Chapter 64

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That day, when Ricardo was called out by Bernardo, Monta climbed the bagara tree in the garden. The treetop was Monta's favorite spot.

From the high vantage point, he was looking at the surrounding houses and the castle in the distance when he heard a voice from below.

"Monta, let's go play."

Monta looked down through the gaps in the branches and saw Pamela and Serge standing below the tree.

"Pamela, where are we going?"

"To Annam Park."

As usual, the children of the housewives who worked at the Chinese bun shop had gathered at the Junius household. Nanny Anabella was preparing to take the children to the park.

The Junius family's garden was too small for the children to run around and play, so on sunny days, they decided to take them to the park.

Anabella took six children, including Monta, to the park.

Upon arriving, the children started running around and playing energetically.

Monta climbed a tree in the park and played by jumping from branch to branch. The moment when his expanded membrane caught the wind and glided was incredibly exhilarating.

At that moment, he heard someone shouting in the distance.

"Thief! Catch him!"

A man with a scruffy beard ran into the park, holding a leather bag as if it were precious.

The scruffy-bearded man shouted angrily at the children playing in front of him, with a menacing look.

"Get out of the way! Move!"

Serge, who was shouted at, froze in shock and fear.

Serge was pushed and fell.

Seeing this, Monta shouted in anger.

"Serge, what are you doing to him!"

Monta kicked off a branch, flew into the air, and glided toward the scruffy-bearded man.

Landing on the man's head, Monta scratched his forehead with his sharp claws.

The man screamed and shook Monta off.

Blood from his forehead flowed into his eyes, temporarily blinding him, and he stopped.

"What the hell, damn it!"

Monta ran up to the man, quickly climbed onto his body, and scratched his face.

The man screamed and started running blindly, trying to escape. He tripped on a small stone or something and fell, his face hitting a bench.

The scruffy-bearded man, suffering from a concussion, did not get up.

Monta approached and climbed onto the man's back.

"Bad things are not allowed."

Monta started lecturing the unconscious man proudly.

Afterward, the guard soldiers came and took the man away.

Serge, who had fallen, only had a slightly scraped knee and was not seriously injured.

"Thank you for avenging me."

Serge hugged Monta and stroked him gently. Monta sniffed proudly.

At the same time, Ricardo was at Bernardo's shop.

When he entered the reception room, Isarco and Emilia were already there.

After exchanging greetings, Ricardo sat on the sofa.

"Thank you for coming."

Bernardo thanked them and then got to the point.

"The Milan financial group has started a coal mining operation in the Parente Highlands, but there are death oaks living there, and things are not going well."

"Is the coal in the Parente Highlands owned by the royal family?"

Isarco confirmed.

"Yes. The Milan financial group bought the mining rights."

Bernardo then told them about the entire situation of the coal mining operation that Lambert and others had undertaken.

"I see, so you want to know how to defeat the death oaks, right?"

"Yes, Emilia."

"If we could use poison arrows, it would be the easiest."

Ricardo said, and Bernardo nodded.

"Wouldn't a powerful bow be enough?"

"Yes, but the only powerful bows I can think of are crossbows and ballistae."

The ballista, a weapon similar to a giant crossbow, is a powerful weapon used in siege battles. It can fire extremely thick arrows or fire bottles and is also used against giant magical beasts.

"Can a crossbow penetrate the bark of a death oak?"

Ricardo asked Emilia.

"I think it has more penetration power than a regular bow, but I can't guarantee it will work."

"What about a ballista?"

"I think it would work."

Ricardo knew about the existence of the ballista but had never seen one.

"If a ballista can penetrate the bark of a death oak, wouldn't that solve the problem?"

Isarco made a difficult face.

"No, a ballista has to be reloaded by turning a handle after each shot. It would be fine if there was only one death oak, but it wouldn't work against a group."

Of course, they could prepare many ballistae, but there are few archers who can handle them, so it seems impossible.

"Is that so? How about a magic cannon? One that Emilia developed?"

Emilia shook her head.

"Since even mages couldn't finish off the death oaks with several shots of [Explosive Spear], I don't think a magic cannon would be enough to drive away a group unless we have a large number of them."

Ricardo remembered that the death oaks hate fire and made a suggestion.

"Since death oaks hate fire, how about using [Explosive Flame] instead of [Explosive Spear] in a magic cannon?"

Bernardo rejected the suggestion.

"Indeed, the death oaks might run away, but the site is a coal field. We should avoid using fire magic."

Bernardo explained that if the coal catches fire, it could lead to a major fire.

Since fire magic is not an option, Ricardo's trump cards, [Radiant Flame Whip] and [Solar Flame Bullet], cannot be used.

Ricardo was suspicious about why the Milan financial group was getting into coal. In his original world, coal was not expensive.

When he asked Bernardo about the price of coal, he found out it was about the same as charcoal. Considering the mining and transportation in areas with magical beasts, it was a reasonable price.

However, considering the cost of hiring magical beast hunters as guards, it was necessary to mine a large amount to make a profit.

Isarco also seemed puzzled.

"Why did the Milan financial group decide to get into the coal business despite the risk of death oaks?"

Bernardo hesitated a bit before answering.

"It's because of the Serrato prophecy."

The Serrato prophecy is a prediction that disasters occur every ninety years. Although there is no evidence, a person named Serrato discovered that major disasters occurred every ninety years in the kingdom's history.

"According to Serrato prophecy researchers, there are three years of abnormal weather every ninety years, and in the final year, a disaster occurs where magical beasts overflow from the magical realm."

Ricardo remembered the kingdom's history. The magical realm gate in the Mill territory was destroyed by magical beasts, and the Mill territory was occupied by magical beasts eighty-five years ago.

"What kind of abnormal weather is that?"

"The summer is not much different, but the winter becomes abnormally cold. The records show that the last winter had continuous heavy snowfall, with snow piling up higher than a person's height."

The climate in the capital is mild, and it rarely snows enough to accumulate in winter.

"Does the Milan financial group believe that the abnormal weather will occur?"

Isarco muttered with a dark expression.

If the abnormal weather brings a cold winter, the demand for coal as a heating fuel will rise, and the Milan financial group will make a huge profit.

"Let me make it clear, the Milan financial group did not get into the coal business just to make money. Without heating fuel, people will die from the cold. We started this to reduce that number."

Bernardo said they were trying to reduce the number of people who would die from the cold. He believed that even with coal, some people would still die from the cold.

Thinking about who would die, Ricardo's mind turned to the faces of the people living in the slums.

Ricardo asked,

"Will the abnormal weather affect the entire kingdom?"

"No, only the areas near the magical realm."

"Why haven't I heard the Serrato prophecy from the common people in the capital?"

Bernardo said in a slightly lower voice,

"...The royal family executed Serrato, who started the prophecy, and banned people from spreading such confusing stories."

There was a moment of silence in the room.

It seems that Serrato was punished for spreading unverified stories that confused the people. Ricardo thought he was not executed, but the kingdom was wary of people spreading such prophecies during unstable times.

Emilia, who was not convinced, broke the silence.

"But the ninety-year interval might be a coincidence. Why does the Milan financial group believe the prophecy?"

"We don't completely believe it. However, some researchers have found records that the activity of magical beasts in the magical realm increased a few years before the abnormal weather occurred."

Isarco grunted, thinking about the fact that Prince Gaius was fighting active magical beasts at the magical realm gate.

"Let's stop discussing the Serrato prophecy. The problem is how to defeat the group of death oaks."

"Right."

Isarco nodded in agreement.

Ricardo decided to rethink his approach. There is a ballista that can penetrate the bark of a death oak, but the problem is that it cannot fire rapidly, so they would be attacked by the death oaks if they got too close.

"How about building a defensive wall to prevent them from getting close?"

Ricardo suggested a strategy to protect themselves with a defensive wall while using the ballista to take out the death oaks.

"Wait a minute, you're talking about building a fort. The death oaks will attack before it's completed."

"A wall that gives us enough time to fire the ballista is enough. For example, a wall made of sandbags would work."

"Ricardo, that's a great idea. But wouldn't the death oaks just knock it down?"

Bernardo praised the idea but raised a concern.

"What if we drive stakes into the ground in a circular pattern, build a wooden wall on top, and place sandbags on the outside?"

"Hmm, using the wooden wall to support the sandbags to increase the defense. Interesting."

Isarco also acknowledged that it was worth considering and asked where the ballistae would be placed.

"The ballistae will be placed on a tower built in the center of the circle."

Ricardo and the others discussed for about two hours, identifying and solving detailed issues.

After leaving Bernardo's shop, Ricardo and Isarco headed to the Mage Guild.

Ricardo parted ways with Isarco at the entrance of the Mage Guild and entered his laboratory. Sitting at his desk, he recalled what Bernardo had told him.

"Abnormal weather... He said the snow would pile up higher than a person. If that happens, food will also be a problem. Hunting will be impossible in winter, and winter wheat could be damaged."

However, this would only be the case if the Serrato prophecy was true.

The first thing to do is to verify whether the Serrato prophecy is correct. But how to investigate?

"Maybe I should meet with a Serrato prophecy researcher and hear their story."

Feeling gloomy, he finished writing a draft of his paper.

After the final check, he submitted the paper. Since he was submitting it to Isarco, he went to Isarco's room. Isarco was not there, and Tania was organizing documents.

"Where is Director Isarco?"

"At Director Reuben's office."

"I see. I came to submit my paper."

He handed the paper to Tania, knowing that she was responsible for checking if it was the same as the previous one.

Tania received the paper and put it in the safe.

"You finished so quickly after just joining the Alchemy Bureau."

"That's a paper I was asked to write by Director Isarco."

"I also received a task from Director Isarco, but I haven't made any progress."

Tania, who knew that Ricardo was helping Isarco, said.

"Can I help you with something?"

"My task is to recreate the [Heavy Wind Hammer] magic using factor letters. I'm stuck."

They moved to the sofa.

Ricardo and Tania analyzed the magical effects of [Heavy Wind Hammer] and discussed how to recreate it using factor letters.

"I see. You need to create a partition in the air and compress air into it."

The partition Tania mentioned is a wall of a specified shape that fixes the air in place.

"To do that, it would be good to use this factor letter to control the flow of air."

"But before that, don't you need a factor letter to increase the strength of the partition?"

That day, Tania's research made significant progress.

"Thank you, you really helped me. I'll treat you to something next time."

Tania thanked him.

"I learned a lot too, so no need to thank me. I'll be going now."

After Ricardo left, Tania returned to her laboratory, summarized the research progress from her conversation with Ricardo, and put it in the safe before returning to the mage dormitory.

After Ricardo left, Massimo and the elder faction's Stelvio appeared in front of his empty laboratory.

"Hey, did you bring the key?"

Massimo asked to confirm.

"Don't worry, I brought the key."

Stelvio, who had been in the Alchemy Bureau for three years, was the son of the other deputy director, Saulos.

He had stolen the key managed by his father.

The two entered Ricardo's laboratory and started searching the room.

But soon, Stelvio complained.

"Tch, there's only some worthless notes."

They searched the desk drawers and bookshelves but could not find the research materials or drafts that Ricardo was supposed to be working on.

"Ricardo is being more careful. What should we do?"

Stelvio thought for a moment and said,

"We can't go back empty-handed. Let's check Tania's laboratory."

Massimo smiled maliciously and took a note from a desk drawer. The note, written by a servant, had Ricardo's name and a message to come to Bernardo's shop.

The next day, when Tania went to her laboratory, she noticed that the positions of the pens and materials on her desk were slightly different.

She hurriedly opened the safe and found that the research materials she had compiled the day before were missing.

Looking around, she saw a piece of paper on the floor.

"It's not a message for Ricardo. Why is it here... More importantly, I need to report this to Director Isarco."

Tania went to Isarco's room.

2017/12/17 Revised