His search for someone to teach him chemistry was as he expected, hard, this city consisted mostly of factories and merchants due to its proximity to the sea and being the crossroad to a bigger city further inwards.
The fact that it was so small considering the number of factories was weird for him, the economic support it gave probably was the biggest in this region. But he did not care either way.
From the books he had found he concluded a teacher was his best option, people didn't seem to like books, something weird, so he had been looking for a teacher for at least a month at this point, the majority of his things were now stored in a bunch of places, so they are not all found if something happens.
So far, he had asked around the city to the best of his ability for someone with knowledge of alchemy but didn't find anyone, then he send letters to some schools, but they didn't respond.
He was sure it was because something related to racism.
But anyhow he had spent the most of this days helping around in his free time and better train his body, as a side effect he could now carry most of his heavy equipment, something he hadn't noticed before.
As a matter of fact, during one of his recent runs around he found a very interesting thing, an orphanage, his previous method of recruitment in his previous life involved using the homeless and those without family to gain employes.
From a moral perspective he was probably in the wrong for using the desperate, but well what is done is done, although he was still doing it, but at a much smaller scale.
He really didn't want to go back to his old habits; it already was difficult to deal with his vice of writing papers to insult academics.
He needed all the support he could get to prepare for his future plans, he was not making a nation, he was making a company to make him enough money, so he never has to be concerned about them anymore.
All he needs is to have enough money to buy himself a ticket to one of the Union's fancy interdimensional gates and he could see from there.
Now helping a group of kids to learn math he truly felt like a teacher seeing his students grow in front of himself.
"Now, would anyone tell me how many sacks of wealth I would have if I have ten boxes of twenty sacks?"
In the middle of a room with a few windows and some chairs and a single table were a group of children sitting in a circle around him. After he asked his question one kid raised her hand.
"It's two hundred!"
"Very good Sary as always very good with numbers."
The girl that talked was a year older than himself, with long black hair and a chubby face.
She was the best student in the orphanage, and a prodigy at that.
He started being a teacher a week after he found the orphanage. It was quite easy actually; he simply asked the person in charge if they were ok with him teaching basic math to the kids in so he could practice his teaching ability for the future.
After showing his knowledge in mathematics, he was easily accepted as well as his donations. At first it was a little weird for the kids to be taught by someone almost of their same age, but it was a good way to make them think better of him.
"Now for the final question before I leave, a little hard question, what is forty divided by three? Don't answer it, tomorrow when I come you all will give me the answer."
As he dismiss class the majority of the kids left running and screaming, they were on the younger side so of course they didn't like school, those that stay were a little older and start to talk to themselves.
"Teacher, can you teach me how to make problems with letters?"
Sary as always approached him after class to ask him something, he told the kids that what he was teaching was easy and to only be concerned when letters start to appear in equations or when numbers appear in the middle of numbers.
It was a little funny he had to admit, to see them confuse and then scared after what he said.
Sary being the exception, possibly being a prodigy in math meant that she had an easier time solving problems and understanding numbers, the only reason that he hadn't tried to recruit her was because he has yet to find a use for a mathematician yet.
"Sary, remember I'm only teaching the basic to get everyone at the same level if you want to learn something as advance as that you will need to ask someone else or wait until we get to that level."
"I know but… it's too boring. Now that I know that letters can be used, I want to know how to use them."
She made a dejected face and started to look at the ground as soon as she started talking, it was quite obvious that see was trying to make him feel bad so he would teach her.
"Sary I might be younger in age to you but remember that I'm a teacher here so as one I can't show favoritism nor let anyone behind."
"Then if you teach me outside of the orphanage that doesn't count as school, so you would not be showing favoritism."
"Oh, dear Sary you are certainly bold, to ask a boy to an outing, you really are a growing girl."
From the doorway a voice rang, there stood a woman in her early thirties with almost shining brown hair and big round blue eyes, wearing a simple grey shirt and some pants, she was one of the workers of the orphanage.
"Ah, miss Enia good to see you class already ended so I was about to leave."
"Just call me Enia, as I told you before, just because you are younger than me doesn't mean that you have to act so formal with me."
Behind him Sary started to pout seeing that her master plan had failed and was backfiring on her.
"I know it's just a force of habit, hope you understand."
"As long as it's not madam I won't get angry I'm still quite young you know~"
A yes woman and their thing about not being call old, he still didn't understand it and never really care enough to try and understand, not in this life or his past.
Considering that he was older than everyone currently in this room combined he should be the one being called by elder or a derivative for that.
"That aside Sary you are really doing well with what I told you, I'm so proud of you."
Hearing the compliment from Enia, Sary gained an incredible blush on her face.
"Big sister Enia please don't say that! Not with…"
After shouting she quickly hid her face and murmured at the end of her sentence.
"Fu fu, you need to show that cute side more it will certainly gain you more attention~"
She now was giving him a look as if to signaling him to react or say something, what? He wasn't sure.
"Sigh, men really can't understand subtlety, can't they?"
Shaking her head she walked to Sary to whisper something in her ear, he shook his head and decided to leave.
Stepping out of the room he started to walk towards the exit saying his goodbyes.
Shaking her head she walked to Sary to whisper something in her ear, he shook his head and decided to leave.
Stepping out of the room he started to walk towards the exit saying his goodbye to the kids along the way, in his mind he could see them grow, as a father imagined their children grow. But he wasn't as benevolent, and while he didn't imagine them as soldiers or puppet leaders, he saw them more as little helpers than anything.
And while he planned to do many more things, he didn't really want to use kids this time if he could, at this point it was more of a force of habit to think of ways for them to be used.
That's why he didn't set any spies inside the place, not like some other places.
"Sir, do you want to play ball?"
As he passed the entrance a group of kids of varied ages approached him, the one leading them holding a ball in his hand ask him.
"Ah, sorry kids, as you can see, I was about to leave for a little business."
"Then what about tomorrow then?"
"Sure, why not, I can clear my schedule for a game or two."
As the kids left to play, he reminisced on the fact that sports were not too popular in this world as one would expect of a place that had yet to develop a more widespread medium of entertainment.
Personally, it was one of the few things that made him somewhat sad, he wasn't a great fan of sport but at the same time seeing the youth not have a way to have fun was sad.
He could probably do something to increase the popularity of the thing with the right medium, not that he knew how, academics was one thing, but a thing as big as sport was something he didn't come to see to execute.
Before leaving the street of the orphanage he put his mask to cover himself, the custom of using one when going outside was still strange to him as he still felt the need to cover his whole head.
Shaking his head to try to get the feeling off he continued walking in the direction of a food stand close by, he was feeling rather hungry at this time, considering this he supposed that it was about to be noon.
Sitting down he order the first thing that he saw, which probably was what he always ordered when he pass through here and was hungry.
Taking the plate handed to him he didn't so much as glance at it as he started eating it.
Besides him a man in his early twenties sat looking strangely at him.
"Is it- is it a bad time to talk boss?"
The man, named Romuel Lonely was a middle manager in the syndicate, in charge of notarizing and checking payments, with a full head of black hair and deep blue eyes and pale skin it gave him a spectral appearance.
He is working under him as a spy in the syndicate, his position being high enough that he can get information without rising suspicion and being able to rise himself in the ranks if he tries.
"Of course, if you came all the way here it means it is important enough that you left work early."
"Ri-Right, it-it is related to what you asked before, the al-alchemist…"
He turned his head around a little, the stuttering was already a bad sign, while he hasn't known Romuel for long and their conversations were mostly formal, he knew for a fact that he didn't have a speech impairment, meaning that the news were even worse than initially imagine.
"You see, I asked someone that sold some glass tubes who bought them and well it-it…"
Ah, now he could imagine what was happening, it involved his inquiry of alchemist in the city, the fact that there were not a single one in all of the region struck him as odd, so he made Romuel check in his merchant contacts for anything that was related to alchemy being sold or bought.
So, him being nervous and directly seeking him meant that thing had turned bad on some end of the search.
"The person that I asked told me somethings that an alchemist bought, and it, ah it was really suspicions so I asked around some other merchant that he did business with and…"
He pause taking a deep breath before continuing.
"It just kept getting weirder and scarier, so I took the initiative and told an assault group that they own the syndicate a big amount and they would not pay, so to give them a beating and take the money back."
He grimace, as if he had bitten a really sour lemon and then continue talking.
"One came back just an hour later, and he started telling me of what they found… It- it was bad, the place was an alchemist sect, and they basically killed almost everyone there when they found out…"
His interest was piqued, a sect was something he didn't expect, he expected something along the lines of a slave trafficking ring with how nervous he was, but a sect was a first in this life.
"Prepare my suit and mask, I don't want to be seen going in there, bring them to the usual meeting spot and prepare three parchments and a pen and bring them along, ask for another assault group to be prepared and tell them to check all houses in a three block area around the sect hideout, go."
"Yes, I'm going."
Romuel quickly left, leaving him alone in the food stand.
Turning around he looked at the owner of the stand directly on the eye, he noticed how he flinched slightly as they made eye contact, seeing this he simply took his bag of coins and put it on the counter, never breaking eye contact.
"It is sad that you had to leave this business, the food was really good, such a shame that you had to leave the city."
"Ye-Yeah i-it is sad and all, ha ha."
The man turn and started to pack his things as fast as he could not looking back at him.
Turning around he stood up and started going in the direction of one of his warehouses, the one where he put his most valuable item currently.
Today he was probably getting his first kill in this life.