Alchemists do not need self-cultivation

"Hmm... are you complimenting me? I do care about my weight."

No, that's not true.

After finishing the last few sets, Isaac put Fran down on the ground, walked to the open space next to the garden, picked up a barbell that looked very heavy, and started exercising.

Having absorbed the android Sloth, Isaac gained immense strength, but his muscle mass remained stagnant.

This has always been a major problem for Isaac. If he has a muscular physique that is eye-catching, then no matter how much people criticize his face, his first impression will still be that of a tough guy.

He had always been very envious of his superior's brother, Alex, and his intimidating muscles.

Unfortunately, the weight of the android and the Philosopher's Stone seemed to limit Isaac's growth, keeping him stuck at the age of twenty. He couldn't even grow a beard, let alone develop muscles.

It finally grew a little bit, but Violet shaved it off.

"What a tragedy."

“Isn’t this Isaac, and Miss Fran?”

A blonde woman in a men's suit walked into Hugh's mansion. She quickly noticed Isaac exercising in the garden.

“It’s you, Miss Karns.”

Camilla Thor Karnes, the only daughter of the Karnes Chamber of Commerce president, and also Hugh's childhood friend.

Isaac had met the woman in front of him a few times before. Because her father would often go to the United States, her attire was always quite unconventional. The last time he saw her, she was wearing a Western cowboy outfit.

She is a very lively woman.

Are you exercising?

"As you can see, that is indeed the case."

Fran: "This guy is worried because he's too beautiful."

"Shut up."

"Hahahaha, being pretty isn't a bad thing, is it?"

"How could this not be a bad thing for a tough guy like me?"

Isaac put down the barbell, looked up, and looked at Carla.

The sight before him startled him.

"you……"

"What's wrong?" Camilla tilted her head, wondering what Isaac wanted to say.

Why do you have a beard?

Camilla does indeed have a mustache on her cute face today.

"Isn't this interesting?"

Isaac's face turned ashen.

"Damn it, even women are growing beards now?"

"Hey, hey, this is fake."

Camilla laughed as she ripped off the two fake mustache tufts from her face.

"...Did you bring this fake beard to insult me?"

“How could that be? I just thought it would be fun to bring it.” Camilla smiled and waved her hand. “Are Hugh and Darian home?”

"Of course he is. He likes to hide in the house and drink tea when nothing happens. Dalian is in there too."

"That's good. See you later then."

She stuck the fake mustache that was originally on her face onto Isaac's face and skipped into the mansion.

"..."

"Hey~ Not a bad woman, such a cheerful woman is hard to find." Fran whistled like a female hooligan in the direction Camilla had left. "Isaac, don't you think... what are you doing?"

Then Isaac pulled out a mirror from somewhere and looked at himself.

"Hmm, not bad. It seems that having a handsome beard is necessary, but I prefer the wild look of a full beard."

"...No, a beard doesn't suit you."

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

"Hi~"

"Camilla, you came without even saying a word."

Upon seeing his childhood sweetheart arrive, Xiu Yi quickly came up to greet him.

"Why did you suddenly come here?"

"You should be happier! Your lovely childhood friend came to your house. You should be blushing and your heart should be racing, like, 'Could it be that this guy likes me?'" Camilla said with a hint of displeasure.

"The word 'cute' is a bit late for you, you're already twenty."

“It’s nineteen! How rude of you!” Camilla pouted angrily in retort.

"Sorry, sorry... Um, is there something urgent that you came all of a sudden?"

"It's not really anything urgent. I'm here to see Darian."

“Dalian? Oh, she’s…”

“Yeah~ I found it.”

Before Hugh could even speak, Camilla spotted Dallian leisurely reading a book and drinking tea at the dining table.

She noticed Camilla's presence and said expressionlessly and melancholically, "It's you again, Miss Leftover."

"The term 'leftover woman' really hurts," Camilla said, unfazed by Darian's comment. "It's rare that I brought you a gift~"

As she spoke, she took out a box of German-made fried bread from her bag.

"This is called Berliner. It's German fried bread. It has jam filling inside. You should like this kind, right?"

“…I’m a tolerant person, there’s nothing I can’t eat,” Darian said, blushing slightly, then shouted to Hugh beside her, “Hugh, hurry up and make some tea!”

Hugh: "..."

Just as he went to make tea, Isaac and Fran also entered the mansion.

"Speaking of gifts, there's something you might like... Hmm?"

"what happened?"

"What are you looking at?" Camilla pointed to the magazine in Dallian's hand.

"It's just an auction catalog."

"Darian answered casually. It was a catalogue from a closed auction. It was probably a vintage item acquired from an antiquarian bookstore. On the catalogue's illustrations, an unfamiliar person had hastily written the final hammer price below each item."

Chapter 1021: The Book of Equivalence

Camilla snatched the magazine from Dalia's hands when she wasn't looking.

"Hey!"

"Let me see~" Camilla took the magazine and looked at the contents. "A doll. So cute~ Darian has this kind of interest too."

The main items at the auction were antique bear dolls.

The designs, materials, and production dates all differ. The prices, on the other hand, are all outrageously high, reaching the price of the latest car models.

"The appearance of the doll... I'm interested in the antique art as a toy, the correlation between its value and market price. Whether it's cute or not is not important," Dalian argued, blushing.

Of course, Camilla wouldn't believe such a weak explanation.

"Really? Which one do you like?"

"Well, no matter what, this guy is cuter."

As she said this, Dallian pointed to a teddy bear in the catalog.

"This level of skill is the best I've ever seen in a bear. If I hadn't specifically asked, I wouldn't have been able to tell even this. Are your eyes actually just two dots? Look at the perfect balance between this bear's eyes and nose..."

After saying so much in one breath, Darian finally realized his slip of the tongue. He lowered his head as if avoiding Camilla's gaze, his face flushed red.

"Hehehe~" Camilla chuckled, as if she found Dalian's current behavior quite amusing.

Just then, Hughie finished brewing tea and came out. He also happened to see the price list in the magazine.

"What an astonishing price! How can such a silly teddy bear cost so much... Ouch, that hurts!"

Hugh cried out in pain after being stepped on by Dallian.

"Don't you know?! That kind of bear was sewn on by hand, stitch by stitch. There's absolutely no other one in the world that's exactly the same... You damn alchemist, what kind of eyesight do you have?!"

Just as Dallian was halfway through disciplining Hugh, she noticed the subtle look in Isaac's eyes.

"How should I put it? You're not much different from those otaku who're all over the place complaining about their ridiculously expensive figurines."

"what?"

“The product itself isn’t worth that much; what’s valuable is the sentiment and the hype.” Isaac walked over and glanced at the price list in the book. “It actually sold for such a high price in the end. It seems that the sentiment is worth a lot of money.”

“Of course, after all, it’s a one-of-a-kind doll, and even if someone wanted it, it would be very difficult to get one,” Camilla said with a smile.

"Never mind that for now, what about the other gift you mentioned?"

"There's one more gift..."

Camilla unconsciously placed her hand on her handbag.

"Hmm... let's pretend I didn't say that, I've thought of something better."

"Ok?"

Camilla turned around, walked up to Isaac, and extended her hand.

"Isaac, may I ask you for something?"

"what?"

"Anything you carry with you, anything you're planning to throw away or don't need anymore, is fine."

"Anything is fine..."