Manga Chapter 26: Lead

Lead

Name
Japanese	Romaji
鉛	Namari

Information

Format

Manga

Volume

Volume 5

Chapter No.

26

Pages

43

Adaptation

Light Novel

Volume 2

Chapter 5

Anime

Raw Fish (season 1, episode 15)
Lead (season 1, episode 16)

Chronology
Previous	Next
← Chapter 25	Chapter 27 →

Lead (鉛, Namari^?) is the twenty-sixth chapter of Nekokurage's The Apothecary Diaries first manga adaptation.

Summary[]

Lakan explains to Jinshi that his acquaintance was a metal craftsman who was also an imperial purveyor. It was undecided who among his sons, also his apprentices, would become the next purveyor, as none of them were taught his secret technique. In another conversation with Maomao, Jinshi adds that the will stipulated three possessions for his sons: a workshop, a piece of furniture, and a fishbowl for the eldest, middle, and youngest respectively. A message to sit down and have tea with each other is also included. Taken literally, the will asks the sons to get along with each other, but Maomao suspects that it is saying something else. She requests to visit the craftsman’s house to look at the heirlooms.

The next day, Maomao travels to the house, again with the military official, named Basen. Basen makes it clear that he will oversee the investigation, with Maomao as his attendant. Arriving at the house, they are greeted by one of the sons. Walking to the workshop, Maomao notices an unusual material on display.

The son meets his brothers, from which Maomao identifies him as the youngest son. Inside the workshop, Maomao and Basen observe the layout, which consists of three tables in a U-shape facing the furniture, a chest of drawers. The chest has keyholes on the top and middle and is bolted to the floor. Maomao also notices the nearby window, which is long and lets in a specific amount of sunlight. Where the light hits, Maomao notices a square mark, indicating an object sat there for a long time.

Basen presses the brothers for more details. The youngest brother shows his heirloom, a glass fishbowl. The middle brother explains more on the furniture, which the key he has does not fit into any of the keyholes. Though the youngest brother desires to sit down and have tea with each other, his brothers brush him off, confused about the craftsman’s message.

The brothers' mother then arrives with tea for everyone. While the brothers sit down at their usual spots at the tables, Maomao sees the sunlight will reach the chest soon. She realizes the square mark is in the direction of the sunlight. Maomao follows her eyes across, reaching the keyhole in the middle of the chest. The middle brother mentions that drawer key used to work, but now cannot be used, else the drawer contents will break, per the craftsman’s words.

Thinking back on what she has seen and learned of the inheritance, Maomao goes to fetch water to fill inside the fishbowl, which the youngest brother placed on the square mark. Sunlight then hits the fishbowl, transmitting a ray of light toward the drawer. After warning the middle brother to not get in the way of the light, it hits the middle keyhole, which is now hot to touch and smells of solder.

The middle brother tries again to open the middle drawer, discovering a newly formed key inside of a mold. Maomao takes the new key to open the top drawers, which contain two metal ores and the unusual material she saw before. Though the elder and middle brothers scoff at the contents, the youngest brother concentrates on the unusual material. As he has the most burn marks, Maomao deduces that only the youngest brother understands the craftsman’s will, which is a new metal type with a low melting point. After giving the youngest brother directions to Luomen should he fall ill from crafting, Maomao and Basen leave.

Lakan arrives back at Jinshi’s office, informing him that while the craftsman’s sons reconciled, the youngest is now likely to become the next imperial purveyor. Lakan also brings up the last item the craftsman created – a metal fitting for ceremonial equipment. As Jinshi notes Lakan’s ability to spot talent, he returns to their prior conversation of what Lakan did to lower his courtesan friend’s price. Lakan instead suggests asking someone who knows courtesans, before leaving behind a drink for Jinshi’s attendant.