189 – Fire is naturally hot (1)
Magenta Building, where research labs are concentrated.
Professor Reynold’s laboratory.
“I don’t know what business you have, but I would appreciate it if you could finish it quickly. I have my next class in an hour.”
Gracie said, sitting cross-legged on the guest sofa. He strokes his shiny gray hair and even tucks it to the back of his head. It was unclear whether this was a student or a parent, but the man facing her nodded without any agitation.
“Of course, Gracie. I’m sure it won’t take long.”
The man’s name was Varian, and he was the eldest member of Professor Reynold’s lab, who is not here right now.
“I just want to clear up any misunderstandings.”
“…Misunderstanding? What are you talking about…”
“Yesterday morning, while I was packing my professor’s belongings, armed officers came to the lab with a hastily scrawled search warrant.”
“…”
“When I asked them what the hell they were doing, they said that, to their absurdity, I was named as a suspect in attacking the professor.”
“But. Why are you saying that now?”
Gracie uncrossed her legs and placed her hands on her knees. Until a little while ago, she was an extremely arrogant noble daughter. Although he didn’t stutter or anything, wasn’t it that he glanced sideways to see if there was something stabbing him?
“Why?”
Assistant Varian said while looking intently at Gracie. Unlike before, where I was expressionless the whole time, I felt a slight but troubled feeling.
“Because this is not the first time something like this has happened.”
“…”
“For your information, as of yesterday, this is the seventieth time. So at this point, I have at least a way to find out who reported me.”
“Hmm. I was worried about the circumstances, so I just reported it. It was a lecture that depended on my graduation. I didn’t impose personal sanctions, and I followed the legal procedures.”
Gracie must have decided that it was impossible to hide it any longer and readily admitted that she was the reporter. It must have been a burden for a girl in her prime to face a strange man in a laboratory filled with the smell of musty paper and ink, and in a small room.
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“Yes, thanks to you, I was able to face you all through the proper procedures.”
“…”
“Thank you, Lady Gracie, for not kidnapping me and interrogating me in a remote warehouse.”
Are you being sarcastic? That thought occurred to her for a moment, but Lucia, as well as Gracie, immediately put an end to the rude thought. This is because the mixed emotions that appeared on their innocent faces were conveyed to them without any need to verify their authenticity.
“I guess there was a time like that.”
Instead of Gracie, whose face was red, Lucia received the conversation.
“It’s only been once or twice. Fortunately, the person who sponsors our lab worked hard and was released right away. I really thought I was going to die at that time, didn’t I?”
“…Did the sponsor help you this time too?”
“No no. It can’t be.”
Instructor Varian waved his hand in amazement.
“The good officers of the empire do not want innocent victims… It was finished without the patrons stepping out.”
“…why?”
“It’s simple. I can’t use magic.”
Assistant Professor Varian held out both hands forward as if to touch them. It is the sound of scanning the airways. Gracie first confirmed the authenticity.
Gracie blinked.
This is because I could not feel any mana in the hand I was holding.
“uh…”
“Because of this body, I cannot use not only magic, but also strength and sword skills. It is impossible to harm Professor Reynol, who is an excellent magician, with this body unless someone instigates it. Of course, the previous investigation records kept in one corner of the laboratory are I supported my innocence.”
“…”
“Is the misunderstanding resolved?”
“That… I’m sorry.”
Gracie bowed her head. I had acted stiff as if there was nothing to hold back before, but when I realized that he had a disability, I realized that I had done something very disrespectful.
Assistant Barian smiled at Gracie, who was feeling sorry and didn’t know what to do, saying it was okay.
“It’s okay. It doesn’t just happen once or twice.”
“Yeah, but…”
“It’s not just the Gracie students, many people have misunderstood me. So, it’s not your fault, but can’t you see this situation itself as a very unreasonable disaster?”
Now I think it’s fate. Assistant Barian said it was okay with a peaceful expression, as if he had been liberated. Gracie didn’t know what to do and repeatedly lowered her head and apologized.
“Now that the misunderstanding has been resolved, my business is finished. Do you have any more questions?”
“No. I was sorry.”
An apple bent at a right angle up to its waist. With those words, Gracie carefully left the lab.
However, Lucia stayed where she was, as if her business was not over. Varian smiled at the girl who seemed vaguely dissatisfied.
“Student Lucia isn’t going out?”
“Why did you call me?”
Unlike Gracie, Lucia did not look sorry at all. Rather, it is a face that is dissatisfied with Berian.
“You just kept talking to Gracie.”
“Oh, that’s right.”
Berian laughed and then took a deep breath.
“I needed a witness.”
“witness?”
“Yes. It’s not a good idea to tell so many students about the internal circumstances of our lab. However, I still want to prevent misunderstandings from spreading. That’s why I called not only Lady Gracie but also Lucia.”
It was a quite blatant and calculated answer.
“I understand that you may feel bad. But it can’t be helped. The professor is out of office because of an accident, and the research staff is not enough. Please understand, Lucia, who has a big heart.”
“…Is that a request?”
“Should I be arguing over something so trivial now? I don’t understand you.”
“I don’t know what to say, but I have a good sense of it.”
Lucia said bluntly.
“So I need to check a few things.”
“…as much as you like.”
Varian narrowed his eyes and nodded.
“Why did you pick up on Gracie? What the hell is that method?”
Lucia asked what had been bothering her all along. When Gracie told Lucia her feelings, she was careful to make sure no one was around to hear her. Lucia also expressed her feelings, but there was no one who could hear her whispering.
“That’s a bit of a difficult question. This is the foundation of our lab.”
“So, you’re not going to teach me?”
“Well, it’s not difficult to teach Lucia as long as she confirms that she won’t tell anyone else.”
“I promise.”
‘If you don’t say anything, it’ll be fine.’
Lucia spoke without taking her eyes off Varian, and Varian shrugged his shoulders, saying he couldn’t stop her.
“It’s nothing. I just poked it.”
“…yes?”
“There are a lot of employees working at the academy. There are a lot of eyes watching. It’s easy for anyone to know what students come and go, even if they live only three blocks from the academy.”
It was a ridiculous answer. Lucia could not maintain her serious expression, and she uncrossed her arms that she had been crossing all along.
“then…”
“For your information, saying seventy times is also a lie. The police officers came in about seven times, which is one-tenth of that number.”
Why are there all these people? Lucia was dumbfounded at the fact that he had been telling lies just a moment ago without even putting a word of saliva in his mouth.
“What about the sponsor? Is it false that he was kidnapped before?”
“It’s true. There was a time when people in our lab were taken somewhere… about 50 years ago. I wondered if they were really going to die like this.”
“Who on earth is the sponsor?”
“Aren’t you asking too many questions? The sponsor is someone who doesn’t like to reveal himself.”
“Now that you say that, I’m even more curious.”
“I understand that Lucia is curious, but I cannot tell you even if there is a knife at my throat. I am bound by various contracts.”
“…”
“However, if student Lucia joins our lab, I can tell you as much as I want.”
“Can the teaching assistant decide that?”
Lucia changed her expression. I was wondering what had been bothering me ever since, and that was Varian’s dominant attitude.
“The head of this lab is the professor.”
“But isn’t the leader in the hospital now?”
“Also, Professor Reynold is still in his 20s. Listening to what the assistant professor says, this lab is quite old, and the sponsors seem to have lived for quite a long time…”
“What are you curious about? Why don’t you just say it out loud?”
“Professor, can you really swear that you didn’t hurt him?”
Suddenly, Lucia turned her head and glared at Varian.
“From what I heard, it seems that not only Professor Reynold, but also many wizards have passed through this lab. If this continues, doesn’t that mean that victims will continue to emerge? What is the department chair doing? What about the president?”
“Why don’t you talk to me, Lucia? I’m at least hundreds of years older than you. Isn’t that against etiquette?”
“How old are you?”
“It’s well over four hundred.”
Lucia snorted at those words. This man must really be an elf.
But even taking that aside, there was one more reason why Lucia smiled.
“Then I’m older.”
Lucia placed her chin and feet on the table where the coffee was placed.
“I’m five hundred and forty-two.”
“…?”
“He’s a hundred years younger than me, and he’s acting so young.”
“Really?”
Varian had an unusually embarrassed expression on his face. And then his gaze moved to Lucia’s ears. There were no signs of plastic surgery to adapt to human society.
I wondered if they were demons, but there was no way I could feel the slightest demon energy. Lucia was a human being of ten percent purity.
“Yeah, dude. How have you been fooled?”
But that didn’t matter to Lucia.
She was friends with Seira, who was 700 years old, and even spoke to her, and for most of her life, including her previous life, she lived in an era where strong men were her older brothers and fathers.
In addition, if you include the age of her previous life and the time it took to reincarnate, she was not lying, so Lucia did not feel any shame in dealing with Berian.
“And do you know who my dad is?”
“…Hugo?”
Berian suddenly mentioned the name of the Imperial Sword. Lucia Prien and Cyriel Prien were unknown to the Academy faculty and staff due to Hugo’s prestige from the time they entered school.
“Not my godfather. You know Glenn Frien?”
“…I don’t know.”
“You bastard’s life has been wasted. What on earth do you know after living for 400 years? And what? My brother…”
Lucia’s mouth stopped. Varian found him strange and asked cautiously.
“Why do you stop talking?”
“I don’t know.”
Lucia growled and clicked her tongue. When I mentioned Shiron’s name, my heart sank. engagement. Relationship with Siriel. future. My frustration aggravated as thoughts about whether I could live with Shiron for the rest of my life ran through my mind.
“Ah, anyway! Who is the sponsor? And why are you sponsoring this lab?”
“…Are you an idiot? Didn’t I tell you earlier? Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t talk to anyone other than my lab family.”
“…is that how it comes out?”
Lucia turned away from Berian and strode towards the door.
“You don’t have to tell me. I just have to find out.”
With those words, Lucia left the lab.
“her…”
It seemed like a storm had passed. In a rare occurrence, Berian sat on the sofa for a long time, dumbfounded.
I was lost in thought for a while.
He sighed, full of resentment.
‘…It’s frustrating.’
It’s always like this when I reach the end of teleportation research. Over the past hundreds of years, wizards who were on the verge of mastering teleportation suffered accidents such as losing their minds or falling into a coma, and as Varian, who had abolished teleportation, he was unable to demonstrate magic in person.
Nevertheless, the sponsor had no intention of letting Berian go.
Varian’s face hardened and he stared at the red castle visible outside the window.
Lucia really act like a kid here