Ch.24Interview (3)

The identity of the boy wearing sunglasses and holding calipers was Eidel Rheinland.

He had just smashed the head of an android coming from the opposite direction.

“Huh?”

It all happened in a split second.

[— The ‘God of Purity and Resolve’ is shocked.]

Rustila Kersil, who had been blinking in confusion, finally grasped the seriousness of the situation.

What Eidel had just done was nothing short of property damage.

“You, you… what are you doing?”

“Removing a wiretap device.”

Eidel replied indifferently as he took off his sunglasses. He damaged the android’s auditory system and pulled out a tiny black box from inside, crushing it.

Using her divine sight, Rustila instantly understood Eidel’s intentions.

She knew he had done it to help her.

But he had gone too far.

“This is destroying someone else’s property. It’s vandalism! It’s wrong…!”

“Is it your family’s property?”

“……”

“…Sorry, but this is how I am.”

Eidel answered impassively.

“This is how I’ve lived all this time.”

His amber eyes were filled with regret.

His attitude was nonchalant, as if to say his reputation was already in ruins, so actions like this wouldn’t affect him at all.

Rustila, who had been about to raise her voice, could only close her mouth.

[— The ‘God of Purity and Resolve’ feels pity.]

What was there to say?

Eidel is a good person.

The stars that make up this galaxy, this universe, tell us so. The constellations do not speak falsehoods.

“Good luck with your interview, Rustila.”

Eidel said those words and calmly left.

Looking around, there were no CCTV cameras. To be precise, they were in a blind spot.

The android was taken away by Eidel, who had fixed only its exterior appearance.

A perfect crime.

This wasn’t the work of an amateur.

[“Rusti.”]

It was then that the God of Purity and Resolve, Vega, spoke to her.

[“That’s the aura of an outer god from ‘Descartes’ Forces.’ And a high-ranking one at that.”]

Rustila gulped.

Descartes’ Forces.

It refers to the outer gods and their subordinate monsters who slowly destroy human free will and turn people into puppets.

Among the four forces, they are known to be the most difficult to deal with because they have almost no physical form.

[“It would be nice if you could cut it in half with a sword… but it’s impossible to slash something without substance. It’s like an incurable disease.”]

In the end, the only option is for the possessed person to endure it themselves. Rustila, with her tender heart, felt immense despair at the fact that she couldn’t help Eidel.

[“It’s probably a destructive outer god. That child, Eidel, cannot control his violent tendencies. How pitiful.”]

If Vega’s words were true, then expressing his violence in the way he just did was fortunate. At least he didn’t hit a person.

His patience must be incredible.

Being labeled a thug was already quite severe.

If it weren’t for that, he would have gone insane or been imprisoned long ago.

Rustila sighed. What’s done is done.

At least the wiretapping android seemed to be gone, so she could take the interview in peace now.

She considered this Eidel’s act of kindness.

Accepting that kindness and focusing on her current goal.

That would be the best course of action.

***

Three days ago, when Rustila mentioned the wiretapping, I realized that her parents had lied to her.

My evidence was a passage from a novel I had read.

[…A giant hound devoured Zernya. Her lower body disappeared cleanly.]

[Zernya screamed until her death, but the walls of this building, often used for interviews, were soundproof.]

[No one heard her final screams……]

It’s a part I clearly remember from a novel that spans over 1,800 chapters.

Because of that description, it was highly likely that Rustila’s parents were lying about dispatching a wiretapping android.

They probably installed something else separately.

With that judgment, I had explored this area the day before.

Finding the real wiretapping devices wasn’t difficult.

[— Material Detection]

[— Searching for the location of the desired object.]

[— Consumed Pron: 500]

Because I had Cartesia’s help.

When I maintain my sanity like this, an outer god can provide assistance beyond what constellations can. High risk, high return.

Anyway, I destroyed all the wiretapping devices the day before. They had been hidden quite ingeniously.

However, I judged that this alone wouldn’t completely erase Rustila’s anxiety.

So I went to the trouble of preparing an event.

I brought an outdated third-generation android that had reached the end of its lifespan, made it appear at the right time, and smashed its head.

Rustila might disapprove of me for this.

But if it could give her even a little peace of mind…

That would be enough.

Rustila must pass.

That’s the way to reduce anomalies.

It was while I was thinking this.

“Well, who do we have here?”

A girl approached me and spoke.

“My interview location is here too. What a coincidence.”

I slowly raised my head from my thoughts.

Flowing silver hair.

Purple eyes.

A broad forehead.

And that uniquely arrogant attitude.

Zernya von und zu Trisha Adelbein was looking down at me as I sat with my arms crossed.

I looked into the distance without showing any reaction.

Then Zernya sat down right next to me.

“Did you do well on the written test?”

She started chattering.

“But don’t think your score will be better than mine. I checked my answers and got a perfect score.”

“……”

“Honestly, this exam was ordinary compared to the private one I took before. If they had mixed in some college-level questions… Are you listening?”

“Ah, yes.”

It’s not a bad thing when a beautiful girl talks to you.

But right now, it was just uncomfortable.

Just being involved with her was uncomfortable.

Zernya is the final boss of the ‘God Slayer’ college part.

Excelling in all areas, she wanted to transcend humanity. She wanted to become a god-like being. But because her heart was too wicked to contract with a constellation, she chose to contract with an outer god and be consumed by its madness.

Thus, Zernya perfectly completed the quests given by the outer god for a while. As a result, Stellarium gradually collapsed, and by the time the protagonist transferred in, it was completely shattered internally.

In the final chapter of the college part, Zernya confronts the protagonist as the student council president.

And the result, well…

‘P-please spare me…’

The outer god she contracted with reveals that Zernya is nothing more than an ordinary human. By then, she finally abandons her pride, but there’s no chance to make up for her past actions.

Pitiful, perhaps, but whether Zernya is someone I can work with remains to be seen.

And whether she knew this or not, Zernya was still busy running her mouth. Her tone still dripped with arrogance.

“…Anyway, by that logic, I’m first and you’re second. I admit that second place is a respectable position. But ultimately, the world only recognizes first place. You need to know that. On the day of the entrance ceremony, I will be the one standing on the podium as the freshman representative.”

[— The ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ is getting tired of Zernya’s chatter.]

Zernya finally concluded, looking at me.

“Be careful. Things can flip in an instant.”

She meant that no matter how well I did on the written test, I should be careful because I could still fail the interview.

I smiled and replied.

“Whatever you say.”

***

“Next, please come in.”

Private Eidel entered the interview room when his turn came.

The interview process itself was similar to graduate school admissions. First, you select a problem, then solve it. After that, you explain your solution to the interviewers and answer their questions.

Once the discussion about the problem-solving is over, the interviewers ask about career plans and post-admission goals to evaluate character and ambition.

I quickly solved a physics problem and finished my explanation.

One of the interviewers nodded and asked a question.

“Student, did you study ahead?”

“I did not.”

“Why not?”

“I thought I’d master the basics first.”

“Did you not have enough time to study?”

“I did my best every moment.”

I smoothly deflected the pressure interview.

[— The ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ feels slight satisfaction with your eloquence.]

[— You have received a sponsorship of 100 Pron.]

Meanwhile, I checked the faces of each interviewer. I wanted to see if there were any important characters from the novel.

Of course, since what I read was a novel, it wasn’t easy.

Then one interviewer laughed heartily and said:

“Hahaha, aren’t we putting too much pressure on the student?”

He had a neat hairstyle and thick eyebrows. He looked young, but didn’t seem like a ‘teacher.’ From his dress shirt to the spirit in his eyes, he didn’t strike me as an ordinary person.

That interviewer changed the subject and asked:

“Regarding problem number 3, can you explain it using a method other than energy conservation?”

The problem he pointed to was about explaining the principle of how a light bulb turns on in a simple circuit with resistance. It was a simple concept that even a middle school student could explain as “the battery’s energy went to the bulb.”

However, to attempt a more complex explanation, one would need to have studied electromagnetism at least at the college sophomore or junior level. It’s definitely not a question to ask a greenhorn applying for high school admission.

Realizing this, I identified the interviewer’s identity.

A small smile formed at the corner of my mouth.

“…Of course.”

It seems I’ve found my second academic advisor.