Chapter 80: I See You're Similar
Ryan’s questioning of the procurent sources was like throwing ice water into boiling oil, causing an instant explosion of astonished murmurs in the grand hall.
Andre and Wood turned pale, their lips trembling. After the initial shock, their survival instincts kicked in, and they imdiately launched a frantic counterattack.
“Slander! This is blatant slander!” Andre, ignoring the pain on his face, shouted. “Velt! This is a desperate attempt to shift the bla! What can procurent records prove? We sold you the Ice Crystal Flowers, but did your guild not check the quality when you received them? Didn’t you inspect them yourself? Which law in the Empire’s comrcial regulations says the seller must guarantee that the goods the buyer takes won’t have any issues? Clearly, it was your oversight during inspection, or perhaps you didn’t properly inspect them to save money, and now that sothing’s gone wrong, you want to pin the bla on us! Everyone, tell , is this fair? Where in the world does this make sense?!”
Wood quickly chid in, “That’s right! Even though the Ice Crystal Flowers ca from our land and were sold to the Northern Star Guild, once the transaction was completed and the goods left our hands, the responsibility for the rest should fall on you! It was your guild that failed to perform proper warehouse inspections, your responsibility for possible errors in transportation and storage, and even your own people,”
He pointed at Hank, who stood there frozen like a wooden block, “Negligent and drunk on duty! How can you bla us, the sellers? Ryan Velt, you’re just making excuses and muddying the waters!”
Their words seed sowhat reasonable. So of the audience mbers, confused by the sudden turn of events, started to show signs of hesitation.
Indeed, who could guarantee that nothing would go wrong with a product? Shouldn’t the buyer be responsible for inspection?
Ryan calmly listened to their tirades, even showing a faint, approving smile. The smile made Andre and Wood’s hearts tighten inexplicably.
“Well said,” Ryan lightly clapped his hands, and the sound resonated clearly in the otherwise silent hall. “Committee mber Garcia, Committee mber Wood, you make very good points. By general logic and custom, when a buyer procures goods, they should conduct strict inspections. If the Northern Star Guild did not find any issues with the Ice Crystal Flowers when they received them, then, under normal circumstances, the responsibility for any issues afterward would be hard to trace back to you two honest sellers.”
Andre and Wood froze, not expecting Ryan to agree with them. They montarily didn’t know how to respond.
What more could they say once he had already finished their argunt?
“But,” Ryan suddenly turned the conversation on its head, and the smile on his face instantly disappeared, “there is a fundantal logical flaw here, which I have been trying to point out—what has been carefully concealed from everyone.”
He picked up the “Comparison Study of the Properties of Alchemical Materials from the Empire and the Northern Orc Kingdom” that he had borrowed from Lano, gesturing toward the high platform.
“What if, our guild’s quality inspectors, following the standard Ice Crystal Flower inspection process, had perford a valid inspection on this batch of goods?”
“What if the inspection report shows that the magical activity, cold resistance, powder properties, and other key indicators of this batch of Ice Crystal Flowers et or even exceed the normal standards?”
“That’s impossible!” Andre instinctively shouted, “If the inspection passed, then how could the products explode? Do you think we’re idiots?!”
“Well asked,” Ryan responded.
He slowly opened the book in his hand, turning to the marked page, showing the illustrations comparing Ice Crystal Flowers and Frostvine, along with their magical spectra.
“Normally, this would be impossible. Unless…” He raised his eyes, his gaze sweeping over Andre and Wood’s pale faces. “The goods you sold to the Northern Star Guild were not Ice Crystal Flower powder at all.”
He took a deep breath and, in a volu so clear that everyone in the hall could hear, he clearly spoke the term:
“Instead, they were the powder made from the Frostvine, a forbidden plant unique to the Everfrost Wasteland of the Orc Kingdom, which, when heated, triggers a destructive magical outburst!”
The three characters “Frostvine” were like three invisible thunderclaps, striking everyone’s heart.
The hall instantly fell into complete silence, so still that even the sound of breathing seed to freeze.
Many students looked confused, clearly having never heard the term before, but seeing the drastic change in the faces of the professors and advisors on the high platform, they understood that this was no ordinary plant.
Professor Horne suddenly sat up straight, his hands gripping the edge of the table, his knuckles turning white.
Minister Edgar’s face was as dark as if water would drip from it.
Several advisors from the Discipline Committee, especially the woman with glasses, stared wide-eyed in utter disbelief.
“Frostvine?” Andre and Wood, in fact, had no idea what this was.
“Yes, Frostvine,” Ryan closed the book. “This plant is used by shamans in the Orc Kingdom to make berserker potions. Its powdered form, once dried and ground, closely mimics the appearance and so basic magical reactions of high-quality Ice Crystal Flower powder.”
He paused slightly, his gaze shifting to Professor Horne, who was furrowing his brow. “Professor Horne, you are an authority in Potionology. If I assu that we conducted the most common low-temperature magical activity activation test on both Frostvine powder and Ice Crystal Flower powder—one of the standard thods for verifying the quality of Ice Crystal Flowers in our introductory potion materials course—would the initial stages of the test show similar magical reactions, possibly even matching the high-activity characteristics of Ice Crystal Flowers?”
The question landed, and all eyes in the hall focused on Professor Horne.
The usually rigorous scholar paused for a mont, flipping through his notes before closing his eyes as if recalling so complex magical response model.
Finally, he opened his eyes, nodding slowly, confirming the crucial support for Ryan’s argunt:
“The low-temperature magical activity activation test that Velt referred to is indeed one of the common thods for identifying the quality of Ice Crystal Flowers. It primarily tests the stability and purity of magical release under controlled low temperatures.”
Professor Horne pushed his glasses up, speaking cautiously.
“According to the records in ‘Advanced Identification of Exceptional Magical Materials,’ as well as so... obscure frontier case studies, Frostvine, when tested under such non-targeted conditions—particularly focusing on the total amount of cold-type mana and the initial release curve—due to its massive ice-type magical properties, can indeed simulate the high-activity magical reactions of ordinary Ice Crystal Flowers at the early stages of testing. Its inherent chaos and instability tend to reveal themselves only as the test progresses or when the temperature changes.”
He added, “This does not an the test thod was wrong, but rather... the material itself is highly deceptive, and proper identification requires more specific and stringent conditions. Standard comrcial quality inspections, especially during bulk acceptance, could easily overlook such deceptive characteristics.”
Professor Horne’s words, though not directly confirming Ryan’s accusations, provided crucial theoretical support for the possibility that Frostvine could have passed as Ice Crystal Flowers during normal testing procedures.
This was far more compelling than Ryan’s own explanation.
Ryan gave a slight bow of thanks to Professor Horne before turning back to face the now-deathly silent hall and the pale-faced Andre and Wood.
“What does this an? Professor Horne’s words an that the Garcia and Woodwood families may not only be involved in comrcial fraud! They are more likely to have been smuggling banned materials—Frostvine—from the enemy Orc Kingdom into the Empire over a long period of ti, under the guise of Ice Crystal Flowers! They used the Northern Star Guild, a legitimate rchant guild, as a cover to bring this deadly substance into the heart of the Empire, and eventually... into our Saint Roland Academy classrooms, leading to the tragedy before us!”
“No! You’re lying! This is a fra-up!” Andre jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
Though he didn’t fully understand the intricate web behind Frostvine, he knew just how heavy the charge of smuggling forbidden goods from an enemy country could be!
Causing harm to classmates or a dispute within the academy was one thing, but once the charge involved treason or collusion with the enemy, unless he wanted to face the annihilation of his family, there would be no escape.
Wood was even more terrified, shouting chanically, “Fra-up! It’s all a fra-up! You’re trying to destroy us!”
Ryan ignored their shrill cries. He raised the last few pages of notes from Horace that detailed the recent suspicious activities of the Garcia and Woodwood families, and his voice roared like a northern blizzard, sweeping through the entire hall:
“Fra-up? Then explain, why have your two families been hoarding an excessive amount of goods from the Northern Orc Kingdom recently? Why have your security forces suddenly surged with an unknown number of rcenaries? Why has your communication with certain forces in the North beco so frequent?!”
“Explain—” Ryan raised the pages. “Why have your two families’ mining guards suddenly doubled in number over the last three months, and why are most of the new recruits high-quality rcenaries whose origin is unknown? Where are the extra expenditures listed?”
“Why has the Woodwood family purchased a total quantity of cold-resistant magical beast pelts and oils equal to the last five years combined? Where are these goods going?”
“Why have your two rchant fleets suddenly seen an unprecedented increase in frequency and cargo load during their diplomatic trips with Marquis Wilier? What were the heavily covered goods smuggled inside those shipnts?”
With each question, Ryan’s voice grew colder, and Andre and Wood’s faces turned even whiter.
These scattered clues, now strung together, pointed to a chilling conclusion.
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