Arya understood the situation clearly—perhaps more clearly than anyone else involved.
But what did it matter?
Setting aside the fact that she had not yet fully experimented and could not confirm whether the knowledge from Blue Star would be completely applicable in this magical world, even if it truly proved useful, she would still uphold her end of the agreement. She had already decided that she would compensate Professor Sai with her alchemy knowledge. Defaulting on a debt was not something she would ever do.
However, precisely because she was determined to repay him fairly, she had no intention of paying any additional price beyond what had already been agreed upon.
The terms between the two parties were clear. No ambiguity. No room for emotional bargaining.
Moreover, meeting once every two days suited her perfectly. It gave her an entire day in between sessions to consolidate what she had learned, experiment freely, and verify the results before moving on to new material. From a time-management perspective, this schedule was not only reasonable—it was optimal.
As for potion-making, she could easily fit that into the gaps between her bi-daily experiments. It posed no real challenge to her routine.
"Very well," Professor Sai finally said, nodding after a brief pause. "Once every two days it is."
Since Arya had decisively ended the discussion, he naturally chose not to push the matter further. Persisting would only risk souring her impression of him, and that was the last thing he wanted.
Though Arya and Sai had discussed coal liquefaction for quite a long time, the actual duration of the lesson was only about half a day. By the time they concluded, it was just after two in the afternoon.
Only then did Arya suddenly realize something important.
She hadn't eaten lunch.
With a faint frown, she quickly retrieved the food Rogers had delivered earlier at noon. The meal had been kept warm and was still steaming faintly when she opened the container.
"Gang Emima, time to eat," Arya called out.
She placed a plate of meat beside the towel-lined nest next to her workstation. Gang Emima, who had been squatting quietly with its eyes closed, stirred at the sound of her voice.
"Chirp—"
The small creature opened its eyes and began eating at a leisurely pace.
It was strange.
Ever since the recent Magic Current Turbulence had begun, Gang Emima—normally lively, curious, and endlessly energetic—had become unusually quiet. At first, Arya had suspected the cold weather might be affecting it, or worse, that it had fallen ill.
She had examined it carefully, from its mana circulation to its physical condition, but found nothing abnormal. Only after repeated checks did she finally feel reassured.
Still, the change unsettled her.
After finishing her meal, Arya wasted no time. She retrieved several chunks of coal and immediately began consolidating the knowledge she had learned earlier that day.
Coal liquefaction, under normal circumstances, required an enormous amount of specialized equipment. On Blue Star, entire industrial facilities were built just for this process.
But this was a world of magic.
And in this world, there was very little that alchemy could not accomplish.
Arya had already dismantled and reconstructed ores in previous experiments, so decomposing coal posed no significant difficulty. With the right conditions—high temperature, high pressure, appropriate catalysts, and solvents—extracting usable fuel was theoretically straightforward.
At least, that was how it sounded in theory.
In practice, however, reality was far less cooperative.
Just constructing an Alchemy Array capable of sustaining a stable high-temperature, high-pressure environment consumed Arya's entire night. The array required precise control, continuous mana input, and flawless structural balance.
Fortunately, alchemy was inherently a discipline that rewarded patience and persistence.
Once she solved the core issue of the Alchemy Array, the remaining steps became much easier to manage. Even the wastewater problem that Professor Sai had mentioned never appeared at all.
This, Arya suspected, was the true charm of magic.
Still…
"Why did I produce gasoline?" Arya muttered, staring at the result in disbelief.
"And why is it diesel this time?"
She rubbed her temples, exhaustion creeping into her expression.
"And what is this ethanol supposed to be?"
Her gaze shifted to another container.
"And paraffin oil? What am I supposed to do with that?"
Arya was on the verge of losing her mind.
After an entire day of experimentation, she had somehow managed to produce nearly everything—except the one thing she actually wanted.
Kerosene.
It was as though the coal itself was mocking her, giving her the illusion that it could become anything she desired.
Back on Blue Star, she had always thought of coal as something mundane—fuel for burning, perhaps for generating electricity at most. She had never imagined it could be the source of such a wide variety of substances.
Only now, after working with it directly, did she realize how shallow her understanding had been.
If Arya felt frustrated, Professor Sai was faring even worse.
He was currently experiencing a quiet existential crisis.
Look at what this student—whom he had only taught for a single day—had managed to produce.
In this magical world, were chemical products truly this easy to create?
He didn't know the exact extraction methods Arya had used, nor could he fully comprehend the logic behind her Alchemy Arrays. But one thing was undeniable.
Arya possessed absolute authority in the field of alchemy.
Why?
Because after teaching her, he had attempted to integrate Blue Star's chemical knowledge into this world's alchemy system himself.
And failed completely.
He found no entry point. No bridge. No clarity.
Yet, strangely enough, this failure brought him relief.
Because Arya's success proved something crucial: Blue Star's knowledge and theories were applicable here—just not to him.
As long as he could acquire Arya's foundational alchemy knowledge, even if he never reached her level, he could still make a comfortable living selling fuels and related products in this world.
After all, he was already fifty-three years old.
It was time to slow down, enjoy life, and perhaps finally pursue the research he had always dreamed of but never had the time or energy to attempt.
Who knew?
Maybe he could even combine magic and chemistry to create something truly unique.
Late that night, after one final adjustment to the Alchemy Array, Arya watched the liquid in the container stabilize.
A familiar golden hue shimmered faintly under the magical light.
She activated the appraisal screen.
[Kerosene (E)]
[Function: Mechanical fuel, heating and lighting, chemical production, cleaning solvent.]
[Introduction: An alchemy product created using an Alchemy Array; suitable for daily use.]
Finally.
Arya exhaled slowly, the tension leaving her shoulders.
She immediately opened her Alchemy Handbook and carefully recorded every detail of the process. Each parameter, each fluctuation of mana, each adjustment of gravity and pressure—nothing was omitted.
Although gasoline and diesel were not immediately useful, she had learned better than to discard potentially valuable knowledge. Who could say when they might be needed?
After finishing her notes, Arya flipped through the pages and smiled bitterly.
She didn't fully understand how Blue Star separated gasoline, diesel, kerosene, and ethanol during coal liquefaction. But on the magical continent of Karim, the most critical factors turned out to be something else entirely.
The amount of magic power injected into the Alchemy Array.
And the magnitude of gravity within it.
It was absurd.
After the production was complete, Arya felt that creating these substances—called "chemical products" on Blue Star and "alchemy products" here—was both simple and impossibly complex.
Simple, because compared to others who couldn't even begin, she found the process manageable.
Complex, because as someone barely qualified as a junior alchemist, the experiments were genuinely demanding.
She had initially considered only mana output and structural stability. Gravity had never crossed her mind.
After all, alchemy books never mentioned it.
If her Talent hadn't allowed her to manipulate weight itself, she might never have discovered this crucial variable.
Her communicator chimed softly.
Roy: "You made it?"
Arya stared at the message for a moment, then chuckled.
When she had requested Roy to increase the coal supply, this had been the very first message he sent back.
That damned profiteer.
His instincts were as sharp as ever.
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