"Could Lord Noah really be an alchemist?"
Maki's astonishment made Noah realize something a beat later.
At its origin, the core idea of alchemy had been to turn the worthless into the precious—to transmute base metals into noble ones.
And for people of this era, the noble metal was gold itself.
Turning something as common and worthless as stone or dirt into expensive gold—such a godlike feat was exactly what people imagined alchemy to be.
In modern chemistry, however, there were already far more than one or two precious metals more valuable than gold.
Many metallic materials used in industries beyond the reach of ordinary people were worth far more than most could comprehend.
It was just that those metals lacked universality. They could not easily be converted into money. In that regard, gold really was the strongest precious metal.
If alchemy were no more than that, then Noah really could have been called the pinnacle of alchemists.
But that was only a joke.
Once a technique was born, it never stopped progressing.
Alchemy was no exception.
Compared to its original, simple goal of making gold, the core ideals of alchemy had continued to evolve over time, taking on far grander pursuits.
For example: the Panacea, the Philosopher's Stone, and the Homunculus.
Interestingly, Noah had already confirmed that two of those truly existed.
The Sage hidden away within the Guild by the old god Ouranos had once created a Philosopher's Stone.
As a result, he was doubted by the God who led his Familia, and that very god personally shattered it.
That's right.
The Philosopher's Stone really could be created.
And because of that, the Sage was the being Noah knew of who possessed the highest level of Mystery.
Now that he was approaching Level 3, he had long since reached the point where he could level up.
It was just that his vessel had not yet been completely filled, and the range of Development Abilities available to him was broad—he could choose nearly ninety percent of all known Development Abilities.
Though unfortunately, it still did not include the Luck Development Ability he had always wanted.
But while rare abilities were something ordinary adventurers could only dream of, Noah could pick from them almost at will.
And that included Mystery.
Originally, he had planned to choose Smithing.
But after being projected into this world, that decision had begun to waver.
He was destined to never become an ordinary smith.
The path he walked was not that of a conventional blacksmith.
Still, as a member of Hephaestus Familia, he had originally intended to choose Smithing so that he would not stray too far from the path of that goddess...
Yet Mystery attracted him even more.
Perhaps, in the future, he might even end up being regarded as a heretical kind of smith.
He respected Hephaestus.
But everyone had the right to choose their own path, so long as they were willing to bear the consequences themselves without complaining to others.
For now—
"Lord Noah?"
Noah blinked and refocused his gaze.
He did not explain much.
He only said, "This is our secret."
"I'll handle what comes next. Forget this happened, and go back to your work."
"Y-yes..."
Maki still looked a little dazed.
Then, remembering the older girls collapsed in the bathhouse, she hurried back to take care of them as Noah had instructed.
Watching the girl leave, Noah turned around and looked at Altai, whose face was full of terror.
"What's with that expression? You look like you've seen a ghost."
Altai's throat moved a few times.
Her mouth felt dry, but she still could not ease it.
"Y-you... what exactly are you? Are you some demon that possessed a boy's body?"
'Hm?'
Looking at how serious Altai was, Noah couldn't help admiring her imagination a little.
"A demon, huh? If you can't give me an answer I find satisfactory, then to you, I may indeed be a demon."
"W-wait, wait! I never said I wouldn't answer!"
"Oh? Good. Then I'll start asking."
"No, seriously? You're just going to start like this?"
Altai felt this was absurd.
Wasn't interrogation supposed to happen somewhere hidden away?
He was really going to begin right here, in broad daylight?
Noah paid no attention to what she thought.
"Did Maki's little brother really owe your people money?"
"..."
Altai looked like she had something to say, yet said nothing.
After waiting a moment, Noah sighed.
"That's only the first question. Your silence is already disappointing."
His gaze grew colder.
Before, he had not intended to do much to Altai.
But Maki's situation had changed his mind and besides, he already had a few guesses.
He raised one hand. Though they were more than a meter apart, Noah curled his fingers slowly, as if gripping something invisible.
Altai felt a chill run through her heart at the meaningless gesture.
Her eyes widened in terror. Cold sweat poured from her body.
Then, suddenly, a wrenching pain erupted in her heart, giving her an agony and helplessness she had never experienced in her life.
Together with the boy's hand movement, Altai realized it.
Her heart—was being grasped in the hand of this demon wearing the form of a boy!
If he wanted to... then she would...
Within the range of Spell-Weaver, Noah could manipulate even things like blood through the flesh itself.
At that very moment, he was literally holding Altai's heart in his hand.
The heart was fragile, just like the eyeball.
Merely being touched could make it unbearably uncomfortable.
All it took was the slightest pressure from outside, and the pain in the heart would be enough to make a person's eyes roll back or even lose control of their body.
"Do you feel it? I guarantee you, none of the consequences you're afraid of could possibly compare to this. So this is the last chance I'm giving you. Tell me everything."
After Noah said that in a low voice, his hand loosened.
Altai's eyes filled with tears.
Not because of fear.
Not because of pain.
But because, only at that moment, she truly realized—how wonderful it was to be alive.
She was overwhelmingly grateful that he had not crushed her heart outright.
He remembered reading something like this somewhere before:
When inflicting pain, if you controlled the degree properly, you could create a sense of loss and despair without pushing someone into outright defiance.
"There wasn't any debt..."
Altai began speaking through tears.
"The boy didn't come to us asking for money and we deceived him. We told him his sister was going to be married off by her master to some disgusting perverted noble, and tricked him into thinking he needed to redeem Maki. That debt never existed. Only the siblings themself believed they owed a huge sum."
"And it wasn't targeted at them. Our work in the Capital is to develop informants. Someone like Maki—serving close to a noble, while having the weakness of a younger brother dragging her down—is the ideal target for us."
"Even if they're discovered, it doesn't matter, because they're not truly one of ours. We don't have to worry about intelligence leaking. They can be discarded easily and even if anyone investigates, the trail only leads to the local street gangs..."
Altai cautiously stole a glance at Noah's expression.
What surprised her was that, even after hearing about such vile acts, the boy showed almost no reaction.
One could even say he was too indifferent.
Even when hearing about strangers' tragedies, people usually showed sympathy or pity, and those feelings were the easiest to read from their expressions.
But this boy did not.
As expected, this person was no ordinary boy at all.
He was definitely a demon!
A demon occupying a boy's body!
---------
Read 40 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator