Chapter 58

Chapter 58
## Chapter 58

The general public possessed a remarkably thin file on the alchemist known as Heide.

At most, details regarding his place of birth, his physical description, and his age were the only facts in circulation. For the man credited with inventing Nectar, this lack of biographical depth was peculiar.

The reason investigators found so little when probing his history was quite basic.

‘It’s because, before he hit the jackpot with Nectar, he hadn’t achieved a single thing worth noting.’

Born into a crumbling family of minor nobility, he had drifted into the study of alchemy more by accident than ambition. He spent years churning out mediocre experiments and failures, fueled by government grants, until he stumbled upon the formula for Nectar by sheer luck.

While he basked in temporary fame and luxury because of that breakthrough, his life ended prematurely under obscure circumstances. If one looked past the mystery of his death, he appeared to be nothing more than a run-of-the-mill potion-maker.

‘On the surface, he fits the public’s mediocre description perfectly, however…’

“Are you going to ignore me? When someone introduces themselves, the polite thing to do is return the gesture.”

Heide barked the words, clearly irritated by the way Lucian was silently analyzing him. Realizing he had been staring too intently, Lucian quickly smoothed his expression into a polite grin.

“My apologies. My name is Lucian Valdek.”

“…Valdek? You don’t mean *the* Valdek family?”

“I’m not certain which ones you’re referring to, but our house does bear the crest of the lion.”

The irritation vanished from Heide’s face, replaced by a sudden, sickly pallor. He abandoned his lazy slouch instantly, snapping into a rigid, deep bow.

“I offer my sincerest apologies for my disrespect to a scion of the Valdek lineage! I had no idea…!”

“Please, compose yourself. I have no interest in holding a brief lapse in manners against you.”

“Y-you are too kind!”

“If you truly feel indebted, perhaps you would be willing to chat with me for a moment.”

“A chat…?”

“Just a casual conversation about the state of alchemy and the general mood here in the city.”

Lucian steered the exchange with a practiced, effortless confidence. It was clear his companion was the type to be easily intimidated by social standing and authority. If he maintained this pressure, extracting information shouldn’t be a struggle.

“I’ll tell you whatever you want to know! Ask away!”

Likely eager to scrub away his previous rudeness, Heide nodded with frantic energy. Lucian took a beat to center his thoughts before posing the question that mattered most to him.

“What has the internal climate of the Alchemist Guild been like lately?”

“I’m sorry? The guild’s climate? Oh, it’s the same as it’s always been.”

“No shifts at all? No rumors of a revolutionary formula being found, or perhaps a breakthrough regarding the properties of a specific plant?”

“Hmm.”

Lucian had been as pointed as possible, but Heide’s expression remained blank. Even after a long pause for reflection, the alchemist shook his head, looking genuinely clueless.

“Nothing like that has crossed my desk. People are always trying new things, but it’s just one disaster after another. If someone actually succeeded at something big, I’d be the first to hear the gossip.”

“I see.”

Lucian kept his voice steady, though he was internally reeling. In his previous life, the Alchemist Guild had begun cornering the market on Moonlight Grass roughly three months from this date. Logic dictated that the foundational research for that move should be well underway by now.

Yet, there wasn’t even a whisper of progress?

“Then tell me about the capital. Are the citizens feeling the tension of the upcoming conflict?”

“I couldn’t say. I’ve been out of town until very recently. When I departed, everything seemed perfectly ordinary.”

Realizing this line of questioning was a dead end, Lucian shifted gears. He stopped looking for hard data and started looking for the man’s character—trying to see if Heide cared about the Empire’s fate or possessed any foresight regarding the political landscape.

Though the questions were trivial, a person’s core principles usually leak through during such idle talk.

‘If you want to measure a man’s worth, you have to find his moral compass.’

If the man standing before him was indeed the future creator of Nectar, Lucian would eventually need to bring him into the fold. He wanted to use this encounter to identify Heide’s desires, even if only to prepare a future recruitment pitch.

—

After a lengthy exchange of questions and answers, Lucian found it difficult to mask his growing frustration.

‘How is it possible that “I don’t know” is his only answer?’

Nearly every response from Heide was a variation of ignorance or complete apathy. A generous observer might call it a scholar’s detachment from the world of power, but Lucian knew better.

A true scholar would at least be an expert in their own niche. Heide, however, seemed fundamentally disconnected from everything.

‘He strikes me as a hollow man, coasting through life. Is he really just a puppet who doesn’t care about the world as long as the Crown keeps signing his checks?’

“D-did I say something wrong?”

Heide recoiled slightly, noticing the darkening expression on Lucian’s face.

“Not at all. I think my voice is just failing me after so much talking.”

Lucian offered a flimsy excuse, but his tone had turned cold and formal. His respect for Heide had plummeted through the floor.

“Let’s get back to the heart of the matter: your work. You mentioned you crafted these potions yourself; have you made any significant discoveries?”

“Oh, most certainly! I shouldn’t really say, but I’ve seen some very strange chemical reactions lately after tweaking the ratios in a few standard mixtures.”

Once the topic returned to the lab, Heide’s enthusiasm spiked. He seemed desperate to claw back some of the dignity he’d lost during the political discussion.

However, the more Heide talked, the more unimpressed Lucian became.

‘He’s just reheating old concepts, and he doesn’t even use a controlled process. He calls it experimentation, but he’s just throwing ingredients in a pot and hoping for a miracle.’

Lucian wasn’t an expert in the field, but he understood that real innovation required rigorous study. This man wasn’t a pioneer; he was a scavenger of existing knowledge. There was a slim chance he was playing dumb, but given his lack of verbal filter, it seemed unlikely.

“Tell me one more thing. What is your professional opinion on Moonlight Grass?”

Lucian threw out the question as a last-ditch effort. Heide looked puzzled for a second, then gave a blunt, unfiltered response.

“It’s just a basic health supplement. There are plenty of idiots who think they can turn it into something revolutionary, but that’s just a pipe dream. It’s a complete waste of effort to keep poking at materials that have already been mapped out completely.”

—

“The man is a total fraud.”

Back in the privacy of his quarters, Lucian let out an exhausted sigh. Heide Pobor, the great mind behind Nectar? It was a joke.

“His ‘research’ is just a show to keep the imperial funding coming. Even if he stumbled onto a miracle, he wouldn’t know what to do with it. He’s just gambling with chemicals, hoping to hit the lottery. Is this really what qualifies as a scholar these days?”

“He sounds like a typical alchemist to me. There’s no reason to be so let down.”

Lucian offered Raymond a dry, joyless smile. It was true; by the standards of the era, Heide was normal. If Lucian didn’t have the memories of the man’s future legendary status, he wouldn’t have cared.

‘But if he’s not the one, then who is? Why was his name ever attached to Nectar?’

If history were to repeat itself, the guild would start hoarding Moonlight Grass in ninety days. That meant the breakthrough should already be visible. Instead, Heide was as far from a discovery as a layman.

‘Even if he started today, he couldn’t produce results that quickly. It means he must have pilfered someone else’s hard work.’

The issue was that Heide seemed perfectly content with his lazy life. To steal research of that magnitude required a level of ruthlessness and risk that didn’t match the man’s cowardice. And a victim of such a theft wouldn’t just vanish quietly.

Would a man with zero drive really gamble his life to steal a formula?

‘Well, I have time to unravel that mystery later.’

There was still a window to find the actual inventor, and the plan to do so was straightforward.

The following morning, Lucian and Raymond checked out of the inn at dawn. They were nearing their goal and expected to arrive by nightfall.

“If I recall, this is your first trip to the capital, isn’t it, Young Master?”

“It is. I’ve never seen it.”

Even in his previous life, he had never stepped foot in the heart of the Empire. By the time he had the freedom to travel, the world had descended into chaos, and the capital had become a war zone. Even if he had visited then, he would have found only ruins and a city under siege.

“Honestly, I’m curious. They call it the Jewel of the Empire. Does it put Kelheim to shame?”

“It’s less about size and more about the artistry. Look—there it is.”

Raymond pointed toward the horizon. The walls, which had looked like a thin white scratch on the landscape, slowly grew into a massive structure as they rode closer.

‘Is it… glowing?’

The brilliant White Walls caught the morning sun, shimmering with a blinding light. Intricate carvings and patterns etched into the stone created shifting images as they moved, making the fortification look more like a sculpted masterpiece than a defensive barrier.

Raymond laughed at the look of pure shock on Lucian’s face.

“Those are the White Walls of Tivron. Truly a sight to behold, aren’t they?”

Lucian couldn’t find the words to disagree; he simply nodded.

—

As they pulled up toward the city, Lucian’s amazement only deepened. The walls weren’t just beautiful; they were flawlessly constructed. There were no joints or cracks to be seen. The surface was so incredibly smooth that he doubted a siege ladder could even find purchase.

‘How do you even attack a place like this? How did it ever fall in the past?’

“The story goes that those carvings aren’t just for show—they’re magical arrays. Rumor has it the walls can literally blast enemies away if they get too close.”

Raymond leaned in to whisper the legend. Lucian gave a skeptical, weary laugh at the idea of an indestructible fortress also being a giant weapon.

“You think that’s true?”

“It’s likely just a tall tale. I wouldn’t have given it a second thought before, but seeing how often His Majesty uses magic in public these days…”

Raymond didn’t need to finish the thought. In a world where magic was becoming a visible reality, anything was possible.

As they reached the approach to the gate, Lucian’s mood shifted.

“What on earth is this?”

A massive, winding line of people stretched out before the gate. It seemed impossible for such a bottleneck to exist at such a grand entrance.

Raymond, however, seemed to take it in stride.

“It’s Tivron. Security is always tight, and they verify every soul that enters. It usually moves at a decent pace, though. The guards are normally efficient.”

According to Raymond, regular traders and known workers usually got a pass. With so many people moving in and out, a strict adherence to every protocol would paralyze the city.

“If you’d like, we can present your papers and jump to the front of the line.”

“No, we’ll wait. It’s better not to cause a scene by cutting in front of everyone. I don’t want to draw eyes.”

If this were an official mission for the Valdek family, he wouldn’t hesitate, but this was a private journey. He wanted to enter the city as just another traveler. He’d show his ID to the guard at the booth, but there was no need to make a spectacle of it.

With that decided, Lucian and Raymond took their spots at the very back.

Three hours passed.

“…We haven’t moved an inch.”

“This is highly unusual. I don’t understand the delay.”

Raymond looked away, unable to meet Lucian’s flat, annoyed stare. In three hours, the line had barely nudged forward. If this pace continued, they’d be sleeping outside the walls tonight.

“I’m guessing you two haven’t been here since the fighting started. Ever since the recent uprising, they’ve been checking every person’s background with a fine-toothed comb.”

A nearby merchant, overhearing them, chimed in. He clearly took them for a provincial noble and his servant who were out of their element.

“It takes a lifetime just to get through the gate now. Looking at this queue, there’s no way you’re getting inside today.”

“Excuse me? Then why are you still standing here?”

“Because if I stay in line tonight, I’ll be closer to the gate tomorrow. People just roll out their blankets right here when the sun goes down.”

When the merchant pulled a bedroll from his pack to illustrate his point, Lucian and Raymond were stunned. They were expected to camp on the dirt just to keep their spot?

“I’ve got a couple of extra sleeping bags if you’re interested in buying. I brought spares just in case.”

“We’re fine, thank you…”

The merchant, sensing their hesitation and thinking they were worried about safety, added another detail.

“Don’t worry about thieves or people skipping the line. Those knights over there are on constant watch. If they catch anyone causing trouble or cutting in, they toss them to the very back immediately.”

The merchant nodded toward the front. Sure enough, several knights were pacing the length of the line, watching the crowd with intense focus.

At that moment, the lead knight’s gaze landed on Lucian.

The knight froze, his eyes widening in disbelief, before he let out a shocked exclamation.

“Lord Lucian?! What are you doing out here?!”