Chapter 194 Strongest Sage, Mixes Fakes

 

"All right, let's get right to it."

"Yes!"

"Hear hear!"

The three of us begin to work together to put ore into the tank.

『...Should we do this seriously?』

『I don't think we should. They'd get suspicious of us...』

Ruli replied to Alma while looking around.
The factory manager said that it was a heavy labor, but we're used to this kind of work compared to our usual training.

The ore isn't that heavy, and there's no time constraint imposed on us.
Even Ruli, who's got the lowest stamina amongst us, could fill the tank full in 30 seconds.

However, it takes a group of four adventurers a few minutes to do that at other tanks.
They'd begin suspecting us if we didn't take that long.
....What an extremely dull job.

I speak to the three after finishing the batch.

"Let me be in charge of pushing the button, you three stay back."

"Got it!"

After confirming the three had gotten out of the barrier, I pushed the button and got out myself.
Afterward, the machine began to start with a dull sound--and a mana overdrive occurred inside it.

The mana overdrive is being forcefully stopped by the safety device installed in the machine.
Normally, the machine should have stopped functioning the moment this situation happened, however, the machine's remodel must have been done to prevent that.
The mana overdrive ceased while we were looking.

...I see. Every once in 40 instances, the machine isn't able to stop the overdrive, causing an explosion huh.

『That was an amazing amount of mana...』

『Yeah. No wonder it explodes... Well, you can tell when it's gonna do so, as such there's no worry of getting caught in one so long we're careful.』

The machine stopped in about five minutes, then it cough up a very tiny crystal below it.
It weighs about one gram.

"One piece done."

I put the crystal into the casket.
But really, I can't believe they went around telling people this small crystal was used as a 『building material』.
At least try harder to make up something more believable.

We continued the routine while I was thinking that.
Put the ore, wait for the machine to do its magic for five minutes, and then put the crystal into the casket.
Such a routine.

By the way, even though our employers are demons, I still do the job properly... or pretending to as I secretly mix in some fakes.
I've changed the crystal structure of these Rankine Magic Crystals, adding a function to prevent mana bomb from getting ignited.

With this, even if the demons managed to get their hands on refined Rankine Magic Crystal, they won't be able to complete the mana bomb.
It's possible to see through it if they used an extremely advanced analysis equipment, but there's no way a technological level that let machines explode to do refining is capable of that.

And at the 29th time...

"Okay, on to the next one!"
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
"Yes!"

I had the girls get out of the barrier before starting the magic tool as usual.
However... the machine reacted strangely this time.

First of all, the power-on sound was slightly higher pitched than usual.
Next, the mana overdrive happening inside was more intense.
...I see. So this is the rumored explosion huh.

I got out of the barrier while thinking that, then 2 seconds later.
The machine exploded with a shrill sound from the mana overdrive.

Hearing that sound, the factory manager came in to check the situation.

"That sounded like an explosion! Is anyone injured?"

"Nope! We're all fine!"

I immediately replied to the manager.
...The manager looks to be seriously concerned about our well beings.

"Very well! Keep at it, but don't let your guard down!"

The factory manager went back to his post with a relieved look after confirming our safety.

Even though he's being mind controlled by demons, the base must be a kind person.
Since this type of mind control does not erase emotions.

Magic that's able to erase emotions will make the target's facial expressions look unnatural, thus the demons must have purposely left it.
Minimizing the unnaturalness while binding his actions.
Quite a calculated way of mind control.

However, this too will end in a few days.
I wouldn't mind letting demons be were they kept it to themselves... but they went and tried to create mana bomb by manipulating humans.
...I guess it's only perfectly natural since demons do not carry any other emotions besides malice.

As such, I'll keep going with the total annihilation plan.






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