Chapter 76

September 29th.

I received new information from Sai Farman, a fourth-class adventurer I had asked to gather information, and requested further investigation. To more reliably uncover the mastermind, I headed to the academy as planned. Since there were lectures in the morning, I decided to meet Mr. Bennett, my homeroom teacher, in the afternoon.

When I entered the old town for the first time in seven days, it felt less calm, perhaps because the harvest festival, which coincides with the autumnal equinox, was just two days away. The atmosphere became even more evident when I entered the academy, where students were heading to their practical classes, looking both excited and restless.

(Now that I think about it, I've only seen village festivals in this world. The pre-festival starts tomorrow... Maybe I'll enjoy the new town's festival with Lidi and Sharon.)

I had the luxury of time. I knew that even if I felt uncomfortable at the academy, I wouldn't be expelled from the city. Additionally, my steady level-up in the forest influenced my confidence. In terms of magic, forming a friendship with Professor Kitry Elbain, Lidi's old friend, was significant. She not only has extensive knowledge but also explains things well, which has helped me gradually understand the use of dark and metal attributes, which I previously found difficult.

(Frankly, at least while I'm in the lower grades, there's almost no point in staying at the academy. The only benefit right now is free access to the library. Well, it's a waste of the annual tuition I paid, but if the cram school really does cover the tuition and library fees as rumored, there are almost no disadvantages...)

With these thoughts, I headed to the faculty office. I found Mr. Bennett and, with a serious expression, said, "I need to talk to you."

Mr. Bennett looked surprised when he saw my face, but he smiled when he saw my troubled expression.

(He's so easy to read. With such an obvious happy face, I'm starting to lose confidence. He seems like a man who is only childish...)

I deliberately showed my inner unease, and Mr. Bennett, conveniently misunderstanding, looked even brighter.

(Maybe he's trying to encourage me by smiling, but that's probably not the case...)

"What's the matter, Mr. Rockhart?"

To act as if I didn't know what to say to someone I had argued with a few days ago, I looked down and hesitated, saying, "A, ah... actually..." before slowly raising my face as if gathering courage.

"Actually... Miss Jakes and I are considering leaving the academy. So... I came to ask what procedures we need to follow."

Mr. Bennett, pretending to try to dissuade us, said that it would be a waste for the top and second students to leave but quickly added, "You seem determined. I have no choice but to give you the withdrawal forms," and took out two forms from his desk drawer.

(He's well-prepared. He doesn't say anything nasty, and it seems there is indeed a mastermind as I thought...)

Mr. Bennett, trying to suppress his excitement, said, "Normally, tuition is not refunded, but I'll try to negotiate for you," and patted my back.

I thought he would report to the contact person today and said,

"Since the festival starts tomorrow, I'll take some time to think about it. Thank you for the tuition matter."

To my words, he replied, "That's right. You don't need to rush to a conclusion, but if you're going to another school, it's easier to make friends if you go early," in a soothing tone.

I bowed and said, "Thank you. I'll go home for now," and left the faculty office.

When I stepped outside the academy, I saw Sai, who was on stakeout.

(At this rate, he'll find the contact person soon. The problem is what happens after that. Even if we don't find the mastermind, I have a plan. I wonder if I can take action by the day after the harvest festival.)

I then passed through the old town and went home.

When I got home, Lidi was furious when she saw the withdrawal forms. I showed a relaxed expression and waved the forms, saying,

"Thanks to this, I found out that Bennett is being used. Besides, you don't usually get to see withdrawal forms. Think of it as an interesting experience."

Lidi calmed down a bit and smiled, saying, "That's true. It's as you planned."

I then said to Lidi and Sharon,

"Since we can't move until Sai's report comes, let's forget about the unpleasant things for two days and enjoy the festival."

They both nodded with smiles.

September 30th was the eve of the festival.

In Doctus, the festival is held in two places: the old town and the new town. We decided to visit the new town and went to the square in the commercial district south of the old town.

We arrived at the square around noon, which was already crowded with people. Even in the new town, a city with a population of about ten thousand, the number of people was comparable to a festival in Japan.

In the square, street performers were juggling, and bards were singing. A large tent, like a circus, was set up, and a sign said that magical creatures were caged inside.

I was interested in the show and said to the two, "Do you want to go inside?"

Lidi didn't seem very interested and said, "You won't see anything special," but Sharon said, "It sounds interesting."

I told Lidi, "You can wait somewhere if you want. There are many food stalls, and you can drink as much as you like," but she seemed reluctant to be away from me and reluctantly followed.

We paid one large copper coin (50e = 500 yen) as the entrance fee and went in. Inside, the smell of animals filled the air, and we wrinkled our noses. The inside was like a corridor divided by cloth, and from a distance, we could hear the growls of wild animals and the rattling of cages.

As we moved forward, we saw familiar creatures like goblins and orcs in cages, and further ahead, there were beast-type magical creatures like gray apes and saber-toothed tigers.

As we went deeper, we saw more exotic magical creatures, including insect and plant types, and even a small earth dragon in a cage, which was the main attraction.

Lidi was genuinely surprised and said, "Wow. It's a real earth dragon, though small. Capturing a second-class magical creature alive is impressive."

When we came out of the tent, fresh air filled our lungs, and we exhaled.

I said, "It was quite interesting," and Sharon nodded vigorously, while Lidi reluctantly admitted, "Yes, it was better than I expected."

I found their reactions amusing, took their hands, and started walking to look at the stalls from the festival square.

There were many stalls on the roads leading to the square, selling food, drinks, and small items like accessories. Some stalls claimed to sell mysterious magical items, but the passersby didn't show much interest.

It seems that in an academic city where magical items are abundant, such suspicious items don't sell well.

The next day, the festival day, was also crowded.

Some people had been drinking since the night before and were sleeping in the square, while children were running around happily.

In terms of scale, it wasn't much different from the festival in Rasmore Village.

Sharon, however, was amazed by the large crowd and the various performances by the performers.

When I asked for her opinion, she shook her head and said, "It's amazing."

Thus, we enjoyed the two days of the festival, forgetting the events at the academy.

October 2nd morning.

Amid the lingering drowsiness from the festival, Sai, whom I had asked to gather information, came to my house.

He immediately said, "I found out who Bennett met," with a satisfied smile.

"He's Quentin Wargman's tutor. His name is Archie Croft..."

After I left the academy, Bennett immediately contacted the Wargman family and met Croft at a restaurant in the old town that night.

"About this Croft, his background is interesting. He initially worked as a researcher at a cram school but was fired ten years ago for not producing results. After that, he worked as a guild employee for a while but became Quentin's tutor eight years ago. The details are unclear, but it seems suspicious."

When I said, "Suspicious?" he continued,

"Yes. The first thing that caught my attention was the eight years ago. Eight years ago was the year Wargman, the senator, returned from Sartuus, the northern kingdom where elves live."

I was puzzled by this.

"Since he returned from Sartuus, didn't he hire a tutor for Quentin, who was four years old? It seems like a normal thing to do, doesn't it?"

He grinned and said, "Finally, I caught you off guard."

"Eight years ago was also when Senator Wargman and Secretary Isherwood reconciled. Isherwood is known for his influence in personnel matters. How did Croft get a job at the guild? It's possible that Isherwood had a hand in it, isn't it?"

I was a bit out of it from the festival.

Indeed, as he said, it was suspicious that Croft, who had worked as a researcher at a cram school that opposed the magic academy, was hired as a guild employee. The magic guild is a more closed organization than other guilds, and the academy's influence is so significant that the position and graduation rank from the Tilia Magic Academy determine employment. It's not unreasonable to suspect that there was something fishy about Croft being hired as a guild employee.

"Since you're saying this, you must have some evidence, right?"

He grinned and started explaining from a different angle.

"Let's start with the interesting information. Ten years ago, Secretary Isherwood was in charge of the personnel committee. At that time, Seberg, the current chairman, was a secretary. There was a rumor of a scandal involving Seberg..."

Ten years ago, many researchers from the Tilia Magic Academy were trying to move to cram schools. The three major cram schools jointly recruited sponsors through commercial guilds and used the funds to poach young researchers.

When the magic guild got wind of this, the personnel committee naturally had to respond. At that time, Secretary Seberg had a poor relationship with his superior, the chairman, and was almost certain not to be nominated as the next councilor. Therefore, Seberg and his subordinate, Ibbetson, plotted to politically eliminate the chairman by making him take responsibility for the poaching.

Their plan was to poach the researchers and then push all the responsibility onto the chairman. They pressured the personnel committee staff to not prevent the poaching.

Seberg intended to bring the researchers back after the chairman took responsibility and resigned, using positions and research funds as bait. They made a secret agreement and called it "personnel exchange," bringing all the researchers back in a short time.

This plot was successful, but rumors started circulating that Seberg had orchestrated the sabotage of the personnel committee.

Seberg was worried. The seat of the next councilor was within reach, but if he was involved in a scandal, he wouldn't just lose the councilor position; he might even lose his current position in the guild.

"Then, Isherwood took action. He showed Seberg that the source of the rumors was someone familiar with cram school information and that he had secured that person. He said he could deal with the rumors if Seberg gave him a position. Of course, Seberg didn't trust him. He suspected that Isherwood had spread the rumors. Seberg didn't have the courage to take in such a dangerous person. But Ibbetson was different..."

Ibbetson, recognizing the ambition of the young Isherwood, decided to use him. He was clever.

He proposed to appear to be in conflict with Isherwood to hide their relationship and to bring the person familiar with cram school information into their fold. He planned to expose the corruption and push all the responsibility onto Seberg when the plot was revealed.

He pretended to do Seberg a favor by quelling the rumors and ordered Isherwood to eliminate his rivals so that Seberg could become a councilor. As a result, Seberg became a councilor, and Ibbetson became a secretary.

In other words, Isherwood chose to team up with Ibbetson, who would succeed Seberg, rather than with Seberg, who was about to be exposed. Of course, on the condition that he would be nominated as Ibbetson's successor.

"In other words, Secretary Isherwood is connected to Secretary Ibbetson."

"That's right. Of course, this is based on the assumption that my investigation is correct. This rumor is only known within a part of the magic guild."

I was curious about how he accessed such information and asked, "Who did you hear this from?"

Sai smiled mischievously and said,

"One is Professor Elbain—Lidi's old friend, Kitry Elbain. She was almost involved in the incident. The other person, whose name I can't reveal, is related to the cram school and was one of Seberg's subordinates at the time."

(So the information is reliable. If Isherwood and Ibbetson are working together, it's not surprising that they are trying to eliminate Senator Wargman. What about the tutor Croft? Is he the person familiar with cram school information that you mentioned earlier?)

"Is Quentin's tutor, Croft, the person familiar with cram school information you mentioned earlier?"

Sai prefaced his answer with, "I wish I could say yes,"

"Actually, I'm not sure. It's certain that Ibbetson handed the cram school-related person to Isherwood. He probably thought that keeping the person close would make Seberg suspicious. Ibbetson didn't fully trust Isherwood, but he might have had some leverage or a promise to make him his successor. I'm not sure about the details."

"In other words, there's a high possibility that Croft is a person influenced by Secretary Ibbetson and Secretary Isherwood. But it's strange that Senator Wargman hired such a person as a tutor."

"We don't know how much Senator Wargman knows about this. He might have known and used Croft as a trump card against Ibbetson and Isherwood..."

I thought about what Sai said,

(Senator Wargman, a sharp individual, couldn't have been unaware of the scandal involving Seberg. The most likely scenario is that Isherwood told him about it and that Croft was to be used as a trump card against Seberg and Ibbetson. Ibbetson probably didn't want to send such a dangerous person to the sharp Wargman, but Isherwood might have convinced him that Croft, who had other value, was the best choice to get information on the Wargman family... But this is mostly speculation... Now, how to use this information...)

After that, Sai shared new information he had gathered, including the reputation of Senator Wargman in the new town's commercial and mercenary guilds.

In the commercial guild, Senator Wargman's reputation is good, and there is hope that if he becomes chairman, researchers will be refreshed, leading to new technological innovations.

In the mercenary guild, his reputation is also good, and there is hope that his policies will increase the number of magic users, making more magic mercenaries available.

I recalled the journey to Doctus,

(Indeed, the difference between having a magic user and not having one when dealing with creatures attacking from the sky is significant...)

I thanked Sai and promised to process the payment by October 4th.

He lightly patted my shoulder and said,

"This job was interesting. Your way of thinking was refreshing for me. If you need information again, feel free to ask. I'll prioritize it."

He then left.

I decided to think about how to use this information to solve the problem.