The weapons I forge are absolutely flawless.

“Arios wouldn’t go to such lengths,” Ada was the first to deny it. “If he didn’t like someone, he would just go up to them and kill them. Using curses isn’t his style.”

“You know, that guy can’t learn a single spell.” Hanneman agreed, shaking his head in agreement.

“A curse is a curse, and equipment is equipment,” Venere added. “I’m just saying that this piece of equipment might be related to Arios. As for the curse, there might be another story behind it.”

"So how do you plan to verify it?" This time it was Villefort who asked.

“Leave it to me,” Tilissa said, taking over the conversation.

Vena told her that this Armor of Calamity was very likely the same as Mimi-kiri, both made from blueprints leaked from Arios.

If that's the case, then the person who forged this armor and the person who subsequently cast the curse are very likely not the same person.

Then Tissa made a bet with Venus.

If Tilisa is able to discover the secret within this Armor of Calamity first, then Venus owes her something that does not violate his principles.

If not, then we must not stop Wiener from trying his own way.

"I trust Villefort's judgment. Without considering the effects of the curse, this Armor of Calamity is merely a slightly better piece of armor."

For the average student, this Armor of Calamity is already considered a divine weapon.

But in the eyes of the people present, it was just a piece of armor of slightly better quality.

"If the curse is cast by a person, its effectiveness should gradually weaken and fall into dormancy without the continuous nourishment of a host and external forces. It is impossible for it to do the opposite like this."

Sigurd's role in the whole incident was merely to awaken the consciousness; afterwards, the consciousness of the Armor of Calamity took the lead.

"Then I have a guess."

Tilisa gently raised her hand, and the Armor of Calamity seemed to be drawn by an invisible force, slowly rising from the table.

Her fingers traced rapidly in the air, and a pure white cube-shaped barrier instantly enveloped the Armor of Calamity.

"Snapped."

Tilisa snapped her fingers lightly, and a deep red flame suddenly ignited inside the barrier.

Thanks to the barrier, no one felt any heat, but they could clearly see the Armor of Calamity melting at an astonishing speed as it was consumed by the flames.

"Hey--"

Realizing something was wrong, Wiener hurriedly tried to stop it.

When making the bet with Tilissa, she never mentioned that she would use such a brute-force method.

If she were to melt this Armor of Calamity, I couldn't very well use Gondorav on a pool of molten iron, could I?

"Just watch and don't assume that you're the only one who can do everything."

Tilisa subdued Venus with a single sentence.

"...You'd better really have a way."

Seeing the molten iron from the Armor of Calamity melting away, even beginning to vaporize under the high temperature, Vena knew it was too late for anything she said.

He was a blacksmith, so he naturally understood what this meant.

This woman truly spared no effort to prevent herself from donning this armor of calamity.

Tilisa stared at the raging flames, watching as the Armor of Calamity gradually shrank under the onslaught of the flames, eventually solidifying into a thumb-sized piece of red agate, shimmering with an eerie light.

"Demon Blood Soul?!" Villefort blurted out, unable to contain his shock.

Both its appearance and the aura it exudes are similar to the demon blood soul left behind after the demon was defeated.

All of this seems to provide a reasonable explanation for the frequent failures of Hanneman's prophetic spells.

"It's just a inferior product of Demon Blood Soul."

Tissa, being the most experienced with demons among them, immediately recognized the difference between the red agate and the true demon blood soul.

"If the Demon Blood Soul is the source of power that the Demon God bestowed upon the Demons, then this inferior product is the result of the Demons peeling it off from themselves to create Apostles."

"This time we've probably really caught a big fish."

Chapter 319 An Unexpected Discovery

Unlike other new students at the Combat Academy, Sigurd did not live in the multi-person dormitory assigned by the academy.

Instead, he paid extra credits to move into a separate dormitory.

Since he had no roommates and usually kept to himself, no one noticed his unusual behavior beforehand.

Tilissa, acting as a teacher, vouched for the dormitory manager and had him fetch the key to open the door.

Before the door opened, Wiener had wondered whether the private space that Sigurd was willing to pay credit for would be as luxurious as stereotyped.

But once inside, he found it to be completely different from what he had imagined.

There were neither the precious artworks he had expected nor the luxurious large decorative pieces; only a certificate recognizing his achievements hung on one wall, showing how much he was valued.

Vina involuntarily hissed softly, a subtle reaction that immediately caught Tilissa's attention.

"what happened?"

"No, I just suddenly feel a little guilty."

Wiener also had the same award certificate, but he couldn't remember where he put it.

After all, in Wiener's eyes, what this award certificate brought was not as valuable as the thousand credit exchange vouchers compared to the so-called honor.

What should have been a spacious and bright living room area was transformed into a training room by Sigurd.

Judging from the wear and tear marks left on those equipment and instruments, they were definitely not just for decoration.

He rolls it up in front of others and rolls it up behind their backs, truly deserving of the title of Sigurd training maniac.

The two did not linger there, but went straight to Sigurd's bedroom.

The walls were covered with densely packed tactical diagrams and training plans, filling every inch of space.

Even someone like Viña, who doesn't have trypophobia, felt a chill run down his spine after seeing it.

Colored lines depict the complex battlefield situation, while the small annotations next to it record in detail the gains and losses and summaries of each simulation exercise.

Among the many tactical diagrams, Wiener unexpectedly discovered a familiar scene—a post-battle recap of the Battle of Kunji Village.

In his summary, Sigurd mentioned that if it weren't for the mysterious aid of two arrows, the Knights would have suffered at least 20% casualties given the circumstances.

The document also included details on how he would adjust the formation and deployment if he were in command.

"Doesn't this person get tired?" Viner couldn't help but exclaim.

"Don't you feel tired when you're forging?" Tilisa retorted.

"But I'm not only good at forging."

Wiener shook his head in rebuttal.

Forging is something that depends on one's mood and state of mind.

When she's in a bad mood or feeling down, Wiener won't force herself to suffer.

Go tease Felix and enjoy his silly antics; or invite Lisette out for a walk to clear her head.

A balance of tension and relaxation is essential to keep your nerves from becoming too strained.

Wiener looked up at the schedule on the wall; Sigurd's demands on himself had become extremely strict.

It's like a spring compressed to its limit; no one knows whether the release will result in a violent rebound or a complete collapse.

"That's why people have the opportunity to take advantage of our weaknesses."

Tissa closed her eyes slightly, and when she opened them again, her pupils had turned the color of rubies.

"...Someone arrived before us."

Upon hearing this, Wiener's expression changed drastically. He disregarded any privacy concerns and immediately opened Sigurd's wardrobe.

The wardrobe was neatly organized, with all items arranged meticulously.

It was precisely this excessive tidiness that made Wiener more aware of the abrupt gap in the wardrobe, just the right size to accommodate a box-like object.

"It seems we were a step too late."

Tilisa spoke calmly, as if she had already anticipated this outcome.

A box capable of storing the Armor of Calamity without leaking its aura is certainly no ordinary box.

The clue that Sigurd gave to Viner was this box that he had left behind.

"It's not time to give up yet."

Wiener did not give up easily. He walked quickly to Sigurd's table and began to pull out the cabinets one by one from bottom to top.

"Sigurd said the Armor of Calamity was sent to him by someone. Even if the box containing it is gone, at least there is—"

In the cabinet on the middle shelf, Wiener pulled out a stack of neatly arranged receipts.

"Sure enough, this guy is even more disgusting than I imagined." Although Viner complained about how disgusting he was, she breathed a slight sigh of relief. "He must be the kind of guy who holds a grudge for a lifetime over the smallest things."

Viner turned to look at Tilisa and waved the receipt in his hand.

This thick stack of receipts is the delivery slip for every package Sigurd received after entering the academy.

Upon entering the room, Wiener deduced that Sigurd had a considerable degree of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Fortunately, he was able to painstakingly cut out and save the receipts from each package, thus preserving this crucial clue.

If this were Wiener... let's talk about how he used the academy's award certificate to prop up the corner of a table.

"As for time..."

Wiener recalled the time when Sigurd had tried to coerce him into forging equipment for him, but was scared off by the price of five thousand credits, and flipped through the stack of receipts from back to front.

Once this range was narrowed down, the workload was reduced by more than half.

"No?"

Wiener searched through all the receipts from that day until today, but found no receipt that resembled the Armor of Calamity.

“Let’s check it again, make sure we don’t miss anything,” Tilissa suggested.

"Ah."

Even if she didn't say it, Viner had the same idea.

He held the entire book of receipts in his hands, his left hand gripping the back cover of the book, while his right hand rested on the edge of the book and gently moved it.

"Shuashuashua——"

Each turn of the page was accompanied by a subtle rustling sound as the paper was flipped.

"There should be one missing."

Wiener trusted his instincts.

"Give it to me."

Tilisa reached out to Vina and took the entire book of receipts.

Then she clasped her hands together, held the book of receipts between her palms, and a soft white light instantly covered the entire book of receipts.

"Look again."

A moment later, Tilisa handed the bill book back to Viner.

Wiener reopened the book of receipts and indeed found something different: "Found it."

Wiener simply tore off the extra delivery receipt.

The package was sent anonymously and was received three days ago.

This means that after trying on the Armor of Calamity, Sigurd decided to use it in the upcoming competition with almost no hesitation.

Normally, Sigurd didn't interact closely with his classmates. Over the next two days, even if someone noticed his drastic change in temperament, they would only mistakenly assume that he was in a bad mood.

However, Venerer's desire to find the receipt for the Armor of Calamity was certainly not for this information that he already knew.

He flipped the receipt over and finally found what he wanted.

"This is... the emblem of the Valentine Chamber of Commerce."