Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Winters clutched the steel awl tightly in his hand, not daring to relax his vigilance for a moment. He had made up his mind that if the woman in black made any move to harm Antonio, he would drive the steel awl into her skull with the Arrow Flying Spell.

Fortunately, the worst did not happen. The woman in black merely moved her wrists and silently removed the remaining bindings herself. Now free, the woman in black did not lash out to harm anyone; she simply sat quietly on the bed.

Winters felt both annoyed and amused, and he couldn't help but wonder, "Does this woman only respond to force and not kindness? Or did Elizabeth cast some kind of magic on her?"

"It seems for the moment we have reached an agreement," the woman in black did not take the opportunity to take him hostage, which seemed to disappoint Antonio slightly, "Could you please explain why you have visited my humble abode in such a manner this evening?"

Before the woman in black could speak, Elizabeth burst through the door, loudly saying, "If you keep asking like this, you're just going to start arguing again! Dad, Sofia just wants to retrieve her father's heirlooms. She doesn't want the person who killed her father to occupy her father's property; those are her only two demands."

"Is that so?" asked Antonio of the woman in black.

The woman whom Elizabeth called "Sofia" gave a slight nod.

"Then it's very simple, as long as you can prove your identity, that notebook can be immediately returned to you. Neither Winters nor I have any intention of occupying your father's property."

"I have a birth certificate, baptism certificate, and letters, seals, jewelry, and documents brought from home that can prove my identity," the woman in black finally opened up, no longer disdainful of the request to prove her identity. But she pointed at Winters and said, "However, my father's notebook has already been destroyed by him."

"Miss Sofia, you are being too severe. Books are actually quite difficult to ignite. Even if they do catch fire, only the outermost parts get burned in a short time; the insides would not be damaged. The contents recorded in your father's notebook did not suffer much loss. What I mainly burned was the leather cover," Winters felt he had to defend himself.

"You're mistaken, brother," Elizabeth glared at Winters, "That notebook was a precious memento left by her father, one of the few possessions he left behind. She went to the military school to retrieve it because she didn't want the person who killed her father to continue possessing it. Sofia wanted the notebook itself, not its content, understand? You destroyed her father's keepsake."

The notional worthlessness of Antoine-Laurent's notebook content contrasting with the physical value of the notebook itself left Winters dumbfounded.

However, Antonio coldly asked from the side, "Miss Sofia, do you not think you also bear some responsibility for the burning of this notebook?"

"Why should I bear any responsibility?" Sofia laughed in anger. Experience tales at empire

"If you hadn't sneaked into my house with weapons tonight, would that notebook have been burned? You threatened Winters' life, so any reaction from him was justified. If he had killed you outright, I wouldn't have blamed him. If you had approached him openly with documents proving your identity to demand it, would it still have ended this way?"

"Would he have given it to me if I asked for it?" Sofia asked furiously.

"He would have," Antonio replied nonchalantly.

Sofia was left speechless by Antonio's response.

"However, as the one who burned the notebook, Winters should also bear some responsibility. As compensation, I have a proposal," Antonio's tone shifted as he spoke earnestly, "I can help vindicate your father, help restore the Lavoisier family's honor, and pursue those who were once responsible."

Antoine-Laurent had been executed for treason after a secret trial sixteen years ago, his property confiscated, his statues toppled, his contributions omitted from the war histories, and to this day, the father of the Alliance Spellcasters had not been vindicated.

Antonio's words left Sofia, who had been in a state of anger, stunned, but she quickly regained her composure and sneered back, "Restore my father's honor? With your help?"

"Of course, I can't do it alone," Antonio was not angered by Sofia's scornful retort, "But your father's research notes can. The Military Committee and the Supreme Pentarchy would be very willing to restore General Antoine-Laurent's honor in exchange for the fee of the notebook."

Sofia screamed, "I would rather die than let the Alliance possess my father's achievements!"

"I've said it before; it was the United Provincials who executed your father and still refuse to vindicate him, but this is the Venetian Republic. Your enemies are the United Provincials, not us Venetians. You should not hate the Alliance as a whole; if you see humanity as a whole, then aren't all of humanity the murderers of your father?"

"You said it yourself, this is Vineta; what right does Vineta have to overturn the judgment of the Federated Provinces?" Sofia's attitude softened slightly, but she still found it hard to trust Antonio.

"Antoine-Laurent's treason was pinned on him by the Federated Republic, but we can overturn that judgment at the level of the Alliance. After all, the Senas Alliance consists of five member states, and it only takes the affirmation of three to vindicate General Antoine-Laurent at the Alliance level. The Federated Provinces may stubbornly refuse to accept it, but outside the Federated Republic, Antoine-Laurent will no longer be seen as a traitor. Please believe, we Venetians can still do this much."