Chapter 70
Chapter 70
Chapter 70
DLC [Professor of Heroic Tales]: Mid-term Summary (3)
The street where the snow has stopped.
Chilly weather.
I am heading to the parking lot with Adele now.
Ever since I woke up in Dante’s body, we had been walking this path together every day.
Tap, tap….
Adele’s footsteps can be heard when she walks.
This is unusual for the Assassination Studies department.
I, too, make almost no sound when I walk now.
That is a habit of an assassin.
So, one time, I asked her. ‘Why do you make noise when you walk?’ To that, Adele smiled and started walking around quickly, making no sound at all.
- I do it on purpose. I don’t want to hide.
- You don’t want to hide? But you’re an assassin.
- Hmm. That may be so…. I just don’t like it. I didn’t become an assassin because I liked it…. And doesn’t it feel more like a person walking when you make some noise?
It was an incomprehensible statement.
At the time, I just thought that and moved on.
Tap, tap, tap, tap….
Now, those footsteps sound strangely off.
Then, my eyes were drawn to Adele’s necklace.
「 Ω 」
The Omega symbol.
This symbol represents the star ‘Grim Reaper StarΩ’.
My connection to it… was that the giant scythe ‘Grim ReaperΩ’ used by Head Priestess Angela in the battle against Jinxite was a weapon bearing the [Stigmata] of the Grim Reaper Star.
The organization ‘Grim Reaper Society’, which Kaiser was recently appointed as leader of, was a cult worshipping the ‘Grim Reaper StarΩ’.
At that moment, Adele looked back at me and asked.
“What are you looking at?”
Then she covered her chest with her hand.
“It’s a pretty necklace.”
“What? Oh my.”
Adele buttoned up the front of her shirt.
“Why are you covering it?”
“Ah, I’m not covering it, the button was just open. I tend to button mine all the way up.”
I gazed into Adele’s eyes.
“…….”
“……?”
Then Adele smiled and blinked.
This was the second time I had looked at that necklace.
Come to think of it, in the Empire, the ‘Grim Reaper Star’ is said to be quite a major religion.
Was it called ‘Go World’?
I looked into it a bit because the doctrine was interesting.
They preached that there is a God called ‘GoΩ’ in this world, and one must refine their own heart to reach that ‘GoΩ’.
It was a strange setup.
Originally, in this world setting, apart from the Holy Mother, the incarnation of the ‘Cross Star†’, there were no beings referred to as anthropomorphic gods.
Clearly, a different setting from before the [DLC].
“Adele. Do you worship the Grim Reaper Star?”
“No? I just bought it because it was pretty.”
“It was indeed pretty.”
“Right? Professor, would you like to see it too?”
Then Adele took off her necklace and showed it to me.
It was just a necklace with no particularly unusual features.
“…….”
After gazing at the necklace,
We started walking again.
Beyond that, looking back at my life, there were other minor things that bothered me.
For example, Adele’s strange demeanor that often appeared in her daily life.
As mentioned before, Adele is currently living with me. I live on the second floor, and Adele lives on the first.
For household chores, a maid from the department comes twice a week and handles everything, so there are no inconveniences.
Still, there are occasional things we need to do.
I also tend to take care of my own clothes.
For instance, let’s say Adele spilled coffee on her clothes.
And if it’s an important outfit she needs to wear today.
Normally, one could remove the coffee stain by hand-washing, but
Adele threw away the clothes and went out to buy a new set.
- Why did you buy that?
- Ah, this outfit? It got dirty, didn’t it?
- Can’t you just wash it?
- Ugh~ Never mind. I’ll just buy a new one.
She also does things strangely when washing dishes sometimes. (She poured dish soap directly onto the plates.)
She waters the potted plants every day. (Eventually, the ornamental tree died.)
Thus, I felt a sense of distortion in the gaps of her daily life.
There was another incident.
Once, when we went to the commercial district in Sector 5 to buy teaching materials, we saw a claw machine.
Adele’s expression suddenly stiffened, and she became quiet without a word.
- What’s wrong?
- Nothing. I just feel bad.
It was a voice I had never heard before.
Adele hated claw machines.
Furthermore, Adele abnormally disliked ‘sexual things’. Especially, she intensely disliked ‘women in a provocative state’, so much so that the statement about ‘buttoning her buttons all the way up’ was just one part of it. If she saw lewd flyers on the street, she would deliberately kick them away. When adult movies came on TV, she would change the channel with annoyance.
There was an incident once. In the Assassination Studies department, there is a place called the [Costume Room]. It’s a room for assassination requests.
Just as actors wear clothes suitable for their roles in a dressing room, assassins rent various outfits according to their missions.
Sometimes it’s guard uniforms, janitor outfits, noble attire, even party dresses for entering balls, or event wear for underground gambling dens.
When we visited for teaching materials, Adele secretly tore up a provocative dress there.
- What are you doing?
- Ah, sorry~ The clothes were tattered, so I just touched them lightly…. How do the Costume Room assistants manage their clothes?
- …….
- Ugh, I’ll pay for it.
At the time, I just let it go.
But thinking back now, Adele’s expression then was somehow different from usual.
She was clearly angry.
Awkward daily life.
Hatred for claw machines.
Hatred for sexual things.
Up to this point, there was no reason to think of Adele as anything more than a ‘peculiar individual’.
However…….
“Ah, Professor, how about a quiet barbecue restaurant?”
“That sounds good.”
“Then let’s go. I know a great place~”
I gazed at Adele walking ahead and followed her.
* * *
Adele is probably a spy.
Perhaps from Kreutz?
I don’t know where she came from, but she was definitely an alien presence who shouldn’t be here.
Before the ‘Rebellion and Collapse’, she had never even harbored a suspicious thought within the [Script].
However, during the ‘Rebellion and Collapse’, I felt something strange several times.
The first was when I went [Offline].
It was a mental message sent to me by people from another world.
< ⧉ Many are intrigued that you still face a very great threat! >
< ⧉ Advice pours in to be wary of the person closest to you. >
The person closest to me.
I didn’t miss that keyword.
Because the person closest to me was Adele.
Around that time, the meat arrived.
“Wow, it looks delicious. Let’s eat.”
The second was Adele’s disappearance during the ‘Rebellion and Collapse’.
Adele disappeared around the time Jinxite appeared at the cat cafe and didn’t reappear until the incident was over. She only returned when Elise was in the trash can.
Her whereabouts during those few days were suspicious, so I investigated separately, but Adele was nowhere to be found.
Truly, nowhere.
So, what was she doing then?
Before I get to that.
Lastly, the third. Right after I started suspecting her, ‘Systematicity⧉’ also began ‘something’. I gained certainty when we were touring the tourist spots in Sector 9 together earlier today.
“Adele.”
I said to Adele, who was about to put meat in her mouth.
“Yes?”
“Think of a number in your mind. I’ll try to guess it.”
“Oh. What is it~? Hmm….”
【 Neutral Professor Dante: “Adele.” 】
【 Assistant Adele: “Yes?” 】
【 Neutral Professor Dante: “Think of a number in your mind. I’ll try to guess it.” 】
【 Assistant Adele: “Oh. What is it~? Hmm….” 】
【 Assistant Adele: “…….” 】
【 Assistant Adele: “I’ve thought of one. What is it?” 】
【 Neutral Professor Dante: ‘Let’s see.’ 】
【 Neutral Professor Dante: ‘I can’t recall it now.’ 】
“One.”
“Wrong! It was seven~”
Her [Thoughts] began to become unreadable.
Since ‘Systematicity⧉’ governs the system, it was likely ‘Systematicity⧉’ that blocked it.
Paradoxically, that was an act that solidified my conviction.
The role of ‘Systematicity⧉’ is to allow the player to enjoy the game.
My guess is that it judged that I would only be ‘enjoying it’ if I couldn’t read Adele’s thoughts.
“This time, Professor, you think of one too.”
“…….”
Based on the three reasons above, I was convinced.
Adele is a spy, or something akin to a spy.
Among them, I also figured out what Adele had been doing during her missing days from Ezekiel’s [Script].
She had tampered with a ‘national treasure’.
Kingdom Designated National Treasure No. 4, ‘Book of the Underworld⧉’.
This is a [Legend III] grade book, coveted by the Empire and the entire world.
It is an item that can precisely locate a ‘specific person’ if conditions are entered.
When the incident occurred, Ezekiel hastily borrowed it from the royal family,
And thanks to that, we assassins retaliated by assassinating Kreutz’s infrastructure and key figures. That was the role of the ‘Book of the Underworld⧉’.
However, Ezekiel discovered something strange.
【 Head of Magic Department Ezekiel: ‘Why are the usage counts for the ‘Book of the Underworld⧉’ off by 9?’ 】
The number of times Ezekiel used the ‘Book of the Underworld⧉’ was 212.
But the actual recorded count in the ‘Book of the Underworld⧉’ was 221.
Ezekiel, a genius among geniuses, would not miss such a discrepancy.
Using this as material, he asked the ‘Book of the Underworld⧉’.
【 Head of Magic Department Ezekiel: ‘User, Adele?’ 】
The missing Adele.
Somehow, she had secretly handled the ‘Book of the Underworld⧉’,
Used it to find ‘someone’,
And then returned to my side.
Pretending to be the cheerful assistant.
< ⧉ Many are intrigued that you still face a very great threat! >
I am now.
Having a meal alone with such a person.
“Did you think of one?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm…. What number could it be? Seven…!”
“Wrong.”
“Hmph. What’s the answer?”
“3,239.”
“What the heck. You said just one number! You cheat…!”
Adele smiled broadly and put the meat in her mouth. From now on, I won’t know if her words are lies. Because I can’t see the [Script]. I will have to obtain information from Adele purely through my own skills.
With that thought, I uttered a word.
“Adele.”
“Yes?”
“Do you know Go?”
At that, Adele’s eyes widened.
“…Yes? Suddenly?”
“It just reminded me because of that necklace.”
“Ah, you’re talking about Go World? No? As I said earlier, I just bought it because the symbol was pretty. I’m not particularly interested in Go World. What about you, Professor?”
“It was intriguing. The Holy Mother’s religion relies too much on God. But Go World focuses on oneself and one’s inner self, doesn’t it?”
“Professor, you have high self-esteem, right?”
“No. Rather, I need the God of the Holy Mother’s religion. I am weak.”
“Ehh? Really? Hmm……. But maybe because it’s novel? I hear there are a lot of followers in the Empire these days, and in Go World too.”
“Do you not have conflicts with the Holy Mother’s religion?”
“Hmm. Since I’m not interested, I don’t know about that far….”
Just then, Adele spotted something on the menu.
“Ah, Professor, can I have a drink?”
There was no significant progress from the conversation so far.
Would it be different with alcohol?
“Let’s have a drink. It’s the weekend.”
“Great~ This is our first drink together.”
A drinking session with an enemy. The fortunate thing is that perhaps because Dante was originally an assassin, this situation isn’t particularly uncomfortable.
This is what assassins do, after all. Deceiving each other, and finding answers within that.
Just as running is entertainment for dogs, I feel a strong sense of interest now.
Adele, who are you?
What is the ‘great threat’ you possess?
Must I kill you?
* * *
Two hours later. Adele was touching my cheek.
While held in my arms.
“Friends don’t do this.”
Adele whispered softly with a smile.
“…People do this when they’re drunk.”