Bonus chapter thanks to @Seirra1172 and @Friendly_Noctis from Ko-fi!
“Uh-huh, okay. So, what was the question again?”
“...How did Ms. Philly know there was a Shadow Unit behind it all?”
Frondier spoke, now half-resigned.
The title "Ms. Philly," which he originally used, was a warning to Philly when he first met her.
At that time, Philly clearly underestimated Frondier and threatened him by holding her dagger to him. And it wasn't even a combat dagger, but an ornamental dagger.
Of course, Frondier had no intention of defying the Empress, but he wanted to gain the upper hand at the time.
Philly desperately wanted information about the Dragon Heart, and Frondier wasn't going to just hand it over.
“...Are you going to keep calling mom like that?”
The one who couldn't adapt the most was Aten.
Philly smiled brightly.
“Of course, Aten. Who else would call this mother like that?”
Frondier asked the question, but Philly answered.
“Ah, right. You were talking about noticing the Shadow Unit.”
Philly said that and then gave an awkward smile.
“Actually, it's kind of embarrassing to say... ”
Philly scratched her head as if embarrassed.
Of course, even if Philly showed such a gesture, Frondier couldn't know if she truly felt that way.
The rule when dealing with Philly: Don't believe that the expressions and actions she shows are the truth. Perhaps the number of people who can see through her true intentions can be counted on one hand in this entire continent.
“I haven't used the Dragon Heart yet.”
“Mr. Frondier told me how to use it, right? But I haven't been able to touch it since then.”
At those words, Frondier recalled the past. Come to think of it, he hadn't heard any news about the Dragon Heart sleeping within the Imperial Palace being used.
Of course, the Dragon Heart itself is a secret of the Imperial Family, so there's no way for Frondier, who is outside, to know what happened to it, but if something like that were used, there should be some kind of result.
“It seems like almost a year has passed since then, and you still haven't used it?”
“Yes. My aides are making such a fuss.”
“The way Frondier told me, I have to break the Dragon Heart in the end, right? They can't seem to accept that. What if we end up with nothing and just lose the Heart? Where did you even hear such suspicious information? Ugh, it's frustrating. If you let something you can't use rot away, it's just trash rolling around.”
Frondier smiled bitterly at Philly's lament.
Come to think of it, it was something he hadn't paid attention to, but the Dragon Heart is a treasure of the Imperial Family.
Of course, not many people know of its existence, but if it were to disappear, someone would surely notice. The aides Philly mentioned must be among them.
‘...Probably, if I had to guess, it's Sir Robert, Philly's direct knight.’
He is close enough to Philly to know about the Dragon Heart's existence, and judging by the imitation Philly just did, there's a high probability it's Robert.
“More than anything, creating a barrier to prevent the mana from the destroyed Dragon Heart from escaping is more difficult than I thought.”
Frondier nodded. He already knew about that. In fact, he had guessed that if it took a long time to use the Dragon Heart, it would probably be for that reason.
When Frondier played as the protagonist Aster, he succeeded in absorbing the Dragon Heart into his body. That's why he knows how to use the Dragon Heart.
But as Philly said, trapping all the mana of a once-destroyed Dragon Heart within a barrier was quite difficult.
The barrier must be perfect, without even the slightest leak, and one must have excellent mana control to withstand the power of the Dragon Heart.
‘The only one who could do that was Lunia Fricell.’
Lunia Fricell, close to being the official heroine of the game "Etius".
Lunia is almost the opposite of Elodie. While Elodie, with her tremendous combination of magic and divine power, unleashes ridiculous destructive power but is poor at controlling her strength, Lunia, while not capable of such large-scale magic, is near perfect in mana manipulation and control.
Lunia's delicate manipulation is almost an innate talent, so if she were just hear the method, she could probably create a barrier to trap the Dragon Heart right now.
‘The problem is that the current me has almost no connection with Lunia.’
When playing as Aster, Lunia was the most familiar character in this game, but ironically, she is the most unfamiliar person to the current Frondier. Even though they became classmates in the second year, they hardly ever talked.
And even if Lunia agreed to help, there's no way Philly or anyone else would allow her to be brought into the Imperial Palace.
“So, I often talked to my aides in front of the Dragon Heart, and that's when I discovered it.”
“Traces of intrusion. My aides and I always follow a certain routine when we go to see the Dragon Heart. So, we can identify any other traces.”
At those words, Frondier and Aten's eyes widened.
“Coming to see the Dragon Heart without my permission takes guts, but there aren't many people who can do that in the first place. Someone who knows about the Dragon Heart, someone who needs it, and someone who has to sneak in because they have something to hide. Within the Imperial Palace, all those circumstances can only point in one direction.”
“...Indeed, that's true.”
The Dragon Heart, such an easy-to-understand goal.
“The Shadow Unit intends to use the Dragon Heart's mana to create mana injections.”
“Yes. But they still don't know how to use the Dragon Heart, so it seems they just checked the location and returned.”
Frondier knows the power of the Dragon Heart better than anyone.
Even when Frondier was still inexperienced, he used that power to cut off one of Renzo's arms. Even now, with his mana full, he still uses the Dragon Heart occasionally.
The Dragon Heart was always necessary for him to achieve something beyond his own mana.
Injecting that power into humans through injections. If that truly is the goal of the Shadow Unit, if they succeed, it will become something beyond a mere weapon.
‘Mana injections collide with the mana the injected person originally possessed, drawing out even greater power. It's a completely different concept from when I, as Aster, absorbed the Dragon Heart's mana.’
An explosive power incomparable to that will be created, and the injected person will surely be unable to control it.
The Shadow Unit wants to somehow inject humans with the Dragon Heart's injection to create immense power, but the runaway of overflowing magic power is not a weapon, it's just a disaster.
If there's any use for it, it would be to drop the human created in that way into the middle of the monsters beyond the barrier. That kind of mutually assured destruction could be attempted.
“I want to use the Dragon Heart before the Shadow Unit takes it first, but as I said, it's not an easy problem.”
Philly's tone was unusually grumbling.
‘...Should I make a suggestion?’
Lunia's participation. That's the only way to increase the possibility of using the Dragon Heart right now. In the current situation, Philly will somehow persuade her aides.
If consuming the Dragon Heart is somehow necessary for Philly, it also becomes a matter of concern for Frondier.
Philly always acts for the Empire. If it's a plan grand enough to require the Dragon Heart, it will ultimately benefit Frondier as well.
Therefore, Frondier cautiously opened his mouth.
“Does Ms. Philly absolutely need the Dragon Heart?”