Freya wore a blank expression. “Stolen?”
The previous simulations had all gone smoothly, so why had something gone wrong this time of all times? Besides, she hadn't done anything differently in this simulation compared to the previous ones.
But in the next second, something suddenly clicked in Freya's mind. She asked, “Could I ask... the stolen potion wouldn't happen to be the Rank Seven one, would it?”
Euphy nodded. “That's the one.”
Freya: “...”
She seemed to know why now. There were only two possibilities. First, another extraordinary of the Destiny Pathway had also used their ability to enter the future at this exact moment, existing within this same false timeline and stealing the potion.
But to be honest, the probability of that was far too low.
In that case, the second possibility was that the thief was Freya herself.
The explanation was simple. Whenever Freya brought other items out of a simulation, the real-world counterparts remained unaffected. However, the Rank Seven potion seemed to be an exception. In her previous simulation, her act of taking the potion did not result in a new Rank Seven potion appearing out of thin air in her hands. Instead, the Rank Seven potion in reality had “teleported” directly into her grasp.
Consequently, Freya's very first thought was: Uh-oh, I'm doomed. Is it too late to return the potion? Can I still fix this?
Needless to say, a Rank Seven potion was incredibly precious. The consequences of its disappearance would undoubtedly be extremely severe. Instead of rushing to exit the simulation this time, Freya decided to wait and see what would unfold next.
After the aristocratic gathering ended, she returned to Euphy's home. Just two hours after the potion was discovered stolen, the entire city was placed under a state of semi-martial law. Pale blue, translucent barriers of light rose from the four corners of the city, enveloping the entire capital within them.
Fully armed soldiers could be seen patrolling the streets from time to time, searching every corner of the city.
Witnessing this, Euphy couldn't help but sigh. “How extreme. They actually activated this barrier?”
Freya asked, “What is this?”
Euphy explained, “A massive occult array. It has the effect of completely isolating the inside from the outside. It was originally meant to be used only in the kingdom's moments of gravest peril to protect the capital. In other words, right now, no one can enter, and no one can leave this city.”
Freya said, “Being this blatant about it, won't all the ordinary citizens in the capital see it? Are they not trying to hide the secrets of the extraordinary world anymore?”
Euphy replied, “After all, it's something activated during a life-or-death crisis. Theoretically, by the time this is used, the enemy would already be at the gates, so hiding the extraordinary world wouldn't matter anymore. As for the current situation, I'm not sure. Let's see how His Majesty handles it.”
Freya said, “So... what follows is a meticulous search under a city-wide lockdown until they find the thief?”
Euphy said, “That should be the case. Sigh, I just don't know who could be so bold as to steal a potion right from under the King's nose. You have to understand, His Majesty is a Rank Six powerhouse. The thief must be of a similar rank, right? Could it be an extraordinary of the Trick Pathway?”
Freya glanced around first. After ensuring no one was nearby, she whispered, “Uh... so, what if I said the one who stole the potion might be me?”
A question mark practically floated above Euphy's head. “What?”
Freya repeated, “The thief might be me...”
Euphy asked, “Ah? How did you manage that?”
Although Euphy now had an occult array that could inherit memories, these past few simulations had merely been repetitive, meaningless actions. Thus, Freya naturally hadn't had Euphy prepare the array. Consequently, Euphy had no knowledge of what transpired in the previous simulations. To the Euphy standing before her, this was her first time attending the aristocratic gathering.
Freya explained, “Because during my last trip into the future, I successfully touched that potion and returned to reality. But I didn't expect the Rank Seven potion in reality to just vanish like that.”
Hearing this, Euphy fell silent for a moment. Her first reaction was: “You actually took that Rank Seven potion? Why would His Majesty let you touch a Rank Seven potion in the first place?”
Freya shook her head and said, “I'm not entirely sure either. When I reached for it, the soldiers tried to stop me, but His Majesty held them back and allowed my actions.”
Euphy asked, “And where is the potion now?”
Freya replied, “In a very safe place. Somewhere no one can find, no matter what method they use.”
After all, it was currently with War Freya, and War Freya was inside the system warehouse. If anyone could actually fish out this Rank Seven potion from Freya's system warehouse, then there was nothing left to say—she might as well just surrender.
Euphy pondered for a moment before saying, “In any case, it's too late to return it now. This is no laughing matter. You can't just return a stolen item and pretend nothing happened. We are talking about a Rank Seven potion here—I can't even begin to imagine how severe the charges would be.”
“So we can only see this through to the end now. Keep the potion, and let's find a way to evade these waves of searches.”
Soon, later that very evening, several formally dressed individuals arrived at Euphemia's doorstep for a routine inspection.
After they stated their request, Duke Holmes, who was rarely at home, declared with absolute candor, “Search all you want. Our Holmes family would never betray His Majesty. This matter has absolutely nothing to do with us!”
The official leading the squad also said, “His Majesty also trusts the loyalty of the Holmes family. However, we must apologize. Even if it is just to set an example for the other nobles, we have to go through the motions.”
Duke Holmes replied, “I understand.”
Thus, everyone in the Holmes household, including Freya, was gathered in the main hall. A short-haired, blonde man, a Rank Four Mind Pathway Mind Reader, stepped forward and said, “Next, I will perform a shallow Mind Reading on everyone to briefly verify your activities this evening. Please do not resist. I also guarantee on my honor that I will not peer into a single shred of your other memories.”
Freya silently muttered in her heart, “Uh-oh, I'm doomed.”
Normally, Scholars possessed high resistance to a Mind Reader's Mind Reading ability. Because they possessed far too many memories, they could easily bury their memories of tonight extremely deep, to a place where the Mind Reader would never find them.
But that would be too suspicious. The Mind Reader had explicitly stated he was only looking for tonight's memories. If Euphy went out of her way to hide those specific memories, wouldn't that practically scream guilt?
And indeed, the moment the Mind Reader looked at Euphy, his eyes widened in the next second. He immediately whipped his head around to look at Freya. “It's—”
However, before the man could finish his sentence, Freya ended the simulation and returned to the real world, slipping away just in time.
......
Rate on N.U.
