Chapter 237 Which One Is Rude?
Even though it was already late at night, an 8-year-old girl was standing in front of her country's prince with the adults.
"I have come at your summons."
Seeing Sara elegantly curtsy, Prince Andrew couldn't hide his surprise.
"I thought I called for a female alchemist."
"According to the letter, you summoned the owner of the golem."
"Wait a minute. Is that golem's owner Lady Sara?"
"Yes, that is correct. To be more precise, I am the owner of Maiden's Tower and the surrounding land, as well as the golems. I also hired Alicia (Alchemist Girl), who submitted a paper to the Academy, and arranged for the magic stone to be sent to the Academy."
"What!?"
Prince Andrew was shocked.
"I should have informed the Academy officials, including Professor McKellen, that I am the owner of the land and buildings."
"Well, it may be in Lady Sara's name, but who is managing it? Marquis Grandchester or Sir Robert?"
Marquis Grandchester stepped forward and spoke.
"Since it was my granddaughter's actions, I take responsibility for anything Sara does, but to answer your question honestly, it is Sara herself who is managing it."
"Huh?"
'Oh no, the prince's mouth is still open.'
"Just as my grandfather said, everything is due to my arrangements. I hired Alicia to develop the Spieluhr. So, I was the one playing the music for the Spieluhr."
"I did hear that amazing performance, but..."
Sara glanced at Professor McKellen.
"To be honest, I never thought I would be ordered to 'appear' in a letter from someone as high-ranking as Your Highness."
"I have no memory of calling a girl like you! Call that Alicia!"
Sara shot a cold glare at the shouting Professor McKellen.
"Prince Andrew, why did you release someone like that thief and even order me, the victim, to 'appear'?"
"That's because they are professors from the Academy..."
"Does being a professor at the Academy allow for robbery? That's a first for me."
"Robbery?"
Prince Andrew glanced at Professor McKellen.
"What do you mean? I didn't hear anything about robbery."
"First of all, the Maiden's Tower, as the name suggests, is a place where women work. Some men can enter with permission, but at night, it will definitely be only women."
"It's like a girls' monastery, huh?"
"It's not that strict with rules. We just enjoy our research life. However, since it's all women, I thought it would be unsafe, so I have golems guarding the place."
"Those golems, huh?"
"They are set to eliminate anyone who enters the premises without permission. At first, they will warn with words, and if you don't leave, they will pick you up and throw you outside the area."
"I see."
"However, if someone takes hostile actions like attacking with weapons or magic, they will change their behavior to capture the opponent."
"So, this time, someone from the Academy took hostile actions against the golems, right?"
"That's correct. I have brought the audio from that time. This is a technology also used in Spieluhr."
Inside a small box was a magic stone that recorded the voices of the Academy staff captured by the golems. When played, Professor McKellen's voice echoed in the room.
'A commoner girl will easily hand over the magic stone research if you threaten her a little. After that, we can study it in detail here. If possible, let's have all the Paracelsus materials moved to the lab as well.'
'Those annoying golems. But their function is amazing. I think I'll take them apart and bring them back.'
'Hey, you guards over there! Capture the golem without damaging it as much as possible!'
Sara looked at Prince Andrew with cold eyes.
"If this isn't robbery, then what is robbery?"
"Sure, the statements are problematic, but there hasn't been any actual damage, right? It seems like they just shot a little magic at the golems."
Sara took the small box that Robert was holding and gently presented it in front of Prince Andrew.
"What is this?"
"It's still unprocessed, but it's a magic stone equivalent to the one used by the golems."
When Prince Andrew opened the box, he found one magic stone about 2 centimeters in diameter and 5 magic stones about 1 centimeter in diameter.
"What price would Your Highness set for these?"
"They all look like high-purity magic stones. I can't really put a price on them."
"The big one would cost at least 100 to 150 Dallas. The smaller ones are about 20 Dallas each. These magic stones are a set. This number of magic stones can fit inside one golem. It would be a problem if they could be easily taken apart and brought back."
"I see. It would be understandable if someone called that theft."
"Also, Professor McKellen unleashed earth attribute destruction magic on my golem."
"What? He destroyed the golem!?"
"No, the defense barrier deflected the magic."
'I'm shocked at how weak the magic is.'
"If the magic was deflected, then there's no need to restrain us!"
"I don't understand what you're saying, Professor. Are you saying we should always be passive against someone who illegally intrudes on our property and takes clear hostile actions? Besides, your guards had their swords drawn."
"That was because you all refused our visit in the first place."
"We decide what kind of guests to invite onto our property, and we have no obligation to be directed by you."
"That's enough!"
As expected, Prince Andrew stepped in to mediate.
"Let's sort out the situation for now. The recent trespassing and the hostile actions against the golem are clearly the fault of the academy staff. Of course, it's also my mistake for allowing them to accompany me and letting them act selfishly. I sincerely apologize. I deeply regret this to Lady Sara and everyone involved with Maiden's Tower."
Prince Andrew bowed deeply.
"If there are any damages on your side, we will compensate you, but could you please refrain from suing the academy staff for theft or property damage? I hope you can consider the royal family's face in this matter."
"If they promise not to interfere with us any further, then it's fine. We haven't suffered any property damage, but the alchemist, Alicia, collapsed from stress."
"Then we will send our best wishes to Lady Alicia from the royal family. By the way, is it really okay? I heard you cast magic on the golem, but it didn't get damaged, did it?"
"That weak... I mean, that low-output magic couldn't even scratch our golem. If anything, it seems the weapons of the guards got damaged."
"What do you mean weak?!"
"I apologize for that. We are aware that Professor McKellen held back, so please don't worry about it."
Professor McKellen was grinding his teeth in frustration. It seems he thought he was using a decent amount of power. Seeing this, Sara couldn't help but smirk internally.
"By the way, the outfits of Professor McKellen and some of the academy staff are yours to keep, so please take them home."
"Did you prepare their change of clothes too?"
"It seems they were a bit surprised when they were captured, and... some of their outfits got dirty."
Those who had an idea about it turned red with embarrassment.
"Oh, I see. Thank you for protecting their dignity."
"I'm sorry that it ended up surprising the older folks."
"That's their own fault. I thought they would act a bit more calmly since they are related to the Academy, but I apologize."
When Prince Andrew bluntly said this, the Academy members turned pale all at once.
"Your Highness, that's a bit much, isn't it? We wanted to visit peacefully too. But we were rudely turned away."
"So, you mean to say that the whole issue started because Maiden's Tower refused the Academy's visit?"
"Yes. To be precise, it might have started when Alicia refused the summons from the Academy."
Professor McKellen, not hiding his displeasure, appealed to Prince Andrew for their justification.
"Alicia is not at fault in this matter either. She couldn't go to the Academy because I, her employer, did not give her permission."
"Why is that?"
At Sara's response, Prince Andrew looked puzzled.
"Today, Alicia's paper was about the technology she discovered while developing the Spieluhr. As you know, the Spieluhr uses magic stones, and when music is played, the magical power stored in the magic stone is lost. However, Alicia, not wanting to waste expensive magic stones, started researching how to recharge the magic stones."
"Yeah, I get that. I think recharging magic stones used in magical tools, not just the Spieluhr, is a dream technology."
"Fortunately, in Grandchester, there are materials left by a once-famous 'self-proclaimed' alchemist named Paracelsus. The magic stone you have in the box with you now was realized by getting hints from those materials."
"Wait, the golem's magic stone can also be recharged?"
"That's right. The selling price I mentioned earlier is the 'normal' price for magic stones, so if we prove that they can be recharged, it might be hard to set a price."
Prince Andrew looked back into the box, his mouth hanging open in a silly expression as he froze.
"Since we are selling the Spieluhr, I decided that we shouldn't keep this technology a secret, so I instructed Alicia to submit her research as a paper to the academy."
"I see."
"However, the Academy completely denied Lady Alicia's paper, calling it 'the nonsense of a self-proclaimed alchemist who doesn't even qualify for admission to the Academy,' and sent a reply saying, 'If you have a complaint, send us a real magic stone. If you can't do that, don't send us any more papers in the future.'."
"Can you prove that?"
"Yes. I have the letter here."
Sara handed Prince Andrew the letter from Professor McKellen that was sent from the Academy.
"Wow. This is really rude."
"I couldn't stand being treated like Alicia was just bragging, so I prepared a magic stone that can actually replenish magical power and sent it to the Academy. After that, I cut off all negotiations with them. I plan to have no further involvement with the Academy and will continue to develop technology on my own. I always thought there was no benefit in sharing my technology with the Academy, but I wrote and sent the paper thinking it would help the development of Avalon. Despite that, to be treated this way is just so unfortunate for Alicia!"
Prince Andrew turned to Professor McKellen.
"I wasn't given much explanation about all this. Before we left, I think Professor McKellen said, 'There's a little misunderstanding, and I want to explain the situation directly,' but calling this a little misunderstanding is really pushing it. It's extremely rude."
"However, the opponent is not a real alchemist. She's just a little girl who doesn't even qualify to enter the academy. It's clear that most of this research is just a slight modification of Paracelsus's work. In other words, it's not the achievement of Alicia, but rather the accomplishments of her ancestor, Paracelsus. If Alicia hands over Paracelsus's materials to the academy, we should be able to make even more amazing inventions!"
Professor McKellen asserted strongly, breathing heavily.
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