Release That Witch

Border Town was now a bustling place, and it was hard to imagine that it was just an outpost for investigating the movements of demonic beasts. The floor beneath his feet was black and gray in color and there were bungalows neatly arranged on both sides of the street which were different from the residential quarters. These residentials were not for living, which was more spacious than the residential and looked more like a small warehouse.     

According to His Highness, these houses would be for sale later.     

There was a deep ditch in front of the bungalow which was covered by slates, looking like two border lines that were cut out on the black street. Other than that, there was a tree planted for every specific distance. And, the branches were closed to the center of the street in between of two bungalows which not only acted as a good shelter for the rain and sun, but also looked extremely beautiful.     

He had to say that the place had given him a feeling that it was in order.     

The houses, the roads, the ditches and the trees were all placed in the well-planned position. The degree of attention was not any less than the noble garden. It felt different walking in Border Town as compared to the main city area of Redwater City. The coordinated arrangement of the buildings in Border Town had a unique aesthetics even though the latter had more intensive and larger buildings. The aesthetics overshadowed the individual size of it and it looked more grandeur as a whole.     

[It feels just like those consistent chemical formulas,] he thought, [that's the beauty of order.]     

Kyle had quite a reputation in the town today. The passerby would always nod and bow to him while addressing him as lord philosopher. However, he liked the title, master of chemistry more than the philosopher. Unfortunately, His Highness said that he had to understand "Intermediate Chemistry" before he could receive the honor.     

Redwater River that traversed the Western Region could be seen after he walked out of the central area. There were four laboratories by the river and two of them were idle due to the lack of manpower.     

A soldier who was wearing the First Army uniform walked towards him when Kyle was about to summon for several apprentices to complete the task His Royal Highness ordered.     

"Your Excellency Sichi, there's a sailing ship approaching the dock area and it was carrying over 50... civilians," he bowed and said, "They're stopped by the garrison because there're a lot of them and they aren't businessmen. One of them said he wants to see you and he claimed to be an alchemist from Redwater City. His name is..."     

"Chavez!" Kyle excitedly grabbed the soldier's shoulder. "Take me to him quickly."     

…     

He pulled the soldier to the dock and a familiar figure came into his sight. It was really Chavez.     

"My Respected Mentor!" Chavez quickly waved at Kyle once he found him.     

"These're the alchemists and apprentices I invited," he went to the captain of the garrison and said, "you may let them enter, I'll take them to the City Hall to register."     

"Yes, Your Excellency. However, please allow me to send a squad to escort them."     

"Alright."     

The escort was in fact surveillance and control to prevent anyone from the team sneaked into the central area of the town. However, this was the rules set by His Highness, Kyle had no intention to interfere.     

"My Respected Mentor, what's wrong with them? Why is there someone specifically watching the port even in a deserted town?" Chavez who was just released quickly walked beside him and unhappy complained. "And, they're checking more strictly than the big city, even asking for our names and origins. I was giving them silver royals but it didn't even change their mind."     

"Silver royals?" Kyle asked with interest, "How many?"     

"One, of course." Chavez was slightly shocked.     

"Haha," he laughed while touching his beard and said, "that certainly wouldn't work. You should know that their remuneration is about fifteen silver royals per month."     

"Fi-Fifteen?"     

"Well, the First Army has a more comfortable life than the city patrol that lives by extorting the merchants and travelers. However, because of this, extortion, looting or taking bribes is strictly prohibited and they'll be immediately expelled from the army and imprisoned in the dungeon to accept trial if they were found doing any of these." Although Kyle was not an official in the City Hall, however, he had replaced the chemical minister to attend several meeting. So, he had a certain level of understanding about the upper-level policy.     

"Are they really able to keep their hands?" Chavez asked with suspicion.     

"There were some uncontrollable, and they were sent to the mines." He curled his lips. "Did you notice the uniqueness of this town when you were on your way?"     

"Uh... There's a lot," the young alchemist said while scratching his head, "For example, there're many people cutting down the trees and repairing the road along the river. Where are they heading to? And what're these iron towers along the river banks for? Are they for storing drinking water?" He paused. "Oh yeah! Before arriving at the pier... I even saw an iron bridge under construction! It was not a wooden or a stone bridge, and I can confirm that it was iron!"     

"And it was much longer than the bridge we usually see, wasn't it?" Chief Alchemist smiled. "So, don't bring the living experience from Redwater City here, for this is a very different city and of course... It's also surprising enough for it's just a little town now. It's just like "Elementary Chemistry", you won't think of such possibility in the world without seeing it by yourself."     

Somehow, he felt carefree and cheerful in his heart when he spoke to his previous apprentice. Thinking about it, he noticed that he had regarded himself as a member of Border Town and he was like showing off his new home to the guests.     

…     

Upon completion of the registration, the apprentices were left to the City Hall officials for accommodation arrangement, and Kyle Sichi directly pulled Chavez back to his home.     

"Although I knew that you'll still accept my invitation in the end, I never thought that you'd come so fast."     

"I..." Chavez lowered his head with embarrassment. "I should have promised you before."     

Chief Alchemist Kyle smiled. He was obsessed with alchemy, but he was not totally oblivious to the world. Chavez initially did not choose to leave, and it was likely due to his expectations towards the lord and hoping to become the chief with the two-acids preparation method. It was not until Capola became the new chief and he had quite a bit of prejudice against him that he decided to leave Redwater City.     

However, Kyle did not care about the charade as longing for the position as a chief of the workshop was the ultimate pursuit of every alchemist.     

"Don't keep the past in mind. Alchemy is meaningless here, and the alchemist glory is also not worth mentioning as there's only one thing worthy of your pursuit here. That's the chemistry."     

"I see." Chavez took a deep breath.     

"Although you can also be assigned to an independent house, you can just sleep here tonight, just like before... We've not talked for a long time."     

When he was teaching Chavez the alchemy skills, they would always have a long talk at night. They would squeeze on the same bed and fall asleep if they felt sleepy.     

The other party apparently also understood his meaning and answered with excitement, "Yes, mentor!"     

Both of them came to the study after dinner and Kyle carefully brought out a book named "Elementary Chemistry".     

"Is this the ancient book you've been lauding about?"     

Chavez solemnly turned open the first page and started reading it carefully while Kyle was standing beside him to explain his doubts. This scene seemed to have returned to a few years ago and Chavez once again became Kyle's student.     

He would have sufficient manpower to test the large-scale production of sulfuric acid with Chavez and the more than 50 new apprentices, and the other two chemical laboratories could also start operating. Kyle happily thought, [Most importantly, His Highness has fulfilled his promise and passed me the 'Secondary Chemistry'.]