Chapter 905: The Hearing (1)
CLAAANG!!!
A torrent of brilliant blue mana light cascaded like a waterfall.
Watching the scene from behind a glass window while recording data, Lennok spoke.
“Good work. With this, I think I’ve gathered all the baseline data needed for the customizations.”
The moment Lennok finished speaking, Evelyn dropped the shotgun she was holding.
THUD!!
“My shoulder hurts so much….”
Evelyn grumbled, on the verge of tears, as she walked out of the simulation firing range.
“Just because I teased you a little, you make me fire this ridiculous gun hundreds of times? Is this some kind of punishment?”
As soon as he confirmed Evelyn had arrived at his mansion, Lennok had summoned her to the simulation firing range beneath his lab to test the shotgun’s durability and center of gravity.
It was a rechargeable, modified-mana double-barreled shotgun, retrofitted with an external mana core.
It had reached the point where, rather than increasing its power, he needed to focus on reinforcing the barrel and magazine to withstand rapid fire and on finding its balance point.
After uploading all the recorded data to his lab computer and finishing the scan, Lennok nodded and stood up.
“I’m mostly done, so let’s head back. I think I can handle the rest on my own.”
“I had no intention of helping you build a shotgun anyway.”
Bickering with Lennok, Evelyn naturally headed toward the mansion.
CREAK!!
Opening the door and stepping into the spacious, well-ventilated living room, Lennok said.
“I forgot to mention, but giving you my address wasn’t an invitation to drop by whenever you please.”
“You didn’t give it to me.”
Thump!
Evelyn retorted, tossing a bundle of vegetables she was holding onto the kitchen counter.
“I found it on my own.”
“You know that’s not what I meant….”
Lennok said, gripping his temples with a troubled expression.
“If you show up unannounced like this again, I’ll just move without a word.”
“Oh, is that a threat?”
Evelyn smirked and leaped onto the sofa.
“I heard you decided to distance yourself from the Eyes of Blue for the time being, didn’t you?”
“…”
Seeing the speechless Lennok, Evelyn cackled.
“Lapis made an announcement on the channel where the Watchers gather.”
“Channel?”
“A new ability emerged among the Watchers when the tenth Lighthouse was established.”
As she tore the packaging off a container of natural seasoning from the bag she’d brought, Evelyn spoke.
“It’s a kind of nexus for those who have accepted the duty of a Watcher to receive Lapis’s will. I heard it uses the world’s boundary as a relay point, allowing it to cover about half the continent… but this is the first time I’ve seen it in action myself.”
Evelyn tilted her head.
“But since you didn’t accept the duty of a Watcher at all, you can’t use it.”
“…”
“Everyone’s more shocked than you’d think. We were aware that there was a problem in Vulcan.”
Heading to the kitchen with the seasoning, Evelyn casually turned on the induction stovetop, placed a frying pan on it, and said.
Sizzle, sizzle!!
KWOOOOSH!!
A series of startling pops and hisses echoed, noises you wouldn’t believe came from cooking vegetables. Having finished cooking in a flash, Evelyn returned to the living room.
It was a strange sight: a mountain of grilled vegetables piled high on the frying pan.
Casually sitting opposite him, Evelyn placed the pan in front of Lennok and tossed a fork at him.
She spoke as she looked at the fork, which had naturally embedded itself in the edge of the pan.
“But no one expected it to end in something like a falling out between you and Lapis.”
“It wasn’t a falling out. It was an agreement for our respective futures.”
Lennok picked up the fork with a bitter smile.
STAB!!
Spearing a piece of grilled broccoli with a suspicious look, Lennok said.
“At least, that’s what Lapis must be thinking.”
“Meaning you don’t think so?”
“Who knows….”
Lennok slowly put the broccoli in his mouth and began to chew.
It didn’t take long for his uncomfortable expression to smooth into one of unexpected surprise.
“…This is edible. The texture is much better than I expected.”
“Right?”
Evelyn puffed out her chest triumphantly.
“Don’t look down on vegans. Figuring out how to eat vegetables while preserving their texture is an important issue.”
“I never looked down on them.”
“It’s a recipe I developed back when I was busy with Agent work.”
Evelyn held up the seasoning bottle and explained.
“You sprinkle seasoning made from ground paprika over lightly blanched and grilled vegetables. Seasoning made from ground mushrooms or garlic isn’t bad either.”
“That alone wouldn’t produce this kind of flavor….”
Since Lennok also cooked for himself to supplement his nutrition, he knew a thing or two about preparing and cooking vegetables.
However, considering the heat-sensitive nature of vegetables, simply tossing them in a pan and grilling them wouldn’t yield such a result.
“Ah, there is one minor trick.”
She brought a hand to her mouth as if sharing a cooking secret.
“When you grill the vegetables, you lightly coat their surface with mana to slow the heat transfer.”
“…”
“If you control it well, you can preserve the texture perfectly while still getting that grilled flavor. It’s nothing special.”
“Right.”
Why bother pointing out now how difficult it is to cook while coating vegetables with mana?
Instead of wasting his breath arguing, Lennok ate the grilled vegetables while Evelyn, sitting opposite him, began to offer unsolicited advice.
“No, you have to eat the mushrooms first. You have to alternate between the soft parts to properly experience the texture.”
“…”
“There’s more paprika powder, so add more if you need it. No, not like that. You really don’t know how to eat!”
“I think I can live my whole life without knowing.”
Despite Lennok’s irritation at Evelyn’s constant nagging throughout the meal, he finished all the grilled vegetables.
Watching Lennok put down the pan with a frown, Evelyn smiled.
“It was good, right?”
“…Yes. Thank you for the meal.”
Having tried various diets for his health, Lennok wasn’t opposed to Evelyn’s cooking.
He simply no longer insisted on a purely vegetarian diet from a nutritional standpoint.
“So, what is it you wanted to say after feeding me?”
“Huh? I didn’t have any particular motive.”
Evelyn shook her head, looking puzzled.
“If I had to say, I was just a little worried you might be down because of Lapis.”
“I told you that’s not it.”
“Alright, alright.”
Evelyn patted Lennok’s shoulder and filled his glass with carrot juice.
“Let’s do well, we who dream of reinstatement together. Fighting!”
“…”
To think he’d get paid back like this for teasing her about being dismissed from her position as an Agent.
Now that he thought about it, she was probably more interested in teasing him about what happened with the Eyes of Blue than being worried about him.
“So, what are you going to do now?”
While Lennok cleared the plate and cleaned up, Evelyn, sitting on the sofa, asked.
“Lapis finally figured it out, didn’t she?”
“…Perhaps.”
After finishing the dishes by manipulating the water in the sink with common magic, Lennok turned around, drying his hands.
“Lapis knows I’m Evan Vylun. At the point things turned out this way, she must have sensed something was off.”
“…”
“And yet, despite knowing that, for her to make this choice instead of pointing it out…”
Lennok perched on the opposite chair and muttered.
“…It must be because she was trying to be considerate of me.”
“Hearing that, I’m also curious what Lapis is thinking.”
Evelyn shrugged.
“Whether it’s your actions or your disposition, none of it makes sense. Don’t you think she might mistake you for someone with multiple personalities?”
“Even if she does, there’s nothing I can do. I didn’t start this seeking understanding.”
“…”
“Even if I explained, she wouldn’t be able to fully accept it. Her world and mine are different.”
Could he ever put into words that moment when he was grappling with how to live?
The things he’d attempted in his desperate struggle for survival had now grown uncontrollably massive, taking root in Lennok’s time.
He didn’t wish for the understanding or acceptance of others. It was enough that he alone cherished the journey toward the conclusion and preserved its meaning.
However, because there were still those who wanted to understand him, he found himself contemplating this unfamiliar sense of distance.
Evelyn shook her head.
“For a guy who can live perfectly fine on his own, you’re strangely serious about these things.”
“That doesn’t sound like a compliment.”
“Because it isn’t.”
With that retort, Evelyn stood up.
“Anyway, you seem to have your head on straight, so I’ll be going. Contact Jenny when you have time.”
“Jenny?”
“You know all sorts of commotion has broken out across Vulcan because of this incident. It seems she has something to discuss with you about that.”
Picking up a bag of vegetables that seemed to be her share, Evelyn said.
“They’re making a huge fuss at the City Government about whether you’ll attend the hearing. Wouldn’t administrative work run smoother if you at least declared your refusal?”
“…”
“Oh, and I forgot to mention this.”
Click.
Gripping the doorknob, she glanced back at Lennok and spoke.
At Evelyn’s slightly more serious expression, Lennok listened intently.
“Don’t worry too much about the Eyes of Blue matter.”
“What do you mean?”
“Lapis was able to complete her awakening entirely thanks to your help. I don’t know what she thinks of you now, but Lapis would never pretend that wasn’t the case.”
“…”
“Maybe distancing herself from you is her way of repaying you for that. Or is that going too far?”
Evelyn said this and laughed awkwardly.
“If worse comes to worst, I’ll personally ask Lapis to reinstate you. So don’t be too depressed.”
“I’m not particularly depressed.”
“About that meeting we talked about before. I’ll contact you when it’s finalized in a few days. See ya!”
SLAM!
Pretending not to hear, Evelyn brushed past the topic of the meeting, set up their next appointment, and disappeared.
After striding out the door, Evelyn suddenly poked her head back into Lennok’s mansion.
Her eyes narrowed as she stared at Lennok and said.
“I’m saying this just in case, but don’t you move.”
“…I’ll do as I see fit.”
Simultaneously, her presence vanished from the nearby street as if washed away.
Lennok silently stared at the spot where she had been, then began to tidy the living room with a bitter smile.
She said she came without any particular thought, but that was probably what Evelyn had wanted to say all along.
Separate from Lennok’s own thoughts, she might have wanted to comfort him by saying this whole incident was no big deal.
Come to think of it, Evelyn had always maintained a similar attitude in everything she did.
Flowing like water to suit the situation, free as the blowing wind.
Rather than dwelling on things she couldn’t understand, she tried to let them go without a second thought once she made a judgment.
Hadn’t she come to respect his decision regarding his identity, a complete reversal from when she first encountered it?
That might be part of her own effort to understand the current situation.
In a way, Evelyn’s method might be the closest to the true essence of understanding others.
As he finished tidying the living room with that thought, the little fox crept out from behind the sofa.
Drunk with sleep and staggering, its six fluffy tails were draped lazily over the sofa.
With its chin resting on the sofa armrest, a listless Davi muttered.
[What a truly noisy organism….]
“You were awake?”
[Maybe because she’s an organism that adheres to a strange diet, but she gives off a peculiar smell whenever she appears.]
“A smell?”
[It’s just a thing, Master.]
Davi said, yawning with its snout wide open.
Rubbing its eyes with its front paws, the now-awake Davi lifted its head.
[But I wouldn’t expect a cold-blooded man who carelessly throws a spirit into a dangerous ritual space to understand!]
“…”
Davi’s recent tendency to emphasize its own hardships after this incident.
Normally, Lennok would have pulled its tail or ears to promote its growth, but this time, he silently stroked Davi instead.
It was true that he had given Davi an incredibly difficult task this time.
Considering the significant information it had relayed about the subjugation, he had to admit it had performed better than expected.
[Uwaaah….]
At Lennok’s touch stroking its head and back, Davi’s tails flapped wildly.
[My tails, too. My tails.]
“Alright, alright.”
As Lennok took each tail and massaged it, the little fox’s body went limp on his lap like a wet towel.
[Uweeeeeeh….]
“You’re more like jelly than a spirit.”
As Davi melted into a puddle, Lennok chuckled, and Davi muttered in satisfaction.
[If I can get this kind of treatment from the Master, maybe suffering once in a while isn’t so bad….]
“Really?”
Lennok asked as if he had been waiting for it.
“Then I’ll be counting on you in the future. You can go to the mock ritual space in my place from now on.”
[N-No!! I take it back!]
Davi’s ears perked up as if it had suddenly snapped to its senses.
[I take it back, I take it back!! I’m not doing it anymore!!]
“Too late. A spirit shouldn’t go back on its word.”
[There’s no such idiom in the spirit industry, you know?]
Lennok laughed out loud at Davi’s desperate resistance.
“It’s a joke. Why would I make you suffer when I have the time?”
[…You really mean it?]
“The circumstances just happened to align this time, but who knows what will happen in the future.”
Davi had been able to imitate Victor without being caught because Pandemonium’s meeting had been focused on the fight between Evan and Adamant Thunder.
If Victor had been repeatedly required to express opinions or answer questions, Davi might not have been able to cope on its own.
“It will be an option to consider when I don’t have the time, like last time. Don’t worry about that part.”
[If it’s just that, then it’s fine….]
Davi finally seemed to agree, nodding its head, before inadvertently revealing its true feelings.
[Well, it was fun teasing those ill-tempered organisms.]
“There’s your true intention.”
[Ububububu.]
After punishing the spirit, which lacked the objectivity to know who was truly ill-tempered, Lennok leaned back on the sofa and turned his gaze.
Bright sunlight poured in. It was the middle of the day.
Even now, a considerable number of people were moving with hurried steps on the streets outside.
“…”
Sitting in the quiet living room and looking down at the window like this, it felt as if only Lennok’s time had stopped.
But even at this moment, the City Government and the Central Council were engaged in a heated debate over the incident from a few days ago, and experts and officials from all over were likely fixated on distributing the blame and benefits from this affair.
He knew. It wasn’t that his time had stopped, but that others were moving ahead.
He wasn’t used to the feeling of falling behind.
But knowing that, the reason he was taking a few days to recover was to start moving again, just like at the beginning.
There was the meeting scheduled weeks ago, the Pandemonium subjugation, and a course correction to align his visit to Kundara.
And the first thing Lennok had to do was already decided.
On the screen in the lab, a program was still running.
He could see the host and a professor still discussing the redevelopment of District 49.
Unlike before, this time they were analyzing the arguments and evidence of the opposing side.
[So you’re saying that, in the end, the redevelopment of the outer districts is highly likely to make Adamant Thunder’s influence and position even stronger.]
[That’s because a significant portion of the capital flowing from the outer districts passes through the Magic Tower.]
The professor pushed up his glasses and said.
[Even in districts not included in the Tower’s domain, the very act of building infrastructure through redevelopment is likely to become a source of power for the Magic Tower.]
[Hearing you say that, I can understand the opposition’s stance a little better.]
[Yes. Because in effect, Adamant Thunder himself stands to gain the most from the commotion he caused.]
The professor replied.
[It will be difficult to persuade the opposing side unless he provides an acceptable explanation or takes responsibility for this incident.]
[An acceptable explanation and responsibility… Do you think that wizard will actually do such a thing?]
[Well. I’m just someone who values my life more….]
[Ahahaha!]
The host burst out laughing, then broke into a cold sweat when he noticed no one else was laughing.
[…Can we edit this out?]
Beep.
Lennok turned off the screen and leaned back in his chair, tilting his head back.
“Responsibility….”
Although things had concluded without a clash between the Eyes of Blue and Vulcan, it was only natural that the blame for this entire situation would fall on Adamant Thunder, who had abducted the Lighthouse base.
It was also natural that, in the process of assigning and clarifying responsibility, there would be matters that couldn’t be handled without considering Adamant Thunder’s existence.
And he’d heard that various things were being said about his future course of action in that process.
He had no intention of dwelling on a finished matter, but it was a different story if it was tied to the megacity’s new plans.
“Davi. Phone mode.”
Lennok said, picking up Davi, who had collapsed with its tongue out after the harsh punishment.
“Contact Jenny. There’s a matter to review at the bar.”
[…Master. I’m not a phone, you know?]
The next morning.
A short reply sent from the Magic Tower was officially delivered to the administrative department of the Central Council.
The City Government and the Central Council were thrown into an uproar upon confirming the contents of the reply, and related departments and the press began to report the news on a massive scale.
The decisive battle between Adamant Thunder and Cheonbeon, which had annihilated the entire downtown area near the Hexagonal Fortress in the megacity of Vulcan.
The cause of the disaster that had prompted temporary consideration of all martial law and evacuation orders within the Vulcan City Government.
The clarification of responsibility for the mad wizard who had provoked both the Eyes of Blue and the Watchers by kidnapping the Lighthouse Keeper.
Adamant Thunder, Van, had sent notice that he would attend the hearing.