NOVEL WEB Recently, trends among the children of the Empire have shifted swiftly.
Not long ago, whether they were common village kids or the noble young ladies, they were all busy imitating the characters from “The Kingdom of Ice.”
Each child, having begged their parents, donned Elza dresses and brandished wands, causing their guardians to lament as they had to memorize the lines from “The Kingdom of Ice” in order to play along.
However, a new craze has emerged.
“Equivalent Exchange!!!”
“I am Edric Eldrick, the Iron-Blooded Alchemist certified by the Empire!”
“Look! I drew the transmutation circle straight from the book!”
The children were completely engrossed in the new comic book “The Iron-Blooded Alchemist,” busy reenacting its content.
What’s curious is that while prior fads had mainly captivated girls, this time around, it was the boys who were going wild over it.
It was perplexing to wonder why they were so enthralled by alchemy, yet it was common to see boys swinging sticks and reciting lines as if they were heroic alchemists.
Even more astonishing was that this interest wasn’t limited to just the kids; adults were also embroiled in discussions on the topic of “The Iron-Blooded Alchemist.”
Though they didn’t mimic lines like the children, they intently debated whether the Iron-Blooded Alchemist was indeed the strongest or if the Flame Alchemist, featured at the end of volume one, might be even stronger.
Serious discussions took place in taverns quite frequently.
While everyone was enjoying “The Iron-Blooded Alchemist,” there was one place that was not laughing at all.
That was the Alchemy Guild.
In the Empire’s capital city of “Caldea,” the headquarters of the Alchemy Guild was located.
This place typically saw only alchemists seeking materials or merchants purchasing items like potions, making it relatively quiet—at least until last week.
“I’m not just asking for the secret for nothing! I’ve brought ample compensation, so please tell me!!!”
“I’m sorry, but we don’t have any information regarding human transmutation.”
The Empire’s top alchemist and head of the Alchemy Guild, Harun, was at his wit’s end due to the surge of visitors.
“Human transmutation? Such a heinous act I’ve never heard of.”
If they were only a bunch of riffraff, he would have kicked them out at the door, but some of the guests were high-ranking nobles, which complicated matters.
If the person demanding to know about human transmutation hadn’t been Count Christian, he would’ve promptly thrown them out without a second thought.
“Hmph, then what do you say about the contents in this book? Are you telling me it’s all a lie?!”
“Well, that’s…”
Yes, that book was the root of all the problems.
What he thought was a comic book meant for children.
However, seeing that a new release titled “The Iron-Blooded Alchemist” was coming out piqued his curiosity, and upon reading it, he was taken aback.
“Where on earth did they come up with this information about the components of the human body and this transmutation circle?”
While he could have dismissed it as sheer fiction, shockingly, some of the content in the comic book proved to be true.
Particularly, it described components of the human body in ways they themselves had yet to fully understand.
The illustrations in the comic accurately depicted details that sent chills down his spine.
Moreover, the transmutation circles shown were not merely nonsensical either.
They resembled the traditional forms but were new iterations infused with something different.
Young alchemists declaring this as fresh knowledge immediately locked themselves away for research, proving that it wasn’t something to be dismissed lightly as a children’s comic.
“Rebound… This is definitely related to the side effects from forbidden alchemy.”
Although it remained a matter of speculation, it was certain that the author of this book possessed knowledge of forbidden alchemy or the lost ancient techniques.
Rupert Somerset.
Harun etched that name into his memory. He was clearly someone knowledgeable yet secretive.
For such an individual to embed such visions within a book visible to the masses could only mean he was plotting something.
*
“Rupert, what in the world are you…?”
Alex couldn’t hold back his tears.
The release of Rupert’s new comic book “The Iron-Blooded Alchemist” had overwhelmed him with emotions.
The father who left home, the mother and siblings left behind.
Upon witnessing a scene where the brother dabbled in the taboo of human transmutation after losing their mother to illness, the Crown Prince could not hold back his tears.
“Did you… desire it so desperately too? So it wasn’t just me.”
As he reflected on losing his own mother at a young age and shedding tears every night out of longing.
At that time, he would have done anything if someone could have brought her back.
While others might not understand, he could deeply empathize with the brother’s feelings in the comic book.
Why would he resort to such perilous acts?
If only there had been an adult by his side, yes, if only his father had been there, such a tragedy would never have happened.
“Why was there not even one adult to dissuade that brother?”
As he compared his own father, the Emperor, to the father who left in the comic, his sympathy for the brothers turned into a surge of anger.
While reading the remaining parts of the comic, Alex thought to himself,
“Please, may this brother find a happy ending.”
*
“Are you the Eldrick brothers, the alchemist from this village? I am Lloyd Cavallo, an officially recognized alchemist of the Empire.”
“Does it make sense for it to end here… It seems like it will be a while before the next volume comes out.”
Ioleen was lying on her stomach, covering the magic lamp she had hidden under her blankets as she read the comic book.
In fact, she wished to read it in the bright room during the day, but that was impossible, so she had to resort to this.
“Your Highness, you should no longer have a servant fetch books or call for the second son of Somerset.”
This was due to an extraordinary measure implemented by her head attendant, Aiden.
Initially, Ioleen had protested, asking how he could do such a thing, claiming it was too harsh.
“Last time, the attendant caught a cold after camping outside for three days trying to procure a book. The previous Your Highness would have noticed this first.”
Those words left her speechless.
The attendant, who suffered after going to fetch a limited edition of “The Kingdom of Ice,” had indeed done so because of her.
It was clear she had been unable to exercise proper judgment when it came to Rupert’s book.
Complaining about the content and sending a letter revealing her identity, and even calling for him directly, was one thing.
But to overwork her servants, there were no excuses for a princess like her.
“If you don’t see them for a while, you’ll find peace again. Just endure a little longer.”
Since then, the princess had truly tried to restrain herself. However, seeing the drooping posture of the princess brought concern to her guard, which became an opportunity.
“Your Highness. If you insist, I shall fetch the book for you.”
“You? No way… I’ve heard this latest release is more popular than usual. It might be days until you can get it…”
“Hahaha, for someone who has endured harsh knightly training, this is just a simple task. Leave it to me!”
Indeed, he brought back the recently particularly difficult-to-obtain comic book “The Iron-Blooded Alchemist” and secretly delivered it to Ioleen.
And during the only time when they would not be noticed by Aiden and the maidens, which was bedtime, she was able to read it like this, bringing her joy and sadness at the same time.
“Next volume… Why isn’t there a next volume?!”
*
“Mmm, how fragrant.”
As a modern person, it’s indeed a sad matter that I cannot drink coffee.
Especially for a webtoon artist who relied on coffee and caffeinated drinks as a staple instead of water.
Coffee does exist in this other world. However, since the places with coffee are extremely limited, the prices are higher than what it costs to import from the East, so I hadn’t dared to try it until now.
But who am I?
“A monster heir who has paid off all the family debts can indulge in the luxury of drinking coffee.”
In fact, the sales profits from the fairy tale book alone could have resolved the family debt, but due to significant expenses here and there, including banquets, it was only after the release of “The Iron-Blooded Alchemist” that I could completely wipe it out.
So now, I was savoring a cup of expensive coffee to celebrate my success.
‘Oh… no!!! Pouring cold water and ice into coffee!’
When the family’s fortunes were still flourishing, I recalled the scream of Alain, who had brought coffee that Lady Countess—the late mother of Rupert—enjoyed so much.
The coffee Alain brought was a thick, espresso-like concentrate.
Without hesitation, I replaced it with iced Americano, causing Alain to scream.
“How clueless can you be? Maybe Alain will only realize once he tastes iced Americano in summer.”
Of course, it’s winter now, but a Korean would rather die than not drink iced Americano.
Imagining sipping coffee while blowing on it is simply absurd.
“Aida wants some too!”
Perhaps finding it amusing to see me drinking coffee, Aida discreetly approached and looked at the cup in my hand, wanting to try.
“I see you pouting and not meeting my gaze.”
I lifted Aida onto my lap and carefully handed her the cup.
I had thought it best to hide the new comic book “The Iron-Blooded Alchemist” from her as it seemed too early for her to see it.
She had sulked and wouldn’t answer, avoiding eye contact, but now she was nestled quietly in my arms, perhaps intrigued by the coffee.
“Yuck! What is this, it tastes awful…”
After taking a sip of the cold coffee, Aida scrunched her face and made a spitting gesture.
“Aida, but it’s what your big brother is drinking.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at her ridiculousness.
“I don’t know; hurry and give me something sweet!”
With her whining, I reluctantly fetched a candy I had hidden in my desk drawer.
“That’s it for today, understand?”
Nodding at my words, Aida unwrapped the candy.
Last time, when that strange guest came, I was horrified to see Aida’s chubby figure and scruffy dress and had chastised the maid.
Since then, Aida had been deprived of all her dresses and snacks, so I had to sneak her treats to help her survive.
“Whoever they are, daring to slander such a cute Aida.”
Of course, considering the age, she was a bit on the chubby side, but that was part of her cuteness.
I reached out and pinched Aida’s chubby cheeks while she protested with strange sounds, but having already succumbed to the candy, she gave in quickly.
“Aida wants a fairy tale.”
“A fairy tale?”
Aida nodded at my words.
I felt a pang of guilt. After all, the reason I started creating fairy tales was for her.
Somehow, the roles had reversed; I had been creating only what I wanted to, not considering that Aida was bored.
“Sigh…I need to work on volume two of ‘The Iron-Blooded Alchemist,’ but leaving time to draw a fairy tale as well will be quite tough.”
Speaking of which, the guild leader mentioned that other merchant associations had started producing fairy tales apart from the one I created.
While they weren’t yet a threat, he said that useful fairy tales might emerge at any time.
“What kind of story would Aida like to see?”
“Hmm…I don’t really know!”
She was quite confident about that. It reminded me of the most troublesome type of clients I used to deal with when freelancing before creating webtoons.
I racked my brain for fairy tales I knew, but nothing specific stood out.
I had already used classic romantic tales like Cinderella, Snow White, and The Little Mermaid, which featured princesses, so I couldn’t opt for those, given their cruel elements were too much for Aida’s age.
Why did I forget about this?
A fairy tale that comes to mind during cold winter.
Moreover, it’s short and not too tragic, definitely educational for children and beneficial.
“Aida, I’ll whip up a fairy tale for you right away!”
“Really?”
At my words, Aida beamed with a bright smile and hugged me.
When Aida’s face touched my neck, I flinched at the memory of her biting me last time.
But now, she was hugging me, declaring I was the best.
Just wait; soon, I’ll have you crying.
I was already looking forward to creating the fairy tale.