The weapons I forge are absolutely flawless.

Jessica took Felix in her hands and bowed to Sigurd.

"Phew—it's okay."

Sigurd took a deep breath to calm himself down.

The shock he experienced a month after dropping out of school was not as great as the shock he felt today.

“If Felix hadn’t agreed, Adramra wouldn’t have been able to return to the Rafna family.”

"This alone is enough to make the Lafner family extremely grateful."

“See, they don’t seem to mind at all,” Felix complained, glancing at Jessica. “I just wanted to say hello to Admira after not seeing her for so long, did she have to get so worked up—”

Jessica suddenly let go, throwing Felix to the ground.

"Sigte, please continue leading the way."

Jessica gestured for her to proceed.

"Yes, everyone, please follow me."

Sigurd was also afraid that the others would continue to ask about the other statue, and now that Jessica had given him a way out, he naturally hurried to leave this troublesome place.

"hiss..."

By the time Felix got up, rubbing his backside, he was already several steps behind the others.

"I told you not to touch it, but you didn't listen. Now you deserve it, don't you?"

Wiener's voice echoed softly.

“Aren’t you the same!” Felix retorted.

"I'm definitely different."

Wiener shook his head.

Sigurd's transformation was so drastic that he was finding it difficult to adjust.

He naturally wanted to test the waters and see if he could discern the Lafner family's attitude toward the deliberately preserved "unofficial history" from Sigurd.

Now it seems that Sigurd has indeed changed a lot; his forbearance and magnanimity alone are far superior to what they used to be.

Furthermore, he knew the purpose of their visit.

This shows that Sigurd was not completely abandoned just because he became a cripple.

"What's the difference?"

"I wasn't beaten up."

"Well--"

Felix puffed out his cheeks in anger but couldn't refute it.

After gradually getting used to this frustrating but helpless situation, Felix learned to simply skip it and pretend it didn't happen.

"By the way, Vina, Adramura is in very bad shape."

Perhaps it was because of the mutual respect among people of the same kind that Felix was more perceptive than the others.

He recklessly climbed the statue to confirm whether his feeling was accurate.

“I know,” Wiener realized this as well. “If it had been even a little more alert, it would have swooped down and attacked you when you got close earlier.”

Thankfully, Jessica caught Felix and brought him back. If Admira had woken up and been chasing Felix all over the mansion, Viner really wouldn't have known how to explain it.

"I'd rather it had the strength to beat me up." Seeing Admira's poor condition, Felix's mood also became quite depressed.

"That shouldn't be the case. The environment here is more suitable for it than the academy, so why is its condition worse than before?"

"You'd have to ask someone who knows the answer to that question."

Who could know?

"Naturally, it's the one who invited us here."

-----------------

Sigurd led the group to the door of Earl Feld's study and gently knocked.

"Please come in."

A rather authoritative voice came from inside the door.

After receiving permission, Sigurd opened the door for everyone.

The layout of the study is immediately apparent; it is so simple as to be almost austere, with almost no superfluous decorations.

Even in such a minimalist space, a battered suit of armor and a gleaming spear still hung on the wall.

"You all have had a long and tiring journey."

Count Feld stood up from behind his desk, gesturing for everyone to relax, and then walked over to sit down on the sofa.

Anna knew that the guests Feld had truly invited were the Silver Wolf Class members, so after greeting the Earl, she took a seat to the side.

"My teacher asked me to give you her regards."

Jessica bowed to Feld.

Looking across the entire continent, there are only a handful of eighth-tier emblem masters, and even fewer who can achieve this at such a young age.

The aura emanating from this iron-blooded count was even greater than that of Jessica.

"Truly, the younger generation is to be feared," Feld couldn't help but exclaim, looking at Jessica who was already showing signs of becoming a master. "I really admire Lady Teresa's ability to recognize and nurture talent."

"You're too kind, Your Excellency."

Jessica was about to sit down when she found that the seat opposite Feld had already been taken by Viner, so she frowned slightly and sat down opposite Anna.

“If I’m not mistaken, you must be Vena.” Feld looked at Vena with certainty.

“Why can’t I be Felix?” Wiener asked, somewhat curious.

“Because my son once said that Felix’s appearance is exceptionally rare,” Feld said frankly, “and also because both Princess Edel and Lady Tissa mentioned your name in their letters.”

"So, where is this last guy, Felix?"

“Felix is ​​worried that he may have been impolite and accidentally bumped into the Earl. He is at the study door, with Sigurd accompanying him,” Venere explained.

“Hmm,” Feld didn’t dwell on the question too much, but continued, “Both Her Highness the Princess and Lady Tissa say you are the key to finding the traces of the demons. May I see for myself?”

"This is precisely the purpose of our visit, and I believe you will soon witness it, sir. But before that, may I ask you, Earl, how did you determine that there are traces of demons in this Snowdrift Valley?"

Feld turned his gaze to the window.

From the angle from which everyone is currently seated, there is absolutely nothing to see.

But it does indeed face the central courtyard of the mansion.

“I see,” Viner said instantly, “It was Admiral’s warning, right?”

"Even with Her Highness Edel's personal assurance, I still couldn't believe that there could be such a young master blacksmith. Now it seems that it was my fault."

For years, the Lafner family had been searching for Adramura's whereabouts, but they had only managed to find a few fragments of blueprints.

One of the pages states that Ademura possesses the ability to sense the presence of demons and issue warnings.

Very few people in the entire Lafner family knew about it.

Feld only remembered the records about Ademra when he saw Ademra suddenly glow while looking out the window at night.

Wiener, having only briefly handled the situation, was able to perceive Adramura's characteristic, which naturally made Feld think much more highly of him.

"Alas, a mere grandmaster is nothing to boast about," Viner said modestly.

He then took a compass from his ring and presented it to Feld.

"This is a small gift I made myself. I named it the Demon-Seeking Compass. I hope Your Excellency will accept it."

"I know about the compass, but what does 'seeking the demon' mean?"

Feld took the compass and examined it closely, seemingly trying to discern what made this compass, crafted by a master blacksmith, so different.

"It means exactly what it says. In its normal state, it is no different from a compass, and it can determine direction even in a blizzard."

"But as long as some magic element is injected into it to activate it, its pointer will change from black to red and begin to detect signs of nearby demons."

“If there is one, it will be guided by the demon's location; if not, it will fade back to black,” Vena explained.

Is that what you're saying?

Feld turned the compass over and towards Wiener; the central pointer of the compass was already a deep, almost purple red.

Take a day off

literal meaning.

I caught a cold after staying up late writing the night before last.

I took my medicine yesterday and lay in bed all afternoon, but I still feel dizzy.

Afterwards, I forced myself to sit in front of the computer to start typing, but my mind was still blank, and I couldn't even smoothly translate the plot I had already thought of into words.

Therefore, I decided to take a day off.

This is the first time I've taken a break since this book started updating seven months ago, and it's also the first time I've taken a break since I started writing novels. I hope everyone can understand.

With the weather being extremely unpredictable, I urge all readers to take good care of their health and not end up like that disgraceful author.

≦(._.)≧

Chapter 408 First Pilot Project

"Jessica!"

In an instant, Venerer pulled out a compass from his ring and made his move the moment he called out the name.

Jessica understood immediately. The moment she received the compass, she appeared outside the window and then followed its guidance, disappearing into the vast expanse of snow.

"So it's not that I misunderstood, right?"

Seeing this, Feld also got up from his seat.

Before Viner could even nod, he had already taken the spear from the wall and thrown it with a backhand.

The moment the spear tip touched the window, it shattered the glass. Feld followed closely behind, gripping the butt of the spear, and using the momentum of the spear, he leaped out of the study like a dragon emerging from the sea.

Wiener rushed to the window and saw a dazzling light streak across the sky amidst the swirling snow. The powerful airflow prevented the snowflakes from getting any closer to it.

The study door opened with a "snap".

The circulating air allowed the cold wind, mixed with heavy snow, to rush in and instantly cover Vina's face.

"Vina! The music box just played!"

Felix pushed Sigurd and rushed into the study.

“Yes, I know.” Viner silently moved away from the window and wiped the snow off his face. “Jessica and Earl Feld have already gone after them.”

"So what exactly did you give me?"

Sigurd opened his hand, revealing the music box that was slowly spinning.

"A Rufry Rafner commemorative music box that, in addition to playing music, also serves as a warning to detect demons. Do you like it?"

Wiener gave a detailed introduction.

......

The four sat around the table, waiting silently.

Even Felix didn't mention providing support.

If you can't even keep up with someone's shadow and you insist on chasing after them, you're not helping but making things worse.

The cold wind was blocked by the heavy curtains, and only melodious music echoed in the room.

Sigurd only turned his attention back to Wiener when the music box stopped playing.

"That demon has already escaped the detection range."