253: You know, the thing about yourself is that you’re the one who doesn’t understand you the best.

I left the reports to Leifan and locked myself in the alchemy chamber, reading my journal over and over again.

It’s not like I really felt it at first—my mother suddenly appearing—but thinking about it, she risked her life just to keep me alive. That’s all I can feel: gratitude.

Wiping sweat from my eyes every so often, I read it again, and again, and again.

Just knowing I wasn’t abandoned was enough to make me happy. But learning that I’d actually been loved—really loved—shook me to the core.

“So that’s why I had a name, and a clear birthday, even though I was a foundling.”

They say I was found by some river, but apparently, the cradle I was in had a plate engraved with my name and birth date. And by the way, I also know the cradle was freakishly sturdy—so much so that the orphanage kept using it for years.

The orphanage I grew up in shut down ages ago—probably repurposed as some church-run orphanage by now. Yeah, if it was a cradle made by an alchemist, it’d be tough as hell.

I snort a laugh. Stand up. Wipe at the tear… no, sweat, damn it.

Enough of this sentimental crap!

Gotta keep going. Gotta help my family—Kyle, just like my parents would’ve wanted!

That monster from the diary. Nidhegg. Probably gone mad from the World Tree’s curse.

I dig through every scrap of info I can find. Nothing in Professor Javir’s books. Nothing in the alchemy texts I’ve collected bit by bit. Not a damn thing. Yeah, if even the alchemists’ village couldn’t fix it, maybe I’m out of my league. But still… I gotta try.

No. That’s just wishful thinking.

I flip through the records, torn between preparing to destroy him or to save him. Either way, there’s nothing on Niedhegg. Stuck.

I make up my mind. I’ll prepare to destroy him. If there’s no way to save him, that’s the only path left. Lucky for me, there are plenty of ways to boost attack power.

I decide to head back to the production guild, using funds from Golden Dune, to gather ingredients for potions.

The guild’s bustling as ever.

I wave to the guildmaster, then head down to the alchemy wing.

It’s a warzone.

Elra Rulia, one of Professor Javir’s students, is shouting, eyes bloodshot, stirring the alchemy cauldron like it owes her money.

"Seventh elixir's short! What in the hell is going on!?"

The exhausted man finally mumbled back.

"Ugh... magic’s drained. Can’t keep up."

"Pathetic! You’re still a royal alchemist, aren’t you!?"

"Even masters have their limits, you know..."

"Limit? This is the master’s request! You’re supposed to give your life for it!"

"Even if you said that, I can’t believe two people made every potion in a noble’s estate at this scale..."

"Master Javir’s work. No surprise there."

Sorry. The master helps sometimes, but mostly he does it alone.

Still... the royal alchemists are top-tier. How can they not keep up with my output?

Elra’s student whines, practically begging.

At least cut the quality down a notch? One more drop and we’ve hit the quota.

You’ve already dropped from “legendary” to “ultimate”!?

My master’s sense is going haywire! “Ultimate” quality is overkill even by normal standards! Just go one step lower to “premium,” please. That’s plenty good enough!

Ah, yeah. I guess. If we just secure the effect duration, “premium” might actually be enough in most cases.

Back when we were sending potions to the frontier village, we dropped the quality to “premium.” Only a few sharp adventurers even noticed.

So we’d sell “legendary” to adventurers and “premium” to merchants. Quality varied depending on the time and the buyer.

But I thought, with Javir’s improved recipe, we could mass-produce “legendary,” at least. “Ultimate” quality? That seemed a stretch.

I couldn’t bring myself to speak to them, so I stayed hidden in the shadows, watching. Then, from above, the Guildmaster descended the stairs.

“Man, those girls are good.”

“Huh? I mean, yeah, they’re good, but they’re struggling with mass production, right?”

“Naturally. Most people don’t even see ‘premium’ gear or potions. Honestly, I figured the potions would drop to worse quality while Craft was away.”

“Wait, what?”

“Hmm. Maybe Craft doesn’t get how production guilds work. Try listing the quality tiers, starting from the bottom.”

“Uh… junk, poor, low, average, good, high, premium, ultimate, legendary?”

Technically, there’s even higher tiers—like artifacts or gods’ gear—but we can skip those. They’re not part of the standard quality scale because some weapons and potions are automatically classified as “artifacts” the moment they’re finished.

Like, say, an elixir.

There’s no such thing as a “poor” quality elixir or a “common” one. They all deliver a guaranteed, unchanging effect.

So “artifact” quality is an exception.

I explain it like that, and Grandmaster Grimm nods with a satisfied grunt.

“Now, before you came to the production guild—what quality was the potion you were handling?”

I think for a second.

Alchemy isn’t exactly common. “Ultimate” or “premium” didn’t exactly flood the market.

“Hmm… probably ‘average’ quality.”

Grandmaster Grimm dramatically shakes his head.

“‘Lowest’ or ‘poor’.”

“Huh!?”

That’s going too far!

“Listen. Most alchemists can barely manage ‘average’ quality. Takes days, and plenty of good materials. Potions like that? They’re not made for mass production. Costly to make, and nobody buys them. Guilds can’t handle stocking stuff like that. Commercial guilds are the same. So normally, we ask for just decent materials, and just enough output to keep things running.”

“S-so is that really how it is?”

“Yeah. And even then, output’s not exactly high. So considering that, what Elra’s doing? That’s impressive. She’s been keeping up with the bare minimum needed for the Golden Dawn.”

I’m speechless for a second.

Guess I thought that with Leifan’s custom alchemy cauldron, we could just churn them out like crazy.

Back in the day, Leifan gave me a hard time about magic capacity. But it’s not just that. The improved recipe’s been toned down on magic use, so it’s cheaper to make. That’s why the materials are so damn expensive. Still, the Guild Master’ll figure out how to stretch the budget somehow.

“…Didn’t know that.”

“You hadn’t studied alchemy before joining the Production Guild. You didn’t work there long. Hell, you’re a mage who switched from adventurer to alchemist in just about a year. That’s impressive.”

“I *did* mean to study more after the switch…”

“Your studying’s been aiming higher than basic alchemy, though. That’s fine. That’s exactly what you should keep doing. Leave the details to me and Leifan.”

“Ugh… I’ll try to think things through a bit more next time.”

“Hah! That’d be nice, but His Majesty’s gonna get involved too! Just focus on raising yourself!”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

The Guildmaster’s shout must’ve caught Elra’s attention.

“Craft-sama! T-ta—help!”

I’d be alchemizing potions until well past midnight after that.

Midway through, Lililily popped her head in.

“Cheating on your duties?”

“Get lost!”

I don’t have those feelings toward her at all!

I respect her as my senior sister disciple, that’s all.

Elra’s over ten years my senior, but I didn’t bring that up.

Craft Alchemy, Volume 8, released today!

The novel version’s also out now!