Another World Magician
Alt Korean Title: 속임수의 마법사 (The Magician of Deception)
Written by: [Xirus]
⚡ Chapter 8: Alchemist and Magic
The forest path was quiet now, save for the occasional chirp of birds, the whisper of wind weaving through branches, and the soft crunch crunch of Elric's boots on the pine strewn dirt. Overhead, gray clouds drifted lazily past the orange tinged sun, casting flickering shadows like lazy ghosts.
On his back, Helina squirmed slightly.
"What the hell were you doing here, Helina? This place isn't for kids," Elric muttered, still catching his breath from the earlier chaos.
Helina sniffled, still trembling after got kidnaped. "But you're a kid too."
"I'm different," Elric said proudly, puffing out his chest as much as one could while giving a piggyback ride. "You saw how good I am with a sword."
"That was the worst swordsmanship I've ever seen in my life," Helina shot back, waving her arms dramatically as if holding an imaginary blade. "You swung like you were trying to swat a fly with a broom."
Elric scowled. "Hey! I still beat that guy, didn't I?"
"Just lucky," she sniffed, clearly unimpressed. "Your stance was wobblier than a drunk duck in a storm."
"You know what? I will drop you here," Elric growled.
"You're so mean!" Helina pouted. "I'm gonna tell your mom you bullied me while I was injured. I almost died, you know."
The wind picked up, rustling through the pine canopy above. The scent of wet moss and bark drifted through the air.
Helina, tomboyish as ever, didn't look the part of a delicate flower. Her clothes were a patchwork of practicality and rebellion: a brown sleeveless vest over a faded green shirt, sturdy canvas trousers smeared with dirt, and scuffed boots better suited for kicking shins than picking berries. Her short, dark brown hair with a little ponytail mixed with dries leaves and twigs. Scratches lined her arms, and pine needles clung to her collar.
[Earlier That Day ]
Helina crouched behind a bush like a spy who had learned all her techniques exclusively from bad storybooks and overly dramatic plays.
Rustle... snap... chirp!
A bird fluttered out of a nearby tree, startled by the sound of twigs cracking under her foot.
"Shh!" she hissed at the bird like it was a co conspirator, then poked her head out through the leaves. Her dark brown hair was tied into a short ponytail that looked like it had lost a battle with gravity, and her clothes were the usual mix of patchy old tunic and trousers, stained, tough, practical, and very much "I climb trees for fun" attire.
"Suspicious," she whispered, narrowing her eyes like a detective in a mystery novel. "He left through the back door again... That's three times this week. Highly suspicious. Further investigation required."
It had all started earlier that week.
Something was off about Elric.
He hadn't come by to throw rocks at her window. Or challenge her to a skipping stone duel. Or prank old man Dollen by swapping his chickens' eggs with painted rocks.
In fact, he hadn't played with her at all.
"Unacceptable," she muttered, crouching low and following him through the underbrush like a wild raccoon with a grudge. "Who wouldn't want to play with this delightful little neighbor girl? This adorable, super cool, totally normal neighbor girl?"
She'd even gone full detective, asking his mom casually where he was.
"Probably training in the mountains," his mother had said, as if that were the most boring thing in the world.
Training? In the mountains? Alone?
"What kind of kid needs to train in the wilderness by himself? This is clearly a mystery. A conspiracy. A cover up! Only One Truth Prevails..."
She had whispered that dramatically into her reflection in a rain puddle. Twice.
So she started tailing him.
Every morning. From a distance. Through bushes and brambles. Sometimes through mud.
She kept a "spy log" in her notebook:
Day One: Elric heads uphill.
Day Two: Waited on the tree. Got bitten by ant.
Day Three: Waited behind bush. Suddenly rain downpouring.
Day Four: He's still doing that dumb sword training. Alone. Who trains by themselves? What is this, some kind of tragic hero arc?
"I even fell asleep watching him once," she mumbled, crawling forward on her elbows. "And woke up with a squirrel sitting on my chest. I swear it was judging me."
"And every day, the same routine. Just Elric, swinging a wooden sword like an idiot. Sweaty. Focused. Like he thought he was the protagonist of a legendary epic."
"But why sword training? Why now?"
"...Wait. Don't tell me," she gasped, suddenly gripping a nearby branch dramatically. "He's training to protect someone. Like... a girl?"
The thought hit her like a slap.
"...Or maybe... a fiancée?" she hissed. "DOES HE HAVE A FIANCÉE?! I mean his father is a baronet and the land owner of this Waisz estate. That would explain everything!"
She sat bolt upright behind the bush, heart racing.
"This is huge. This is shocking news. This demands immediate, continued surveillance."
Which brought her to now, deep in unfamiliar forest, tailing him once again, notebook in hand, legs covered in burrs, dignity long forgotten.
She stalked him from a distance, crouching behind trees, belly crawling through dead leaves, occasionally poking herself in the eye with stray twigs. And worst of all, she couldn't stop narrating her thoughts aloud like an absolute lunatic.
"This isn't stalking. It's concern. I'm just... watching over him because I'm worried. It's not weird."
She paused.
"...Now that I think of it, that does sound like a stalker."
Suddenly, the path changed. It grew steeper, wilder, less like a trail, more like a suggestion.
"Elric... what are you even doing up here?"
Thwack!
"AAAH, OW OW OW!!" Helina flailed backward after a low hanging branch smacked her square in the forehead. She stumbled, then tumbled forward like a broken wheelbarrow, landing with a squish in a mossy ditch.
She lay there groaning, leaves in her hair, pride in shambles. A few birds above chirped with what she swore sounded like mockery.
And then... rustle, rustle... chitter, chitter...
"Oh no."
Two squirrels emerged from a bush, eyes burning with judgment.
"I'm not here for your food," Helina said slowly, raising her hands.
The squirrels didn't believe her.
Without warning, they launched an aerial berry assault. Berries splattered across her tunic like battlefield wounds.
"GYAAAHHH!! Stop! I'm not stealing your stupid berries! I don't even berries!!"
One squirrel leapt onto her head like a furry ninja, thumped her twice, then vanished back into the branches. The other squeaked with what could only be described as victory.
Helina scrambled away, covered in berry mush and twigs, shouting to the skies:
"Elric!! You evil, cunning fox!! This is somehow your fault!!"
***
"Hey," Elric grunted, adjusting her weight. "You asleep back there?"
"Who would fall asleep while being carried by a sweaty boy?" Helina snapped.
"Then answer me. What were you doing out here alone?"
"I, I was picking berries!" she declared, brandishing a sad, crushed handful. "Totally normal foraging!"
"...Those look like the berries the squirrels threw at you." pointing on the berries mush on her hair.
"They do not!" she pouted, then glanced at her stained fingers. "...Maybe a little."
Elric raised an eyebrow. Her hands were scratched up like she'd wrestled a rose bush.
"Next time, if you want to pick berries," he muttered, "don't do it alone. Your mom will kill me if she finds out."
Helina blinked. "Wait, you're scared of my mom?"
"Of course I am!" Elric snapped. "She once made me drink some weird potion, Cindamycin or something, after we got covered in mud during the rain. Said it was for skin infections. I swear it tasted like spoiled stew, and I couldn't feel my tongue for two days!"
Helina laughed. "You mean the one that taste like rotten apple? That was mild!"
"Mild? It nearly killed me!"
The two broke into laughter as they descended, the mountain breeze cool against their flushed cheeks. But as they walked in silence, Elric glanced at her hand, and the memory hit like a stone.
***
[ Bellmarch, Noon - Harvest Festival]
The market square was alive with chaos. Drums pounded. Merchants barked prices. A hundred voices collided in a cacophony of excitement. Bells jingled with every swing of a door. Steam wafted from meat skewers sizzling on hot coals.
Helina darted through the crowd, her skin catching the sun's golden glow. She wore a vest too big for her frame and mismatched sleeves, one cut short, the other rolled up. Her boots thudded against cobbled streets.
"Elric! Wait, please wait for me!"
She twirled in a full circle. Too many faces. Elric was gone.
Then came the sound.
Snickers. Muffled cries.
She followed it into an alley where the festival glow faded, where forgotten corners gathered dust and cruelty.
There, a girl knelt against a wall, trembling. Torn dress. Dirty cheeks. Three mage children surrounded her, cloaked in expensive robes and smug entitlement.
"She touched me. Slum rats don't get to touch nobles."
"Let's teach her a lesson."
One girl's hand glowed faintly.
"No magic," the tallest boy hissed. "Use a knife. Blame the slum trash."
The blade gleamed in the dim light.
"STOP!" Helina shouted, heart hammering.
The bullies turned.
"Oh look," sneered one. "Backup rat."
"I'm not afraid of you! "
That got a chuckle, then the knife came down.
Helina moved on instinct.
She caught the blade with her bare hand.
The pain was immediate. Blood dripped, crimson and bright.
Even the bullies froze for a heartbeat.
Then: "Let go, you brat!"
He yanked the knife, ready to stab again.
"HELINA!!"
Elric slammed into him like a cannonball.
He pummeled the mage boy, throwing wild punches. One of the others tried to grab him, he kicked her in the knee and shouted something unintelligible and heroic sounding.
Eventually, the bullies fled.
The girl was barely breathing.
They carried her to the adventurer's guild, ignoring the stares.
"We need healing!" Elric shouted.
The clerk glanced at the girl, then shrugged. "No healing for slum cases. Guild policy."
Elric's fists shook. "She's going to die!"
"No exceptions."
Elric rage build up, just as he about to cause chaos.
"Elric stop…" Helina stepped forward, her injured hand shaking as she pulled out her savings pouch.
"Then take this. Just... just close the wound."
The girl survived.
Helina's palm never fully healed.
***
Back to the Present
The mountain path opened to a broad view. The clouds had parted slightly, letting shafts of light spill across the Waisz Estate below. The lake glittered gold like a broken coin. The rest, patchy grasslands, struggling trees, and muddy paths, looked like a kingdom forgotten.
"You ever wonder why your family doesn't use magic?" Elric asked, brushing pine needles out of his hair.
"My mom says magic's expensive, unreliable, and full of idiots who think magic solves everything," Helina said. "Alchemy is science. Logic. Results. Doesn't need mana, just brains and effort,"
Elric frowned. "But it doesn't explode."
"It can. If you do it wrong."
"That's your sales pitch?" Elric joking while both of them burst into laugh.
They rounded a bend, and the full estate came into view.
Helina whistled. "Yeesh. It's like a painting, if the painter was depressed."
Elric snorted. "Welcome to Waisz Estate. Population: poor and shrinking."
"Why not drain the lake?" Helina, thinking that will be easy.
"Tried. It just comes back. Underground spring. Stubborn as a noble in tax season."
Elric tossed a stone. It bounced uselessly down the slope.
"They gave my dad a sword, a medal, and this soggy mess. Sir Garron Waisz, baronet. Not bad for a war veteran. Pretty bad as a retirement gift."
"And now it's your mess."
"Yup. Lucky me."
They stood in silence, watching the lake ripple below. The wind picked up slightly, carrying the earthy scent of pine and distant firewood smoke.
"...Do you ever think about the future?" Helina asked, her voice softer now.
"Only when I'm bored."
"No, seriously. What do you want? Like, really?"
Elric let out a breath, watching a hawk circle overhead.
"I want to retire early. Rich. Lazy. Let this world run however it wants."
Helina snorted. "You should be a pig, not an estate owner."
"You little, !" Elric lunged half heartedly, and she danced just out of reach, laughing.
Then, with a sudden shift in tone, Helina tilted her head and said, "Hey... you know my parents were great alchemists, right?"
Elric blinked. "Wait, really? I thought they were, like... crazy witch or something."
"Hey! That's my family you're talking about!" she huffed, puffing out her cheeks in a full pout.
"Sorry! I mean, yeah, okay, maybe colorfully unstable?"
Helina rolled her eyes. "Fine. They were a little nuts. But brilliant. They retired when they had me. I think... I think I'm the reason they gave it up. "
Elric looked at her sideways. "Well... don't worry about it."
Helina whipped her head toward him, eyes flaring. "Who said I worried about it?!"
She jabbed a finger into his side, causing him to flinch.
"I'm working my butt off to become a great alchemist too! To prove that the name of our family still means something to the world. For everyone who forgot. Who thinks we disappeared. Well, we didn't. I'm still here."
"...So you're a stalker and a nerd," Elric said with a smirk.
"HEY!!" she shouted, and bonked him on the head with a pine cone she picked up off the ground.
"OW!"
"Don't insult the legacy!"
They both burst into laughter, the sound tumbling down the mountain path with all the grace of two slightly insane children with a shared dream and zero brakes.
"I mean in a world where there is magic no one really looked onto alchemy." gazing the sky feeling a blank.
"But alchemy can help a lot of people, it just took more effort than magic." Flame can be seen burning in her eye.
"I want to build a pharmacy," she said at last. "A real one. With real medicine. Stuff anyone can afford. Not snake oil. Not magic potions. Just... healing."
Elric smirked. "Hopefully yours doesn't smell like your mom's stuff."
"Hey!"
They wheezed with laughter, eyes tearing up.
Then Elric exhaled. "But first... I need to use my two brain cells to fix this place."
Helina's eyes sparkled. "Hehe. So... how do you plan on making money, future lord genius?"
Their gazes locked.
The glint returned.
That evil, unholy, entrepreneurial glint.
The sound of gold coins echoed in their minds.
And then...
"Mwahahaha!"
Their villainous laughter echoed through the trees like an omen.
If anyone saw them at that moment, they might've sworn both had grown tiny, twitching horns.
And maybe... they had.