“Ack…”

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, yes. I’m okay…”

The child, who grabbed Jin’s feathers tightly with his trembling hands, answered.

After confirming that the child was unharmed, she turned her head away with indifferent eyes.

Valletta, who was riding on Jin’s back, bent her head.

With Jin and Nereid working together, it wasn’t difficult to break the glass that surrounded them.

According to the two spirits, Valletta seems to have played a role in easing the relationship between the Magicians power and the spirits, which were usually opposed. That was why she was able to summon spirits even from within the Magic Tower.

‘Is it because I’m an alchemist?’

Either way, it’s fortunate that she could at least compare with one of Reinhardt’s fingers.

If he really wanted to catch her, she wouldn’t be able to escape.

“That, i-is your wrist okay, Master?”

Valletta’s expression became strange at the unexpected title.

“I am not your master. Call me Valletta.”

Valletta answered to the child what she had told Reinhardt dozens of times, and looked down at her wrist.

The bracelet he gave her was cut with a wind knife made by Jin.

The wind had pierced her a little deep, and blood was still gushing out. It was roughly tied with a cloth, but the blood didn’t stop easily.

“Where are we going?”

“Not sure.”

Valletta answered with a plain expression.

She brought some of the most common ornaments in the room.

It wasn’t difficult to pack a few spoons that were made of gold, and some jewelry and gold that was easily disposable.

‘But as long as I have the ability to do alchemy, I will always be pursued.’

It probably won’t be comfortable anywhere.

Jin dropped Valletta and the boy down at a sparsely populated area near the village.

Valletta silently looked at the child who was grabbing the leg of her trouser, and sighed.

‘I did something unnecessary.’

Valletta intended to leave the child in the Sky Room.

However, it occurred to her that Reinhardt might pointlessly blame the child.

She wasn’t sure if the shifting of blame would put the child’s life in danger.

Besides, the child cleverly grabbed her leg and begged mournfully to take him as well.

She eventually put him on Jin’s back and ran away together, but she had no plans at all.

In other words, there were no plans nor capital. At least the jewels and gold she had brought from the Sky Room were all there.

She scanned the jewels and gold she had put in her cloth pocket and held it out to Jin.

“Are there any gems with magical powers or unusual gems here?”

This was to ensure there were no magical tracking devices.

Valletta was cautious. Jin silently looked at her cloth pocket and shook his neck from side to side.

She nodded her head, while staring at his protruding beak.

“I’ll go to the jeweler first.”

It was something she had heard before, however, if there was an alchemist organization that the Empire recognizes, it would be the unofficial Alchemist Association in the underworld.

When one was officially recognized as an alchemist, most of them were taken to the Imperial Palace.

To prevent that, the alchemists formed an association in the underworld, and although they couldn’t obtain an official alchemist license recognized by the Empire, she heard they would be given something like a token that they could use for their own communication network.

It was an association that shared information like exchanging new recipes, purchasing or selling materials, and distributing potions completed with alchemy to other countries.

‘And is it true that there are still quite a few alchemists who are still in hiding?’

She was told that one would need to be introduced through an existing member and take an exam before entering.

However, Valletta’s world was only as wide as what Count Delight allowed.

Most of them were mansions, often social circles, and she would be asked to perform like a monkey in a circus.

It was difficult to even meet other alchemists like herself.

She was able to at least meet the Head of the Imperial’s Official Alchemists Association once. However, she didn’t have a proper conversation with him.

“Jin, it’s okay, you can go back. Thanks for your help.”

-Next time, I will ask for a payment properly. Keep it in mind.

Valletta nodded her head with a grim expression at Jin’s blunt tone.

Distributing a few drops of blood is not difficult.

She looked at the disappearing Jin as he became increasingly transparent, and turned towards the village.

“Are you going to a place where that person can’t find you?”

“There’s none.”

“Yes?”

“It is impossible to run away from Reinhardt. He’ll find us soon anyway.”

Valletta knows his strength.

The moment he awakens as a Transcendent, there will be no one in the Empire that he cannot find if he puts his mind to it.

He has yet to awaken, so it might give him a bit of a headache right now if he tried. However, there must be a lot of ways.

Since he’s smart.

Valletta had once read in the novel where Reinhardt casually used a few teleportations to detect and locate someone who had escaped by using his mana.

“If you can’t run away, then why…”

The boy asked with his eyes wide open.

Valletta’s pace wasn’t that fast, so it didn’t look like it was too difficult for a child to follow.

“Because If he and I are together, I feel like I’m going crazy as well.”

“Yes? But if you ran away from such a scary person, if he caught you, he would kill you.”

“He won’t kill me, probably.”

“… Why?”

“Because I will truly despise him. And I’m sure he’s well aware of that.”

Valletta left it at those mysterious words and entered the village.

The problem was the village wasn’t really a village.

‘This is the capital.’

She asked Jin to drop them off in a village where there were enough people, and he brought them to the capital.

The Underworld Alchemist Association must be somewhere in the capital, so the result may not be a bad thing…

‘It means this is Milrode’s territory.’

The capital of the Empire, of course, held the Imperial Palace and the security was good.

In terms of safety, she couldn’t ask for more, but there were people who knew Valletta. This was especially the case for young girls and nobles who entered the social circle. She would often display her alchemy, so many people would recognize Valletta without her knowing.

As she walked into a nearby store, she put on a loose robe and held out a few of her coins to pay for it.

In cash, this was all her fortune.

She wore her robe to cover her face. She then entered a jeweler store not far away.

She then pulled out a normal-looking jewel she had taken from the Sky Room and put it on the counter.

“I’d like to dispose of this.”

“Dispose?”

She was a shabby jeweler, but had enough money to live a modest life.

The old lady, who glanced at her, squinted and shook her head at the jewels.

“I don’t have the money to handle this top-grade jewel. If you go to the center of the capital, there is a place where the entire two-story building is a jewelry store, so go there.”

“You can just pay as much as you can pay here.”

The old lady stroked her chin with her wrinkled hand and shook her head again.

This jewel was too pure for her to handle, and the craftsmanship was first-class, and it was somewhat burdensome to pocket.

“I’m sorry but it will be difficult. If it’s stolen, go under.”

“Sto…”

After all, as the old lady said, a stolen good is a stolen good.

Even if she wanted to sell it, she didn’t know anyone from the underworld.

Since the Sky Room was used by the Magic Tower’s Master, she had expected that there would be no cheap or low-quality jewelry, but she did not expect that even the disposable items would be rejected.

“Is there perhaps an alchemist under?”

“… Why are you asking that?”

Her voice was still the same, but the old lady’s eyes became sharp.

Valletta closed her mouth and turned her eyes.

She had nowhere to go for information, but seeing that she recommended the underworld, it was clear that the old lady knew the route.

“I’m looking for an alchemist I know.”

The old lady’s lips curled up, and then a bloody smirk came out.

The old lady walked away from the jewel.

“If you want information, you have to show sincerity. Tell that alchemist to come in person.”

“Are they someone you know?”

“Look here, young lady. I don’t know where you came from, but if you don’t want to disappear without a word, you better watch your mouth. Don’t play around with your curiosity.”

A little while ago, there was only mild hostility, but now she was clearly hostile.

***