episode_0189

Magenta Building, where research labs are concentrated.

Professor Reynold’s laboratory.

“I don’t know what kind of business you have, but I would appreciate it if you could finish it quickly. The next class is in an hour.”

Gracie said, sitting cross-legged on the guest sofa. He strokes his shiny gray hair and even tucks it to the back of his head. It was unclear whether this was a student or a parent, but the man facing her nodded without any agitation.

“Of course, Gracie. I’m sure it won’t take too long.”

The man’s name was Varian, and he was the eldest member of Professor Reynold’s lab, who is not here right now.

“I just want to clear up any misunderstandings.”

“…Misunderstanding? What are you talking about…”

“Early yesterday, while I was packing up the professor’s luggage, armed police officers came to the lab. With a hastily scribbled search warrant.”

“…”

“I asked them why they were doing this? It’s so absurd that I was singled out as the suspect who attacked the professor.”

“By the way. Why are you saying that now?”

Gracie uncrossed her legs and placed her hands on her knees. Until a little while ago, she was an extremely arrogant noble daughter. Although he didn’t stutter or anything, he glanced slightly to the side as if something was bothering him.

“Why?”

Assistant Varian said while looking intently at Gracie. Unlike before, where I was expressionless the whole time, I felt a slight but troubled feeling.

“Because this is not the first time something like this has happened.”

“…”

“For reference, yesterday was the 70th time. So at this point, I need to have a way to find out who reported me.”

“Keuhum. I only reported it because I was worried about the circumstances. It’s none other than the lecture that my graduation depends on. I did not impose any personal sanctions, and I followed legal procedures.”

Gracie must have decided that it was impossible to hide it any longer and readily admitted that she was the reporter. Facing an unfamiliar man in a small room and a laboratory filled with the smell of stale paper and ink must have been extremely burdensome for a girl in her prime.

“Yes, thanks to you, I was able to meet you all through the proper procedures.”

“…”

“Thank you, Lady Gracie, for not kidnapping me and interrogating me in an out-of-town warehouse.”

Are you being sarcastic? That thought occurred to her for a moment, but Lucia, as well as Gracie, immediately put an end to the rude thought. This is because the mixed emotions that appeared on their innocent faces were conveyed to them without any need to verify their authenticity.

“I guess that has happened before.”

Instead of Gracie, whose face was red, Lucia received the conversation.

“Only once or twice. Fortunately, thanks to the efforts of someone who supported our lab, he was released right away. I really thought I was going to die at that time?”

“…Did the sponsor put in the effort this time too?”

“No, no. Is that possible?”

Assistant Professor Berian was startled and waved his hand.

“The great police officers of the empire do not want innocent victims to become victims… It ended without the sponsor even stepping forward.”

“…Why?”

“It’s simple. Because I can’t use magic.”

Assistant Professor Varian held out both hands forward as if to touch them. It means taking a look at your veins. Gracie first confirmed the authenticity.

Gracie blinked.

This is because I could not feel any mana in the hand I was holding.

“Uh…”

“With a body like this, I can’t use not only magic, but also internal power and sword skills. It would be impossible to harm Professor Reynold, an outstanding wizard, with a body like this unless someone instigated it. Of course, the past investigation records kept in one corner of the lab also supported my false accusation.”

“…”

“Has the misunderstanding been resolved?”

“Well… I’m sorry.”

Gracie bowed her head. Earlier, I acted stiffly as if there was nothing to worry about, but when I realized that he had a disability, I realized that I had done something very rude.

Assistant Barian smiled at Gracie, who was feeling sorry and didn’t know what to do, saying it was okay.

“It’s okay. It doesn’t happen once or twice.”

“Well, still…”

“Not only Gracie students, many people have misunderstood me. In that case, wouldn’t you be able to see that it’s not your fault, but that this situation itself is no different from a very unreasonable disaster?”

Now I think it’s fate. Assistant Barian said it was okay with a peaceful expression, as if he had been liberated. Gracie didn’t know what to do and repeatedly lowered her head and apologized.

“Now that the misunderstanding has been resolved, my business is over. Do you have any more questions?”

“No. Excuse me.”

An apple bent at a right angle up to its waist. With those words, Gracie carefully left the lab.

However, Lucia stayed where she was, as if her business was not over. Varian smiled at the girl who seemed vaguely dissatisfied.

“Is Lucia not going out?”

“Why did you call me?”

Unlike Gracie, Lucia did not look sorry at all. Rather, it is a face that is dissatisfied with Berian.

“You just kept talking to Gracie.”

“Oh, that’s right.”

Berian laughed and then took a deep breath.

“I needed a witness.”

“Witness?”

“Yes. I don’t feel comfortable telling many students about the internal circumstances of our lab. But still, I want to prevent misunderstandings from spreading. That’s why I called not only Lady Gracie, but also student Lucia.”

It was a quite blatant and calculated answer.

“I understand that you may feel bad. But it can’t be helped. In this case, the professor is away due to an accident, and there is a shortage of research personnel. Lucia, a broad-minded student, please understand.”

“…Is this a favor?”

“Should we discuss such a trivial matter now? I don’t understand you.”

“I don’t know if I say it myself, but I have a good feeling.”

Lucia said bluntly.

“So I need to check a few things.”

“…As much as you want.”

Varian narrowed his eyes and nodded.

“Why did you pick on Gracie? What on earth is that method?”

Lucia asked what had been bothering her all along. When Gracie told Lucia her feelings, she was careful to make sure no one was around to hear her. Lucia also expressed her feelings, but there was no one who could hear her whispering.

“It’s a bit of a difficult question. This is nothing but the foundation of our lab.”

“So, you won’t teach me?”

“Well, it is not difficult to teach Lucia as long as she confirms that she will not tell anyone else.”

“I promise.”

‘If you don’t say anything, it’ll be fine.’

Lucia spoke without taking her eyes off Varian, and Varian shrugged his shoulders, saying he couldn’t stop her.

“Nothing special. I just poked it.”

“…Yes?”

“There are many employees working at the academy. There are many eyes watching. It’s easy for anyone to know which students come and go from the academy, which is only three blocks away.”

It was a ridiculous answer. Lucia could not maintain her serious expression, and she uncrossed her arms that she had been crossing all along.

“Then…”

“For your information, the number 70 is also a lie. The police officers came in about seven times, which is one-tenth of that number.”

Why are there all these people? Lucia was dumbfounded at the fact that he had been telling lies just a moment ago without even putting a word of saliva in his mouth.

“What about the sponsor? Is it false that you were kidnapped before?”

“That’s true. There was a time when people in our lab were taken somewhere… about 50 years ago. I really wondered if I was going to die like this.”

“Who on earth is the sponsor?”

“Aren’t you asking too many questions? The sponsor is a person who does not like to reveal himself.”

“Now that you say that, I’m even more curious.”

“I understand that Lucia is curious, but I cannot tell you even if there is a knife at my throat. Because we are bound by various contracts.”

“…”

“However, if student Lucia joins our lab, I can tell you as much as I want.”

“Can the teaching assistant decide that?”

Lucia changed her expression. I was wondering what had been bothering me ever since, and that was Varian’s dominant attitude.

“The head of this lab is the professor.”

“But isn’t the leader in the hospital right now?”

“And, Professor Reynold is still in his 20s. Listening to the assistant talk, it seems like this lab is quite old… and the sponsors also live for quite a long time…”

“What are you curious about? Why don’t you just say it out loud?”

“Professor, can you really swear that you didn’t hurt him?”

Suddenly, Lucia turned her head and glared at Varian.

“From what I heard, it seems that not only Professor Reynold but also many wizards have passed through this lab. If this continues, doesn’t that mean that victims will continue to appear? What does the department chair do? What about the president?”

“Why don’t you stop talking? Lucia student. At least I’m hundreds of years older than you. Isn’t it against etiquette?”

“How old are you?”

“It’s well over four hundred.”

Lucia snorted at those words. This man must really be an elf.

But even taking that aside, there was one more reason why Lucia smiled.

“Then I am older.”

Lucia placed her chin and feet on the table where the coffee was placed.

“I’m five hundred and forty-two.”

“…?”

“The subject is a hundred years younger than me, and the young guy is acting flustered.”

“Are you sure?”

Varian had an unusually embarrassed expression on his face. And then his gaze moved to Lucia’s ears. There were no signs of plastic surgery to adapt to human society.

I wondered if they were demons, but there was no way I could feel the slightest demon energy. Lucia was a human being of ten percent purity.

“Yeah dude. How have you been deceived?”

But that didn’t matter to Lucia.

She was friends with Seira, who was 700 years old, and even spoke to her, and for most of her life, including her previous life, she lived in an era where strong men were her older brothers and fathers.

In addition, if you include the age of her previous life and the time it took to reincarnate, she was not lying, so Lucia did not feel any shame in dealing with Berian.

“And do you know who my dad is?”

“…Hugo?”

Berian suddenly mentioned the name of the Imperial Sword. Lucia Prien and Cyriel Prien were unknown to the Academy faculty and staff due to Hugo’s prestige from the time they entered school.

“Not your godfather. Do you know Glenn Frien?”

“…I don’t know.”

“This bastard’s life has been wasted. What on earth do you know after living for 400 years? And what? My brother…”

Lucia’s mouth stopped. Varian found him strange and asked cautiously.

“Why do you stop while talking?”

“I don’t know anything.”

Lucia growled and clicked her tongue. When I mentioned Shiron’s name, my heart sank. engagement. Relationship with Siriel. future. My frustration aggravated as thoughts about whether I could live with Shiron for the rest of my life ran through my mind.

“Ah, anyway! Who is the sponsor, and why are you sponsoring this lab?”

“…Are you stupid? Didn’t I say it earlier? Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t talk to anyone other than my lab family.”

“…That’s how it comes out, right?”

Lucia turned away from Berian and strode towards the door.

“You don’t have to tell me. I just need to figure it out.”

With those words, Lucia left the lab.

“Huh…”

It seemed like a storm had passed. In a rare occurrence, Berian sat on the sofa for a long time, dumbfounded.

I was lost in thought for a while.

He sighed, full of resentment.

‘…It’s frustrating.’

It’s always like this when I reach the end of teleportation research. Over the past hundreds of years, wizards who were on the verge of mastering teleportation suffered accidents such as losing their minds or falling into a coma, and as Varian, who had abolished teleportation, he was unable to demonstrate magic in person.

Nevertheless, the sponsor had no intention of letting Berian go.

Varian’s face hardened and he stared at the red castle visible outside the window.