"An accident?" President Jacques frowned deeply, his eyes filled with worry and confusion.
His attention was entirely fixed on the word "accident." Several possibilities had already flashed through his mind, each more dire than the last. "Could it be...?"
"No need to be quite so pessimistic..." Dumbledore said with a relaxed smile curling at the corners of his lips. "Look, isn't the sunshine outside lovely?"
"The accident I meant is that Wizet has already found where the nuclear bomb is... It isn't actually that far from here, and I happen to know the place, so getting there won't be too troublesome."
"What did you say?!" President Jacques cried out, his voice abruptly rising in disbelief.
Dumbledore's casual remark that it was "not that far from here" immediately sent a chill down his spine.
He had some idea of a nuclear bomb's blast radius. The seemingly offhand distance Dumbledore described as "not too far" might mean... that the Élysée Palace was also within the range of the explosion!
Wizards had to study magic, so they probably did not know much about the complex principles behind weapons like nuclear bombs.
Since that terrorist intended to use a nuclear bomb to bomb Paris, the detonation process of the bomb he chose would surely have been designed to be simple enough for a layman to operate.
This also suggested that the nuclear bomb currently hidden somewhere in Paris was itself an extremely unstable factor. It could even explode at any moment, plunging Paris into yet another disaster.
Just then, there came a hurried knock at the door to the president's office.
Before President Jacques could speak, the secretary-general of the presidential palace rushed in, several faxes clutched in his hands.
His coat was covered in wrinkles and stains, while his shirt was speckled