The next morning, when Ino woke up after nearly twelve hours of sleep, she looked much better.
From Ino's mental state, yesterday's slight mana overdraw had not caused her any substantial impact.
Just as Klein had said—yesterday's exaggerated magical effect, its mana consumption did not entirely come from Ino herself.
Then, when a relieved Lux and Ino finished breakfast together in the hotel's restaurant, the Enforcer who had sent them back yesterday indeed came to find them.
He very politely stated that he needed to invite them to make a statement and record what they had seen yesterday.
Lux and Ino naturally had no objections.
Following the Enforcer's steps, they quickly arrived at the Enforcer's office hall.
In an office at the very end of the second floor, they met the head of the Piltover Enforcers responsible for the matter.
"This is Ms. Grayson," the Enforcer leading Lux introduced, "She is the sheriff of Piltover, mainly responsible for work in the Academy District."
"Ms. Grayson." Lux politely nodded, "So, what exactly do you want to know?"
"Mainly about the specific details of yesterday's explosion." Grayson's skin was dark, but even so, it couldn't hide her severe dark circles under her eyes, "Tell me, what did you two see yesterday?"
"An explosion, the building exploded." Lux replied in a calm tone, "Four stories, completely split open from the middle, even the road cracked."
"Thank you very much, miss." Grayson nodded, clearly not surprised by this answer, "So, before the explosion, did you hear or see anything?"
"No." Lux put on a thoughtful expression, then shook her head, "I was just walking normally on the street—at that time, I had just finished watching a performance, it was very exciting, and I was discussing the plot with my friend."
"Thank you very much for your information." Grayson said in a perfunctory tone, "Also, this must be the mage who helped yesterday, right? Clan Giroman is very grateful for your help and has entrusted me with a bonus to give you."
Saying that, Grayson took out a bag from her drawer, along with a commendation letter, and handed it to Ino.
"Sign your name here under recipient—Ino, what an unusual name… Alright, this matter is concluded for the two of you, no need to see you off."
Ino took the bag and the document, examined them carefully, and finally signed her name at the bottom in the witness section.
Then, the two were politely escorted out by the Enforcer.
Lux and Ino, led by the Enforcer, had just left the office when they ran into another group of people in the corridor.
"Hey, Marcus!" The Enforcer approaching them seemed to be an active person; he actively reached out and greeted the Enforcer who was with Lux, "Is the boss still in the office?"
"She is." Marcus nodded, "I suggest you don't be so flippant; she's quite annoyed right now!"
"Hehe, even if she really gets angry, that anger won't be directed at me." The lively Enforcer smiled, "This Mr. Jayce is probably the one who will truly bear the brunt of the anger…"
"Please, Brummer, stop teasing me, okay?" The guy named Jayce sighed helplessly, "From explosion victim to prisoner, I'm already unlucky enough; your job is just to take me to see the sheriff, and maybe also to send me to the prison, but in any case, there's no verbal education part."
"Alright, alright." Brummer shrugged, showing an understanding expression, "Leave the verbal reprimand part to our boss; you should be glad she's not a chatterbox…"
"The explosion victim turned into a prisoner?" Lux looked at Jayce somewhat strangely, "Were you also caught in that explosion?"
"That's right." Jayce subconsciously nodded, answering mechanically as if he had said it countless times, "I was conducting a bit of independent research, and I'm sorry the research had a certain danger—wait, who are you?"
"A key witness to the explosion, a concerned citizen." Marcus replied in a lowered voice, "You should thank her; if it weren't for that little girl with light blonde hair, you probably would have been buried alive."
"Those ice!" Jayce's eyes widened excitedly upon hearing this, "Those exaggerated ice from yesterday, did you create them?"
"Hey, mind your place!" Seeing that Jayce's emotions seemed a bit too agitated, Brummer quickly pulled his handcuffs, "Calm down, Jayce, you'll make it difficult for all of us!"
"Sorry…" Jayce stopped somewhat awkwardly, trying hard to control his emotions, "I mean, you created that ice, with magic, right?"
"Enchantment magic." Ino nodded, showing a warm smile, "If it helped you, that's great."
"Thank you very much—thank you very much, uh…"
"My name is Ino."
"Thank you very much, Miss Ino." Jayce let out a long breath, "I am Jayce, and also the owner of that studio; I am very grateful for your help; without your help, all my materials and data would have been destroyed in that explosion."
"Though they're still sealed off now." Brummer tirelessly debunked Jayce, "Don't waste time, Jayce, the boss is waiting for us."
"It's quite subtle indeed." Walking out of the building, recalling Jayce whom she had just met in the corridor, Lux couldn't help but exclaim, "A Zaunite blew up a Piltover building, only to find that the studio inside was conducting dangerous experiments—Piltover really has an unknown side to it!"
"There are too many unknown things." Klein's tone was also very surprised, "Moreover, this kind of illegal experiment is also related to the World Rune…"
"To be honest, Klein." Lux's tone became serious, "What you told me before, about the things left in Zaun, is it related to the World Rune?"
"It is somewhat." Klein admitted Lux's guess, "What, are you already impatient to end your vacation and want to go see Zaun?"
"Not impatient." Lux shook her head, "I just feel it's a bit unusual."
"Of course it's unusual." Klein snorted, pointing out the crux of the problem, "Ms. Grayson's attitude was quite off."
"The oddness comes from Ms. Grayson?" Lux was stunned for a moment, then quickly reacted, "That's right, she wants to smooth things over—so that bonus was actually from her own pocket?"
"But she said the money came from a family called Jiramanne?" Bringing up the bonus, Ino, who was happily counting money nearby, looked up somewhat strangely, "I even signed a commendation letter!"
"Although I don't know what Clan Giroman is." Lux smiled and glanced at the money in the bag, "But I'm very clear that if this money came from a commercial family, it would absolutely not be given to you in this form—someone who can afford a large bonus wouldn't use the Enforcer's usual memo paper for a thank-you letter, would they?"
"Sharp observation, Lux." Klein finally spoke with approval upon hearing this, "In short, this explosion has enough things for us to care about, whether it's the Hextech Gemstone, or the Enforcer's subtle attitude, and the bomber from Zaun… I smell a conspiracy."
Klein's Small Class · Sponsors:
Piltover's scientists rely on sponsors' funding, and in return, sponsors have priority access to their research results.
Of course, there are also independent researchers who earn their own money and spend it themselves; such people either soar to success or go bankrupt, then scurry off to Zaun.
PS. Klein does not know the plot of Arcane.