History Literature / TheAlchemistWhoSurvivedNowDreamsOfAQuietCityLife

* ConspicuousConsumption: Due to the fact that it's been generations since the last time anyone's been able to make more, potions are considered to be a rarity to only be used in dire need - some people even go their entire lives without using any potions they own and pass them on to their children. As a result, the Black Iron Trading Company sees Mariela casually using potions without a thought as this, until they realize that she can make more.

''The Alchemist Who Survived Now Dreams of a Quiet City Life'' is a fantasy light novel series written by Usata Nonohara and illustrated by Ox. Published in Japan on July 30, 2019, and later localized in the west by Creator/YenPress on October 15 of the same year, the series stars Mariela; a young alchemist girl who only seeks to return to her normal life. A manga adaptation is also available.

* UpToEleven: The largest known dungeon in history was fifty floors deep. At the start of the second book, the forces trying to clear the dungeon in Endalsia are on the ''fifty-third'' floor.

* FakeUltimateHero: Because she's a beautiful woman from a known line of former alchemists who happened to be engaged to a leader in the labyrinth suppression effort, everyone assumes that Caroline is the alchemist who defeated the Labyrinth and that Mariela is her apprentice when it's the other way around. But since everyone in the know about the truth also knows that Mariela doesn't want the extra attention that correcting the record would bring, they let the misconception stand.

* UpToEleven: The largest known dungeon in history was fifty floors deep. At the start of the second book, the forces trying to clear the dungeon in Endalsia are on the ''fifty-third'' floor.

* StealthMentor: [[spoiler: Freyja. She firmly believes that the only limits are those that people place upon themselves, and a good portion of her guidance consists of saying the right things or creating the right environments for people to figure out how to maximize their own potential, often under the guise of playing around to make sure her erstwhile pupils can approach their training with a healthy mindset. The rest is from her dumping difficult tasks on people [[Troll on short notice]] [[SinkOrSwimMentor so that they have to get stronger in a hurry]].]]

* BrilliantButLazy: Mariela's master knew powerful magic and a lot about alchemy, but it would appear that Mariela was the one who did the cooking. And while she genuinely Imprinted the magic circle for suspended animation on Mariela to help keep her safe, [[spoiler: she tricked her pupil into drawing one for her as a "graduation lesson" because she was too lazy to draw one herself.]]

* NormalFishInATinyPond: Before the Stampede, Mariela was only a modestly above average alchemist who was barely scraping by due to the fact that the region had more alchemists than it did bakers. After leaving suspended animation, she's literally the only alchemist in town, and the massive demand for healing potions for the labyrinth clearing forces cause her to make more money in a week than she used to in a year. [[spoiler: The "normal" part though only refers to the extent of her available knowledge; she's actually a very talented, experienced, and powerful alchemist, but Freyja's [[TrainingFromHell training methods]] involved locking each level of her "library" until she is able to make potions from the previous level without any tools, so she was locked at high grade potions for several volumes.]]

* BrilliantButLazy: Mariela's master knew powerful magic and a lot about alchemy, but it would appear that Mariela was the one who did the cooking. [[spoiler: The reason Freyja Imprinted the magic circle for suspended animation on Mariela was partly because she thought it was too much trouble to do it herself.]]

* BunnyEarsLawyer: Mariela's master, Freyja. Mariela recounted how she often pranked her, particularly by ambushing her with painful Imprint spells over and over to literally burn knowledge into her brain. That being said, she is a powerful adventurer with a vast amount of knowledge and experience, and Mariela wouldn't have been where she is without her. [[spoiler: This is only reinforced once she wakes up from her own slumber, which was extended for the same duration as Mariela's because she also left a lamp on. She's actually much worse at alchemy than Mariela is, and is liable to either bring her drinks or join her for them, but she knows exactly which of Mariela's buttons to push [[StealthMentor in order for her student to max out her potential]], is much more aware of everything around her than her carefree demeanor might suggest, and she wields insanely powerful fire magic that allows her to torch powerful monsters by the dozen.]]

* NormalFishInATinyPond: Before the Stampede, Mariela was only a modestly above average alchemist who was barely scraping by due to the fact that the region had more alchemists than it did bakers. After leaving suspended animation, she's literally the only alchemist in town, and the massive demand for healing potions for the labyrinth clearing forces cause her to make more money in a week than she used to in a year.

Mariela is a young girl who is one of the many alchemists living in the Kingdom of Endalsia. However, when the capital city was rampaged by a horde of monsters in an event known as "The Stampede", she used her magic to put herself in suspended animation in hopes of wading off the invasion. She wakes up to find that she survived, but the spell worked out too well. She slept for two centuries, and is surprised to find that Endalsia has changed a lot in that time. In addition, Mariela finds out she's the last surviving alchemist in the Kingdom.

* Catch22Dilemma: In order to clear the dungeon near the Labyrinth City, the military needs potions. However, potions have a very short shelf life if taken outside the region in which they are made, and in order to make potions in a given region, the alchemist in question must have made a pact with the local ley line nexus. But the since the nexus communicates in the language of the area's dominant race, and the dominant race of the area are the monsters of the local dungeon, it isn't possible to form pacts until the dungeon is cleared and the nexus gains the ability to speak a human language. Mareila is the sole exception to this rule, because she made a pact with the local ley lines before the dungeon formed, and the change to the nexus didn't impact pre-existing pacts.

* PhotographicMemory: Mariela's late master had a spell that allowed her to induce perfect recall of a specific thing. She used it on her repeatedly to teach her the diagrams of magical circles. [[spoiler:This saves her life - the suspended animation circle is very complex, and any mistakes in making it can have fatal side effects. The climax of the second book reveals that other alchemists tried to survive the Stampede the same way she did, but were killed by a faulty circle.]]

* PhotographicMemory: Mariela's late master had a spell that allowed him to induce perfect recall of a specific thing. He used it on her repeatedly to teach her the diagrams of magical circles. [[spoiler:This saves her life - the suspended animation circle is very complex, and any mistakes in making it can have fatal side effects. The climax of the second book reveals that other alchemists tried to survive the Stampede the same way she did, but were killed by a faulty circle.]]

* BigEater: Pre-suspended animation, Mariela was poor and only bought the cheapest foods. Post-suspended animation, the money from her potions monopoly means she can afford much better, and she is clearly making up for lost time.

* Catch22Dilemma: In order to clear the dungeon near the Labyrinth City, the military needs potions. However, potions have a very short shelf life if taken outside the region in which they are made, and in order to make potions in a given region, the alchemist in question must have made a pact with the local ley line nexus. But the since the local nexus is under the dungeon, it isn't possible for there to be an alchemist capable of making potions that work in the dungeon without clearing the dungeon first. Mareila is the sole exception to this rule, because she made a pact with the local ley lines before the dungeon formed.

* ConspicuousConsumption: Due to the fact that its been generations since the last time anyone's been able to make more, potions are considered to be a rarity to only be used in dire need - some people even go their entire lives without using any potions they own and pass them on to their children. As a result, the Black Iron Trading Company sees Mariela casually using potions without a thought as this, until they realize that she can make more.

* SoleSurvivor: Mariela is the last alchemist of Endalsia after an event called the Stampede destroyed a lot of the kingdom and caused a dungeon to form over the ley line nexus, making it impossible to train more.