Lecture Observation (1)
Meeting Welton after so long was not a pleasant experience.
I simply treated him as one of many Imperial civil servants.
He was someone with whom I happened to be acquainted, nothing more. We had no other connection.
Welton, however, was strangely cautious around me.
The dark shadows under his eyes made it obvious he had been pulling all-nighters—no doubt overworked somewhere.
So even without asking, I could guess he had been running himself ragged because of the Chimera.
"Did you come here because of the Chimera?"
"Ah, the Chimera... How did you know?"
Just as I thought.
If the Intelligence Bureau was looking for me, there could only be one reason.
"Given recent events, isn't it obvious?"
"Ah... I was being shortsighted."
Welton nodded belatedly.
I casually walked up beside him and surveyed the surroundings.
I cast Scan to check whether anyone was watching us.
There were no suspicious individuals within a one-kilometer radius.
I compared his appearance with my memory of the last time I had seen him, but nothing had changed much.
Having verified this location was secure, it was time to get to the point.
"So what did you come here for?"
"Ahem. We’re having trouble making progress with the Chimera’s interrogation."
"Welton, don’t lie to me."
They failed to extract information because they couldn't break a single Demon?
That was nonsense.
Torture specialists and Inquisitors could work together and keep digging until they got something out of it.
And the captured Chimera was a Clone, not the original. I couldn’t understand how they had failed to break a single Clone and ended up coming to me.
If my memory was correct,
and if that Clone was around early Level 6,
then the original was probably around mid-to-late Level 6.
For now, I kept the fact that the Chimera was a Clone to myself and pressed Welton again.
"This situation makes no sense to me. You'd better speak plainly."
"I thought I’d need to explain further anyway."
Welton gave a few short, dry coughs. Then his tone shifted, as if reciting a speech he had diligently memorized before our meeting.
"It cast Silence Magic on itself and forcibly sealed its own Mana Circuit. We tried to break through it, but Demonic Energy is slowing us down."
"Then what about the Inquisitors?"
"They... are so belligerent that they nearly killed the prisoner, so they’re on standby."
That was typical of the Inquisitors. Poke the hornet’s nest that was the Order, and they came at you without mercy.
Judging by Welton’s account, the Chimera had most likely been provoking the Inquisitors in hopes they would kill it.
The plan would likely have succeeded.
But that would have been the worst-case scenario for the Empire, which needed to extract as much information as possible, so they were probably separated.
The Intelligence Bureau must have stepped in afterward.
So the Chimera switched to its next operation.
Silence Magic on itself.
Then forcibly blocking its own Mana Circuit.
Attempts to dispel it stalled by Demonic Energy.
If the Clone couldn’t take its own life, this was the best move available to it.
The Clone’s own will probably played a part, but the original watching from the distant north had likely intervened heavily as well.
Ultimately, the objective behind the Chimera's silence was simple.
Stall for as long as possible, keep its mouth shut, then eventually pretend it had been worn down and offer tainted information.
It was a method the Chimera had always used.
I remembered it clearly because I had been burned by it once in my previous life, after I escaped prison and was tracking down the Four Great Demons.
'Haa... damn Demons...'
There was nothing to gain from showing emotion here, so I suppressed the hatred of Demons boiling deep inside me and kept my composure.
"I'm starting to get the picture."
"Really?"
Welton looked at me with expectant eyes.
I laid out the terms of my cooperation.
"If you raise the Artifact limit to Level 6, I’ll help you."
"As you know... that proposal requires review."
Just as I expected, one of the three phrases most favored by Imperial civil servants appeared.
One: We will review it.
Two: Regulations are regulations.
Three: I am not the person in charge, so I don't know.
By now, just hearing those phrases made me sick of them.
I grimaced slightly at the word "review."
Welton's face became deeply troubled as he tried to explain.
"I’m frustrated too, but those are our internal regulations. Like I said before, I’m only the messenger, so I can’t give you an answer right away..."
I hadn't expected him to mix two excuses at once like that.
There was no point saying anything more. He would only mix all three phrases together, so I gave him an ultimatum.
"Since I have work to do at the Academy, come back in three days."
"Um... could you make it sometime this week?"
"I’m not sure which one of us is in a hurry here."
At that, Welton raised his hands in surrender.
"Understood. I’ll report it to my superiors and get back to you."
He pulled his hat down firmly and hurriedly left the spot.
I watched his figure slowly fade from view and tallied the gains I had secured from this conversation.
The biggest gain was that I could reach the 6th Level by bypassing the stubborn Imperial bureaucracy.
'I didn't expect a shortcut to appear here.'
Just as I was wondering how to approach the Imperial Court about the White Night Mountain Range, the Intelligence Bureau arrived with a problem of its own.
Last time, the Chimera had done nothing but hinder me all day. This time, it had at least provided a small foothold.
This conversation would prompt discussion inside the Empire about how to respond if the threat level of the Demons rose.
The easiest method among them would be easing the Artifact restrictions, so they would focus their efforts there.
After that, if I met the Artifact's creator at the mountain's peak and figured out the control method, I would seize the initiative.
"I suppose I'll teach and wait until then."
I walked away, curious to see what the impatient Empire would come up with.
* * *
Three days after meeting Welton.
The Chancellor summoned me early in the morning and greeted me with a look brimming with anticipation.
"What is it this time?"
"Come, have a seat!"
"If this is something strange, I’m getting up and leaving."
"Now, now, it's nothing strange."
The Chancellor immediately brought out tea and refreshments kept for guests, showing unusual attentiveness.
On top of that, he discreetly slipped out a potion known to be excellent for fatigue recovery.
'Something feels off, doesn’t it?'
There was no such thing as a free lunch in this world.
If someone gave you something, they usually wanted something in return.
I looked back on the Chancellor's past requests.
Writing questions for the Academy Column.
Extending the lecture period by three months.
And today.
Just as I was about to bolt if he made any suspicious proposal—
"Do you know what this is?"
The excited Chancellor set a Magic Device on the table—one I had seen in a special Magic Tower facility.
It was a Magic Device capable of recreating real environments. Unlike the ordinary version I had seen before, this one bore the Magic Tower’s seal.
He clearly thought I wouldn’t know what it did and puffed himself up with pride.
"It’s a Magic Device that changes the weather."
"How did you know that? Don't tell me...?"
The Chancellor trailed off and tilted his head.
He gave me an odd look, as though wondering whether I had taken a subordinate into the Magic Tower to steal internal information.
Even though I was working as an Academy instructor, this wasn't reason enough to use Alcyone for such matters.
Placing a capable subordinate into that kind of role would be a waste of manpower, just like an Imperial civil servant.
It would be far more useful to investigate the Inquisitors despite the risk and gain leverage over the Order and the Imperial Court.
"I saw it when I visited the Magic Tower during the break."
"Then shouldn't you have mentioned it sooner?"
"Was there any need to mention it...?"
The Chancellor's expression soured slightly, at a loss for words.
He stroked his chin for a long while, then leaned forward.
"Is that true?"
"It is."
"Hmm, I see."
Since there was no longer any reason to reveal Alcyone's involvement, I decided not to press the Chancellor on the point and let his remark slide.
A moment later, the Chancellor casually tapped the table, pretending to be nonchalant.
"Anyway, this Magic Device should be extremely useful for your classes."
"Does that mean I am to use it and submit feedback?"
"Good, you catch on quickly. The Magic Tower Master is quietly looking forward to it too, so collect the students’ opinions as well."
In other words, it was a real-world field test.
The Magic Tower had probably tested it dozens or hundreds of times already. Now they wanted feedback from actual users.
I had been intrigued by this Magic Device myself, so I had no objection.
He followed with a brief explanation of the Magic Device.
"The hardest problem—Spatial Magic—has been solved, so now it can recreate an environment almost exactly like the real thing."
"What is the range?"
"Think of the range as roughly the size of the mountain behind the academy—the area you’d use for practical training."
It seemed the Dragon who had written the Spatial Magic Grimoire had helped out while visiting.
Otherwise, there was no way the Spatial Magic problem could have been solved as the Chancellor claimed.
After all, the Spatial Magic known to the public—specifically Teleportation—could only be used with the Magic Tower Master’s permission.
In any case.
Apparently unwilling to disappoint the Magic Tower Master’s quiet expectations, the Chancellor clasped my hand and looked at me earnestly.
"Please...!"
"I’ll send the report in the required format as soon as we’re done."
"Thank you! While we’re at it, I’ll actively push to make you a professor..."
The moment the nonsense started, I walked out of the office without letting the Chancellor finish.
* * *
I ate a leisurely lunch, picked up a coffee from a café, and headed to the gymnasium as usual.
In one hand, coffee.
In the other, the Magic Device and attendance ledger.
That day, we were going to spar to our hearts’ content using the Magic Device supplied by the Magic Tower.
First, since it incorporated Spatial Magic, I would set the environment to a forest like the mountain behind the academy.
Next came the most important setting: the weather...
Honestly, I wanted to set it to a rainy midnight.
Teaching was more fun when visibility was restricted and they had to stay more alert than usual.
However, if I considered the next class, letting them get rained on wouldn't be ideal.
I could always raise the Magic Device’s settings gradually later, so I compromised with a beginner course.
Location: forest.
Environment: midnight.
Having made that simple decision,
I entered the gymnasium ten minutes before the start time, as always.
"Nice to see you, everyone."
"Hello!"
A more energetic chorus than usual reached my ears.
And the scene laid out before me was—
"There are students here I don’t recognize. Did some of you come to the wrong class?"
A total of fourteen people, including the existing students, were clustered together, waiting for me.