Chapter 879: Chapter 877: The Final Question
Richard’s gaze calmly swept over the mineral powder in the lead box and spoke: “Honorable Inspector, I don’t know if you’ll believe me, but the truth is, I don’t actually know what’s in this mineral powder in the lead box either.”
“You don’t know?” Inspector Chikafu’s eyes widened a bit, carrying a slightly mocking expression, “Do you think I’m a child?”
Richard answered, “Inspector, you are certainly not a child, but indeed, I don’t know what this mineral powder is. Not only do I not know, even Wizard Audric and Wizard Bar from the organization don’t know.”
“Wizard Audric and Wizard Bar from the organization? Organization? The organization you are speaking of, is it our Truth Society?” Chikafu spoke, a shade of cyan appearing on his face, with a sudden ominous feeling in his heart.
Previously, when he was stealthily at the mine, he eavesdropped on Richard’s conversation and knew that Audric and Bar had helped Richard inspect the mineral powders.
But at that time, he did not think these two were from the Truth Society; he thought it was another organization behind Richard.
And if these two are indeed members of the Truth Society as Richard says, then his reasons for questioning would completely collapse.
At this moment, Richard spoke, replying to Chikafu: “Honorable Inspector, of course Wizard Audric and Wizard Bar are members of the organization. When I extracted a large number of minerals and could not understand their uses, I invited them separately for testing. If you don’t believe me, you can have Canon Steward ask the two wizards to inquire.”
The cyan on Chikafu’s face deepened, he slightly clenched his fist but did not express anything.
Steward Canon glanced at the meditating Long Mei’er, then gestured subtly to a subordinate in the spectator seats.
The subordinate understood perfectly and turned to leave the conference room to summon people.
As a result, Wizard Audric was on an assignment and not in the base, but Wizard Bar was, and a few minutes later he came in.
Wizard Bar, who came in wearing a deep blue robe similar to the one he used to wear, was unsure of what was happening, only sensing a tense atmosphere in the room, making his body instinctively tense up.
Wizard Bar first greeted Supervisor Long Mei’er, Steward Canon, and Inspector Chikafu, then turned his head and saw Richard standing beside him, and whispered in surprise: “Wizard Richard, why are you here? And what… exactly is going on here?”
Richard took a flat box from his bosom, handed it to Wizard Bar, and said, “Wizard Bar, this is the magic tool ‘Amber Tears’ you entrusted me to repair. I’ve fixed it and am returning it to you now. As for the matters here, well, you don’t need to be tense, it’s actually simple; the honorable Inspector Chikafu wants to know if there’s been any progress in your inspection of those minerals.”
“Well…” Bar felt slightly guilty and spoke, “I am truly sorry, Wizard Richard, but for the last dozen or so minerals you mentioned, I still have no clue. Although samples were taken at the time, no results have emerged from the studies.”
“Is it a matter of sample quantity?” Richard asked, pointing toward the box full of mineral powder on the table, “With this box of samples, do you think it might speed up your research progress, Wizard Bar?”
Wizard Bar was slightly taken aback, “Wizard Richard, you must be joking. The progress of this research has nothing to do with the quantity of samples, even if you give me ten boxes, it won’t speed up my research progress.”
“I see, well, thank you for your hard work. Wizard Bar, if you discover anything in the future, I hope you will inform me as soon as possible.” Richard said sincerely.
“Of course, of course.”
“I have no more questions.” Richard said.
“And on the inspector’s side?” Wizard Bar looked at Chikafu but saw Steward Canon gesturing for him to leave.
Perplexed but not daring to disobey, Wizard Bar turned to leave—leaving just as bewildered as he came.
After Wizard Bar left and closed the door, silence fell over the conference room; it was so quiet that they could hear each other’s breathing.
It lasted for over ten seconds before Canon spoke to break the silence, looking at Chikafu, “Inspector Chikafu, do you think we should leave it at this for now? After all, everything suggests this is just a misunderstanding. I understand that your heart is for the organization, but Richard, our division’s wizard, has also contributed greatly to the organization; it’s just that there may be some issues with information exchange between us…”
Canon kept talking, but Chikafu did not respond. His face turned from cyan to purple, his eyes bloodshot, staring absentmindedly at the air a few centimeters in front of him, lost in thought.
Kaf noticed this and stopped speaking, shifting his gaze to Richard.
“Wizard Richard.” Canon called softly.
“Yes, Steward Canon.” Richard stood up.
“This inquiry is considered concluded,” Canon said, giving the handling result while looking at Richard, “It was a hassle to have you come to the division. Next, I will have Wizard Joseph send you back. For this incident, I hope you don’t mind, as whether it’s the inspector, myself, or Long Mei’er Steward, we’re all thinking for the organization.
As for your suggestions on the Crystal Ball improvement, ‘Fire Bomb’, and ‘Railway Mine Cart’, I will specifically study them. The rewards that should be yours will definitely not be less and will be exchanged for points for you.”
“Then thank you very much, Steward Canon,” Richard responded, nodding and turning to walk outside the conference room.
The other wizards in the audience also began to leave, and the entire inquiry meeting seemed about to end.
Just at the moment Richard’s hand touched the doorknob and was about to open the door to walk out, a voice boomed like thunder.
Inspector Chikafu stood up and spoke.
At this moment, his face was somewhat sallow, with burst blood vessels making his eyes look dark red.
With an extremely serious and solemn expression, he stared at the back of Richard and said: “Wizard Richard, I am sorry to inform you, but you cannot leave yet because I have one last question, also the most important one, that needs you to answer for me.”
Canon’s complexion darkened, as Chikafu’s actions obviously showed no respect for him, but his steady nature prevented him from directly reacting. He took a deep breath to suppress it and looked at Chikafu with a scrutinizing gaze.
Long Mei’er, who had maintained a closed-eye stance for a long time, also opened his eyes for the second time, adjusted his posture, pursed his lips, and looked at Chikafu with a serious expression.
Richard, who had reached the door, paused, slowly turned around, and looked at Chikafu, asking: “Oh?”
This time, he did not add the title “Honorable Inspector.”