When Dr. Marshall opened the door, Shaan immediately saw Chelsie and Nalira sitting on a brown chair in the middle of the room. The two women seemed to be talking with Mr. Courier without realizing that Shaan and Dr. Marshall were standing at the door.
’Thank goodness they’re all okay.’
"Dr. Marshall, have you..." Nalira, who happened to glance toward the door, widened her eyes in surprise. "Sh-Shaan?"
’Huh? How did she know my disguise?’
Chelsie, hearing Nalira’s words, immediately ran over to Shaan. "Oh my gosh, thank goodness you’re okay. We all thought you were...."
"Hey, stop talking like that," said Mr. Courier, walking toward Shaan. "Glad to see you back, Shaan."
"Yes, I’m also glad to see all of you." Shaan smiled. "But how did all of you know my disguise?"
"The hoodie. You’re the only one wearing something like that in the Dark Realm."
"Right." Chelsie nodded. "And the sneakers with mud stains you were wearing."
’Oh, it seems these women have strong memories.’
"Dr. Marshal, once again, I thank you for being willing to help my friends," said Mr. Courier. "Without your help, I might not have been able to meet them."
"You’re welcome." Dr. Marshal smiled. "I’m very happy to help. Alright, now it’s time to discuss the plan regarding -."
"Uhm... sorry to interrupt you, Dr. Marshal," Chelsie said. "But, don’t you smell something?"
"Smell something?" Shaan furrowed his brow, then removed his mask. "Oh, yes, I smell it. It smells like something is burning."
Nalira nodded. "Right. It also seems to be coming from around here."
"Sir, are you sure you didn’t forget something this time?"
Hearing Mr. Courier’s words, Dr. Marshall quickly shook his head. "No, of course not. I’m certain I didn’t forget anything this time. Before leaving the house, I went to the lab to..."
"For what, sir?" Mr. Courier furrowed his brow.
"Oh, damn. Could it be..."
"Dr. Marshall, what’s wrong?" What are you saying?"
Without responding to Shaan’s words, Dr. Marshall rushed out, leaving Shaan behind, and ran to the adjacent room. The door opened, and just a few seconds later, the sound of Dr. Marshall’s hurried footsteps descending the stairs could be heard. Strange. Why did Dr. Marshall seem so rushed? What was really going on?
"It seems there’s a problem in the lab. I need help, Sir. Marshal right away."
They rushed to the next room and saw that thick smoke was already filling the space. Damn. It turned out that what they had suspected all along was true. Something was burning on the floor below.
"Oh my God, what’s happening?" Chelsie panicked. "We have to help Dr. Shaan. He definitely needs our help."
"Wait, Elsie." Nalira immediately grabbed Chelsie’s hand. "The smoke is too thick, and we can’t see anything clearly down there."
"B-But we can’t leave Dr. Marshal alone down there!"
"You’re right. What Nalira said makes sense," Shaan nodded. "If we push through that thick smoke, we might fall or pass out from breathing in too much of it."
Chelsie paused for a moment. "O-okay, I get it."
"I’ll go in and look for Mr. Marshal," said Mr. Courier. "A homunculus like me won’t faint from inhaling thick smoke . So, you all stay here."
"I understand," Shaan replied with a nod. "In that case, the three of us will try to clear the smoke from this room."
With no time to waste, they immediately rushed to open all the windows in the room. Slowly, the smoke filling the entire room began to dissipate, and at least now it wasn’t as thick as before.
"I’m just curious about Dr. Marshal’s condition and..."
The sound of footsteps climbing the stairs suddenly rang out, and shortly thereafter, Mr. Courier and Dr. Marshal appeared at the door. Dr. Marshal stepped outside wearing a gas mask covering his face. He then walked over to one of the nearby windows and removed the mask from his face.
"Ah. Finally." Dr. Marshal took a deep breath. "At least I can breathe fresh air again. It was suffocating down there, and I almost ran out of oxygen."
"Dr. Marshal, are you okay?" Chelsie immediately approached Dr. Marshal with a worried expression.
"I’m fine. Thank you for asking."
"Dr. Marshal, what really happened?" Shaan quickly walked toward him. "Why was there smoke coming from below?"
"Oh, yes, about that. I forgot to turn off the flame in the Athanor, so the sample material collected by the courier burned and charred." Dr. Marshal scratched his head and smiled sheepishly. "Darn, I had gone to the lab earlier and was pretty sure I turned off the flame before heading to the courtroom," said Dr. Marshal. "However, it turns out I really did forget to turn it off, and the fire started."
"What, Sir Marshal said is true," Mr. Courier nodded. "But there’s no need to worry now, because we managed to take care of everything."
"Athanor?" Nalira furrowed her brow upon hearing the word. "What is that? I’ve never heard that term before."
"Athanor is an alchemical furnace made of clay, designed to maintain a constant temperature over a long period of time, used in the process of transmutation or distillation of potions by alchemists," explained Dr. Marshal. "Alchemists typically use it to slowly heat potions."
"Oh... I see." Nalira nodded.
"Sir. Marshal, you should be more careful," Mr. Courier advised. "If you had noticed it later, the entire house might have burned down, and our neighbors would certainly label us negatively."
"Yes, you’re right," Dr. Marshal nodded quickly upon hearing Mr. Courier’s words. "Thank you for helping me."
"You’re welcome." Mr. Courier smiled. "It’s my duty to protect you, Sir."
’Goodness, I never expected Dr. Shaan to be such a forgetful person.’ Shaan shook his head.
"Dr. Shaan... I want to ask about what you said earlier," Nalira said curiously. "So, what plan were you referring to?"
"Plan?" Dr. Shaan scratched his head repeatedly. "What plan? I have no idea what you’re talking about."