Alchemists do not need self-cultivation

“There’s nothing to be angry about. It’s quite an achievement that he was able to use me,” Isaac said calmly. “I just want to see if my guess is correct.”

"What?"

Snapped!

With a crisp snap of his fingers, the ruby ​​on his left hand crackled with electricity, and the fake mayor's body suddenly burst into flames.

However, the flames did not burn his body, not even his clothes, and the fake mayor's face slowly began to deform, turning into the appearance of a young man.

"...You actually burned away the power that the Illusion Book had placed on him."

“Once you understand how the grimoire works, this kind of thing is very simple for alchemists,” Isaac said. “Was that thing wrapped around him just now… the grimoire’s ‘magic power’ or ‘cursed power’?”

"I'm finding you to be more and more extraordinary."

"Let's go. We can leave the rest to the police in this town."

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.

On the second day after Isaac arrived in the town, news broke that the 'mayor' had died.

The police quickly came out and brought the situation under control, explaining that the previous mayor was an imposter and that they were swiftly gathering people to elect a new mayor.

The previous mayor was actually a convicted felon who escaped from prison two years ago. He then impersonated the mayor and killed the real mayor and Detective Morin, who discovered his identity. He told all of these things to the townspeople without exception.

As for the matter of the phantom book, it was kept secret and it was said that the fugitive's makeup skills were so superb that he could fool people with the real thing.

At the police station, everyone was busy dealing with the sudden incident, leaving the veteran detective with little to do.

"Sir Isaac, we owe you a great debt of gratitude for solving this major case in town."

"The case has been solved, but the town seems to have fallen into chaos as well."

After all, the sudden death of the 'town mayor' is no small matter for this town.

"The chaos is only temporary; the town will be back to normal in a couple of days."

"That's good. I heard you've been nominated to be the town mayor," Isaac said with a smile.

"That's just my colleagues flattering me. I've already declined the mayoral election," the old detective said with a smile. "I'll just stay here and continue being a detective. I still have my grandson to take care of at home."

"That must have been really tough."

After Isaac finished speaking, he looked at the police officers who were busy around him.

"There are some things that are inconvenient to say here, how about we talk about them outside?"

"of course can."

The two walked out of the police station and came to a deserted open space nearby.

Isaac spoke first: "You must have heard about this incident. It was caused by the Book of Illusions. The fake mayor obtained the power of the Book of Illusions and committed all sorts of evil deeds in the town."

"A book of illusions? I've heard of it before..."

"The reason the fake mayor was able to transform into the face you're familiar with is because he used a magic book called Shapeshifting, which is this one." Isaac held up a beautifully packaged white-covered book.

"This one……"

"Don't pretend you don't know. You should know more about the Illusionary Book than I do."

"You flatter me, sir. I'm just a detective." The old detective quickly waved his hand and laughed. "I've certainly never seen something like a phantom book before."

"Never seen a phantom book? Then you must have seen this."

Isaac took a ring out of his pocket, the same ring he had found in the valley that was engraved with the name of a woman named 'Martha'.

"..."

The veteran detective was startled when he saw the ring, but he didn't say a word.

“I found this ring at the place where Detective Maureen had the accident. I don’t think Detective Maureen would be wearing a wedding ring if he wasn’t married, especially since the year engraved on the ring is more than forty years ago.”

"..."

"From the first moment I saw you, I felt that your physical strength was too good, and you didn't look like an old man at all. Seeing you today confirmed my guess."

After Isaac finished speaking, there was a long silence between the two.

Finally, the old detective sighed softly and smiled with relief.

"As expected of you, Your Excellency, you still managed to find out in the end?"

“You’ve hidden it well, sir. No, I should call you Jeff Morin, Detective Morin who should have died a year and a half ago.”

Morin smiled, walked to Isaac's side, and looked up as if in remembrance.

“I should have been the one who died back then. If he hadn’t gone to ask for help for me, he would be the one standing here now.”

Back then, the veteran detective and Maureen both discovered the fake mayor's true identity. The veteran detective felt that Maureen was still young and that he had to take the risk himself. Moreover, at that time, the fake mayor had already set his sights on Maureen, who was investigating the case.

The old detective, disregarding his identity, drove away in a carriage before him.

The fake mayor, mistaking him for Morin, ambushed the old detective on his usual route, burned the people inside the carriage to death, and staged a mudslide to make it look like an accident.

Just as the fake mayor left, Morin secretly sneaked into the mayor's house and discovered the hidden book on plastic surgery.

From that moment on, he lived in the world as the old detective, waiting for his chance to take revenge.

“I’ve been waiting for this day for a year and a half, but it’s not too late,” Morin said with a smile. “Sir, shall I be arrested and brought to justice?”

"Forget it, I'm not a town cop." Isaac walked past Morin and headed away. "You said it yourself, some things are better left in the dark, after all, you still have to take care of his grandson."

"...Sir, who exactly are you?"

"Just a passing alchemist, nothing more."

Chapter 1008: The Meeting of the Two Reading Maidens

"Ah~ It's been so long since I've been outside the clock tower. The air outside is definitely better."

Fran walked down the street, looking around with interest in everything around her.

"Have you never come out of the clock tower before?"

“I only came out at night occasionally, but after that fake mayor took office, he sealed off the clock tower, so I stayed inside the clock tower for a year and a half.”

You're lucky you didn't develop any health problems from holding it in.

Where are we going now?

"Go to where I'm staying temporarily, in the suburbs near London."

Judging by the time, it only took him two days to arrive in this town and resolve the matter. He had agreed with Hugh to return within three days, so they should still be at the mansion and hadn't left yet.

Who do you live with?

“A friend of mine, he’s the guardian of the key, and he also has a reading girl named Dallian,” Isaac said. “You should know him, right? He’s that little black-haired kid.”

"Oh, that little one, I do know him. So you live with the other key guardians. Looks like this is going to be fun!"

"Speaking of which, that brat Dalian has 900,666 fantasy books on his bookshelf. How many do you have on your bookshelf?"

"That's much bigger than that little one."

"That's amazing?"

“Of course,” Fran said, raising her head and puffing out her chest. “Although less than a handful are usable.”

"That's basically useless."

"Yes, that's why I've never been able to find the guardian of the key."

"Looks like I've been tricked into joining you."

"That's right, it's too late to regret it after the contract is signed."

"You didn't give me a choice at all."

Isaac looked at the emblem and ruby ​​on the back of his left hand.

"Moreover... if I master this ability, I can target the Illusion Book, so it's not all bad."

The combination of the Destruction Princess's contract and the alchemist's abilities can be said to have a countermeasure against the illusory books of this world.

------------

Knock knock knock!

"coming."

Hugh opened the door after hearing the knock and saw Isaac standing there.

"You're back so soon? Could you call here from the port? I could drive over and pick you up."

“I just called a carriage over, which saved me a lot of trouble,” Isaac said. “Although we still haven’t found anything about my textbooks, we’ve still made some progress.”

"Harvest refers to..."

Hugh noticed a silver-haired girl behind Isaac whom he had never seen before. The silver-haired girl had the same delicate, doll-like appearance as Dalian, but she was a little older than Dalian.

"Oh, and this is..."

Fran: "Isaac's lover~"

Hugh: "Huh?"

"you shut up."

"Eh? You don't like that title? How about something else, X Slave?"

“Shut up.” Isaac punched Fran on the head and said to Hugh, “Her name is Fran, and she’s the same kind of person as Dallian.”

"A type of person?"

"Yes."

As he spoke, Isaac raised his left hand, showing Hugh the lines on the back of his hand.

"Unexpectedly, I got on a pirate ship, and I had no choice but to take her with me."

“…I see. I understand the general situation now. It’s quite unexpected that you’ve become a bookshelf guardian in just two days,” Hugh said with a smile. “Please come in. It’s rare to have a new guest in my home.”

Hugh led the two into the mansion.

There are now two reading princesses and two key guardians in this mansion.

Fran looked at the spacious hall and the artworks displayed around it with some amazement.