Chapter 56: Clues

“Ugh… Ugh…”

Recalling the disgusting scene from earlier, Elais couldn’t stop herself from dry heaving.

“A bunch of lunatics…”

“You’ll get used to it.”

“Is that supposed to comfort me?”

Mann ignored her complaints.

He walked alone to the edge of the pit and carefully sensed whether there were any unusual magical fluctuations.

“What’s the point of looking any longer? You’re not going to find anything anyway…”

Hearing Elais’s grumbling, Mann shook his head.

“No.”

“At the very least, the name Akrein and the fact that they’re collecting magic stones are valuable pieces of information.”

At the deepest part of the pit, he picked up a fragment of a magic stone.

The spatial fluctuations lingering on it had not yet completely dissipated.

“Perhaps we can start from those two directions.”

“Anyway, head back first and tell Sophien that name.”

“Have her investigate whether any merchants’ guilds or adventurers’ guilds in the surrounding territories have noticed anything unusual.”

“If they need such a large quantity of magic stones, there’s no way they wouldn’t leave traces behind.”

“What about you?”

“It’s been several days since I last contacted them.”

“I’m going to check on my four followers.”

After parting ways with Elais, Mann headed toward the commoners’ district alone.

The last time he came with Sophien to treat their mother, she had explained that the old woman’s illness was caused by a special kind of magical energy invading her body.

She had been unable to expel the abnormal magic on her own.

Judging by the amount of magical energy contained within magic stones, causing such an effect would have required prolonged exposure to a large quantity of them.

Yet that day, Mann had carefully examined the area.

There had been no suspicious magical fluctuations nearby.

“Most likely, the Cult of the Evil God once brought a massive quantity of magic stones here.”

“But they transferred them away before I arrived.”

He had intended to follow the trail.

Unfortunately, those people were extremely cautious.

To the point that nobody nearby had any memory of them at all.

The investigation ended there.

Having gained nothing, Mann could only instruct the four brothers to keep an eye out for anything unusual around them.

Even now, as he returned, he did not hold much hope.

“Come to think of it…”

“Isn’t it a little too quiet here?”

Mann looked around.

Strangely enough, there wasn’t a single person in the entire area.

An ominous feeling suddenly welled up inside him.

He pushed open a nearby door.

A pungent stench of decay immediately assaulted his senses.

What appeared before him were several corpses sprawled across the floor.

“…What exactly happened here?”

Mann hurriedly retreated and sprinted toward the brothers’ house.

The entire way was silent.

The smell of rot in the air grew heavier and heavier.

“No…”

“They’ll be fine.”

“They must still be there, just like before, staying beside their mother…”

Until he saw the truth with his own eyes, this was all Mann could do to comfort himself.

Yet when he arrived before the familiar wooden door, his outstretched hand hesitated.

“I’m overthinking it.”

“I have to be.”

In the end, he pushed the door open.

creak

As the somewhat grating sound echoed out, the surrounding space instantly distorted.

By the time Mann realized what had happened, he had already stepped into the interior of a separate dimension.

Standing before him was a grotesque monster with five faces.

It roared.

The sound seemed to contain both fury and sorrow.

As Mann stared at the creature, rage surged within him.

Before he even noticed, two glowing daggers had appeared in his hands.

Even though he understood that this was exactly what the enemy wanted.

Even though he knew this was a trap deliberately prepared for him.

It no longer mattered.

“Cult of the Evil God…”

“Akrein…”

“I’ll slaughter every last one of you!”

With a furious roar, his body transformed into a streak of light and shot toward the monster at incredible speed.

At the Student Council Office.

“So Trik…”

“He really was one of the Cult of the Evil God’s people?”

After listening to Elais’s report, Sophien looked somewhat dazed.

“Yes.”

“However, after Sir Mann and I subdued him together, someone secretly disposed of him.”

“Unfortunately, aside from that strange name and the fact that they previously stockpiled a large number of magic stones, we have no additional clues.”

“Magic stones…”

According to Mann, they could serve not only as carriers for spatial power.

They could even be deployed in advance.

If that assumption was correct, then preset activation conditions could be arranged ahead of time.

That made them seem more like traps.

Furthermore, they were wrapped in a protective shell that isolated magical energy.

Even Mann couldn’t track them.

Sophien lowered her head in thought.

She truly couldn’t think of any effective solution.

If they were determined to remain hidden, exposing them would be nearly impossible.

They would have to start with the enemy’s objectives instead.

“That’s all for today, Elais.”

“Return to the academy and remain on standby.”

“Understood.”

After confirming that Elais had left, Sophien immediately set up a barrier within the room.

She took out a communication artifact.

A familiar voice came from the other side.

“Big Sister, what are your orders?”

“Chris.”

“I need you to investigate whether there have been any abnormalities in the trade of magic stones around Dalkz recently.”

“And determine whether someone named Akrein has been involved.”

“Understood.”

“If it requires organizing information, I’ll report back to you later, Big Sister.”

She put away the communication artifact.

For some reason, a lingering sense of unease remained in her heart.

At that moment, someone knocked on her door.

“Lady Sophien.”

“This is Duruf.”

“Come in.”

A Holy Knight clad in plate armor entered.

In his hand was a cone-shaped object.

It was a holy artifact specifically designed to counter Divine Envoys.

“My apologies.”

“But time was limited.”

“I was only able to obtain one from the Church.”

“Sir Danro has also brought several members of his mercenary company.”

“They’re currently waiting outside the city for your orders.”

Sophien accepted the holy artifact.

The moment she touched it, she felt her own aura being suppressed.

She nodded in satisfaction.

“Tell Danro and the others to continue waiting outside the city.”

“As for you, stay with them.”

“Understood.”

Not long after Duruf departed, Sophien changed into a different outfit.

She headed to the academy’s forging department.

There, she found the blacksmith she and Mann had rescued some time ago.

The blacksmith was watching his child play nearby.

The moment he noticed Sophien, he hurriedly brought the child over.

Both father and son bowed respectfully.

“…Hello, Big Sister…”

The blacksmith immediately smacked the back of the child’s head.

“How rude!”

“Call her our benefactor!”

“Um, Dirk…”

“You really don’t have to do that…”

Every time Sophien saw these two, she found herself at a loss for words.

“Anyway.”

“I came to ask for a favor.”

She took out the cone-shaped holy artifact and held it before them.

The moment Dirk accepted it, his expression became serious.

He carefully inspected every detail.

“Can this be mass-produced?”

“I’m not saying this to be difficult, young lady…”

Dirk hesitated.

“Is it difficult to forge?”

“This should be a Church artifact, right?”

“Not only are the materials extremely rare, but after forging it, Rune inscriptions created through faith-based magic must also be infused into it.”

“If you only need a small number, it should be manageable.”

“But mass production…”

From the way he spoke, it was clear he possessed the ability to forge them.

A subtle change appeared in Sophien’s expression.

Coincidentally, neither of those limitations posed a problem for her.

“Just tell me what you need.”

“There will be no shortage of materials.”

“And as for users of faith-based magic, I happen to have several available.”

“Since you’ve put it that way, it would be difficult for me to refuse.”

Dirk smiled.

“We’ve got work, Fu.”

The child named Fu immediately bounced toward a nearby forge and began lighting the furnace.

“I need Celt Holy Stones.”

“The more, the better.”

Dirk turned around without wasting any time.

“Give me three days.”

“Of course, the forging fee is separate!”