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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: The Alchemist's Escape
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Back in reality, Lellia clutched her head. Memories from after her death had surfaced, leaving her mind completely blank.
Although she had realized her past life the day she fell into the water at the temple, her mind was now in a whirl as the detailed memories suddenly flooded in.
‘Should I not have read that novel back then?’
That fateful novel she had been engrossed in before her death was this very world.
“……”
Lellia stared at the screen with a bewildered expression.
Whatever the case… for this game to pop up here!
The game screen she used to see on her phone had appeared right before her eyes. And in a much larger size.
She was so shocked that her body began to tremble.
To calm herself, Lellia hugged her rabbit doll and took a deep breath.
‘First, let’s calm down.’
Holding the rabbit doll, she soon felt a sense of peace.
‘So… did this pocket watch grant the wish I made before I died in my past life?’
The pocket watch resting on her small palm still looked faded and old.
‘A wish left in my subconscious, just like with Yuriana…?’
Lellia blinked, dumbfounded.
‘It didn’t break the golden rule magic, it granted an old wish?’
If so, the golden rule magic was clearly still in effect. She felt a bit cheated, but… for the current Lellia, it wasn't a bad thing either way.
Lellia raised her head again and looked at the screen.
[To reacquire the ‘Legendary Alchemist’ title, you must clear the added recipes! =͟͟͞͞(•̀̀‸•́ ‧̣̥̇)]
The alchemy tool displayed another speech bubble. Then, cute little dragons appeared.
The young dragons gathered together, tumbling around like cotton balls and squealing with delight.
Lellia unconsciously reached out and tapped the screen. When she placed her hand on the alchemy tool, a list of recipes appeared.
‘To think this works… it’s as if the Philosopher’s Stone really granted my wish back then.’
Although she hadn't entered the game world itself, just being able to be with them was more than enough.
She felt a surge of emotion, so happy to see them that she thought she might cry.
Ever since she had remembered her past life, she had been afraid. She was filled with a vague terror of being born into a strange world, and in a role destined to die, no less.
If she hadn't had her friends, she might have truly met the same end as the original Lellia.
‘But to think they came with me!’
Was it because she had clung to this game until the moment she died in her past life? It felt like being reunited with family.
In a way, they were family. After all, she had no one else besides relatives waiting for her life insurance payout.
“……”
Tears welled up in her eyes. More tears streamed down than on that lonely, agonizing night before, soaking her sleeves.
‘I have to stop crying. This is no time to act like a child. Let’s calm down!’
Lellia bravely wiped her tears, took a deep breath, and examined the new recipes that had appeared.
Dozens of new recipes had been added. It was quite a lot. The ingredients were also things she had never seen before.
Originally, in the ‘Alchemy Lottery’ game, the alchemical ingredients were procured by these young dragons.
The dragons would farm in the game’s fields, gather fruit from trees, and mine for ore.
‘Are these ingredients the same?’
When she clicked on a grayed-out, inactive ingredient, a message popped up.
- [!] A new alchemical substance from this world. What could it be? Look around your surroundings to find ingredients!
‘Does it mean I have to find them in reality?’
She pondered for a moment before pressing the back button.
Then she scrolled to the bottom of the recipe list. The final recipe, the Philosopher’s Stone, was inactive.
‘I guess it’s locked again since it’s an item you can only make after getting all the other recipes…’
Lellia closed the recipe list and tapped the inventory icon.
‘Don’t tell me I can use the items too?’
Just in case, she clicked on a health recovery potion she had made in advance.
[Item Count: 9999]
How many would you like to take out?
A message popped up when she pressed the screen in front of her. She entered the number 1 and pressed the confirm button.
“Wow…!”
Instantly, a potion vial appeared in her palm. It was the same design she had seen in the game.
“Oh my god. Oh my god!”
Lellia muttered in a strange voice and drank the recovery potion. It wasn't just her imagination; she really felt her strength returning.
The effect was real. Which meant…
All the other items could be used in reality as well.
A shiver ran down her spine.
Lellia checked her inventory window.
Her inventory contained all the ingredients she had collected, just as she had left them.
9999 9999 9999 9999 9999….
Ingredients were stacked in bundles of 9999, and she had about 20 stacks of each on average.
Seeing the items lined up endlessly with the same number brought her a sense of peace.
Wow, this is why you should always diligently collect items!
‘Yes… diligence saves the world!’
She was so moved that she felt like crying again.
‘But how do I turn this screen on and off?’
Just in case, she touched the jewel on the necklace that had made the sound earlier. The screen vanished at once.
“…Oh!”
When she touched the jewel on the necklace again, the screen reappeared. She didn't know if it was fingerprint recognition or what, but she loved it.
Lellia held the necklace in her hand and smiled, the corners of her lips turning up.
The sadness and despair that had tormented her last night were now a distant memory, replaced by a soaring good mood.
Lellia put the necklace on and looked around the room.
Perhaps this necklace and the pocket watch were gifts left by her mother. The thought made her chest ache.
‘I’ll use this to get out of the imperial palace.’
Lellia touched the blue jewel of the necklace around her neck again.
When the screen appeared, she tapped the bag-shaped inventory icon. A list of items she had created in her past life appeared.
‘I need an item that will help me escape.’
However, most of the items she had made in advance were quest items for selling to villagers.
Things like health recovery potions or antidotes.
Other than that, there were sauces for cooking, glue, spirit water, and medicinal teas… though there were some strange things too.
A cold medicine that tasted like a lizard’s tail, a wound ointment that smelled like garbage, and an eraser shaped like a mushroom—all useless things.
‘Something helpful… this is it!’
Lellia found one. She hadn't made many, but about 20 should be enough.
‘A sleeping potion!’
Since her goal was to escape the palace without anyone knowing, it was the perfect potion for getting past the knights. It was a spray type, so it was convenient to use.
Lellia took out a few health recovery potions and sleeping potions from her inventory and packed them in her bag.
‘It’s better to escape as quickly as possible than to waste time.’
Perhaps Cedric and Damian would tell Emperor Perseus about her during breakfast.
‘Then the emperor will find me extremely bothersome, right? He’ll want to kick me out.’
Moreover, since she had injured Yuriana, she could be charged with a crime.
‘He wouldn’t kill me, would he…?’
Honestly, she couldn't be sure.
The worst-case scenario was death, and the next-worst was that they would try to expel Lellia from the imperial palace as quickly as possible.
And the method for that would be marriage.
Lellia shuddered and left the cabin.
Just in case, she walked toward the tower.
Even though she was hungry, she didn't feel weak or miserable at all. The recovery potion was partly responsible, but with her heart feeling so reassured, the physical hunger seemed trivial. It was all thanks to this necklace she had obtained through the pocket watch.
Arriving near the tower, Lellia stood at a distance and gazed at the place where she had lived as a child.
Of course, she had no memory of being a baby, but she had a few memories from her early childhood.
The nanny who had raised Lellia under Princess Iris’s order was a kind person.
‘Even though she abandoned me and went back to her family.’
It wasn't that she didn't understand. The nanny wasn't in a position to take young Lellia with her.
With her own parents about to die, there was no way Lellia, who wasn't even the real princess's daughter, would have been on her mind.
‘Still, the fact that she came back later to confess the truth… means she must feel some guilt.’
Until the nanny returned, Lellia’s true identity would never have been revealed.
‘It would have been nice if I had at least resembled my mother.’
Elizabeth, like her brothers from the Superion family, was a red-haired beauty.
But Lellia had the silver hair characteristic of the imperial family.
‘And since Princess Iris’s husband had green eyes…’
It was only natural that no one recognized Lellia.
That fact felt newly disappointing and sad.
‘Not just Emperor Perseus, but even the man who is my maternal uncle can’t recognize me… I guess I don’t resemble my mother at all.’
It was a shame. If she had resembled her mother even a little, she would have felt less lonely every time she looked in the mirror.
Perhaps it was because she was too small and plain. She had lost a lot of weight because she hadn't been eating properly since returning from the neutral zone.
‘Whatever, it doesn’t matter anyway.’
Lellia pulled herself out of her deep thoughts before she could get any sadder.
A few soldiers, laborers, and servants were coming and going near the tower.
Just as Cedric and Damian had said, it seemed they were really fixing it up as an observatory to give to Yuriana as a birthday present.
‘…Hmph.’
Lellia bit her lip hard. To Yuriana, they were the most reliable and wonderful older brothers in the world, but to Lellia, they were no different from villains.
‘It’s okay. I have friends who are stronger and cooler than Cedric and Damian.’
Besides, she was the leader of those friends.
‘There’s no need to be intimidated. I have this now, too.’
Lellia fumbled with her necklace. She felt reassured.
But at that moment, an anxious thought crossed her mind.
‘What if this is all a dream and it doesn't appear again?’
Lellia swallowed nervously and touched the blue jewel. Thankfully, the screen appeared just fine.
Just then, the alchemy tool on the screen wiggled and displayed a speech bubble.
[Master! To clear the added recipes, you need to acquire new ingredients! The number of ‘new ingredients’ you currently possess is 0. (•᷄⌓•᷅)…]
“……”
‘New ingredients…’
After a moment of thought, Lellia checked the new recipe list. The ingredients for the newly added recipes were all inactive.
[System: [!] A new alchemical substance from this world. What could it be? Look around your surroundings to find ingredients!]
Come to think of it, those inactive ingredients were extremely bothersome.
She remembered how in her past life, those gray, inactive ingredients had bothered her so much that she had played the game like a madwoman.
‘Does it literally mean to walk around? Like an augmented reality game?’
Lellia started walking in the opposite direction of the tower. The alchemy tool then displayed a speech bubble.
[~~Yaaay~! (ง˙∇˙)ว~(ว˙∇˙)ง Searching for ingredients~~]
‘It’s true!’
But now was not the time to be leisurely searching for new ingredients and unlocking recipes.
‘It’s a shame, but I’m busy trying to escape today.’
Just then, as if it had read her mind, the alchemy tool displayed a new message.
[Would you like to proceed with auto-search? ʕ•̀ o •́ʔ]
‘There’s an auto-search function?’
[I can identify ingredients that exist along your path and auto-search for them! The fee is 1 gold per hour. (๑•̀.•́๑)]
‘It can read my mind and answer…’
Lellia blinked in amazement. The alchemy tool began to spin around excitedly.
‘1 gold per hour…’
Lellia looked at the amount of gold she owned, written at the very bottom of the screen. It was money she couldn't use in reality anyway.
‘What a waste. I have so much money.’
Since she had no other use for it, she thought it was for the best.
‘Then I’ll proceed with the auto-search.’
[An excellent choice, Master! I’ll let you know as soon as I find an ingredient! ∠(･`_´･)]
[System: ‘Auto-search’ is in progress--]
Lellia touched the jewel again to hide the screen and began to walk purposefully.
She was headed for the east gate, which the palace servants used.
Standing by a grove of trees, Lellia watched the numerous people coming and going through the small gate.
‘A lot of merchants are coming and going.’
It was probably because Yuriana’s birthday banquet was approaching.
‘In the original story, they threw her a party so extravagant it was astounding…’
Lellia crouched down to avoid being seen and approached the area where the carriages were entering and exiting.
The palace servants and merchants were all focused on moving their cargo and paid no mind to anything else. Only energetic shouts of “Hurry, hurry!” were exchanged.
Lellia slipped into the third warehouse, which the servants were no longer using, and hid herself.
‘I’ll sneak onto a carriage leaving the palace and get out.’
It was a good idea. The surveillance on the merchants’ carriages entering and leaving the palace was lax, since they were daily visitors.
‘Is leaving like this the right thing to do?’
Perhaps it was the tension, but her heart began to waver strangely. The truth was, she was scared.
The world wasn't safe enough for a ten-year-old girl to wander around freely.
‘Still, as long as I have this necklace…’
At the very least, she wouldn't encounter any danger. And if she was lucky, she might even be able to start a business.
‘Alchemy is illegal, but…’
Still, as long as she wasn't caught by the temple, she could live quite prosperously. High-ranking nobles often purchased alchemical potions in secret.
‘If worse comes to worst, I can make a fire potion and attack.’
Among the recipes and ingredients she already possessed, there were quite a few that could be used for self-defense.
‘Let’s not hesitate.’
Lellia steeled her resolve and spied on the outside through a crack in the door.
A good while later, when it was late afternoon, a few soldiers appeared.
They approached the merchants who were loading their goods and preparing to leave, asking them something.
A merchant with a bushy beard shrugged and shook his head.
The soldiers, looking troubled, then approached the area where the servants were. It was right in front of the warehouse where Lellia was hiding.
Thanks to that, Lellia was able to overhear the conversation between the soldiers and a servant.
As if they were acquainted, a tall soldier casually called out to the servant.
“Hey.”
“Oh, it’s been a while, Sir.”
“Right, greetings later… Have you by any chance seen a girl in a robe with silver hair and green eyes?”
At those words, the male servant, who had been sweating while carrying luggage, tilted his head and replied.
“Haven’t seen her at all. Is something wrong?”
“…It’s nothing serious. The princes are looking for her. If you happen to see her, bring her to the main palace immediately.”
“Yes, well. I understand, Sir.”
The servant bowed his head as the soldier turned away.
Lellia, who had been holding her breath in surprise, finally exhaled once the soldiers were gone.
‘The twins are looking for me? Why?’
Why else? It was clearly to torment her.
‘To show off and act like cool older brothers in front of Yuriana, they’re going to punish me, the villain.’
Those nasty boys.
Lellia bit her lip, suppressing her indignation.
In the original story, the two brothers were not villains at all.
They were kind older brothers to Yuriana and respected princes to the people of the empire. They were generous to the officials of the imperial palace and strict with the knights—perfect beings.
Moreover, with their handsome looks and outstanding manners, they made the hearts of noble ladies flutter at every ball.
They were the very model of exemplary princes.
But to Lellia, they were the embodiment of fear. Perhaps even more frightening than Emperor Perseus.
The emperor simply found Lellia an eyesore, but the princes believed that tormenting Lellia was how they could avenge their mother.
‘Princess Iris did torment my mother a lot…’
Lellia clenched her fists tightly. Knowing that they were looking for her made her feel even more rushed.
‘I have to get out of the palace tonight, no matter what.’
Eventually, the sun set, and late afternoon arrived.
It was around the time the last merchants who had entered the palace were leaving. Lellia quietly slipped out of the warehouse.
Then, walking like a stray cat, she stealthily climbed onto the back of a cargo carriage.
Fortunately, there was a small space next to some large boxes where she could hide.
‘Ugh. If I were even a little taller, I wouldn’t have been able to hide here.’
Lellia squeezed her body into the space and curled into a ball. Then she waited for the carriage to depart.
She was so nervous that cold sweat dripped down her back, but passing through the palace gates turned out to be incredibly easy.
The carriage rumbled through the gates and down the road.
As she watched the palace gates recede into the distance, she felt a strange mix of dizzying liberation and fear.
‘I really need to keep my wits about me now.’
Unlike the safe imperial palace, the world outside was dangerous. But in a way, the inside of the palace was just as dangerous for Lellia.
Lellia steeled her heart and clutched her bag. It was light, as she had only packed the bare minimum of her precious belongings.
The small rabbit doll, a fountain pen and letters, and the pocket watch.
That was all.
If she could have, she would have brought everything from her mother’s cabin, but the pocket watch and this necklace were more than enough.
Lellia watched the scenery outside through a gap in the carriage’s canvas cover.
The carriage had already passed the central road leading to the palace and was heading towards the bustling commercial district lined with merchant guilds.
‘If they find out I’ve run away, they might close the capital gates. I have to get out as soon as possible.’
She was anxious without a concrete plan, but her will was firm.
By the time the carriage came to a stop, Lellia had already scurried out before the merchant could even get down from the driver’s seat.
She pulled the hood of her robe down low.
Fortunately, the dark night streets were filled with bright lights and many people.
The capital’s security was good, so quite a few shops were open late.
Moreover, with the festival season approaching, it seemed a night market had opened nearby.
She saw young children holding their parents’ hands, carrying lots of food.
‘That looks delicious.’
Only then did Lellia remember that she had been starving all day. But she quickly shook her head.
‘I don’t have any money anyway, and this isn’t the time for that.’
To avoid looking like a lost child, Lellia stuck close to ordinary-looking adults and walked with a bright expression.
That way, a stranger might mistake her for their child.
After weaving her way through the crowd like this, Lellia suddenly stopped.
‘What’s with that line of carriages?’
In front of a merchant guild building, large carriages were lined up in a row.
She couldn’t see the family crest on the carriages clearly, but judging by how luxurious they were, they clearly belonged to a noble family.
‘They’re trying to leave the capital.’
Well-dressed servants were loading something into the carriages. It looked like they were preparing for a long journey.
Peeking her head out from behind a carriage, she saw large horses and people in knightly armor up ahead.
‘Is it a procession of knights?’
The knights packing their luggage looked extremely cheerful, like people who were very excited about a journey that was starting at night.
‘Are they going home? Or… ah! Could they be going there?’
What Lellia thought of was ‘Rendinium,’ known as the holy land of knights.
She had learned about Rendinium from her friends while in the neutral zone.
Romeo had said.
“I want to go to Rendinium in the Auraria Empire someday! I heard it’s full of brave knights. Is that true, Leo?”
“…Huh? Um… well…”
Lellia had mumbled her answer, trying to recall the original story at the time.
“It’s in your empire. Don’t tell me you don’t know? Are you an idiot? Are you really the Crown Prince? How can you be so stupid?”
Romeo had berated Lellia for not being able to answer right away.
“No, I know! It’s just that I’ve never been there myself…”
“Really? I guess so. A Crown Prince raised delicately in the imperial palace wouldn't have gone anywhere. Anyway, I want to go there. It’s the city where the knights of the oracle stayed and formed deep friendships before founding the five empires. My dream is to become a strong knight!”
Romeo had said, showing off.
His words had belatedly reminded her of the contents of the original story.
‘Rendinium’ was a city regarded as a holy land by knights and those who dreamed of becoming one.
That was why many knights, regardless of nationality, traveled there or used it as a stopover.
Thinking back on that time, Lellia narrowed her eyes.
‘That Romeo… he said his dream was to be a knight, but he becomes a mage…’
Lellia shook her head slightly.
It was then that the carriage she was hiding behind lurched.
A knight of enormous build, who had a splint on his injured foot, had climbed onto the carriage.
“Damn it! To be unable to ride a horse… what a disgrace for a knight.”
“Take it easy. Are you going to keep whining like a child? You’re stuck in this carriage until we get to Rendinium, so don’t even think about moving.”
“Damn it all!”
The tall knight who had helped the large knight up held onto the carriage door and smirked as if teasing the person inside.
“If you hate it so much, go get healed by the priests in the capital.”
“Absolutely not! I’d rather die than be healed by the priests here.”
“So stubborn…”
Lellia pretended to be doodling on the ground so as not to be noticed by the conversing knights, trying to look like a local merchant’s child.
But she felt a persistent gaze on her back. Lellia’s back tensed up.
“Hey, little one. It’s dangerous to sit behind the carriage like that.”
“Huh?”
Lellia quickly raised her head.
The tall knight who had been talking to the knight inside the carriage shrugged and said.
“I said it’s dangerous there. Where are your parents?”
“……”
Lellia randomly pointed to a person in the distance.
“They told me to wait for a moment.”
“Is that so? Then would you mind waiting over there? This carriage is about to depart.”
“…Yes.”
Lellia nodded and moved to the side.
He was a very kind knight.
Knights were usually unkind. If that man had been unkind like most knights, he might have just kicked Lellia out of the way.
After confirming that Lellia had moved aside, the knight walked to the front and mounted a large brown horse.
More than ten carriages began to prepare for departure.
She hadn't made a concrete plan on where to escape to yet, but it was better to get out of the capital first and then think.
Lellia looked around before quickly hiding in the luggage section of a carriage—the one the enormous knight was in.
Fortunately, this time she was able to hide in a slightly larger space than when she left the imperial palace.
‘I can even lie down.’
Lellia thought it was a relief and lay down on her side, getting into a comfortable position.
“We’re departing!”
A loud shout was heard from outside the carriage. Soon, with the sound of horse hooves, the carriage began to move with a jolt.
‘Is it because it’s a luxury carriage? It’s less uncomfortable.’
That was a relief. It would take quite a few days to get to Rendinium. The problem was getting there without being discovered.
‘If only I weren’t hungry, I could stay hidden in the carriage the whole time…’
Lellia grimaced, clutching her starving stomach. Still, she had health recovery potions, so she wouldn't starve to death.
And so, she slowly drifted off to sleep.
The carriage left the capital and began to race across the rough fields.
