Его не звали, но он приперся / They never called, yet he is here: Глава 17

Chapter 17

Camrad_RIP 16.07.22 в 06:28

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Camrad_RIP 16.07.22 в 06:28

Nothing unusual had ever happened in the town, which was named Whitewater, after the lake of healing water that had long since dried up (because it had been pumped out of it on an almost industrial scale). Regular brawls in pubs, sometimes resulting in broken heads and shanked entrails, and the occasional theft committed by a few members of the thieving diaspora were not considered incidents of any significant scale in this world. And so lived their quiet and measured life, lazy and fat to the point that the official armor does not fit, the guards chased all sorts of suspicious elements, looking through all sorts of violations, and the rare trade caravans were a real holiday for boredom-ridden youth.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 09:42

However, today the boredom of the inhabitants of Whitewater was shattered and wiped into dust by a completely unexpected event. It will surely be talked about for months, if not years. Fires, of course, occur quite often, but they are usually limited to some barns at most, less often to individual huts or even full houses. Here, however, the scale is much larger - it is not often that a large warehouse with stored alchemical reagents burns to the ground, and even with an annex in the form of the house of the owner of the warehouse itself, who decided to live very close to the place of work.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 09:44

The owner himself was running in circles, cursing with the worst curses the three drunks who had not only missed the fire but had almost provoked it. And what words he used against the foreman in charge of the warehouse, who had long been addicted to all sorts of smoking mixtures he had made on his own from the chemicals in the warehouse. He was a real asshole, but he usually did his job, and he did it cheaply (like the guards he hired for the minimum wage). But today the desire to save money stung the stingy businessman right in the buttocks, and he nearly howled like a wolf, demanding to be allowed inside the burning buildings. Of course, the kind-hearted residents firmly held the man who had lost his sanity due to grief, not allowing him to die of stupidity.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 09:45

And the situation was not so fatal as to make someone commit suicide! Really, gentlemen! Well, let us assume that herbs and roots burned, but they were not very expensive, even if a lot of them were stored there - there are no alchemists in Whitewater, who need really expensive reagents. The loss was undoubtedly enormous, but the victim had money to pay the forfeit and buy a new batch of goods. To be quite frank, the victim had even too much money, as for an ordinary merchant, but that's gossip.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 09:47

There was something the people holding the man didn't know, watching him tear out the hair on his head and praying to all the gods that it wouldn't burn to ashes. He prayed for nothing, by the way, for it burned badly, especially since the material burned too easily, and the merchant had also spared on the fire-retardant, as you can easily guess.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 09:47

And what the folks didn't know was that there was a small and carefully disguised cellar in the outhouse, where there was a trunk made of unusually expensive wood, enchanted beyond all comprehension, and inlaid with precious stones... on the inside. Because of this inlay, finding or noticing this masterpiece of carpentry art through magic was a very extraordinary task. Inside this receptacle, however, were many patterned caskets made of a variety of materials. Bone, stone, wood, something incomprehensible, like frozen blood - all these things were there.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 09:48

And what has hidden in these caskets was worth many times more than the contents of the burning warehouse, but even a dozen similar warehouses. If you could sell the contents of the boxes, and not be cut down, you could build a second Whitewater... well, half of it for sure. At the very least a third, because the alchemical reagents stored there were of the highest quality, sometimes reaching even the legendary grade, even if such there were only a few. The list of burned-out reagents mostly consisted of epic reagents, which didn't make the poor merchant's life any easier.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 09:51

If you put it that way, the chest, especially such a reliable one, should not have burned, for the cellar was lined with iron, and it was quite deep. But an evil fate made the merchant pull the chest right out of his hiding place, and open it to put a new shipment of high-value goods in it. Then he heard shouting and ran to see what was going on in the warehouse. He didn't lock the chest so he wouldn't have to worry about the time-consuming task of opening the very elaborate dwarf lock. And what could happen in the few minutes he had to scold the negligent workers?

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 10:18

An isekai laughing himself to tears, lying on the ground two kilometers from the city walls, would have had a lot to say about that. If, in fact, he wasn't laughing like a madman. It wasn't hard to set up the situation so that the drugged-up superintendent began to see very colorful hallucinations - a very real symptom of the chewing herbs he had taken - which made him think the undead wanted to devour him. The idea that fire would help him against the undead was also easily planted in the junkie's liquefied brain. The guards decided to get drunk without any help at all, and a batch of some cheap oil for alchemical burners burst out like a gasoline.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 10:20

As a result, even the most biased detective would find nothing here but human stupidity and irresponsibility. Even if he were a clairvoyant, like me. Too much of my presence was worthless and my influence was minimal. It was harder to plant a lie claiming that all the goods had burned, or rather that they had all burned, but I was sure that I had deceived every possible investigator. Including even those of them who would arrive here after we left.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 10:42

Do you want the funniest thing?

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 10:43

The funniest thing is why I am in an inadequate state, and Ygra, who is leaning over me, holding several bags of ingredients and the chest - which, despite the rare material and enchantments, burns quite well - looks thoughtfully at my convulsive movements, obviously not understanding the reason for the merriment? She doesn't let this misunderstanding prevent her from giving me a contented grin - if I laugh, it's funny, and she's always ready to smile for the company.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 10:44

So.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 10:44

All of these ingredients came straight from the Stone, where only the most expensive equipment, facilities, and everything is delivered. It would be impossible to sell these caskets because they are marked, and the reagents themselves belong to a list whose contents are not freely available. The best case scenario is that they will ask uncomfortable questions about "who you bought it from," and after we all visit the fortress, they won't even ask, dragging us straight to the dungeons.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 10:46

Except that my actions did not raise the alarm at all.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 10:46

And they won't in the near future.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 10:46

And even after a probable theft may not raise, as the previous owner of these reagents will do everything possible to hide his attitude toward them, to avoid even more trouble.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 10:47

You see, gentlemen, human nature is unchangeable on all worlds, as is greed. However, we should not judge humans alone by these standards, because other sentient races also seem to be characterized by such traits. For example, take the Stone. The most powerful protection, constant checks, thousands of traps on the approaches - the pinnacle of the very notion of "paranoia". But there is no getting away from those who want to get their hands on state supplies.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 10:48

A total of five alchemists sit in the fold - two Great Masters with a rare and epic class in both, and three ordinary Masters. It's enough to create elite-level potions, which for the same patrols go just a huge amount. And they do their development there, experimenting with epic monster parts and advancing science. Especially if there's a necessity to do something nasty to their enemy, and even in such a way that this development won't get shown off anywhere. That's why they sent there not only the essentials for basic potions, accepted by the composition of the guards but also all sorts of tasty rarities.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 10:49

Two Great Masters, who were engaged in all the most complicated bullshit, calmly assessed the prospects, remembered that one of them had a distant relative living in Whitewater, and concocted a perfectly workable business plan. Who, except the alchemist, would understand how much money this alchemist saved, how many reagents he had stashed, and how many of the approved experiments did not take place at all? Only another alchemist and this one preferred not to rat out his colleagues. Especially since the two Great Masters were superior enough to their assistants that they did not understand their machinations. And it was not so cheating - qualification allowed to fuck up, but make analogs from cheaper reagents, stashing the savings. Every couple or three years, they'd give their kin containers-caskets isolated from magical scanning and protected from damage, taking advantage of the influence of a bribed representative of the Secret Guardian.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 14:29

At the end of their fifteen-year contract, which had been imposed on them under threat of several unpleasant administrative penalties, they planned to have on hand a very impressive sum or a good margin for personal experimentation. Now they had only to scratch their heads and keep quiet, so as not to draw attention to themselves - not that they would be executed, but that they might be nailed like traitors.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 14:30

In fact, it's precise because I have all this information that they can kill them. Too many connections, thoughts, and desires of both alchemists are connected with the chest I stole. With this support, a clairvoyant in my person, and a great master as well, can easily begin to probe the Stone, without breaking through the barriers that have been set up, and without alarming the team of Seers. That's why such threats are monitored, trying to keep a single thing in the possession of the Stone's inhabitants out of the guarded territory - prophets and other bastards are madly fond of such clues.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 14:31

And in this way, I can keep an eye not only on the two corrupt officials but on everyone with whom they have any connection at all. The interrogator, who ensured the delivery of the stolen goods to Whitewater, was easy for me to look at. Getting to the others would be much more difficult, especially to those with individual anti-prophecy protections of senior officers like the Commandant or the target of my planned abduction, but with the help of the mirror, Edges of Reflections and Soaring in Dreams I have a non-zero chance to get even to them... without raising the alarm, of course. And if I don't care about that, I might not even need the mirror - after all, the two, no joke, outstanding alchemists are personally acquainted with all the important people, for the inhabitants there are not very many as it is.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 14:37

All I had to do was stop giggling, calm Ygra down, and waddle slowly to the farmhouse we were occupying, leaving no trace because of the oversized cargo. Apparently, I'd have to follow the ogre and clean up any accidental footprints. She'd developed her skills, and I'm sure she'd achieved a great master level, but she didn't have super stealth, only me and, more recently, Hans, who was incredibly happy to have such an enhancement.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 14:39

In a different situation, I wouldn't be able to call my time watching green buns hypnotizing me at all unpleasant, but right now it's very distracting. Also, I'm sure of it a hundred percent, that Ygra, at some points, quite deliberately displays her charms in the most seductive way possible.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 14:40

It's gonna be a long way.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 14:40

The alchemical equipment was very old and practically unusable, notwithstanding any comparison to what I had previously had at my disposal. Alas, the most unwieldy items remained in a rented warehouse in Ostmark, so I had to improvise. This junk I obtained was literally in the trash. One of the alchemists had decided to renovate his lab, which made the old stuff unnecessary. Naturally, he did not throw it away. There were about twenty kilograms of copper alone.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 14:43

What was certain was that there was no desire to throw away a useless but still valuable tool that was simply thrown in with the rest of the junk and left there until better times. With Dream's help, it was fairly easy to convince the whitewater alchemist that he had gotten rid of these things long ago, just as I convinced the rest of his kin and servants. I tried to be as neat and inconspicuous as possible and I don't think I screwed up.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 14:45

Next was a funny story with a lot of swearing, in the course of which I, without getting out of stealth, first bore all this weight (in pieces, fortunately), and then had to watch Ygra's green buttocks again, sweeping behind her all possible and not so possible traces. But my foul language became quite skyscraping the moment I started working on restoring the equipment.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 18:33

Working with the essence of the alchemical machines directly, I was able to catch up their efficiency if not to the level of the laboratory that I had in the Kraj, then very close to it. And the distillation cube was even better than the last one, and almost twice as good. And only after that, I could start making potions, without forgetting about regular instructions and training in dreams. Soon my comrades-in-arms would be able to draw a diagram of the outer fortifications in a drunken delirium because I was so tired of their instructions. To their credit, even Taria didn't whine, who enjoyed this pastime the least.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 18:35

The reagents were delightful and beautiful in their perfection. It wasn't even that they were high-grade, or extremely rare, but in their variety and packaging. All of these boxes were perfect storage, honed for specific groups and types of ingredients, and in the case of the most expensive ones, for a single reagent altogether. In short, it was a delightfully pleasant thing to work with such material, and the variety allowed me not to get bogged down in routine and to be creative at its best.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 18:36

The base for the next potion was some rather ordinary flowers, which are the basis for many stimulant compositions, or rather, their essence, which I extracted and concentrated with a class skill, increasing and increasing the effectiveness of the essence. Particles of elementally energized quartz, mined in the neighboring town of Whitewater, became a fixing element, preventing the essence from dissipating into the air after I was distracted by something else. After I merged two clumps of multicolored dust, the second of which was created from special roots that have the strange feature of slightly enhancing other alchemical preparations, the resulting mixture of many individual essences went to the retort I had prepared in advance.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 18:37

In the meantime, the distillation cube had finished purifying another similar composition, only material instead of pure essence, so that it was much rougher and not as effective. However, my fingers began to weave dark golden threads from this potion as well, preventing it from even flowing completely into the flask underneath. The matter fell as greasy ash of a swampy green color, and I created and amplified another cloud of pure essence. The concentration of the composition was at its maximum, allowing me to turn almost a dozen kilograms of ordinary ingredients into five retorts filled to the top with weightless clouds of the essence.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 18:44

Each of these clouds was already a ready-made stimulating potion, even if it had no clear effect. You don't even have to drink them, just open the flask, drawing in the lightest dust along with your breath. To a simple landscaper or craftsman, such a thing might have given him a few extra years of life, if not a dozen at once, but it was still only a base.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 18:44

Five bases with the same properties, but very different shades and compositions. Exactly as I had originally planned. A deep breath and the essence in all five flasks obey the wave of my hand, rising and descending into a deep bowl of the thinnest glass (which used to be thick and murky until I corrected it with essentialism). It will be quite difficult from here on, but I don't see anything impossible, especially with due diligence.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 18:45

My will keeps the dust from blending, instead beginning to merge it into one, albeit at the cost of enormous effort. It is no longer just a concentration, but something more. All five compounds have the same purpose, but different aspects - one is easier to absorb, another's effect lasts longer, while the third, though short-lived, has almost no side effects or kickback. My will, my talent, and my Inspiration makes sure that the one and only resulting base for the future masterpiece contains all the positive aspects, getting rid of the negative ones completely.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 18:47

The excess essence, the one that holds the essence I don't need, falls into a gray haze that immediately dissolves into thin air, and my heart beats in my head. This burden is unbearably heavy, but at the same time it requires incredibly delicate handling, as if you were trying to play the piano while holding it in the balance. My heart is pounding more and more frequently, and my forehead is covered in a cold and nasty perspiration, but I don't stop.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 18:49

And triumph comes.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 18:49

The moment you realize that your goal has been reached.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 18:49

As I look at the pure gold cloud, which would be a powerful potion with a wide range of effects on its own, I'm much happier and more proud of my achievement than I am of the message that popped up in front of me. I slowly shove my masterpiece into a suitable flask and turn my gaze to the message.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 18:50

Concentration of the compound: 3/7

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 18:53

Allows you to significantly enhance the quality of already prepared compositions by wasting essences; allows you to qualitatively enhance compositions by wasting additional reagents and essences; allows you a wider variety of essence applications; allows you to concentrate essences into a more favorable form for use; allows you to transfer into essences only the part of the magic invested in the reagents that you need.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 18:54

The increase by two points at once is incredibly gratifying, but it doesn't surprise me in the least by the generosity of the System. Intuitively, I realize that I've just found the right way to develop my class, the right way, not just the way it works. I unwittingly treated this class the same way I treat ordinary alchemists, even though I consider myself much cooler. Not unreasonably, of course, but I had missed the main truth, which was ridiculously simple.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 18:55

The Mystical Alchemist is not an artisan, which ordinary alchemists are, and not even an artist, which experienced alchemists necessarily become. The Mystical Alchemist is first and foremost a creator, if not a Creator, who does not seek routine work on something necessary but boring, but Inspiration. The very name of the class characteristic should have hinted, but I was thinking a little in the other way and the wrong direction.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 18:56

This doesn't mean that I can't work in conveyor mode, stocking up on healing potions, not at all. It's just that it's much easier to get up to speed on complex tasks that require creativity. The Shadow forces you to stick your head under the guillotine and step over yourself in an attempt to look deep inside, where the desired power will be hidden, which you will no doubt be given with great desire, but only for the worst possible fee. The Dream longs to force you to change yourself, to become part of your dream, a reflection of yourself, and, to curb it, you must not only keep yourself from turning into another nightmare but also be able to understand the very essence of the changes being invested, to keep them from overwhelming you. My Inspiration requires an act of creation, where the whole world is just a ready-made material, to which you only need to reach out and pluck out, to take the part of it that will serve as the material for the masterpiece.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 18:57

To be honest, I've finally calmed down.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 18:57

Now I've calmed down completely.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 18:57

My alchemy, like all the other classes, also wants to turn me into incomprehensible but very dangerous shit, as I have suspected for a very long time. Only now at least I know the direction in which I will be driven mad, and consequently, I know what I should fear. Maybe turning into some kind of mad vivisectionist scientist isn't so scary in the face of becoming a Shadow that wants to devour everything and everyone, or a sadistic nightmare that's deformed beyond recognition.

Camrad_RIP 17.07.22 в 18:59