<594 – Delicious Linked Quest (18)>
Hestia dashed towards Professor Jonnas Wahyhiemhai’s classroom.
Although it wasn’t a live lecture, all students wore magic watches that, unless specifically restricted by the professor, allowed anyone to access the lecture schedule.
It seemed Jonnas Wahyhiemhai, not long into his professorship, didn’t know how to handle this feature.
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[In-Depth Mana Refinement Technique]
– Friday 3rd Period 2 PM – 4 PM
– Professor: Jonnas Wahyhiemhai
– Adventure Department, General Studies
– Directions: Follow the left path at the Adventure Square, cross the pond, and ascend to the highest point to reach the lecture hall.
━━━
Well, as long as there’s a path, I just need to follow it.
As Hestia started running, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of confusion.
[Adventure Square #5]
“?”
Why is there a number on a square? It feels like a strange addition!
As a member of the Knight Department, this was utterly incomprehensible for Hestia.
She quickly realized this was due to entering the [Path to the Square] of the Adventure Department, racing through the squares.
[Adventure Square #7]
[Adventure Square #13]
[Adventure Square #22]
“No way, this is insane.”
There were just too many squares!
Square, Workshop Street, Square, Bathhouse, Square, Theater, Square, Path to the Zoo, Square, Hideout of Thieves, Square.
With the thought that she could never escape the maze of squares on her own, Hestia turned around and headed back to the thieves’ hideout.
knock knock knock
When she knocked on the nearby house, a grate popped out of the mailbox.
With a metallic-gloved hand, the grate broke open, and as Hestia peered through the window, a hatch opened, releasing a flurry of tiny poison darts.
whoosh
Waving her apron to fend off the darts, Hestia noticed a kindly old man in the kitchen, who waved back.
As soon as he looked, light flickered from his finger, and just as he turned, a rare metal wire shot past the spot where his head had just been.
“Ho ho ho. It’s been a while since an interesting kid has dropped by. Come on in.”
Only after receiving the old man’s permission did Hestia step into the house.
“Why are there so many traps in a house?”
“Sorry about that. It’s just my profession; I’ve made a few traps out of boredom. So, avoid stepping on the brown wooden blocks and only step on the dark brown ones.”
“…”
What’s the difference?
Wondering if that was the trick, Hestia stepped down, channeling magic into the apron to catch the water pouring from the ceiling and splashing onto the floor.
“Ugh, tsk tsk. You look like a clueless maid. Are you colorblind or something? How could you make the house a water park like that?”
“I-I’m sorry, sir…”
“Enough, kid. For a student of the Adventure Department, you sure show the courtesy of a Knight Department brat, not smashing into others’ homes. I’ll let it slide this time.”
[Glasses of Enhanced Awareness]
[Effect: Wearing these glasses enhances the ability to distinguish colors.]
Borrowing the power of the glasses the old man tossed her, Hestia managed to carefully hop over the dark brown blocks to reach the old man’s kitchen table.
“You’re quite nimble. It doesn’t seem like you learned from the Knight Department; who taught you?”
“Temporary Professor Reap.”
“Reap? Oh, I see. The principal recruited them to sever ties between the Foundation and the Dark Princess.”
Hestia was aware of how professors were cautious when discussing the principal.
Being a crazy dragon who brought together professors from all over the country, it made sense for them to be careful around such a figure.
Yet, the old man showed no signs of caution, which made her think he might have a different kind of confidence than an ordinary professor.
“Have you also held a professorship, sir?”
“Not anymore.”
“So you did before?”
“Retired over 20 years ago. But, do you think it’s reasonable to waste precious time with an old man’s trivia? You look busy.”
“Uh…! Actually, I’m trying to find a place, but the squares repeat endlessly, and it’s driving me crazy. Do you know where the highest spot is after crossing the pond on the left path?”
“Do you remember what is in the room with the knight department’s armor after passing by it? What’s there at the deepest point of the training center?”
“…No?”
“I don’t either. Those strange methods of explaining terrain are for tests. Is it a lecture?”
“Yes! It’s in Professor Jonnas Wahyhiemhai’s classroom.”
The old man’s face broke into a faint smile.
“A metal mage from the Foundation. No matter how much they change their appearance and body, their skills remain unchanged. It’s plain to see you’re that kid I know.”
“Do you know Professor Jonnas?”
“Ten years ago, I accidentally entered the thieves’ hideout and ended up teaching him.”
The story of a current professor and the secretive old man who taught him felt like a tale pulled from legends.
But Hestia recalled her own remarkable connection, having received the Mana Flow Technique Manual for Maids.
‘If I can hear about the current professor’s past or his mysterious mentor, it could surely help me.’
However, if the price comes with trouble for her mentor, Professor Reap, then it could lead to a foolish ending where she loses what she already enjoys due to a new misfortune.
“I need to meet Professor Jonnas to ask for help for Professor Reap. Please, help me get through the squares to reach my destination.”
“Don’t you ever wonder about my past tales?”
“Temporary Professor Reap is my mentor.”
“Don’t you think this is a chance to hear stories that could make you strong like Jonnas?”
“I neither think that nor desire it.”
Hestia’s straightforward refusal to desires pleased the old man greatly.
“Having the mindset to cherish what you already possess is indeed the attitude of a proper human life. I’ll show you how to find your path.”
“Thank you!”
“This is a map of the entire [Square District]. By reasoning with the squares in the Adventure area on the left, your candidates will greatly decrease.”
“Whoa!”
“Next, you cross the pond and ascend to the highest spot. How did you understand my words to cross the pond?”
“Literally, I thought I should find a place with altitude after crossing the pond.”
“You’re wrong. Where is the
“Don’t tell me… below the pond?”
“You’ve got the basics down. Exactly. To find the right path, getting a map is the first step, while wisdom, courage, and physical ability to pass under the pond is the second.”
“How deep and long is the path below the pond?”
“Only those who challenge will know.”
Hestia realized she had asked the wrong question.
Right now, she absolutely had to get through that path, no matter how deep or long it was.
“So, how do I find the highest place?” she asked wisely.
“Which do you think is higher: the top of a desolate rocky mountain or the throne of power that commands all?”
“Oh my god. That perspective…!”
“The highest point must be easily recognizable from the place you reach after crossing the pond. Even if that height isn’t physical.”
“Thank you. That was extremely helpful!”
Hestia rushed out of the old man’s house.
Watching her go, the old man lifted his teacup again.
“Oh dear, kids today are still as impatient as ever.”
He had planned to send her to the pond’s front with a teleport spell, but a bittersweet smile appeared as he sipped his bitter tea.
Jonnas Wahyhiemhai.
Though his name had changed, he could never forget that child’s past, which was no different from Hestia’s present.
But Jonnas had been unlucky.
The environment surrounding him was harsher, and he eventually returned to the Foundation.
Still, the commotion he raised to protect the “young ladies” was enough to reach even the old man’s ears, who wasn’t affiliated with the Foundation.
‘A brightly shining flower won’t lose its light no matter how deep and dark the shade.’
Just looking at Jonnas’ last young lady, Oknodie, and her disciple, Hestia, it was clear that they were virtuous beings who wouldn’t lose their light while dwelling in darkness.
‘Is it because of them that they protect a twisted child who is called the Dark Princess?’
The old man felt as though Jonnas using the [Thief’s Trick] he learned from him in the classroom was like an invitation directed at him.
Though he vaguely suspected that his disciple, now a butler of the Foundation, might have caused some horrible terror, he couldn’t comply with the invitation.
What the old man could do was only to send Hestia, a student who wished to help Jonnas’ comrade, to his side.
slurp
Having emptied his teacup, the old man rose and returned to his bedroom.
His gaze faltered just as he was about to lie down.
“?”
Something felt wrong.
He looked toward the desk drawer with the lamp shining on it.
Opening the drawer, he was baffled to find that the treasure that should have been there was missing.
[Prognosis Eye]
A shimmer flashed in the old man’s gaze.
Search Eye, Pierce Eye, Spy Eye.
Insight Eye, Observation Eye, Eavesdropping Eye.
Commonly known as the pinnacle technique of the Insight function, positioned at the final stage of its classic series.
Also known as [Future Sight], this technique calculated the flow of nature mana to predict the future or detect past occurrences.
The old man’s eyes had drastically reduced the movement of nature mana through highly precise mana control, and his reached mastery meant he detected that a thief had come in naturally, without spellcasting.
He realized the thief had passed through much more complex traps installed on the ceiling and walls than the ones set for Hestia, arriving at the front of the drawer.
When he recognized that the thief was about 130 cm tall, the old man rapidly opened the mana board to arrange the student height list in ascending order.
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[Academy Student Height List in Ascending Order]
1. Oknodie, 133 cm (no change)
2. Jiang, 138 cm (decreased by 6 cm)
3. Titosso, 139 cm (decreased by 3 cm)
4. Masugaki, 140 cm (decreased by 5 cm)
5. Kasia, 148 cm (decreased by 3 cm)
━━━
Due to the achievements of the Mana Refinement Technique, the student had been more prominently short even among those who had become smaller, yet they reached a high compression ratio with no signs of further shortening.
A person possessing excellent hiding, stealing skills, coupled with mana control skills capable of fooling the existence of the unique treasure the old man owned.
Considering that no one other than the principal, the Destroyer, and Jonnas Wahyhiemhai knew of the old man’s hideout, just one figure was left to suspect.
“Dark Princess Oknodie.”
Are you here to exact revenge on me?
In her place, for Jonnas who is both mentor and butler?
To blame me, the cowardly old man, who couldn’t be of help to my disciple?
The source of information is Jonnas Wahyhiemhai.
Did you come to steal the treasure you heard from him?
No, that thought is superficial.
There were two more individuals who knew of the old man’s hideout.
The principal and the Destroyer.
And there was one more presence related to them that the old man was well aware of – one that rivaled the 133 cm Dark Princess.
━━━
[Academy Staff Height List in Ascending Order]
1. Professor Pinkberry, 144 cm
2. Professor Sophia, 150 cm
3. Professor Nonongnonong, 152 cm
━━━
The 144 cm tall Professor Pinkberry.
Specializing in transformation magic.
Her skills even allowed her to deceive her own height.
“Were you sent by the principal, or by the strongest thief, the Destroyer? I have no choice but to move my old body to find out.”
The old man opened the door to his hideout, ending his long reclusive life.
The unknowing Pinkberry would be caught off guard while living in her hidden state before the semester even began.
