8 A problem (2)
Chapter 8: A problem (2)
"I… I did my best, David…." Bruno scooped a pill drifting on the boiling water through his special spoon, then presented it to Beelzebub, whose experienced eyes noticed all impurities and flaws of this new creation.
Against all the odds, it was quite a good pill.
Bruno had above-average talent.
And his problem didn't even stem from him but from an external source!
David curved his lips into a gentle smile. "You did well. It's a low-grade stamina pill, isn't it? You ought to be able to sell it for a fair price on the market since its impurities and flaws shouldn't cause any side effects. Of course, if someone takes pills like these regularly, then that's another matter."
Bruno was fine with the assessment and didn't even bother to hide his relief. "That's good, then. I don't sell too many of my pills, and I always make sure that I sell them to different people… I can't tell flaws that well."
"You're still new." David passed back the pill to the young man. "In this case's pill, funnily enough, if a man takes it every day, there's a high chance of him becoming impotent. A woman would suffer mood drifts… much scarier flaw, I would say."
Because Bruno couldn't see the ghost, he didn't know what was funny in this appraisal, but he was glad to learn about the exact flaws of his pill and alchemy, utterly believing Beelzebub. Of course, he was subject to his mother's mood swings, so he kinda understood the last sentence of this estimation.
It was still odd, but not weird enough to think about it.
Meanwhile, David thought of himself as an alchemist. During his gaming time, he was different than players right off the start since he rarely used the system's help to enjoy his crafting class. However, he leveraged the system's tips and guidance when needed and used its help to read his class and more.
Bruno doesn't have that kind of guidance.
Worse, he has a huge nuisance screaming at him while refusing to go to the underworld!
'It's time to send the ghost to the underworld.' Beelzebub's eyes flashed with a cruel light.
-
"You want to repeat your greatest achievement, don't you?" Beelzebub pointed at Elim Flowers, which were carefully perched on the desk. "We'll do it together first, then you will concoct two ice resistance pills alone."
Hearing those words coming out so suddenly threw Bruno off his flow, making him gaze at Beelzebub with wide and uncertain eyes. He trembled as though feeling the ghost girl's embrace and looked down.
He soon lifted his eyes and nodded to the demon, replacing worries with new courage. "Yes! Thank you, and I look forward to your guidance, sir!"
"Save those words for Mr. Wetherell." David chuckled and approached Bruno's side.
He took the flower into his hand, then started a lecture, explaining to the young blood about the structure of Elim Flowers and mana veins building up its unique properties. In fact, Beelzebub went as far as talking about other types of flowers and how mana flows through them.
Beelzebub then threw a hint to Bruno. "Mana brings wonders, while alchemy shapes those wonders. Our job is to shape those wonders to our wishes. As long as something has mana, it can become a resource for us to shape, melt, break, crush, and more."
"Understood." Bruno nodded.
David then extended his hand toward the Elim Flower's leaf, then left a faint cut on its form. "A perfect ice resistance pill made out of Elim Flower requires its roots to be melted first. If you throw this piece as it is into your cauldron, you'll rely more on your luck to form a pill. And since you can't pluck off the leaves, you must control their mana veins. By making a few cuts, you can seal the flow of mana inside the leaves and make them dense and, thus, tougher. And if you draw a few holes in the roots like this, you will make the roots and their mana veins melt faster within your cauldron."
Bruno stood stupefied before this knowledge.
Beelzebub gave him time to see and etch the sight of prepared Elim Flower to his heart, then urged the young man to start the alchemy process.
Now, all that was left was to put the flower in the cauldron and let the flames warm the water.
Bruno didn't want to fail this time, so he focused so much that all of his attention dipped to the pot alongside the blue flower.
Beelzebub had been waiting for that moment.
His eyes rose to the floating ghost. "You want his attention?"
The ghost's lips parted in shock as now she felt Beelzebub's gaze deeply looking into her eyes. "C-Can you see me?"
Beelzebub's natural soft voice was like music to her transparent ears. "I can… and I can make him see you."
"What do I have to do?!" The ghost flew to Beelzebub's side and circled around him, her eyes twinkling as she asked this question.
David explained to her that ghosts are cold existences, so her touch can add a lot of value to Elim Flower located in the depths of the cauldron. And as he gathered her utmost attention, David added that if the ghost and Bruno supported each other, their mana would link, giving the young man the ability to see ghosts.
The ghost didn't even try to question Beelzebub's logic.
She knew that nothing could actually hurt or even touch her, so she was willing to give his idea a go. Her small hand went through the cauldron and hot water, then her ghostly body found a familiar coldness.
She felt a sense of touch!
"This is Bruno's mana!" The ghost screamed in joy, imagining things.
And then, she gave all of her to the blue flower, fueling it with her natural coldness. The ghost's lovely eyes were deeply locked on the resource, which would make her dreams come true!
She stared at it so deeply that it became bigger in her view.
Alas, that was not the case.
Elim Flower's leaves were sucking her transparent form inside. She wasn't looking deeply at it — she was simply flowing inside the resource, only to be made into a pill alongside it!
"Stop it! Stop this right now!" The ghost turned her baby face to the demon, gasping at his expression, which made her non-existent heart sink in more coldness.
Beelzebub's dark eyes became like an abyss. "Leya, right?"
The ghost nodded faintly, frightened beyond her existence.
The demon continued as dark lines creased his forehead. "I despise selfish girls like you. Made me recall that whore of a mother. For her own comfort, she was willing to ostracize her only son. What about you? For your whims, you disturb Bruno's life and dreams while knowing that he can't see you. Haven't you heard him once during your uninvited stay here? He visits your grave every time he returns home. He treasures memories with you, yet you haunt and destroy his life."
"That's not true! I just want him to look at me!" The girl screamed louder — if someone else could hear her, that person would have imagined a lot of immoral scenes.
Beelzebub tilted his head. "Oh? And what else?"
"I want him to sleep with me, talk with me, and take me outside! I want to be the only girl in his life!" The ghost rattled out all her desires, which were too selfish.
Beelzebub nodded and curved his lips into a smile, which silenced the ghost girl. "You will see him no more. You won't even have a chance to reincarnate, girl… to reunite in another life with him. You have lost all of it… and there was actually a high chance of you two reuniting in a different life."
"W-Why? Why are you doing this?!"
"Think of it as a man's compassion — I don't want him to consort with girls like you, let alone you hurting him." Beelzebub sneered. "And you make such a good resource that only alchemists like me can use. It'd be such a waste to let you exist."
After those words, as though having Beelzebub's permission, the blue flower sucked the ghost in much faster, entirely gobbling her up.
The ghost was gone.
A few breaths later, a perfect blue pill drifted on the warm water, its properties severely enhanced by the soul.
"Congratulations, Bruno." Beelzebub jointly and severally patted the young man's shoulder.
Bruno sat down on his chair and replied with a pleasant sweat dripping from his temple. "I feel like a huge burden has been lifted off me! This must be a huge success!"
"It is."
