Coloring (2)
Frondier walked to the drawing-room and met Liberto.
“Did you have a good talk with my daughter?”
“Yes. She seemed healthier than I expected, so I was relieved.”
Frondier sat on the chair opposite Liberto.
At first, their conversation revolved around Atlas’s life.
How was Zenita doing? How were her grades? Was she getting along well with her friends?
Typical questions any family would ask.
There were no problems, as Zenita was doing well.
‘As expected, he’s not talking about his wife.’
It was the same the last time, but back then, the request regarding Carla was so important that Frondier thought he might not have mentioned it. Or perhaps he was divorced or bereaved and didn’t want to bring it up.
But looking at it now, Liberto wasn’t saying anything about his wife at all. Even though she was right here on the third floor.
Of course, Frondier didn’t pry.
He kept the matter of the golden apple to himself as well.
For one, Frondier himself wasn’t sure what was going on, and he didn’t want to cause unnecessary anxiety.
However, if his guess was correct, nothing bad would happen in this house.
“Now then, let’s talk about the request.”
Frondier brought up the main topic. Liberto nodded in agreement.
“Yes. It was a request to investigate Carla.”
“There’s no problem with Carla. I can guarantee it.”
“How can you say that?”
“Because I made all the problems disappear.”
Carla being suspected of being a devil, her suspicious behavior within Atlas, and so on.
All of it was over and done with. Carla was freed from the curse and no longer did anything that would arouse suspicion.
“Is that so? Well done.”
Liberto nodded calmly at Frondier’s words.
Rather, it was Frondier who found it strange and asked,
“You believe me?”
“There’s no reason not to. News of Palma has already spread throughout Atlas. The story of how the headmaster of Atlas stood on God’s side and spoke with them.”
Ah.
Frondier understood the situation.
Carla was possessed by Athena and was unconscious, but that Athena appeared before the citizens of Palma. She had spoken with Aphrodite and other gods, acting as one of them.
It didn’t matter if it was Carla herself or a god’s possession.
The important thing was that the possibility of Carla being a devil was completely zero.
‘The rumors spread quickly. This time it worked out well, though.’
Frondier nodded with a wry smile.
“Indeed.”
“But I’m a little curious.”
“What is it?”
“I asked you to investigate, but you’re speaking as if you solved it yourself.”
Ugh. Frondier groaned inwardly.
To be honest, he had spoken strongly, hoping Liberto would believe him, but Carla’s situation had changed so much from what Frondier expected that there was no need for him to prove anything.
“……Hehe.”
Just then, Liberto closed his eyes and chuckled.
“There’s no need to know everything. It’s just that you’re competent, aren’t you?”
“……Thank you for your consideration.”
Frondier couldn’t say much more.
Liberto spoke.
“You won the bet, and you completed the request brilliantly. Not only did you investigate, but you eliminated the cause as well. So I must keep my promise.”
“Thank you.”
“The original promise was two artifacts, but…”
Swoosh-
Liberto stood up.
“Let’s move. It’s better to talk while looking at them.”
* * *
Liberto led Frondier to the stairs leading down to the basement of the mansion.
They didn’t go far down the stairs before they came to a door.
“Please wait a moment.”
With that said, Liberto began to manipulate something on the door.
‘……What incredible security.’
A lock that took this long for even the owner of the house to open. It had both analog locks and various magical security measures in place.
This continent was originally where magic engineering was developed, so this level of security was to be expected.
Even if Frondier used his ‘Analysis’ skill to check everything, he probably wouldn’t be able to unlock it with his manipulation skills.
“Alright. Come in.”
Click-
Liberto opened the door and entered, and Frondier followed behind him.
Inside, Frondier found a sight that was somewhat expected and, in a way, unexpected.
“……All of this is……”
“Yes. Artifacts.”
Shelves and walls were filled with artifacts. All sorts of trinkets, weapons, and objects whose purpose was unknown.
‘……This isn’t a room, it’s a whole floor.’
The basement of the Sandri family’s massive mansion. This entire floor was filled with artifacts.
“It’s no wonder Student Zenita bet an artifact.”
“I never allowed my daughter to take just anything.”
So she just rushed in without thinking.
Frondier guessed Zenita thought she couldn’t lose with that bet.
“As you can see, this is where our family keeps the artifacts we’ve collected.”
Frondier listened to Liberto’s explanation as he walked slowly.
“Some of these, we know how to use, and some, we don’t.”
Slowly, he stored the artifacts in his workshop.
“There are quite a few artifacts I could recommend to you, but you can choose for yourself if you’d like.”
“Can I choose an artifact even if I don’t know how to use it?”
“Of course. From our family’s perspective, they’re somewhat of a burden. We’d be happy if someone who could use them did.”
At his words, Frondier registered the artifacts and read through the brief descriptions.
His skill, Weaving, provided a basic explanation when storing them in the workshop. To get more information, he would have to use Analysis.
However, since the initial explanation showed the grade, there was no need to use Analysis on low-grade artifacts.
‘What I need most right now is to find the Pandemonium. It would be great if there was an artifact that could help me with that.’
Ideally, an artifact that could detect ‘Eclexis’.
He didn’t know if such an artifact existed. Even if it did, the probability of it being here was slim.
However, there were artifacts here that even Liberto didn’t know how to use. Among the slim possibilities, that was the most likely.
As he carefully examined the artifacts,
“……This is.”
He discovered something completely different.
And it was something very familiar.
“Ah, that pendant.”
As Liberto said, it was a pendant.
In the center was a purple gem. Surrounding it, as if entwined, were several rings.
He didn’t know the name of this pendant.
But he knew what it was.
‘……This is one of the items I appraised at Ms. Quinie’s mansion.’
He had once appraised the authenticity of items at Ms. Quinie’s request. Of course, he had used the workshop for that.
And one of them was this.
Liberto spoke from behind.
“Unfortunately, we don’t know how to use that artifact either. But looking at the materials and composition, I don’t think it will be of much help to you. It’s unlikely to have been used for combat or training.”
That’s right. This wasn’t used for combat.
“……Mei I touch it?”
“Of course. No problem.”
At Liberto’s words, Frondier picked up the pendant.
And just like he did back then, he manipulated the rings according to the manual.
Then, at some point, the rings moved on their own, filling the gaps between the gems.
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