Alchemists do not need self-cultivation

Chapter 960: Parallel Worlds Within Parallel Worlds

After changing into a trench coat, Isaac followed Alphonse and Edward downstairs and got into their old convertible.

I wasn't used to the mechanical limbs I had in this world, so I spent some time changing them back to the ones I used in Amestris. The empty eye sockets under the blindfold were also reforged into mechanical eyes.

Judging from the previous situation, the missing textbook should be somewhere in this world. If someone finds it, it will probably cause some commotion. As soon as this happens, Isaac rushes over to see and takes the opportunity to retrieve his textbook.

Searching the whole world for a few sheets of paper is like looking for a needle in a haystack; it's better to wait for the news to come out on its own.

As the car drove out of the city and onto the country roads, Isaac sat in the back seat, enjoying the breeze, his mind preoccupied with the lost textbook.

Edward was driving, gripping the steering wheel, while Alphonse sat in the passenger seat. Perhaps feeling bored, he looked at Edward and said, "By the way, tell me your story again."

"Hmm? What story are you referring to?"

“It’s that story I hear you tell every now and then, and I’m bored right now.” Alphonse said, turning to look at Isaac, who was deep in thought. “It’s rare to see Isaac so quiet today.”

Isaac: "I've always been a mature and stable person."

"Ha ha ha ha……"

The Alphonse laughing heartily before me was not the Alphonse Elric of Amestris that Isaac knew. His name was Alphonse Hedrich, and he was not Edward's biological brother in this world.

After bringing Isaac from this world to Munich, Hohenheim left alone, and Edward and Isaac essentially stayed at Alphonse's house.

"Ah, where did I leave off in that story? Let me think..."

Edward thought for a moment, then suddenly laughed.

"Oh right, last time I was talking about State Alchemist Edward Elric and his brother being ordered by a bastard colonel to investigate a small island on the border."

"!"

Isaac, who had been looking down and deep in thought, suddenly twitched his eyelids and looked at Edward with some surprise.

Shouldn't Edward from this world be a native of the current world? Why would he know so much about things in his own world?

"Al and I went to explore a remote island where there was a mentally unstable physicist who produced a supposedly very powerful bomb, saying he wanted to offer it to Central City..."

Edward recounted the story with great emotion as he drove, making what seemed like a fabricated tale sound as if it had actually happened.

Isaac observed Edward's expression through the rearview mirror, and it didn't look like he was making up a story. In fact...

Although Edward in this world is young, only about eighteen years old, the vicissitudes on his face are as if he has experienced many tragedies, which is quite different from Edward in Isaac's world.

Furthermore, the place names Edward mentioned are all real places in his own world, Amestris. It would be too much of a coincidence if they were just made up.

Alphonse, standing to the side, listened intently, as if he were engrossed in a captivating story. He would involuntarily laugh when the story reached an amusing part.

As the car continued to move forward, Edward's story gradually came to an end.

"That's how it is. The righteous State Alchemist and his deeds spread to every corner of the continent," Edward said with a smile, bringing the story to a close.

"Hahahaha, cough cough!"

Alphonse, standing next to him, coughed a few times while laughing; in this world, he seemed to have a rather serious lung disease.

"Ahem, hahaha... Edward's story is really interesting."

"Huh?" Edward looked at Alphonse beside him with some displeasure. "Do you think this story is made up?"

"Otherwise what? Alchemy has been declining since modern times, and disappeared in the wave of the Industrial Revolution after the invention of the steam engine. That's common sense."

“I wasn’t talking about this world,” Edward muttered.

Although the voice was very soft, Isaac still heard it clearly.

“Isaac, you think so too, right?” Alphonse turned around and spoke to Isaac, who had been silent all along. “It seems impossible that alchemy could replace the steam engine as the mainstream technology.”

"I already said it's not from this world..."

“I think it’s possible,” Isaac suddenly said.

"Huh?"

Alphonse was suddenly startled, and not only him, Edward's hand holding the steering wheel also trembled.

“It’s really rare. In the past, when you heard Edward talk about these things, you would just laugh it off or say that he was a ‘novelist buried by scientific research’ or something like that.”

“Who can prove that another world doesn’t exist?” Isaac laughed. “I think Amestris exists, and so does alchemy.”

"...You really have changed. Did your way of thinking change after you had a serious illness?"

"I'm perfectly fine."

At this point, Isaac casually asked, "By the way, Edward, in your 'story,' Alphonse is your brother, so am I involved?"

He wanted to see if the Edward in front of him was the same Edward he knew.

"……some."

Edward's eyes suddenly turned somewhat melancholy, as if he were recalling something sad.

"Corporal Isaac fought bravely against the androids that plagued the country, but was ultimately beheaded by the evil Führer and buried in the Central City cemetery after his sacrifice."

"..."

"Hahahaha, Isaac, you're already 'dead' in Edward's story, hahaha..." Alphonse laughed heartlessly from the side.

Isaac: "...Why a corporal? Aren't I a State Alchemist?"

“Oh, you’re not,” Edward said. “You’ve failed the State Alchemist exam for three years.”

"Am I being too miserable?"

"Yeah, Edward, since it's a story, why not make Isaac a bit stronger? Aren't you friends?"

"I already said it's a story from another world."

The two people in the driver's and passenger's seats were exchanging sarcastic remarks, while Isaac was deep in thought in the back seat.

If what Edward said is true, then there is indeed a parallel world similar to his own, and that world also has an Isaac.

It's Isaac who looks like he's in a really bad situation.

Putting that aside for now, the key question is: who exactly is this Edward? Did he gain memories of another world by some coincidence, or did he, like him, come here from another world?

Isaac slightly raised his head and looked at Edward, who was still chatting and laughing with Alphonse.

There is currently a way to test whether he is the Edward I know.

He grabbed Edward's shoulder, who was still driving.

"Hmm? Is there something you need?"

Seeing Edward's puzzled look, Isaac slightly opened his mouth and uttered a single word.

"Little Bean".

"Who are you calling a tiny bean that's too small to see?!"

Chapter 961: Where Are You From?

In his excitement, Edward's hands on the steering wheel became unsteady, and the car began to drift erratically on the country roads.

"Edward! Lu! Watch where you're going!"

"what!!"

Bang!

It crashed into a tree.

With black smoke billowing from the hood, the car was essentially totaled, but fortunately, no one was hurt.

"..."

The group opened the car doors and got out. Looking at the car, which was already smoking, Edward scratched the back of his head in a bit of a daze.

Alphonse: "Seriously, who drives like that and crashes into a tree in a moment of excitement? How are we supposed to get to the carnival now?"

Faced with Alphonse's complaints, Edward was powerless to refute them and could only lower his head and apologize.

"I am reflecting on my actions..."

"Speaking of which, why did you react so strongly to Isaac calling you 'little bean'? You're not exactly short."

"Well... a conditioned reflex."

Isaac calmly watched the broken-down, rattling car and asked, "Edward, can you fix it with alchemy?"

"No, it's not possible."

“Isaac, you don’t really believe Edward’s story, do you?” Alphonse chuckled. “That’s just a story. This is a world dominated by science and industry. That’s common sense.”

"...Is it really unusable?"

Edward: "Really, alchemy can't be used in this world. Just take what I said as a story."

He eventually realized that whenever he told stories about his world, the two guys thought he was making them up.

Although Edward didn't know why Isaac was suddenly interested in his stories today, it was all in the past, and Edward's constant recounting of his past experiences was nothing more than a way of reminiscing.

Alphonse frowned as he glanced at the broken-down car, then at the country road.

Are we going to walk to the carnival now?

Tread, step, step...

Just as he was fretting, a crisp sound of horses' hooves suddenly rang out from the distance.

“There’s a horse-drawn carriage. We can hitch a ride along the way.”

"I'm so lucky."

Edward and Alphonse instantly perked up and jogged toward the side of the road.

"Isaac, hurry up, or we'll be late."

“I understand,” Isaac called out to them, glancing back at the still-smoking car.

He gently placed his hand on the car, and tiny flashes of lightning suddenly appeared.

The previously deflated front end suddenly bounced back up, the broken headlights were restored to their original state, and the entire car stopped emitting smoke, looking as if it were brand new.

"...Alchemy can obviously be used."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.