The Sixteen-Minute Master's Degree

The telephone rang while I was still up, well past midnight. Wait a moment. Who on earth knew my private number...?

"This call is being answered."

It's me. So, um...

"Your Highness!"

It occurs to me that if you keep calling me 'Your Highness' outside, it could become a problem when we meet in person. You had better use an alias.

"Ah, of course. What should I call you, then?"

Call me Rian.

The crown prince's name was Cedrian, wasn't it? He'd lifted it straight from his own name—could you really call that an alias?

In any case, I continued the call, addressing him as Lord Rian.

"Recent information ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on the Temple, you say? Hmm..."

The last thing I'd reported to the crown prince was that I had become Guild Master. Since then I hadn't learned anything new from the Temple, so perhaps it would be better to casually offer up some original-novel knowledge if he needed it.

"I haven't acquired any new information as of late. But if there is something you wish to know, I will look into it."

Something I wish to know... Ah.

The crown prince fell silent on the other end of the line.

Could I perhaps see you for a moment?

"Yes. Where should I go?"

I am coming to the guild.

As it happened, the following day was our day off, so I received the crown prince in the empty guild building.

For the record, our guild used to operate on a six-day workweek, but after I became Guild Master, it switched to five days. Haha. Truly a revolutionary reform, if I do say so myself.

"Good day to you, Your High— er, Lord Rian."

As he stepped into the guild building, the crown prince pushed back the hood that had been covering his face.

Out emerged a cold, sharp countenance that anyone could recognize as this world's male lead.

"How much do you know about the Temple?"

"What I know... is a bit of everything, really. Mostly whatever information I happen to pick up when I visit the Temple from time to time."

"I see..."

The crown prince seemed to hesitate.

Having read the original novel, I knew the conflict between the imperial family and the Temple quite well. They had always been rival powers keeping each other in check, but the crown prince's obsession with the Temple had a separate reason entirely.

That reason was... the crown prince suspected the Temple of orchestrating the assassination of the Empress more than a decade ago.

The case had been ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pinned on republicans, who were arrested and executed, yet the crown prince still could not let it go.

After all, in the original novel, the true culprit behind the Empress's assassination was the Grand Priest.

Wanting to ease his burden, I added, "I'm also somewhat familiar with the internal power dynamics within the Temple."

This was not something I'd uncovered as Audrette Lavendel. It was pure pre-transmigration knowledge.

At my words, the crown prince hesitated a moment longer before speaking.

"If you ever get the chance to gather information at the Temple again, there is something I would like you to investigate."

"Of course. Please, go ahead."

"It concerns the Holy Scripture the Temple worships."

"Ah, yes—the Holy Scripture."

The scripture that had fallen from the heavens one day, the secret treasure that had raised the Temple into what it was now.

I hear the Temple's priests are split into factions that fight over the interpretation of that single book, and that promotions are judged based on one's understanding of the Scripture. However, its contents are kept secret from outsiders—if you could learn even a little of it, it would be most useful.

"Understood, Your Highness."

The original novel hadn't gone into detail about the Scripture either. Well, of course it hadn't—it was just an ordinary temple scripture, after all. It was bound to contain religious doctrine, most likely. I simply nodded along to the crown prince's request.

"Now, about this..."

At that moment, the crown prince's gaze drifted to the papers strewn across my desk—documents I'd compiled in my own investigation of the Tower of the Stars.

"Ah, I came in early this morning to get some work done."

"...It's the weekend, is it not?"

"The weather's been getting warmer lately, and it's been wrecking my sleep. I woke up at the crack of dawn."

"So you worked?"

"Yes. Whenever I can't sleep, I work."

"......"

Why did the crown prince's expression look a little strange as he stared at me? But working tires the brain out, and then sleep comes easily. It's a scientifically proven method.

"And these contents are...?"

"Related to a commission I've taken on."

I had investigated who might have access to Ms. Ratel's thesis. The results let me narrow down the candidates to roughly the following:

"What process did you use to arrive at these candidates?"

"Ah, that's internal guild business. An information guild must never leak a client's information."

Even though I am the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠crown prince?

"My rules have no exceptions."

"......"

He looked at me with a somewhat disgruntled expression.

Hmm, but the crown prince is a righteous male lead, so surely a remark like that won't land me in prison.

If necessary, I may be able to offer my assistance. Should you require help resolving your information guild commission, tell me at any time.

"I wouldn't dare presume..."

Miss Audrette, you are helping me as well.

"Mmm, but I can't very well put Your Highness to work..."

I am not asking you to put me to work. With the power I possess, there may be a way for me to assist you.

"The Oath, you mean?"

I recalled the Oath ability as it had appeared in the original novel. The Oath was, quite literally, the power to stake something as collateral and prove one's pledge true. It could also discern whether the other party's oath was genuine or false.

"Doesn't that ability shoot out light and flashes everywhere when you use it?"

...There are quiet ways to find things out as well. You need to gather information at the Tower of the Stars, correct?

"Yes."

Then you will come with me to the Tower of the Stars.

"Hmm... shall I cover my face on the way, then?"

Appearance altera... ah, do you have any disguise tools?

"I do."

Being an information guild, we were hardly short of disguise equipment.

I rummaged through a drawer of disguises and pulled out a pair of glasses.

"Will these do?"

"The nobles recognize Lord Rian, presumably, because Your Highness was dressed in royal garb at the time."

"Then..."

"Dress shabbily."

Before long, I was wearing glasses, my hair tied back tight, dressed in rumpled clothing. The crown prince was likewise disheveled, hair mussed and glasses on—and he sounded a bit put out about it.

"Won't clothes like these stand out?"

"You won't stand out there, I promise..."

"...Now that I think of it, I suppose not."

He would probably be taken for nothing more than Haggard Researcher No. 1 passing by.

"Though there is one problem."

The truth was, I'd asked Ms. Ratel about getting into the Tower of the Stars myself, and I'd received a rather shocking answer.

"Um... the Tower of the Stars is bound by an Oath laid down by the late Emperor himself..."

"An Oath?"

"Only those... with a master's degree or higher... may enter... otherwise, your body gets repelled..."

"I'm sorry, only master's degree holders may enter? Where on earth does something like that exist?"

"It was... to guarantee... the scholars' autonomy..."

"That is genuinely, spectacularly elitist!"

"I couldn't agree more."

I'd been stunned when I heard Ms. Ratel's explanation. Cedric had nodded right along in solidarity.

"I don't just lack a master's degree—I don't even have a bachelor's. Lord Rian, by any chance, can you break that Oath?"

No. Even I cannot break an Oath.

"Then how do we get in?"

"What do you mean, how?"

Rather, it was the crown prince who looked at me as though he couldn't understand the question.

Obtaining a master's degree is very simple.

"Surely you don't mean you're so brilliant and capable that they'd hand you one?"

No, that's not—never mind. Come along for now.

We boarded a carriage and set off toward the Tower of the Stars. I was still puzzling over how on earth one could get inside without a degree when the carriage stopped in front of a certain building.

Roden University? It was no elite academy, but it was a university whose name rang a bell even within the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠empire.

Face hidden beneath his hood, the crown prince strode ahead of me into the building marked Roden University Future Lifelong Dream Education Center. And then...

"We're here to earn master's degrees."

"And what were you considering?"

Unbelievably, a list of degrees materialized before us.

"...What is all this?"

A degree is all it takes to get inside. Normally it's a sixteen-week course you pay for, but if you pay five times the price, it's finished in sixteen minutes.

"......"

So even in this world, there were institutions selling degrees. I squeezed my eyes shut.

I suppose I shall take Goldfish Feeding Management. And you, Miss Audrette?

"...I'll take Cactus Spine Avoidance Studies, please."