Chapter 430: About What’s Changed (5)

“That was the only item among the evidence stored there that I could pick up with one hand.”

“Good. This is enough.”

Lennok said, nodding his head.

Cassia slightly shrugged her shoulders, looking at Lennok.

“While I was at the police station, I also looked at the case file. But can you really find out anything with just that much evidence?”

“Seven university officials died here, and their estimated time of death differed by less than five minutes. Essentially, all of them died instantly on this spot.”

Lennok said, slowly stroking the ornament of the necklace.

“Yet, there are no signs of struggle on the bodies, and no particular cause of death. It’s impossible unless it’s an exceptionally skilled superhuman.”

“So, you’re saying this necklace left at the scene belongs to that superhuman?”

“No. This is a message.”

“…A message?”

“Hiler Thompson was a wizard from the City Council Research Institute… He’s an excellent wizard, but he doesn’t have the experience or skill in killing to cleanly eliminate seven people.”

“…”

He carefully examined the cross-section of the necklace and slowly infused it with mana.

“Eusha…!”

With a small grunt from Davi, the mana flowing inside the necklace underwent a series of transformations, naturally converting into electricity and activating the power source.

Clatter!!

The necklace instantly transformed into a key-like shape.

“They say he had a mild personality even when he worked at the City Government’s direct research institute. What are the chances that such a person would kill seven people in a fit of rage just because university staff visited?”

“Then…”

“A murder scene seemingly unrelated to magic. Clearly left evidence and a key that applies the technology from a thesis…”

Lennok said, naturally inserting the key into a gap in the workshop wall and turning it.

A wall engraved with a pattern precisely identical to the necklace’s ornament. Below it, a faint crack resembled a keyhole.

“This is an unnatural discrepancy deliberately designed with clear intent.”

Click!!

Rumble!!

Simultaneously, a hidden space beyond the room was revealed.

On a dim desk lit by a lamp, someone lay dead, face down, with their tongue sticking out.

“H-Hiler Thompson…!”

Only then did Cassia realize that the owner of this workshop was not the culprit, but the victim, and she took a step back.

Archwood also let out a groan, his face hardened.

“How could this be, a 6th-level Commander Wizard assassinated…!”

Whoosh!!

At that moment, something pale appeared from thin air and swiftly lunged at Lennok.

Without anyone having time to react, it grabbed Lennok’s waist and snapped him in half.

Crunch!!

A chilling sound of spinal joints breaking was heard. A violent impact that would have left his lower body paralyzed.

Just as the figure, having instantly cut off Lennok’s means of escape, lifted his body and was about to disappear.

Lennok’s limp body collapsed, and magic threads burst forth from within, beginning to entangle the figure.

Cha-rrr-rring!!

“…!!!”

It quickly tried to raise mana to cut the magic threads and escape, but the tension was truly extraordinary.

Its entire body’s joints were completely restrained, making it difficult to even move a fingertip.

However, with only a slight squirming motion, the figure hurled its body against the factory wall, slamming its shoulder into it.

Boom!!

The impact caused the old workshop’s conveyor belt to collapse, and pipes hanging from the ceiling fell, creating a deafening roar.

Just as Archwood and Cassia almost simultaneously raised their mana to pinpoint the figure’s location and intercept it.

“I’m fine.”

Crackle!!

Lennok said, walking out through the dust.

Beneath Lennok’s feet lay an elderly man with a bald head, his temple crushed by a shoeprint, tied up and unconscious.

Lennok brushed off the thick layer of dust on his shoulders and smiled.

“I thought I had him completely bound, but I never imagined he’d try to escape with just the strength in his toes. I’ll have to pay more attention next time.”

“There was definitely an impact, so since when…”

Cassia muttered, her expression dumbfounded.

Even though she had undoubtedly been talking to Lennok just moments before, the sudden attack was clearly a powerful illusion.

“It’s the effect of an artifact.”

Lennok casually brushed it off.

“I did some traveling before following Professor Richellen to the university. In the process, I collected several useful items.”

“Ah, I see. So that’s why you were able to write such a thesis…”

“Thesis?”

Archwood asked, slightly narrowing his brows.

“What do you mean, thesis?”

“…This gathering today was arranged to track down the culprit who’s trying to misuse the thesis Assistant Professor Evan personally wrote.”

Unable to hold back, Cassia turned her head sharply and spoke.

“You said you came here personally to help the assistant professor, but it seems you haven’t heard from the Dean separately yet.”

“I don’t understand what you mean. I did agree to this to see the face of the genius who wrote the thesis on mana and electrical power conversion, but Evan… Hmm?”

Only then did Archwood realize what Cassia was saying, and he stiffly turned his neck to look at Lennok.

“That, thesis, that… I mean, Evan…?”

“…”

“The very theory that’s boosting stock prices in the energy industry, let alone academia?”

“To think you were here without even knowing that…”

Cassia sighed deeply and walked past Archwood, heading out of the factory.

“That’s enough. For now, I’ll go give the Dean a preliminary report on this matter.”

“Th-that…”

Watching Archwood stammer, sweating profusely, was quite amusing, but Lennok had to say what needed to be said.

“You shouldn’t go outside yet.”

“Pardon?”

“There’s probably more.”

Lennok said, pressing harder on the man’s temple with his foot.

The bald man’s complexion instantly turned purplish, and he began making choking sounds.

“Guh…”

The pain was from direct occlusion of the blood vessels leading to the brain. Even with Lennok’s leg strength, it was more than enough to knock out an ordinary person, and it would be an agonizing pain for even a skilled superhuman to endure.

At his words, Cassia, who had been about to naturally open the factory door with her phone in hand, hesitated.

“More? What do you mean? Isn’t this man the culprit of this incident?”

“After assassinating Hiler Thompson and killing the university staff, he must have known others would come. For him to be waiting alone, knowing that, he’s far too weak.”

Crack!!

Lennok kicked the man’s temple with his toe, and the man foamed at the mouth, trembling.

Lennok, grabbing his own aching thigh, knelt beside the man and began rummaging through his clothes.

“If he were strong, it’d be one thing, but since he was subdued so easily, it’s highly likely there are more of them. To be precise, near the crime scene where we were sure to show up.”

Lennok also knew this, which was why he hadn’t hurried in searching the scene.

If what they were after was truly the existence of the person who produced the thesis’s research results, then the opponents wouldn’t flee far and would be biding their time.

“The culprit always reappears at the crime scene… It’s a cliché, but it’s rarely wrong. Found it.”

Clink.

A mechanical device pulled from the man’s pocket.

Lennok lightly drew mana to examine its interior, then nodded and wound the spring. Inside, the mechanism began to turn, and a small melody started to play.

It was a music box, made using magical engineering, nothing particularly ordinary about it.

However, it was far from ordinary that Archwood and Cassia’s expressions hardened at the sound of the music.

“Damn it, this music…”

“Is that gospel? Wait, if we’re hearing a hymn here, that means…!”

“It’s a song praising their god, from the most famous religious group on the continent.”

Lennok said, letting out a small sigh.

“It seems the Guido Cult has begun to set foot in this city.”

“Bishop Amila, when should we move in?”

“Just a little longer.”

The woman called Amila ignored the voice behind her and fiddled with the pendant in her hand.

Whirrrr…!!

Upon activating the hidden power source inside the pendant, the embedded battery started to work, supplying power to the internal circuits.

Simultaneously, a portion of the electricity, converted into mana, began to function as a magical engineering item.

The pendant started to resemble the necklace Lennok had just transformed into a key.

Amila let out repeated exclamations of admiration as she watched.

“Oh, oh.”

“Haven’t you seen it hundreds of times already? We should strike when they’re inside the workshop. This is our only chance…”

“Hey, don’t you understand how amazing this thing is, even after seeing it hundreds of times?”

“…”

Ignoring her silent attendant, Amila continued.

“Electricity from a ridiculously simple battery is being converted into mana. And if you flip the switch, it can go the other way too.”

“…Energy isn’t perfectly conserved during the conversion process. The author of this thesis hasn’t created the foundation for a perpetual motion machine.”

“Of course not. If it were that easy, we’d have boarded an ark to paradise ages ago, wouldn’t we?”

Amila chuckled and said.

“But the principle contained in this thesis isn’t something you can just laugh off. It’s a conversion theory that links two types of energy, electricity and mana, at the particle level to maximize the conversion rate. Was this truly an accidental discovery?”

“…”

“It assumes chaotic particle motion is observed from a future point in time, not the present, and proves the theory. This isn’t an idea a normal human could come up with.”

Bishop Amila Bainjer, a branch manager of the Guido Cult, had infiltrated to investigate Ayun’s death at the 2nd Apostle’s command. Her discovery of the pendant, based on Lennok’s thesis, was purely coincidental, but with just this one pendant, she accurately understood its value.

She had decided that simply investigating this pendant and the thesis it originated from, and identifying its author, was worth abandoning all previous plans.

“The author of this thesis is a genius who will go down in continental history. And they are undoubtedly an apt person who understands and can handle the entropy system that the cult leadership is searching for.”

Amila put the pendant into her pocket and stood up, licking her lips.

“If handled well, this theory could allow us to control not just the conversion of energy, but even its amplification. I thought energy company stock prices have been steadily rising recently, and this must be why. When this thesis really goes commercial, it’ll be chaos.”

“Are you still checking continental market capitalization? That goes against doctrine.”

“Just think of it as collecting funds to serve divine providence. Shall we begin?”

Watching Amila, who answered slyly and began to slowly rise, the man sighed.

The man was not so dull as to fail to recognize the value of the pendant.

He also clearly understood why they were so fixated on this item, which they had encountered by chance after entering the city.

However, understanding it as he did, shouldn’t they be making sure to apprehend the individuals who constructed the principles of this item?

“It’s already too late. Perhaps it’s for the best.”

The sharp gazes of the cult priests simultaneously turned towards the factory.

The door, tightly shut and surrounded by yellow tape, was slowly opening.

“It seems they’ve noticed our presence over there too.”