The Alchemist Who Bleeds from the Nose

The town of Rebeck. The first park they ever built.

There, the person she was supposed to meet was already waiting.

"Missed you, King Poooo!"

Nina came sprinting toward me, then blew a sudden gush of blood from her nose mid-stride, and slid headfirst into the dirt like a drunkard on ice.

I froze—couldn’t react. Just stared as Nina’s face plunged straight into the ground, blood splattering across the soil.

"Uh…?"

"Raihyoufurehouhamu!"

"No, you’re not okay—just drink this, here!"

I handed her my ever-ready miracle elixir.

She took it, downed it in one gulp.

A magical item that mends wounds and cures illness in an instant—miracle elixir.

Of course, it worked on Nina too.

"Thank you so much, Poooo!"

She coughed up blood again the very second she was healed—this time in a flood, a whale’s spout of red, spraying blood in all directions.

Sorry, Your Majesty, it’s been so long since I last saw you… I just couldn’t help myself.

"Alright, alright, just calm down for now, okay?"

Yeah!

Spurted blood from the nose again. You really don’t get it.

Just take a few deep breaths.

Understood!

She took a deep breath, huffing and puffing.

...calmed down yet?

Yes!

Not calm at all, but the nosebleed’s stopped—call it a win for now.

So, I heard from Mira—seems like she’s developed something for putting out fires.

Yes!

“What’s it like?”

"This is it!"

I got it from Nina.

A small square box. A round red button sitting on top.

And the skull mark.

"...what is this?"

"That’s the item for putting out fires."

No, this is clearly...

...That’s it, isn’t it.

"Here's how you do it."

Nina took it and dashed toward the nearest cottage.

Knock, then say something to the resident who comes out.

She pointed at me and said something.

The resident nodded. Had she accepted something?

Nina knocked on the next house, too, and negotiated with the resident who came out—same as before.

What’s she planning?

After a while, Nina returned.

"Negotiations concluded, Your Majesty."

"Negotiations? What on earth are you doing?"

"Just watch."

Nina went back again, attaching the box with the switch to one of the two houses she’d negotiated with.

Then, to the other house—she set it on fire!

Back she came.

"Wait, what the hell are you doing?"

"Extinguishing it. You’ll understand better if you see it in action."

"Fair enough."

Nina glanced at the residents she’d negotiated with.

Their eyes met. A dry, helpless smile.

Yeah… that’s about right.

Gotta rebuild it later.

By then, the fire had grown worse. The house she’d lit was already fully ablaze—beyond saving.

The other house was catching fire too.

"Let's do it."

"Yeah."

Nina walked toward the device she’d installed.

So, what happens when you flip that switch?

A little curiosity, watching it unfold.

Nina flipped the switch.

The house shattered instantly.

Light particles rose into the air—vanished completely, as if they’d never existed at all.

The displaced residents watched, cheering, "Oh!"

Nina returned.

"How was it, Your Majesty! I found Your Majesty’s item!"

"Huh… what’s this about?"

"Look! This stops fires from spreading!"

She pointed proudly at the burning house.

Ah, right. Fireproof demolition.

"Second Slave told me—when a fire starts, it can’t be handled unless either the King or a Slave is present."

"...Yeah. I said something like that, didn’t I?"

"So with this, everything’s fine! I tested it thoroughly—this only breaks items made by the Kings! Nothing else breaks! If we make lots of these and hand them out, no one’ll have to worry about fires ever again!"

"..."

I let out a dry laugh.

Ah, so that’s what it is. That’s what it’s for.

I understood the item’s appearance, its origins, everything.

Still, I couldn’t help the smirk. It wasn’t what I’d expected. Not at all.

"How do you like it, Your Majesty?"

Nina stared at me with sparkling eyes.

You can see it in her face—*I did it, praise me, praise me!*

Well, this was impressive. Practical. Useful. So I decided to praise Nina for her invention.

"Nice work, Nina."

"Did I… help the King?"

"Yeah. Nice work."

"—Yay! I helped the King, I helped the King, I helped the King!"

She squealed with excitement—and blew another nosebleed.

Shouldn’t praise her too much, that one. Nina’s a mess.

Nina calmly pressed a cloth to her nose, then spoke again.

“Um… Your Majesty…”

She fidgeted, looking up at me.

“What is it?”

“I worked hard, right? I was useful, right?”

“Yeah.”

No doubt about it.

“So… so…”

“Hm?”

“The medal… I want one too.”

“A medal?”

“Yeah, a reward medal…”

Her voice dropped to a whisper.

“You mean this one?”

I pulled out a few folded paper medals I’d started keeping on hand.

Nina’s eyes lit up instantly.

“That’s it!”

…Is this really okay?

“Here, then.”

I handed it to her.

“Yay! Yay! Yay!”

She practically jumped. Clutched the paper medal to her chest and started dancing.

Is it really that much?

“Thank you, Your Majesty! I’ll keep this as my family heirloom!”

“Uh… yeah.”

It’s kind of awkward when someone gets this excited over something so small.

It’s not even that impressive.

…Still, can’t say I mind.

“No need to make it a family heirloom.”

“Eh? But—”

“In exchange, though, you’ve got to come up with more inventions. If you make something good, I’ll give you another one.”

“—Yeah!”

Nina nodded, her whole face lit up with a grin.

“I’ll work harder, harder, harder—”

Excited again, she started bleeding from the nose.

Funny thing—she actually looked cuter with blood spurting from her nose.