Eugene Magnus, the youngest son of the Magnus Family, the Empire’s venerable house of alchemists, knew that he had been reincarnated in this other world.
He did not know exactly when he had realized it, but he had known from the earliest point he could remember, so he must have been around seven years old.
In his previous life, he had been a graduate student in the Department of Advanced Materials Engineering at a national university of science and technology in a country called South Korea. His name then had been Jeong Yujin.
Because Jeong Yujin had not been born into an affluent family, he had needed to earn his living expenses through part-time jobs since childhood. As a result, he had not done well on the college entrance exam and entered the Chemistry Department of a regional national university.
Fortunately, Eugene had enough talent to remain at the top of his department throughout all four years. Thanks to that, he received a recommendation from a professor who had noticed his talent and was able to enter one of the country’s foremost graduate laboratories in advanced materials engineering.
Eugene had entered graduate school with dreams of becoming a researcher, but there was one problem: his academic advisor.
‘She was two-faced.’
His advisor had a good reputation because she got along well with other professors and produced impressive results.
Having become a professor at a young age, her abilities had already been proven. She was also a beautiful woman with a refined air, so her outward image was exceptionally favorable as well.
However, she had a talent for driving people mad in remarkably sophisticated ways.
She would say that there were no fixed working hours, then grind students down with performance pressure until their departure times stretched on endlessly. Even when they produced a paper good enough to earn their degrees and graduate, she would disparage the experimental results as garbage.
And because all her criticism came not as direct insults but as indirect, roundabout remarks, listening to her naturally made one think, ‘Am I garbage?’
As a result, some students produced excellent results and graduated, but more than half gave up and left the laboratory instead.
Having been in that laboratory, Jeong Yujin had lived a life of seeing the dawn star on his way to work and the evening star on his way home.
The reason he died and came to this world was that, after barely getting even three hours of sleep because of an experiment, he had fallen asleep at the wheel while driving his advisor’s car to a conference and crashed into a guardrail.
There was no need to say any more about what a fucking awful life it had been.
‘It still makes my teeth grind when I think about it, ugh….’
Since it had been an accident on the highway, his advisor could not have come away unscathed either. Thinking of that was at least a small consolation, but….
In any case, after living such a fucking miserable previous life, he had shouted with joy upon realizing that he had been reincarnated into a noble family in another world.
Weren't nobles in a fantasy world part of the privileged class?
Eugene had dreamed of living indulgently and enjoying life to the fullest now that things had turned out this way….
‘...Why did I have to be born into a family like this?’
The Magnus Family was not a good place for such a life.
First.
-Today, I will administer a basic medicinal-herb compendium test. The bottom ten percent will live with the servants for the next month and perform the same work they do. Of course, they will be treated as servants as well.
To raise the finest alchemists, the family regularly tested its many potential heirs.
The tests covered everything from identifying the properties of medicinal ingredients and metals to devising combination formulas and, beyond that, manufacturing reagents themselves.
And those who failed to achieve proper scores on the tests received treatment no better than servants—utterly humiliating treatment.
The Magnus Family’s customs were strict, but that did not make them any less noble. Naturally, their sense of privilege was immense as well.
On top of that.
-Mariel, I heard your Heize Family completely went under this year. Do you really think you can compete with me?
-Fiona, I hear the Osterburn Family is in danger these days…. If you are wise, you know very well whose hand you should join with, do you not?
There was also the problem that a virtual civil war had broken out among the siblings.
As the Empire’s greatest house of alchemists, the Magnus Family had many interests at stake, and where such businesses existed, people naturally gathered.
And the most basic means those gathered people used to cement their relationships was marriage.
Unlike South Korea in his previous life, this world permitted polygyny. Naturally, Isaac Magnus, the Family Head, had many wives from all sorts of noble families, and since his reputation as the greatest alchemist was no empty boast, he also had many children with those wives.
Naturally, competition formed among those children. If even one of them fell to servant status, there was no need to describe how they would be treated.
Of course, it would have been good if Eugene had distinguished himself on the tests and become an heir….
The problem was that, given Eugene’s position, he could not do that either.
-Eugene, you bastard, are you still clinging around here like a beggar? I suppose having half-commoner blood is why you have such persistence.
Unlike the other children, Eugene Magnus had no mother.
A person could not be born alone, so he must have had a mother who gave birth to him….
However, Eugene knew absolutely nothing about what kind of person his mother was or what had happened to her.
The important point was that having no mother meant having no one to watch his back.
Eugene realized that fact to his bones on the day he first ranked first in a test.
-Feeling good because you lucked into first place?
-What gives a half-commoner bastard like you the confidence to strut around? Do you have a death wish?
Eugene had always been good at studying, even in his previous life. After several tests, his grades rose until he finally claimed first place, but the result was utterly miserable.
The older brothers and sisters who had always found him an eyesore dragged him to a corner of the garden and beat him up.
As the youngest son and, in practical terms, the weakest member of the family, he had no noble backing like his other damned blood relatives. There was no one in the entire household who would help him.
After going through that, Eugene learned that he could not stand out.
Naturally, in a situation where the succession competition was this fierce, standing out would inevitably draw more suppression. The weaker one’s backing was, the less likely one was to endure it.
And if Eugene kept ranking first? It would mean making enemies of all the backers behind his other damned blood relatives.
That was why, from then on, Eugene deliberately maintained merely adequate test scores—enough not to be reduced to a servant—and lived quietly, trying not to draw attention.
Of course, he was preparing in secret.
‘This family is more fucking awful than graduate school. When the time comes, I'll escape no matter what!’
He had no intention of staying in the fucking Magnus Family, a place that made graduate school from his previous life look like heaven.
So Eugene secretly prepared for his escape.
He possessed a fair amount of alchemical knowledge, but since he did not know what he would need to survive outside, he learned and practiced a broad range of skills: basic swordsmanship, elementary magic at the level of the 1st Circle, hunting methods, and survival techniques.
The deadline he set for his escape was the age of fifteen, when one became an adult by Imperial standards.
On his fifteenth birthday, he would leave this damned family and become free.
With that resolve, Eugene Magnus sharpened the blade within his heart.
A few days before his fifteenth birthday.
“Young Master Eugene, the Family Head has summoned you.”
Jeffrey, the butler, relayed the Family Head’s words to Eugene.
Jeffrey was a black-haired man with narrow eyes who had served Isaac Magnus for a long time and was now entering middle age.
Because of those narrow eyes, it was difficult to read his expressions or know what thoughts lay within him.
“Ah, Uncle Jeffrey. Why does the Family Head wish to see me….”
“He did not state a specific reason, Young Master.”
“...Understood.”
Though Jeffrey’s position was that of a butler, Eugene treated him with the utmost courtesy.
The reason was simple.
From what he had observed, the person who spent the most time with Isaac Magnus was none other than Jeffrey.
That meant he was the Family Head’s closest aide.
It was not difficult to understand that making a good impression on such a person was the wise thing to do.
“I will guide you there, Young Master.”
“Thank you.”
Eugene followed Jeffrey and tried to guess the reason, but nothing came to mind.
At most, he considered a political marriage, but that was not the sort of task someone without backing like him would be assigned.
He could not understand why he had been summoned.
Then, as they walked down the corridor.
“What is this, half-commoner? You are still alive today?”
“What rotten luck, seeing a commoner first thing in the morning. Ptooey.”
He encountered Cassian and Raisha, the siblings who had tormented him since childhood.
“....”
Eugene gave no response and walked past them.
Watching him, Jeffrey spoke.
“Young Master is quite patient.”
“Pardon? Ah, it is nothing, Uncle Jeffrey.”
Eugene answered as though it were nothing.
Compared to what he had endured from his advisor during laboratory meetings in his previous life, that much really did seem like childish play.
“...Is that so.”
With a thoughtful expression, Jeffrey nodded.
The two continued down the corridor and entered Isaac’s office.
‘It's been a long time since I saw Father.’
Isaac Magnus was a busy man, so Eugene was lucky if he saw him even ten times a year.
Naturally, one-on-one meetings like this were even rarer.
Wondering what this could be, Eugene greeted Isaac with a faintly ominous feeling.
“Have you been well, Family Head?”
Isaac Magnus, who had been working in his office, raised his head.
‘He hasn't changed at all, even after all this time.’
That was what Eugene thought as he looked at him.
Objectively speaking, Isaac Magnus was a handsome man whose features looked sculpted in every respect.
His pale skin, silver hair, and sharp red eyes made it abundantly clear that the reason he had so many wives was not simply because of his family.
Eugene did not know what Isaac’s personality was like, but he resembled him greatly in appearance and could certainly be called handsome himself. Eugene considered that fortunate.
Even if it made him stand out a little, being handsome was a great help in life.
The problem was.
‘...For how many years has he looked like that?’
The comparison to a sculpture did not apply only to his looks. It seemed to apply to time as well.
As far as Eugene could remember, Isaac Magnus had appeared not to age for nearly ten years.
Eugene had not known him for very long, so perhaps he had looked that way for even longer.
Some of Isaac’s damned blood relatives were quite old, so it was clear that this was not merely a matter of one or two years.
‘Alchemy really must be useful.’
It seemed that exceptional alchemy could even hold back the passing of time.
As Eugene was thinking that.
“You will soon be fifteen.”
Isaac suddenly spoke.
“That is correct, Family Head.”
Did he remember my birthday?
As Eugene wondered that.
“I see. At fifteen, it is time for you to prove your usefulness.”
Isaac spoke in an emotionless voice, with no hint of a birthday greeting.
“...Pardon?”
“I do not much like leaving useless things in this world.”
The words that followed made even less sense.
My usefulness? And he did not like leaving things behind?
Though Eugene was puzzled.
“You will learn soon enough. You may leave now.”
He was still given no proper explanation.
‘My role? What does that mean? I was planning on running away anyway….’
The next day.
“Young Master. The Family Head has ordered that, starting on the day you turn fifteen, you are to take charge of and manage the ‘Magnus 43 Alchemy Workshop.’”
“What? Me? No, why a workshop all of a sudden….”
“That was all the Family Head said.”
A command like a bolt from the blue came through Jeffrey, the Magnus Family’s butler.
He was suddenly expected to take charge of an alchemy workshop and become its manager.
“However, I believe the reason the Family Head assigned you such a task is that it is the only work you can do, Young Master.”
“What do you mean….”
“Young Master has no interests tied to other families. I believe it means that, to prove you are useful, you must perform some other duty.”
“Ah….”
As Jeffrey said, Eugene’s other damned blood relatives were useful merely by existing.
Their existence itself was proof that the contracts forged through marriage remained secure.
But Eugene, who had no mother, had no such value.
Therefore, he had to do work like managing a workshop.
On top of that.
“Then, when he said that he did not like leaving useless things behind….”
“Well, I wonder whether I truly need to say that aloud myself.”
Jeffrey said that, but Eugene knew that for a family with the power of the Magnus Family, disposing of a single person would be no trouble at all.
With the family’s sphere of influence spread across the entire Empire, he could not run away either.
In the end, there had been no path of escape from the beginning.
“If there is anything you are curious about, please feel free to ask me, Young Master.”
“...Thank you, Uncle Jeffrey.”
After Jeffrey left, Eugene remained alone in the room.
‘...Damn it. In the end, there was no way for me to become free?’
***
A few days later, having realized that he had no choice, Eugene became the manager of the Magnus 43 Alchemy Workshop on his birthday.
As the Empire’s greatest house of alchemists, the Magnus Family managed alchemy workshops throughout the Empire. Since there were so many workshops, they distinguished them by number.
The Magnus Family generally handled overall supervision, but the individual workshops also operated autonomously and competed with one another.
And the 43rd Workshop, which Eugene had been assigned to manage, was a small workshop located in a corner of Magnus territory.
“Young Master Eugene, I will show you around the workshop. First, the apparatus here is used to filter reagents….”
Following Edgar, the Workshop Master in charge of the entire facility, Eugene was shown around the workshop.
Because it was relatively small, this workshop focused on researching reagents and magical catalysts for prototypes rather than mass production.
Perhaps because of that.
‘It feels a little like a graduate laboratory.’
It had the feeling of a small research laboratory.
The difference was that its equipment was primitive enough to appear only in middle-school science textbooks.
‘It really is small.’
That was what Eugene thought after looking around the whole place.
From what he had learned through Jeffrey over the past few days, the 43rd Workshop was among the smallest of the alchemy workshops. Its results were poor as well, and many expected it to fail soon.
He did not know what Isaac had been thinking when he made Eugene the manager of such a failing workshop….
‘Isn't this just sending me here to die?’
One thing was certain: if the workshop he managed failed, the responsibility would inevitably fall on Eugene.
And could a manager who had ruined a workshop be considered useful?
A professor who failed to receive tenure could at least join another research institute or school, but Eugene did not have any real standing.
It meant that if the workshop failed, he would die. That was all.
‘...Damn it, I'm really screwed.’
As he thought that.
“...That concludes the overview of the equipment in our workshop. If there is anything else you would like to ask, please tell me and I will answer.”
Edgar, who had finished giving him a general tour of the workshop, spoke.
‘Damn it, I need to do something.’
The equipment was different, but the way things operated resembled a graduate laboratory.
Though he did not have much life experience, he had some experience in laboratories, so Eugene thought he might be able to do something.
“What research is this workshop conducting at the moment, Workshop Master Edgar?”
“Ah, we are currently working on a commission from the Kalibore Mage Tower. They have asked us to create a new metal for artifact manufacturing….”
Edgar began explaining the commission.
Recently, the Kalibore Mage Tower had been focusing its research on the Electric Element.
The Electric Element had the characteristic of being faster than other elements.
They hoped that using that characteristic would make it easy to create objects that could fly through the sky.
However.
“They say that the existing metals are too heavy and are hindering their research. So they have commissioned us to create a metal that is as light as a sheet of paper while also having good affinity with the Electric Element.”
Metals with good affinity for the Electric Element tended to be heavy.
That meant they were unsuitable for flight research.
That was why the commission for a lightweight metal had come in.
‘A lightweight metal….’
The moment he heard it, Eugene thought it sounded like a headache.
Perhaps Edgar saw the expression on his face.
“...The other workshops did not want to take it on, so it came to our workshop as a last resort. Still, they could not ignore a commission from a Mage Tower, so they dumped it on us.”
Edgar spoke with a grim expression.
‘So it was responsibility dumping after all.’
Eugene quickly understood the situation.
Even in this world, it was common knowledge that metals were heavy.
Alchemy had advanced, but that did not mean one could simply make a lightweight element appear with a pop as if by magic.
Alchemy was the work of combining the ‘properties’ of materials to produce results that strengthened those properties.
And among the properties of metal were ‘heaviness’ and ‘affinity with the Electric Element.’
To make a metal lighter, one had no choice but to sacrifice that property. But then, along with its weight, its affinity with the Electric Element would weaken as well.
To make such a metal as light as a sheet of paper?
Even compared with the alchemical knowledge Eugene possessed, it was clearly fucking difficult.
Giving them such a task meant.
‘They are thinking that since this workshop is going to fail anyway, they can assign it something difficult and bury it along with the workshop.’
It was practically a situation where he had been checkmated from the start.
‘Damn it, I don't even know what kind of metal could be both light and highly conductive. If only there were something like aluminum….’
At that point, Eugene’s eyes suddenly widened.
‘Wait, if I can make aluminum…?’