Hallucinogens are auxiliary potions used to cast illusions. At Valdraz Castle, Professor Anthony used this kind of thing to get Duke James lost in the forest.

"So," Elena continued, "someone used illusion to create the illusion of a monster."

"But......" Mister Piero was a little puzzled, "if it is an illusion, why would it cause damage to the crops in the field?"

Illusion is only a visual effect, and if no one sees it, it has no effect, and it is impossible to cause damage to the physical object.

"It's very simple," replied Elena, "as you said, as soon as the villagers saw the monster, they fled in terror and hid. In other words, no one saw what really happened after that."

"This ......"

"And," said Elena, pointing to the burn marks on the haystack, "if so, it would explain very well why the flames hadn't spread."

"Why?"

"If it's an ordinary fire-breathing monster like a fire dragon, it won't take the initiative to stop the fire at all. And it hasn't rained lately, so if you want to put out the fire, you have to do it human. However, if someone really did it deliberately, just cast the spell manually and control the intensity of the flame slightly. It's easy for a skilled fire mage to do this."

"That...... And who would do such a thing?"

"I don't know," Elena shook her head, "Does Bella have any clue?"

From the very beginning, Bella was silent, as if she was thinking about something.

"Hmm...... How so?" Bella frowned, "Elena's analysis just now, there shouldn't be any problem, and I feel the same way. It's just that I'm more curious than if the other party acts, why do you do it?"

"Why do you want to do that?"

"yes, think about it," Bella said, "as you said, ordinary monsters don't come out to attack humans, because it's not necessary or beneficial for them to do so. However, if someone deliberately caused this accident, what was its purpose? Although there was a slight loss of crops, there was no extensive damage. Even the haystack was only burned in a corner. In other words, nothing substantial was done."

"You mean, the other party doesn't actually have malicious intent?"

"Hmm." Bella nodded, "It's a possibility. Aren't there no casualties yet?"

"That's right." "Although a few villagers were frightened, they were not attacked. Only one man fell and sprained his ankle while escaping, and the others were unharmed."

"So, is it really someone playing a prank?" Elena said.

"I don't think it's a simple prank." Bella replied, "If it's a prank, it won't take that much effort. Moreover, the fire-breathing monster is clearly aimed at Mr. Leonardo."

"Coming at me?" Mr. Leonardo said, "But I don't seem to have offended anyone?"

"It doesn't have to be that you've offended anyone. But what is certain at the moment is that the other party must know about Mr. Leonardo's past - in fact, this is not a secret, right? Don't the whole town know about the picture you drew when you were a kid?"

"Does it have anything to do with my paintings?"

"Hmm...... It's not wrong to say it's related." Bella nodded.

"What do you mean?" Elena asked, confused.

"The other party may have heard about Mr. Leonardo's childhood, and knew that the villagers knew about it, and then deliberately used illusion to create such a fire-breathing monster to remind the villagers of the painting back then. In this way, Mr. Leonardo will definitely be involved. In this case, it is very reasonable to explain why the monster appeared, but it did not cause much damage in fact. Because the purpose of the prisoner is only to target Mr. Leonardo."

"I see." Elena nodded understandingly.

"But why are you coming at me?" Leonardo asked.

He was just an ordinary craftsman, who liked to tinker with machinery and occasionally paint portraits, and he didn't have any major achievements at the moment, let alone offended anyone.

Who did not hesitate to let him come?

"Wait—" Bella seemed to think of something, "Has the dragon reappeared since yesterday morning?"

"Nope." Piero shook his head.

"Not today?"

"Not either." Piero shook his head again.

"Oops." Bella frowned, looking a little nervous.

"What's wrong?" Elena asked uneasily.

"It seems that the other party's goal has been achieved."

"What do you mean?"

"That man knew that if this had anything to do with the fire dragon, the villagers would think of Mr. Leonardo's paintings. So, whether it's true or not, Mr. Leonardo has to come back. That's what he's for."

"In order for Mr. Leonardo to come back?"

"To be exact, it should be for Mr. Leonardo to leave Florence."

"Huh?" Elena was a little surprised.

"Mr. Leonardo, have you received any important assignments lately?" Bella asked.

"Hmm...... It seems that there is no special order. If you want to talk about important tasks, the only thing is that in the evening, a few people invited me to—" At this point, Leonardo seemed to suddenly understand, "Do you want me to test the source of the toxin?"

"I'm afraid so." Bella nodded.

Although this is just speculation, she always feels that behind all this, there is an invisible hand manipulating, and the owner of this hand must be inseparable from Sophia's death.

With that, the group immediately set off for Florence. Except that Mr. Piero left the aftermath.

As soon as they entered the city, they went straight to Mr. Verrocchio's studio.

Florence is as lively as ever during the day.

Mr. Verrocchio is a well-known figure, and he is visited every day by a constant stream of people who come to him to order art, and this is no different today.

A large number of guests and artists gathered in the workshop, countless painting and carving utensils, and various gold and silver jewelry gradually took shape in the hands of the disciples.

As soon as Leonardo entered, he went straight to his small room.

"Where's Mr. Verrocchio?" Elena asked.

"The master is out." Michelangelo replied.

"When?"

"Just this morning. Soon after you left, the Lord's Palace sent someone to deliver a message to the master to come over." Michelangelo didn't know what was happening, and he couldn't help but get nervous when he looked at the serious expressions of the few people in front of him.

"It's gone." Leonardo walked out of the room, "Design blueprints, I can't find them."

"What drawings?" Michelangelo asked.

"It's the design drawing I put on my desk yesterday before I left to assemble the instrument."