"To put it simply, do you have any more specific suspects?"
Old Yao picked up a soybean-sized toad with tweezers and held it beneath the shadowless lamp. Squinting as he examined its still slowly throbbing translucent jaw, he asked softly.
"Demons, or the Dark Council."
Professor Monteria gave two unsurprising answers. "Only those lunatics from the Withered Land would conduct experiments combining demon blood with ogres... As for the Dark Council, they have a terrible record when it comes to violating Alliance prohibitions."
"So that means we have no way to verify this with them." Professor Yao curled his lip and tossed the little toad into the silver tray beside the experiment table.
The little toad rolled over in the tray, belly-up, and continued playing dead.
"Wander Bar is in Beta Town. We can find an excuse to arrest that Wanderer Wizard." Professor Monteria offered his suggestion. "He is an old hand in the Dark Council. He must know something."
"No, no, no. That is not how this should be handled."
Professor Yao shook his head repeatedly. "The Black Prison Battle has only just ended. We have no reason to reignite conflict between the school and the Dark Council, or the Withered Land, over a mere suspicion. It would do no one any good. Since the Alliance permits them to exist, it naturally has its reasons for doing so—as long as they show sufficient respect to the Alliance."
"Oh, an extremely mutated ogre? What respect indeed!" Professor Monteria sneered. "Just like that saying I once heard—what makes this world troublesome is not that people know too little, but that too much of what they know is wrong."
"What do you mean?"
"You only need to alter it slightly to understand." Professor Monteria shrugged and removed his Silkworm Skin Gloves. "What