"Um, little brother, what is the Ritual of Odakil?"

Following the principle of asking if you don't understand, the ranger captain asked Carl in a low voice.

After briefly introducing the origin of the Odaquir ritual to everyone who came here, Carl summarized the specific function of this thing: "In short, this thing can transform corpses into undead soldiers in large quantities."

If you say so, we understand!

Although no one said this directly, Carl understood the meaning from the tone of their "oh——" sounds.

"What are you waiting for! Take down this harmful thing right away!"

Maybe they had gotten used to the stench in the air, but the adventurers seemed to have stopped retching.

No one had any objection to this suggestion, so with Carl's assistance, everyone dismantled the strange device.

'If the changeling was not lying, the techniques that Emerald Claw has mastered today might have been honed using Sarn's device.'

With this thought flashing through his mind, Carl was glad that he did not get involved in the dispute, but at the same time he felt that he should do something.

"When you return, report the information you received from the phantom spirit."

Having made up his mind, Carl no longer participated in the subsequent search work, but took Lisanna and Hope, and followed the rangers who were escorting the strange device back to Vana City.

They first went to the Adventurer's Association to submit the report on the completion of the mission, and Carl and the other two received the commission fee.

"You two can walk around first. I have something to do at the City Hall."

Seeing that the sky was gradually getting dark, Carl did not dare to delay and prepared to report to the city hall first.

He had never thought that what the phantom said could be true, but judging from the strange device he found today, he regretted not telling his master and parents about this earlier.

"Come back early. Aunt Elifel and Uncle Ryan should be home on time today."

After giving Carl some instructions, Hope was dragged into the dessert shop by Lisanna.

After separating from the two people, Karl went straight to the City Hall. As soon as he entered, the expression on the face of the girl in charge of reception suddenly fell.

"Hello, what can I do for you?"

Although I tried my best to smile, the other person's smile was uglier than crying.

No one would have a good look if they met someone coming to do something when they were about to get off work.

"Sorry, I have a message about Sarn. I didn't feel anything unusual before, but during today's Adventurer's Guild mission, I felt..."

Before Karl could finish speaking, the receptionist covered Karl’s mouth in panic.

"Is this what I can listen to! You you you... go over there!"

As he spoke, the receptionist took Karl to the door of an office in the City Hall.

"Bang Bang Bang"

After knocking on the door three times and waiting for the sound of "come in" from inside, the receptionist pushed the door open and led Karl in.

Then she ran away from the door of the office.

"What's up, young man?"

Sitting in the room was a middle-aged man, also wearing the light armor robe commonly worn by druids, with eyes as sharp as an eagle.

With a polite smile, Carl quickly described what happened to him in Sarn.

"Hmm~, I did hear similar rumors from Aundair, but we generally don't interfere in other countries' internal affairs. Things like this..."

The middle-aged druid tapped the table with his finger in distress, undecided for a moment.

But fortunately, he knew that Karl was waiting nearby, so he said to Karl: “Okay, young man, I already know about this matter, you go back first, and remember not to spread this matter around.”

"Then you go ahead and get busy."

Turning around, Karl walked out of the other person's office.

After reporting the news, he felt relieved.

The saying "If the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up" now has a certain sense of reality for Carl.

By the time Carl left the city hall, Hope and Lisanna had not yet come out of the dessert shop.

So Carl also went in and bought some snacks he liked.

In the evening, Iris and his family enjoyed a rare and peaceful dinner.

Winter is coming.

More than a week later, the lightning train line between Vana City and Fairhaven was restored.

The news that the master of the Tower of Strange Equipment had been attacked spread throughout the city.

However, what people like to discuss more is the device that can play various phantoms. Many people swear that this thing will change the future.

But these have nothing to do with Carl for the time being.

Changing weapon designs, adjusting the structure of power armor, and preparing for the next school year's courses have filled Carl's daily life.

Before I knew it, the remaining time of winter vacation began to decrease rapidly.

Soon, it was time for Carl and Lisanna to go back to school.

…

"Wow! I didn't expect to feel so nostalgic when I came back again!"

In the dormitory of the Tower of Wonders, Lisanna stretched lazily and watched Carl use magic tricks to help her clean the room.

"Don't be too happy too soon. You will have to study with those apprentices this year. Be careful not to get the last place in the exam."

Although the intelligence requirements for an artificer are not as high as those for a wizard, anyone who can be admitted to Arkanix must have something.

Given the rangers' level of knowledge, Carl was indeed a little worried that they would be devastated by their test scores.

"Don't worry! You've already given me tutoring, and I still have Sister Nia!"

As he was speaking, there was a knock on the dormitory door.

Carl used the wizard's hand to open the door lock and found that the person who came was actually the sixth grade class leader.

"Prefect? ​​What's going on?"

The sixth grade prefect breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Carl.

"Carl! Professor Moore wants you to be responsible for the design and manufacture of several levels of the Ninefold Path. Come with me."

Letting Lisanna clean up after herself, Carl followed the prefect and left.

"Have you received anything from contestants from other schools recently?"

Walking side by side with Carl towards Moore's class office, the class leader, who was an adult but not much different in height from Carl, asked Carl in a low voice.

After a moment of silence, Carl finally realized that the other party was talking about the mages who participated in the Nine-Layer Path Competition.

"No? What's wrong?"

Looking at the other party, Carl answered very frankly.

But the class leader showed a look of shame on his face, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

"I, all of us who participated in the construction project received them. As one of the supervisors, I received 200 gifts..."

Speaking of this, the class leader lowered his head in shame.

"Are they willing to spend so much money?"

Carl, the sixth-grade prefect, had heard of this person. He was a student of the professor in charge of teaching constructs in the Tower of Wonders.

As an emerging noble family in Aundair, his family is a staunch supporter of Queen Aundair and also runs a military factory that produces large military constructs.

To make him feel ashamed, those two hundred gifts must be worth a lot of money.

"No, it's not just about value. I, I have some..."

His face turned red, and the prefect paused for a long moment before continuing, "I can't quite refuse outright."

After hearing this, Carl understood.

Giving gifts is not just about giving money.

He was about to comfort the prefect, but before Carl could speak, the prefect said, "The contestants who sent the gifts said that they were sure to win because of the illusion device. Professor Moore and the tower master already knew about this, and they are very angry."

(End of this chapter)