Chapter 30
Translator: True Detective
### Chapter 30: Doubt
Sitting at the accommodation desk, I took a sip of coffee.
Mmm, the aroma is quite deep.
Although it falls short of the top-grade beans I drank at the Duke family.
It's at a considerable level for a generic product.
At that time, Eleanor wriggled in my bosom.
[Rihan. This lady wants to smell that aroma too! Won't you take me out right now!]
*'I'll let you smell it to your heart's content later, Senior. Hold it in for now.'*
Eleanor surprisingly really likes coffee, you know.
I should stock up on some high-grade beans later.
Anyway.
To my right is Yveline, and opposite me sits Celly.
The one who broke the silence first was Celly.
"Mr. Rihan, what on earth did you do from the very first day?"
Celly's voice was full of embarrassment.
It seems the rumor has already spread.......
I knew a rumor would spread, you know?
But befitting a romance fantasy, the propagation speed of gossip is too fast.
"I really thought my liver was going to drop! Do you know how many high-ranking people there are in Class A, from the Crown Prince to the children of Duke families, what if you embarrass the professor there!"
Celly's reaction was reasonable.
If it had been a normal situation, of course I would have laid low too.
I did it because I had a reliable backing.
Because, who am I?
Aren't I the body that was promised full support by Duke Cassian who ascended to the 7th Hierarchy?
[Rihan. I am here so do not worry. What could those small fries do to you.]
With Eleanor joining in, there is no one invincible like this.
"I judged that it was the most efficient method."
"Even so! It's too dangerous!"
Celly huffed and puffed, laying out nagging.
Soon sighed and added.
"Well, actually it seems there won't be any particular problem though."
"Why?"
"Because I received contact from the Duke via communication magic."
......No, the rumor already spread to the Duke family?
True, he must have been curious about his daughter's first day at the Academy.
"The Duke asked me to convey a message."
Celly suddenly straightened her back and deliberately put on a solemn expression.
Perhaps she intends to imitate the Duke's way of speaking.
"'I will cover for you, so do whatever you want to do', he said."
Cassian.
This man is much more hot-blooded than I thought.
[Perhaps because he is the descendant of my disciple, his temper is certainly hearty. I like it.]
"Ah, and he said if a problem arises, he will come to the Academy directly himself."
"No, that's a bit......."
If a 7th Hierarchy mage makes an appearance at the Academy, it won't end as a simple disturbance.
"........."
A doubt suddenly arises.
Come to think of it, did this man report that his hierarchy rose?
"Ms. Celly. Do you know what the Duke's hierarchy is externally?"
"Isn't it 6th Hierarchy? I know it officially as that."
As expected.
Originally, from the 5th Hierarchy onwards, there is an obligation to report to the Imperial Family upon hierarchy ascension.
But Cassian seems to be hiding it.
If the fact that he is 7th Hierarchy becomes known, the balance of power on the continent would be shaken entirely.
Well, the Duke will handle that well on his own.
Celly put down her teacup and opened her mouth.
"Let's get back to the main topic. Since it's still the first day, you haven't confirmed anything exactly, right?"
"Yes. I think we still have to observe for now."
When my answer ended, Yveline rested her head with a thud on my shoulder and spat out.
"I also tried my best in my own way."
"What did you find out?"
At my question, Yveline slily looks up at me.
"I mingled a bit in the conversations of the girls who approached. But there was no answer I wanted, and their levels were all so low it made my stomach churn."
Yveline fiddled with my sleeve and continued speaking.
"Who the dress designer is, what the Crown Prince's tastes are. They were just spouting such unnutritious talk while walking on eggshells around me. I got bored so I just left."
Certainly, for Yveline's personality, such a sociable probing battle would have been no different from torture.
"I endured it thinking of you. If it were normal, I wouldn't have even answered."
"You worked hard. Admirable, Yveline."
To prevent her from going astray.
I have to definitely give praise.
Oh my, you did well.
At my praise, Yveline's sharp eyes softened a little.
"Ms. Celly, you haven't obtained any information separately either, right?"
"Yes. I think I'll have to broaden my network a bit more."
"Good. Let's wrap it up with this for today."
The first day of the Academy slowly came to a close.
***
The next day, I visited the Asterion Grand Library.
Yveline decided to move separately saying she would investigate the inside of the school a bit more.
My impression upon entering the library was.
"........."
It's really fucking huge.
Under the soaring ceiling, tens of thousands of books are floating in the air by magical power.
The faint light of magic power flowing between the bookshelves creates a mysterious atmosphere.
What is this, Hogwarts?
At this rate, one could get lost while looking for a book?
***
I sat in a corner seat of the library and took out a notebook.
The unique smell of old paper tickled the tip of my nose.
It's a smell I smelled to the point of being sick of it while writing my thesis in my past life but.
Here, it strangely puts my mind at ease.
But this comfort is also brief.
There is a separate reason I came here.
I opened the notebook and spun the pen once between my fingers.
*'Now, let's organize the questions one by one.'*
[Good. Since I too had many unsolved questions.]
Eleanor poked her face out from the end of my sleeve and looked down at the notebook.
I put the nib of the pen on the paper.
The most fundamental question that arose right after arriving here.
*'Who on earth moved Senior's Spirit Vessel to the Otherworld?'*
The first is the abnormal location of the Spirit Vessel.
Eleanor's Spirit Vessel is currently tied to the abnormal Otherworld.
Logically speaking, it's definitely a strange thing.
No matter if it's an object that goes against principles.
Is it possible for a Spirit Vessel to dig into the Otherworld as it pleases?
[I cannot be certain either. Since it has been quite a while since I was separated from the main body.]
*'Well, could it have gone in on its own?'*
[There is a possibility it dug in on its own, but that probability is extremely low.]
*'Hmm......'*
Statistically, if the probability is not 0, it would be possible.
But that is only a theoretical story to the bitter end.
*'Don't you have any metaphors? Like at the level of finding a needle in a desert.'*
[It's not to that extent. It would be a probability about the level of being struck by lightning from a clear sky.]
The probability of getting struck by lightning is also low all the same.
To draw a conclusion.
It's too grandiose to say someone moved it, yet too precise to say it's a natural phenomenon.
Should I say it feels like it's hanging somewhere on the ambiguous boundary where intention and coincidence overlap.
Even so, if asked whether there was a great figure in history capable of moving a Spirit Vessel, that's not it either.
Now for the second question.
In the history books, not a single 10th Hierarchy mage is recorded after Eleanor.
Of course, up to here it's not strange, you know?
10th Hierarchy isn't some dog's name.
It's entirely possible for one not to appear.
The problem is.
Even Eleanor didn't remain in the records.
[Rihan. Do you mean to say there is really not a single line of record about me?]
*'I told you there really isn't? Senior, actually isn't that 10th Hierarchy thing a lie? Weren't you some nameless neighborhood mage?'*
[What are you saying! There's no way that's possible! I am the 10th Hierarchy Grand Mage, Eleanor Aeterna!]
The sight of her getting fired up and wriggling inside my shirt is surprisingly cute.
Of course, what I just said is a joke.
Because I already painfully experienced that she is an extraordinary person.
But there are truly strangely no records.......
Even in the documents of the Strategic Magic Headquarters.
Even within the Academy's vast materials, the name Eleanor Aeterna did not appear in a single line.
The only place where records remain is the top-secret documents of the Estal Duke family.
Even that is dismissed as a myth or legend in the world.
"No, there really is none anywhere."
It's a strange thing.
Senior Selene, a contemporary figure, has traces of her remaining in history.
Why did only Eleanor evaporate?
If she's 10th Hierarchy, she's a figure who would have changed even the map of the continent.
No matter how I look at this.......
Fucking suspicious.
[......It seems I was intentionally erased by all appearances.]
It seems she also felt a sense of incongruity.
"Right?"
Someone deliberately picked out and deleted only her records.
Actually, looking at it that way is the most reasonable deduction.
"I'll have to look a bit more. Because traces of the records being erased might remain."
****
"Wait a minute, Fluffy! Let's go together!"
Following Fluffy, I discovered an unexpected person in the quiet air of the library.
*'......Why is that person here?'*
A corner seat by the window, a back figure engrossed in something.
It was Rihan, the protagonist of the hot topic who turned the Academy upside down yesterday.
Seeing his back figure engrossed in something, I instinctively hid my body behind a pillar.
"Did you come knowing that person was here?"
The cotton ball floating beside me shakes vigorously up and down.
This cotton ball is a special friend visible only to me.
Its name is **Fluffy**.
It looks soft like a dandelion seed, so it's a name I gave it myself.
Although Fluffy cannot speak.
When it feels good, it gives off a scent like warm sunlight.
Except for Mina at the Academy, it's the only friend I can pour my heart out to.
"We have to be quiet, Fluffy."
While mumbling quietly and catching my breath.
The scent wafting from Mr. Rihan tickles the tip of my nose again.
Still, no, a much deeper and better scent than yesterday.
*'If I get a little closer, will I be able to smell it better?'*
I want to check from close up just one more time.
Why such a special scent emanates from that person.
Whether that bizarre resonance I felt when he used chantless magic yesterday is related to this scent.
*'I'm nervous......'*
Suddenly my heart starts beating as if to burst.
Is it okay for a commoner like me to strike up a conversation with such an amazing person first?
"Phew......."
I took a deep breath.
I recall that confident appearance even in front of the professor yesterday.
Perhaps unlike his scary appearance, he might be a much kinder person than I thought.
*'Yuna. You didn't originally have a personality of walking on eggshells like this.'*
Although I'm more nervous than when receiving a month's worth of part-time wages at once.
I felt like I would regret it for the rest of my life if I didn't go now.
There must be a reason why Fluffy brought me here.
Let's go.
I'll just go and try offering a greeting first.
Clenching my fists tightly, I carefully moved my steps towards the seat where he was.
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