"What do you mean 'we'? This was all your idea, it has nothing to do with me!"

As soon as Nicola heard this, she immediately denied any involvement and came to stand by my side.

"I don't believe for a second that you had no part in this!"

I rolled my eyes at her and said.

"Come on, confess. An elaborate magical array this large, you must have been involved somehow, right? Reed couldn't have pulled this off alone."

"It was mostly her who drew it. I was only responsible for getting materials from Mona, and some finishing touches... "

Of course, Reed wasn't stupid either, she didn't want to take all the blame herself, and could only weakly defend herself. At first glance she looked pitiful, making one unable to bear to criticize her.

"Don't act all innocent and push the blame onto me!"

As soon as Nicola heard this she couldn't stand it anymore and revealed all of Reed's misdeeds.

"Anyone can see that without your design and planning, I couldn't have drawn such a profound and complex magical array! Feliciana already warned us not to mess with it earlier, but you ignored her, insisting on continuing to research compressed gases. And now look what's happened!"

"Don't drag me into this! I didn't know what materials you wanted the array for, I was just following Lady Elara's orders and fulfilling your requests!"

At the same time, Mona was also waving her hands desperately, indicating she didn't want to get involved.

"Alright, stop pointing fingers at each other!"

Elara yelled loudly to stop their bickering, and massaged her temples as she asked Reed directly:

"Was this magical array designed by you alone?"

"...Yes."

Reed hesitated briefly but ultimately chose to confess.

"I spent several days researching, before coming up with this method of utilizing absorbed light elements to sustain the array. This is equivalent to a magical perpetual motion machine in Edenmere! If you just give me a few more days I can get it to work, I just need to adjust some parameters..."

"Wait!"

Elara stopped her long-winded explanation, looking very serious as she said:

"I don't understand what you mean by perpetual motion machine and parameters. But looking at the patterns of this array, they seem a bit familiar - does it have to do with the Angel Descent Formation?"

"It was indeed designed with reference to the Angel Descent Formation patterns..."

Reed readily admitted it.

"I had Mona request the full documentation on the Angel Descent Formation earlier but was rejected by the higher-ups. I could only get an overview diagram, and it was this diagram that inspired me and helped me resolve the issues with the light element absorption part of the functional circuits."

"That makes sense, only top brass have access to the full details of the Angel Descent Formation. Even with my authorization, those stubborn old geezers probably wouldn't easily share it with a newborn angel like you..."

Elara nodded, showing she understood. But then revealed a wry smile.

"Our angel clan has been puzzled by the mechanisms of that formation for thousands of years. Yet you managed to recreate part of its functions just from an overview diagram - that's simply unbelievable!"

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

The principle of the Angel Descent Formation is to extract light elements from the environment, and then form the angel's body from them. Looked at this way, it did indeed have similarities with Reed's magical array, just different purposes.

"I don't think it's as incredible as you make it sound."

Reed calmly replied.

"It's just that your foundational theoretical knowledge has quite a few flaws and misconceptions. For example, many magic theory books clearly state that elements are a form of matter, just too small for ordinary humans to see. But from my observations, elements should be a form of energy, which would fit the basic properties of energy, like interconversion, and could even..."

"You've lost me with all this..."

Elara helplessly interrupted Reed before she could continue, and proposed a compromise:

"While there aren't many angels in Edenmere well-versed in magical arrays, I happen to know a few candidates who have long studied the Angel Descent Formation. Why not have them come to exchange ideas with you?"

"Well..."

Reed looked hesitant. Having strangers shoved at her would disrupt her research pace. And not knowing them well, she'd have to watch everything she said and did. More bluntly, they might even be sent to monitor her.

"Wow, Reed has the protagonist halo! Supporting characters have been stumped by this for ages, and then the protagonist comes along and solves it instantly. And now they want to stick lackeys under her - if she's not the protagonist, who is?"

Cyra whispered snarkily beside me.

"Have some shame!"

I rolled my eyes at her and sneered:

"Just the other day you were calling Nicola a cheater, now you're hyping up Reed as the protagonist. Could you be any more fickle?"

"Being a cheater and protagonist don't conflict. Protagonists usually need one or two capable assistants, that's normal! Like Nicola - she plays the role of a disobedient subordinate on the surface but is super loyal inside. She might even have a chance to turn things around in the end by licking the protagonist's boots ."

Cyra didn't care at all, and continued expounding her "protagonist" theory:

"As for us, looks like we can only join the protagonist's entourage. As long as we support the protagonist, and steadfastly follow the protagonist's path, we're guaranteed riches and glory down the line! The only danger is possibly being left behind as cannon fodder in the final boss fight, to pave the way for the protagonist's victory."

"Where do you get all these twisted theories?"

I was rendered speechless. She hadn't stopped watching anime and movies even after joining the True Church. To grasp those tropes so readily...

"Haha, these are all common sense for transmigrators! Looks like you lack knowledge in this area!"

Cyra laughed proudly, attracting Nicola's attention from the other side. Nicola asked suspiciously:

"Too much! Can't you see I'm in trouble here? Don't tell me you're mocking me!"

"No, nothing to do with you..."

I didn't dare relay Cyra's "licking protagonist's boots" analogy to her. Otherwise, Nicola would surely rage and pluck all of Cyra's fur out.

"Don't worry! Since Elara has offered to send people to exchange ideas, it means she'll protect you guys. After all, she's so eager for talent..."

To ease Nicola's concerns, I tried my best to reassure her:

Even though several unfamiliar angels were watching us from above, I was no longer anxious at all. With Edenmere's queen backing us up, what could go wrong?

Sure enough, after recognizing who was below, they swiftly descended and knelt.

"Lady Elara..."

These angels didn't dare speak for a long time. Finally, one six-winged angel cautiously opened her mouth:

"We noticed the light elements in the surroundings were disappearing rapidly and traced it all the way here. We didn't expect you to arrive first."

"You're from the angel guard?"

Elara glanced at their uniforms and asked.

"Yes..."

Another four-winged angel replied very respectfully:

"We've received multiple reports already. More and more angels in the city are falling asleep, and many have asked what is happening."

"This was just a research accident. Don't worry, the problem has been resolved. Things will return to normal in at most one or two days."

Elara already knew how to handle this. She immediately reassured them and issued some instructions:

"For now, you can relax enforcement of the 'no sleep' order for a couple of days. The Nightmare still hasn't been found, so as a precaution, angels must have companions keeping watch while resting, and not fall asleep together."

"Understood!"

After listening, those angels didn't say anything more. They immediately took off and disappeared from view.

But they had barely left when another group of angels emerged from the hallway leading to the library. Their leader was none other than Councilor Yvonne, whom I'd seen at the welcome banquet.

"Elara, what are you scheming here? How did you absorb all the light elements in Edenmere into this place?"

Yvonne had just stepped into the training grounds when she aggressively questioned Elara, not giving the queen any face at all.

"Terribly sorry to trouble you like this."

Elara was extremely patient, and not angry at all. She gave Yvonne the same explanation I'd heard before:

"There was just a minor issue during a magical array experiment here, but everything is under control now, no need to worry."

But Yvonne had come prepared, and with her lofty status, wasn't so easily dismissed as the previous angels.

"Isn't this the library where the newborn angel Reed stays all the time? Taking advantage of your indulgence, what shameful things has she been up to? Could she be secretly plotting against Edenmere?"

As expected, Yvonne wasn't easy to cope with. She immediately pinned heavy charges on Reed, suspecting her while also implicating Elara.