Chapter 160 - 86: Reasonable Troublemaking

Chapter 160: Chapter 86: Reasonable Troublemaking

Victor.

’Why would he do that?’ Lilia wondered, then voiced the question aloud.

Jennifer mulled it over for a moment. "If... well, of course, this is just my speculation."

She continued, "If Mr. Rockwell damaged the Array to make it easier for him to get in and out, then his objective is likely the ’Treasure’ placed at the center of the Spirit Vein."

Lilia: "...Treasure?"

"Yes." Jennifer pushed up her glasses, then gave an awkward smile, looking a little unsure of herself. "Of course, this is also just my speculation."

"It’s fine," Lilia said. "Go on."

"Of course, Princess Lilia."

Jennifer organized her thoughts. "Generally speaking, when Mages go to the great expense of constructing Artificial Spiritual Veins, it’s either to build their own workshop on top of the vein or to preserve something."

"Considering we just discovered Demonic Qi within the Spirit Vein, I personally believe it’s highly unlikely a High-level Demon would build it for a workshop. The more probable reason is to store some kind of precious and special item—the ’Treasure’ I mentioned."

Lilia’s brow furrowed slightly. "What kind of Treasure could possibly be worth a High-level Demon going to such great lengths to preserve it all this time?"

Jennifer: "That, I don’t know..."

Lilia suddenly had a thought. "Could it be something alive?"

Jennifer had mentioned that there was an offensive Array around the Spirit Vein.

That Array worked both ways. It would activate its attacks whether someone invaded from the outside or something inside the Spirit Vein awakened.

’If what was sealed in the Spirit Vein was inanimate, there would be no need for such a design.’

Jennifer, of course, understood what she meant. "But... if the living thing inside is so precious that the High-level Demon was willing to go to great expense to preserve it, why would it specifically set up a Magic Circle to prevent it from awakening?"

’That’s a complete contradiction!’

’Or are we overthinking this? Maybe when that Demon set up the Magic Circle, it didn’t consider any of this and simply used that Array because it thought it was powerful and advanced?’

’Or perhaps there’s nothing alive in the Spirit Vein at all. Since the item inside can’t move, there’s no possibility of it awakening and being attacked by the Array.’

’Was it designed this way to prevent overly cunning Mages from using special methods, like Teleportation Magic, to invade the interior and bypass the Defensive Array’s defenses... and that’s why it uses such an aggressive, one-size-fits-all approach?’

’Hmm... that explanation seems a bit more reasonable.’

The two of them discussed it for a long time but couldn’t reach a definitive conclusion.

They were outside the Spirit Vein, so no matter how reasonable their guesses were, they remained just that—guesses. As for what was truly inside, they would only know after going in and seeing it for themselves.

Lilia had only suggested the possibility of a living creature to cover all bases.

If a powerful Demon really was sealed inside, and they rushed in so recklessly, they could easily become its next meal, replenishing its energy as it awoke from its slumber.

No matter how small the probability, they had to prepare a contingency plan before officially starting their investigation.

Fortunately, Jennifer had learned of a method from her mentor’s reply.

A Demon’s body is formless and intangible, composed of pure Demonic Qi. However, similar to a human body, it also possesses "Key Points."

Just as one only needs to destroy a few key nodes to disrupt a Magic Circle’s operation, a similar method can be used against Demons. By using special weapons blessed by a God to seal several specific "Key Points," you can obstruct the flow of Magic Power within their bodies and prevent them from awakening with minimal effort.

Of course, this method was only effective on a Demon that was just lying there, letting them do as they pleased. After all, those so-called Key Points were hidden and hard to find. In a real battle, trying to defeat a Demon with this method was less practical than simply detonating the surrounding Demon Crystals.

Jennifer’s face paled in horror when she heard Lilia’s idea.

With the amount of Demon Crystals stored inside the Valgipps Mountain Range, if they were detonated... the Demon would be dead for sure, regardless of its Level, but they wouldn’t be able to escape either.

A single mistake could level the entire mountain range, and even Navia Town.

Lilia nodded to show she understood, then changed the subject. "Speaking of which, when can we go in?"

"Soon. Tomorrow night at the earliest, or in two or three days at the latest."

Lilia nodded. "I’ll go with you then."

Jennifer hesitated. "That... could be very dangerous."

’Dangerous?’

Lilia didn’t think so.

When it came to combat ability, Jennifer and all her subordinates combined might not even be a match for her.

Even setting combat aside and looking purely at Magic Level, she was now a Mid-level Mage; she just hadn’t been rated by the Magic Association.

Seeing Lilia’s insistence, Jennifer tried to dissuade her a couple more times to no avail and could only agree.

「The next day.」

Come rain or shine, Lilia went to find Victor under the blazing sun.

As usual, she sat on the surrounding wall for a while, watching the morning sun climb higher and the pure white clouds drift by on the wind.

CREAK...

With a soft sound, Victor’s door was pushed open from the inside.

Lilia leaped lightly from the wall and was by his side in just a few steps.

She was about to say something, but she suddenly stopped short.

The moment she got close to him, Lilia smelled it.

There was a very faint, very subtle, but definitely present scent of blood on Victor.

She frowned slightly. "...Did you go out behind my back last night? Or did you perform some kind of dangerous experiment in your room?"

’Why would he be injured for no reason?’

Victor obviously hadn’t expected her to be so perceptive.

He didn’t answer her question directly. "...It’s already been taken care of. It’s nothing serious."

Lilia’s frown deepened. "Are you going to hide this kind of thing from me, too?"

Victor remained silent.

’This guy...’

Lilia was a little displeased.

’He wasn’t like this in the first playthrough. I don’t know what happened to him in this one, but he’s turned into a total clam.’

’Not cute at all.’

Lilia ignored him and turned to walk toward the courtyard gate.

Victor followed her silently.

They left his residence and walked out of Belmont Castle.

Outside was a main road that led straight to the town gate.

In the past few days, the two of them had explored nearly the entire town. Standing at the castle gate, Lilia was suddenly unsure of where to go.

Victor stopped at her side and turned to look at her. "Where do you want to go today?"

Lilia bit the inside of her cheek.

’Trying to pretend nothing happened? To fob me off with another topic and make me forget my question?’

Lilia had used that tactic too many times herself. There was no way she would let him get away with it.

She turned to face him directly. "To the Valgipps Mountain Range."

Seeing the nearly frozen expression on Victor’s face, Lilia felt bold despite not having the moral high ground.

"We’ve already been everywhere else. It’s boring."

She put her hands on her hips, lifted her chin, and said, "I want you to take me to the Valgipps Mountain Range."