Netori System: The Curse of Great Alchemist

Arthur visited one of the slum districts that was in the red zone due to disease and several social problems that disturbed public order.

In this slum district, Arthur entered one of the building shops that was almost collapsing with just a slight touch on its creaky door.

Kraakk ...

Baaamm !!

Opening and closing the rusty door made the entire building shake violently.

"You should have closed the door carefully, Arthur," said someone who had been inside the building looking at him with a bored expression.

"It's been a long time since you visited our almost collapsed shop. Is there something that made you temporarily leave your cute little shop?" continued someone who was in the shadows of darkness.

Tapp ...

Tapp ...

Light footsteps were immediately heard. It was the sound of footsteps that exceeded one person. Behind the uncertain darkness of the shadow, Arthur could see the reflection of eyes staring at his body from a low angle.

Arthur put his hand into his shirt pocket and took out a bag of heavy gold coins.

"I need your help to renovate my small house and shop," Arthur said while throwing the bag containing the gold coins.

Baagghh...

The figure in the dark shadow received the gold coin bag from Arthur and looked like he was weighing it.

"Five hundred gold pieces for the renovation of the house and shop? That's too little to pay for our abilities, Arthur. Don't you also have a secret basement that needs special care when your residence is renovated?" As if knowing the contents of Arthur's gold coin bag accurately, the mysterious figure weighed it and assessed the amount of its contents precisely.

"That's just a down payment that I can give you before working. Just think of it as wages to buy a few barrels of beer before you start working, you lazy dwarfs," Arthur said while taking one of the shabby chairs not far from them.

"Hey, shouldn't you guys move after this building is almost destroyed? Why are you still maintaining this almost destroyed building as a furniture and carpentry business shop owned by the dwarf race?" asked Arthur who had positioned his body to sit in a place that had the remaining light to envelop his body.

"Don't underestimate our building capabilities, Arthur. With our forging hands, this building can last another five years before it completely collapses. We've even calculated when this building will collapse, complete with the date and day."

"Uh, I'm impressed when you can calculate so accurately."

Tapp...

Tapp...

As the sound of small footsteps approached, a small dwarf was seen trying to climb the chair next to Arthur.

"Hup!" with great effort, the small dwarf managed to sit next to Arthur's chair to discuss his business.

Ctakk...

With a snap of his fingers, a blueprint of Arthur's house and shop began to open in front of Arthur.

"Why did you still have the blueprint of my house and shop?" Arthur observed the blueprint that was displayed in front of his eyes. The blueprint had the exact location of Arthur's residence that they had once made.

"Huh, why? The answer already obvious expect... Of course! it is one of our mandatory skills to keep the blueprints of our heavenly garden construction results so that we can judge whether our customers are normal people or crazy Ateliers who store illegal equipment in their secret basements like you."

"Well, I'm sorry if you guys got involved in my inhumane illegal equipment."

"Arthur… do you admit that it is illegal Alchemist equipment?"

"Yes, technically and licensed. It is not registered under the supervision of the Belfast Royal Atelier."

"And what should we do with your expensive equipment?" asked the mysterious dwarf while adding a blueprint design as an estimate for designing Arthur's new residence.

"Can you make it deeper like the royal family's bunker?" asked Arthur while showing the blueprint indicating the depth of his basement that he wanted to add.

"Huh? One kilometer? Do you want us to build a bunker one kilometer underground? We are not mining dwarves, Arthur!" grumbled the dwarf when he found out Arthur's intention to increase the depth of his secret basement.

"If it's that deep, we might as well modify the previous basement into a normal room that hides the entrance to your deepest bunker, Arthur…" the dwarf continued as he drew another basement on the blueprint.

"That's a great idea, I can use that basement as a storage for my raw Alchemist materials."

"Do that after you take off your illegal Alchemist equipment!" the dwarf grumbled in a harsh tone as if cursing Arthur.

"Yes… Yes… I know that. Then for the design of my house and shop. Can you make it bigger like a mansion that can accommodate a married couple to live in together?"

"Arthur, you're not planning to make a married couple as slaves who work non-stop in your soon-to-be-famous Alchemist shop, are you?" with a tone that glared at Arthur, the dwarf couldn't take his eyes off Arthur who seemed to be burning his gold coins to get away from running his business.

"Hmm? Why do you think like that?" Arthur asked with a calm facial expression.

"Don't pretend to be innocent and clueless in front of me! I know what happened to one of your female disciples who caused a commotion in the Royal Capital of Belfast!"

"Eh? Really? Every female disciple of mine always causes trouble every day. That's not a normal thing for you, right?"

"I mean about that little girl... Rei! The human girl who shocked the noble family and several military patients who had disabilities after wars on their body!" shouted the dwarf while throwing a newspaper in front of Arthur's eyes.

"Read this dwarf newspaper that was not published, Arthur!"

"Isn't this Rei! Your female disciple who just came back from visiting you!"

The newspaper in front of Arthur showed a front page that was not published because it would cause a commotion for other nobles and several military families who had disabilities while serving on the front lines.

The article that told about Rei's body returning to her teenage girl age received special attention, especially with the sensitive words that came out of her mouth when Rei said, "I don't know anything, ask my Mentor for more!"

Arthur was speechless when he read the draft of the front page of the newspaper that was not published.

"Oh, Fuck! My shop will be full of customers!" Arthur exclaimed with a shocked expression.

"Bastard! So this is why you came here to renovate your residence! Want to run away from your own business? You are such a bastard, Arthur!" with a curse directed at Arthur, the dwarf gave him a smile that accepted Arthur's renovation challenge.

Sraatt...

Ttesss...

Sraatt...

With extraordinary hand speed, the dwarf designed a mansion building that had several rooms and access to a secret basement equipped with several security mechanisms that only the owner knew.

A few strokes of his hand on the blueprint made Arthur worry about the costs he had to spend.

"Isn't this too much for a residence and a shop?" asked Arthur who began to worry after seeing the blueprint of his residence that seemed to have tight security like that of the royal family.

"It's worth what you will do in the future, Arthur," replied the dwarf without losing his concentration in designing Arthur's residence and Alchemist shop.

The sketch drawn on the blueprint made Arthur sweat coldly about what the dwarf race in front of him would make.

"If you're wondering why this is necessary, then I'll explain what I've designed in this blueprint, Arthur…"

Holding out the blueprint of Arthur's house and shop, the dwarf began to explain in detail what was done in the renovation.

"The news of you as an Atelier who can revert a person's body to a teenager will spread far and wide. It will make your house and shop more noticed around here especially with the bandits eyeing your source of income in the Atelier business."

"I added level eight anti-magic glass, only a royal mage who can cast attack magic at level eight can destroy it. So, if your house's glass is broken then it's certain that the mage who broke it is above level eight."

"Oh, that gives me some peace of mind because the person who broke my glass would be on the limit of a normal person!" Arthur argued.

"The walls and doors also have level eight magic resistance…" the dwarf continued.

"Fuck! My house and shop are now anti-magic belonging to a mage, huh?" Arthur replied with his small comment.

"Hey, isn't that much better than dying in a surprise attack by a weak wizard?"

"…" Arthur fell silent at the comparison.

"Your house and shop will also be equipped with sensitive magic detectors that will automatically secure every room. Some air compartments and sensitive points that are prone to theft will be given magic sensors that can detect movement."

"That's too much!"

"Rather than having no security at all, right?"

"Ugh, that's true… but my finances can't afford a total renovation like this!"

"Don't worry, Arthur. We accept fake gold coins as payment. Can't you make fake gold coins that look very similar to the real thing?"

"Ugh, again... I'll be involved in the inflation caused by the dwarf race."

"Huh? Do you think we're that stupid? Of course, you'll make gold coins from various other kingdoms."

"… Oh, I didn't know you could be this cunning."

"We also have business in other kingdoms, Arthur."

"Alright, I'll do my best as long as your work quality is as high as usual."

"And you also have to make gold coins with the same high quality as usual."

"Okay, agreed!"

"We also agree!"

With the agreement between Arthur and the mysterious dwarf race. A blueprint of Arthur's Alchemist house and shop has been made with the highest level of security that exceeds the Bank or the Royal Palace.

The agreement that utilizes each other's expertise creates a new problem that occurs in the dark underground world.

Arthur returns to his house and shops with skilled dwarf workers.