Chapter 1

Even I don’t know why this happened.

“Growing up in a city is hard…..”

Sitting on a wooden chair, I gazed vacantly out of the window.

My black hair gets dirty with sand, so I can’t open the window.

This is the frontline base of the Knights of Aergwerde Kingdom.

A dull, rocky place; a cloudy sky with thin, dusty sand.

If you compare it with a colour, it would be grey.

A remote area where dry air passes by.

I had been working in the royal capital until two months ago.

My occupation is an Alchemist. I can brag that I was a man who is good at his work.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that my research was of ace-class quality at the research institute, and I even had support from the royal family. My masterpiece, “Alchemy Theory on The Recovery of The Human Body,” overturned the common sense of the healing drugs in the world.

……It’s just that, I was too close to the chief and made a mistake somehow.

He had a well-kept beard and was a handsome man.

I—who couldn’t choose a proper companion—slept with him for fun, but the chief’s aim was my research.

He stole my paper from a locked desk drawer and changed my signature.

It was frustrating but if it was just that, then I’m still fine. I could still continue my other studies.

But the chief was a fine nobleman who had a connection with the Knights.

I thought that if he complained about me, I would lose my social status, so I moved to this remote place.

Thanks to that, I’m a frontline alchemist, and also treated as a frontline base doctor.

In the royal capital, I cared about my image.

Black hair, dark eyes and the mole on the side of my left eye led me to have a reputation for being sexy.

But at the stoic front base where there’s no place to play around, there’s no choice but to wear a white coat.

“Sighh……”

“Lord Louie? I’ve been knocking for a while now.”

“Ah, excuse me.”

It seems that there was a visitor while I was thinking.

The moment I looked back, I frowned.

“I’d like it if you’d do your work without spacing out.”

He’s the person I’m worst at dealing with in this base.

Caesar Eyewood. A man who serves as Vice Commander at this front base.

He’s a handsome man with a fine build, blond hair and blue eyes.

His face is well-organized, intelligence indicated in his high forehead. Ninety nine out of a hundred people will have a good impression of him.

I’m probably that one remaining person.

But I have a reason for that. It’s not that I’m a bad person (is what I’d like to say).

“Do you need something?”

“There’s an injured person. They broke a bone during training.”

“Is he able to come over?”

“If you have so much time to space out, why don’t you come?”

……It’s not that I’m a bad person.

It’s because this man’s attitude towards me is so cold!!

“I can, but I need equipment for treatment.”

“……Hm. The injured person must be on his way by now.”

Then you didn’t have to make such a sarcastic remark from the beginning, did you?

I could feel the veins popping out of my head, so I used my hands to rub it and soothe myself.

This man called Caesar isn’t that bad around people other than me.

……Rather, his subordinates look at him like he’s an important person.

Why is it only me? Did I do something?

Do you think that doctors can do a lot better than their predecessor, Grandpa Yabu[1]?

[1] Probably talking about this family https://ejmas.com/jcs/jcsart_svinth_0603.htm

I think it was when we first met.

“You came here from the royal research institute? Did you commit a crime or something?”

He said while looking down on me.

I wonder if it isn’t normal that I’m bad at dealing with this person.

While taking a deep breath and preparing the equipment, I could hear multiple footsteps.

“I’m sorry, I made a mistake during training and got injured.”

It seems like the knight with an injured leg made it with other knights supporting him.

“No, on the contrary, you were so serious during training that you ended up hurting yourself. I think that you’re pretty impressive.”

I treated him while talking in an encouraging but polite voice.

My theory is applied to the machines in such a remote place.

The theory is that the use of machines can greatly simplify procedures that, in the past, could only be performed by selected talented surgeons.

However, by applying this machine, even a person without magic or knowledge can perform an operation.

The machines that are generally sold can only be used to cure relatively life-threatening areas such as bruises, fractures, and cuts, but in villages with small populations, it seems like there was an explosive demand for it. The rest are demands for portable medicine by wealthy merchants. Well, obviously it’ll be like that.

Well, even though it’s perceived by the public that it wasn’t made by me, I still feel a sense of accomplishment in my heart.

I’m surprisingly useful for the people and this world.

“I’ve been saved ever since Lord Louie came.”

When the knight said that shyly, I felt a tingling sensation.

“I’m glad to hear that.”

The knight began to wriggle as soon as I touched his feet to find the problem.

“Uh, Lord Louie.”

“Yes? Does it hurt?”

“No……It’s just that there’re many knights who want to meet Lord Louie.”

“Please don’t hesitate to visit me anytime.”

I don’t mind if you come to visit even when you’re not hurt, that way I can waste my time.

Rather, please care about me.

“Don’t do anything that will break the rule of public morality.”

Said Caesar, who was looking at the wall with his arms folded.

“D-deputy chief….I’m sorry…”

The depressed knight looked pitiful, so I gave him a candy.

It’s one of my original creations. It contains substances that help them recover. It’s rare.

“Not you, I was talking about Lord Louie. Wait in the room for orders during the afternoon, you don’t have to overdo the exercises.”

“T-thank you very much.”

Are you saying that I’m breaking the rules of public morality if I act friendly?

Was what I thought, but if I talk back, I feel like it’ll become something really troublesome so I gave up.

As I thought, I’m not good at dealing with this Caesar guy.