Reincarnated as a Genius Prodigy of a Prestigious Family - Chapter 243

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Reincarnated as a Legendary Talent Genius of a Noble Family Episode 243

161. The Mana Stone Theft Case (2)

Competitor.

At those words, Viscount Otier flinched.

“Competitor. That would be the most logical suspect.”

Priscilla chimed in agreement.

Competitor.

Who would be interested in the experiments of a fallen noble with a run-down mansion and barely any connections left in noble society?

It certainly wasn’t petty theft, but a thoroughly planned theft crime.

“Do you have competitors?”

“…To call them competitors…”

So there is something.

“They’re too big an opponent to dare call them competitors.”

At those words, Priscilla snapped her fingers as if something came to mind.

“Count Altair’s Estate.”

It occurred to me too.

Count Altair’s Estate.

The only family that has virtually monopolized the pharmaceutical market with their hereditary pharmaceutical techniques passed down through generations.

“They are incredibly big.”

No, perhaps that’s exactly why they’d target this.

But there’s nothing certain, and there’s probably nothing we can find in this laboratory.

“You said you left everything as is to avoid contaminating the scene?”

“Yes, th-that’s right.”

“We probably won’t find anything.”

“Why…is that?”

“Would people who disabled security devices and left leisurely not cover their tracks?”

As evidence of this, no matter how much I heighten my sensing ability, there’s nothing special to catch.

Of course, time passing could be a factor, but right now the floor is completely clean without a single trace.

“Can’t we identify the infiltration route and investigate? You know, like you did yesterday. Over there.”

Priscilla’s words were suggesting we use Jenna’s necromancy.

But it would be difficult.

“Even if we figure it out, it’s such a narrow area that it won’t be easy. At best we’d only reveal feet, and if we specify the location wrong, we’d just waste energy.”

“Hmm…”

And this isn’t something Jenna needs to know about yet. Only Big Sister, Sidrain, and Priscilla here know about the mana stone business.

Most importantly, there’s a way to find out without all that.

Did I really just hand over mana stones with insane efficiency that shouldn’t exist in this world yet?

“Wait.”

I had the two step back and then rearranged my mana.

Then I felt the direction of the mana.

Northeast.

I immediately pulled out a map from my pocket and estimated the northeast direction from our current location…

“As expected.”

Count Altair’s mansion appears.

Though it’s a rough map, I checked the directions precisely so there’s no chance of error.

“This confirms about half of it for now.”

“What did you do?”

“I gauged the location of the mana stone. I’ll check a few more times on the way there.”

Naturally, checking just once isn’t accurate.

It’s pointing toward Count Altair’s estate, but just in case it might point northeast even past Count Altair’s estate.

Or it might point in a completely different direction before we even arrive.

“But even if we identify it, we can’t corner Count Altair.”

“That’s right. But there are ways to make it unusable and extract information.”

Did I only make it possible to gauge the location?

Big Sister is serious about managing inventions.

While the research notes being stolen before was unavoidable, she said there had been several attempts to target prototypes or extract information before.

So, similar arrangements were made for the special mana stones I created.

“Count Altair.”

He’s not actually a very well-known figure in noble society.

Rather, I heard he achieved great success in business and focuses solely on continuously accumulating wealth based on that.

A different approach from other nobles who put effort into socializing and try to get close to the center of power.

So I never thought we’d get entangled, but who knew it would turn out like this.

“Um, but… if it involves Count Altair, things might become incredibly difficult…”

I tilted my head at those words.

“Don’t you want to cure your daughter’s illness?”

“…I’m just worried about my benefactor. As you well know, having a count title with that much money and business means…”

Count title.

That much money.

Monopolistic business.

And the prestige that comes from it.

I’ve heard this somewhere before.

I chuckled and answered.

“Just focus on treating your daughter.”

I said that while opening my subspace.

“Looking at the report you sent last time, it seems experiments are temporarily possible even without experimental equipment.”

“That’s right. But to do it properly, we need experimental equipment, and to create new ones would require time and money…”

What I took out was a mana stone.

And a pouch containing Crown gold coins.

“This should be enough.”

“Good heavens.”

Viscount Otier sat down with a thud, too moved to even think of accepting what I handed him.

I approached him and pressed the mana stone and pouch into his hands.

“I’m not just giving this away. It’s an ‘investment’. I’ll recover what I’ve given.”

“Yes, yes…”

Viscount Otier answered in a daze.

For now, this puts out the urgent fire on this side.

Ah. One thing remains.

“What are you doing?”

“Just in case there are more intruders.”

I carefully installed traps along the expected infiltration routes and camouflaged them appropriately.

With these, intruders will be knocked unconscious at minimum, seriously injured at worst.

“This could work as bait too.”

If they come here again before we make our move in earnest, it would serve excellently as bait.

But there’s no need to call them here for that reason.

“It would be best not to make contact with anyone and focus only on experiments for the time being.”

“Yes, yes.”

What are those who stole the experimental equipment and mana stones trying to do with them?

I can roughly guess.

They’re planning to steal the credit based on that.

If I reverse-engineer the experimental equipment and roughly understand the principles, I’ll be able to figure out what they’re trying to make…

There’s no need to go through such a troublesome process.

Viscount Otier has been devoted to developing a cure for his daughter for a long time, and anyone who knows would be aware of it.

“I’m truly… so very sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, Viscount Otier.”

How could the one who was deceived be the bad guy?

The one doing the deceiving is the bad guy.

Viscount Otier simply wanted to save his daughter.

“And please take this as well.”

Therefore, I handed Viscount Otier an item.

“This is…”

“It’s a protective item. If there are intruders or threats to your safety, you can use it.”

What they took were the experimental equipment and the special mana stone.

The special mana stone is certainly an item that could arouse people’s greed.

So someone might come looking for Viscount Otier again.

“Th, thank you.”

Of course, that won’t solve everything, but since it sends me a signal the moment it’s activated, it should buy enough time for me to get there.

“Shall we go?”

We left Viscount Otier’s mansion, and as soon as we came out, Priscilla asked as if she had been waiting.

“Are we going straight to the mansion?”

“No. We’ll just identify the location and go straight to the temple.”

“The… temple?”

At the mention of temple, Priscilla tilted her head.

It’s natural since I suddenly mentioned a temple.

But if my prediction is correct, they must come to the temple.

Otherwise, they might die.

“You’ll understand when you see.”

I don’t like people who touch what’s mine.

In my previous life, too much of what was mine was taken away.

So, that won’t happen again.

Altair County Manor.

Two people stood before the brilliantly glowing mana stone.

“This is exactly…”

“Viscount Otier. These are the equipment and mana stone that man used for his experiments.”

“Excellent. Both the experimental equipment and this incredible mana stone that enabled him to continue experiments with such absurd equipment.”

Count Altair never let even the smallest seed pass by.

That was exactly why Count Altair’s pharmaceutical business could flourish.

He would win over competitors, eliminate them, and if necessary, even steal their technology.

The same goes for Viscount Otier.

He had already known from before that the man would throw everything away to save his daughter and focus only on experiments, research, and development.

“I thought he had given up since there was no particular news.”

But he hadn’t paid much attention to the truly absurd experimental equipment and research purposes.

Still, he had been keeping watch continuously…

“To think he was continuously making things like this.”

Count Altair was well-versed in this field.

So after briefly examining the experimental equipment and the components on it, he could roughly guess what they were trying to make.

‘Once it’s completed, several of our products will simply be ruined. And they’re our main products too.’

If Viscount Otier’s research were completed, the family’s market monopoly might no longer be maintained.

So, it must be stopped.

By any means necessary.

That’s why he had it brought here like this.

To prevent it from being completed at all.

Since he’s someone who wouldn’t be swayed by persuasion anyway.

Or…

“We could make it ourselves.”

Once completed, the stage might expand from the entire Empire to the entire continent.

Basic healing medicine.

It removes the cause of infection, prevents the spread of epidemics, and suppresses bacteria.

What a simple yet amazing medicine this is.

A medicine that might even negate the existence of priests.

‘How tempting.’

Count Altair asked.

“When you brought this, was there anything particularly strange or concerning?”

The one who answered was Count Altair’s loyal subordinate and former assassin, a man called by the codename ‘Tuva’.

“There wasn’t. As planned, I infiltrated, disabled the alarm system, erased all traces, and left – it took less than 5 minutes total.”

“Then there should be no problem.”

Still, if there’s something bothering him-

‘Just who made such an efficient mana stone?’

He hasn’t tested it precisely.

But he knows.

That operating such experimental equipment would be impossible with existing mana stones.

The fact that this experimental equipment runs normally means this mana stone he’s seeing for the first time has exceptional efficiency.

“Hmm.”

Count Altair stroked his chin.

Actually, what he’s coveting now is this mana stone itself.

The efficiency of mana stones is a problem many researchers have now given up on.

The consensus is that nothing beyond the supreme grade mana stones currently on the market can be produced.

Yet, isn’t it right here before his eyes now?

A mana stone far more incredible than those.

“I’ll need to do some experiments.”

Count Altair recalled several research projects that had made no progress due to mana stone efficiency problems.

And shortly after, he moved the mana stone, removed the existing mana stone he had been using, and installed it.

“Let’s see…”

What he’s conducting now is an experiment to develop medicine with powerful painkilling effects.

It had been frequently interrupted due to mana stone efficiency problems…

“Good heavens…”

It works.

And very smoothly at that.

The combination and analysis work is running smoothly without stopping.

Count Altair’s eyes flashed.

“This is incredible.”

With this, he can do anything.

All sorts of suspended research projects come to mind.

Not only can he resume those, but he can also improve the effects of existing medicines and sell them at higher prices.

He unconsciously swallows his saliva.

Count Altair finally asked.

“Track down Viscount Otier’s whereabouts. And if possible… extract information from him.”

“Understood.”

Former assassin, codename Tuva.

He understood the instructions clearly and immediately thought of what he needed to do.

“I will find out everything about the mana stones.”

“Kill them if necessary.”

“Yes.”

It was right when they finished speaking.

“Huh?”

Crackle!

Something flashed with light from the mana stone—

“Aaaaaaahhhhh!”

Count Altair let out a single scream, trembled all over, and collapsed to the floor with a thud.

“Count!”

Tuva rushed over urgently and checked the Count’s condition.

His eyes had rolled back, and convulsions were wracking his entire body.

Tuva instinctively knew.

This couldn’t be solved with medicine.

“The temple.”

He needed the power of a priest that would take effect immediately.

“Damn it all.”

Tuva, rarely showing emotion, lifted Count Altair onto his back.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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