[Vol. 5] Chapter 272: Seeking
Without showing any unnecessary gestures or emotions, the black-haired girl maintained her calm deanor, responding indifferently.
“Please don’t worry, Archbishop Rudolph. Although this unit lacks the capability to repair the [Core Power Converter VX-0071] model when its damage exceeds the limit, I have already contacted Unit Zero to arrange for our sisters to transport a replacent device. The computational power supply for this region will soon be restored.”
However, this explanation seed to further ignite the archbishop’s anger.
“‘Soon, soon’… Three days ago, you told you’d find a way to fix it and asked to be patient. Now you’re saying it can’t be fixed and a new one has to be sent! If that’s the case, wouldn’t it have been better to replace it from the start? Are you intentionally wasting ti for amusent?!”
“Do you even understand what it would an for our country if there’s an issue with faith-based magic?!”
Watching the red-clad archbishop pacing back and forth, visibly frustrated, the black-haired girl’s voice remained unchanged.
“I apologize, Archbishop Rudolph, but according to protocol, the Core Power Converters are an irreplaceable resource left by [Father]. Although there are reserves, only Unit Zero has the authority to allocate them.”
“According to regulations, this unit must dismantle and verify that the damaged unit cannot be repaired before submitting a request. I ask for your understanding.”
“Tsk… protocols, protocols! A bunch of brain-dead puppets!”
Realizing that arguing further was pointless, the archbishop muttered angrily, turned sharply, and headed toward the room’s only exit.
Ayla, who was hiding nearby to eavesdrop, quickly moved silently into a corner to avoid being noticed.
Soon, the archbishop strode out and followed the main path away.
After waiting a mont, and hearing that Rudolph’s footsteps had faded, Ayla cautiously peeked out, observing the activity inside the room once more.
The black-haired girl who had just been speaking with him was now crouched down, continuing to dismantle the battered device, seemingly planning to salvage so of its parts.
Recalling the scene just monts earlier, Ayla pondered thoughtfully.
In fact, she recognized Rudolph.
Especially when he turned and revealed his face, Ayla was able to fully confirm her vague suspicions.
Rudolph Lombard, the current head of the Lombard family, a mber of the Holy Council, and a staunch supporter of the Lambert family, one of the three divine-bloodline families.
After her laboratory was destroyed and, with Miss Dawn’s help, she discovered that the Lombard family was the mastermind aiming to halt her research, Ayla had secretly begun investigating the family.
As head of the Lombard family, Rudolph naturally beca a primary person of interest.
He didn’t have an overly mysterious or fantastical background.
He married a woman from a branch of the Lambert family at 24, beca head of the Lombard family at 27, and now, at 45, has four children.
The Lombard family is a traditional human family. Even with occasional mixed-race bloodlines, their descendants’ lifespans typically don’t extend significantly. Rudolph, at 45, is the most crucial pillar and leader of the family in every sense and is quite well-known within the Angel City—a prominent figure among the elite.
Additionally, Rudolph was once the deputy commander of [Scales of Judgnt], one of the four major Holy Knight Orders in the Angel City.
The reason it’s said “once upon a ti”…
Rudolph should have been with the Holy Empire’s army, participating in the ongoing Holy War in the Fulan Province. For religious families, this was both an obligation and an honor, and no special treatnt would be given due to his status as a mber of the Holy Council.
However, it’s said that Rudolph… for so unknown reason, had a conflict during the pre-war eting with the Commander, the Bright Light Saintess. In a fit of anger, the Saintess forcibly stripped him of his position and left him in the Angel City.
Because of that incident, this family head has faced constant pressure and gossip from political rivals. Ayla was easily able to investigate this information, partly due to these circumstances.
Rumors say that Rudolph showed disrespect to the Goddess, as despite being the head of a prominent religious family, his faith was impure, thus incurring the Saintess’s wrath. Had it not been for the Lambert family’s influence, it was entirely possible that Rudolph would have been driven out from his position as a mber of the Holy Council.
Since Rudolph Lombard, who is closely connected to the Lambert family and the Pope, appeared in this place…
It seems clear now, this group really does have sothing shady going on. No wonder they went to such lengths to prevent her research.
But who is this woman?
The answer to that question… isn’t hard to deduce.
Although her appearance differed from the passing chanical dolls, seeing the black-haired girl skillfully dismantling the device and recalling parts of their earlier conversation, Ayla had slowly pieced together a rough outline in her mind.
There’s still one thing, though, that needs to be confird.
Miss Dawn had once ntioned that there was a particularly ominous blood-red magical array hidden in a room deep within the underground passage. Although Aira believes that the other party had no reason to deceive her and had already been provided with a rough blueprint…
But as a scholar, Ayla always adhered to the principle of “seeing is believing.” Although it was a great risk, she believed that she must personally find and confirm that the predicted [Blood of the Cross] was indeed there, in order to put a perfect conclusion to the final puzzle and her long-standing efforts.
With this thought, Ayla’s core stirred with excitent.
She quickly looked around.
The entrance to the zzanine must be within this room!
Since there were invisibility potions and the protection of the elental spirit, perhaps she could take a little risk…
But just at that mont, a warm current suddenly spread from her core, as if from a mother’s gentle caress on her head, making Miss Ayla montarily stunned before gradually calming down.
Right, not yet. There are too many chanical dolls and flying spheres coming and going in this room, especially that distinctive long-haired girl. Ayla could sense that the girl’s strength was probably not inferior to her own. Acting recklessly would only alert them.
…It’s better to wait for an opportunity.
With that thought, Ayla adjusted her mindset, held her breath, and focused her mind, silently leaning against the wall while processing her suspicions and waiting quietly.
She waited for a full three hours.
The chanical dolls and flying spheres ca and went continuously, moving items that had been classified as junk or pieces that seed to be remnants from a violent explosion out of the room, while bringing in many parts of varying sizes, which the long-haired girl ticulously pieced together one by one.
Ayla watched as the girl, with a skill so intricate that even Ayla couldn’t help but marvel, assembled a huge tal device, at least two people tall, from nothing. She then instructed several short-haired dolls, all identical in appearance, to lift it to the side and connect multiple pipelines.
After completing the assembly of the giant device, the black-haired girl glanced down at her wrist, seemingly feeling a bit fatigued, or perhaps for so other reason that Ayla couldn’t determine. She bent down and, from the broken remains of the “Core Power Converter,” which had been dismantled into fragnts underfoot, picked out a few small, unidentified plate-like objects, no bigger than the tips of her fingers, before turning and leaving the room.
Once the girl had gone, the chanical dolls and machines, which had been working around her, gradually beca fewer, until finally, only a few spherical chanical devices remained, patrolling and drifting about.
It should be about ti.
Leaning in the corner against the wall, Ayla waited for another five minutes, ensuring that this wasn’t a trap set by the girl, nor that there was a chance of her returning. After confirming, she took a deep breath.
“Alright… ti to begin.”
Because of the patrolling chanical spheres, and since Ayla couldn’t understand the functions of the strange instrunts that clearly didn’t belong to the usual range of the Holy Empire’s technology, she decided it was too risky to tamper with them. Instead, she focused on finding the most crucial partition entrance.
To be honest, during the three hours she’d spent waiting, Ayla had already observed the layout of the room in detail and pinpointed a highly probable location. However, due to the girl’s presence, she hadn’t dared to act until now.
Moving cautiously, she made her way to the center of the room, where the most prominent empty throne sat, surrounded by countless pipelines connected to various instrunts. She quietly circled to the back of it.
Crouching down, Ayla squinted her beautiful eyes slightly.
There, on the floor, was indeed a recessed ring pull, hidden but not unnoticed by the experienced archaeologist who had previously explored many dangerous ruins.
After scanning the room once more to confirm that no dolls or flying spheres were paying attention to her, she hooked her finger under the ring pull and carefully pulled upwards.
“Click…”
With a faint chanical sound, the panel lifted, revealing a hidden space beneath.
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