After finishing today's experiment, Kaimo Shuir returned home to find his wife had prepared baked flatbread and mushroom soup, and even poured him a full glass of baijiu.
The latter two are commodities sold in convenience stores, particularly these large, white mushrooms, which, as described on the sign, "you can't find a fresher and more fragrant delicacy than this." After tasting them, he found this to be true. Once you take a bite, it's hard to forget the rich and distinctive flavor.
Of course, its price is also astonishing—just a palm-sized one costs a Silver Wolf. If not for the generous salary, Kaimo would never have dared to purchase such an expensive item. There are many such things, like soap and mirrors. With money, life in the town is far more comfortable than in ordinary Nobles.
Roland is utterly unfathomable, and that's what he feels most profoundly.
After dinner, my wife handed me a letter.
"What is this?" "The guards brought it this afternoon. You weren't back yet," the wife said while clearing the tableware. "He said it seemed to come from Chishui City." "Really?" Kaimo entered the study, cut open the envelope with a knife, and unfolded the letter.
The opening sentence is surprisingly 'Hello, esteemed mentor'.
This is the letter from Chamis. He couldn't help but smile, sitting at his desk and reading it carefully.
After I left the Chishui City Alchemy Workshop, another alchemist named Capola became the new leader. However, this narrow-minded individual, upon obtaining the crystal glass formula left by Kaimo, not only claimed to Lord that it was a joint creation of him and Kaimo, but also deliberately or inadvertently marginalized Chamis during alchemical experiments.
In his letter, he lamented that perhaps due to having borrowed Carbola's apprentice while experimenting with the dual-stone acid production method, he failed to inform the apprentice of his breakthrough in advance. Now, several other alchemists seemed to be avoiding him, either intentionally or unintentionally, which greatly troubled Chamis.
Kaimo could probably understand these people's thoughts. As the youngest alchemist in the Refining Room, Chamis was widely regarded as having risen to prominence through sheer luck and personal merit among his peers. Yet the Chief Alchemist scoffed at such views. Saltpeter and green vitriol were commonplace substances—yet the fact that Chamis alone discovered the double-stone acid-making method, rather than others, spoke volumes. Observant, memory sharp, bold in conjecture, and meticulous in experimentation, this young man's talent even surpassed his own.
In conclusion, Chamis appended two alchemical formulas to the letter, claiming they were recent discoveries in his research on two acids, to be shared with his mentor. However, Kaimo immediately recognized that the essence of these formulas was merely the neutralization reaction of acids and bases forming salts. He could effortlessly write over a dozen such formulas in one go.
With a sigh, Kaimoschuir set the letter aside and turned his gaze back to the 'Elementary Chemistry' textbook on the table, its pages already turned multiple times.
It was this 'ancient book' Your Highness entrusted to me that changed everything. Without it, I would still be like Chamis—searching through the surface soil in chaos and confusion, treating it as a treasure.
He took the book and went straight to the last page.
It was a table neatly divided into about a hundred squares.
Every time he sees this table, he can't help but feel goosebumps, with an indescribable mix of reverence... and fear.
Each cell in the grid is labeled with a small serial number, numbered from 1 to 118. Except for the first two rows, most cells are left blank, though some in the middle are filled with symbols. For example, cell 26 contains iron, and cell 29 contains copper.
The table is called the Periodic Table of Elements.
The chief alchemist once held the book tremblingly and asked Roland about the blank pages, only to receive the reply: 'They were originally filled in, but he simply couldn't recall them.'
If the other person isn't Your Royal Highness, all he'd want to do is slap the whole book right in their face.
The book records that this chart encompasses all elements of the world—had there been sacred texts of alchemy, it would undoubtedly be the most brilliant chapter. What terrified him was the question: who could have created such a diagram? If they had reached this level, what was alchemy then? It was merely a castle haphazardly built by children in the muck.
Kemo suddenly remembered Your Highness's promise. If he could summon Chamis and gather the apprentices left behind last time, there might be a chance to fill all three new laboratories. That way, he could finally obtain the long-desired copy of *Intermediate Chemistry*.
At this thought, he immediately took out a blank sheet of paper and began writing the reply.
In fact, when Your Royal Highness asked him during the meeting whether he had any ideas about large-scale acid production, he didn't give a straight answer. The topic was too complex and lengthy to explain effectively. Most importantly, he wasn't sure if the plan would work, as the method he envisioned was entirely based on textbook elements and reaction principles he had fabricated.
Compared to earlier alchemical experiments, this hypothesis resembles the murmurs of a child's dreams—using substances never seen and reaction methods unheard of to produce something seemingly unrelated to the raw materials, simply because they share the same element.
Yet Kaimos Thuir had a vague premonition that this method might actually work!
After all, the hundreds of replacement trials conducted earlier have consistently confirmed the validity of the book's claims.
With the preliminary plan in place, the next step is to conduct a full set of theoretical experiments in the laboratory, as Your Highness has stated that processes for products capable of large-scale industrial production can also be replicated in a lab setting.
The letter was swiftly completed. Rather than offering excessive consolation to Charles, he directly addressed his former senior disciple, elucidating the knowable, measurable, and attainable aspects of alchemy. Kaimo was convinced that any wise person with a keen interest in alchemy would not miss such an opportunity to witness the truth.
After folding the letter paper neatly and sealing it with wax, all that's left is to wait until tomorrow to deliver it to the merchant willing to receive the letter.
After completing all this, his gaze shifted back to the periodic table of elements.
If the table's blank spaces remained unfilled forever, Kaimo would have seen no joy in life. Yet Roland Your Highness's final words stirred his heart—those words still echo in his ears: "Don't put on that show. Every element in the periodic table follows a pattern, and you can fill it yourself." "Pattern... arrangement? Do you mean unknown elements can be deduced like alchemical formulas?" "Exactly. You can describe their appearance and properties even without ever seeing them." "Then... what's this pattern?" "Want to know? It's all in Intermediate Chemistry."