‘If it’s menstruation, there happens to be a miracle drug,’ Emma thought gratefully. Since she was born and practically lived in the Herman’s pharmacy,  she could immediately recall a drug that alleviates menstrual pain.

Though this place was not like her father’s pharmacy, she might be able to concoct a drug using the available sources from Van Wert Castle  to help Evelyn with the pain. So Emma had hurriedly called Laute to guide her to the facilities in the castle.

“The alchemy lab is currently empty. The in-house alchemist resigned due to old age a few years ago,” Laute explained.

Emma nodded. “It’s okay. I just want to see the facilities and equipment,” she replied.

“Then I shall take you.”

Laute gestured with a nod as he opened a massive door. The considerably large alchemy lab was surprisingly clean for having been abandoned, and it was also equipped with a variety of items. Looking at the alchemy tools and materials lined up, Emma suddenly tilted her head.

‘Huh?’

To her surprise, chunks of wood were piled up into a pile on the far corner of the wall. The cauldron was full of black soot; someone had not cleaned it after usage.

“Has someone used this place recently?” she asked, curious.

Laute shrugged when Emma asked, looking at the reagent bottles and the lantern with the wick remaining.

Laute pondered. “Well. That, I do not know, madam. There should be at least one or two people in the castle,” he said.

“There are traces of ashes in the cauldron and the wick being burnt. Judging from the smell it’s quite recent,” she murmured, picking up a dirty flask, sniffing it. The smell of a highly volatile testing agent still lingered.

“It had to be within the last two days.”

Laute looked above  as if thinking of something before continuing. “This place is empty, but it isn’t completely shut down for usage, madam. It might have been used by a nearby pharmacy. Or it could have been used by a doctor. Aren’t alchemy, pharmacology, and medicine more or less the same field?”

“They must be.”

Each field was different from the other, so strictly speaking, they were clearly distinguished, but to the everyday man, they were the same. Taking her eyes off the alchemy items and tools, Emma tilted her head as she studied the pile of wood in the corner.

‘What are those used for?’

The wood could not be used in a fireplace because they were split into small pieces, and they seemed pointless to use for heating the cauldron. In particular, there was something suspicious about the shapes of the branches, which were the size of a child’s forearm, to be used as kindling.

Sniff. Sniff.

Laute, who had been watching her sniff the pile of wood, slowly opened his mouth. “What’s wrong, madam?” he asked.

Emma frowned, said to Laute: “It’s kind of weird.”

“The smell?”

“No… I’m curious what this wood is used for. By the way, May I also have permission to use this place?”

“Outside visitors cannot use it alone, but you can if you are accompanied by me. Do you have any knowledge in this department, Miss Herman?”

“Sort of…” Emma’s voice trailed off.  “My father was an expert pharmacist. I was raised in Summerville’s largest apothecary,” she answered.

“Ohh, I see.” Laute nodded as if he had learned something new. Then, “Why are you studying the wood that way, Miss Herman?”

“The wood’s shape is ridiculously strange to be used for firewood. It’s neither oak, acacia nor birch. Hmmm, it’s like buck tree.”

How could an alchemy lab be filled with the elusive buck tree wood? What kind of plot was this? It was a wood used for medicinal materials, but it was not generally used as firewood due to its flame control problems and durability.

“Is there a problem with the wood?” Laute asked, perplexed.

Emma shook her head. “It isn’t that,” she said.

After carefully looking through the alchemy lab in pure  bewilderment, Emma asked Laute to guide her to the pharmacy. Having confirmed that the facilities were fully equipped, it was time to prepare the materials.

“Hello?”

From the pharmacy’s entrance, the scent of dried herbs wafted. The place was quiet; no one answered.

“Hello? Is anyone there?”

As they followed the unfamiliar hallway they found traces of a person’s presence, but the inside was still deserted.

“Is anyone here?”

As they twisted and turned deep into the maze-like pharmacy, a woman cutting herbs with a straw cutter in a place similar to a greenhouse found Emma and walked out slowly.

“Who are you?” the woman asked Emma, then nodded to the man with her, “Mr. Laute!”

The woman’s face shone brightly when Laute appeared from behind Emma. Secretary Laute was quite the celebrity, as there was no one in the castle that didn’t know him. Judging from the polite attitude of the people around him, he seemed to be in a considerable position among the secretaries.

He straightened his back before gesturing to Emma. “Madam Layna. This is Miss Herman, a personal guest of Master Irvan. We came here to buy some herbs. Is it possible to source them from you?”

Layna answered in the affirmative, divulging that she was a pharmacist, a healer, who ran the pharmacy.

“What kind of medicine are you looking for, Miss Herman?” Layna asked with a professional air.

“I will need fruit of Guelder-rose, Broomkirth, black goat’s beard, anjit, and corrupted reed levicus scent, please,” Emma listed.