Chapter 40

Before investigating Professor Malcolm’s laboratory, I handed him a generous reward and ordered a team lunch.

It was to clear out the lab of people.

If caraphine was truly being manufactured here, and if it was Winter Winslet who had ordered it, then that meticulous villain would surely have taken care to conceal any trace linking himself to the lab so he could sever ties at any moment.

Now, I was digging into it myself. But there was still no harm in being cautious.

“But Professor Winslet.”

“Yes?”

“Is it really necessary to go this far for the research students? They say adversity in youth builds character… Instead, if you could use that money later to get me a dinner with some higher-ups…”

When I fixed him with a calm glare, Professor Malcolm quickly shut his babbling mouth.

“As you command. I’ll take care of it.”

Winter Winslet’s silence was an excellent tool of persuasion.

After sending Malcolm off, I entered the now-empty lab with Jeremy.

What exactly were they doing with all the caraphite transported here from the Magic Department’s equipment storage?

It was the moment I confirmed the truth of that ominous suspicion with my own eyes.

Rooms 107 and 109 of the Magic Engineering Building.

The large laboratory formed by combining the two rooms was bathed in a bluish glow.

The source of the blue light was the various devices laid out on the lab benches.

Among them, a magic reactor resembling a rounded tank was glowing like a lamp.

A magic reactor was equipment used to extract magical power from caraphite, and the energy extracted here was dissolved into a special reagent to prevent it from dispersing into the air. This resulting liquid was called caraphine solution.

In a corner of Professor Malcolm’s lab, I discovered dozens of crates, each containing twenty-four cylinders of caraphine solution.

Watching the liquid in the cylinders occasionally bubble and release small air pockets, I turned to Jeremy and asked with the sense of putting the final period on my theory.

“Dean of Research Support Jeremy.”

“Yes?”

“Explain what this place is used for.”

“Ah, yes. This is the facility where the first of the three stages in caraphine production is carried out.”

The mention of a “first stage” implied that there were subsequent ones.

Perhaps thinking I was testing him, Jeremy continued answering with smooth confidence.

“First, we extract the magical power here. Then, the caraphine solution is refined in Professor George’s lab. Finally, it’s concentrated and molded into the finished product in Professor Haynes’s lab.”

“So, without a doubt, you’re manufacturing caraphine.”

“Exactly. To think such a system has been built not in a specialized facility under the Magic Department, but right here in the academy….it’s safe to say this is all thanks to Professor Winslet’s accomplishments.”

Without asking, Jeremy had effectively confirmed that I was the mastermind behind everything.

I asked him,

“What’s the purity of the final product?”

Caraphine with over 10% purity was already viable for industrial use.

Jeremy responded with a proud smile.

“Between 65% and 72%.”

I closed my eyes tightly.

***

According to international law in the world of Candela of Judgment, caraphine with purity between 40% and 60% was classified as high-concentration caraphine, while anything above 60% was categorized as ultra-high-concentration caraphine.

Within the Kingdom of Laurencia, there were only a handful of facilities capable of producing ultra-high-concentration caraphine.

The reason, surprisingly, wasn’t because it was difficult to make, but because there was rarely any need to.

Even low-concentration caraphine with just over 10% purity was sufficient to power most city infrastructure.

It’s easier to make, and cheaper and faster too.

Therefore, if there was a place that needed caraphine with over 60% purity, it must be one that demanded immense power, regardless of cost—

The military.

Ultra-high-concentration caraphine was almost exclusively used for military purposes.

This meant that what Winter Winslet had been producing at the academy amounted to a military-grade explosive.

And knowing the twisted criminals of the Heptagram Society, it was obvious what they intended to do with such a bomb.

Of course, something evil.

And as someone deeply familiar with the world of Candela of Judgment, I was unfortunate enough to already know which villain had tried to obtain this bomb—

Sakis Lubas, the Second Point of the Heptagram Society.

And that led me to realize exactly how this bomb would be used—

The Royal Mile bombing incident.

This incident would plunge the Kingdom of Laurencia into uncontrollable chaos, and that chaos would become the fertile ground from which the major disasters of Candela of Judgment’s main storyline would begin to bloom.

According to the game’s original plot progression, the player spends the first six months at a training camp on the frontier, meaning they are unable to intervene in this bombing incident that takes place in the capital.

That’s why this event was an inevitable turning point. It was a massive disaster that marks the official start of the main story.

The root of all misfortune.

And for me, it was absolute hell.

Because the Second Poin Sakis Lubas was the mastermind behind the bombing, and my current identity Winter Winslet was the manufacturer of the bomb used in that terrorist attack.

In other words, from the very moment I possessed this body, I was already an enemy of the kingdom.

Now, all that remained to confirm Winter Winslet’s role as an accomplice in the Royal Mile bombing was to verify that the completed caraphine was indeed rod-shaped.

“Jeremy.”

“Yes!”

“Where do I need to go to see the finished caraphine?”

“That would be Professor Colton Haynes’s lab. He’s more or less the one in charge of the whole project. It’s not far from here.”

“Then let’s go.”

Just as I said that—

Bang.

The door to Professor Malcolm’s lab burst open, and someone walked in.

It was a scruffy-looking man in a worn-out lab coat. His expression was haggard and worn.

Jeremy said,

“Ah, the man we were just about to go looking for walked right in.”

“Professor Colton Haynes?”

The man responded,

“Yes… I heard Professor Winslet was nearby, so I came to find you.”

His hair, slick with sweat and plastered to his forehead, suggested he had rushed over.

He had once likely been a stout, kindly-looking middle-aged man but now appeared gaunt and sickly, like someone suffering from years of illness.

I asked,

“You came to see me?”

“Yes. I had something to ask…”

“Then speak.”

Professor Colton Haynes bowed his head cautiously.

“You might not know what I’m talking about, but… have you by any chance seen Glenn?”

***

It was the first time I had heard the name Glenn, so I naturally shook my head.

Professor Colton Haynes looked overly disappointed, and his shoulders slumped heavily.

“I see. My apologies.”

As he turned to leave in that state, I called out to stop him.

“Professor Colton Haynes, I have a question for you.”

“For me?”

Jeremy, the head of research support I brought with me today, had told me that Professor Colton Haynes was in charge of the final, most critical stage in the ultra-high-concentration caraphine manufacturing process and in reality, the one overseeing the entire project.

If that were the case, it was possible this man was also involved in trading the finished product.

I started by confirming what I already knew.

“Professor Colton Haynes, are you the person in charge of this project?”

“You mean the caraphine manufacturing? Yes… that’s right. I’m the one responsible. No matter what may happen…”

Despite her exceptional magical abilities, Winter Winslet had left the caraphine production to professors at the Magic Department.

Most likely, it was a way to frame them and make his own escape if things went wrong.

In that sense, Professor Colton Haynes was the prime puppet, set up to take the fall for his treason.

What kind of offer had Winter Winslet made for him to take on such a perilous role?

I asked,

“Who knows about the caraphine production happening here?”

“Besides the Head of Research Support and myself, I don’t think anyone truly understands the full scope. Professors Malcolm and George…well, they’re just happy as long as the money’s good. As for the students involved, they think it’s part of their training. They believe the finished product is being delivered to the Royal Research Institute. I handled the final concentration and molding process myself. Oh, but if it’s Glenn…”

Glenn.

The first thing Professor Haynes had asked me when he arrived was whether I’d seen Glenn.

“Who is Glenn?”

“He’s my chief assistant. Let’s see… a good, hard-working kid. He was even entrusted by Professor Winslet with delivering a very important item.”

“Your chief assistant was the one who delivered the finished product?”

“It was originally my responsibility, but that day… my wife’s condition worsened. I couldn’t leave her side. So I asked Glen to do it in my place.”

At those words, my eyes sharpened.

A puzzle piece that had been floating aimlessly in my mind suddenly clicked into place.

The couried who was killed by the second point of the Heptagram Society, Sakis Lubas.

The traitor who secretly stole Winter Winslet’s goods.

And at last, I realized whose finger had been sent to me two weeks ago.

“So it was Glenn.”

“…Huh?”

“Has Glen gone missing?”

“Yes! After he left to deliver the item, he never returned to the lab. I found it strange and even tried looking for him myself, but there was no trace. I thought perhaps Professor Winslet might know something, so I came here.”

If Glenn had truly delivered the caraphine, then his current whereabouts were clear.

He was already long dead, likely sunk to the bottom of a river.

I gave Professor Haynes a command.

“Where is Glenn’s residence? Take me there.”

From now on, I would search every location connected to Glenn.

If I found the caraphine, everything would be confirmed.