Chapter 255 – The Meeting After Breakfast

I asked Shia and the others,

“Good morning. Were you all training together?”
“That’s right!”
“I think that it’s a good idea to train and go over what happened after you participated in a fight.”

Serulis had a serious expression.
Indeed, it was probably more effective to train before you forgot.

“Well, it was quite a vicious battle. And so there would be a lot to learn.”
“And Luchila helped us.”

Nia’s tail was wagging from side to side.

“Luchila helped you? Do you mean with illusions?”
“That’s it! Luchila is amazing!”
“Serulis and I told Luchila about what happened yesterday, and she recreated it with illusion magic.”

This training wouldn’t just benefit Shia and Serulis, but it was good practice for Luchila as well.

“That’s very impressive, Luchila.”
“Thank you. But I don’t know how accurate it was…”

Like Nia, Luchila also stayed behind. And since she hadn’t actually seen it, it would be hard to recreate.

“Mister Locke, can you show it to me later through illusion magic?”
“Yes, please show us!”

Nia and Luchila bowed their heads.
If your two apprentices were making a request and bowing, you could hardly refuse.

“Alright. Leave it to me. We’ll train after Grulf and Tama have finished their walk.”
“Thank you!”
“I’m so happy.”
“Please let me join in the training as well!”
“Me too!”
“Shia and Serulis. I think you two should rest… Well, it’s all after the walk, anyway.”
“I understand.”
“I’m not tired!”

They must have heard their names, or they were reacting to me talking about their walk, as Grulf and Tama came up to me.
They both rubbed up against me while wagging their tails and then ran in a circle around me.

“Not just yet.”
I said as I took a seat on the bench.

“Groof.”
“Woof.”
Grulf put his chin on my right knee, while Tama did the same on my left.
They wanted to be petted I suppose. And so I tousled their fur.

And then Philly started to talk slowly.
“Mister Lock. Are you ready now?”
“Ah, sorry to keep you waiting. You wanted an explanation.”

Just then, Milka came in. She was carrying tea and treats for everyone.
“I put on some tea!”
“Thank you.”
“It’s nothing!”
Once everyone’s tea was poured, Milka sat down to my right.

Now, everyone in the mansion was here.
And so I drank the tea that Milka had poured while I started to explain.

“This time, the dark ones used a plan that involved a great explosion and teleportation immediately after.”
“It sounds horrifying.”

Philly said as she adjusted her glasses.

“Aye, it’s very troublesome. Not only that, but Magic Exploration was the trigger.”
“Yes. But you wouldn’t know if it was a bomb if you didn’t use Magic Exploration…”
“Cluck-cluck.”

As Luchila looked agitated, Lord Gerberga moved closer.

“Hmm. So, what material was the magic tool made of?”
As an alchemist, Philly was interested in the materials.

“The main material for both was a Fool’s Stone.”
“Oh? And what about the structure? Just tell me as much as you know.”

Philly said. Luchila had a troubled expression.

“…Umm. While I was the one who cast Magic Exploration…”
“You don’t know?”
“The spell was a success. But right after…”
“It exploded?’
“Yes.”
“Hmm.”

Philly started to think about this seriously, while Luchila looked on with an apologetic expression.

“I’m not saying this just to defend Luchila, but the difficulty of Magic Exploration itself was very high.”
“Huh?”
“And so it cannot be helped that Luchila was concentrating on using Magic Exploration, and was not able to analyze the structure.”
“I see… Indeed.”
Upon hearing my words, Philly was once again deep in thought.

And then Milka tilted her head.
“Mister Locke. Can I ask you something?”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“Why did the enemy raise the difficulty of this Magic Exploration thing?”
“Do you mean because if Magic Exploration failed, it wouldn’t explode and their plan would fail?”
“Yes! That’s it!”

Milka’s question made sense.
It had succeeded because Luchila was a brilliant sorcerer. However, an average one would have failed if they cast Magic Exploration.
In that case, the explosion would not have been triggered.

“You’re very smart, Milka. That’s a good question.”
“Ehehe. Really?”
“They had planned it that way. The trap involved having the first attempt at Magic Exploration fail.”
“What do you mean?”

And so I explained my theory to Milka.
The enemy was targeting the royal capital.
If we had failed, then it would have to be carried back to a research facility where it could be studied more thoroughly.
And if it succeeded then, the royal capital would have gone up in flames.
Upon hearing this, Milka became frantic.

“But that’s horrible! If other Adventurers brought in a similar bomb, it would turn into a disaster!”
“Indeed, that would be very bad.”
“Should-shouldn’t we be worried?”

Just then, Eric and Goran entered the room.