The next morning, Count Leman's clipper weighed anchor and set sail. Its sails billowed with wind as it headed for the Royal Capital.
Baron Kaman and the brothers, Matthew and Samuel, stayed behind. Their carriage headed for the Newly Cultivated Land, where they would survey the area. Velin had promised they could each choose a standard-sized Knight's Manor—any more than that and they wouldn't have the money to manage it.
Velin took part in neither of these matters. Compared to the disturbances of the outside world, he was far more eager to return to the familiar life of research. A strange sense of excitement was welling up from the bottom of his heart.
In truth, improving the adhesive wasn't a task no one else could do, but he chose to handle it himself. For some reason, he felt an unusual impulse for Alchemy today, as if a long-untouched string was humming, urging him to play it.
