Chapter 185

PHA – Chapter 185 – I See. I Completely Understand Now (I Don’t Understand It at All)

The fact that Alice had a Seed of Nature in her possession wasn’t a secret to the various human kingdoms’ kings.

Although the elves had fallen behind times in terms of culture, economy, and technology due to their self-isolation, their superior mana sensitivity and technology developed through the Seed of Nature still made them a priority partnership target for the various human kingdoms.

Hence, the various human kings would naturally keep an eye on the Elven Forest’s movements. Meanwhile, the various kingdoms’ intelligence departments had naturally found out about the matter of the elves giving Alice a Seed of Nature.

However, Lacey was only an illegitimate daughter with no chance of succeeding to the throne. The fact that Celtic had allowed Lacey to leave the conference ahead of time also showed how little importance he placed on her. So, it made sense that she wasn’t informed of this piece of information.

“How did you know?”

Since Lacey didn’t seem to have obtained any information from Celtic, it meant that she had relied on her own abilities to detect the Seed of Nature’s presence.

This situation piqued Alice’s curiosity. Alice had only managed to detect the Seed of Nature’s presence after casting Mind Search while wielding the Hero’s Sword. Even then, she only managed to detect the Seed of Nature’s location and shape. Had she not tasked her Milu Rabbit to retrieve it out of curiosity, she would never have known that the object sitting inside the rabbit warren was a Seed of Nature.

Yet, Lacey had managed to discern that Alice was carrying an object capable of creating mana just by perceiving the faint mana fluctuations around Alice. In addition, she had also guessed that this object was a Seed of Nature. This was an extraordinary ability.

“The Seed of Nature’s characteristics are written in one of the alchemy textbooks I read, so I theorized that it might be a Seed of Nature,” Lacey explained with an embarrassed smile. “There are incredibly few things in this world capable of producing such pure mana. Aside from the Seed of Nature, the only thing that comes close is the treasure of the treants. However, the treant’s treasure is unique in this world. It cannot be mass-produced like the Seed of Nature, so…”

“Are you studying alchemy?”

When Alice heard Lacey’s answer, the first thought that came to her was whether she could trick this child into reconstructing Kristine’s body.

Of course, Alice wasn’t so crazy that she had to enlist the help of a young girl. It was simply because the Gryffin Kingdom couldn’t afford to lend her any of its senior alchemists.

Although Hatter was already doing his best to help her in this regard, there was only so much he could do as the king. The modern-day kings of the human realm didn’t wield absolute power over their kingdoms. They needed to take responsibility for their kingdoms. If Hatter did things that would undermine the Gryffin Kingdom’s interests simply to fulfill his selfish desires, there was a high chance that he would get overthrown and replaced.

Currently, most of the Gryffin Kingdom’s skilled alchemists were involved in a big project. As these alchemists were responsible for every step of this project, they couldn’t afford to leave their stations. If even one of them was removed from the project, the entire project would have to be put on pause until this alchemist returned or was replaced. This would result in significant losses for the Gryffin Kingdom.

However, Alice felt that it was silly to ask for Lacey’s help after thinking it over. With how young Lacey was, it was unlikely that she would have the skills of a senior alchemist. While there was no lack of geniuses in this world, the chances of coming across one in such a place were still very slim.

“That’s right. It’s the Seed of Nature.”

Although Alice felt that Lacey was unlikely to have the skills of a senior alchemist, she still decided to answer the girl’s question. While saying so, she opened the pouch by her waist to retrieve the Seed of Nature and show it to Lacey.

“It’s something that I got from the elves.”

However, Alice immediately froze after opening the pouch and extending her hand inside. When she touched the pouch’s contents, she suddenly recalled that the pouch didn’t just contain the Seed of Nature.

Or, more specifically, the pouch’s main purpose was never to hold the Seed of Nature. Alice had merely kept the Seed of Nature there for convenience’s sake. Meanwhile, aside from a small Seed of Nature and a small weapon box, the pouch was filled to the brim with panties!

Lacey didn’t see what was inside the pouch hanging by Alice’s waist. However, she couldn’t help but grow curious when she saw Alice freezing all of a sudden, so she stepped forward and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“N-Nothing… It’s nothing…”

Alice felt several drops of sweat rolling down her forehead as she hurriedly pulled on her pouch’s drawstring. While she could retrieve the Seed of Nature from the pouch, the Seed of Nature was slightly smaller than even the weapon box. Moreover, it was oval-shaped, so it couldn’t sit on top of her panties like the weapon box. Instead, it had submerged itself into the small pile of panties.

If Alice were to pull the Seed of Nature out of the pouch, she would most likely pull a few pairs of panties with it. At that time, how was she supposed to explain to Lacey that she was carrying a bunch of panties around with her?

When subjected to Lacey’s confused gaze, Alice hurriedly changed the topic and said, “By the way, I heard that the Seed of Nature could be used to construct a human body, right? Is there such knowledge in alchemy?”

Alice made it very obvious that she was trying to change the subject. However, although Lacey felt confused by this, she didn’t try to pry into the matter. Instead, she nodded and answered, “That’s right. The Seed of Nature does have such a use. The topic of high-fidelity biological forgery already involves the knowledge tested in the senior alchemist’s test. It just so happens to be a topic I’ve been studying recently. Unfortunately, those who haven’t passed the intermediate alchemist’s test can’t apply for a Seed of Nature replica to experiment on, so my research on this topic has come to a standstill.”

Upon hearing Lacey’s words, Alice blinked her eyes in surprise and asked, “Do you mean you are currently capable of forging a human body already?”

“I only have theoretical knowledge of the process… I’d need to first become an intermediate alchemist and acquire a Seed of Nature replica before putting this knowledge into practice. However, because I am a self-studied alchemist, my school doesn’t support me to participate in the intermediate alchemist’s test.” When talking about her specialty, Lacey couldn’t help but feel a little happy. “That is why I have a keener sense for the Seed of Nature. I guess you can call it an obsession…”

Alice grew hesitant when she heard Lacey’s answer. Unable to make up her mind, she looked toward Luna, her expression conveying the message: “What should we do? Should we let her give it a try?”

Luna, a well-established intelligence officer and mind magician, instantly understood Alice’s message. Then, she responded with an expression that conveyed the message: “We don’t have many Seeds of Nature, so it’s best not to take the risk.”

Unfortunately, Alice was a complete novice when it came to reading expressions. So, she thoroughly misinterpreted Luna’s response.