Twisted Wonderland: Glorious Masquerade - Let the Bell of Solace Ring

Chapter 3-16: Real Convincing, Bub

"The fastest way to eradicate the firelotuses is to inundate them with magic until they wilt. But as we've established, our group doesn't have the power to do that on our own. So we'll just use an alternate power source," Azul says.

"But who could we turn to for such power when practically all the mages in the city are incapacitated?" Malleus questions, "And there are few mages with magical reserves on par with our own. We'd have to gather hundreds of them."

"...I'm surprised. You still don't get it?" Azul says.

"Dude, Malleus... You're powerful and all, but srsly..." Idia says, Are magic pools the be-all and end-all to you? I didn't peg you as an unga bunga, brute force kinda guy."

Sebek angrily demands, "DID YOU JUST MOCK MY LIEGE?!"

"Look, I mean, come ON. If you can't do something yourself, wouldn't you normally use a tool of some kind to get the job done? Isn't using tools to make things easier the mark of intelligent life?" Idia says.

"Tools?" Malleus asks.

"There's a real handy one just beggin' to be used—y'know, a magical artifact that sends magic all over the city," Idia adds.

"A magical artifact..." Briar says.

"All over the..." Malleus questions.

Soon, the realization hit them "Ah!"

"The Bell of Solace!" Briar and Malleus say.

"Bingo! Hee hee," Idia says with a grin, " Remember what Rollo said when we first got attacked in the lecture hall? 'When the Bell of Solace rang for a fourth time, it suffused the city with magic.' Cue smug face emoji. Normally the bell rings three times a day... So Rollo rang it a fourth time to amp up the magic and make the flowers grow like wildfire."

Then Silver says, "Of course. You're right, all the flowers popped up in the lecture hall immediately after the bell rang. Which means..."

"Dyeh heh! Now you got it. One extra ring is enough to make the flowers grow super fast," Idia says, "So if we ring it a bunch and fill the city with even more magical power... What do you think's gonna happen to all those precious flowers he spent so long carefully cultivating? Hee hee hee!"

Everyone soon comes to realize it as well.

"The city would become even more saturated with magic, and the flowers would get overwhelmed and wilt. To think that what causes them to flourish would also be their demise..." Malleus says.

"It's exactly like Epel's description of fertilizer burn," Azul says.

So we'll supply the necessary magic with a tool, rather than our own power... It's true that I normally never consider that kind of option. There are very few instances where my magic isn't sufficient for a task," Malleus says.

"Wish I could say that once in my life..." Deuce says.

"Very well. Let us head for the Bell of Solace and ring it right now," Malleus says.

But then Trein says, "I think not. All of you are to wait here."

"Huh?" The students react in shock.

Then Trein explains, "I will climb the bell tower and ring the Bell of Solace. Since we've cleared this area of firelotuses, it's safer than anywhere else. All of you stay here until the bell has rung."

"Professor Trein, you shouldn't strain yourself," Silver says.

Professor Trein flinched in response.

"What do you mean by that?" Sebek asks.

"He's been stooped over this whole time. My father does the same thing when his back hurts," Silver answers.

Ruggie soon realizes, "Wait, so he hurt his back? Must've been from all the weeding."

"I have...not..." Trein says, trying to remain calm, but is clear to have experienced pain.

"Yeah, real convincing, bub," Grim says.

Epel says, "Professor, why would you push yourself like that? You should've told us you're in pain."

"He has his pride as a professor. It's only natural he wouldn't want his students to see him in a moment of weakness," Rook says.

"So you're just tryin' to save face? C'mon, Professor, pride ain't worth a single sorcent," Ruggie says.

"But..." Trein says, still in pain, "The Bell of Solace is on the top floor of the tower. The way up is bound to be infested with firelotuses. It will be dangerous getting up there."

"You make our case for us, Trein," Malleus says, "You would climb the stairs far too slowly since you're in pain. The flowers would consume you in seconds. Allow us to handle this."

Then Azul says, "Please do. We're not afraid of the danger; we've learned from the best, after all."

"Uh, I don't like where this is going... This is gonna end with us having to climb the tower, isn't it?!" Idia says, sounding very worried.