<209 - Swap>
The Aptitude Evaluation Hat questioned Oknodie, cautiously watching.
“Kid. How much longer do I have to keep doing this?”
“Keep polishing it more!”
“I’ve already polished it to the point of shining on the floor.”
Oknodie glared fiercely, raising a finger.
“If you don’t want to do it, just say so. I’ll send you straight back to Professor Bronze’s box!”
“Please, I beg you, don’t! Isn’t it too cruel to suffer without asking questions?”
“Then who doodled with the precious materials? Trying to mess with the valuable Stat Stones. If you were a person, I’d give you a serious beating.”
The Aptitude Evaluation Hat felt unfair. It wasn’t just me doing this alone. There was an accomplice who agreed to share the Mana Stones too! I glanced back at the silent accomplice, the Howling Mandragora, who was swirling around in a flowerpot, asking what I was looking at with a sharp remark.
Goo.
‘Damn brat.’
As the Aptitude Evaluation Hat cursed internally, Oknodie stared down at it.
The Hat was growing increasingly anxious. Wasn’t that kid chatty by nature? The last time I saw them during lecture time, they were bright and talkative. Today, they seemed like a different person, unusually quiet. I had no idea what they were thinking, and that scared me.
“Should I clean the glass window too?”
“No. Instead, just sit here on the cushion for a moment.”
Here we go.
The Aptitude Evaluation Hat took a seat, feeling like it was sitting on a bed of thorns. Oknodie began to speak.
“While the Hat was busy cleaning, I’ve been thinking about how to handle things going forward.”
“Can you at least show me some leniency?”
“That’s actually become quite troublesome. You know a lot about me.”
“I swear I won’t tell anyone about the status window and function window. I didn’t even reveal what I saw.”
“I appreciate that. But the 10,000 points it costs to view the status window… not so much.”
The Hat cautiously asked.
“Is the cost of the materials I handled yesterday…?”
“1,200 points worth!”
“Whew.”
I still have some room for my life with 8,800 points left. A brief relief washed over me. But then, remembering that specific number sent chills down my spine.
‘This brat can discern the value of items completely?’
It wasn’t for nothing that I befriended a dark merchant and took classes in developing insight from a rogue.
“But I feel uneasy leaving things as they are in case something like this happens again.”
“I promise I won’t do it again.”
“Can you swear on a deity?”
“What the hell kind of oath would that be for an ego item? The gods probably wouldn’t accept it anyway.”
“Then we have no choice. I feel uneasy about sneaking somewhere to ‘communicate,’ and since the status window is so useful, I guess the only option is to dispose of it.”
“Di-dispose!? Are you planning to make that devilish box into a handmade cage to throw me in…?!”
Snicker. Oknodie laughed lightly as if he heard a funny joke.
“There’s no way that could happen, right?”
“Hahaha. It was just a joke, wasn’t it? I knew it from the start. Good boys don’t do such things.”
“It’s just that the place it dwells in will change slightly.”
Oknodie took a rope and began to tie up the Hat. The Hat struggled but couldn’t escape the rough bindings, not with its combat power being acknowledged as lowly by Professor Bronze.
“Let go of me! What are you planning to do?!”
“Don’t be so scared. It won’t hurt.”
With experienced hands, Oknodie drew a magic circle on the wall using ink.
Trying to find comfort in the idea that a first-year wouldn’t be able to draw much, I was flipped into despair by the growing complexity of the magic circle in real-time.
‘W-What’s with this speed?!’
I knew they had a genius-level talent. Still, that was just “talent.” It shouldn’t mean they could create something from nothing like that. Learning should be required for application.
Just how could a first-year, who had never even learned about magic circles, be capable of producing a magic circle at this absurd speed?!
‘No… There is. Even if it’s for a brief moment, there’s definitely one magic circle that brat could learn.’
The Talent Discerning Hat was engulfed in shock.
‘That magic circle is… the one I drew!!’
Oknodie had quietly watched the circle I created to establish communication with the academy’s emergency contact network. The time was short. At most a minute. It was barely enough time for memorization. Yet, to draw such a perfect magic circle…
‘Did they understand the structure and mechanism of the magic circle?!’
It wasn’t just simple understanding. It was a skill that required endlessly separating and recombining the memorized magic circle in their head, crafting their own versions by the hundreds or thousands. Was the name “genius” this terrifying? Was such a feat truly possible for a human?
Even witnessing it with my own eyes, I couldn’t fully grasp the weight of the name “genius” until now.
“Tada! It’s complete!”
“But… what is that magic circle used for?”
“Mind exchange magic circle!”
“Mind… what?”
“When you enter, you have to seriously reflect. Got it?”
“N-No… The mind exchange magic circle can’t be activated without a target! If it has a two-sided effect, wouldn’t it just end up attaching the exchange to a perfectly fine wall?”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that. The exchange target is right in here.”
The Stat Stone leaped into the magic circle. The powerful mana contained within the Stat Stone, capable of permanently raising a stat, became the energy source activating the magic circle.
Fwah!
With a dazzling light, the mind was pulled out. The Hat felt its consciousness being yanked away, realizing that its vision was rapidly widening and its body growing extremely heavy.
“T-This is!? I’m inside the wall!!”
At the same time, the Hat, which had long been dwelling in its own space, slowly opened its eyes and began to shed tears of joy.
Ego item, the Dark Aptitude Evaluation Hat.
Ego item, The Answering Door.
It was a moment when the egos of the two items exchanged.
*
Unlike the Hat, which only brought worries, The Answering Door provided significant help during the midterm exam.
“Thank you for letting me know about the exam format and topics!”
“I’m so happy… I thought I’d have to live forever without a physical body, just going back and forth through building walls.”
In fact, this door shouldn’t be easily brought out. The primary reason is that it’s a useful tool that informs students of exam questions, and it should be utilized thoroughly throughout the first year. But there’s another reason.
There’s a pattern of bad luck that can pop out at any point for the door as well.
Typically, the ego residing in the door is a student who was trapped in the wall due to an unfortunate accident. If that entity encounters bad luck, it transforms into the identity of a sealed demon. So, letting it out, thinking it’s poor, essentially means releasing a demon.
‘But since I have a lot of dark mana, isn’t that a good thing instead?’
Those with more dark mana can exert greater influence over those with less. A demon trapped in the wall, unable to gather mana and feeling helpless, would be treated like a servant.
“That must have been tough for you, right? I can’t promise you can roam freely, but from now on, if I’m around, you can be with me!”
“Thank you so much…”
“But why did you help me? You were closer to Hestia, right?”
The 2nd Hat, in contrast to the 1st Hat with a cheeky uncle’s voice, answered in a careful and calm female tone.
“I overheard the other students in the dorm talking about Oknodie.”
“About me?”
“Evidence of how the foundation abused and raised the child. Their malicious gossip claiming you were a bad child who they didn’t want to get close to.”
“Hmph. Don’t listen to what the weaklings say.”
“I’ve thought this for a long time, but Oknodie, you’re really strong… If it were me, I would’ve cried.”
“Crying changes nothing, does it?”
“Right. If I had known that, I wouldn’t have been trapped in a wall in my student days and could’ve graduated from the academy…”
Oh. This time, it seemed like a resident of the Answering Wall was a student. The most universal and safest probability hit the jackpot.
“I feel a bit embarrassed asking for a favor right after getting help, but I have one thing to request.”
“Go ahead. If I can help, I’m willing to. I want to see my status window freely whenever I want, thanks to your help!”
“I have my second guardian meeting tomorrow. Please take me to the meeting room with you.”
“I was planning to keep wearing the Hat, so it doesn’t matter… but why?”
Are they trying to attempt an escape or something? That would be a bit troublesome.
“I want to find out. Whether the people from the foundation are really as terrible as the rumors say.”
An escape, not at all, just a thought to help. I found myself reflecting on my thoughts that jumped to conclusions.
“Alright! But I’m not sure if Jonnas will notice the change, so please don’t make any noise.”
“I will. The goal is to observe the true nature of the foundation, not to communicate.”
