Disciple of Immortal

Act 5: Chapter 8: Unpleasant Visitor

「I see… Pencil already exists huh.」

「Yes, but since the core material, which is the graphite is pretty rare, Kanata-san must've the impression that it's never made before right? It's actually made before, and really expensive, not even I have that.」

Mel cocked her head as she replied upon hearing my words.

「I mean look, it needs a really huge and heavy mineral to be made. And if it got a crack, it can't be used anymore.」

「I see… In that case, we can make it cheaper by using alchemy to put together the broken pieces or make it using a completely different material. And by the way, is something to erase pencil has been created?」

「Uhm… I've never made a pencil before. Ah, I've heard that you can erase it with bread.」

「I see, meaning that we can cross the eraser from the list too.」

I crossed the word "Eraser" from the list of products written on the paper.

Gramophone and motor were written in the list but, I crossed those first since I had no idea if it was possible to create those from scratch.

「Uh… Sorry, Pomera has never heard about those items before…」

Pomera who had no idea about what we were talking about also had an extremely confused look on her face.

「Uhm, I see.」

And though Rosemonde threw some appropriate words every once in a while, the sour look on her face made it clear that she also had no idea what we were talking about.

It seems she felt responsible for making me help Mel and trying to follow our conversation till the end.

Her prideful nature prevents her from backing off.

But, it wasn't Pomera and Co's fault if they were confused about our conversation.

One needs a flexible mind and broad knowledge to hear about the civilization of my world and connect it with this world.

Rosemonde's evaluation of Mel in this regard was correct, Mel did prove herself as a genius.

If I was out in her shoes, I would be left in an extremely confused state without understanding anything.

In the first place, Mel was the only one among the four native Locklore gathered in this place who knew that pencil had existed in this world too.

「Development aside, I think Mel-san has to raise her proficiency in alchemy.」

After talking with Mei, I realized that Locklore lacked the finishing touch for the product that had already been available.

That was only natural since the convenient product in Japan was something that was remade and developed over and over again over decades, or hundred years.

Take pencils for example, maybe not even Japan would make them by shaving the existing graphite.

As long as we knew the direction, even the hidden technique for the finishing touch that became the secret of the company could be replaced by alchemy.

「Uhm… But, even if I raise my alchemy skill, I don't think that'll be enough to lift me up from hot water. Not to mention that it can't be learnt within a si—」

「Shall I teach you a few things? I'll do a few experiments and if I can somehow create something that reduces production costs with alchemy, I'll teach that to you.」

In the worst case, I wanted to make them think twice before throwing a genius who could do both alchemy and magic tool-making into the dangerous job.

「Thank you Kanata-san… I'll call you God from now on!」

「Spare me from that please…」

「If I somehow survived this predicament, I promise you that I'll make a mithril statue depicting your image in the center of Polorock.」

「Stop, please.」

Please do remember that the land price of this city was really expensive.

At that moment, Pomera grabbed Mel's shoulders with an extremely serious look on her face.

「Mel-san… Please be prepared to lsot half of your life span once you're taught magic by Kanata-san. This is not a jo—」

「What's matter, Pomera-san? I'm prepared to give at least half of my life for the person who is willing to teach me! I'm betting my life here.」

Declared Mel as she clenched her fists.

「I-If Mel-san said so, then Pomera won't try to stop her.」

「Moreover, as you can see, half of my life span aside, I might literally be lost my entire life here! There's a rumor in about a place in Dark Ward, a labor camp where people with debt are forced to work until they die! It's a scary place where dark, dirty, and skinny corpses wander around! I hate it…! I want to work normally, marry normally, and die normally!」

Mel embraced Pomera as her voice slowly turned into that of sob.

「C-Calm down Mel-san.」

「But I want to set up a fashionable shop in the city and be regarded as a charismatic and genius magic tool maker! Am I wrong for having such a dream?」

Said Pomera as she pats Mel's back.

「Even though I have been cheated and cornered so far, I can't help but still dream…!」

She was a lively person… With hectic emotional up-down.

In Mel's case, it was simply because she went into panic due to the anxiety of being cornered.

「… Anyhow, let's focus on felt tip pen, can, and can opener. We should start from here with the combination of my memories and Mel-san's skills.」

The felt tip pen and ballpoint had reached wasn't that realistic if we only relied on my lack of knowledge and complex structures.

As for chess and trump, it seems a similar game already existed in this world.

I proposed a hand spinner but, it got rejected by Rosemonde.

It might be possible for Mel to create it but, honestly, I think that it would be difficult even for a genius like Mel.

Maybe it would take the luck of the hour and the major source of power to make a hand spinner famous.

That was the reason why we could exclude hand spinner for now.

As for canning, though we still had no idea what to insert in the can, as long as the technique existed in this world, it would surely be caught the eyes of the other store.

We could even make preserved food by stuffing the items bought outside.

The problem was… It took time for it to become famous.

「No, let's go with ballpoint and bicycle! I think I can make it!」

「… I'm not sure about it, it seems rather difficult for me.」

「Please… Please let me do it! I need impact to win against that trashy swindler Wontz! I'll need something that can attract everyone's attention first regardless of their usability!」

I understand her point but, that was quite a difficult story.

「But thanks to Kanata-san and co, I started to see the light at the end of the dark tunnel! I'm sure that I can win with this! My very being is brimming with inspiration! My brain is all fired up! Together, nothing can beat us! Let's become multi-millionaires and take control of Polorock!」

I didn't have such a dream though…

The moment I was about to answer Mel, there was a sound coming from the entrance of the store.

It was the bell installed at the door that made a sound when the door was opened or closed.

「I-It's a guest! Wait a minute, I'll see the situation a little bit!」

Mel said as she stood up delightfully and trotted toward the storefront.

After that, the sound of the door closing vigorously resounded in the store.

It was obviously done deliberately.

「C-Could it be that something happened over there? I'll go first to see the situation.」

I decided to go with Rosemonde to see the situation.

「Good day and long time no see, Mel-san. How's the condition of your store?」

The visitor was a skinny guy whose eyes screaming "I'm a swindler".

He was well groomed and wore neat attire as well.

Standing behind him was a beardy, strong-looking man.

A sword strapped on that man's waist.

It seems the strong-looking man was his bodyguard.

「L-L-L-Long time no see, Wontz-san!」

Mel bowed her head again and again with a stiff smile plastered on her face.

It seems the skinny man was the trashy swindler called Wontz.

And Mel's brave tone from a while ago was nowhere to be seen.

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