CH 138

We leave the white mask party and hop onto a rented passenger car.

Everyone takes their seats, and I give the driver, Shellrule, the signal to go.

A two-headed transmuted beast pulls the car and we start moving. It’s a hippopotamus like Hipopo. It’s smaller than the six-legged Hipopo, but Shellrule sounds pretty proud of her transmuted beast. I remember how happy she looked when she ran to me to tell me the transmutation was a success.

I’m sitting here, so I can finally take this mask off.

Ahri is sitting in front of me, and she also has a white mask under the veil magic item she used to wear. She rolls it up, and takes off the mask.

She keeps one of her eyes closed tightly, and quickly puts her monocle on her face. She then breathes a very long sigh.

Magic items with similar functions can interfere with each other, so she only wore one. I get that, but if she had the veil on, she really didn’t need the white mask, did she? She’s so diligent.

I look at her while I think this.

She looks pretty relieved to have the monocle back on. I almost never see her looking so loose and relaxed.

“Ahri, sorry to do this so soon, but can we discuss what I mentioned before?”

Says Kalin, who is sitting next to her.

Ahri’s relaxed face tenses up again. Now she’s back to her usual expression.

“Yes, Lady Kalin. The people that triggered a reaction from my future sight were…”

She starts listing nobles who attended the white mask party.

Ah, I see. They’re checking who we should be wary of. Does her future sight activate not only when there’s an actual battle, but also when there’s just signs of a quarrel? Did she check everyone without using the magic item I made? It must’ve been tiring.

I realize what they’re doing, but there’s no reason to join their conversation, so I check again what I have in my hand.

Princess Lily gave me a strange looking magic crystal.

It’s thinner and longer than usual, like some sort of rod. It’s just long enough to fit in my hand, and thinner than a finger.

I’ve never seen or heard of a magic crystal shaped like this, even though a master rank alchemist like me knows all about commonly used magic crystals, and even a lot of formats that were used in the past.

“The world sure is big…”

I mumble without thinking.

I should at least check its capacity and output, so I take out a 《Transcribe》 scroll.

I’m inside a cramped passenger car, so I carefully open it on my lap and place the crystal on top of it.

“《Transcribe》“

I look at the data displayed.

“What is this thing…”

“Did you learn something?”

Asks Kalin. I guess their conversation is over.

“Eh, yes… One thing.”

“Hou. So?”

“Both its capacity and output are very low. To the point where it’s pretty much useless as a magic crystal. But I have a theory…”

Ahri then gets up all of sudden, and I see the glitter of magic elements in her eye.

“An enemy attack! From the front, and back!”

“There they are!”

Says Kalin, sounding happy for some reason. She takes out her jet-black sword from beneath her seat, like she was expecting this. It’s brand-new, and made from the meteorite I gave her.

I was going to say that the crystal might be a key, but leave it for later. We prepare for the attack, tell Shellrule to stop, and I take out scrolls.