An Alchemist's Perception [1/2]

Albedo and Sucrose continued to walk from the front gate of Mondstadt while following where the children are coming from.

Until finally, they reached their destination.

In front of a shop were many people— from young to adults. Many of them were lining up to buy something from the store.

The adults were most likely here to watch over their children, while the majority were teenagers that were lining up.

"It seems like it really is a trend, don't you think so, Sucrose?" Albedo said as he watched the line.

"It certainly is, Mister Albedo," Sucrose said as she adjusted her glasses. "It seems like while we were not in Mondstadt, many things happened."

"It can't be helped," Alnedo sighed before crossing his arms. He then looked at Sucrose. "So."

"Do you want to buy one?" He asked. He then continued. "If they are as popular as they say, then would it not be worth buying one?"

"M-Me? But..." Sucrose hesitated for a moment when she was asked to pick a book. "But... I don't know any of the books they are selling..."

"That is true..." Albedo said before grasping his chin and started pondering. "On the other hand, I don't want to line up..."

Albedo was never the type to socialize. He had always stayed in the snowy mountain of Dragonspine and only left for Mondstadt on rare occasions.

As such, he was never fond of crowds. Let alone a line.

"Oh?" Suddenly, someone noticed the two Alchemists and stopped walking. The person then smiled and raised his hand to wave. "Well, if it isn't Albedo and Sucrose, what brings you two here?"

Albedo and Sucrose look at who identified them and saw someone quite tall. To be more precise a tall person with an eyepatch.

It was none other than Kaeya, the Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonius.

"Ah! Nice to see you here... Captain... Kaeya...?" Sucrose saw who it was and wanted properly greet Kaeya, however, she was immediately distracted by something.

"My, I would have never thought that I'd see you in that kind of outfit one day," Albedo said beside Sucrose with a small smile. No, almost a smirk.

"Hey, come on now, even I don't like this, you know?" Kaeya said with a wry smile.

Right now, Kaeya was wearing an oversized black coat that reached his kneecaps with a standing collar and chains attached.

Additionally, he also has a visored ornamented cap.

Although he looked bizarre... this type of outfit kind of fitted him in a strange way.

"Are you... also cosplaying, Captain Kaeya?" Sucrose asked as she looked at Kaeya's bizarre attire.

Kaeya raised both of his hands and shrugged with a wry smile. "Well, it's a long story. Just know that some bets were made while drinking and well... here we are now. I'm currently cosplaying as Jotaro Kujo."

"So you lost a bet," Albedo said with interest. "I wonder, who bested you?"

"It is err..." Kaeya hesitated to tell for a moment before continuing. "It is none other than Master Diluc, why do you ask?"

"Oh." Both Albedo and Sucrose said at the same time. Albedo then made a dry laugh and spoke. "I see... Well, it's understandable why you lost."

"..." Kaeya remained silent and quietly took the blow before quickly changing the conversation. With a sigh, he spoke. "So, what brings you two here, anyway?"

"Oh right, we wanted to buy a manga from the store but... as you can see..." Sucrose explained before pointing at the line.

"Oh-ho, I see," Kaeya said before crossing his arms. "You want to cut lines?"

"N-No, it's not like that! We—" Sucrose tried to explain herself but she was interrupted.

"Haha, don't worry, I've got you covered," Kaeya said with a confident smile.

He then turned around and waved at them. "Come on, follow me."

Albedo and Sucrose looked at each other first before the former nodded. Soon, the two of them followed behind Kaeya.

The three of them went around the store and went to the back of it.

"Don't tell anyone about this, okay?" Kaeya said with a smile as he raised his forefinger to his mouth.

"Yes." Sucrose nodded. Albedo also modded at the back.

Seeing them agree, Kaeya nodded and knocked on the closed wooden door three times, and brought his head closer to it.

He then whispered something that the other two won't hear. With a low voice, he spoke.

"Abandon all hope, all ye who enter here."

After saying these, the door automatically unlocked itself and opened a small gap. Strangely, no one was at the door and it opened on its own.

Seeing this, Kaeya looked at the other two and signaled them to come in. "Well then, let's go in."

Sucrose and Albedo nodded and followed behind him.

'Fascinating,' Albedo thought with interest as he followed behind. 'Was that some kind of password?'

If the opportunity arises, he would want to try to do it himself.

Entering through the door, the three of them found themselves in what seemed like a secret room where there were two long couches on each side of the room.

Kaeya continued walking and Sucrose and Albedo followed, without questioning what the secret room was for.

Finally, they arrived at the lounge of the shop.

At the counter, Sasori, who was sorting out some books behind him, saw Kaeya and spoke with slight annoyance in his tone. "Did I not tell you to not enter through that door unless it's nighttime?"

"Oh come on, don't be too stingy," Kaeya responded with a smile before shrugging. He then pointed at Albedo and Sucrose at his back. "Besides that, I've gotten you new customers. Will this do for what I just did? Hm?"

"...Fine." Sasori hesitated for a moment before looking at the two. He then immediately recognized them and flinched for a mere moment.

It was the same two that Igarashi had left sketches for.

'Time to act.' He thought. He then looked at the two and spoke with his usual nonchalant tone. "So, what do the two of you wish to read?"

"I'll leave it to you two," Kaeya said as he walked away while waving. "Just pick a genre you're interested in. I'm sure little Klein here has a book for you."

"Is that so..." Sucrose said as she pondered for a few seconds. She then looked at the calm person on the counter. "Is there something that you can recommend?"

"Hmm..." Sasori pretended to inspect them with his expressionless face before opening his mouth. "Well, we have a new series. Would you like to know about them?"

"Yes, please," Sucrose spoke. Meanwhile, Albedo was busy looking around the room. He was checking the bookshelves on the sides.

"Then..." Sasori lightly lowered his body and took something out of under the counter. A few seconds later, a book that had what seemed like a child and a machine on the cover appeared. "Here."

Sasori handed the manga to Sucrose and the latter received it carefully. She then saw the title and read it aloud. "Full Metal Alchemist... Brotherhood?"

"A book about alchemy, you say?" Albedo said as his interest was piqued. He then looked at Sasori. "What are its contents?"

Sasori lightly nodded and explained what the manga was about. "In an alchemical ritual gone wrong, Edward Elric lost his arm and his leg, and his brother Alphonse became nothing but a soul in a suit of armor."

He then continued with a vague understanding, "Equipped with mechanical "auto-mail" limbs, Edward becomes a state alchemist, seeking the one thing that can restore his brother and himself... the legendary Philosopher's Stone."

"A Philosopher's stone?" Sucrose asked. It was a term she had never heard of before. "What's that?"

"An item that is said to be able to transmute anything regardless of its element and attributes, even capable of transmuting living organisms," Albedo explained while crossing his arms. "Of course, such a thing doesn't actually exist."

"The closest thing to a Philosopher's stone is perhaps the Dust of Azoth," Albedo said to himself before lightly nodding. "But even that only transmutes the elements of an item, and not the item itself."

But of course, this was not the truth. For Albedo knows that there is indeed a way to completely transmute something...

...And that method is by using the Art of Khemia.

However, there is no need to tell his disciple about it.

"R-Really? Capable of transmuting living creatures..." Sucrose heard her teacher and became intrigued. As a Bio-Alchemist, how could she not? An alchemic stone capable of changing anything... it was like a dream for an alchemist.

She then realized something and looked at her teacher. "Wait... If the Philosopher's Stone doesn't exist, how come you know about it, Mister Albedo?"

"...It..." Albedo thought and hesitated for a moment before shaking his head. "It was told to me by my aunt in the past. That's all."

"Oh! I see..." Sucrose nodded and did not pursue this matter further. She then changed the topic. "Then... Does this umm... Manga... hold true alchemical credibility?"

"Of course," Sasori lightly nodded with a nonchalant expression.

"Then let me ask you," Albedo said on the side, with interest. "What is the primary rule of alchemy?"

Sasori heard this and an amused smile appeared on his face— which is something that occurs very rarely. He had already secretly read them before, so he knows this question very well.

"The Law of Equivalent Exchange," Sasori said with confidence. "For something cannot be created from nothing, and so to obtain something, something else of equal value must be lost."

"The law of equivalent exchange..." Albedo pondered upon these words and nodded to himself. "It is a great interpretation... and... you are correct.",

"In any case..." Feeling satisfied with the answer, Albedo walked forward and took another FMA:B manga that was placed on the counter by Sasori. "It seems like my student likes this. We will buy them."

"Alright, that would be 20,000 Mora for each book," Sasori said with a calm tone.

However, the two heard the price and flinched. Sucrose was the first to talk. "Twenty... Thousand?"

"Can't go any lower," Sasori immediately said as if he knows what they were thinking.

"It's fine, Sucrose," Albedo said on the side with an amused smile. He then reached out to his pocket and took out a large pouch. "Here, I believe this pouch contains 50,000 Mora. That should cover for both of the books."

"Consider the 10,000 a sign of gratitude from another alchemist," Albedo said.

"Thank you for your patronage," Sasori quickly swiped the pouch and placed it under the counter.

He then pointed at a door leading to another room. "If you want, just enter that door and you will enter the reading area. There's an Airconditioner there to keep you cold and comfortable."

"Alright," Albedo said before walking past Sucrose.

"U-Um... Thank you..." Sucrose said to Sasori. She then took a closer look at Sasori and noticed his looks and aloof manner that were rather... charming, in a way?

"I-I have to go now!" She reluctantly said before following behind her teacher... with a small tinge of red appearing on her face.

Seeing the two of them leave, Sasori couldn't help but be slightly amused. 'Looks like his plan worked.'

'Brother sure knows how to scheme.' He thought before sighing.

"Achoo!" In front of the Cathedral, Igarashi and Lumine walked out of the Church of Favonius together.

'Is someone talking about me...?' Igarashi thought as he wiped his nose with a handkerchief.