Chapter 1563 (2/2)
If Randidly found a Nether Gatekeeper, would be able to beat it in a fight…? The prospect made his mouth water and his eyes sparkle. Plus, even if he inflicted a deadly wound on the Nether Gatekeeper, its Purity would become Stature, elevating it into an even more dangerous existence...
Yet he could only sigh and shake his head in regret. Not yet. Better to wait for that a bit.
Randidly brought Nether to his fingers and drifted closer to the wall. Time to start thinking about my own significance that I will anchor on a physical core…
*****
Lady Iellaya tilted her head to the side. “Is this… really necessary…?”
Edraine nodded forcefully, her mouth pressed into a thin line. “I had my suspicions when there was no corruption found in the Military High Command investigation, but after reading through the records… well, it’s definitely been quite an illuminating few days. I fear that we are missing something extremely large that is occurring right beneath our noses. Even more than our plan to steal Elhume’s body… if we can figure out this truth…”
Octavius Shrike, who was sitting in the corner of the study in front of a pile of open scrolls, stirred. He raised his horned head and blinked. Then he shook his head, a blank expression on his face. “So if things would have continued as they were… just like the previous Overseer, I would have been accused of corruption…? But why…?”
“Very likely,” Edraine stood up and stretched. Even though it was foolish, Lady Iellaya couldn’t help but be slightly taken aback by the smooth practice of the very human movement. Most of the time, Edraine sat at her desk like a statuesque goddess. To see her roll her neck like a normal person… was rather unexpected. But perhaps Lady Iellaya’s response was also a result of feeling Edraine’s image as she blasted Neveah’s nail down toward Randidly.
To make sure that the nail had reached its destination, Edraine hadn’t held back in the least. The horrifying orange light Lady Iellaya had felt across her skin… her hands tightened to fists just remembering it. Even though it was several hours ago, her body hadn’t forgotten the sensation. I still have much more growing to do.
“As for why…” Edraine shook her head. “Even I cannot gather the details just from these reports. But let me ask you something broadly about the Nexus; why do we have an Aether shortage?”
Lady Iellaya glanced at Octavius, who seemed bewildered by the question. The Overseer cleared his throat. “Well… because people use it? As more and more people have joined in the Nexus… we both need to provide more raw Aether to them so they can grow, and also we need to power the Nexus Ways and other amenities of the Nexus. The Nexus’ size has ballooned through the last three Cohorts. So what are you trying to say by asking that…?”
“I just want to point something out,” Edraine shrugged elegantly. She reached for her coat that hung on the back of her chair and slid her arms into the garment. “I agree with your first point… people without any exposure to Aether grow by gathering raw Aether and utilizing it directly, learning as they do so. But as for the second drain on our resources… isn’t that nonsense? I could take a pinch of any sort of Aether and refine it with my own image, to the point that most of the Nexus would be powered. In terms of efficiency at utilizing Aether, we have two individuals in the Nexus who have reached the Pinnacle; they can make the fake, real with their wills. Either could entirely eliminate the demand for refined Aether.”
“But it’s not like we can ask the most powerful people in the Nexus to work as power plants,” Lady Iellaya argued.
Edraine’s mouth twitched as she glanced over at her. “Well, that isn’t wrong. But there are plenty sufficiently talented individuals who are middling in terms of the Nexus hierarchy to eliminate the need for refined Aether completely. Which only leaves the demand for raw Aether as the driver of our ‘Aether shortages’.
“The Nexus earns raw Aether two ways: by passively controlling a larger area and gathering the energy over time and by breaking down the inefficiently refined Aether taken from failed planets. The second method causes quite a bit of energy loss… almost 30%, because the emotions held by those individuals persist, despite our best efforts. But the Nexus now covers an obscene amount of territory. The passive gathering of Aether should more than cover our needs. And also remember, the only reason the Nexus needs so much more raw Aether… is because it claimed that it did and subsequently expanded so rapidly. Normally, the Nexus shouldn’t have an Aether shortage at all.”
Octavius was clearly lost. “So…”
But Lady Iellaya’s eyes widened. “So… because this framing of the Overseers for corruption is a pattern… and clearly supported by someone highly placed in the Nexus… that Aether is being used for something else. But… they are siphoning off the raw Aether, not the refined version that is more valuable for those who already have powerful images. Why would they need the raw form? Basically only those weaklings without any of their own Aether and unable to purify it with their image would want raw Aether.”
Edraine gestured at Lady Iellaya with a finger as she walked to the door. “And that question is exactly why we must go visit the former Overseer. Because of how tightly guarded he is… I suspect he noticed something.”