𝒲𝒾𝓃𝓉ℯ𝓇 𝒲ℴ𝓃𝒹ℯ𝓇𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒹： 𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓌 ℴ𝒻 𝓉𝒽ℯ ℱ𝓇ℴ𝓏ℯ𝓃 ℋℯ𝒶𝓇𝓉

𝓖𝓵𝓸𝓻𝓲𝓸𝓾𝓼 𝓜𝓪𝓼𝓺𝓾𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓭𝓮: 𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 18

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"It's not my fault (mea culpa). I'm not to blame (mea culpa)"

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Fleur City - Waterway

"The fastest way to eradicate the firelotuses is to inundate them with magic until they wilt." Azul reminded them, as Y/n let out an oh. "But as we've established, our group doesn't have the power to do that on our own. So we'll just use an alternate power source." he revealed.

"But who could we turn to for such power when practically all the mages in the city are incapacitated?" Malleus asked. "And there are few mages with magical reserves on par with our own. We'd have to gather hundreds of them." he commented.

"...I'm surprised. You still don't get it?" Azul asked, a little dumbfounded. 'Even Angelfish figured it out...'

"Dude, Malleus... You're powerful and all, but srsly..." Idia nervously grinned. "Are magic pools the be-all and end-all to you? I didn't peg you as an unga bunga, brute force kinda guy." he bluntly says, making Malleus pout.

"DID YOU JUST MOCK MY LIEGE?!?!" Sebek exclaimed in utter shock.

"Not if it's true though." Isfrid bluntly agreed.

"Look, I mean, come ON. If you can't do something yourself, wouldn't you normally use a tool of some kind to get the job done?" Idia asked, flinching from Sebek's gaze. "Isn't using tools to make things easier the mark of intelligent life?"

"Tools?" Malleus questioned.

"There's a real handy one just beggin' to be used—y'know, a magical artifact that sends magic all over the city." Idia hinted.

"It's also loud when rung." Y/n hinted as well.

"All over the... Ah!" Malleus widen his eyes in realization. "The Bell of Solace!"

"Bingo! Hee hee." Idia grinned as Y/n clapped with an unbothered expression. "Remember what Rollo said when we first got attacked in the lecture hall? 'When the Bell of Solace rang for a fourth time, it suffused the city with magic.' Cue smug face emoji. Normally the bell rings three times a day...So Rollo rang it a fourth time to amp up the magic and make the flowers grow like wildfire." he summarized.

"Of course. You're right, all the flowers popped up in the lecture hall immediately after the bell rang. Which means..." Silver muttered, getting the main idea.

"Dyeh heh! Now you got it. One extra ring is enough to make the flowers grow super fast." Idia says, a wide smirk plastered on his face. "So if we ring it a bunch and fill the city with even more magical power...What do you think's gonna happen to all those precious flowers he spent so long carefully cultivating? Hee hee hee!" he chuckled mischievously.

"!!!" Silver and Sebek widen their eyes in realization.

"The city would become even more saturated with magic, and the flowers would get overwhelmed and wilt." Malleus says. "To think that what causes them to flourish would also be their demise..." he grinned darkly.

"Shame..." Y/n meekly says.

"Such a shame, indeed." Isfrid sighed.

"It's exactly like Epel's description of fertilizer burn." Azul recalled.

"So we'll supply the necessary magic with a tool, rather than our own power..." Malleus mumbled. "It's true that I normally never consider that kind of option. There are very few instances where my magic isn't sufficient for a task." he humbly admitted.