filled with more devotion than ever before.
***
Mabel's answers, which she filled into the blanks, were perfect.
There were even parts that had been deliberately written incorrectly, just in case of a leak!
She had drawn two lines through those sections and even corrected them in an unexpected way.
For a child who knew nothing of basic concepts, elementary theories, or anything at all, to recognize what it was just by looking at the summoning formula, to fill in the blanks correctly, and even to describe supplementary details!
This was something that even the most exceptional prodigy or genius couldn't do.
"Unless a god possessed her! Oh, my Lord!"
Dein knelt before Mabel, his hands clasped together.
"Oh, God of Alchemy, I believed you were watching over this Esclid Grand Ducal Castle!"
Overwhelmed with emotion, Dein wept and prayed fervently.
Then he earnestly implored her to wait there, saying it would only be a moment, before rushing off somewhere.
That was what had just happened.
"What on earth...?"
It felt as if a storm had just swept through.
Why is he suddenly calling out to the God of Alchemy in front of me?
Mabel realized that when a person is too dumbfounded, their legs give out.
Then, feeling a strange unease, she quickly sat up straight.
It seemed certain that she had passed Dein's test, but she hadn't expected such a reaction.
'Something's wrong.'
Sweat trickled down her spine.
Should I erase what I wrote now? Yes, that would be good.
"What are you erasing?"
"Eek!"
A voice suddenly popped up from behind Mabel, who was hastily trying to black out the words.
Startled, Mabel jumped and spun around to see Sigmund standing there, his hair disheveled.
Oh, you startled me.
When did he even get here?
As she clutched her wildly thumping heart, Dein shouted from far above.
"Your Highness! No matter how urgent, to jump from the fourth floor!"
What? The fourth floor?!
She looked up to see Dein leaning out of a window, waving his hand.
It really was the fourth floor.
"Y-you jumped from there?"
"Ah, yes. Don't worry about it. So, Mabel, you deciphered the Horned Spirit summoning formula?"
No, how can I not worry about it?
A normal person jumping from the fourth floor would break something... Oh, right, he's not a normal person.
Despite titles like "unparalleled genius" and "foremost authority in Alchemy," suggesting he only sat at a desk, Sigmund was actually proficient in swordsmanship.
He became the youngest Grand Master at the age of 13, wielding aura.
Nevertheless, Mabel's heart wouldn't calm down, so she clutched her chest and hesitated.
"Th-that, uh, Horned Spirit? Summoning formula? I don't really know about that, I just... this here..."
As Mabel held out the paper she was holding, Sigmund quickly took it and examined it.
"Gasp, gasp. Look, somehow, gasp, she's impossibly cute, gasp, and her palms are soft and warm, gasp, I knew it from then, gasp."
Dein, who had somehow run up, was panting heavily behind Sigmund.
It would be good if he caught his breath before speaking, but Dein didn't seem to have any intention of doing so.
"The God of Alchemy, gasp, sent the Saintess, gasp!"
Despite Dein's fussing beside him, Sigmund only looked at the paper with intense concentration.
Soon, he fixed his gaze sharply on Mabel.
His red eyes gleamed, like a beast facing its prey.
"H-hik..."
So fierce was his gaze that Mabel unconsciously swallowed a mouthful of air.
"Did you truly decipher it, Mabel?"
"Y-yes... Th-that's right."
"Is that so...?"
Had she really done something she shouldn't have?
Mabel's heart shriveled up and pounded rapidly.
"Mabel, you were going to the Orphanage because you shouldn't be in that house, right?"
After staring at the paper for a long time, Sigmund asked, his gaze even colder.
Hearing Sigmund's subdued tone for the first time, Mabel could only stiffly nod her head, unable to utter a sound.
"Then, if there's a place that needs you, you wouldn't have to go to the Orphanage, would you?"
Sigmund said in a slightly softer tone to Mabel, who was frantically racking her brain.
"I think I could introduce you to a place better than the Orphanage."
"Really?! There's a place like that?! Good!"
At the welcome news, Mabel's eyes widened.
"Is that so?"
For a moment, it looked like Sigmund swallowed, but she must have seen wrong, right?
Sigmund pressed his foot firmly onto the courtyard ground and said,
"It's here."
"...Huh?"
"A place better than the Orphanage and where you're needed, right here. The Esclid Grand Ducal Castle."
His face was somehow a little flushed.
And Mabel knew that expression.
"Let's research together."
It was the look of a professor offering red bean tea.
"Please."
The gleam in Sigmund's eyes wasn't that of a beast.
It was the mad glint in a professor's eyes upon discovering a potential graduate student!
"Research... me?"
Mabel asked back, her eyes trembling.
She seemed to be barely holding back from saying, 'But I'm an 8-year-old child.'
But Sigmund was too excited to notice.
He probably would have dismissed it even if he had.
"Yes, until you die!"
Until she dies? That far?
"You have talent. If we combine our efforts, we can surely make even greater discoveries!"
Sigmund was so excited that he couldn't see anything else.
He even clenched his fists, looking as if he was about to shout "Eureka!" any moment.
And Dein was shedding tears of emotion beside Sigmund.
"Since the God of Alchemy has sent us the Saintess, creating the Philosopher's Stone might no longer be just a dream!"
"We'll have to verify it, but if you truly succeeded in deciphering the Horned Spirit summoning formula, we'll be able to mass-produce Horned Spirits from now on."
"Then we can supply even more fertilizer, and crop yields will also increase dramatically!"
Dein blew his nose loudly into a handkerchief as he chimed in.
Oh, no.
At this rate, she'd surely become a slave—no, a graduate student.
What on earth is a Horned Spirit that it's causing such a commotion?!
'What I deciphered was for making ammonia... Ammonia? Wait a minute, this is *that*!'
The thing Sophia got rich from!
It happened when the novel was nearing its end.
Sophia accidentally discovered a method to obtain ammonia using iron as a catalyst.
And she announced this fact to the academic world, making a fortune.
'It was a scene meant to show the female lead's abilities...'
The problem was that she stole Sigmund's research.
Sigmund revealed this fact, but Sophia was the female lead of this world.
Instead, the fact that Sigmund and Sophia often stayed up all night for research was revealed, and he was falsely accused of all his achievements actually belonging to Sophia.
Because of this, Caesar believed Sophia, thinking 'Mabel really was my biological daughter!', and Sigmund lost his title as the foremost authority in Alchemy and his credibility as Head of Household.
This was, in essence, the Sub Male Lead's lonely exit.
Next, unfamiliar information popped into Mabel's head.
Namely, that Alchemy was the foundation of chemistry, and 'Horned Spirit' was the alchemical name for ammonia.
"Amazing, Mabel. You've just saved countless farmers."
"Truly befitting the Saintess sent by the God of Alchemy!"
Mabel squeezed her eyes shut at the excited voices of the adults, who sounded like five-year-olds.
'I'm screwed.'
She was truly about to be kidnapped and confined by the Sub Male Lead!
