Chapter 118: Wiretapping (2)
That night, Frontier called Elodie and Pielot.
I wanted to call everyone else too, but Arald was busy planning the 3D map, and I thought I wouldn’t have enough time if I waited to explain to everyone.
First, I needed to talk to Elodie and Pielot, who actually attend Atlas.
Since I had already shared the situation with Elodie, I only had to explain it to Pielot.
“… “I’m glad you didn’t open your mouth carelessly.”
After hearing everything, Pielot’s face became the same as Elodie’s in the after-school classroom.
If she had been Pielot in the past, she might have been so excited by the comments from the students around her that she would have talked about this and that without even realizing it. Then, a slip of a tongue or two might have come out.
However, in Atlas, the number of times Pielot opened her mouth was small enough to count on one hand, so there was nothing to worry about right away.
“Is this accommodation okay?”
“Huh. I checked it in advance. “The one here is just an ordinary guy.”
Pielot was relieved by that.
The worry was rather for Frontier and Elodie.
“For some reason, he was obsessed with the relationship between me and Elodie.”
Frondier sighed.
That’s what Pielot asked.
“Does that have anything to do with wiretapping?”
“Eavesdropping means digging up the other person’s information. Be wary of new faces that suddenly appear. “It would be even more difficult to say that the two were originally close friends.”
Wiretapping is, of course, a crime. It is natural for someone who has been doing such things to be wary of outsiders.
If Frontier and Elodie share information, they may become suspicious of Giotto’s remarks in the process. There is a risk of being discovered by the person you need to obtain information from.
In fact, that thought was correct, and Frondier was suspicious of Giotto from the beginning.
I didn’t know it was on such an excessive scale.
“Elodie was getting Giotto’s attention, so Giotto probably tried to eavesdrop on her more than me. “Didn’t she say something dangerous?”
“I don’t think there was anything like that. In Atlas, I was mostly focused on class. “Because I had no interest in Giotto in the first place.”
Poor Giotto.
Actually, I don’t feel sorry for you at all.
“… “Then there is only one problem left.”
“Huh. “The two of us talking in an empty classroom.”
The eavesdropping device was not limited to Frontier’s classroom. It was all over the Atlas.
Of course, there were no blind spots at all, but at least they were all installed in places that could be called ‘rooms.’ Wherever there is a speaker, there is also a wiretap.
“If Giotto had heard that, my friendship with Elodie would have been immediately discovered. “They probably knew we were having a fake fight.”
“I think I said some dangerous things besides that.”
In fact, the really dangerous thing was the decision to use the spell, but Frondier believed that there was no way he could figure out what was going on just by listening to the audio of the conversation. Even Elodie is seeing his original work for the first time.
However, just because there was a wiretapping device in that room, it does not necessarily mean that Giotto was wiretapping.
Fortunately, Giotto was not in the teacher’s office at the time because he was in class. In other words, I did not see the two arguing, nor did I see them change locations after the argument.
“What if Giotto is a pervert who eavesdrops during class?”
“That’s a possibility, but I wouldn’t do something that dangerous. The students here are not ordinary people. “If you have something in your ears or use strange mana, you will definitely be caught.”
It is unlikely that Giotto was listening to their conversation.
But Frontier and Elodie’s expressions were dark.
Pielot asked him.
“If Giotto wasn’t listening, there wouldn’t be a problem, right? “Now that we know that wiretaps are installed in the entire area, we can report it.”
“The question is, can I file a complaint?”
“Yes?”
Pielot asks back because she doesn’t understand Elodie’s words.
Frontier explained.
“The design of the speaker I saw didn’t seem out of place when viewed from the outside. Of course, that’s because I didn’t know the original design of the speaker or listening device, but there were no protruding parts, mismatched specifications, or marks that looked like they had been forced in. That’s why it was designed that way in the first place.”
After hearing those words, Pielot’s face became cold.
“… “It was designed so that wiretaps could be installed from the beginning?”
“Or it’s a speaker with an ‘eavesdropping function’ in the first place.”
Why eavesdroppers don’t respond to mana detection. Because it can be hidden with the mana used in the speaker.
Just by looking at it, it is clear that the two do not play separately.
“It’s hard to think that the existing speakers were removed and replaced. The number of Atlas speakers is quite large. Taking it apart and installing new speakers is a major undertaking. There is no way Teacher Giotto could have done that alone without being caught.”
“… Giotto is not alone.”
“Okay. “That’s the problem.”
Frontier and Elodie sighed.
After closing the eyes, the thinly opened eyes were similar to each other.
“To what extent are you involved in this large-scale crime?”
“…”
Pielot lost her words and looked at the two.
If Dier had been in this place, Pielot would have seen him without realizing it.
Usually, I bring a new perspective to these conversations by saying ‘I think’.
As Pielot watched Dier from the side, Dier not only has his head working well, but he can also see the situation from a third party’s perspective. He had a knack for seeing even himself from afar, as if he were a passerby.
Pielot can’t do that. He is extremely personal and subjective.
“… In such a situation, usually,”
So his point of view is not a rational and reasonable conclusion.
I’ve seen this similar situation in a novel. In the case of Ajax, it was a bit off.
“Isn’t the highest-ranking person in the institution a shadowy figure? The president or something.hahahaha.”
“…”
“…”
At Pielot’s words, Frondier and Elodie quietly looked at him.
“No, I’m just kidding.”
Pielot was intimidated and spoke, but Frondier covered his mouth and was lost in thought.
“There is a possibility.”
“As the president, he can get involved as much as he wants and doesn’t have to worry about being caught. Because he came up with it himself and built it himself. “No matter how noisy the construction is, no one thinks it’s strange.”
And Elodie agreed.
However, Elodie agreed but tilted her head with a subtle expression.
“… “If it were said that Ospreet was actually that kind of person, it would be too shocking.”
“Even if it’s the same president, there is a difference.”
In fact, to Frondier and Elodie, if he were to be the rector, he would still be Osprit. A symbol of wisdom, a sage who helped the two countless times and received grace from them.
Although he himself is not a wise man yet, of course Ospreet is already a wise man for the two of them.
Perhaps because of the image of Osprit, he did not think deeply about the head of Atlas.
“Now that I think about it, who is the president of Atlas? “I don’t think I’ve ever met him.”
Frondier asked.
Since he first came to Atlas, he has never met the Chancellor.
When a new teacher comes in, don’t they usually get to know the president? Even if he wasn’t, he was sure to come across it during his teaching duties, but he never did.
Elodie said.
“From what I heard, you seem to be in frequent contact with nobles. I guess you’re the type of person who cares about the connections around you. “There will be almost no work within Atlas.”
“So that’s why I can’t see it? “If you listen to me that way, it seems like I’m practicing diplomacy.”
“It won’t be that different.”
He is definitely a completely different president from Ospreet.
Pielot spoke there.
“… It didn’t have a bad reputation among students. Of course, not many people saw my face, and none of the students knew specifically what I was doing.”
“… ? “Why do I have a reputation when I don’t even know what I’m doing?”
Frondier asked.
Is there any reputation if you can’t see clearly and don’t know what you’re doing? It would be normal to be treated as someone who doesn’t exist at all.
There, Pielot spoke with an ambiguous expression.
“Well, they said she was incredibly pretty.”
“… Was the head of Atlas a woman?”
Frondier was surprised by that.
She is a woman, and if you say she is pretty, it means she is quite young. It was no longer possible to compare anything to Ospreet.
Elodie asked there.
“But can she have a reputation just for being pretty?”
Frondier asked Pielot.
“Have the students ever said anything about how she compares to Elodie? “I think he said something like that.”
“Why, why me suddenly?”
Elodie is embarrassed by that. But Pielot nodded her head as if it was obvious.
“Of course, that came up. “The reason I heard the president’s story in the first place was because the story of senior Elodie came up.”
“Indeed. So what do you think?”
“Uhm. “There is something called taste when it comes to a person’s appearance, so if you exclude personal likes and dislikes,”
As Pielot said that, he looked back on the stories that were being talked about around him for a moment. To be honest, it wasn’t a topic I was very interested in at the time, so thinking about it now is a bit hazy.
Still, it was a topic that caused quite a stir. Considering the public opinion at the time,
“… “I felt like I couldn’t decide who was superior.”
To that answer.
Unlike Elodie, who found it difficult to participate in this conversation, hesitated, Frondier’s expression changed.
“… What?”
Frondier made a face as if she couldn’t believe it.
“President Atlas’ looks can rival Elodie’s?”
“It’s hard for me to believe it, but that’s generally how I felt.”
When Fron Deer heard that, her eyes wavered as if it was a completely unexpected answer. Like a person who has a plan that falls apart and has to make it again. Then she sees Elodie.
“What do you think, Elodie? She thinks it makes sense now,”
“Don’t ask me!!”
Elodie shouted, her face turning bright red.
Frondier thought about it again, and soon she nodded her head as if she was convinced.
“Indeed. “At that rate, she could develop a reputation just by appearing.”
“Yes. “If that’s true.”
Frontier and Pielot looked very serious and nodded to each other as if a small mystery had been solved.
‘A president who prioritizes relationships with nobles to the point where it is difficult to show his face at his educational institution. And it has a face comparable to Elodie.’
What does this have to do with the wiretaps installed throughout the Atlas? Or will there be no relationship at all?
More research is needed to find out.
‘… There are more questions to ask.’
And Frontier had a way to make that investigation happen sooner rather than later.
* * *
And the weekend.
As promised, I went to the address and rang the doorbell in front of a house.
Ding dong-
While pressing, I admired the mansion for a moment.
‘It’s really big. As for the mansion, it’s more luxurious than Roach.’
The Roach family is the best family in name and reality on the Palind continent, but not all family members are very interested in luxury. Therefore, the mansion is not overly flashy and has a somewhat restrained aspect.
In comparison, the mansion in front of me was truly magnificent. You can even see the lake on the walking path beyond the bars, and there are well-maintained gardens and trees. Above all, the scale is overwhelming.
[Who are you?]
A man’s voice was heard from the intercom installed with the doorbell. Gentlemanly and blunt at the same time, and heavy and slow pronunciation. I guessed that I was the butler of this house, so I answered.
“It’s called Frontier di Roach. “I came today to visit Zenita at home.”