The Alchemists

The next morning, just before 8 am, Ben arrived at Rose Mansion. He waited for Finland at the gates. Finland, who looked radiant in her black dress, entered the car and paid attention to where they were going.

"So, today he will have 3 meetings, one guest lecture, and a surgery, right?"

Ben didn't reply. He drove Finland to the Continental Hotel.

"Are we picking Caspar up for work?"

"Master is inviting Miss to have breakfast together first."

"Oh, okay."

Finland went up to the Penthouse and found Caspar, still in his pajamas, sitting at the dining table.

"Come, have breakfast with me. What do you want to eat? I made pancakes, chicken porridge, toast, and various kinds of small bites."

"I want everything," Finland said greedily. She sat beside Caspar and immediately took the most delicious food. If her salary were cut today, at least she needed to get the equivalent compensation in form of food.

After they finished breakfast, there was no sign of Caspar getting ready for the meetings. Instead, he sat down on the couch and turned the TV on to watch the morning news.

"Don't you have 3 meetings today? Then a lecture at the campus and a surgery at the hospital?" Finland asked in surprise.

"Oh... I canceled all my agenda for today. I just want to spend time with you." Caspar looked at Finland with a mischievous smile, "I'm all yours today. Feel free to ask me anything. When is my birthday, what is my favorite food, why am I so good at cooking, why I have been a surgeon for decades... "

Finland was stunned...

"But we agreed that… I will follow your daily activity for one day so I can see what you normally do... to get to know you better. But now you're not going to work...."

"Yes, I want to make it fair. You took a leave of absence with a salary cut, so I should also take a leave of absence and not earn one day's income. I also think it would be faster if you just ask me everything you want to know, instead of spending time with me all day and make assumptions based on your observations..."

"Fair enough..." Finland admitted. "OK, when were you born?"

"I was born on July 7 in '80."

"Oh... so you are already 38 years old..." Finland covered her mouth in surprise. She didn't expect Caspar to be THAT old. She just graduated from university and was 23 years old; in a few months she would be 24. Wow... they were almost 15 years apart. "But you're lucky, your still look like you are in your twenties, you know..."

Caspar smiled faintly... "Actually, I'm much older than you think, but thank you for the compliment. My entire family looks younger than we actually are."

"How many siblings do you have?"

"I have two younger siblings. My sister is married and has three children and many grandchildren. My younger brother is still single; he lives for science and adventures."

Finland imagined Caspar's younger sister who might have gotten pregnant when she was still a teenager. Then, her children also got pregnant at a young age.

"Are your parents still alive?"

Caspar didn't answer for a while. His eyes turned sad, "They died in the second world war."

"Oh... sorry, I didn't know. We're both orphans then." Finland suddenly remembered Ben's story about Caspar's fiancée, "Uhm... you were engaged and about to get married. What happened?"

Caspar shook his head softly, "I met Katia just after my parents died in the war. At that time, I was devastated, and I felt that her presence gave me comfort... but I didn't really love her. I feel guilty for giving her hope for so many years. We take marriage and parenthood very seriously. That's why it took a very long time for my family to fall in love and get married. We have to live with someone forever, so if we make the wrong choice, our life will suffer forever. We don't get divorced because we are very conservative."

Last night Finland thought that the wine influenced her capability to process information from Ben, but this morning she felt very fresh and alert. The information provided by Caspar didn't seem to add up...

"Wait... wait... you said your parents died in World War 2? Then there is no possible way you could be born in year '80 if they had died decades before. You also said that you met Katia after your parents died... that means in the 40's or 50's..." Finland patted her forehead, "Please... my brain isn't working."

Caspar laughed seeing how confused Finland looked.

"I'm actually older than you imagine. I was born in 1580... not 1980." Caspar continued, his tone became very serious, "We are Alchemists. In 1450 my family invented the philosopher's stone that made our bodies perfect and stopped our aging process once all cells have optimally grown. After that, new cells will continue to regenerate forever and we will never experience aging, disability, or physical illnesses. We cannot die of natural causes such as illness and old age, and that means we can live forever. The oldest Alchemist in the world is now 550 years old, and he looks like he's my age."

Finland's jaw dropped and her eyes widened.

Caspar must be joking again. She could not take Caspar's words seriously because he never made sense. Once, he said that he had been a surgeon for decades and was able to perform surgeries with his eyes closed. Another time he said that he wanted to buy the Continental Hotel. He also said that he would buy LTX International. Now, he claimed that he was born in 1580...

That was 438 years ago... Hahaha...

Seriously...

Those thoughts circulated in Finland's head, but she could not make herself laugh or pretend that he was joking.

Her instincts were telling her that this guy was dead serious…

The Alchemists... Who are they?