[V11C8] Events of Eight Years Ago

“I must emphasize that what I am about to say is highly confidential information that must not be leaked to the outside. It was originally a national secret only shared among a select few.”

Louis began his explanation, locking eyes with everyone in the room. Finally, he cast a stern look at Glenn, who was sitting on the floor with his knees drawn up.

“Especially you, Glenn. Be extra cautious not to let anything slip. Understood?”

“Y-Yes, sir.”

According to Louis, the conditions for information disclosure had been relaxed after the recent incident, allowing access to certain individuals assigned to resolving the incident.

In other words, the disciples of the Seven Sages were about to be assigned some form of mission.

Monica now understood why Glenn had been summoned. Glenn was still a novice mage, but his proficiency in flight magic made him useful for urgent investigations and communications.

Louis would normally entrust such matters to Ryn, so the situation must be dire if even Ryn’s hands were tied.

“First, I will begin with a brief overview of the events that transpired two days ago.”

Monica believed that Louis was referring to the large-scale dragon disaster of two days ago. However, what he revealed was something far more shocking.

“Carla Maxwell the Starspear Witch fell under the influence of the ancient artifact Gluttonous Zoe. She unleashed the large-scale offensive spell Starspear, which destroyed the Jade Chamber.”

Monica gasped. She had known Carla Maxwell from her time at Minerva, and the Starspear Witch had always treated her well.

In addition, Monica had witnessed the Starspear spell before. She understood that its immense power could breach the defensive barriers of the Jade Chamber.

However, the shocking revelations did not end there.

“As a result, five victims fell to dark-attribute magic and were left in a comatose state: the Starseer Witch, the Second Abyss Shaman, Miss Frieda Blanquet, Paulina-dono and Abigail-dono of House Roseberg. They are currently isolated in the basement of this facility.”

Monica went speechless. Silas, seated next to her, also widened his eyes in astonishment.

The reason for Mary and Adeline’s absence was now evident. In addition, they could easily imagine why Ray was not here.

(Even Frieda-sama…!)

With his grandmother and fiancé left in a coma, Ray was likely struggling to cope.

Louis adjusted his monocle with a finger, before continuing in a voice tinged with bitterness as he continued.

“Artillery Mage-dono and I cornered the culprit in the streets of the capital, and recaptured the Starspear Witch. However, the large-scale dragon disaster occurred just before we could capture him, and he escaped amidst the chaos. We are still trying to track him down, but there have been no reported sightings since then.”

(To think such a major incident was happening in the background of the large-scale dragon disaster…)

What’s more, this incident had yet to be resolved.

Monica calmed her anxious heart and began organizing the information available to them.

The trigger for this incident was the ancient artifact, Gluttonous Zoe. This was a name even Monica was familiar with.

The Kingdom of Ridill possessed a total of seven ancient artifacts, and Gluttonous Zoe was one of them. It had been carefully managed in the palace’s treasure vault.

However, Monica knew little about the artifact’s powers.

“Um, Louis-san… Gluttonous Zoe should be one of the artifacts managed by the royal family, right?” Monica asked.

“The one stored in the treasure vault is a fake… The real one was stolen eight years ago.”

“…E-Eight years ago?”

As Monica was bewildered by the sudden leap in time, Melissa broke into the conversation.

“Then hurry up and tell us about what happened eight years ago. We still don’t know anything about the details.”

Raul nodded in agreement with Melissa’s words.

Louis silently glanced at Bradford. Presumably, those two already knew exactly what happened eight years ago.

Bradford crossed his arms and sighed.

“Barrier Mage, you were the one investigating at the time. You can explain.”

“…Very well.”

Louis nodded, intertwining his fingers atop the table as he began his recounting.

“Everything started eight years ago, when someone stole Gluttonous Zoe from the palace treasure vault.”

Naturally, the treasure vault was protected by all sorts of sealing barriers. But according to Louis, all of those barriers had vanished without a trace.

“The culprit broke into a heavily guarded treasure vault after nullifying all of my barriers… If this incident had occurred in the past two or three years, my first suspect would have been you, Silent Witch-dono.”

“Eek…”

Louis had delivered the last line in a completely serious tone, so Monica involuntarily flinched.

Fortunately, the incident occurring eight years ago meant that Monica was only eleven. Louis understood the impossibility of her committing the crime.

“We still have yet to determine how the culprit infiltrated the vault and destroyed those barriers. However, all of the eyewitness reports pointed at one man.”

Louis lowered his eyes behind his monocle and uttered the name in a low voice.

“The magical biologist, Theodore Maxwell. He is the older brother of the Starspear Witch, Carla Maxwell, who was a member of the Seven Sages at the time.”

Carla’s brother being the culprit was shocking, but the name Theodore caught Monica’s attention. That was a name she had heard recently.

(Um… Who was he again…?)

Monica had met many people in the past six months, so it was difficult for her to remember all of them right away. She began retracing the recent events in her mind.

The investigation into the Red Dragon of Dalsmore. The festival in Rainfield. Claudia’s visit. Subjugating the water dragons. Meeting Princess Cecilia. Encountering the White Dragon of Mount Kalug. Investigating the drug traffickers in Sazandol… Finally, she remembered.

(That’s right… I met him in Sazandol…)

Melissa had taken Monica around Sazandol under the excuse of a ‘test of courage’, and they bumped into an timid-looking man named Theodore. To be more precise, both Monica and Theodore had been dragged around by Melissa.

However, Theodore had gone off on his own after they entered the drug trafficking establishment, so Monica had no clue as to what happened after.

Monica glanced briefly at Melissa, who was staring at the desk with her arms crossed. She seemed to be pondering something as well.

(…It’s probably just a coincidence, right? The name Theodore isn’t that rare…)

While Monica was retracing her memories, Louis continued his explanation.

“The theft of Gluttonous Zoe sent the upper echelons of this country into an uproar. After all, ancient artifacts are powerful weapons that can become trump cards during times of war.”

Simply possessing an ancient artifact served as a deterrent to other nations, even if it went unused. Conversely, the loss of an ancient artifact could potentially become a reason for other nations to invade.

Thus, it was only natural to impose strict restrictions on who was allowed to know about the artifact’s theft.

“The Noble Council and the Seven Sages did their best to reclaim Gluttonous Zoe. Master Rutherford and I also participated in the operation.”

At the mention of the unexpected name, Monica widened her eyes.

“Professor Rutherford was also involved?”

Gideon Rutherford the Smoke Mage was the master to both Louis and Carla, as well as an ally to Monica at Minerva.

In contrast to Monica’s surprise, Louis explained with a casual shrug.

“You see, at the time, many suspected that Carla acted as Theodore’s accomplice.”

As a member of the Seven Sages, Carla possessed access to the royal palace and the means to nullify barriers. And apparently, the Noble Council believed that was enough grounds to apprehend her.

“Master Rutherford and I opposed Carla’s arrest, and volunteered for the Gluttonous Zoe recovery operation to prove her innocence. Since both of us knew the suspect Theodore’s face, the nobles reluctantly allowed us to participate in the operation.”

That explained why Louis had intimate knowledge of the incident eight years ago, which was before he joined the Seven Sages.

(Louis-san seems to have great respect for Carla-sama.)

Then, the brother of someone he respected was now the prime suspect in the theft of an ancient artifact. Monica wondered how Louis must have felt at the time.

While poking at his shortened hair, Louis continued.

“However, the individuals hired by the Noble Council failed their part of the operation.”

The Noble Council had sent their men to capture Theodore Maxwell while keeping the stolen artifact business a secret. It went well until they cornered him in a port town, but Theodore ultimately slipped away at the last minute.

“The cornered Theodore Maxwell had managed to sneak aboard the luxury cruise ship Evangeline just before it set sail.”

The luxury cruise ship Evangeline. Monica knew that name, as Isaac had mentioned it during the water dragon subjugation.

“The Phantom Dragon of Pistraune…!” Monica muttered.

Louis blinked a few times before murmuring, “Hmm? It seems you are more well-informed than I thought.”

The puzzled Glenn, who was still sitting on the floor, asked “What’s that?” This prompted Louis to provide a brief explanation.

“The luxury cruise ship Evangeline encountered a large water dragon in the waters of Pistraune, which unfortunately led to it sinking. The surviving sailors testified that the dragon appeared without any warning, giving rise to rumors of a dragon that would appear like a phantom——the Phantom Dragon of Pistraune.”

After taking a short breath, Louis concluded his recounting of the events that transpired eight years ago.

“And that is how both Gluttonous Zoe and Theodore Maxwell ended up being lost at sea. The Noble Council was left with no choice but to place a replica of Gluttonous Zoe in the treasure vault.”

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