"I know where the magic is," Fisher said.
Prince Luosang and the others turned to Fisher simultaneously, only to see him pointing at the ground, saying,
"The people from the New Party must have turned this building inside out in their search, but they missed one place: the water pipes below the surface. Those pipes are several meters below the ground and go undetected by magical instruments."
"Wait, you mean the pipes? Impossible, I’ve seen a sample of Nali City’s water pipes displayed at the Nali City Administration. Those pipes are incredibly narrow, not even a bug can get through, and it’s impossible to engrave Super Ring magic on them. Super Ring magic differs from other magics, it requires a minimum area for engraving, not to mention Space Magic which has the most intense resonance level. It’s unthinkable for a few centimeters of pipe!"
After hearing this, Roger shook his head and looked at Fisher. Just as Fisher shook his head about to explain, Principal Ken sighed beside him,
"No... Fisher is right; it is possible. Saint Nali University has its own water pipes, invested in and built solely by the exploration company, not only are they the most complete in all of Nali but are also significantly different from the pipes in the city, they’re an entire circle larger than the city’s..."
"Oh, what? We have our own drainage pipes, but Fisher came after me, how does he know?"
"I heard it from the board of directors before."
Roger looked at Fisher with a surprising and admiring expression.
In fact, Fisher himself had also been pondering where in the Pink Hall the magic engraving would most likely be. It’s absolutely impossible for it to be on the surface; it was not only easy to spot but also didn’t have enough time to carve.
Then if it were underneath the ground, it would most likely be in the pipes. As for why Fisher knew that Saint Nali University’s pipes were different from anywhere else in Nali, it was because last time when he came to the Gedelin Festival with Elizabeth and Renie, a board member next to them was introducing the unique features of Saint Nali University to the parents, which mentioned that the university’s pipes were independently constructed underground.
The real evidence Fisher suspected they had entered through the water pipes emerged when he suddenly remembered what Martha had said while at his rental house, that the water pipes outside the block were broken, and his landlord had the water shut off for a whole day because of this.
It was very likely that the magic device came into Saint Nali University’s underground from the Saint Nali water system, but because the underground pipes in Saint Nali Land were so narrow, they were damaged by the device.
Overall, this was his line of thought, but it was just a hypothesis, and Fisher was not yet certain.
"My God, I always said it was a good decision for Princess Elizabeth to ask you to attend the Gedelin Festival; otherwise, you would never have thought of this,"
Roger obviously agreed with Fisher’s guess, because it seemed that from top to bottom, the only place not surveyed was underground, and he credited himself for thinking this because initially, it was his order, under command from Elizabeth, that made Fisher stay.
Although Roger didn’t know, because of his decision, it caused Renie and Elizabeth to have a big fight.
Upon hearing this, Prince Luosang stamped his foot on the solid ground, frowning,
"But the problem is, the water pipes you’re describing are several meters below the surface, how are we going to break through the ground? There are no tools here, and it’s not realistic to try to chip it away with a dagger."
He glanced at the dagger in Carolina’s hand, then at her pale fingers. Moli behind them lifted her head, seeming to have a way to open the ground, needing to transform back into a Whale-man if there really was no other way...
Fisher shook his head decidedly at her then raised his Handcane and said,
"I have a better way, my Handcane is engraved with Gravity Magic of a High Ring, but I need everyone to go outside to the first floor of the building. There’s been a spatial shift here, but the water pipe should still be beneath the floor of the first floor, also to avoid accidental injury..."
But just as Fisher finished speaking, another series of roars came from outside, again from the all-too-familiar Human Worms, just as Fisher and Luosang had previously speculated, those creatures indeed could not be killed off completely; they would quickly resurrect somewhere else!
"What... What?! Go outside? No, no, we can’t go out, I don’t want to be eaten by those things!"
Hearing they had to go out, the young men and many scholars in the back disagreed; they were close to death even while guarding here, going out would surely be worse?
Fisher did not respond but looked towards the corridor where the creatures had started pouring in through the windows. The muscles on those Human Worms were now as solid as blocks of iron, each appearing much larger than the first time he saw them, their bodies engraved with numerous magics, like dangerous, explosive infantrymen flocking this way.
Looking at their own side, several old men, frail young men, and youngsters trembling with fear...
Fisher figured it would be a miracle if they could hold out.
So, he reluctantly took off his coat, handed it to Moli, stretched his body, ready to step out with his Handcane,
"Then I’ll go alone, I’ll do my best to destroy the pipes below; if the magic is indeed there."
"I’ll go with you...if the magic is really there, probably all the Human Worms will target you, and you might not be able to hold them off alone..."