CHAPTER 183: TEN SECONDS TO TRUTH

How much time had passed? Hyde opened his eyes.

Everyone’s attention focused on his mouth.

"...Well, so."

Hyde was flustered by the suddenly concentrated gazes but soon regained his composure.

"I did my best, but as senior said, I couldn’t discover any demonic energy."

"Not even a little?"

"Not even a little."

"Then brother was wrong...?"

But the actual parties involved, Gerhard and Rosalia, didn’t change their expressions at all.

"Professor, please show us the real thing now."

"The real thing?"

"This alone is amazing, but what else is there?"

"Follow me."

Rosalia led them to a small door in the corner of the laboratory.

It was in the form of a small side door, and when she opened it, various magical items and another sphere revealed themselves in the spacious room inside.

"This is...?"

"This is the real thing. That one is a kind of experimental work."

The sphere in the room was different from the ice crystal outside.

The general framework was one sphere, but looking closely, it was shaped like hundreds of magic stones woven together in a complex pattern.

Magical formulas and magic circles were similarly densely engraved on the surface, and the magical power it emanated was incomparably dense compared to the ice crystal.

"...I never thought I’d see something like this in my lifetime, brother."

Jayce, the magic maniac, breathed roughly.

"This is like..."

"Like what?"

"Like the sun. Like an artificially created sun."

"From a broad perspective, that’s not entirely wrong."

The usage, principles, and prototype were all different, and it couldn’t compare to the real sun, but in terms of providing near-infinite magical power, it was like that.

"Professor, if it’s not rude, may I examine this a little?"

"Your reaction is very different from before."

"I was also very surprised by that ice crystal. Creating an artificial magic stone, but this is on a different dimension from that."

Jayce swallowed dry saliva. His appearance was like a child with an interesting toy in front of him, or like a scholar with tremendous academic enthusiasm.

"Do as you please. I’ll be presenting it at the Continental Academic Conference soon anyway."

"Thank you, thank you!"

They say you see as much as you know. Except for Rosalia, Jayce was a better wizard than anyone else here, and he recognized the value of this object accordingly.

"How did you manage such engravings here? Oh, conflicting formulas are causing interactions..."

Meanwhile, regardless of what Jayce was doing, Gerhard gave his attention to Hyde.

"Hyde, your task is the same as before. Check whether even a little demonic energy is mixed in there or not."

"What happens if it’s not here either?"

"That would be good."

"Good?"

"Yes. Rather than demon seeds interfering and causing problems at the Continental Academic Conference, or the submission itself being blocked, giving the professor double research funding is more profitable business."

"I never said I’d end it at just double."

"However many times doesn’t matter."

Whether he profited or lost, it was all something Gerhard had to bear.

And having handed over the three metals to his father, Gerhard had tremendous amounts of money coming in soon.

Hyde stood before the combination of magic stones. Just getting close, his skin tingled from the dense magical power he could feel.

’I wondered how they hid something like this, but the walls...’

The engravings and magic circles on the walls were all types that hid and blocked the energy inside this room.

With dozens of such layers overlapping, there was no way to know from outside.

That guy compared this to the sun. Indeed, it has magical power of that density.

If demon seeds really interfered with this, they could easily summon demons.

’With simple magical power rather than sacrificing lives?’

What’s needed to penetrate dimensional barriers and summon beings from other dimensions is a massive amount of energy.

Whether it’s life force or magical power doesn’t matter.

It’s just that demon seeds prefer life force because it’s purer in terms of energy, being of higher purity and density.

They’re called demons because they prioritize efficiency over the lives of mere creatures.

Remember how Andromalius was summoned.

’Ah.’

Recalling Andromalius summoned through the World Tree’s branch, Hyde understood clearly.

’Then if this really falls into demon seeds’ hands, what would they do with it?’

What would they do?

Gardner asserted.

They’d summon demons.

Then he corrected himself.

Ah, they could also summon large quantities of monsters to cause great chaos on the continent. Anyway, that’s what I mean.

’Then I should hope even more that Senior Gerhard’s words are false.’

That would be best.

Hyde took a deep breath, brought the sword close, and closed his eyes. And.

"...Externally, there are no problems."

Professor Rosalia’s brow furrowed.

"So there are problems internally."

"Honestly, I’m not deeply versed in magic, so I don’t know if there are problems with magic circles, engravings, or formulas, or where things went wrong."

However.

"The one thing I can be certain of is that I’m good at sensing and finding demonic energy."

That was the power Armian had possessed since the first emperor’s time.

"You’re being long-winded."

"There’s something strange inside."

"Something strange?"

"A seed."

A seed. It couldn’t be precisely defined as a seed, but from a broad perspective, it was like that.

"Surrounded among the magic stones, hidden by dense magical power, it wasn’t easy to find, but it was definitely a seed of demonic energy."

When examining the combination earlier, Rosalia had activated it at Hyde’s request.

At that time, clearly, the fragment of demonic energy consumed magical power and grew in size, even if minutely.

If this wasn’t a seed, what else could it be?

The ominous thing was not knowing what it would become when fully grown.

"Hyde Armian."

"Yes, Professor."

"Can you be certain?"

"Even checking two or three times, it’s the same. While I may be far inferior to you in ability, Professor, I believe I’m never behind when it comes to demonic energy. Staking the honor of my ancestor who founded the Empire, there is demonic energy."

"I can’t believe it."

"This miraculous crystallization is contaminated with demonic energy...! I can’t believe it either! Hyde, didn’t you see something wrong?"

Rosalia began examining the magic stone combination.

But there was no way problems would suddenly be found in the combination she had checked daily while researching and examined once more at Gerhard’s words.

That’s why it was even more unbelievable.

Someone said it existed, but she couldn’t see it. She couldn’t notice it.

For Rosalia, who had lived her entire life as a genius, the current situation was absolutely incomprehensible.

"There’s a way for everyone to notice - destroying this combination."

"That’s nonsense. The Continental Academic Conference is less than two weeks away, and you want me to break this?"

It was worthless nonsense. Rosalia thought so.

But it was too simple to dismiss, since the objector was Gerhard Goldenheim.

The one speaking with confidence was Hyde Armian.

"There’s another way."

It was Gerhard.

"Speak."

"If we can’t properly confirm that there’s a problem with the object, we can catch the person who caused the problem with that object."

"A demon seed?"

"Someone who planted a seed inside, not outside. Do you think that’s possible without deep involvement in your research, Professor?"

"..."

The assistants. The answer lay with them.

It had to.

==

Something about the atmosphere was different.

After a day’s rest, Aron, who had returned to Professor Rosalia’s laboratory, felt that way.

Nothing had clearly changed.

The arrangement of items and documents, the assistants’ appearance and behavior, the professor too.

But it was different.

He couldn’t pinpoint exactly what, but his intuition wasn’t good.

Before he could even check what it was, Professor Rosalia entered.

"Attention."

Thud, the door that had opened closed.

Professor Rosalia immediately called the assistants together. Then she took out something.

A flawlessly clear and transparent crystal sphere.

"Among you, some will know what this is, and some won’t."

’This is...’

The moment Aron saw it, he roughly sensed what it was. An artifact made by the Dragon Faith Order that detected demonic energy.

’Could it be they discovered the seed I planted...?’

No, that wouldn’t be it.

If they were at a level to find that, they would have found it long ago.

’Did the dean give another order?’

After turning the entire academy upside down hunting demon seeds like catching lice, did they catch another clue?

If so, there wouldn’t be any particular problem.

"You all must have heard about the monsters and demon seeds from Altriark recently. Right?"

"Yes..."

"The academy has also decided to prepare for any possible situation. This is an artifact created by the Dragon Faith Order. It’s an object that finds demonic energy in mana."

"So Professor, you’re saying we’re suspected of being demon seeds."

"Orders came down for all academy staff, so there’s nothing specific to you alone."

"Is that so?"

Aron smiled brightly and brought his hand to the crystal sphere.

"Should I inject magical power into this?"

"Yes."

He injected magical power. But the crystal sphere didn’t change at all.

"Next."

They checked all five assistants like that.

Aron inwardly mocked Professor Rosalia, who maintained a calm expression.

Search all you want. Struggle and struggle again. Even so, there would be nothing you could do.

"Everyone passed verification using the artifact. Then next."

"Next?"

"Come in."

The door opened.

"Nice to meet you, assistants. I’m Hyde Armian. I came at Professor Rosalia’s call."

The person who entered had brilliantly golden hair.

His blue eyes were clear like jewels. And unpleasant.

Aron’s neck became chilly. He intuited that something was wrong. He felt like a bug trapped in wizards’ collection jar.

"I think everyone knows who this child is without me having to explain. The demons’ adversary will personally check you all."

He had to escape. He couldn’t leave it as it was.

"You’re saying to let Hyde examine our bodies? That’s absolutely not acceptable."

"That’s right."

"No matter what the professor says..."

Other assistants agreed with Aron’s opinion.

Whether wizard or knight, completely entrusting someone to examine one’s interior was impossible unless they were family or teacher.

Because they could check that person’s aura, magical power, engravings and circuits - almost everything as a wizard or knight.

"After the Continental Academic Conference ends, I’ll give each of you 500 gold in performance bonuses and a month’s vacation. And I’ll look at all your papers and help you."

"With just that much, we wouldn’t be swayed..."

"1000 gold."

"...We might be swayed by that?"

"...Gulp."

’What are you saying right now!’

What Aron hadn’t expected was that they were slaves of the laboratory.

For them, who were ground down daily, the enormous sum that ordinary Empire citizens would need at least 3 years to earn, plus rest, was an irresistible temptation.

"I won’t check anything else. Just whether there’s demonic energy or not. That’s all."

"If Hyde Armian harms you even slightly with that or misuses it, I’ll stake my Wienderk name to provide damage compensation and revenge."

"...If you say that much."

"I’m fine with it. I trust the professor."

The assistants obediently nodded.

’After being worked like slaves, did their heads actually become slaves? They’re allowing this young brat to examine their interiors with just that?’

Aron wanted to immediately shout that it was ridiculous, but the flow had already passed.

"Even so, that’s...!"

Still, the moment he tried to speak, his eyes met Rosalia’s.

"..."

"..."

And he realized. Whatever he said, Professor Rosalia would force this through.

Objection was meaningless.

He couldn’t run away or avoid it. He could only trust that the ability that had hidden him until now would continue to be maintained even before Armian.

And shortly after.

"Assistant, your name was Aron, wasn’t it?"

"Yes."

"I’m not good with words, so I don’t know how to talk in circles. So I’ll speak straight to the point."

"What do you suddenly mean by that...?"

Thwack!

Aron’s face swayed greatly to the side.

"Wh-what is this...!"

"As the old saying goes, beatings are medicine for demon seeds."

And that belief was shattered in just 10 seconds.