<368 - Past Connections>
Jonnas readily allowed the use of the laboratory.
“Now that I’m back, the security here won’t be as lax as when the facility was abandoned. From now on, please obtain official permits before entering.”
Beep beep. “Target scan complete. New user [Oknodie] has been registered.”
“Uh, what about me?”
In response to Jiang’s question, Jonnas cut him off coldly.
“If your friend accompanies the Agassi, you can enter without being attacked. Of course, you can also enter if you are below 150 cm tall, but please be aware that security policies can change at any time.”
His kindness was only for the Agassi.
Ziang benefitting was merely because he was the Agassi’s ‘friend,’ not because Jonnas highly regarded or liked him.
“So can I farm material items?”
“Feel free to use as much as you’d like.”
Excited, Oknodie began flinging open boxes throughout the laboratory and stuffing the collected materials into his bag.
Oknodie was busy stuffing things mindlessly, but Jiang couldn’t understand the identity of these peculiar boxes.
“Did the professor gather all the materials?”
“It’s auto-collection. The laboratory is equipped with a system that processes and stores items gathered thanks to the previous user’s clever wisdom. It is a type of productivity enhancement initiative because there wasn’t enough time to do research while collecting materials.”
“That’s amazing. Are those Golems collecting the materials?”
“It’s faster to see them in action than to explain with words.”
As Jonnas emitted a specific magical frequency, the ceiling suddenly opened, and a swarm of mice fell to the floor with a thud thud.
“…”
Ziang, wearing a look of despair, took a step back.
“Is it really okay to use the materials brought by such filthy beings in experiments?”
“Look closely. These are not biological mice.”
“…?”
Ziang’s eyes widened as he stared intently at the mice.
These mice were strangely docile.
Upon closer inspection, their appearance was somewhat different. They had pockets and packs for storing materials, and their bodies were more angular than regular mice.
Recalling Jonnas’ [Metal Manipulation], he quickly guessed their identity.
“Metal Mouse?”
“It’s a degraded version of the Blue Metal Mouse I saw on the uninhabited island.”
When he caught one and placed it in his palm for a closer look, he realized there were no hygiene issues.
This tiny mouse was packed with enchantments including mobility enhancement, memory inscription, material identification collection, auto-cleaning, stealth enhancement, and auto-recovery.
The secret to its ability to collect materials for a long time without a master was all there.
“How did these mice manage to survive at the Academy? If it were upperclassmen instead of first-years, they might try to seize ownership of them.”
“Only students who are quite confident wouldn’t recklessly attempt to seize ownership of a servant creature at school, especially when it has passed a certain number of enchantments.”
“That indirectly proves the master’s strength, huh?”
Ziang thought that was quite chilling. The image of an upperclassman catching a Metal Mouse they deemed useful, only to be confronted by the professor at night, sent chills down his spine.
He could easily imagine being caught and dragged to the laboratory, spending the weekend as a slave in experiments, and then finally being released.
If caught by a student, he would likely have to do even more annoying tasks.
If he was not discovered, who knew what could happen to him.
Even the first-year students, where safety was somewhat guaranteed, could face scary situations if they made such a mistake while being an upperclassman.
“Please take care too, Agassi.”
“I’m fine. I just need to not get caught!”
“…That advice was of no help at all. What a shame.”
He understood the secret of material acquisition.
However, looking at the amount of materials in the Metal Mice’s pockets, Jiang noticed something odd.
“How often do you gather this amount of materials?”
“You can check the amount of materials collected per week if you manipulate the Mana Panel, which is for users only. Of course, I’m referring to the Agassi.”
That Agassi parrot…
Ziang glared at the bothersome Butler Robe.
“Does Oknodie need training?”
“To explain on behalf of the Agassi, for instance, although the gathering difficulty is low but the efficacy is low as well, we collect 100 grams of gallbladder grass weekly for experimental verification of mixed effects with similarly properties herbs.”
“And the rare materials?”
“There are materials that can only be collected in specific seasons, so we gather as much as we can without damaging the ecosystem. For the rare materials in September, there’s the Sunbloom. We gather 200 grams every week from early August to the end of September.”
While discovering the storage capacity of the Sunbloom storage box among the large and small boxes, Jiang realized that the box size was insufficient to hold all that weight of Sunbloom.
“The boxes are too few. If you’re gathering that much, there wouldn’t be enough storage, would there?”
“Sharp observation, fitting for a friend of the Agassi. This also shows the insight of a good friend the Agassi has made. I’ll commend you on that.”
“Wow. Jonnas praised me?”
Jiang frowned in disbelief, wondering why Oknodie was receiving the praise for his remark.
“Are you perhaps jealous?”
“I’m not!”
“Jonnas is off-limits. Mine! So just bear with it.”
“I’m not, I say!”
“Hmm~ Really? Jonnas is an amazing Butler! With high strength, high agility, high intelligence, he can handle anything needed with ease, a versatile Butler!”
“Do you want me to be jealous or not?”
“Don’t! …but I wish you would just a little!”
‘What are you trying to say?’
Jiang chuckled softly, finding Oknodie’s reed-like personality hard to read.
“Can I continue with my story?”
“Yes!”
“The over-collected materials are used as ingredients for higher-level manufacturing items, so even if their quantity is large, it’s not an issue.”
That meant there was a well-optimized system designed to eliminate waste in collection resources.
“Where did the previous users go? Did they all graduate with you?”
“All have passed away.”
“What!?”
“One correction: one is more accurately referred to as missing and presumed dead.”
The fact that they were all dead remained unchanged.
A heavy atmosphere indicated that Jonnas didn’t want Jiang to dig further.
Despite the heavy air, Oknodie was blissfully unaware.
“Were they your classmates?”
“I can’t say anything that would be worthwhile to the Agassi.”
“But I still want to know! It’s a new event!”
“…You’ve always enjoyed events even in the mansion, haven’t you? Just like the Director loves fate.”
After pondering, Jonnas seemingly believed it was safe to trust Oknodie, given her peculiarities resembling the Director’s, and nodded.
“There were three categories of people allowed in this laboratory. One was my classmates who built this laboratory with me. They are the ones now classified as [Previous Users] whose records have been erased.”
“Why were the records of those who passed away erased?”
“If someone were to pry into their records, it would become troublesome.”
“Is it you?”
“Correct.”
“Then what about the second category?”
“Other Agassis before you.”
“Eh.”
Oknodie looked around, surprised.
“There seems to be no trace of people coming and going here? All the materials taken were full too!”
“All the Agassis couldn’t withstand life at Gift Academy.”
“Ahh. They all dropped out!”
“…”
“The last category is intruders, right? They aren’t important people anyway!”
Jiang wanted to ask what would happen to those intruders if they encountered a Golem, but the atmosphere felt wrong for such a question, so he remained silent.
“But Jonnas is part of the Foundation, right?”
“Currently, yes.”
“Then the Foundation could protect the information of those who passed away, couldn’t it?”
“On the contrary. I erased the information because I didn’t want my friends’ info in the Foundation.”
‘Is it okay to say such things to a bigwig of the Foundation?’
Jiang couldn’t comprehend, but Jonnas did not want to lie in front of the Agassi.
Having already sent away three Agassis, the reason for erasing his friends’ pasts, revealing the secret laboratory they created together, and allowing Oknodie and Jiang’s intrusion were all the same.
‘Huh? Then things get strange. Oknodie clearly said they came here, but now claims to have just learned about the lack of traces and abundance of materials.’
If that statement were true, it would mean that Oknodie had a chance to visit the laboratory but never took any materials from the boxes he noticed that had no traces of people coming and going.
Was it because he didn’t yet have a backpack that showed no signs of capacity limit when putting things inside?
Always off-beat.
As if he could not escape from the tunnel, the darkness surrounding the Dark Princess felt deeper the more he observed.
Jiang, as always, thought that Oknodie’s darkness was assassin-like and felt a strong sense of kinship.
So the discomfort faded into the background.
After all, the purpose of coming here was to investigate whether Jonnas Wahyhiemhai was involved in the disappearance of a student named Dobi.
Therefore, there was one thing he had to confirm.
‘If there’s a special material box here, then Jezel’s worries might hit the mark. For example… a material box filled with people or something.’
The dead classmates, the drop-out Agassis, and the countless people intertwined with Jonnas Wahyhiemhai’s past had too many missing persons.
It was enough to nurture such suspicions.
Thus he searched diligently, only to discover one suspicious box.
‘Is that a letter?’
It wasn’t the human material box he was looking for, but something equally intriguing appeared.
Inside was a letter left by Jonnas Wahyhiemhai’s ‘Agassi.’
