This Name Smells Like Curry

"A trade, how interesting."

The Collector licked the mustard off her fingers. "If you need something to carry out tasks for the Black Tide Society, you could simply bill it to the public account. But if I heard correctly, you've come here in a private capacity, haven't you?"

"Which means, you want to do something that must remain unknown."

"Let me guess. Do you need some hard-to-identify poison to assassinate someone? Or perhaps an ancient weapon capable of inflicting irreversible wounds? Or maybe you simply need a rare antique to bribe your superior?"

"Come on, tell me, did I guess right?" The Collector leaned eagerly toward Ludwig, a foul stench instantly wafting from her mouth.

"I did indeed come here for private reasons," Ludwig first confirmed, then shifted his tone. "However, I am not here for those things, so you are only half-right, Collector."

"Then what is your purpose?" the Collector asked curiously.

Ludwig merely smiled mysteriously. "I believe that once you see my trade item, you will understand."

"Tsk." The Collector clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction. "So mysterious, though it is somewhat intriguing. Well then, bring it out."

Under the Collector's expectant gaze, Ludwig slowly pulled something from the inner pocket of his overcoat...

"...A book?"

The Collector raised an eyebrow. "Just a book?"

"Not an ordinary book." Ludwig smiled and handed it over. "You'll know once you see it."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk..."

The Collector clicked her tongue as she took the book, then froze slightly after flipping through a few pages.

"Oh! This is the manuscript of Principles of Alchemical Machinery by Leonardo da Vinci. And judging by the quality, it's the original? Oh my, my apologies, I misjudged you."

As she spoke, the Collector looked at Ludwig. "This sort of thing isn't common merchandise. Where did you get it?"

"Professor Beshe's estate." Ludwig chuckled and took a sip of his coffee. "That old fellow left behind quite a lot. His grandson, Aleppo, happens to be my colleague. The most crucial part is that his grandson died right along with him."

"So, I took the opportunity while handling Aleppo's funeral arrangements to scavenge quite a few good things from his estate."

Hearing this, the Collector had a sudden realization. "Oh, I heard recently that Professor Beshe passed away. Tsk, tsk, that old man was an alchemist, and his wealth was no less than mine."

"So, you want to study alchemy using Professor Beshe's estate, is that it?"

"That is exactly the intention." Ludwig nodded.

This reason was something he had improvised on the way here, but it was convincing enough.

After all, in this world, nothing was more precious than knowledge, and the mysteries of alchemy were deep enough to draw anyone in.

"So, what do you want?" the Collector asked with curiosity. "Materials? Instruments? Alchemical tools? Or something else—if it's literature, you might be disappointed, as I don't usually collect those. If this codex of yours weren't an original, it wouldn't be worthy of my display cabinet."

"None of the above." Ludwig smiled. "I am actually here on an external assignment. You must have heard about what happened at the market street yesterday, so my visit to you was actually a spur-of-the-moment decision."

"Since it was a spur-of-the-moment decision, there naturally wouldn't be a specific goal."

"So, I was just struck by a whim to obtain some basic materials for studying alchemy from you. After all, the way I acquired this book was a bit delicate, so I can't go through the Black Tide Society's official channels to get these materials."

"Hmm..."

"Fine." The Collector grabbed a white sausage and shoved it into her mouth without peeling it, spraying crumbs as she chewed. "Materials for alchemy... I suppose that's fine. At least it's not anything unique. I have some stock here, so it won't hurt to trade it to you. Follow me, I'll take you to my collection room."

With that, the Collector's massive frame stood up, squeezing out the door like a mountain.

Following behind the Collector, Ludwig watched her enormous bulk squeeze onto the staircase, momentarily worried about whether the building could withstand such weight.

After following the Collector up four flights of stairs, that worry turned into shock.

He was shocked that someone with a physique so large she could barely see her own legs while standing could actually climb four flights of stairs so steadily, without even being red-faced or short of breath, as if she were an ordinary person walking on flat ground!

It seemed this Collector wasn't just a fat woman, but pure muscle wrapped in fat—no, that didn't even describe it. To be able to move freely while carrying three tons of weight, her strength was likely on par with Ludwig's!

Ludwig followed the Collector all the way to the fifth floor. At the end of the hallway on the fifth floor was a single door. The Collector unhooked three keys from her waist and unlocked the three locks on the door one by one.

"Come in, Mr. Radvasch—your name is a bit of a mouthful, not a typical name from the Rhine Region, is it?"

Ludwig smiled without answering. "Radvasch" was actually a variation of "Ludwig," but after twisting it like that, the name naturally took on a bit of a foreign flavor...

Behind the door on the fifth floor was a long corridor with four doors on either side and a window at the end. This corridor was slightly narrow for the Collector, likely built when she was much thinner.

"Come here, young man." The Collector used a key to open the first door. "Come see something good."

The moment Ludwig stepped into the first room, everything within sight, aside from the load-bearing pillars, was filled with display cabinets containing calligraphy, paintings, vessels, furniture, old metalwork, and a pile of various antiques he couldn't even name.

"This is the collection of our Stras Family, spanning eight generations," the Collector said, standing at the door with pride.

"Truly impressive." Ludwig couldn't help but exclaim.

But then he realized something was off. "However, it seems there are only ordinary collectibles here?"

"That is correct." The Collector smiled and patted the cabinet door beside her. "The items in this room are all ordinary antiques. They have simply been tempered by the passage of time, but they have not been honed into having extraordinary properties."

As they spoke, they arrived at the second room.

Compared to the dazzling array in the first room, the second room was visually inferior. All he could see were dried plant leaves or roots, along with quite a few living plants.

"Unassuming, right?" The Collector looked down at the display cabinet with a smile. "This room is filled with various rare and exotic plants. Some things aren't considered strange in their place of origin, but they are top-tier rarities in the Rhine Region."

"Like this one." As she spoke, the Collector opened the glass door of a cabinet and pulled out a root. "Look, this is a Mandrake root. It can only be used when formulated into a potion—what's wrong? You look very surprised."

Ludwig nodded and said frankly, "I am indeed quite surprised."