Dark Noble 89

Chapter 89 The Truth, Part I

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Edited by: Kanaa-senpai

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 The next morning, on a Saturday,

 I woke up to find a letter addressed to me. It was from Isabella, in response to my request for a meeting to discuss something.

 ’On the XXth and XXth evenings, it’s fine if it’s at night. It would be helpful if the location is near the police headquarters.’

 Great. Isabella agreed to meet. It will take a few days for me to verify the hypothesis I have. Mid next week would be just right.

 I replied accordingly and set out to explore the capital city for the sake of verifying my hypothesis. The more I investigated, the more confident I became in the accuracy of my own hypothesis.

 Even on the weekends, some facilities at the academy, like the library, were still open. There, I found and learned some forgotten magic spells. These were outdated spells that used to be in textbooks.

 These spells are essential for verifying my hypothesis. Although they require a considerable amount of magical power to activate, they are not forbidden. It’s more accurate to say that they have no practical use for ordinary people, including students and faculty.

 On Sunday, I presented my hypothesis to Claire at the White Lily Cafe and borrowed some tableware. Right now, the pressing issue is not Aide but Lana’s territory. It would be best to resolve it as soon as possible.

 I headed straight to Lana’s mansion. This is my first time coming to her mansion. The vines and green colors give it a somewhat forest-like feel.

 After being ushered in by a housemaid, I came face to face with Lana, who was in a casual robe. Naturally, she was extremely surprised.

 ”A-Alba… I-Is something wrong?”

 ”I received various messages from him. I need to talk to you urgently.”

 ”…! I understand. Of course, it’s fine.”

 In this way, as we sat in the reception room facing each other, I relayed Claire’s situation, while carefully omitting the details. It felt impossible to explain without mentioning her incident.

 Well, I could explain it easily as a separate incident that occurred in Midnight Fangs. Lana didn’t press for further details about that either.

 ”I see… There were people with similar symptoms in the royal capital as in my territory.”

 ”Yes. And after some investigation… I’ve come up with a theory.”

 I swallowed hard. Was my theory right?

 ”President, do you know about lead?”

 ”Lead? The soft, easy-to-mold metal?”

 ”That’s right. But did you know? Lead’s super poisonous if you ingest it.”

 ”…I heard something like that. Some metals are toxic. Lead too, huh. Wait, does that mean…”

 ”I believe the illness is caused by lead poisoning.”

 Lana stared at me, dumbfounded.

 ”T-that――but why? My territory doesn’t produce lead. How could it spread so far in the Grand Forest?”

 ”My guess is this for how it spread.”

 I took Moon Moss in a small jar out of my bag. Lana’s eyes widened.

 ”Moon Moss…”

 ”This Moon Moss is pretty tough, right? It can even grow in muddy water. But here’s the weird thing: even though it’s tough, its habitat is super small.”

 ”Y-yeah… It’s a strange moss.”

 ”I wondered if maybe Moon Moss needs a certain metal to grow. It’s just a guess of a guess… but could Moon Moss have the property of absorbing lead?”

 ”That’s… I don’t know. But even if, how would Moon Moss in the Grand Forest get Lead?”

 I pulled out the tableware Claire lent me. It was a cup and a thick plate.

 ”…Graydale ware, right? I think it’s a brand from the north of the Grand Forest.”

 As expected, Lana knew it because it was a brand from a neighboring region. It even shipped a little to the Grand Forest.

 ”It’s different now, but they used to make this tableware with lead and copper.”

 ”Graydale used lead? Looking at their location… maybe the groundwater is connected…”

 ”That’s right. They’re north of the Grand Forest. Probably the groundwater is the problem.”

 ”Yeah… It wouldn’t be strange if the springs and well water in the Great Forest were connected. If they’re digging for lead in Graydale and accidentally flowing into the water… It explains why Moon Moss doesn’t have any toxicity scientifically and why the records of the forest’s epidemic are sporadic.”

 Moon Moss only gets contaminated when the lead from Graydale gets released. If we assume that, it makes sense that Moon Moss itself isn’t poisonous. It’s only contaminated by other factors.

 Research like this was much more advanced in the previous Earth. It’s called bioaccumulation.

 And it’s not always certain that Moon Moss gets contaminated. If it’s such a delicate relationship, it doesn’t always lead to immediate harm. According to the records, the Graydale mines have been declining and recovering repeatedly.

 ”Lead has been regulated and the laws have been revised about a hundred years ago to prevent leakage. But what if… it was secretly leaking in Graydale?”

 ”Through Moon Moss, the elves in the Great Forest are affected by lead poisoning… Yeah, I think the logic adds up. But where’s the evidence, Alba?”

 ”It’s this tableware. It’s a recent piece that shouldn’t contain any lead――but.”

 I put my hand over the cup and activated an old magic spell. I could feel the magic being drawn out completely. At the same time, the cup glowed faintly red… and quickly returned to normal.

 ”This is the ‘Lead Detection Magic.’ It’s exactly what it sounds like. Not many people use it nowadays.”

 This is the magic I hurriedly learned. It seems the dwarves invented it to examine ores.

 But due to the significant amount of magic it requires and the regulations on lead, it fell out of use. Lead poisoning is no longer common, so it became obsolete.

 Lana pursed her lips. She had that expression, as if she was starting to believe my hypothesis.

 ”The person who made this tableware is another victim. He kept making Graydale-style tablewares and ended up passing away…”

 And I shift the conversation to the true culprit.

 ”Currently, the mining operation in Graydale is being carried out by the Dupont Company. Dupont started mining shortly before the outbreak of the epidemic in the great forest. And the deceased person was also making dishes upon the request of Dupont.”

 Of course, this doesn’t mean that I have gathered enough evidence to punish them. This is still a hypothesis.

 ”The true cause of the series of events is believed to be the lead leakage from Dupont. That’s what I think.”

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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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