Alchemy & Potions (3)

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Once they settled down, a thought entered Charles's mind and he asked.

"By the way, master, I heard that you're planning to summon a few more servants in the future. Is this true?"

Blinking, Hadrian turned to the cheeky knight.

"Where'd you hear this?" The young mage asked.

"From Lord Schweinorg, of course." Charles answered simply, as if it was obvious.

By the slight widening of his master's eyes at his response, it clearly was not.

Absorbing this piece of news, Hadrian sighed through his nose.

"Hmm… I suppose I shouldn't be surprised." The young mage muttered under his breath.

He had yet to inform his retainers due to his busy schedule, but it seemed like his grandfather had beaten him to the punch.

"Are you all in contact with opa?" Hadrian asked, frowning as he waited on the retainer's response.

"From the moment we got here? Regularly, yeah." Charles answered nonchalantly.

Closing his eyes briefly, Hadrian exhaled his irritation out through his nose as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"My retainers talk to him on a regular basis, yet I'm his grandson and I can only contact him from time to time. That man, I swear…" The young mage gritted out, looking a bit annoyed.

But then again, perhaps that was a good thing. He would rather have his retainers endure his grandfather's eccentricities than him.

Yes, better his retainers than him. Root only knows the amount of stress he would gain if he was in their position.

With that thought in mind, Hadrian straightened up in his seat as he regained his composure.

"Back on topic, the answer is yes. I'm planning on summoning a few more in the near future." Hadrian answered with a slight nod.

"But what about the restriction, master?" Charles asked, recalling what was said before they were transported to here.

"They have been modified slightly, due to the severity of the situation here." Hadrian said, albeit in a vague manner.

"Ah, so how many do you intend to summon?" Charles questioned, understanding his master's reluctance to discuss the matter in detail in regards to his previous inquiry.

"Two or three, a Saber and a Caster." Hadrian added as he noticed the curious expression on the knight's face.

"Oh, another Saber?! That would be awesome! I can see why that is, but why the second? You can easily fill that spot yourself, master." Charles frowned, looking a bit confused.

"While I'm grateful at your confidence in my abilities, Charles, I'm afraid I'm not that capable quite yet. Even opa and Lady Lorelei says so, and their opinions are not something one would easily dismiss. And I would not be here if I am capable of being in the same level as opa." The young mage explained with a small self-deprecating smile.

Charles's frown became more genuine as he saw the smile, feeling a bit upset at the sight of it but not knowing how to console his master.

Having been at his side for more than a few months, Charles knew that his master's situation was a bit complicated.

As the heir to two prestigious houses, the retainer was well aware of the amount of attention heaped upon his master and how suffocating it must be, and with such great attention, it was closely followed by pressure, then fear and reverence.

It was a vicious combination that would devour anyone alive and spat them out with barely any remains of their sanity intact.

To his young master's credit, he was handling everything well, despite every situation he was in.

In danger or not, the young mage handled every encounter in his life with poise and grace befitting of his station.

In truth, it was one of the coolest things that Charles greatly admired about his master.

When he was at the latter's age, even he was not that collected. Charles had to earn his confidence and self-esteem way before he was crowned as a king, and even he became one, Charles found that remaining calm and poised was one of his strong points.

In his honest opinion, most of the time, the best he can do was to stay calm and pretend that he has actual manners befitting of his previous station.

If anything, he was the actual polar opposite of his master, the uncool one who was often prone to cliché moments, whereas the latter was the cooler person, if not the coolest he had ever met.

The confidence in his abilities (the one that he has now) had been accumulated by the years he had spent to hone it through many encounters during his past life, only refined as he got older.

His master though, it seemed as if he was already born that way, like it was natural for him to exude a calm and regal aura no matter where he goes as if it was easy as breathing.

It was why it was a bit saddening for Charles to see his master smile like that.

Because, as much as he wanted to refute his master's words, what he had uttered was merely the truth, plain and simple.

Granted, it was blunt and low-spirited in tone, but it was the harsh truth nonetheless, and it grates a little on Charles's nerves that he can only stand and witness the young master show a moment of weakness, even if it was displayed in private and just between the two of them.

Fortunately, the somber expression did not last long as it was quickly replaced by his usual calm and regal exterior his master would always wore.

Leaning back, Hadrian exhaled through his nose before he spoke again, twirling the pen in his right hand all the while.

"Anyways, we need a Caster class servant to assist me in creating areas that we can safely fall back on in case of emergency." The young mage explained with a sigh.

"Ah, that is a cool and wise plan. It'd be awesome to have another ally too." Charles agreed with a smile.

The reassurance simply caused Hadrian to let out another sigh, more audible and exasperated than the other ones before.

"Right, well, I simply wish that the Caster I would summon in the future is at least adequate in skills and amiable to get along with. If not, then we'll be in big trouble."

Little did Hadrian knew that day, the Caster class servant he plan to summon in the future would be more than what he bargain for.

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