The most shameless alchemist in history

“It’s not just that. An envoy’s mission involves two countries. By joining the diplomatic corps, you can not only meet with high-ranking officials from both countries, but if you do well, you can also make connections with many influential people. This will be of great benefit to your future.” Nono nodded in affirmation.

“But I look like this…” Du Lei suddenly felt a little guilty, because he had always lived in the snowy mountains. Coming to Maple Leaf Academy was the first time he had ever traveled far from home. He hadn’t made a name for himself at Maple Leaf Academy yet and was still an unknown figure.

Now, suddenly being asked to venture onto a much larger stage, he feels unprepared, because according to his plans, this is something that will happen several years from now, and even then, he may not be able to seize the opportunity.

"What's wrong with you? Are you trying to say you're scared?" Nono glared at Dure.

"Afraid? Who said I was afraid? How could I be afraid? Let alone the mere Rock City, I'm not afraid of even a dragon's den or a tiger's lair." Du Lei spoke with great pride, and although his words were a bit exaggerated, his determination was evident between the lines.

"In that case, it's settled then." Nono nodded, indicating that she and Du Lei had reached a consensus.

“But… I feel like something’s not quite right.” Dure rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought.

"Why are you being so indecisive? In short, in these three days, you first need to resolve the issue of the magic-powered weaponry, and then prepare to set off, understand?" Nono pointed at Durei, clearly issuing an ultimatum, giving the latter no chance to refute.

"Understood, I guarantee I'll complete the mission!" Du Lei replied respectfully, readily accepting Nuonuo's words.

“But Nono…” Du Lei agreed readily, but he was still a little unsure and hesitated to speak.

"Can't you, a grown man, just finish what you're saying in one go? You're making people very impatient!" Nono urged impatiently.

"Where am I supposed to get magical weapons?" Dure asked in a low voice.

"Find a way yourself!" Nono thought he would ask about how to make something nutritious, but this was what he said instead.

After scolding Dure, she swaggered away.

"Hey, Nono, where do you expect me to go to find a solution? Wait a minute and explain yourself clearly." Du Lei tried to catch up with her, but Nono had already disappeared in the blink of an eye, and there was no way he could catch up with her.

"As expected, he's as willful as ever. It's really a headache. I remember that normally we wouldn't consider the issue of magical weapons until a year after entering the academy. It's only been a little over a month, and he's already rushing me to get it done with only three days. Where am I supposed to find it?"

Dure sighed, troubled by the issue of magical weapons, for he had no clue what to do.

"But no matter what, helping me register must not be as easy as you make it sound, even though you're far away and can't hear me... But Nono, thank you so much." Du Lei looked in the direction Nono had left.

He knew that there must be countless people who wanted to be part of the delegation, and for a mere first-year student like him to have secured a spot, Nono must have put in a lot of hard work.

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348 Offbeat Girl

Du Lei had originally planned to spend a pleasant day reading in the library, but he encountered a series of problems, which gave him a real headache. After dealing with everything, he lost all interest in going to the library to read, because he had other things to do.

Moreover, this was something he had absolutely no clue about, so he had to seek advice from others. Lance was undoubtedly the best choice. So after saying goodbye to Nono, Du Lei went to the training ground to find Lance. At this point, he was definitely at the training ground.

"Magic weapons, magic weapons... Lance hangs out with those upperclassmen all the time, and they all have magic weapons. Lance should know something, right? We can only ask him for now, but Nono won't tell me..."

Dure sighed. Dealing with someone like Nono was enough to drive him to tears. His mind was preoccupied with the magical weapons and the journey to Rock City, and he didn't pay attention to anything else. Just as he turned the corner of the square to go to the training ground, someone else walked towards him from the opposite side.

"This place is so big, it's like a maze! Is this the right way? Or the right way? Waaah, it all looks pretty much the same, so annoying! Should I ask someone for directions? But I'm so shy, I just can't bring myself to say it..."

A girl who looked to be about fifteen or sixteen years old walked over. She had short, cherry-blossom-colored hair and big eyes. She was wearing a short hunting outfit and a pair of deerskin boots, which made her look particularly energetic and cheerful. Her cute face made her a lively and beautiful sight wherever she went.

However, she seemed to be in some kind of trouble at this moment. She looked around, not knowing what she was looking for, and also not noticing that someone was walking towards her. Two people who were not looking where they were going walked in opposite directions. The result could only be one thing.

"The training ground is just ahead. Let's ask Lance before making any plans... Ouch, what's going on? Did I bump into a wall?" Du Lei bumped into something unexpectedly. He didn't understand what was going on for a moment, and just assumed that he had lost his way.

"Waaaaah, it hurts, I'm so dizzy, my head is spinning! Where did I end up? I've forgotten which direction I came from. Do I have to go back and start looking all over again? This feeling is so awful, waaaaah!" The girl was only spun around once after being bumped.

But this was enough to disorient her. She looked around trying to find the right path, but she had no clue what to do. She could only return to the starting point and use the most primitive method to find her destination step by step.

"This is... a girl? Just now... I'm so sorry, I accidentally took the wrong path. I hope I didn't cause you any trouble?" Du Lei was stunned for a moment. After looking at the girl in front of him, he carefully recalled the situation and quickly apologized to her.

"Someone's here! A stranger, someone I don't know! Run!" The girl was a little confused when someone greeted her, which suddenly made her tense. She nervously took several steps back and hid behind a stone sculpture, hesitating to move forward.

"Um... is it really necessary to react so strongly? My name is Du Lei, and I'm not a suspicious person." Seeing her strong reaction, Du Lei realized that anyone who didn't know better would think he had been bullied, which made him very embarrassed. Fortunately, he wasn't one to hold grudges, so he immediately explained the situation.

"Du Lei? Please wait a moment, I need to write your name down. I have a very bad memory, and I'll easily forget it if I don't write it down." The girl immediately took out a pen and paper from her pocket and carefully wrote "Du Lei" on the paper, but she stopped as soon as she finished writing the name.

"She's definitely the type who takes things seriously." Du Lei nodded, realizing she was quite an interesting girl.

"Wait a minute!" The girl suddenly jumped up reflexively. She immediately put away her pen and paper, stepped back again, and stared at Du Lei from a distance.

"What is it now?" Du Lei was startled by her strong reaction.

"I didn't ask for your name, why did you tell me? You don't have some ulterior motive, do you?" The girl looked at Du Lei warily.

"Huh? Intentions? What intentions could I possibly have? Hey, I only gave you my name out of politeness. You won't tell me your name, fine, but you're accusing me of having ulterior motives? Isn't that wrong? I'm not taking the blame for this." Du Lei almost spat out blood.

Her thought process was a bit too erratic. Just then, some people passed by and overheard the girl's words. They looked at Du Lei with suspicion, making Du Lei feel extremely uncomfortable, as if he had done something despicable.

"Oh? Is that so? My name is Wenli. Du Lei, are you a student here?" The girl who called herself Wenli was relieved after hearing Du Lei say this. She relaxed her guard and asked Du Lei another question.

"You...you just trusted someone so easily?" Du Lei was a little taken aback by her reaction.

"Does Dure not trust you?" Winry pretended to get nervous again.

"No, no, no, that's not it. I am absolutely trustworthy, please believe me on that point." Du Lei was afraid that she would say something strange again and cause misunderstandings among passersby, so he quickly waved his hand.

"Then I'm relieved." Wenli breathed a sigh of relief.

"Is this what they call a quirky girl? I've really learned something new." Du Lei has seen quite a few different types of girls, but he has never seen anyone like Wen Li before.

"Durey, what are you saying?" Wenli blinked and asked, not having heard him clearly.

"No, nothing. I just wanted to ask, Wenli, you don't look like someone from our academy." Du Lei looked Wenli up and down from head to toe. It was a teaching day, and all the students at Maple Leaf Academy were wearing their school uniforms, but Wenli wasn't. She didn't seem like a new teacher either.

After all, if there were any new teachers or something, Nuonuo would have told him, but he had just seen Nuonuo, and Nuonuo hadn't mentioned anything about it.

“That’s right, I’m not from the academy.” Winry nodded, not denying it.

"So, Wenli, what brings you to the academy?" Dure asked curiously.

"Well... I have something to take care of, but the roads around your academy are so complicated that I... I haven't found it yet," Wen Li said, scratching her head somewhat embarrassed.

"So... Winry, are you lost?" Dure offered Winry a word to describe her current predicament.

"No, I'm not lost, absolutely not lost! Don't make me sound like I have no sense of direction!" Wen Li reacted strongly to the word "lost," almost exploding with anger.

"Okay, okay, Wenli, you're not lost. Then Wenli, tell me where you're going. Maybe we're going to the same place?" Du Lei realized that he had not only encountered a quirky girl, but also a quirky girl with a terrible sense of direction who refused to admit it.

He smiled kindly and then asked her where she was going.

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349 The Snake's Bite

Dure was going to the training ground to find Lance, so naturally he couldn't go the same way as the eccentric and directionally challenged Winry. However, when he heard Winry say that she was going to the academy's office building, he was "surprised" and said that he was going to the office building too. So he and Winry went to the office building together.

After watching Wenli enter the office building, he made an excuse to go to the toilet and slipped away. As a result, he ended up taking a long detour around the academy. However, Dure didn't have anything special to do anyway. Even if he went to the training ground, he would have to wait for Lance to finish his match.

When he arrived at the training ground, Lance was sparring with a senior student. According to the people around him, Dure had figured out that the senior student was at the high level of the second star, and was considered one of the better students among the seniors. Lance was at a clear disadvantage.

But Lance was always the type to get stronger as the battle went on. Even when he was in a disadvantageous situation, he almost turned the tide with his tenacity. It wasn't until his senior used the magic weapon, Viper's Bite, at the last moment that he defeated Lance. Although he won, it also attracted a lot of discussion.

"Hey, look at Jones. He's clearly stronger than that newbie, but not only can he not beat him, he even uses magic-based weapons to turn the tide. Isn't that a bit too shameless?" Someone was very dissatisfied with Jones's actions.

"That's right. The newcomer didn't have any magic-powered weapons and relied entirely on his raw strength to fight him. But once he uses magic-powered weapons, the two sides will be on completely different levels. If he's so capable, he should wait until the newcomer gets magic-powered weapons before they compete. His victory like this is meaningless." Someone chimed in.

"That guy's name is Lance, right? He can fight Jones like this even without magic weapons. Next year when he has magic weapons, he'll definitely beat Jones to a pulp. Keep it up, kid, your future is limitless." Some people were optimistic about Lance and encouraged him.

"What do you guys know? Winning is winning, why bother with all that? Let me tell you, you're just jealous, jealous! Get out of my way, don't block my way!" Jones was humiliated by the crowd's outcry. After leaving the training ground, he pushed through the crowd and walked away with his head down.

If you look closely, you can clearly see that Jones walked away with a red face. He knew, of course, that what he did was not a fair fight, but he could not tolerate being defeated by a newcomer who was even worse than himself on the training field. Seeing that he was about to lose, he used his magical weapon in desperation.

"Damn it, I was so close to winning. I have to be more careful next time. Is that the power of magic-based weapons? It looks pretty good." Lance also tumbled off the training field. He received a completely different treatment after leaving the field, even though he was the loser.

But the audience's eyes are discerning; they all know that Lance is the one who truly deserves the praise.

"Lance, are you alright?" Dure asked Lance after he had squeezed out of the crowd.

"Hey, Dure, you didn't go to the library today, but came to the training ground instead. That's quite unusual. It's nothing, nothing at all. Senior Jones already gave me the antidote. I'm still a little numb, but I think I'll be fine soon." Lance grinned.

"Antidote... was it caused by Senior Jones's magical weapon 'Snake Bite'?" Dure went forward to look at Lance's wound. There was a small tooth mark on his arm, which was obviously caused by a snake.

“That’s right, it was caused by a snake bite. As expected of Senior Jones, I was very careful to take precautions, but I still fell for it.” Lance nodded, cold sweat beading on his forehead. Although he still had a smile on his lips, it was clear that he was in a very bad mood.

"Is this the power of magical weapons? Although I didn't see it very clearly just now, the Serpent's Bite is actually a ring belonging to Senior Jones. When you and he clashed head-on, he used this ring to graz your arm, and you didn't even notice it at the time, right?"

Dure recalled the scene of Lance and Jones' fight just now. He had been watching from the sidelines and had seen every detail clearly.

“That’s right. At the time, I didn’t know that Senior Jones had activated his magical weapon, so I went head-to-head with him. But I didn’t expect to be hit by his attack. After being bitten by the venomous snake, the venom started to take effect, and I lost my ability to fight in a short period of time.” Lance nodded to confirm this.

“Antidote alone isn’t enough for the wound; it needs to be cleaned. Come with me over there; we’ll talk about other things later.” Dure examined Lance’s wound and led him outside to clean it. Although he was very interested in the magic-powered weaponry, Lance’s injury was more important at the moment.

Meanwhile, inside the Maple Leaf Academy's office building, a girl was wandering around.

"Is this the office building? Where did that guy Dure go? Didn't he say he was going to the bathroom? Why hasn't he come back yet? Without him... I can't find my way at all. The terrain here is so complicated..." The girl, Wenli, looked around nervously.

"Um... do you need any help?" Just then, someone called out to her.

"Someone's here! Hide! Huh? It's a girl?" Wen Li originally wanted to run away and find a place to hide.

But after she noticed that the person who greeted her was a gentle and lovely girl, she relaxed a lot.

"What an interesting girl! My name is Ruth, what's yours?" Ruth introduced herself.

"My name is Wenli." Wenli also said her name. Ruth was very approachable, which made her like her even more.

"The name Winry... Miss Winry, could she be from the capital?" Ruth thought for a moment and asked tentatively.

"Oh, Ruth, you're so smart! You actually knew that?" Winry said excitedly.

“I knew it. I had heard some things about Miss Winry before, and they are a little different from the rumors... Miss Winry, please come this way with me.” Ruth scrutinized Winry for a moment, smiled gently, and pointed to the corridor on the right, indicating that Winry should follow her.

"What? It's different from the rumors? What kind of person am I according to the rumors?" Wendy immediately followed. She could tell that Ruth was a gentle and kind person, and following Ruth would definitely not be a mistake.

This is the second time today that someone has shown her the way when she couldn't find her way. She's so lucky to have met so many kind people!

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350 Inquire about market conditions

After Dure cleaned Lance's wound from the snake bite, the two got down to business. Led by Lance, they left the academy and arrived at the street halfway up the mountain. Dure was familiar with this place, as it was the only way to the academy.

He also stayed here briefly for a day. The street was not wide, and it was even narrow due to the terrain. It was less than 200 meters long, but dozens of shops were densely packed together on such a narrow street. These shops were all kinds of shops.

There are inns, herbal medicine shops, blacksmith shops, and general stores, but these shops have one thing in common: they are all located around Maple Leaf Academy. To be more precise, they are located around Academy Mountain, since the area around Academy Mountain is a high-risk area for monsters.

While monsters are extremely ferocious and have been hostile to humans for a long time throughout history, it took humans thousands of years of fighting to wrest large amounts of land from monsters, establish a foothold, and gradually develop from tribes to cities, driving monsters to live in forests and barren, desolate areas.

Even today, monsters still appear from time to time, posing a great threat to humanity. However, in the eyes of those with a business sense, monsters are treasures from head to toe. Whether it is their fur, claws, teeth, or bones, they are all excellent materials for making weapons.