Ian: I Feel Like I've Been Isolated (33)

"Why haven't they replied yet? Did something go wrong with the review?"

Yet even after waiting until the afternoon, when Ian had finished his experiments, there was still no message from the Association on his communication crystal tablet.

This left Ian greatly surprised—this time, he had not proposed any new theory. He had merely submitted a paper under the name of improving a potion. While it was somewhat shocking for someone his age, potionology was meant to advance constantly.

In fact, before Ian, quite a few people had already tried to modify the Enchanted Weapon Potion. The difficulty was simply rather high, and repeated experiments were required. Not everyone possessed Ian's prophetic psychic abilities and the Ellen Family's ample budget, so none of them had made it to the end.

Nor did Ian intend to monopolize the credit. He had long since contacted the other alchemists whose papers he had cited and reached an agreement with them. By all rights, the Association should have produced a result soon.

But there was no result. He had waited nearly a week, yet not even the most preliminary review-and-filing notification had arrived.

"Could some noble alchemist from who-knows-where have really stolen my paper, intending to put their own name on it?"

Even Ian could not help imagining such an absurd possibility, but things like this really had happened before.

That had been when Landkeeper Axel had only just inherited his position. An alchemist from humble origins had his research results forcibly seized by a noble alchemist. He had nowhere to appeal, no one helped him, and no one believed the results were his.

Fortunately, Axel, newly installed in power, immediately launched a sweeping purge of the old noble system. The outcome needed no elaboration: the fortunate alchemist received a perfect ending, while the