"The Song of the Mourning Dragon…"

As Alixria, who was conducting an unknown experiment, paused her work and looked towards us, the visitors. I say 'looked' because she was wearing a gas mask, making it impossible to see her face clearly. We were also donned with masks ever since Alixria started attending classes. Gas masks had become standard in our class.

We had returned to the Medical Academy once again, this time in search of the potion rumored to have a damage bonus against dragons. However, we were unsure who to ask, so we found ourselves on Alixria's laboratory floor once more.

"I've read about that stuff in a book before, but I've never seen it myself. Maybe it's in the storage. Maybe. But there are plenty of drugs that enhance libido and cause impotence. Are you interested?"

"Not at all."

"But if you make your brother impotent, I'll personally torture you to death. Remember my words~"

Oyado, who was standing beside me, cheerfully pulled out a dagger. Alixria trembled for a moment and then remained silent.

Oyado's latest outfit was quite impressive. It seemed like she had prepared a full set of protection against potential attacks. Her black skin-tight chemical protective suit, along with the hood covering her entire head, left no vulnerable spots exposed. Whether it was an inhalation type or dermal absorption-type potion, it would have no effect on her.

This was Lanya's creation, the '100% Anti-Poison Protection Suit Prototype,' hastily made after learning about Alixria's attack methods. Perhaps Lanya saw a business opportunity in it.

"Alright, let's go check the storage. But don't touch anything inside randomly. Although it's called storage, there are still many living materials in there."

"Living materials..."

Hearing this, I suddenly envisioned rows of glass vessels in a biochemical laboratory, countless bizarre creatures wriggling inside.

But then I realized something was amiss. This world shouldn't have such things, given the differences in technology and worldviews. Nevertheless, with our original world's technology slowly merging with this one, one couldn't be entirely sure that such things wouldn't eventually appear.

Amidst speculations about potential scenarios, the three of us boarded the material transport elevator and descended slowly.

The elevator was roughly the size of half a basketball court, which made me worry once again about my previous fantasy.

"Hey, why do you guys play the sibling role?"

As the elevator descended, Alixria suddenly asked.

"We're not playing siblings at all! He is really my brother!"

Oyado retorted, quite displeased.

"Well, having spent a long time at the Medical Academy, I can still tell appearances apart. There's absolutely no resemblance between you two, meaning there's no blood relation at all. Maybe I tend to over-analyze things, but in my mind, if there's no blood connection, you're not really siblings."

"Alixria, that's your problem. What's wrong with having siblings without blood ties? When I first met Oyado, she was so young, well, she still is. So, it's not a problem to consider her as my sister."

Moreover, Oyado's memories were implanted from the beginning, so it naturally fell into place. Although Oyado knew these were false memories, she accepted them willingly.

"Aw, that sounds nice… I wish I had siblings too."

"By the way, Alyssia, come to think of it, I have never seen your parents, or even your grandfather for that matter. There is nothing written about them on your profile, did something happen...?"

"Teacher, let's not talk about that kind of thing."

Alyssia turned her head and looked at me, even through the gas mask I could sense her displeased gaze.

It seems that something did happen indeed.

"It's not good to delve too deeply into a woman's secrets, especially you, Teacher, being so young. It's a dangerous sign for a young woman."

"Well, you're right. Okay, I'll have Ms. Mary ask next time."

"No no no! Don't do that! I'd rather die than have her ask me!"

At the mention of Ms. Mary's name, Alyssia immediately became flustered.

It seems that Mary has left a deep impression on their minds, which is good, even though I have absolutely no desire to know what kind of impression it is.

"Fine, fine, in fact, my parents are not only pharmacists but also A-ranked mercenaries in the Mercenary Guild. Once, it seems there was some particularly rare medicinal herb, so they left with a mercenary group and never came back. As for my grandfather... he has always been busy, although I don't know with what. He hasn't come to see me since five years ago, apart from giving me a floor for experiments, some pocket money every month, and providing me with some random clothes that are of little use."

"Well... it seems like you've been through a lot."

"...actually, before you guys came, I hadn't spoken to anyone for over a year."

"Huh?"

My and Oyado's expressions were blank.

"But don't you have to go out to buy things? Like food and stuff...?"

"Oh, I'm too lazy, I just use my fingers."

...

That's your own fault, it has nothing to do with your family issues!

Give me back my sentiment!

"Anyway, if you're bored, you can come find us. We're usually pretty bored too. I think Ms. Mary would be delighted to see you come and play with her."

"Can we not mention her?"

"Well..."

Around the time we were chatting, the elevator slowly came to a stop, and the door on one side opened one after another.

I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I felt a cold wind blowing out, similar to the feeling of opening a refrigerator.

"The warehouse on the first floor is all refrigerated goods, so that's how it is. Let's go, this place below is quite large, don't get lost."

Alyssia finished speaking and walked out, I shrugged, cast a spell to ward off the cold, and followed.