Chapter 52

"It looks like me but uglier." Hisashi teases making Aime pout while punching his side. Then, she shyly turns around looking at the picture again.

"Teacher Hisashi, sorry for calling you old. And thank you for teaching me how to paint." She said bashfully while taking a look at him once in a while.

"No need to worry. Someone told me that I sound old before and I hated it. But now, I learned to appreciate it. But you, take your time and grow up with others. Play with your friends, love your father, learn what you can, and do what you want. As for your paintings… you're as qualified as everyone else in the town. I hope your father would be happy."

"Are you leaving now?" She asks while panicking. Given how she has learned how to paint and now, she can give her father a gift, she thought about her teacher leaving.

"Well, not yet. However, eventually, I will. I'll stay for a bit more. I'll be looking for ruins around the country. So don't be sad yet. I'll go meet you before I leave, okay?" He said as he puts his hand on her head.

Just then, Aime starts to sob. Hisashi just smiles at this and he kneels down to her level. He takes one of her hands which prompts her to look at him.

"You're a strong girl, right? You can cry. But remember, you can always paint. I'm not the best painter in the world as I am self-taught but you can communicate with me through that."

As he held her hands, Hisashi felt an uncanny sensation in her skin. It wasn't the soft skin that you would expect from a child but something different. Still, he didn't mind it and after then, Aime looks at him.

"Then, come back here! It doesn't matter when but if you leave, come back and tell me stories!" She excitedly said with tears starting to stop.

"Okay then, that's a promise!" "Pinky promise?"

"Yes." Hisashi happily said as the two offer their pinkies and sealed the promise.

…

Hisashi was seating on a chair while reading a book when he notices the apple he was eating to be finished. He gathers mana in his hands and shoots it out to make the dirt appear from below the stone blocks. Next, he touched the dirt with his hands and puts a copious amount of mana into it and a tree starts to grow which immediately blooms flowers and became an apple tree.

One of the things that he practiced best was his plant magic which led him to closely replicate the apple trees in the Goshu dungeon. He picks up all the plump and juicy red apples before putting them in his bag.

However, when he looked inside to put it in, he saw a piece of paper. He took it out and guess what? It was Aime's painting of him holding an apple. This made him smile again and thought about how Aime's company made him smile which he hasn't done in a very long time.

Unbeknownst to him though, or something he was constantly ignoring, was the fact that he wasn't really happy. All his time with the caring child was just a different coping mechanism other than being alone for the past few years.

He pins it on the wall next to Koyori's painting which coincidentally, made them look like they were leaning on each other's back while eating an apple.

…

A few days passed and Hisashi has just finished another book about demons and their possible origins. There were also some historical texts depicting them in many ways which he has read. Now, he was looking for another book on one of the shelves when he noticed something in the corner of his eye.

It was a book, more specifically, a notebook that looked familiar. He took it and immediately recognizes it.

"This one's the same as Seolim's research reports."

He opens it only to realize that it was his diary.

"Should I make a diary too? I feel like it's a pain in the ass to lose." Hisashi thought as he found the usefulness of the diaries and documents in dungeons but decided against it. He realized that he was actually already doing it through the paintings he was doing whenever he went to another place.

He runs back to the front part of the library where his stuff were and compares it to the notebook from the laboratory – it was the same. He opens it and was shocked by what he read.

"7/23

It was nearing that time of the year again. I have thought about the solution but the association leaders kept denying my request for a meeting. Luckily, someone has set up one for their latest project, and maybe… just maybe… I can use it to gather everyone's approval."

"7/25

I discussed the idea with other alchemists but just like before, they don't believe me. I told them that with this plant, we can prevent the famine caused by the drought. After all, it can grow anywhere, even without dirt. They kept telling me that it was impossible even when I told them that it isn't. All I need is the resources and we don't have to stressfully gather all plant sorcerers and order them to produce subpar crops all day that can't even feed a fourth of the population."

"7/29

The meeting will be tomorrow and hopefully, I can change their mind. I know they will. I have to. I can't let anyone suffer and witness the same experience that I have to. No child should watch their parents sacrifice themselves just to fill their pitiful stomachs. I'm sure that this will be the answer to that."

"7/30

THEY… HOW CAN THEY MOCK IT!? HOW CAN THEY SAY THAT I'M AN ATTENTION HOG!? THEY EVEN CALLED IT THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE FOR CROPS!? CAN'T THEY UNDERSTAND IT!? ALL MY PROJECTS BEFORE HAVE BEEN SPECTACULAR BUT THIS!? THEY HAVE NO REASON! THEY EVEN TOOK MY NOTES!"

"7/31

I have to do this myself! If they can't get understand it, then I'll show them just like I did before! But first, I have to get my notes back. I know where they kept it, but if I trespass that with my rank, they'll arrest me. But I don't care! This is a small price to pay."

As Hisashi reads the whole diary, he can't help but think that Seolim may not be crazy. He skims the diary in just minutes which ended in him looking for a place to do his experiments. Seeing how it was incomplete, Hisashi immediately ran around the entire library looking for other notebooks thinking he might have left some more.

He also read the two first diaries from the soldier and the experimental notes again seeing as he may have missed some details.