Ch.209Chapter 209 – Investigation of the Truth

After sending away the Guidance Department head, I visited the Black Feather branch of Archenium based on information I had previously received from Justin.

And there, I met Justin.

“Count Severio. It’s been a while since you called for me. I’m glad to see you’re in good health.”

“It’s been a long time, Justin. Have you been well?”

Justin had been promoted from the head of the Belsarem branch and was now in charge of the district that included Archenium.

“I’ve been well. Thanks to my connection with you, I’ve risen to a much higher position and am quite busy, but for you, Count, I can make time even when there is none.”

“That’s good to hear.”

This was the first time I learned that Justin had risen to a high position thanks to me.

“By the way, I assume you’ve come to see me because of a female student at Glesius Academy who was suspended. Isn’t that right?”

“The Black Feather is truly impressive. You know why I’m here without me having to say anything.”

When Justin correctly guessed the reason for my visit, I felt a chill run down my spine.

Literally, the reason I came here to find Justin was related to Mina.

“We collect information about you and those around you with the highest priority. As a result, we also have information about Miss Mina Endras, who has been accompanying you for some time.”

Hmm… I’m not sure how much the Black Feather knows, but it was at least fortunate that they knew about Mina’s suspension.

“Justin. I want to know why Miss Mina Endras was suspended, the reason behind it.”

“Hmm. Would you mind waiting a moment? There’s quite a lot of material related to the suspension case, so I’ll need to look it up.”

“I’ll wait as long as necessary.”

I thought it would be something that could be summarized in just a few documents, but I guess I was wrong.

If there’s so much material that he needs to search through it… there must be something significant.

Justin stood up and entered what appeared to be a storage room.

There was a rustling sound from inside for quite some time, and only after about 30 minutes did Justin emerge with a thick folder in his hand.

“This file contains materials related to the recent suspension case at Glesius Academy. Which specific information did you say you wanted?”

“I want to know what incident Miss Mina Endras caused to get suspended, the circumstances.”

“Ah, that part is right here. Here, on page 132 of the report, it explains why Miss Mina Endras was suspended.”

Justin opened the file and showed me page 132.

[Reason for Mina Endras’s Suspension]

It was a very simply written heading, but seeing it made the fact that Mina had been suspended feel more real.

I slowly examined the reason why Mina had to be suspended.

‘Mina Endras is of commoner origin with exceptionally outstanding magical talent.’

‘The laboratory where she works as an assistant belongs to Professor Karen Blechet.’

‘Professor Karen Blechet assigns students an enormous amount of research tasks and verbally abuses those who fail to complete them properly, saying they don’t deserve to learn magic.’

‘Additionally, five students who worked as assistants to Professor Karen Blechet have quit the academy, all of whom were talented commoner-born students.’

‘Currently, Professor Karen Blechet is participating in the development of an artifact that tracks the common energy possessed by demon cult followers and their forces.’

‘And a prototype created during the development process was damaged due to Mina Endras’s mistake.’

‘Professor Karen Blechet filed a report holding Mina Endras responsible for the damage to the prototype and requesting her suspension, which was approved by the disciplinary committee convened by the Acting Chancellor.’

These were the facts related to Mina’s suspension that I could learn from the documents.

“Hmm.”

As I thought, the Black Feather had also obtained information that all those who were driven out of Professor Karen Blechet’s laboratory and quit the academy were of commoner origin.

“It seems Professor Karen Blechet really dislikes commoners.”

“…How did you know that?”

Justin seemed surprised that I knew information related to Professor Blechet.

Well… publicly, Karen Blechet wasn’t known to dislike commoners.

“I just had a feeling.”

“You have surprisingly good intuition. That’s right. Professor Karen Blechet has a good public image, but in reality, she’s a severe discriminator against commoners.”

“But she manages to hide her true nature quite well.”

“If she didn’t hide it and revealed it openly, she would have disappeared long ago. Openly despising commoners… even for a rival, it would be like exposing a weakness and asking to be torn apart.”

I nodded in response to Justin’s words.

“I also thought it was strange that Miss Mina Endras was suspended.”

“In what way?”

“Actually, that prototype was contained in a safety container that shouldn’t break. It was deliberately placed in an unbreakable bottle to prevent any possible safety accidents.”

I listened carefully to Justin’s words.

If that’s true, then the prototype shouldn’t have been damaged under normal circumstances.

“According to the suspension documents, ‘Mina Endras stole Professor Karen Blechet’s security pass to research the prototype privately and damaged it due to mishandling during transport.'”

Something seems off.

“Wasn’t the prototype in a secure container?”

“The safety container was damaged in a previous experiment, so it was temporarily stored in a glass bottle.”

“Hmm…”

The safety container was damaged?

I began to suspect that Professor Blechet might have deliberately broken it.

Even if Mina had magical talent, she wouldn’t be stronger than Professor Blechet, who had studied magic for many years.

“Who damaged the safety container?”

“Professor Karen Blechet.”

“I thought so.”

Then, having the safety container damaged and the prototype placed in a glass bottle was indeed Professor Blechet’s intention.

“Then, why did Miss Mina Endras take out the prototype?”

“According to her statement, Professor Karen Blechet told her to bring the prototype because a new safety container had been made. But suddenly Professor Blechet appeared and shouted asking what she was doing, startling her and causing her to drop the glass bottle, which resulted in the prototype being damaged.”

“What did Professor Karen Blechet say about instructing her to bring it?”

“She denied it. Said she never gave such instructions.”

Hmm…

If the experiment had been conducted inside the academy, the conversation would have been recorded by the student management system…

Wait a minute.

“Where was the research being conducted?”

“At the Blechet family’s research facility near the academy. The Sandrios family’s research facility is near the imperial palace, so they deliberately set up near the academy.”

…Karen Blechet, this was definitely intentional.

Hah, this shouldn’t end with just rehabilitation.

To hate commoners so much that she would sabotage important research just to drive Mina out.

Well, she must hate commoners enough to use forbidden methods.

No one in their right mind would do such a thing.

“I assume Miss Mina Endras’s testimony wasn’t accepted.”

“That’s right. The disciplinary committee was essentially Professor Blechet’s one-woman show. Everything accepted there was Professor Blechet’s testimony, and she received a three-month pay cut as responsibility for damaging the safety container. Mina Endras was suspended on charges of lying and damaging the prototype.”

“Justin. If my thinking is correct, Mina is being framed.”

“…Actually, we think so too. However, as information brokers, it’s our principle never to intervene in cases.”

I understand that.

The moment an information broker intervenes, they lose their function as an information broker.

An information broker’s main job is to obtain information and sell it to those who can use it well, not to intervene in cases based on that information.

It’s because information brokers don’t intervene in cases that other organizations don’t touch them.

Those who violated this rule have all disappeared, while the Black Feather, which has maintained it, has survived.

“I understand. Well, I’ll resolve this case in my own way.”

“…How do you mean?”

That’s a secret.

“It’s a secret.”

If the Karen Blechet I know, the Karen Blechet from Erasto Chronicle, is the same person… there must be documents somewhere detailing her plan for this incident.

She was the type of person who always created documents of her plans before executing them, to check in advance whether they would be carried out well.

In fact, in the game, her downfall came about because documents planning to drive out commoner students were found in her laboratory.

And securing those documents was the way to save Mina.

“It seems I’ll need to ask for Sister Regina’s help.”