Chapter 124.2
“Found it.”
Mana Stone Recycling Experiments.
‘Looks like this section mainly stores experimental logs.’
That made sense. Everything here was classified, successes and failures alike. Grace nodded to herself and opened the book.
‘I don’t understand this… or this either. Next page—nope. Still nothing.’
Since these were written by researchers, the terminology was far beyond a layperson like Grace. Third-form magic circuits, pipe connections incorporating Albert’s third-order magical equations—
‘If I asked Benjamin, he’d probably understand all of this. Honestly, he’s impressive.’
He wasn’t even an artificer, yet he knew this much. That meant he’d taken a genuine interest.
Wondering whether skimming through everything would yield anything useful—or even comprehensible—Grace kept turning pages.
Then her hand stopped.
“Huh…!”
This part, at least, she could understand. And more importantly, it was exactly the information she needed.
‘I— I found it!’
Mana stones were materials that could be discovered naturally. They resembled gemstones in appearance, yet possessed mysterious power, and could also be obtained from monsters.
Later, it was discovered that the mana stones extracted from the monsters the Felton Duchy constantly faced were of the highest purity and quality.
‘However, experiments conducted on captured living monsters revealed that while magical energy could be sensed while the monster was alive, the components that formed a mana stone did not yet exist…’
Grace decided not to dwell too deeply on how exactly they had experimented on living monsters.
‘Mana stones were also discovered in mines previously thought to be ordinary. Research into shared characteristics among these regions showed that environments resembling the northern territories produced higher-quality mana stones.’
The north, meaning the Felton Duchy.
It was not a land suited for settlement. So much so that history books recorded the first Duke Felton’s decision to claim it as both a sacrifice and a great achievement.
‘Come to think of it, that gemstone was found in a corrupted forest too.’
Grace recalled the jewel that bore her name. It had shimmered with an eerie, beautiful iridescence. According to Benjamin, it was a type of mana stone.
‘He said it couldn’t function as one, but shared the same properties.’
Mana stones appeared gem-like because of the magical energy stored within them. Once that energy was completely depleted, they reverted to their original form. However, mana stones formed from monster hearts never fully lost their magic and not every monster heart became a mana stone.
‘The cause of this phenomenon remains unknown, and experiments into recycling mana stones using monster bones as a base have begun.’
After that, the text devolved into dense jargon again.
But one point made her uneasy.
‘If the holy stone inside my pendulum is related to mana stones…’
That pale white—almost ivory—stone. Could it be bone rather than stone?
Grace fought the urge to throw the item in her pocket far away.
‘But if holy stones operate on the same principle as mana stones, why are they called something different?’
And why was it that oaths sworn upon a holy stone had to be upheld without exception?
Her thoughts spiraled, but she knew the answers wouldn’t be in this library.
“This is useless—nothing but incomprehensible explanations.”
She let out a heavy sigh and was about to put the book back when something caught her eye.
Behind the space where the book had been, there was a valve.
It was the same color as the bookshelf, subtle enough to go unnoticed unless one was actively looking for it. Normally, she would’ve hesitated, but as if possessed, Grace grabbed it and turned.
Rumble—.
With a low vibration, a hidden door slid open in the wall with a click.
“…?”
Beyond it lay a much plainer space—only a few simple shelves, nothing like the main archive.
After staring blankly for a moment, Grace placed the book back where it belonged and stepped inside.
‘Documents… not books.’
All research logs, by the look of it. Some of the papers were old, yellowed with age, suggesting this had been ongoing for quite some time.
“Trial Records: Development of Medical Devices Using Gates.”
The title, dated over a decade ago, reminded her of what the artificer had mentioned earlier.
‘So this kind of research gets hidden away?’
They were still research records, so they had to be kept. But not something that could ever be made public.
Instead of opening that one, Grace searched further.
Then another title caught her eye.
“Artificial Mana Stone Creation Experiment?”
It was a topic she’d never heard mentioned.
Mana stones were believed to be something humans could never create, which was why recycling experiments had become the focus instead.
Grace reached out and unfolded the document, hoping it might connect to the recycling research.
But after turning just a few pages, she froze.
A name—utterly unexpected—was written there.
“…Ardel County.”
[Ardel County has been selected as the site for artificial mana stone production.]
Ardel County.
The origin of the western contamination disaster.
That name was written here.
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