A few days after the attack, a man with the appearance of Lotton Flywok was on his knees, bowing low to a man who was casually sitting on a sofa. Behind him was Crow, who was lasciviously dressed in clothes made of an incredibly thin fabric.
“I took advantage of the confusion to have some of our people infiltrate the palace, the army, and the knights,” Phasmid said.
“Good. Spider truly did well. What about the other request I made to you?”
“I have it right here, young master.”
Phasmid took out a small vial and showed it to the man. Crow took it from him and passed it to their leader. Inside the vial was a bloodstained piece of fabric. The liquid it was soaking in shone with a pale glow.
“This is the blood of Ellie Leis’s adopted daughter, Alice Leis. I got my hands on it when she was attacked by a monster. As you can see, the mana contained within her blood is far denser than that of any human,” Phasmid explained.
“Then she must truly be...” Crow whispered.
“Indeed,” Phasmid confirmed. “Alice is the test subject who served as a catalyst for the mana crystal inside that fire drake.”
“But the experiments we conducted to create artificial spirits all failed, didn’t they?” Crow asked.
The man on the sofa brought his hand to his chin and closed his eyes, deep in thought.
“The only explanation I can think of is that she absorbed Ib’s mana and awakened,” he said.
“Is that even possible?” Crow asked.
“Who knows? Regardless, the fact is that an artificial spirit is out there, alive and kicking.”
Phasmid, who’d been silently listening to their exchange, spoke up once more. “Young master, I have something else to report.”
“Speak.”
“It’s about the nature of the mana of the artificial spirit.”
“The nature of her mana? What of it?”
“According to the documents I consulted, the artificial spirit used in the fire drake experiment was supposed to have fire attribute mana. However, Alice’s blood shows that her mana has two attributes: fire and water.”
“She has two attributes? How intriguing...” The corners of the man’s lips lifted in a satisfied smile.
✦ ✦ ✦
Ten days had passed since the horrific attack that had shaken the capital on the last day of the festival. I was currently in my residence reading through reports. After Egret had carried me home that day, I’d slept for three days and three nights straight.
Thankfully, I wouldn’t suffer any long-term sequelae, but my arm would require a few months to heal entirely. I’d been eager to get out of bed right after waking up, but Mireille had insisted I remain on complete bed rest. I’d told her that I felt fine, but after she’d brought Alice to see me, in tears and clutching Carol close to her chest, I’d resigned myself to my fate. In the end, I’d spent an entire week in bed.
“It looks like a lot happened while I was resting,” I said.
“Indeed. The uproar is still far from over,” Mireille replied.
It would still be a long time before order was fully restored in the capital. The authorities had yet to finish identifying all of the victims, and they were currently investigating the ruins in which Spider had been hiding out prior to the attack, which they had just discovered. Apparently, they’d found a document proving that Friede had ordered the massacre. Soon, the empire would lodge a formal protest with the kingdom. Considering the scale of the attack, war was a likely outcome.
When I finished reading the report Mireille had brought me, I looked up at her. “Is everything this says true?” I asked.
“It is. The knights who investigated the ruins brought back that document.”
“Is that so...?”
“Do you not believe this could have been Friede’s doing, Miss Ellie?”
“Something feels off,” I replied. “Spider was a member of an organization so secretive I’d never even so much as heard of it before the attack. How could he commit a blunder as amateur as leaving a crucial document with the name of their client in his hideout?”
“Well...”
“And there’s the way they went about all of this,” I added. “It’s too perfect, especially since Friede is the ideal man to pin this on considering this is exactly the type of shortsighted idea he’d come up with.”
“He’s shown that time and time again,” Mireille agreed. She was referring to the Sarjan conflict and the counterfeit money incident.
“But Friede isn’t smart enough to think of using a jewel of death in a terrorist attack,” I said. Jewels of death were powerful, but one had to be very knowledgeable about the records of the Old Kingdom to even learn about their existence.
“Then the document the knights found is a fake?”
“That’s likely. Besides, Adel is in the palace. She must be keeping an eye on Friede. I doubt she’d let him approach and hire that suspicious organization.”
“You have a point,” Mireille agreed.
“That’s why I need you to look into this, Mireille. Someone else must be involved. Or perhaps that organization itself made the call.”
“Understood; I will.”
“There’s something else I’d like to discuss,” I said. I summoned my Grimoire of Beelzebub and cast a spell. “Silence.” I didn’t want anyone to overhear this.
“Miss Ellie?”
“What I’m about to tell you is top secret, Mireille.”
Mireille nodded.
“Lotton Flywok, the Clairvoyant,” I began, then continued after a pause, “is most likely our enemy.”
“Mr. Flywok?! Why would you think that?! He protected Alice during the attack!”
“I’m aware. At that time, I was using Synchrosense. My goal was to keep track of the undead by looking through the eyes of my saint birds, but I was also able to see through Carol’s eyes.”
“What did you see?”
“Lotton took a sample of Alice’s blood. I don’t know why he did that, but considering the circumstances under which we found Alice, that is very suspicious. It’s even possible that Lotton and Spider worked together to create a commotion so he could get to Alice.”
“No way!”
“Alice has two mana attributes, water and fire. He might have targeted her because he knew that. Or perhaps he has his eyes on her because he knows she emerged from the corpse of a fire drake. I don’t understand his motives, but it is imperative that we be wary of him moving forward.”
“All right.”
“I’d like you to investigate him too, but be as careful as possible. We’re dealing with the Clairvoyant, after all.”
“Got it, miss.”