But now, even though those breaks hadn’t been able to block the Black Earl’s sense of smell, the fragrance had suddenly disappeared. That meant some kind of stronger "break" had appeared.
And what was this stronger "break"? Some special material, or some special tool?
Angel felt that none of these were likely to be the answer.
He recalled that the Wise Sovereign had said before that Adanis would basically never fight them in reality, and would very likely set a trap to drag them into the Mirror Domain.
In that case, could this stronger "severing" perhaps be exactly the trap laid by Adanis?
For example, a Mirror that possessed the Power of Space?
With Adanis’ abilities, arranging a Mirror that cut off space would be no difficult task.
If that really was the case, then the Black Earl had simply happened to pick up this clue from the Scent. And it was an important clue!
Angel voiced his speculation, but everyone’s reaction wasn’t very enthusiastic. Mainly because Angel’s speculation was exactly that—"speculation"—far too idealized.
So far, Angel’s conjecture was just empty talk, with absolutely no evidence, and he had already jumped to the conclusion that the disappearance of the Scent was a trap set by Adanis.
This naturally failed to convince the others.
At this moment, the one who had always studied Angel’s words very deeply—practically his "reading comprehension-level" spokesperson—Vay, spoke up: "Actually, what my lord said isn’t completely without reason. Didn’t we originally guess that the fragrance was coming from Adanis? This connects perfectly: Adanis set a trap, so the fragrance on her body ended up getting concealed!"
Everyone exchanged glances: what Vay said... seemed to make some sense too?
This could barely be considered a piece of evidence, right?
However, there was also a point of doubt here: if the fragrance really did come from Adanis, then why had she been standing motionless in place before?
Perhaps one could explain it as: Adanis was casting a spell and arranging a trap. But that explanation was still them reverse-engineering from a "result" they’d assumed. If they followed proper logic, there were still plenty of doubts.
At this moment, the Black Earl spoke: "There’s no need to argue. What Angel said is within the realm of possibility. When facing an unknown situation, even if it’s only a possibility, we still need to make preparations."
Everyone thought about it and found it reasonable. They had already planned to act cautiously against the possible appearance of Infant Spirits, and Angel’s guess only required them to be even more careful and to observe their surroundings more closely. It didn’t add much burden, and there really was no need to keep arguing over it.
They temporarily set the topic aside. While chatting idly over the Mind Ribbon, they continued onward.
During this time, Angel and the Black Earl didn’t say anything further.
Angel kept feeling that the sudden disappearance of the Scent was a bit strange. He also knew his conjecture was somewhat over-associative, but he couldn’t help himself from imagining the worst-case scenario.
If it really was a trap arranged by Adanis, then they had to be wary. In reality they still had some room to struggle, but once they entered the Mirror Domain, things became hard to say.
And that Scent... Angel also cared about it somewhat.
If his own conjecture was correct, then the Scent might indeed be, as Vay said, the fragrance of a Scent product on Adanis.
But the Black Earl had mentioned before that this Scent was a bit different from any Scent he’d smelled.
Although the Black Earl hadn’t pursued this further afterwards, putting things together, did the Black Earl actually think that Scent wasn’t from Scent products at all?
Unfortunately... he himself had never smelled it.
Angel thought for a moment and sent a request to the Black Earl for a Mind Ribbon link.
The Black Earl did not refuse and smoothly connected to the Mind Ribbon.
"What is it, did you discover something?" the Black Earl asked.
Angel shook his head. "No, I’m still a bit concerned about that Scent. My lord, are you sure that Scent was the smell of a Scent product?"
The Black Earl: "Not sure. It didn’t seem like any Scent I’ve smelled before. However, my understanding of Scent is not deep. It’s possible that Fragrance Studies has advanced to a deeper stage since then."
Angel: "My lord, is there a way for you to simulate that smell?"
Angel spoke with some hesitation.
He himself could simulate scents through Illusion Techniques, but he didn’t know whether other branches could simulate smell. Moreover, if the Black Earl could simulate it, he might have done so already. Since he hadn’t, did that mean the Black Earl couldn’t do it? And now that Angel suddenly brought it up, would that be a bit rude?
The Black Earl: "There is a way, but I don’t think you’ll agree to it."
The two methods the Black Earl referred to were as follows: First, Angel’s nose could temporarily switch with his, and then he could simulate the smell for Angel to detect.
This method wasn’t difficult, but it would directly connect the Black Earl’s true body to Angel’s flesh. Some of the secrets inside Angel’s body would then be very hard to hide from the Black Earl.
The second method, Angel didn’t have to worry about his own secrets... instead it would become something for Vay to worry about.
The Black Earl could return to Vay’s body, and then Angel could probe into Vay’s body with his spiritual power, temporarily taking over Vay’s body. This way, the Black Earl could also simulate the smell for Angel to perceive.
Between these two methods, the one Angel could accept was obviously the second—but whether Vay could accept it was another story.
There was another point: Vay carried the Noah Bloodline. If Angel took over Vay’s body, he would also be able to probe into the secrets of the Noah Bloodline, which could cause a rift between him and the Black Earl. So after thinking it over, Angel decided to give up for now.
While Angel and the Black Earl were talking, the group arrived at a fork in the road.
This was the first branch they’d encountered since leaving the Hall of Wisdom.
Calling it a fork was a bit misleading, because there was actually only one option.
One of the paths had its walls already collapsed, blocking the way forward, and even the Magical Energy Array had broken down. That route was essentially completely scrapped.
Dox looked at the blocked path and muttered in a low voice, "Could Adanis be playing tricks at the forks in the road? With a fork like this, all she’d need to do is raise a Mirror, and left and right would swap directly."
"If we weren’t paying attention, we might barge straight into the Mirror."
Vay: "It could happen anywhere, not just at forks."
Dox: "I was just giving an example."
Dox and Vay bickered as they walked toward the only remaining path.
Angel, however, watched Dox’s back, a thoughtful expression on his face.
—Was this one of Dox’s flashes of inspiration?