Chapter Ninety-Two: The Missing Mermaid

In one of the classrooms of Rhine Magic Academy, the desks and chairs that had once stood there had all been cleared away and replaced by a jumble of strange instruments and odd materials. There were even several substances the headmaster himself would have been unable to identify at a glance. Naturally, this was the laboratory Eve, that well-heeled little girl, had built for herself. After all, discussions about science could not always take place in an office, and some experiments were simply inconvenient to carry out there.

"Eve, what are you doing?"

During his free time between classes, Ruby also liked to spend time in this laboratory making things. It was, after all, his old line of work. Besides, he had discovered that the materials stored within Eve's spatial items were frighteningly abundant. At that moment, he saw her fiddling for quite some time with four or five crystalline objects laid out before her.

"I think these things should be able to combine into some new material, but it keeps failing... What do you think?"

After dozens of fruitless attempts, the pink-haired girl had begun to feel discouraged and could only look to Ruby, her scientific adviser.

"I don't think so."

Ruby was lying. At a glance he had recognized sulfur, saltpeter, and charcoal among the materials on the table. Though all were crude, unprocessed substances, they already satisfied the conditions for making gunpowder, and he had no intention of telling Eve how to synthesize it.

"You're lying. You definitely know, don't you? Did you forget what you said about science having no secrets?"

Though Eve's thoughts often ran along peculiar paths, her sixth sense was extraordinary. She stepped closer to Ruby and twitched her small nose, inexplicably seeing through his lie. One had to know that Ruby wore little expression most of the time, which made him especially easy to lie for.

"This is not something you should be touching. One day these things will become weapons of terrible destructive power. They are things this world does not need."

Ruby had never forgotten how the Earth he had once lived on came to its end. Some knowledge was better taken by him to the grave. An otherworldly land had magic; that was enough.

"Weapons? I would never do that."

"I know you wouldn't. But the first person to invent gunpowder never imagined it would one day be used as a weapon either. These things were all improved over many years, under the influence of human desire."

Ruby understood that Eve would never do such a thing, but others were impossible to say. Even if not many in this other world had come into contact with science, no one could guarantee that in a few thousand years someone would not discover the proper use of gunpowder. As for what manner of weapons might then emerge, Ruby himself did not know.

Eve could hear sorrow in Ruby's tone. She did not know what he had been through to make him speak like that, and for a moment she did not know how to answer him.

"Ruby, you're here again? Come on."

The laboratory door was opened from outside, and Maia stepped in with a bright smile, speaking to Ruby. After seeing her, Ruby set down what he had been doing and left with her. This was what the girl of the god of law liked most. She knew that Ruby sometimes mixed with that pink-haired girl, but no matter what they were talking about, as long as she needed him, he would set Eve aside and turn his attention here.

Of course, Maia was not dragging Ruby out to play. It was simply time for their once-a-week meeting with Aqua. After the two had left, Maia used spatial movement to take Ruby away.

"But even so, others will do it sooner or later. It's not your fault..."

Eve seemed to sense that Ruby did not want to drag her into trouble. That feeling made her heart ache, and she hurried after him to say it, but by then the corridor was already empty.

"Aqua, come out. I made lots of your favorite food."

Ruby was carrying many dishes he had prepared himself. Every time he came here to Aqua's dwelling, his heart felt heavy. It seemed as though he really had been raising Aqua like a pet, and not even a competent owner at that. Perhaps he should shorten these meetings.

"Where is she?"

Maia asked in confusion. In the past, the mermaid girl would already have sprung onto Ruby with a splash of water. Yet today, no matter how they called, there was no response.

"Maia, lift the entire lake."

Ruby also sensed something was wrong. If she were merely throwing a tantrum, there would be no reason for this. Maia obeyed and rose into the air, controlling the entire lake with immense magical power so that it lifted upward. Through the water, Ruby could see the swimming fish, but not Aqua's shadow anywhere. Maia then controlled the giant sphere of water to pour, in streams, into the large pit below, but even this method of elimination failed to find Aqua. Clearly, the mermaid girl was no longer in that lake.

"So that's it. The pet that got abandoned by its owner ran away from home."

Maia tilted her head and thought for a long while before coming up with such a reason to tell Ruby. Maybe it was because she had not seen her owner for a long time and had gone to find someone new? Though in her view, a mermaid running away from home was also rather unscientific.

"But where could she go? She doesn't know anyone here. Could she have been taken by someone..."

At the mere thought of Aqua being captured, Ruby grew frantic. Aside from Dragon, Aqua was the second living being he had met who could communicate with him. To say he felt nothing would be a lie. He could accept Aqua leaving this place and returning to her homeland, but he absolutely could not accept her being seized and abused by others.

That day, Ruby searched every nearby town, including Delis, around the lake, but found nothing. Many people had never even heard of mermaids. He kept searching until night had fully fallen, only to be forcibly dragged home by Maia.

"Rest for a while. If mermaids appeared in the Holy Empire, there would be no way to keep it completely secret. Maybe her people came and took her away."

Seeing Ruby sitting on the sofa in silence, Maia also felt bad. She had wanted to take his hand, but after thinking about it, she simply encircled his three slender fingers with her own and tried to comfort him that way.

"It was my fault. Maybe leaving her there alone in the first place was a mistake. If I'd known, even if I'd had to do it by force, I should have thrown her back into the sea."

Ruby was still blaming himself. In truth, when he had left the little wooden hut, he had already felt that leaving Aqua there was not a good thing. Now, indeed, something had happened. If she really had been taken away, then even if she were found again, she would already have suffered an indelible psychological wound.

"Stop worrying. If that's what you want, then even if I have to turn the entire Holy Empire upside down, I'll help you find her."

Maia had never expected Aqua to be so important in Ruby's heart. She let go of his hand, cupped his cheek, and made him raise his head to look at her as she spoke solemnly. Aqua could be anything at all, but she did not want to see the slightest trace of sorrow on Ruby's face.

"...Thank you."

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PS: There will be another update later.

Welcome to the grand variety show: Where in the World Did the Fool Go?