Chapter 74
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: Thread
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It wasn't that hard to meet the student who'd received the gift box after asking the chairman for a favor.
But I didn't go with that option.
To avoid leaving any connection between Ivan and Cedric. In the end, Cedric was the one with the highest chance of getting Roseline to comply with her request.
I had to figure it out on my own.
The more I revisited this incident, the more nagging suspicions arose.
If the culprit wasn't a Transcendent, there was no reason for Roseline to be suffering like this. She could just handle it with her own power.
But writing it off as a Transcendent's doing didn't sit right either—the methods used this time were so unmistakably the kind that screamed Transcendent, you couldn't help but suspect.
So this felt off.
Somehow twisted, you could say.
Why the twist?
Two possibilities came to mind.
There could be a hostage I didn't know about. That would explain why Roseline couldn't act freely.
The second was something unique to Roseline—a possibility only she possessed, creating that subtle distortion.
The Hero.
'Someone knows she's the Hero?'
If that was the case, it meant a scheme to quietly eliminate the Hero without tipping off the other Transcendents.
It was just one hypothesis, but a hard one to dismiss.
Then the question became: how did they learn Roseline's identity?
Checking via the Hero's sword was already off-limits—I'd cornered the market on that.
Which left something higher up. Something like an oracle, beyond ordinary sight.
'Not certain yet, and my thoughts are spiraling endlessly.'
Honestly, the hostage angle felt more realistic—and easier for me to resolve. I might even find a way to handle it without anyone being the wiser.
Not sure how I'd ended up playing the tall uncle role...
'Who's the dog, and who's the master.'
Such doubts did creep in.
To narrow things down, I needed more clues.
Before the chairman left and I departed the Academy, I had a quick chat with Professor Palrez.
We were discussing him handling the distribution of the artifact I'd soon produce. That had been my original reason for visiting the Academy.
But contrary to expectations, the conversation didn't progress smoothly.
A subtle hesitation clouded Professor Palrez's face.
"What's wrong? You said it was fine."
"Just one question. Why push this now?"
"What do you mean, out of the blue?"
"I'm asking because I just found out you hit 7th Circle. You should be aiming for Transcendent now, throwing yourself into training. So is this proposal purely for my benefit?"
After learning I'd reached 7th Circle, Professor Palrez seemed to have pieced together my intent behind making a photo artifact.
When I didn't respond, he nodded like he'd seen it coming.
"Then there's no need. Should I stand in the way of a disciple who could become a Transcendent?"
"... "
I understood where Professor Palrez was coming from.
To him, I must have looked like someone freshly at the Transcendent's doorstep.
Not wanting to be an unnecessary burden or roadblock at that crossroads—it was only natural.
I couldn't reply right away because I'd been wrestling with something similar.
The concerns I'd mulled over while walking the campus with Roseline were essentially the same at their core. Though the assassination bug mess had erupted in the meantime.
Roseline was the first human in the chatroom aside from Anonymous 4.
Familiar with human society at large, she'd naturally know about things like communication orbs and mana pattern recognition devices.
The problem? The manaphone already bundled all those functions.
Mana pattern recognition was too blatant, and the remote exchange of ideas felt too similar to communication orbs.
No need for the photo feature. Even without distributing photo artifacts, if Roseline took a close look at the structure, she'd spot the similarities without much trouble.
This was all because the priorities had flipped.
Originally, I'd planned to prototype experimental artifacts first, then integrate proven functions into the manaphone. But now, that manaphone carried real weight—far beyond my initial intent.
Until now, with no other humans besides Anonymous 4, there'd been no one to raise eyebrows. But Roseline's arrival changed that.
The moment she got comfortable in the chatroom, she'd inevitably connect the dots.
The link to Ivan Vieirn, that is. Whether I was another anonymous member or yet another of '0's underlings... either way, my shadow would overlap inescapably in that murk.
The silver lining: I'd built such a solid '0' persona that the true identity wasn't at immediate risk of exposure.
Still, preparing an answer for it was homework I couldn't ignore.
Of course, the simplest solution existed.
Don't bring Roseline into the chatroom at all.
But that was impossible.
Two reasons. In the current situation, until I finished the sword myself, the manaphone was the only reliable way to track her movements. Especially with the possibility that others knew she was the Hero.
And the other reason...
'Someday, I'll distribute phones across the entire empire.'
By the time I achieved that goal, I'd have touched the source and likely carved out a stable spot among the Transcendents.
Even then, the thread back to Ivan remained.
An inevitable end.
"No need to get so emotional. It's just what's right."
Professor Palrez seemed to think my silence meant I was moved.
"You're retiring this time around."
"The backlog's plenty. If I could pour my remaining time into it, that'd be ideal."
"Let's think it over more. We've got time."
"Don't overcomplicate it. Focus on settling into 7th Circle and your training."
"...Yes."
"Heading out now?"
"Have to. Looks like I'll be going back empty-handed."
"Empty-handed? You stamped '7th Circle mage' loud and clear in front of the juniors."
"Well, I did get to brag a little unusually."
After a brief farewell with Professor Palrez, I left the Academy.
First, I sorted the clues tied to Roseline's incident.
One was the trace from the gift box. But the analysis had revealed utterly mundane, commonplace properties. So ordinary it made me wonder if they'd chosen the guy on purpose for that blandness.
Next: the fact that I'd saved the assassin bug—and that they knew about Partan, already entangled with Roseline.
In a deserted spot, I shifted to Cedric and headed straight for Jenjen.
"Been a while."
"Those Amshikgwi assassin bugs. Can you get some?"
"Can, sure... but how many do you need?"
Jenjen answered without a second thought. Far easier than I'd anticipated.
"How do you source them?"
"Plenty of breeders specialize in 'em. Insect breeders in particular."
"Common?"
"Not rare in the Empire. Five I know just in the capital."
More than I'd guessed.
"Any way to find out who bought Amshikgwi?"
"Eh, customers are a predictable lot. If it was someone buying only Amshikgwi, maybe. But tough—they won't sell out client info."
In other words, find a way to force them to spill client secrets, and the rest was easy.
'Time to stir things up?'
Of course, not as Cedric. Rumors of me killing a Transcendent were already whispering around—ramp up, and another might come sniffing.
Cedric wasn't under oath pressure or anything right now.
Couldn't toss the network Cedric had built—it had too many uses...
'One-use burner identity.'
Easy to whip up now, with my Transcendent-boosted abilities.
Still, I held off raiding every breeder. Smarter to gather intel broadly first, then zero in.
My thoughts drifted to Partan.
A wastrel through and through, but even his dissipation might've been exploited. The gift box trace was so generically ordinary, after all.
But Partan was dead and gone.
Among those left, the one who'd know him best...
'Lina?'
"Contact Lina."
"Pardon? That Bakerta girl?"
"Yeah. Tell her I want to meet."
"What's this about?"
Lina's face, after so long, was noticeably gaunt.
Come to think of it, when they'd learned Partan was dead, the others had shown relief and joy—but Lina had exploded in rage.
Claiming the revenge she'd craved wasn't that.
Maybe she hadn't pulled herself together since, suffering all the while?
"I want to ask about Partan."
I'd expected surprise at dredging up a long-dead name, but her eyes flashed instead.
Exaggerating a bit, it was like her lifeless gaze had sparked back to life.
"What exactly?"
"I remember you digging deep into Partan's movements."
"Right."
"The data I got only had basic travel logs up to Baratrein. No standout patterns?"
Lina shook her head.
"Couldn't chase any deeper."
Deeper risks exposure, she'd figured. Signs she'd tried to stay cautious even while hot on his trail.
"So you don't know the details after he became a Transcendent."
"No, couldn't go deeper back then because he was still alive."
"... "
"But now? Perfect timing—I have the data I've been collecting. Want to see?"
I caught why her gaze had reignited, like embers flaring back to life.
She hadn't cut the thread of revenge. Couldn't accept its hollow end, still trapped by Partan.
Her personal vendetta wasn't over.
"Why? Think I'm wasting time and coin on nothing?"
Honestly, her emotions too...
"Don't assume it's pointless. It isn't."
"...Found something?"
"Yeah. Partan had allies. Or rather, an affiliation."
"A group?"
One of the possibilities I'd considered slipped from her lips—I couldn't help but be startled.
"Exactly. Haven't pinned down what the group is, but confirmed he wasn't a lone wolf like some Transcendents."
"How?"
"...Don't worry. Not blundering around blindly like you warned me before."
To her, my 'how?' came off as 'how dare you?'
But it wasn't a bad read. Cautious or not... a civilian tailing a Transcendent. With a group, no less.
One toe into another Transcendent's turf, and her scent would've hit their senses.
Lucky she'd flown under radar so far—chasing a dead man's trail.
"Just scraps I gathered carefully—not a full picture of the group. But I found a thread."
"Thread?"
"Auction house."
She dropped the auction house out of nowhere.
Only one such place came to mind between us.
"There, I snagged a fake artifact bundled with an ancient hero relic. And you..."
"Black ooze."
"Right—the 'mysterious liquid' the auctioneers hyped. The ancient hero item I won and that mysterious liquid you took. Same origin."
"Linked to that source?"
Lina nodded at me, eyes burning fierce.