Chapter 30: Those without traces

After the incident that day, the forest was completely parched.

A man who appeared to be an academy professor arrived there with several uniformed individuals.

“The direct clash reportedly occurred here.”

“Hmm… This information is reliable, right?”

“The Holy Maiden herself said so, so it’s accurate.”

The professor confidently pushed up his glasses, as if there was no room for doubt.

The uniformed individuals, who had been observing his confident demeanor, one by one began to investigate the surroundings.

Watching them work mechanically, the professor sighed inwardly.

He was one of the few professors remaining at the academy.

As a professor in a department completely unrelated to combat, he had narrowly avoided the Academy Head’s wrath.

Of course, once the other professors’ lectures(?) were over and the Academy Head returned, he would also face some disciplinary action, but it was a lenient punishment compared to the incident that had occurred.

However, this also meant that until the Academy Head returned with the other professors, the remaining professors had to handle all the protests flooding the academy.

Even now, due to the incessant protests and pressure from high-ranking nobles, the professors were immensely worried.

They even had to deal with investigators who had arrived from the Empire…

With the sudden surge of work, the professors couldn’t help but sigh more frequently.

As he silently swallowed his curses, one of the investigators spoke to him.

“Are you alright? You don’t look so good…”

“Haha, I’m fine. It’s just that I’ve been swamped with work lately, so please don’t worry about it.”

“Indeed…”

The investigator, who naturally knew the reason, nodded in understanding but looked at the professor with a sympathetic expression.

After pondering something for a moment, the investigator decided to expedite the investigation as a small consideration for the tired-looking professor.

“The only strange thing found so far is that despite the forest being withered, the animals and insects are miraculously lively…”

“Ah, that would be because the Holy Maiden used her divine power extensively. She also asked me to convey this, but I forgot.”

“I see. Understood. Since everything else matches the report, let’s conclude the investigation here.”

All that remained was a thorough investigation of the Myers family’s interior.

This was the responsibility of other investigators, not theirs, so their investigation within the academy was practically finished.

“Ah, and I have something to convey to the Academy Head. I heard she’s currently away, so I’d appreciate it if you could deliver the message on her behalf, Professor.”

“……”

“The Imperial Palace has conveyed their wish to meet directly with the Academy Head as soon as possible. The detailed contents have been sent to the Academy Head’s office, so when the Academy Head returns, Professor, if you could…”

Suddenly, the investigator noticed that no response had come from the professor for a while.

‘Has he finally succumbed to exhaustion and fallen asleep…?’ Just as he thought this and turned his head towards the professor…

– Thud!

The professor’s upper body slumped weakly to the side.

“What…?”

Before he could collect himself from the sudden, unexpected situation…

The other investigators also swayed as if their strength had left them, then all collapsed to the ground.

His survival instinct ceaselessly rang alarm bells, warning him.

– This is dangerous…

Instantly, something unknown rapidly approached him.

– Whoosh!

“Ugh…!”

Thinking he had barely dodged it, he tried to move his body somehow to escape.

“Su-support… *cough*!”

However, the moment he took a step to leave, his body instantly stiffened.

At the same time, he realized that something he thought he had avoided was clinging to his arm.

‘A snake…?’

What met his eyes was a pure white snake.

A snake, neither large nor small, had its mouth wide open and was biting his arm tightly…

That was his last memory.

****

The forest had become excessively quiet.

The cool breeze that had been blowing had vanished completely at some point, and the chirping of insects was no longer heard.

In the middle of the forest, as if time had stopped, two men were slowly walking.

“Is all this really necessary?”

The one who broke the silence was the significantly taller man.

He had a massive build that would intimidate most adult men up close, but the man walking with him simply replied with an annoyed tone.

“Isn’t it better than making the Academy Head an enemy by making unnecessary noise?”

“Haha! You’re right about that.”

Watching him laugh foolishly, the man with slightly long hair shook his head.

A quick-witted observer would have immediately concluded that he considered his companion a fool, but the large man seemed oblivious, letting it pass without further comment.

As they chatted for a while, upon reaching their destination, their conversation naturally shifted to another topic.

“Lively animals in a withered forest… It seems the Holy Maiden intervened.”

“Hmm?”

“…Haven’t you heard that the Holy Maiden was chosen? It was one of the reasons Paeren decided to stay here…”

“Oh, right! That’s true. I tend not to bother with unnecessary things… Hahahaha!”

The burly man laughed heartily.

‘Where did all that painstakingly improved memory go…!’

He wanted to say something about that carefree demeanor, but…

Knowing better than anyone that it would be useless to speak, he soon gave up and began to look around by himself.

– Slither…

Following his gaze, countless pure white snakes slithered into various parts of the forest.

Strangely, no traces were left where the snakes passed.

It was a sight that would make a child afraid of snakes faint, but the burly man watched the snakes without much reaction, as if he had seen this sight countless times before.

“So, did you find anything special? I don’t see anything…”

“Be quiet.”

“My bad, my bad. Did I interrupt your investigation?”

“No, the investigation was finished ages ago. I just told you to be quiet because you’re noisy.”

“……?”

Ignoring the burly man, who tilted his head with a question mark on his face, he began his explanation.

“There’s nothing particularly unusual. There isn’t even a speck of ‘his’ trace.”

“Tsk, a wild goose chase again?”

“No, that’s not it. I actually got a good hint from an unexpected place.”

“What???”

At the mention of a hint, he pressed excitedly.

“Are you serious? You found something related to ‘him’?? Really???”

“Yes, I did. Now, calm down first…”

“Don’t drag it out, explain quickly!!!”

“Yes, yes, alright.”

He brought out the snake he had summoned earlier and placed it on his palm.

“As you know, my Mystery is specialized in discerning targets.”

“It wasn’t helpful back then, but I remember it well!”

“…Anyway, the only times I can’t find a trace are when the opponent has completely erased it, or when they truly haven’t been there.”

In fact, his Mystery could detect even the most trivial things.

For instance, if the target he was searching for had even briefly breathed in a suspicious location, that too would become a trace that his Mystery would find.

That wasn’t all.

“Reading history… It’s one of the useful abilities an Overlord possesses.”

“Well, I don’t think I’ve ever used it very usefully…”

“…That’s just because you’re ignorant. The important thing is that history is also treated as part of the traces I can find.”

No matter how trivial the event, history records everything in detail.

And history is, by definition, a trace, and he can find traces.

This means if there was a history of someone being here, he could find it in the form of a trace.

“Of course, it gradually fades with time… But that actually allows me to determine how long ago the individual was here.”

“But an experienced Overlord can erase that, right?”

“That’s correct.”

Just as he said, powerful Overlords can not only read history but also influence it.

It was an extremely difficult technique that even the Academy Head hadn’t mastered yet, but all the Great Pioneers had acquired it.

“If an Overlord tampered with history to erase their traces… then simply reading history wouldn’t reveal who was here.”

After all, reading history is something any Overlord can do.

Even that fool nodding beside him, pretending to understand everything, could probably figure out who came and went here if he concentrated.

“But I can read history in the form of traces.”

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

“I can’t deny they’re similar, but they are distinctly different.”

“In what way?”

“Unlike Overlords who directly read history, the traces I find bring and display that history exactly as it is.”

In other words…

“If someone erases the history in which they were recorded, that erased part remains as a ‘blank.’ Most Overlords only read history, so they don’t notice that blank, but because I read it as a trace, I can see that blank.”

Because he read history not directly, but in the form of traces, he could detect if a blank appeared in history.

If someone had arbitrarily erased history at the academy, a blank would have remained there…

“No way…! Did you find a blank?!”

If it was him, the one who reads traces, he would have discovered that blank.

He spoke excitedly as his thoughts reached that point, but the answer he received completely shattered his assumption.

“No, there are no traces of ‘him’ here… not anywhere in the entire academy.”

“……What did you say?”

“To be precise, there’s no trace of ‘him,’ no blank… nothing at all.”

“……”

At his resolute words, expectation quickly turned into disappointment.

“Ha… So he really just didn’t come?”

Thinking it was another wasted effort, he spoke in a resigned, dispirited voice.

However, the answer he received this time was also unexpected.

“That’s unlikely.”

“……What do you mean by that?”

“Given that the Academy Head and the Holy Maiden spoke directly, unless both sides had conspired beforehand, the fact that someone intruded into the academy must be true.”

“Maybe they just mistook him for someone else? There isn’t just one person wearing black clothes and searching for treasures.”

“Yes, I would have thought so too, originally. Or perhaps I would have just dismissed it as a simple impersonation and ignored it.”

But this time, it was different.

“There are no traces, I tell you. No blanks… No history…!”

“…? So, he just didn’t come in the first place, right?”

“An Overlord who infiltrated the academy and neutralized the Academy Head… No remaining history, no blanks… Doesn’t something seem strange?”

“……?!!!”

Instantly, a flaw flashed through his mind…

And before he could even voice that flaw, a perfectly organized explanation reached his ears.

“That’s right. If the intruder wasn’t an Overlord in the first place, they would have been stopped by the Academy Head and the Holy Maiden. Conversely, if they were an Overlord and erased history, then a ‘blank’ should naturally have been left behind.”

“It doesn’t add up… The only one who could do something so absurd is…”

“Exactly.”

An alien Overlord who erases history and, as if it’s natural, completely fills in the blanks…

“The only one capable of such a thing… isn’t it ‘him,’ the one we, the ‘Great Pioneers,’ have been chasing all this time?”

“Ha, haha, hahahahaha!!!”

As soon as he finished speaking, he burst into joyful laughter.

He smiled brightly in the exhilaration of finally finding it.

Their nemesis, whom they couldn’t find despite gathering all sorts of information and even placing a bounty after having all their treasures stolen…!

They had finally discovered his footsteps for the first time.

“We must convey this news immediately!”

“Let’s inform Paeren, who is currently away, separately later, and for now, let’s convene a meeting!”

Thus, the two Overlords… no, the ‘Great Pioneers’ hastily left the spot.

Soon, the chirping of insects resumed, and the breath-like wind of grass and trees began to blow again.

The forest returned to its original state, as if nothing had happened.

This was a minor disturbance that occurred while Hestia was away from the academy to work as a mercenary with her friend, and…

It was an Overlord’s infiltration of the academy that even the Academy Head hadn’t noticed.