A brief silence fell over the alley after Ansu's string of questions.
After a long while, the other party finally spoke slowly.
"I can only tell you... it is a dangerous item containing unstable elemental power and possesses immense destructive force."
Ansu instinctively looked at Vera, who wore a look that said "just as I thought."
It seemed their previous guess was correct; "Safe Magic Crystal No. 1" was not safe at all.
"Where did this dangerous item come from?" Ansu studied the other party carefully, though he already had an answer in his heart after seeing her face.
"I only know it was smuggled from overseas, but... the specific place of origin is unknown." The dark green figure lowered her head and answered slowly, "The Northern Magic Mutual Aid Association is one of the known major buyers."
"It seems you know quite a lot." Ansu nodded. "How about we exchange information?"
"Exchange information?"
"You don't look like a bad person to me, and coincidentally, we aren't bad people either." Ansu said with a smile, "I don't want this dangerous item to flood the city and harm my family and friends."
"A good person..." The dark green figure's eye twitched, thinking to herself: what kind of good person threatens someone with powerful black magic the moment they meet?
"...... There is no need." After several seconds of silence, she refused coldly, though the hostility in her tone had softened slightly. "Even though we are both investigating this matter, I do not believe our goals are the same, so it is better if we do not cooperate."
She clearly did not want to have any further interaction with Ansu.
"Hmm... Well then, I won't force you." Ansu thought for a moment before stepping half a pace to the side, clearing the path.
"Brother!" Seeing that her brother was actually going to let her go, Vera immediately stepped forward, her voice filled with urgency. "She's highly suspicious! She even knows the origin of the smuggled goods... you can't just let her run away like this!"
Ansu simply shook his head gently. "It's fine, let her go."
Vera wanted to say more, but the dark green figure had already walked past them without hesitation.
A faint, fresh floral scent, like a morning forest, quietly drifted by.
After walking a few steps, she suddenly stopped, and her cold voice came again: "You are trying to solve the problem, which is good... just like I used to be."
Ansu's expression shifted slightly. The problem she was referring to... was the magic pollution?
"But it is destined to be in vain. You will eventually walk with failure... until you fall into despair and numbness."
There was no mockery in her voice, only deep exhaustion and a trace of almost imperceptible despair.
"This world... is long past saving."
Ansu couldn't help but frown, thinking that this person's personality was simply too pessimistic.
"Good luck to you. Goodbye."
Leaving those words behind, she walked out of the alley, her figure merging into the thick night.
Vera stared at the empty alley, her large azure eyes full of frustration. "Brother... you didn't just let her go because she's pretty and you went soft, did you?"
"What are you thinking?" Ansu gave her a helpless look. "Is your brother really that shallow? I have my reasons for letting her go."
Vera curled her lip, feeling that her brother's old habit of being a 'demihuman-con' might be acting up again.
"Hmph, you trust her that much..." she muttered softly. "What if she's the mastermind?"
"That's impossible." Ansu shook his head with a certain tone.
Because she was a member of the protagonist's party.
A member of the protagonist's party couldn't possibly be the mastermind behind the Norvigel bombing.
That would be as ridiculous as saying Freya was the 【World Ending Witch - Celia】...
Ansu silently watched the direction where the dark green figure had disappeared, information about this character constantly surfacing in his mind.
【Forest of Decay - Altina】, hailing from the legendary and distant overseas elven paradise of "Elune," which was celebrated in poetry.
However, paradise was not eternal. The god who protected the elven race had fallen, the fertile forests were rapidly withering and rotting, and her home had become a wasteland soaked in the aura of death.
As the last descendant of the elven royalty, Altina bore the heavy mission and doubts of her family. She crossed the Raging Sea alone to reach the North Continent and the prosperous human world in search of hope.
But how could hope be found so easily? After a long investigation, what she encountered were not clues to solve the problem, but suffocating fragments of the truth—
The world's 'pathology' was deeper and older than she had imagined. Countless existences stronger than her had tried to turn the tide, only to end up as part of the failure. Beneath the seemingly prosperous human civilization, a similar slow but unstoppable aura of decay was spreading...
She was like an investigator in a Cthulhu story; the deeper she went into the fog shrouding the truth, the more desperate she became. Her hope was worn away bit by bit until only numbness and a near-pessimistic clarity remained.
If one were to simply describe this character's personality...
She was a depressed elf.
Altina's inadvertent actions and behavior always carried a faint melancholy, as if she were watching a world slowly die.
Therefore, she would respond to Ansu's "arrogant" notion of trying to solve magic pollution with a pessimistic sigh. Her words were full of gloom; in her eyes, this world was already beyond saving...
His recollection came to an end. Since he had confirmed Altina's identity as an elf...
The answer to the so-called overseas origin of "Safe Magic Crystal No. 1" was obvious.
It was quite likely that those dangerous crystals, filled with unstable and violent elemental power, originated from that decaying elven forest—a byproduct of the god's fall...
The early appearance of another protagonist's party member made Ansu think privately.
Many plot points were starting to play out ahead of schedule. His predictions on the overall direction were gradually becoming less precise and reliable...
But fortunately, after a lot of hard work, he had managed to join the ranks of the masterminds behind the scenes. At the very least, he no longer had to drift with the tide.
He gathered his thoughts and looked at Vera beside him. "It's getting late. We should head back."
With a day of investigation and unexpected encounters behind him, he needed time to properly integrate the information.
Vera looked at the deep night and nodded gently. "Mhm."
By the time they finally returned to the manor, the night was very late.
Although it was long past the 'clock-out' time Ansu had set, the lights in the lab were still on.
No one had left. Professor Duncan and the Truth faction elders were discussing some issues in their research. Cecilia's magic projection would participate from time to time, and the atmosphere was filled with a focused academic aura.
"You're finally back." Cecilia looked at Ansu, who had returned so late in the night, and pursed her lips. "Where did you go? You've been gone all day."
"I was investigating a case with Vera." Ansu briefly explained the school and the smuggling of dangerous goods.
As soon as he finished speaking, Professor Duncan turned his head. "Ansu, everyone was just looking for you!"
"Oh? Is it a research-related problem?"
"Of course." Professor Duncan nodded. "After all, you completed the prototype amulet independently. Who else would I go to but you?"
"I think you'd better not hold too high an expectation, Professor." Ansu gave a helpless smile. As long as the conditions were met, he could hand-craft anything with the alchemy system, but how was he supposed to know the underlying principles...
"Let's take a break first, everyone. It's time to eat something~"
Freya's gentle voice came from outside the door. She pushed it open, her gaze first landing on Ansu. "Lord Ansu, have you eaten? Are you hungry?"
Ansu felt his empty stomach and nodded honestly. He was indeed a bit hungry.
"I knew you were out investigating a case and wouldn't have time for a proper meal, so I prepared a midnight snack."
Freya turned to the group with a warm smile. "I can't help much with the research, so I and the servants in the manor prepared a simple dinner for everyone. I hope you don't mind it~"
"Yes, yes!" Vera was the first to respond. "I'm so hungry after being busy all day. Sister Freya is so thoughtful!"
Professor Duncan winked at Ansu and whispered with a smile, "Freya is truly virtuous..."
A moment later, Freya laid out the steaming plates one by one. The warm aroma of the food drifted through the air, diluting the serious atmosphere in the lab.
Ansu didn't start eating immediately. He instinctively looked at Cecilia's magic projection, which hadn't 'shut down' yet. "Have you eaten?"
Cecilia looked at the warm scene of everyone sitting together and shook her head gently.
"Not yet."
Ansu stared at the face in the projection that couldn't hide its exhaustion, and his tone softened involuntarily. "You've been researching all day. Go eat something and then get some rest."
"But I'm not very hungry." Cecilia still shook her head, her gaze returning to the newly derived magic runes on the blackboard. "There are still a few parameters that need to be checked. I'll rest after I finish organizing them."
Afterward, the magic projection continued to hover in the center of the lab.
This subtle presence made the atmosphere silent for a moment.
Cecilia looked at the way Freya and Vera were exchanging glances and said with a smile, "What? Is it uncomfortable to eat with me around?"
"Ah, of course not!" Freya shook her head.
"Miss Cecilia is truly focused when it comes to magic." Vera praised her politely.
"Mhm." Cecilia gave a noncommittal response, her gaze lingering on Ansu's face for a split second before drifting away.
After that, the atmosphere fell into an even more eerie silence.
"Er... that, you guys eat first!" Professor Duncan saw the wrong atmosphere at a glance, so he patted Eddie and Leon beside him and picked up his plate.
"Let's go, let's go. We'll eat outside..."
"Huh? What's wrong, Professor?" Eddie hadn't quite picked up on the atmosphere yet.
Professor Duncan gave him a speechless look, thinking to himself if this kid wanted to stay and be a super-sized third wheel for those young people.
"Ah, okay, Professor..."
Elder Barnes and Elder Matthew looked at each other, said nothing, and also silently left the lab.
Finally, in the large lab, besides the various cluttered research materials, only the four of them remained.
Rate on N.U.
