Someday Will I Be The Greatest Alchemist?

Chapter 663: Youths Gathering From All Around The Continent

There was a time when I thought their antics had gone too far.

Thinking it was just a prolonged version of their usual games, I thought they would soon get bored and forget it.

Sylph and Salamander were excited to gather young talents to come to the Sanctuary to form the knight order, but I thought they wouldn’t be able to amass the numbers.

As for Fluna’s mermaid squad for Undine, they only had five members, so I thought their numbers would scale up to ten, but……

Sylph was talking excitedly with Salamander and Gnome.

「The Wind Spirit Knights will take this spot.」

「In that case, the Fire Spirit Knights will go here.」

「The Earth Spirit Knights will place its headquarters here.」

The three Great Spirits had spread out a map of the Sanctuary and were deciding on the locations of their respective headquarters.

「Taking the future into account, I’d like the building to be able to accommodate a hundred people.」「Yeah. I have three people right now, but I expect promising individuals from all over the continent to come.」

「Same goes for me. Some dwarves aren’t suited to be blacksmiths. Among them, the young ones wishing to assist with the protection of the Sanctuary are making their way here.」

「…………」

How did this come about? According to Sylph, at least twenty young elves were immigrating from Yggurle Kingdom.

Madam Lumia and Mimir-sama had no objections to Sylphs desires. Rather, they even said that Yggurle Kingdom wished to offer assistance. Of course, I politely declined.

And apparently, Salamander wasn’t recruiting youths from just Valkyra Kingdom, but also Lomaria Kingdom and Samandour Kingdom.

Even so, he’s said that it was a little over twenty people.

「There’s really not quite a lot of people capable of becoming part of the Sanctuary Knights. The Sanctuary isn’t a place that accepts everyone, after all.」

「I see.」

Incidentally, the headquarters of Undine’s Water Spirit Knights would be close to the sea. Well, actually, it’s more like it’s already been decided that I would be building it.

「Sophia and Dante really into the idea. Isn’t it about time you give in.」

「No, it’s not about giving in. I do think it’s necessary to have a means to defend ourselves. Whether a knight order is necessary or not is a different matter, but I respect everyone’s opinions on it.」

Still, I understand how Sylph was recruiting elves from Yggurle Kingdom, but how about the other countries? Valkyra Kingdom was one thing, but there’s also Lomaria Kingdom, Samandour Kingdom, and even Gnome’s choice of Gnomstoll Kingdom which is on the other end of the continent.

「Things like that… if an Earth Spirit finds a promising youth, obviously I would go there out scout them myself.」

「Ah, me too. Fire Spirits aren’t as spread out as Earth Spirits and Wind Spirits, but they’re able to find promising individuals too.」

「Haha, there’s no way they could refuse if a Great Spirit is scouting them.」

The Great Spirits sure were quick on their feet.

◇

Somewhere in Samandour Kingdom, there was a young man holding a hoe, eagerly plowing the ground.

He was about to come of age next year.

The Samandour Kingdom, located in the southern region of the continent, had a warm climate, and the young man’s forehead was soaked in sweat from the farm work he had been doing.

This young man, or rather teenage boy to be more precise, was born as the third son to a farmer family.

His two older brothers would inherit the family’s fields, but the third son had none to take.

That’s why, once he reached adulthood, his only options were to work elsewhere or work under his brothers by tending to their land.

But if he were to farm for his brothers, he frankly wouldn’t be able to marry. And so, the only option the young man was really left with was to go elsewhere.

Many young people who became adventurers came from similar backgrounds, so the boy wasn’t particularly unfortunate.

He made his decision to leave when he was around ten years old, slowly making preparations once he realized that his place wasn’t at home.

That said, there wasn’t much that a ten year old third son of a farmer could do. He swung his sword as much as he could, and training his body as hard as possible.

And on that day, a turning point came to the boy.

Although he was a boy of a typical circumstance, he had a diligent and honest personality.

He didn’t possess any talent in combat, commerce, or academia, yet his sole trait as a sincere person, combined with the whim of a Great Spirit, had changed the boy’s fate.

「Ou! You there, boy.」

「Eh?」

A voice suddenly came from behind him. He stopped plowing the field and turned around, only to see a lad with red hair and red skin standing there.

However, even as a mere third son to a farming family, he inevitably realized that the lad in front of him was no ordinary being.

「Y- you’re a……」

「Ou, my name is Salamander. Well, I’m basically the Great Fire Spirit.」

「S-salamander-sama」

Startled by the sudden appearance of a Great Spirit, he dropped his hoe and prostrated himself before the great being.

Even if one wasn’t an elf or a dwarf, Spirits were still worshipped. This also applied to humans.

「You have quite a pretty color of your soul. Why not join my knight order in the sanctuary?」

「Salamander-sama’s knight order?」

「Yeah, I’m thinking of making the Fire Spirit Knights. I’ve come to scout for that for that order.」

「But I’m the third son of a farmer. A knight order is beyond my station.」

「Being a farmer’s third son or even a noble, it doesn’t matter. The knight order I’m making would be made up of people I deem acceptable. So, how about it? You want to go the Sanctuary?」

The boy may have been thrown off by the sudden proposition, but since he had already decided to leave home once he came of age anyway, so he accepted the invitation from the spirit he revered.

「V-very well. Please treat me well.」

「Ou, I’ll give you some money to cover your expenses. Be careful on your way to the Sanctuary.」

Saying so, Salamander handed the money over to the boy for his preparations and travel cost to the Sanctuary, then vanished without a trace.

It goes without saying that Takumi was later on extorted for money by the Great Spirits without any explanation for what it was to be used for.

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