"The profession of Alchemy is all about creating value out of things that are of little worth by themselves. Not only is it a platform for concocting potions but also..."
Every single person present here wore thick hoods covering their heads like a bunch of criminals - and here being, a conference organised by the Alchemy Association. And as expected, it was quite a boring affair. It wasn’t only Sae-Jin who thought like this, but his companion sitting next to him, Hazeline, also thought so as well, judging by how often she yawned out and sighed deeply as the proceedings continued.
"Just when is this going to end?" (Sae-Jin)
The reason why he attended this conference as the Master of the Guild and not as the Goblin Alchemist, was rather simple.
The efforts of the Goblin Alchemist had stirred up the other Alchemists and that led to the Korean potion market going through an unprecedented boom right now. And so, with a surplus of potion supplies locally, he was planning to export to overseas markets that were suffering from acute potion shortages.
"...Please wait for a little while longer. It’ll be our turn soon to announce the ’innovative new plan’ of the Goblin Alchemist. As soon as that’s done, we’ll leave." (Hazeline)
He continued to yawn out while waiting for their turn to come. And so, five minutes passed by, then ten minutes, then another twenty.... his valuable time was slowly bleeding away.
"There is currently a certain Alchemist who is receiving a lot of attention from all over the world, and he is the Goblin Alchemist. One or two among us here have either called him the inheritor of Rodes’s legacy, or as the revolutionary of the Alchemical profession."
"Well, I should get going now. When I call for you, Mister Sae-Jin should come up to the stage and read off the script we prepared before." (Hazeline)
Hazeline lightly tapped Sae-Jin’s shoulder and while lowering her head, disappeared off to somewhere.
"And now, we would like to welcome the manager of the Yoseon Alchemy House, who had discovered that very Alchemist, to the stage."
Hazeline walked up on the stage. As Alchemists didn’t enjoy raising loud ruckus, not one of them clapped hands. Only that, a handful of them shot gazes of envy and jealousy towards the stage.
"Ke, keum."
Her entire body hidden under a thick robe, Hazeline surveyed the surroundings for a bit before swallowing down her saliva.
"....H, h, h, hello. E, e, e, e, everyone."
...And then, a catastrophe began unfolding.
*
Hazeline and Kim Sae-Jin made their announcement of exporting the Goblin Alchemist’s potions overseas. As expected of a Dark Elf who had never stepped on a stage in front of so many people, Hazeline’s speech was all over the place, full of stuttering and going off topic constantly. But since it was seen as a normal thing, Alchemists simply accepted the presentation without much problem.
"Your new car is really nice and comfortable." (Hazeline)
After safely (?) negotiating her way out of the seminar, they were currently returning home in Sae-Jin’s new car. Hazeline was busy touching here, there and everywhere of the car’s interior and admiring it.
"...You think so?" (Sae-Jin)
"Yes. You made a good choice. Isn’t this model from a famous brand?" (Hazeline)
He smiled without saying anything. Not only was the brand very famous, this particular model had such a low production volume, it was very hard to buy one... but he didn’t feel the need to say this out aloud.
- Knight Jin Seh-Hahn has ascended to low Mid Tier...
When Hazeline’s curious fingers touched the stereo, the news about Jin Seh Hahn leaked out, causing Kim Sae-Jin to quickly switch it off.
"We are hearing a lot of that guy’s news nowadays." (Hazeline)
"Seems like it. By the way, there is something that makes me curious whenever I am with M
iss Hazeline..." (Sae-Jin)
He glanced at the perfect side profile of her face and carefully changed the subject.
"Mm? What is it?" (Hazeline)
"Ah, the thing is..."
"But Mister Kim Sae-Jin, are you really in a position to be curious about other women? I thought you’re no different from a married man now?" (Hazeline)
"..."
Hazeline replied while smiling. So Sae-Jin let out a fake cough and concentrated on driving instead.
As an aside, the matter of him living together with/dating Yu Sae-Jung was widely known by every member of the Guild by now. According to Yi Hye-Rin’s testimony, Yu Sae-Jung said it herself in a ’slip of a tongue’ type of incident.
"Hahat, I was just kidding. It’s a joke. Well, in any case... I’m quite close to Sae-Jung, so I guess it’s fine. What are you curious about? You can ask me anything. After all, Sae-Jin is my benefactor and all." (Hazeline)
At those words, Sae-Jin glanced at her once more.
"Well, Miss Hazeline. You are... a Dark Elf, yes?" (Sae-Jin)
"Yes, that’s correct." (Hazeline)
"But..." (Sae-Jin)
"...Ah." (Hazeline)
Before he could finish saying what was on his mind, she began nodding her head slowly as if she figured it out.
"My skin. You are curious about that, yes?" (Hazeline)
"....Yes."
There were three types of Elves out there - regular Elves, High Elves, and Dark Elves.
Here, the regular Elves referred to those beautiful beings known in the mass media for possessing flawless milky skin, gorgeous facial features, as well as smooth and supple limbs.
Next was the High Elves. Also sometimes referred to as ’Noble’ Elves, they possessed rich and pure bloodlines and commanded admiration and respect from other Elves.
Finally, Dark Elves. Not only they preferred darker places, their skin tone was also darker than other Elves, so they were called Dark Elves.
"Mmmm..." (Hazeline)
Seeing Hazeline’s creased brows as if this question was greatly troubling her, Sae-Jin ended up swallowing down his saliva. Maybe it was because of curiosity, the words You don’t have to tell me if it’s too troublesome circled around in his mouth before disappearing completely.
"...Do you wish to know?" (Hazeline)
"Oh, that... well." (Sae-Jin)
He deliberately hesitated. Hazeline deeply stared at him before a slight grin broke out on her lips.
"Since the Goblin Alchemist says he’s curious... It’s actually simple, really. I brewed a certain potion, you see." (Hazeline)
"Pardon?" (Sae-Jin)
"You know, a potion. A potion. A potion that whitens the skin. I almost died after drinking that thing but still, I ended up with this pale skin." (Hazeline)
Her words were difficult to understand, but on the flip side, he could accept some part of her explanation. After all, she didn’t question him too much and believed him when he spewed out that nonsense about concocting a potion to grow taller and stuff back then.
"But why did you create a potion like that? Surely, Miss Hazeline would have been plenty beautiful with a darker skin tone..." (Hazeline)
"Mister Kim Sae-Jin, you seem curious about a lot of things today." (Hazeline)
Sae-Jin tried to inquire a little bit further but Hazeline cut him off with a smile. He stopped asking there after detecting a clear message of warning in the tone of her voice.
The topic of conversation then changed back to their daily lives; did he and Yu Sae-Jung move house, no they didn’t; how much did they earn, that was a secret. As their chatting continued, before long they arrived in front of Hazeline’s house. While inwardly praising its capability that matched its million dollar price tag, Sae-Jin parked the car.
"Take care." (Sae-Jin)
Fin
(TL: There will be three extra chapters this weekend - probably two on Saturday and another one on Sunday. Most likely. I dunno. Maybe yes, maybe no. Will see. Lol.)