-Welcome!-
As someone opened the door and entered, the sword quickly replied. It was a sword broken in half, hanging at the entrance of the workshop as a welcoming sign.
The guest was wearing a hood, making it difficult to see their face. The robe and hood were covered in dust.
The large, worn, and dirty backpack they carried showed that they had traveled a considerable distance. The guest took off their backpack and slowly approached the sword.
The sword found the guest strange, but since its job was to welcome guests, it greeted them. Seeing the guest's eyes shining from under the hood, the sword felt something was amiss.
And at that moment.
The guest reached out, grabbed the sword, and started examining it closely.
"Oh my! The rumors were true! A talking sword! How can it talk? Does it have a soul? Or is it a spirit?"
-Whoa! Don't touch me, guest!-
The sword, surprised, shouted at the guest who was excitedly turning it around with a bright smile, but the guest seemed not to hear and continued examining it.
"Um... You shouldn't touch it like that."
Illia ran over and stopped the guest, who finally came to their senses and put the sword back in its original position.
The sword, placed back on its stand, sighed, and the guest said with a laugh,
"Hahaha! Sorry, little miss! As an alchemist, I can't help but be curious when I see things like this! Hahaha!"
Illia cautiously looked inside the workshop.
She nervously followed the guest, who was looking around at various mechanical devices with curious eyes.
Illia was always told that the machines in the workshop were dangerous and should be handled with care, so she was worried that the guest might touch them carelessly like before.
The Factory Manager, who was checking the finished product, put it down and walked towards them.
"So, what brings you here?"
"Ah! You must be the owner of this workshop!"
The guest quickly took off their hood and greeted him. Slightly curly, light green hair flowed out from under the hood. It was a young woman who looked to be in her early twenties.
While the Factory Manager was slightly surprised by the face under the hood, the guest grabbed his hand and smiled brightly.
"I've heard the rumors. Please take me as your disciple!"
The Factory Manager was flustered by the sudden request. To suddenly ask to be taken as a disciple was a very perplexing request.
The Factory Manager, finally catching his breath, spoke to the young woman.
"Um... a disciple?"
"Ah! I apologize for the late introduction. I am Tehez Germain, an alchemist. I came here to become your disciple after hearing about your incredible skills, the owner of this workshop."
The Factory Manager was speechless for a moment, not knowing what to say to the young woman who introduced herself as Tehez.
"A teacher? I'm just a blacksmith..."
"No! Before coming here, I saw them. Clean and shiny, wonderful kitchen knives, precisely made iron stakes with evenly spaced protrusions, rust-proof sickles for farming... I even heard that there's a pot in the restaurant that cooks food at an incredible speed. And I heard that you made all of them. Especially the rust-proof iron! There's no way I wouldn't have anything to learn from someone who can create such amazing things. Please take me as your disciple!"
Looking at the young woman bowing her head, the Factory Manager made a troubled expression.
"It's not rust-proof, it's pre-rusted..."
At the Factory Manager's thoughtless words, Tehez, who had been bowing her head, suddenly looked up, her eyes sparkling, and took out a notebook and pen from her pocket.
Then, she came closer to the Factory Manager and asked,
"Could you explain that part in more detail?"
Under Tehez's pressure, the Factory Manager stepped back and started explaining.
"So, it's called stainless steel. It's made by melting iron with chromium, a metal that oxidizes, or rusts, more easily than iron. This chromium oxidizes first on the surface, creating a thin film that prevents the iron from rusting."
"As expected! I can't understand even half of what you're saying. Alchemists often create new words or use ciphers to protect their knowledge. Yes! I understand perfectly!"
The Factory Manager sighed and looked around.
He made eye contact with Channing, who was approaching with an expression that suggested something interesting was happening, and signaled him with a glance.
Channing, understanding the signal, shrugged and walked forward.
"Now, young lady. That's enough. It's true that the Factory Manager knows a lot and is an amazing person, but he doesn't turn iron into gold or make things like the Philosopher's Stone."
"Ah! You must be his disciple! Senior!"
"No... I'm not really a disciple, more like an employee who helps out..."
"Alchemy is traditionally passed down from master to disciple, like an apprenticeship. That's how I learned from my father. But Senior, what is chromium? You said it prevents iron from rusting when mixed together! I've never heard of such a thing. Is it a metal? Or soil?! Or some kind of element?"
As Tehez clung to Channing this time, bombarding him with questions, Channing looked at the Factory Manager and shook his head.
"I don't know what to do with this young lady either."
"Curiosity is my driving force. But I understand that you can't explain such important secrets to an outsider like me."
When Tehez came to her own conclusion, the Factory Manager and Channing sighed simultaneously.
The Factory Manager thought that once she was excited, she wouldn't be able to properly understand anything he said. He had no choice but to wait for her to calm down.
Tehez took the silence as some sort of warning and spoke again with a smile.
"If becoming a disciple is difficult, would it be alright if I just observed your work? I did come all the way from Pellerware after hearing the rumors."
"You came from Pellerware? I didn't know the rumors about our workshop had spread that far."
"Where is Pellerware?"
The Factory Manager asked, seeing Channing's surprised expression, and Tehez raised her hand and answered.
"Ah. It's a city about five days away on foot. It's a smaller city than this one."
"You walked all that way with that backpack? Impressive."
"Hahaha! Traveling is a part of daily life for an alchemist."
Tehez took out a notebook, pen, and a portable ink bottle from her pocket.
With a determined expression that she wouldn't miss a single thing, the Factory Manager and Channing were left with no choice.
"Well, just observe without causing any trouble."
In the end, the Factory Manager sighed and declared, and Tehez nodded brightly with a smile.
******
The Factory Manager returned to his work. He was in the middle of milling metal, so he turned the machine back on and moved the chuck.
Tehez adjusted her glasses and carefully examined the milling machine, her gaze fixed on the metal being cut by the chuck. Then, she slowly started to approach it.
"Ah! It's dangerous, so stay back!"
The Factory Manager shouted and pulled Tehez back by the collar of her robe as she got too close to the milling machine.
Tehez, unfazed by being pulled back, continued to write something in her notebook.
"Wow! What an amazing machine. It can actually cut metal. Is it powered by magic?"
"It's more like technology. I can't explain it even if you asked me to. I didn't make it."
"So there's someone else who makes these incredible machines. The world is truly vast!"
Tehez continued to write in her notebook. The Factory Manager glanced at the notebook, watching the movement of her pen.
Tehez was drawing the milling machine. It was a simple sketch of the milling cutter rotating and cutting the metal.
The Factory Manager wondered if he should stop her, but then thought that no one could possibly make such a machine just by looking at it, so he let her be.
Even someone with modern knowledge couldn't replicate a modern machine just by looking at it.
There was a method called reverse engineering where you disassembled and precisely measured the original to create a copy, but even that had limitations in accuracy.
Reverse engineering required taking measurements with the original machine present, so a simple sketch wouldn't be of much use.
The Factory Manager didn't think this young alchemist had such advanced skills.
The Factory Manager took out the finished part and examined it from all angles. He was checking for any mistakes or unfinished areas.
"What are you making?"
"I received a request to repair the front door of a nobleman's house. This is a brass part that will be used for it. Since they want to reuse the existing door, it has unique specifications."
The Factory Manager put the part down and used a file to finish the edges. He was smoothing out the sharp edges and refining any slightly unfinished areas.
Tehez observed the finished part and the Factory Manager's work with curiosity.
Seeing this, the Factory Manager handed the part to Tehez, who put down her notebook and examined it closely.
"Oh! It's incredibly smooth. I think this is the first time I've seen metal cut so cleanly. What is this part used for?"
"It's a hinge. It's inserted into the part fixed to the wall to support the wooden door."
"If it wasn't a difficult pattern, I wouldn't bother with this, but the design that nobleman suggested is quite complicated. And since he asked me to make it three-dimensional, what can I do? I have to carve it all out."
When Channing and the Factory Manager answered Tehez's question, Tehez nodded and looked at the decoration again.
Seeing that, the Factory Manager opened his mouth slightly.
"You're an alchemist, but you're interested in strange things. Shouldn't alchemists be interested in, you know, making gold or the elixir of immortality?"
Tehez put down the part and answered while sketching.
"Of course, the ultimate goal is something like that. I'm particularly interested in making gold. It's been a long-cherished wish since my father's father's father. They all failed though. And my father said, no matter what information or knowledge it is, learn it all, and if you combine it in your head, you'll eventually find the answer. Well, even he who said that couldn't make gold and passed away."
"It's a long-held family aspiration."
The Factory Manager replied, and Tehez smiled faintly.
"I might be the last one though. All the family fortune is gone because of alchemy. All that's left are the inherited research materials, a hut, and some tools. I guess I'll be the last."
When Tehez replied sadly, the Factory Manager silently took out a cigarette and lit it.
"By the way, is this the first one you made?"
Perhaps sensing the Factory Manager's mood, Tehez changed the subject, and the Factory Manager handed her another part from the corner of the workbench. It was the same part Tehez was holding.
"Did you carve this one out like the one before?"
"That's right. Well, we're a factory that mostly carves things out."
Tehez asked while receiving the part, and the Factory Manager replied. Tehez carefully examined the two parts.
"They are perfectly identical. When a craftsman makes something, there are subtle differences, but these are exactly the same without any."
"Because it's carved with a milling machine. That one is adjusted in millimeters beforehand, so if you don't make any mistakes, you can carve it out identically."
"Wow... It's really an amazing tool."
At the Factory Manager's explanation, Tehez approached the milling machine and started examining it closely. The Factory Manager and Channing sighed and watched her.
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