Lawrence was taken aback by Loran’s reply, thinking perhaps the church was experiencing financial difficulties.
Thus, he secretly made up his mind to donate more money.
At this moment, Kariel, in her black cat form, swatted Loran on the head with a paw.
“Stop laughing, hurry up and ask him about the magic furnace.”
Loran steadied herself and asked:
“Mr.
Lawrence, I just heard you say that you feel your mana contamination was caused by a magic furnace?”
“Mana contamination?” Lawrence looked at Loran, bewildered.
“Isn’t mana contamination only caused by high-tier magic?”
Suddenly, as if realizing something, he began to gnash his teeth.
“Damn it!
It must be that new type of zaun mana furnace!”
“Ever since we switched to that thing, the probability of everyone getting sick has increased significantly!”
Upon hearing this, Loran nearly spat out her drink.
“What kind of magic furnace did you say?”
“The zaun mana furnace.”
Damn, with a name like that, it’s hard not to have problems.
…
After the treatment was finished, Lawrence and his group headed home.
As for the service fee, Lawrence promised to bring it tomorrow.
Before leaving, Loran urged them to stay away from the zaun mana furnace as much as possible.
Meanwhile, Kariel lingered at the church, with no intention of returning.
In the workshop on the second floor of the church, Loran sat on the sofa, flipping through an intelligence report provided by Kariel, who was sitting opposite her.
“The zaun mana furnace, developed by Wayne Company, uses the latest technology and can be powered directly by inferior elemental crystals.”
“It passed the inspection by the Imperial Academy of Magic Engineering in just three days and was officially put on sale and into use in the capital.”
“Its low cost has completely broken the constraints of standard elemental crystals on mana power supply…”
The more she read, the worse Loran’s complexion became.
“Kariel, my lady boss, this Wayne Company…
could it have some connection with the Imperial royal family?”
“Don’t call me lady boss, call me big sister!”
Three question marks appeared over Loran’s head.
“Seriously…
is this the time for jokes?”
“We’ve uncovered a massive scandal; what if we offend them?”
“It’s you who offended them, not us.
I’m just a pet black cat who doesn’t know anything.”
Loran glared at her.
Kariel pretended not to notice, simply emitting a flash of magical light with a ‘pop’.
She transformed, sprouting cat ears and a cat tail.
“I’m just a cute little black cat, meow~”
“Ugh!”
Loran made a look of disgust, vigorously rubbing the goosebumps on her arms, her face turning crimson.
“You pervert, did you drink some kind of potion?
Don’t you find that nauseating?”
“That’s because you’ve been seducing me all along.
You think I can’t tell that you’re wearing that ascetic style to play hard to get?”
Kariel wiggled her fingers in the air, looking at Loran like a lecher, then pounced from the sofa.
…
After a bout of roughhousing.
Kariel sat next to Loran, secretly rubbing her tail against Loran’s thigh.
“Don’t worry, they wouldn’t care about a small fry like you at all.”
“But I’m the first person to suspect the magic furnace; Lawrence and his group will spread the news when they go back.”
“So?” Kariel tilted her head and asked, looking at Loran.
This left Loran speechless, and she said:
“So, the zaun mana furnace’s sales will decline, and it might even be banned.
Then a bunch of nobles will use me as a scapegoat.”
And lock me in a dark room to be toyed with; Loran believed that this kind of thing would definitely happen in this eroge world.
Of course, Loran didn’t say the latter half out loud.
Kariel shook her head upon hearing this.
“You’re overthinking it.”
“In the face of new technology that can use inferior elemental crystals, these things won’t have any impact at all; at most, it will just accelerate technical updates.”
Loran was shocked.
“Hey, hey, hey, this is a new type of mana contamination; a lot of people are going to die, you know?”
Kariel played with her long red hair nonchalantly.
“In the eyes of Transcendent Beingss and nobles, do commoners even count as people?”
“Uh…” Loran was momentarily speechless.
Even on Earth, there were incidents like the Irish Famine where people weren’t treated as human, let alone in an alternate world with magic.
Nobles and Transcendent Beingss rely on mana to live longer, stronger, and smarter lives.
Isn’t it only natural that they don’t treat the lower classes as people?
“Then, besides hiring a mage, is there any other way to cheaply resolve mana contamination?”
Kariel immediately gave her a “you’re dreaming” look; this was mana contamination, not some stray cat or dog. New chapters come out on g.com first.
“If there really were such a method, the Imperial high-ups would have long since dragged it off to manage the forbidden zones.”
But Loran still didn’t give up; she realized this was a blue ocean of commerce.
As someone from Earth, she naturally knew that the wave of an energy revolution was unstoppable.
In other words, a large number of commoners suffering from mana contamination would appear in the future.
As one of the first people to discover the contamination from the zaun mana furnace, she had already gained the advantage.
If she could find a cheap and effective way to treat the mana contamination on commoners.
That would mean endless gold coins and faith.
Kariel seemed to see through Loran’s thoughts and dissuaded her:
“I think you shouldn’t overthink it.
Instead of wasting your brainpower, why not think about what game you want to play with big sister tonight.”
“Tonight?” Loran keenly picked up on this word and exclaimed:
“You’re staying overnight tonight?!”
“What, isn’t it obvious?”
Loran was conflicted inside.
Of course it was obvious; it was exactly the same as when a child visits relatives and drags out the time to stay and play.
But letting a succubus live with her, a lone man and woman together, was simply like a lamb entering a tiger’s den.
By the way, the “woman” in “lone man and woman” referred to herself.
But Kariel had helped her so much today…
After all, logically speaking, as a tiny nun, she could never hire a high-level mage to help her.
Money wouldn’t even work; when you’re out in the world, you rely on influence and connections.
Having just money is useless.
Oh, and her money was in the negative anyway.
In the end, she could only reluctantly agree to Kariel.
…
So, Loran got busy in the idle lounge on the second floor.
The second floor of the church had a structure similar to a large flat, with wooden floors made of a material called Rockwood, which was extremely strong.
The main hall was primarily an alchemy workshop with various material shelves, and paired with floor-to-ceiling windows, it was unexpectedly cozy.
However, the attached small lounge hadn’t been used for a long time, so Loran needed to clean and tidy it up.
Kariel watched from the side, appreciating Loran’s rear armor sticking out while complaining:
“Why are you making big sister sleep in the guest room?
That’s no way to treat a guest.”
Loran’s mouth twitched.
You aren’t looking to sleep, you’re looking to screw…
Your ulterior motives are so blatant they’re hitting me right in the butt, yet you’re still pretending.