“*Tsk…*”
Ludwig clicked his tongue as he lifted the blood-soaked cloth.
The sight of a headless corpse was quite disgusting.
“In the end, I never saw the face.”
Wiping the blood off his hands with a handkerchief, Ludwig stood up again.
Small signs with numbers were stuck in the ground next to the footprints and blood stains.
They said it was to preserve evidence… but it was a rather unfamiliar sight for Ludwig, likely a newly adopted investigation method.
“What is this?”
Ludwig stopped in front of a sign marked with the number 3.
It was stuck in front of a stone, and he couldn’t understand how this was evidence at all.
It looked like just some random rock lying around in the mansion.
Or rather, wasn’t it a fragment of a rock?
“Oh, that? It’s a technique often used by Henderson, dear Chairwoman.”
Ludwig scowled at Sergey’s words, who had suddenly appeared from behind.
“A technique? What do you mean by that?”
“It’s better if I show you than explain it. Alright, let’s say I’m Henderson.”
“What in the world-”
Sergey spoke something incomprehensible while putting his hands in his pockets.
At that moment, a small rock rolled out from Sergey’s pocket.
Ludwig’s eyes instinctively followed the rock.
It didn’t take long for him to realize what the stone was.
“See? That means you, dear Chairwoman, are now dead.”
“Is that… luminescent stone?”
“Yes. You can’t help but look at it, can you? And then you lose your sight and get ambushed by Henderson.”
“Such a troublesome trick.”
Even if he consciously closed his eyes, there was no way to avoid it.
If the opponent closed his eyes, Henderson would just attack without exploding the luminescent stone.
Thus, the opponent’s reactions would become slightly delayed, all because of a meaningless act of closing their eyes.
It was a simple yet powerful technique to take the initiative in a standoff.
‘Even if I were there, I wouldn’t have survived.’
Ludwig felt a bit of wounded pride, but he had to admit.
If he had faced someone like Henderson at such close range, he would have been taken down in an instant.
Especially if he was hit by a flash-like attack.
Using the ripple of magic power to perceive the surroundings, it was a high-level technique. However, it was still less precise than using one’s eyes, making it difficult to respond to Henderson’s onslaught with just that.
It might be possible for someone who had a significantly high sensitivity to magic and was completely accustomed to using it like an eye, but still…
‘There’s no way someone like that exists.’
Ludwig briefly wondered if Schlus was that kind of person, but quickly dismissed the possibility.
It was utterly impossible.
Receiving the ripple of magic and converting that into visual interpretation was not a process the human brain could handle.
Moreover, Schlus’s eyes were a bit… no, they lacked vitality, but judging by the movements in his pupils, he was definitely not blind.
“Then how did Schlus Hainkel survive all this?”
“…”
Ludwig muttered as he surveyed the remaining traces of mana.
There were still remnants of the broken barrier spell in the surrounding mana.
One layer… two layers… three layers…
A total of four layers of barriers. They looked quite thick and were also structured to resist four different elements.
That meant Schlus’s attack had the power to break through all four layers of barriers and obliterate Henderson’s head unrecognizably.
“I’m not sure either. If only we could ask him… Ah.”
Sergey turned back and sighed.
He recalled that Schlus had already left.
There were mountains of curiosities, yet he had cheerfully gone off to sleep.
“What will we do about this incident?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“If we announce that Schlus Hainkel captured Henderson, there might be great confusion. It might be better to announce that Professor Sergey killed him…”
“*Uhhuhaha!* I think I finally get it!”
Suddenly, Sergey patted Ludwig on the back.
Ludwig immediately expressed disdain at the unexpected touch, but Sergey was blissfully unaware, laughing heartily.
“The thwarted classroom terrorism. It was Schlus’s work, right? You, dear Chairwoman, protected him by stopping it.”
“I don’t understand what you’re talking about at all.”
“*Kuhahaha!* Don’t pretend you don’t know. It’s all out in the open, dear Chairwoman.”
“…*Tsk.*”
Ludwig turned his head sharply away.
It was supposed to be a secret.
Before he knew it, the number of people who knew had grown too large.
“But now it seems it will be tough to handle this.”
Sergey pointed somewhere with his chin.
At the end of the path, a crowd of over a dozen people was walking toward them.
There were knights shining in full armor and wizards dressed in uniforms.
It was easy to recognize that they were from the imperial palace based on their outfits.
“They’re probably going to commend whoever captured Henderson from the royal family.”
Henderson, who was being pursued for killing the crown prince.
The imperial family would surely conduct a thorough investigation and reward the person who killed Henderson.
If it turned out that a fabricated achievement was uncovered at that time, no matter how much Ludwig or Sergey argued, they would receive a punishment equal to death.
“It’s going to get even noisier.”
“That’s true.”
Ever since Schlus arrived, there had been endless commotion.
One wondered how big of a ripple this incident would cause…
Rubbing his temple, Ludwig left the scene.
He had a lecture tomorrow, so he needed to sneak in some sleep.
*
“Haah…”
I opened my eyes, feeling extreme fatigue.
That time I always woke up. It was near 6 AM, I was sure of it.
But perhaps because the sleeping arrangement had changed, I couldn’t manage to sleep well.
I even thought about covering myself with the blanket for just one more hour, but—
‘What does it matter? I always look tired anyway.’
So I decided to spend a long, tiring day today.
I needed to practice swinging my sword in the morning as well.
I wondered if Emilia had slept well.
As I opened the door, I thought of that.
“Ah… Did you sleep well?”
I came face to face with Emilia, who looked like a zombie.
I heard she wanted to finish cleaning before I woke up, so she got up at 4 AM.
However, the chairwoman’s residence was a bit too spacious…
Two hours later, she hadn’t even made it halfway through.
Seeing someone far more tired than I was, all my complaints flew out the window.
“It is pretty big, isn’t it? Just do a rough job and take a break.”
“No, it looks like it hasn’t been cleaned for a while, so there’s so much dust everywhere… For Mr. Hainkel’s health, it’s best to give it a thorough clean.”
Emilia said this and picked up the mop again to clean the floor.
Seeing her work silently without even considering asking for help, I thought it was somewhat cute.
She resembled a child desperately seeking approval.
I couldn’t help but smile wryly and leaned against the wall with a mop in hand.
“Oh, Mr. Hainkel? You really don’t need to help. Just rest for a moment and…”
“I’m not helping. I can’t relax when someone’s busy like this. I’m doing this for my own comfort.”
“…”
Even with such a ridiculous excuse, Emilia merely hung her head, saying nothing.
She seemed to understand that there was no particular reason I had for helping her.
After about an hour, the cleaning was completed.
However, even as the cleaning ended, a strange silence remained between us.
Was she wary of my sudden kindness…?
She might be thinking there was some hidden agenda.
While exploring the mansion, I stumbled upon several intriguing rooms.
One was the storage in the basement, which looked empty enough to serve as a training room, well surrounded by a sturdy barrier.
Another was a library filled with books.
Since I hadn’t checked what books were there while cleaning, I headed to the library to check right away.
“Wow…”
It was the chairman’s library.
Alexia probably didn’t use this mansion much, so these books must have been placed here by the previous chairwoman.
Before I knew it, I was wandering between the bookshelves, petting the books, enchanted by their scent.
Most of them were bound in leather, suggesting they were likely expensive books.
But if they were left untouched like this, they would become moldy.
I’d have to tell Emilia to pay special attention to this library.
“Huh?”
At that moment, a book caught my eye.
It looked relatively new, and the title written on the cover was anything but ordinary.
With trembling hands, I pulled the book out.
Carefully turning the pages, a line froze me in place.
“To be, or not to be: that is the question.”
That famous line anyone would recognize.
“I’m really sorry! But I can’t let you have this!”
At that moment, a cheerful voice came from behind, and a hand swiftly closed the book.
Turning around, I saw none other than Alexia, her expression all smiles.
“Sorry! I came back to find some stuff I forgot to take, but I didn’t expect you to be settled in already!”
“Oh. Should I step aside for a moment?”
“No, it’s fine! There aren’t many, so I’ll grab them and leave soon!”
Saying that, Alexia dashed around the library, using telekinesis to pluck a few books into a floating pile.
With each book stacked one by one, I had to suppress my agitation with effort.
They each had titles that were far too suggestive…
“Chairwoman.”
“Yes, Schlus?”
“Could I borrow those books to read?”
“Ah! I’m so sorry! Those are designated as prohibited!”
“Prohibited…? Why is that?”
“Because the sources and authors are unclear! The content seems oddly unnatural and strange! It’s as if it depicts another world! So, we’re investigating to see if they might be coded messages from foreign spies!”
“…I understand.”
“If we determine there is no issue! Then I’ll lend them out at my discretion!”
With that final statement, Alexia left the library with the four books.
Even after she departed, I remained in shock for a long time.
It was understandable because the titles of those books were…
Hamlet. Crime and Punishment. Faust. And The Little Prince.
The authors weren’t listed, but I was certain.
They were works of literature from the original world, Earth.
*
“Hehe, you have quite the discerning eye! How did you end up picking this one?”
Once back in her office, Alexia placed the books down and giggled.
It seemed the magical power these books possessed was also felt by Schlus.
Hamlet. He had picked this book up himself.
Alexia sat across her desk, opened the book, and read.
“It truly is… fascinating!”
She had already read this book five times.
A story set in a world that somehow differed from reality, yet it provided little explanation about its universe.
There were portions that remained unclear even after several reads, leaving one to infer their meaning.
Yet despite that, it was oddly engaging. Even if it was neither understood nor relatable, it somehow stirred a feeling deep within.
It was a difficult feeling to describe in many ways.
“But where did these come from?”
These books appeared about a month ago, just around the time when the Imperial University entrance exam took place.
One book was found in a corner of the library.
Another on the roadside.
And another in an ordinary household.
Though found in various locations, they shared one commonality.
They had suddenly appeared one day, despite never being seen before.
Even gathering all her power as chairwoman to investigate, she could not uncover the identity or authors of the books.
She could only reaffirm that these books did not belong to this world.
“The world sure is full of mysterious things!”
Now, another mystery was added to the list.
Excitement surged within Alexia at the increasing number of puzzles to solve.
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