I woke up in my bad, accompanied by the still sore muscles and the pain of broken bones. Probably a few internal organs too but I wasn't really good at diagnosing my own internal bleedings so I just grabbed the flask that was hanging from the side of my bed.

As I gulped down the healing water, thanks to the church of Favonius and more importantly to the Barbara. Apparently they just gave us flasks full of healing water if we were seriously injured enough to be bedridden but not injured enough to require direct healing of Barbara. I coulnd't complain as I felt the pain and soreness recede back to depths of my body. I was feeling good enough for a small morning stroll. I would be fine as long as I don't try to climb up to buildings, then again you only do that mistake once. They didn't even gave me flasks back then.

Wearing my chainmail was harder than usual, thanks to my broken arm. I was actually glad it was just broken and not ripped off from its socket. I wasn't allowed to perform as a knight until my arm and ribs were completely healed so I just wore a thin shirt over my chainmail. It did lower the sounds of metal scrapping metal and was significantly more pleasing to the eye. With white shirt and blue jeans and black boots I was ready to leave my room. My hand automatically moved towards to the right side of my door where I usually left my sword and grasped nothing. I frowned slightly.

"Fucking Minachurls." I ended up cursing out loud as I remembered how damaged my sword was. I had to leave it to blacksmith and got scolded by him for 30 minutes until I convinced him to fix it. I liked that sword. It wasn't very sharp and didn't carry some special properties like adventurer or famous knights swords but I was quite fond of it. I opened the door and left for the Good Hunter. I could use some eggs and bread to clear my head, an apple too if I was lucky.

I saw Bennett on my way to Good Hunter, following behind Barbara, towards to Church grounds. He was dragging his bleeding leg behind him. I didn't need a Vision to see much in pain he was. I gave him a curt nod as he did the same when our eyes met. Bennett was lucky that everytime he got wounded it was severe enough to be healed by Barbara so he could just jump back to the fight again or was it unlucky?

I threw a coin to fountain, standing near to the sickly looking girl and wished Bennett luck. Good Hunter could wait a few seconds. I wanted to ask the girl how it was going but I didn't have courage or energy to help her. It felt wrong for a knight like me, even if I was still without a Company and more like a advanced Squire, to not help someone in need but I wasn't in a state to be any help. With a grimace on my face I slowly walked to Good Hunter and took a seat. Breakfeast tasted good and I felt like I could help the sickly looking girl but she was already gone.

"Maybe later then..." I said outloud with a sigh. Gazing around for the girl my eyes caught the Alchemy store. I vaguely remembered some other knights talking about it. I think a Company leader was also pretty interested with it. Curiosity won me over and I decided to visit it after paying for the food. I had nothing better to do after all.

After reaching there and investing the store for 10 minutes I realised that... I had no idea how Alchemy worked. Thanfully the guy working in there came to my help after dealing with his previous customers.

"Hello adventurer, I am Timaeus, interested in Alchemy?"

Already realised I was an amateur huh. Well I guess it makes sense he is good at his job.

"Yeah, I was kind of curious how these things worked." I didn't feel a need a to correct him about me not being an Adventurer. With chainmail under my shirt and my broad shoulders that indicates a physically active life, it would look like I was trying to fool him.

"Well, Alchemy is a craft passed down from ancient times. Unlike more conventional science alchemy is rather magical in nature and not always logical. But that is why I like it. Understanding it little by little is quite fun. Although I still can't compare to the likes of Albedo and Sucrose."

I didn't know who this Sucrose was but the name was familiar. Albedo however was a Company leader in the Knights of Favonius and as such I encountered him in past a few times. A rather cold guy I wasn't very fond of to be honest but I didn't really know him that well. I was suprised to learn he was interested in Alchemy. I thought all knights were more into the physical part of the job.

"Well I am sure you can be as good as them one day, effort is all that matters isn't it?" I said. Timaeus didn't seem that convinced but he was standing a little bit more straight so it was a victory in my eyes.

"Well, perhaps one day." He said before gesturing towards the pot like object in the middle of the store. "Do you want to try it out?"

"I can't see why not." I agreed. It could be a fun experience.

Timaeus excitedly start to list of the components he was using and various mixtures and potions he could build.

"And with various Slime excreements and a few other materials you can craft special oils to conduct elemental powers." He pulled a red looking vial from his pockets. "I made this one recently for fun, it is to help Pyro vision users. You can drink it to protect you against to extreme cold for short periods of time or apply to your weapons to burn them without harming the blade.

Now that was interesting. I bought that one without waiting alongside the book Timaeus was offering. It wasn't much for someone like me who didn't have a vision, it was a rather good ace in the hole for emergencies. I think I now understand why Albedo was interested in Alchemy. A knight should always be prepared, a Company leader even more so. I was ashamed to doubt their devotion to our profession.

I put the alchemy book and potion inside the small bag attached to my belt and decided to visit the blacksmith. I missed my sword after all.