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「I’m still curious about something else, why didn’t they take Johann away from the start? That would stop the need of having so many guards around the mansion, and it would’ve been easier for them to keep watch over him.」

Sasori crossed her arms and lowered her head.

「Fair point. Maybe there was a reason why having him closer would’ve been disadvantageous.」

Sasori was right, keeping Johann in the mansion was a strange move. They were able to capture his family without issue, so putting a leash on him and taking him in as well was an easier way to do things. But they let Johann stay in a mansion in the outskirts of the city, and spent more hiring mercenaries to keep watch for outsiders. There had to be a good reason for that.

Still thinking about it, Mira glanced over to Mylenne again. She was drinking a cup of cocoa, but her back twitched when she felt Mira’s gaze.

「Say, Mylenne. Are there any important things to watch out for when making black mist stones?」
「Things to watch out for? Hmm… let me think.」

Mylenne was a bit hesitant but she nodded knowing it would help rescue her master, and told them some inside info. In the end, her words explained perfectly why Johann was kept in the guarded mansion away from the city.

In simple terms, it was necessary to keep any Spirit Arms as far away as possible whenever one worked with black mist stones, otherwise they would all get destroyed. There were five steps in the manufacture, and with each step the radius of destruction increased.

「During the first step the radius is only like two meters long, but during the last step it can grow up to one kilometer. I’ve only succeeded replicating the first step before though, so I don’t know the exact details.」

Once she finished explaining that, she drank all the remaining cocoa from her cup and took a deep breath. She seemed to have been really stressed so far.

「That makes sense, but it’s still a rather troublesome process then.」

Mira could guess that the manufacturing process involved triggering the curse at large scale then, and that ended up killing any spiritual power nearby, like that in Spirit Arms.

Chimera Clauzen constantly captured spirits and used their powers forcefully, so their main base was probably overflowing with trapped spirits and Spirit Arms. If black mist stones were manufactured there, it would ruin all their plans. In that case, it was safer and easier to just capture his family and force him to stay in his mansion under heavy surveillance.

「By the way, earlier you mentioned you can complete the first step, do you think you could demonstrate for us?」

Asking that, Mira took out from her Item Box some of the fragments she had picked up in the Graveyard of War Memorials as evidence and placed them on the table in front of Mylenne.

「Sure… if that’s what you really want.」

Saying that, Mylenne stood up and went to pick up her bag that was in one of the corners of the room. That was one of the few belongings Mylenne had with her when she was captured by Mira and Sasori.

From it she took out multiple utensils and apparatus which she placed on a table, as if she was about to do a science experiment. Those were all gifts from Johann, and she never left without them.

Once she was done preparing everything, she took out a white bag.

「Do you have any Spirit Arms with you right now?」

The white bag on her hand, Mylenne asked everyone there. The three replied they had none, 「Then it’s fine,」 she continued and stored the white bag again, placing everything she did not need on a nearby chair.

「By the way, what was that bag right now?」

Mira was curious what the white bag was, given that Mylenne made sure to take it out, but then stored it again.

「That bag is made of a specialized material that can protect Spirit Arms from the effects of manufacture.」
「Ohh, that sounds useful.」

Hearing Mylenne’s explanation, Mira let out an amazed voice, and then returned her gaze to the items on the table.

「Anyway, like I said earlier, I only know how to do the first step, which is turning the fragments into a liquid. Is that alright?」
「Yes, that’s enough.」

Mylenne asked just in case they would be disappointed, but Mira replied with a nod. While she was still an assistant, Mylenne took her job seriously, so as soon as she started working, her face turned completely different, looking serious and focused.
Then, the first step of manufacturing started.

She began smashing the fragments, half into chunks, half into a fine powder. The powder was dissolved in water and heated up, and once a black vapor started coming out she added the chunks. After that she began stirring the mixture until the chunks fully dissolved.

That was everything Mylenne knew how to do, the first step. There were four steps remaining before the whole process was complete, but even then the liquid had to be left sitting for an entire day to make sure it was safe to continue.

「Somehow that liquid looks disgusting.」

Sasori frowned as she examined the liquid, which had become sticky and somewhat gooey. Even Hebi who usually was unbothered had a slight frown. From what they could see, the process was not overly complicated.

But while that was happening, Mira noticed that sometimes a black ripple would come out of the liquid and spread through the air, though it faded away before it even reached the corners of the room. She understood that was the curse that killed spirits.

「I just thought of something. That bag you showed us is made of a protective material, yes? So if a room was covered in the stuff, then it could be manufactured anywhere?」

Having seen the black ripple herself, she asked the next question bothering her, her eyes focused on the bag sitting atop a chair.

「In that case, yeah, it could be produced anywhere. But the materials needed for it are quite expensive… though I guess those Chimera people won’t care about such expenses.」

Saying that she stood up and went to check her belongings again, coming back with a coat and a small fragment of something white.

「I doubt they even know such a material exists though. This is something my master researched himself, and he would never tell such evil people about it.」

She seemed to fully trust Johann as she looked Mira in the eyes saying that, and then dropped the white thing inside the black liquid. Slowly the black goo began thinning, turning to an ashen color before turning completely white. At the same time, Mira noticed the black curse ripples stopped.

「What was that right now? What did you put inside?」

Looking at the container for a bit, Sasori sprung on her feet and asked. She was clearly surprised, having seen that thick black goo turn into a pure white and runny liquid.

「Err, it was a fragment of a Life Stone. It can completely neutralize the effects of black mist stones, but only when they are in liquid form. That white bag was also made with Life Stones.」