The Genius Perfumer of the Fallen Cult - Chapter 65

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Genius Perfumer of the Fallen Religious Order Episode 65

The Exam Supervisor announced another failed candidate in a somewhat weary tone, then looked at the person protesting. Those indifferent eyes showed that he had experienced this kind of situation countless times.

“For reference, you didn’t even get half of them correct.”

“Then, then are you saying everyone else got them all right? What else could possibly be in there…!”

“Not everyone, but those who identified the important fragrance materials passed.”

Even though he was indirectly saying that the person hadn’t even identified the important, core fragrance materials, the other party didn’t understand at all and flew into a rage.

“If not a single person got them all correct, then isn’t this a flawed test! How can you ask us to identify something that can’t be identified! In the first place, just because someone is a perfumer doesn’t mean they need the ability to identify ingredients just by smelling a fragrance!”

He shouted loudly. However, the Exam Supervisor barely pretended to listen.

Every year after the exam ended, there were people who protested, and every year he gave them the same answer, yet those who protested were still dragged away.

Just when the Exam Supervisor was thinking he should call the security soldiers and turned to the next answer sheet, his eyes stopped. In front, the protesting person’s shouting grew louder and louder. However, the Exam Supervisor’s eyes and hands looking at the answer sheet were trembling, unable to turn in that direction.

Finally, the Exam Supervisor raised his head.

“…There is.”

“What, what did you say?”

“There is someone who got them all correct.”

The murmuring of the remaining people grew louder. While they were stunned to hear that someone had written all the correct answers, a security guard who arrived late grabbed the troublemaker’s arm and dragged him out. The Exam Supervisor looked back at Prim, who was the last one remaining, and said.

“Pr… Prim, you pass with a perfect score. Next, we’ll go to the Perfume Testing Hall where the second main exam will be held.”

Everyone’s gaze focused on the small girl wearing layers of coats. Prim just tilted her head.

The place where the second main exam was held in earnest was a great hall. Inside that hall, makeshift perfume organs were lined up in rows and columns.

Prim took off all her coats and scarf, set them aside, and sat in front of the perfume station assigned to her, looking it over.

Various fragrance materials were placed in a row in dark brown bottles, but their names were not written.

Prim glanced at the man sitting at the very front of the auditorium, leaning back in his chair in a free-spirited posture.

From the attitude of those around him and his own expression, he seemed to be the perfumer who created the perfume used in this exam.

‘But it’s a face I’ve never seen before. Who is he?’

She had seen the faces of all the renowned perfumers several times, yet this was a complete stranger. Although she admitted she wasn’t good at remembering people, she wouldn’t forget someone who could create such a fragrance.

“Begin perfuming!”

Prim stopped thinking and turned her eyes to the perfume organ.

Without hesitation, she opened the bottles of fragrance materials one by one and confirmed what was inside each.

‘The quality isn’t bad at all.’

While not at the level of fragrance materials used by renowned perfumers, they were quite good enough.

Prim smelled the fragrances, wrote down their names, and returned them to the shelf. It didn’t take very long to restore the names of all the fragrance materials.

‘I thought it would be meaningless, but it might be more interesting than I expected.’

Doing this work of smelling each fragrance material and recalling its name made her feel light and refreshed, as if she had opened a long-used kitchen drawer, spilled out everything inside, then neatly organized it all again.

‘Now, shall I start perfuming?’

Prim brought her nose close to the inside of her elbow where it bent and refreshed her olfactory sense. The scent of her own skin was the optimal method for reorganizing an olfactory sense tired from fragrance materials.

She set down one of the given bottles and began production. Fragrance materials quickly moved back and forth over the scale. All the materials were within arm’s reach and she had already confirmed the fragrances, so reproducing them was done in the blink of an eye.

Finally, Prim finished all the perfuming.

She dampened a cloth with a tiny amount of the completed base and warmed it with the heat of her hand, causing the fragrance particles to gently combine with each other and spread. It was exactly the same fragrance she had smelled.

A light sense of elation passed through her, like solving a difficult puzzle in an instant.

“Hmm…”

When she glanced around, everyone was concentrating intensely on their perfuming with heightened nerves. Like all the tests this time, this exam also seemed like it would take quite some time to finish. Prim pushed the completed base to one side and took out a new bottle.

‘This fragrance has an obvious gap.’

A gap that naturally made one think, ‘It would be perfect if just this were filled in a little.’

Surely they wouldn’t have made a fragrance used for an exam truly lacking, would they?

Prim read the creator’s intention from that. Undoubtedly, filling this gap was also part of the exam.

Even without being told to fill it, if there was a blank space on a test paper, it was natural to write the correct answer there.

Moreover, the amount of fragrance materials given was quite generous, so it seemed like she could make several more bottles.

Prim began production using exactly the same materials as before. However, in the middle, she reached for a fragrance she hadn’t used before.

It was clary sage. Resin extracted from clary sage could give an amber nuance.

‘If I add this clary sage, then reduce the proportion of the somewhat low-quality ambergris, slightly increase the very well-made bergamot, and minutely enhance the vetiver to mix with patchouli to emphasize the earthy and grassy scents.’

When she placed the two side by side for comparison, the improved version was much more stable. She felt pleased as if she had solved a good problem.

A satisfied, faint smile appeared on Prim’s lips.

Even after Prim had made both bottles, there was still time left, so she slowly swung her legs back and forth and spent quite some time before the bell rang to signal the end of the exam.

“Everyone, hands off.”

As soon as everyone lifted their hands from their desks, the exam supervisor who had been looking down at the examination hall, Mennellik, went to the front seat first.

The first person to face Mennellik seemed familiar with this process, as if they had taken this exam several times. Mennellik picked up the bottle, smelled the fragrance, put it down, and gestured with his chin. It meant to tell him what ingredients were used.

“Bergamot and… pink pepper are included. Vetiver, and ambergris and agarwood resin, patchouli, tonka bean and vanilla.”

She calmly recited the fragrance composition. Mennellik just nodded once without answering and moved to the next seat. Mennellik checked that fragrance one by one. The list of fragrance materials they recited were largely similar. About two of them succeeded in naming three or four more fragrance materials. And finally, Mennellik approached Prim’s seat.

Mennellik took a light deep breath in front of Prim’s desk.

“Did you finish?”

“Ah, yes.”

Prim nodded, then belatedly realized there were two completed bottles on her desk.

“Ah, the replicated one is this one…”

However, before Prim could say anything, he picked up a bottle. It was the fragrance Prim had adjusted and newly created.

As soon as he dampened a new piece of cloth with the fragrance and smelled it, he frowned.

“Hmm?”

Since she had changed the ratio starting from the top notes, the very beginning of the fragrance was clearly different. If he was the perfumer who created this fragrance, he would naturally notice immediately.

Prim hurriedly held out the bottle she should submit.

“The one that reproduced the fragrance isn’t that one, it’s this one. That’s the improved version.”

“…”

However, the man remained stiffly frozen without moving. Then he finally set down that bottle with a clatter, took a big breath to ventilate the air once, then took the bottle Prim was holding out.

“…”

This bottle had exactly the same fragrance as what he had made, but the man, Mennellik, couldn’t even feel any emotion from it. After a long silence, Mennellik pointed to the fragrance he had smelled first.

“This… you said it was the ‘improved version’? Why did you make this?”

Why did you make an ‘improved’ fragrance when you had already perfectly reproduced the original?

At that question, Prim was the one whose eyes widened.

In fact, this was something she had thought was strange from earlier. She had wondered why everyone was only having one replicated fragrance inspected.

“Um, isn’t making this part of the exam too?”

“What… did you say?”

“Didn’t you deliberately give us a fragrance with gaps as the assignment? So I thought correcting it was part of the exam.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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