## Chapter 228 – What I Desire (1)
Perhaps it’s not always enjoyable for a student to attend school.
But has there ever been a moment as delightful as this while attending the Academy?
Of course, every moment could be described as shining, but compared to now, it felt like merely one of life’s intermediate stages.
“How about this? It’s Cheiralium.”
“Cheiralium’s reaction in experiments is as violent as sodium, isn’t it?
It might be good as a catalyst…
But wouldn’t it be dangerous, Carla?
We might blow away the workshop we just got…?”
“Ahaha… I guess so…?
Then we should experiment with Targon alloy first…
Starting with a ratio of 1.5?”
“The wrought iron content of Targon alloy is 14.543 percent, right?
Then, to see more reaction, shouldn’t we start with a molecular ratio of 2.5?”
“Yes!! Let’s do that!!”
A girl, Carla, wearing safety goggles alongside a male student, stared at a small piece of metal inside a flask.
Wearing protective gloves, she gently lifted the flask and plunged a measuring device deep inside.
As alchemists often do, they eat, experiment, doze off at their desks, and then wake up to focus on experiments again.
Now the owner of a workshop, Carla, and Lucas, the boy who often actively helps her.
Even though they’re supposedly developing a deep relationship, they’re really just dating under the guise of research. The two young lovers were today, too, happily pouring all their energy into mixing, disassembling, fusing, and transforming various materials.
And that’s not all.
“Carla!? Research is good, but you need to eat…
Oh, Professor Dron was here too?
Carla is always in your debt.”
Yui burst into the lab, scolding Carla as if she expected it, but then gave Lucas a bright smile.
“Really!! You need to eat to keep your brain working, you know?”
Entering her medical facility area, Yui put down a few things, took out a small bundle, and offered the lunch boxes inside to the two of them.
Since it was also a lab, the group immediately went downstairs to the antique lounge, where they indulged in a delicious lunch together.
“You have to eat a balanced diet, Carla!!
Don’t you know how important nutrition is for growth?”
“B-But… I don’t like Mangfrica…”
“Haha… That’s right, Carla?
You should listen to your friends.
They’re just worried about you. Let’s eat?”
“Hoeee… Yesssss…”
Seeing Carla’s expression melt at Lucas’s voice, Yui clutched the back of her neck like a father welcoming a daughter who announced her marriage. Was it really just her imagination?
Next to her was a soulmate she wouldn’t trade for anyone, and next to that, an attractive person she could now call her boyfriend.
How could she possibly be this happy?
– Clunk
“L-Lady Hyeryung…!!
I understand, so just let go of this for a moment…!!
T-The dining hall isn’t on the other side…!!”
“There’s no way I can let go…?
Today is a day for just the two of us to have a pleasant meal…!!
Huh…? Why are you here…?
Weren’t you researching upstairs?”
By chance, her brother, Antonio, and Hyeryung, who was always after him, suddenly barged into the lounge. Carla began to interrogate Hyeryung like an angry cat.
“Eek…!! Kyaooo!!
How dare you drag my brother here…!!
What were you planning to do in this place!?”
Now that she had caught the culprit red-handed, interrogation was the natural procedure.
At least, that’s what Carla thought, her eyes burning with intensity.
Hyeryung, caught bringing Antonio, also replied with a flushed face…
“U-Uh… Carla…!!
My beloved sister…!!
This is…!!”
“W-What do you mean, what were we planning to do…?!!
Just simply having a meal together…
And if necessary, taking a break for a while…!!”
“Why does it have to be here…?!!
Besides… a man and a woman resting together!!
In this room with a bed…!!
Impure!! Unclean!!”
The words aimed at Hyeryung were actually becoming daggers flying towards Antonio next to her.
With each word from Carla, Antonio flinched as if hit by arrows, collapsing to the floor and writhing like a caterpillar.
If you saw this, who would think this person was the young master of the Alchemy Department?
– Chirp…
Only Regulus, the mechanical bird that Antonio always carried, climbed onto his back and chirped like a chick, as if to comfort him.
“Ah… It seems like the sis-con brother got too much stimulation.
Don’t be too harsh, Carla. Brother is an adult, you know?”
“But not with this woman…!!
My brother is definitely!! Absolutely!!
Too, too, too, too good for her!!
Not until I have dirt in my eyes!!
Kyaoooong!!”
“The brother-complex sister is also a problem.
I wonder if either of them will ever get married.”
In the end, even Yui threw up her hands in the face of the love triangle, which ended with Lucas suggesting they all eat together.
Eating together is more enjoyable, apparently?
After a quick meal, Carla suggested showing them the workshop, and the group went up to the second floor, leisurely looking around at the sight of flasks bubbling here and there.
“Speaking of which, Carla.
It’s soon, have you heard the news?”
“Huh? Heard what, Brother?”
At Antonio’s sudden question, Carla looked at him with puzzled eyes.
But at this time of year at the Academy, there’s probably only one thing.
“Ah… Could it be…”
“Yes. It’s the Alchemic Refinement Specialization Period for a while.
I was wondering if you should pick a topic and research it.
I think you’d be able to do it…?”
Alchemic Refinement Specialization Period.
The Academy was a space for education and research, consisting of numerous departments.
As such, each department had a tradition of focusing on intensive training and research that were difficult to do normally, requiring a lot of resources, space, and time, during specific periods.
“The Alchemic Refinement departments will have their specialization period for three months, right?
Then it’ll be the Magic departments.
It’ll be a very important time for a while, Carla.”
Perhaps thinking it would be good for Carla, who had gone through many things, Yui also added a word.
“You have your own workshop now, don’t you?
Three months seems like a lot of time to try many things.”
Especially for the Magic and Alchemy departments, there were wide-area magic spells that were difficult to research indoors, or high-explosion-risk reaction experiments and toxic gas purification experiments that required separate spaces.
Receiving support for space, resources, and technology to conduct such dangerous or demanding experiments.
For students in those fields, the specialization period was a positive factor that could greatly impact their academic development.
Of course, the Swordsmanship Department, which didn’t need such things, would give some time to other departments, or invite veteran swordsmen to receive direct instruction.
“Do you have anything in mind, or anything like that?
I don’t think favoritism is good, but…
There might be parts I can help with.”
“Ah… Miss…?
Is there any experiment you want to do?
D-Do you need allowance…?”
Hyeryung subtly chimed in like a grandmother expecting New Year’s money from her granddaughter.
And Antonio, currently a teaching assistant in the Refinement Department, gently turned down the heat of a flame warming a flask, asking a question. Carla nodded slightly.
“Regulus… was it hard to make…?”
– Chirp?
“Haha!! He’s even harder to maintain.
The Arachnella’s spiderwebs that got tangled during the special evaluation were the worst.”
Antonio gently stroked the beak of the mechanical bird chirping on his shoulder with his fingertip, and it rubbed its head affectionately against his finger like a real bird, blinking its small lens eyes.
Antonio gently placed the mechanical bird, Regulus, on his other hand and held it out to Carla, a deep smile on his face.
“Still, isn’t he rewarding every time you see him?
Sometimes I wonder if I really made this guy.
Well, it was a collaboration with the Fusion Magic Department too.
Do you want him, Carla?”
“Umm… No?
It’s not that…”
“Then?”
“I have… something in mind…”
“……?”
At Carla’s reaction, starting to think deeply about something, Antonio finally withdrew his hand, a hint of disappointment in his eyes.
In her long, seemingly endless time, words swirling in her memory like a vortex in Carla’s head.
『An organism that adapts and evolves to its environment.』
Wearing protective gloves, Carla gently lifted a flask towards the ceiling, shining light through it.
She bit her lip, looking at the thick, viscous liquid swirling inside the flask like a cocktail.
What she and Lucas had been diligently making and boiling since earlier had finally reached a form that Carla liked.
Of course, it was due to thermal convection, but the liquid metal seemed to mix and blend itself as if it were alive.
“I’ll make it…!!”
In the midst of a short but intense period of thought, everyone’s attention focused on Carla’s shout.
