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ED: LonelyMatter
Part 2
After a dozen minutes had passed, Katima said she was taking a short break and sat down on the floor.
She had Krone wipe the sweat from her forehead and rested her body with a pleasant expression on her face.
“If only Professor Oz were here, it would have been much easier-nya… But, nevertheless, I am reluctant to involve him in something so dangerous.”
“…Katima-sama? Why are you suddenly talking about Professor Oz?”
“Mm, have you not heard of it, Chris-nya? Professor Oz was discharged right after the war and left the capital to go to Ist-nya.”
“──I didn’t know that.”
“Thinking back, I used to be indebted to this Ist-nya. At first, I was surprised to hear about the research on artificial demon king, but now I think it was an interesting story-nya.”
“That’s right, wasn’t it…? It was really nostalgic──”
It was only by chance that she remembered. Chris remembered that she had heard the term artificial demon king only recently.
“It was… nostalgic…”
She mumbled in a raspy voice as she looked at the solidified, liquefied magic stone.
“I knew it… Edward! You are the artificial demon king who was being studied in the magic city of Ist…!”
At that time, she said this herself.
“That man is useful, too. I was ready to kill him when that man did not cross the sea with me, but with research results of this magnitude, I have to forgive him.”
And that was Edward’s reply.
“As I thought, you had friends in Ishtalika too!”
“I would say that he was not my friend. He is not working with me; he is working for his own purposes. …I don’t know what his purpose is, though. Now, now, calm down; I’m not going to run away.”
He had this exchange with Lloyd.
It made Chris wonder why, now that she was wondering.
Was it because he mentioned the word, artificial demon king? Or was it because she heard that Oz was coming to Ist?
Chris asked Katima in a terribly calm voice.
“Um… where is Professor Oz? Considering the devastation here in Ist, it is likely that monsters have attacked him.”
“T-that’s right-nya! It’s dangerous if you ask me-nya!”
Chris said a few words of concern, but she had a feeling there was no chance. She had noticed something else, something strange.
Hopefully, she would find out now.
With this thought in mind, she thought of the swarm of monsters that had just appeared.
…..Even that, if it was a setup.
“Chris-san? What’s the matter?”
“N-no, I’m just a little concerned about something…”
The first thing that comes to mind is the fact that the two of you have been working together for a long time.
She got chills thinking about it.
If something were to happen, not only would it be impossible to stop Ain-sama’s outburst, but she and the two others here would be unable to get away with it.
“Let’s push on, shall we-nya?”
Katima said dependably and started to work on it immediately.
As time passed, the jewel-like body was removed.
After it was carefully removed and placed on the floor, Katima’s brow furrowed.
It seems the removal was completed safely, but why?
“The Tower of Wisdom went out of control the other day-nya, but it was probably intentional.”
She pointed to the main body of the control unit.
“During the last removal process, I felt something strange-nya. The tubes that should have been connected to each other were not connected-nya, and there were signs that they had been reassembled in a strange way-nya.”
“…Is it the red fox?”
“Hmm. I agree with Krone-nya.”
Once again, the exchange with Edward snatches Chris’ thoughts.
“I’ll go to the rooftop by myself.”
There are several inexplicable points.
The trigger was the exchange with Edward, in which Chris became concerned about various things, including the artificial demon king, but now, if the outburst of the Tower of Wisdom was also suspected as such, the probability of Chris’s prediction becomes more credible.
“How do I remove the device on the roof?”
“…..It’s enough to cut the moorings that connect to the tower-nya. But I think it is better to take a look at it-nya.”
“Because it’s dangerous?”
“Yes-nya. The monsters out there are just a trap to set us up-nya.”
“I was actually thinking that too. But, Katima-sama, do you think there is any chance for a turnaround after seeing how things are going?”
“Mmm…”
“I don’t think so. There is no other way left to save Ain-sama, and no matter what it takes, we must also remove the device on the rooftop and return to the royal capital.”
“…Chris-san.”
“It’s okay! I’ll be right back!”
Chris turned her back to them and walked out with enthusiasm.
And then, slap! She smacked her cheeks and changed her expression.
“Professor Oz──what is his purpose here?”
◇ ◇ ◇
The elevator was not working, and Chris just ran up the stairs.
Along the way, she came to the staircase where Viscount Sage had attacked her with a wyvern and found herself smiling at the restored wall and reminiscing about that time.
Soon after, she was chilled to see the hole in the floor that had collapsed in the aftermath of the recent outburst, a hole that allowed her to look down to the floor below.
“Soon….. I’m almost there.”
She ran up the stairs for a few more minutes, dragging her leaden legs. The last staircase leading to the rooftop was reached, and she adjusted her breathing.
…..Good, let’s go.
She put her hand on the magic stone dedicated to Ain and remembered his voice.
Beyond the collapsed door, she stepped under the brightening sky that stretched across the rooftop.
A strong wind near the sky ruffled her hair.
Near the large hole that released waves during the recent outburst, she caught sight of what appeared to be a device still attached to one of the remaining pillars, and as she stepped forward, she was greeted by a voice.
“──Can I help you?”
It was Oz’s voice.
He was standing a short distance away, smiling, his white lab coat billowing in the air.
“Are you feeling better now?”
“Thanks to His Majesty’s help, I am feeling better soon. His Majesty’s words were also kind enough to help me with my treatment.”
“…I am glad to hear that.”
Chris pulled out her rapier and pointed it at Oz.
“Why are you pointing your weapon at me?”
“You should know why.”
“…..”
“I was convinced just a moment ago by Katima-sama’s words.”
“I don’t understand. Can you tell me? There seems to be some misunderstanding. I am sure you will understand if I tell you.”
The fact that he didn’t show the slightest expression on his face made it all eerier.
It was unusual for a knight like Chris to be holding a weapon in her hand and to be asking back.
“It was strange when I thought about it. We hadn’t been told about the ship that Warren-sama would be on. But according to the knight, it was Warren-sama who called you, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. I received a request for assistance from the Prime Minister and went to that ship in secret.”
“──Soon after the tower collapsed?”
Oz’s cheeks twitched for a moment at the implication.
“You see, you had some purpose, and Ain-sama was in the way. To put it another way, you were afraid of Ain-sama’s power. That’s why you made the Tower of Wisdom go out of control artificially, and let Ain-sama leave the royal capital.”
Oz was speechless and fell silent.
“You know very well about Ain-sama’s power, don’t you, Professor Oz?”
“That’s….. Yes. He told me about it when he visited Ist before.”
“If you knew that Ain-sama helped the orphans, you could have expected that Ain-sama himself would visit the decontamination site. This is how you got Ain-sama away from the royal capital. …I can think of several reasons why you would target Warren-sama, but I haven’t confirmed them yet.”
Chris took a breath as she said this.
Soon after, she realized that her whole body was covered with a strong sense of tension. The other party is Oz, who is a researcher, but it was natural to think of him as a red fox.
“After that, it’s Edward’s words.”
“…..!?”
“He was upset, wasn’t he? But when Edward slipped up, he wasn’t offended. I heard that he once wanted to kill you. …He told me that you helped him in the recent war, and he only thanked you for that.”
“…..”
There was no break in Chris’s logic, but it was a little short of ruling out Oz as a red fox.
Considering the fact that he was here and had not been harmed in any way by the monster’s attack, there was no mistake, and, of course, it was almost a certainty…
“Speaking of which.”
She decided to ask a leading question, just in case.
“The black stone you gave to Shannon and Edward, what was it made from?”
After saying this, she waited for a reply.
“Hah….. That’s why I gave up on it.”
It was just Chris’ trick. Not that Oz had not expected that.
But Oz realized that there was no point pretending any longer, and he opened his mouth.
“That person had a lot of pride. The chief was a stubborn person who only wanted to take revenge for the wrongs done to that person hundreds of years ago. There is no advantage in working together on a regular basis.”
“…What are you talking about?”
“Oh no, don’t worry about it. And about that black stone, unfortunately, I don’t know the raw material either. …Hmm? This is a bit misleading, isn’t it? The raw material itself is no different from what I found, but I don’t know what kind of monster material it is. The peculiar properties were so brilliant that I feel like I’m using it as I please.”
He spoke eloquently and repositioned his glasses.
He tossed off his drab white coat and unbuttoned one or two buttons that held his stark white shirt in place.
“Oz… what is your purpose here?”
He was delighted by the question.
He was as happy as a child who had been given a toy.
His face lit up with joy.
“I want to know the end of evolution!”
Creepy crazy guy , uhhhh I really hate him
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Thanks for the chapter
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gracias por el cap y…Sigan viendo
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