Chapter 78

After leaving Professor Tease's excavation site, I passed through 12 other excavation sites and it took nearly 72 hours to finally return to the floating city.

Since I didn't know who Dr. Dazbroukt's henchmen were, I couldn't ask for help, which made things very difficult.

There was no food, but because the boat was a fishing boat, I managed to survive on the rainwater that had collected in a bucket left on board.

Incidentally, when I landed, there was a dock for fishing boats in the floating city. Since it was early in the morning, I overheard a conversation about someone's fishing rod being taken by a big catch during a night fishing trip. I quickly tied up the boat and left the scene.

Ideally, I would have bought new clothes, returned to the hotel to take a bath, and had a meal after four days, but I was worried about Professor Tease and didn't know where Dr. Dazbroukt's henchmen were.

So, I went to the research area assigned to Professor Tease, where several people were storing excavation items in preservation boxes.

It seemed that Professor Tease was in charge of the operation.

"Excuse me, I'm back."

When I called out to the professor, who was in charge of the operation,

"Uzosu-kun! You're alive! I'm so glad!"

The professor almost hugged me, but I refused with all my might, saying,

"I'm quite dirty, so it's better not to touch me."

Before anything else, if I were to be hugged, I might be killed by the surrounding students and researchers.

"I'm very sorry for not being able to contact you and for being absent from work for several days."

I apologized to Professor Tease for the delay in the work I was commissioned to do.

Even though it was due to circumstances beyond my control, it would look like I had abandoned my work, and some people might complain, leading to a breach of contract.

"This time, it's not your fault. The cause lies with me."

It seemed that there would be no penalty, which was a relief.

Then, someone must have reported it, because the police came and asked for identification.

It turned out that a search for me had been underway since yesterday, and they had been searching Professor Tease's excavation site and the surrounding sites.

They asked if I could give a statement, so I first asked them to tell me what had happened while I was gone.

They readily agreed, and we brought in some folding chairs to an empty storage room to hear the story, with Professor Tease joining us.

After I was separated from Professor Tease and returned to the floating city, it turned out that the students and researchers had been taken hostage, their research results stolen, and they were locked in a storage room.

Moreover, there were collaborators within the police force, making it impossible for them to escape.

That's when David Trice, a student who happened to be out on a date and was not at the scene, came to the rescue. He saved the professor and the others, dealt with the thugs, arrested the collaborators within the police force, and gathered evidence of Dr. Dazbroukt's misdeeds.

Thanks to his efforts, Dr. Dazbroukt was arrested and expelled from the university.

Of course, Dr. Dazbroukt claimed innocence, but various other misdeeds were discovered.

Moreover, the victims who had suffered at his hands began to speak out and file complaints.

While some complaints were invalidated due to the passage of time, the act of filing them was important.

After all, the facts of his misdeeds couldn't be erased.

The most shocking part was that his son had exposed all of his father's misdeeds and had been the one to encourage the victims to speak out.

When Dr. Dazbroukt learned of this, he naturally became furious, but his son easily overpowered him.

Since the floating city has a courthouse that is not functional, Dr. Dazbroukt is currently awaiting transport to the imperial capital for a detailed investigation and trial.

Incidentally, regarding my boat, Professor Tease, the university, and Dr. Dazbroukt's son are each contributing one-third of the cost.

Moreover, the insurance money will also be paid, which is a fortunate situation.

However, the problem is whether the same boat can be found.

Then, I was asked what I had been doing.

After explaining why I had to stay at the excavation site, I explained that I had left the site because I might have been killed by Dr. Dazbroukt and his henchmen if I had stayed.

"Here is the communication log from that time."

I showed the police the memory containing the recorded data of my communication at the excavation site, and they thanked me and shook my hand.

I didn't mention meeting Gerhilde, but I reported that I had discovered an ancient civilization's ruins and returned on a water boat.

I made them promise that the discoverer would be Professor Tease and that my name would not be mentioned.

After that, Professor Tease asked for the location of the water boat and quickly left the scene.

The police said they had asked me everything they needed to know and that I was free to go, so I bought new clothes at a store in the second layer, took a bath at a bathing facility after four days, enjoyed a meal after four days, and returned to the hotel, where I immediately fell asleep.

When I woke up, it was morning, and I hurried to Professor Tease's research area. There, Professor Tease, the researchers, and the students were surrounding the water boat I had brought back, inspecting it with various machines and observing it intently.

It felt a bit dangerous to talk to the researchers in that state, but I couldn't just ignore them.

"Good morning..."

Everyone turned to me,

"We've been waiting for you, Uzosu-kun! Come on, let's hurry to my excavation site!"

They immediately started boarding the cargo ship.

"Y-Yes, sir!"

The intensity of their enthusiasm was similar to that of a comic bazaar, no, even more intense.

When the professor and the others arrived at the site, they were ecstatic.

The rest area had always been in that shape, and they had found some documents, which made them suspicious.

Moreover, they had been digging a hole below it, thinking there might be something there.

I showed them the elevator and the location of the water boat, then returned to the surface.

On the surface, the removal of the remains of my destroyed boat and hut and the construction of a temporary hut had begun.

Because there were few places for cargo ships to dock, I decided to salvage usable parts from the remains of my boat and return.

While I was salvaging, a glasses-wearing elite female student, who was supervising the work on the surface, approached me.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?"

"What is it?"

When I responded, her face turned serious,

"Your failure to protect the professor is forgiven because you discovered this ancient ruin.

But remember, you didn't discover this ancient ruin. Professor Tease did. Don't say anything unnecessary."

She threatened me with a deep, menacing voice.

This female student was the one who had scolded the professor when he tried to bother me during the heavy rain.

When I returned, I had refused the professor's advances, which saved me. If I had been hugged, she might have killed me.

"That's not a problem. The discoverer is Professor Tease. I've already asked him to promise not to mention my name."

"That's... good..."

She was a bit surprised, but it seemed to be a satisfactory answer for her, so she didn't say anything more and returned to the construction site.

Well, people like her sometimes show up, so it's not worth worrying about.

More importantly, I need to get back and find a new boat as soon as possible.

Incidentally, there was nothing usable left.

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