End of the Magic Era
chapter-55

Bassoro once again hit Granger while he was down. He proceeded to compound the potion according to Lin Yun's formula.

"..." Granger looked at the potion and felt like crying. 'Seriously, how could you move so fast and finish compounding in a few minutes, do you think I'm not miserable enough?'

Granger's thoughts were about right.

Bassoro didn't stop after taking out the finished potion and volunteered to help Lin Yun with the refining. Under the exquisite work of the Great Alchemist, the blood inside the glass bottle quickly separated, leaving a few drops of transparent liquid behind. As it was decanted into another glass bottle, a sour smell assaulted their noses.

"Granger, look at this…" After Bassoro was done with his work, he took a deep breath before showing an embarrassed expression.

After a moment of silence, Granger almost jumped up. 'Fuck, why are you looking at me with such an awkward expression? You aren't thinking of truly making me try it… Right? We are both members of the Alchemist Guild, why are you acting like that?'

"What… What do you think you are doing?" Granger almost subconsciously covered his mouth. He looked at Bassoro with vigilance.

Bassoro saw Granger's expression, but he still didn't know what his colleague was thinking.

'That idiot…' Bassoro inwardly scolded him. This person was also a fellow Great Alchemist. Bassoro was looking at him with disdain, as his actions were too unsightly. In order to make some profits, he had gone so far as to maliciously accuse this young mage at the hearing. What he did was clear, yet he thought that others couldn't see...

If it had happened to someone else, Bassoro likely wouldn't have bothered about it.

To a Great Alchemist, the survival of a random alchemy shop was only a trivial matter. Offending a colleague for a trivial matter wasn't worth it in Bassoro's eyes.

The problem was he couldn't ignore Lin Yun's matters...

What Molin had said earlier was very clear: When that young mage came back to the Gilded Rose, he had been escorted back by Solomon!

What did that mean...

'Is a person that Solomon personally escorted someone you can offend, Granger? Granger could be considered lucky, that Wind Blade earlier had only cut Cruise's wrist. If Mage Merlin had a worse temper, that Wind Blade might have fallen on your neck due to your previous behavior. It would be too late for you to regret it then. Regardless of your fate, don't implicate me, I don't want to clean up your mess.'

As he thought this, Bassoro felt a little troubled. The hand holding the glass bottle seemed to be moving toward Granger...

"Get that away from me!" Granger quickly cried out.

Bassoro took a look at Granger and then opened the glass bottle before giving his opinion.

"It seems like it truly is Dissipating Potion…"

But he still ended up asking, "Granger, what do you think?"

"I…"

Granger opened his mouth, but he didn't know what he should say.

Granger was too embarrassed by the situation...

Could he agree to what Bassoro said? Then today's hearing might turn into the biggest joke of the Alchemist Guild, and the most laughable person would definitely be Granger himself. But if he didn't agree, what could he do about the bottle Bassoro was holding, would he really have to try it? And what if it really was Dissipating Potion?

"This…" Granger remained confused and indecisive for a long time before finally realizing something. 'So what if it's the Monchi Family? So what if they offer magic materials, to hell with it, if I can't protect myself, why should I care about your trivial matter?'

People were like this... They would put themselves first when facing adversity.

"That's right, I also feel that this is Dissipation Potion!" Granger's mind cleared up and he immediately figured out his course of action. He slowly took the bottle and walked to the young man that had been brought in as a witness. "Magic Apprentice Cruise, what do you have to say?"

"I…" Cruise was in a daze. The situation had changed too suddenly. First, a Wind Blade cut his wrist, leaving these Great Alchemists speechless, and even worse, this particular Great Alchemist changed sides and was now grilling him instead.

How could this happen...

Cruise originally wasn't someone with much social experience. Among the people he usually came in contact with, the most influential ones were only Alchemists. Cruise had never even dreamed of being in the same room as three Great Alchemists.

And now he was being questioned by a Great Alchemist.

Cruise stood there lifelessly, cold sweat dripping from his forehead.

'How could this be? Didn't the butler of the Monchi Family guarantee that I wouldn't be exposed and that if anything went wrong, Great Alchemist Granger would definitely help me?'

'What… What kind of help is this?'

"I agree with Great Alchemist Bassoro. This substance that was extracted from your blood is Dissipation Potion. In other words, Magic Apprentice Cruise, your presented false testimony in this hearing. Therefore, after discussing with Great Alchemist Bassoro, we have decided to end this hearing here. The Gilded Rose can start conducting business again. As for you, Magic Apprentice Cruise, there will be an investigation in a little while. I hope you will cooperate."

'Finished… I'm finished…' After Granger was done talking, the young Magic Apprentice immediately felt everything darkening before him. The conditions the Monchi Family had agreed to would all disappear. He would have to deal with the consequences of the Dissipation Potion on his own. And the most frightening thing was that the Alchemist Guild was even going to investigate him. Once that happened, the false testimony he had given in this hearing would come up. He would never be able to find work in Thousand Sails City later on.

It shouldn't have happened like this...

When he left the Gilded Rose the other day, he had already been a 9th Rank Magic Apprentice. As long as he worked hard, he might have been able to become a Mage. A beautiful future was beckoning to him. 'Why did I accept Jonathan's offer, why did I drink that Dissipation Potion?'

Cruise stood there in a daze. He wanted to say a few sentences to justify himself, but his words were barely mumbles as he muttered under his breath, "This isn't Dissipation Potion, you have no proof…"

But these words were heard by Granger...

Granger practically wanted to kill him for that. 'Fuck, you still want proof? Are you trying to get me to drink this Dissipation Potion?'

"Come here, take Magic Apprentice Cruise out and watch him strictly. Magic Apprentice Cruise might be related to some incidents. In a bit, the Alchemist Guild will send someone to investigate him."

"..." The world in front of the young Magic Apprentice turned dark as he was dragged out of the meeting room.

While Cruise was being dragged away, a staff member came up and took a look at the alchemy formula.

But the situation in the meeting room was a bit hectic.

Granger was busy making arrangements, Lin Yun was busy sneering at him, and Bassoro was busy recording the events of the hearing, and as for the remaining Great Mage, he was dozing off for some reason… Thus, no one was thinking about the formula.

"This… Mage Merlin, this was a misunderstanding, truly a misunderstanding…" Granger's forced smiling face looked more like an unsightly crying face.

Originally, as an esteemed Great Alchemist, even if Granger made a mistake, he still wouldn't try to curry favor with some inexperienced mage by apologizing.

But Bassoro had told him about the matter of Solomon escorting Lin Yun earlier, whatever the reason for that was, when they were discussing the outcome of the hearing.

Granger really felt startled and miserable at that revelation.

The one that the Monchi Family wanted him to handle this time was truly a dangerous person!

If he had known this earlier, forget magic materials, even if the Monchi Family opened their own warehouse to him, he still wouldn't agree. Solomon had never personally escorted someone like this for the past twenty years. Last time, Solomon had only walked Ryan of the Monchi Family to his door in the Sage Tower, and that alone had been enough to make huge waves in Thousand Sails City. But this Mafa Merlin was personally escorted back to the Gilded Rose!

Granger felt cold sweat dripping from his back.

"Haha…" Regarding the matter of Granger obviously trying to curry favor with him, Lin Yun only laughed, not saying anything. However, he didn't continue to make things difficult for the other side.

Because Lin Yun knew that someone would come to find him soon.

Sure enough, while Granger was trying to think of every possible way to justify himself, another staff member entered the reception room and whispered a few sentences in Bassoro's ears.

Bassoro, who had still been sorting the records of the hearing, froze before suddenly standing up and looking at Lin Yun, his expression full of doubt and shock.

Bassoro stood there in a daze for a long time before letting out a gulp. "Mage… Mage Merlin…"

"What is it, Great Alchemist Bassoro?"

"You… Your esteemed alchemy formula… By any chance, is there a missing part?" The tone Bassoro used was very respectful this time. Anyone would be shocked to see a Great Alchemist speak so respectfully to a young mage. After all, Bassoro was one of the most important members of the Alchemist Guild, his status above Grangers. The number of people he would talk so respectfully to could be counted on two hands in the entire Alchemist Guild, no, in the entire Thousand Sails City.