"Vol-san, what room is this?"
"My laboratory, how is it? It must feel quite strange seeing a room like this inside my group's residence, right?"
"I can't lie... In reality, that's true, this is quite surprising to me."
——
I really didn't expect Vol-san to show me his lab, this is too sudden for me.
Then, what does he want to show me in this room? Could it be that he wants to show some experiment he has conducted?
Just thinking about that makes me shiver a little, I hope he doesn't show something strange.
There are also no windows and no doors open in here, Vol-san said he deliberately did that so that nothing could get out.
What he meant was the pink-colored smoke covering the floor of this room, maybe around a few centimeters.
I don't know what that smoke is, perhaps its composition comes from magic and chemical substances, because when I tried to touch it, the smoke felt cold.
"So, what object do you want to show me? Is the context different from what we were just talking about?" I asked while looking at him who was opening a desk locker.
He seemed to take out a small glass box from there, then he placed it on the table.
"I myself have the same wish as you all, even since long ago. Because of that, someone like me who can't do anything decided to keep opening books and studying everything in front of me."
Vol-san walked toward a cabinet, then took several items from there, then took others from a different place.
"I have tried various kinds of potions and ways of making them, to forcibly destroy the slave collar."
"Perhaps I have tried it dozens of times, and all of them ended in failure."
"But the last one, I haven't tried it yet, that's why I want to do it now."
The timing is very fitting, because my Party is discussing the abolition of the slave system, that's why he is conducting the experiment now, in front of me.
"How likely is it to succeed?" I asked.
"There is no definite proof yet, at the moment its status is still impossible to accomplish."
—
I stood beside him, I wanted to see his actions more closely while helping him if necessary.
"In books, there is no potion for destroying objects coated with magic like that collar, that's why I made a breakthrough, I mixed several potions that come close to it."
All the books scattered on the first floor, he has already finished all of them?!
If that's the case, I'm very sure the knowledge he possesses must be vast, maybe he is on the same level as Luke.
He mixed several liquids into a small oval-shaped glass, he combined them slowly.
After everything was mixed, he covered the glass with cloth before starting to shake it, so that all the elements would blend together even more.
This is the first time I have seen a chemical experiment this closely, this is truly an experience I will never forget.
His hands stopped moving, then he removed the cloth from the top of the glass and poured the liquid inside onto a transparent board, letting it spread.
The mixture of those various liquids has now turned bright blue, the color is perhaps almost the same as the daytime sky.
"Sahiko-san, please bring the small box over there." he said while pointing to its location.
That box...
I immediately handed the box to Vol-san, and when he opened it, the contents were exactly as I expected.
The box contained the slave collar that he had shown me earlier, that means... The climax is a direct experiment, right?
He took a syringe, then filled it with the liquid on the board until it filled half of it.
Plup, plup.
Vol-san poured a few drops onto the collar, then waited to see what kind of reaction would appear.
When the liquid touched the surface of the collar, smoke came out like a hot object touching plastic and starting to burn slightly.
The liquid seemed to absorb the part of the collar touched by it, but stopped halfway through.
There was only a small hole successfully made by the liquid, there was still a small part that had not melted.
"Did it work? If we use it several times, then the collar could be removed easily."
Vol-san shook his head, making me confused. Even though the experiment worked, why did he look slightly disappointed?
—
"I infused magic into the water, but the magic contained within it isn't strong enough to push the other chemicals to melt the collar..."
"If only I had a powerful enough source of magic, maybe I wouldn't fail again!"
He struck the table in front of him, though not with full force, he was only trying to vent his emotions because his effort had failed again.
A source of magic, huh... If Hime and Yuu-chan were here, maybe we could solve it, there is no use expecting anything from me.
I use a sword, a sword can't help... Wait, I just realized something.
"Vol-san, could the magic source you need be some kind of item? Umm... Like magic stones?" I asked.
He immediately turned his head and looked at me, he seemed slightly startled when I started asking.
"Most likely... Magic stones contain greater magic than the magic released by living beings... But we cannot obtain them..."
"The price is too expensive, that thing is already something like the property of the royal palace... Maybe I really cannot help your Party—"
Cring.
I pulled my sword out of its sheath and showed it to Vol-san.
He was very surprised, he looked closely at my sword, he really did not expect to see this sword.
"T-this sword... Don't tell me one of its materials is—"
"Yes, I asked the craftsman to add Mithril ore into it." I replied.
"With this, maybe we can! I must try it, do you mind if your sword gets hit by this liquid?"
"It doesn't matter, I'm quite sure my sword is strong enough."
He poured the liquid onto the sword that he had stood upright, as if letting the liquid move downward toward the collar placed at the tip of the sword.
Then, when the liquid finally touched the part of the collar that was still intact—
"Woh!"
"W-with this, it should work—!"
——
"You're right, how did you make this potion, Vol-san?" Luke became impressed by what he saw.
The same goes for Hime and Yuu-chan, they became more confident about completing this task with the potion whose success rate had already been guaranteed.
At first Hime felt less confident, but after seeing it directly, she immediately believed and changed her initial view.
—
We all sat on the sofas facing each other, to continue the discussion that had been postponed yesterday, while listening to Vol-san's decision.
"Once again, thank you for the offer you gave me, it reignited the spirit that had faded within me lately."
"I would be very happy to join one of the hero Parties, maybe this group could also attract the attention of the old members and return together with me."
"Is it really not possible for you to come with us?" Hime asked.
If it goes like this... Maybe he will refuse our offer, huh...
"After the success of this experiment, I can create more of the same potion in large quantities, with this I can work to free the slaves."
"Although previously I felt uncertain and afraid of what you all wanted to do, now I feel very confident."
"Of course, that will help us a lot." Luke immediately stood up from his chair and shook Vol-san's hand.
E-EHH? He accepted our offer and is willing to prepare the slave-collar-destroying potion specifically for us?
... I don't know, I feel surprised that Vol-san would actually accept it, maybe I was wrong again.