My opinion of this world’s Absolute dims more and more by the day. That guy is way too unhinged. What kind of asshole works with Ruler to allow portions of their world to be recorded and used like this, even throwing in random ideas just for shits and giggles?

That almost makes it an interesting option. What if the Ruler who chose to use this place as a floor for the tutorial isn’t the Ruler testing his successors, but the Absolute who became the Ruler later? Or is it, as we’ve come to think, one of the little guys who’s been thrown in here with us?

Well, I’ll get to the bottom of it either way.

Since I’ve already been caught and am likely to be a target, I don’t bother to hide and head toward where the twins said the student council is, and the guy I should check out.

As before, they’re going to act like they don’t know me. Our conversations will only take place through the Community, at least with everyone other than Tess.

Silly blonde.

The student council, according to Dennis, oversees the laws of the universe and also decides what kind of desserts we’ll be served for lunch. It’s located in a set of surprisingly normal-looking buildings, which also play host to a number of research clubs, study clubs, and similar groups.

Located in the west wing, it sits on the highest floor, in one of the corner rooms, allowing it to have multiple huge windows on both sides that overlook one of the myriad gardens here in the Academy.

Of course, I barge in without knocking, destroying the weak attempt at a locking mechanism. It may have been good enough for the other students, but it’s far from enough to hold me back. There isn’t even a secondary lock or any kind of trap. Just a warning signal to be set off when the threads connected to it are destroyed.

Inside, I find the room to be a huge mess. There are two sofas facing each other with a small table between them. Strewn across said table are various pieces of metal, tools for creating inscriptions, and a large number of canvases. Clothes are littered about everywhere. Jackets, vests, and even socks, for some reason. One of the tables has been piled high with an assortment of lunch boxes and bottles next to a heating mana stone that looks ready to explode in two days, ten hours, and thirty minutes.

A few more chairs are scattered about the room, along with some cabinets, a full-scale, enchanting table that clearly does not belong here, and deep scratches on the floor from dragging it in. One of the windows has been broken, and the resulting hole has been patched over with a plank torn from the floor.

The plank in question seems to have from a patch of floor that seems to have been torn up for the sole purpose of fitting a huge stone crystal pillar into the room.

I might just be weird, but it actually feels kind of cozy.

Amidst the chaos, I notice that there are four students present, while Dennis and Aaron seem to be conspicuously absent today.

The one who steps forward to face me is a selari boy who looks surprisingly calm at my appearance. He even looks a bit annoyed and pissed off. Like the other selari, he has pink hair, pink skin, white freckles, but his eyes are pale blue instead of the normal mix of blue and green.

"Ah, Assistant Professor Gwyn," he says with the same annoyance his face shows.

"I see my reputation precedes me," I say as I grab one of the mana stones from the table to examine it.

"Yes, the girls can’t seem to stop talking about you, they’ve been offering obsidian drachen for information on your schedule and even more for the times you visit the public baths."

The mana stone almost slips from my fingers. I had been fixing the line, since it was going to explode in a day or two, but now I undo it. Instead, I twist the inscription loop slightly to make the explosion stronger.

Only then do I turn to the boy. By this point, the two boys and the girl still in the room are clustered at his side, loudly whispering for him to calm down, but he just shakes them off.

"So what? This is our territory. We can’t show fear, even if an enemy like him does appear," he says, facing me with the same defiant expression.

I pick up a piece of cloth that seems like it’s destined to be made into a cloak.

"I don’t visit the public baths for your information. Is this cloak an attempt to make yourself less detectable?" I ask.

"Oh? You noticed?" he says proudly. "It is an invisibility cloak I’ve been working on."

"Won’t be worth much in a fight."

"Fight? It’s for spying on the girls."

"I see," I nod and pause, replaying his answer in my mind. "Wait, what?"

"I plan to work on it a bit more, add some dehumidifying inscriptions, and possibly change the materials without increasing the weight. Then I should be able to sneak into the public bath..."

He does not finish as I fry the circuits and destroy all his work, then toss the ruined cloak onto a chair.

"And this?" I ask, picking up a tube.

"Telescope. I have an idea to make it see through walls. Then I can go to the main observation tower."

With a sliver of hope, I ask, "Bird watching?"

"No, the public bathhouse is just next to..."

I crush the tube in my hands and let it drop to the floor.

"This?" I point at the mirror.

At this point, my voice is challenging, and his face remains just as proud as he stands tall.

"Remote Viewing Mirror."

I destroy it.

"This?"

"Bathhouse blueprints detailing a rumored hidden entrance. I just need to decipher them and..."

I burn the paper.

"Your name is Vance, correct?" I ask.

"Yes, Assistant Professor Gwyn."

"These items suck."

"Naturally. I'm not even level 100, I lack a subclass, and I'm constrained by the technology of my era."

"That is not what I meant."

"Well, too bad. I’ll just create even better versions after you leave, Mr. Hottest-Assistant-Professor-I-Can-Fix-Him type currently."

"For fuck’s sake, Vance, just stop, please," the other boy begs.

But Vance sticks out his chest even more and bears it all with pride, "I stand behind everything I’ve said. Show no fear, my friend. He can’t do anything to us."

"We are so sorry, Assistant Professor. He is just a bit like that. He grew up very sheltered and..."

"Silence! No more information! Did you forget the meeting we had to declare him one of our greatest enemies? And you, do you actually need something from the student council? If so, then it’s common courtesy to send a formal request or complaint first before simply barging in. As much as you might not feel like it, we students have rights too."

"Rights to spy on girls?"

"Only the hot ones."

I blink.

What is wrong with this guy?

I gesture for him to come closer, and he does so without hesitation, stopping a step away.

Then I hand him a brooch I found on the table and meddled with. It had a decent base, and with a few quick changes, I turned it into a low epic item after I finished the work he’d started on enhancing the base functions.

Its function as a mana signature detector is suspicious, given its connection to the boy, but I let it be.

The moment he takes the item and notices the changes, his eyes widen, and he turns to me.

"Holy fuck," he whispers.

I nod with satisfaction.

"How the hell can this work with such an ugly as fuck array of terrible circuits? It looks like someone stitched a dead mana beast onto a broken array," he blurts out, staring at the brooch like it might bite him. "There are no stabilization nodes, no compression filaments, and the flow channels are all jagged. Half of the conduction lines have been fractured intentionally, and the resonance core is exposed to external interference. Even the anchoring inscriptions for the mana framework have been layered incorrectly."

He breathes heavily, as if he’d just borne witness to something that should be physically impossible.

"And yet it’s stable. No, it is better than stable. It self-corrects the mana drift through chaotic realignment and handles excess energy like a champ through a dormant feedback loop instead of a stabilizer core. That shouldn’t even be possible without at least second-tier material catalysts or high-grade auxiliary inscriptions. This goddamned brooch should collapse and explode the moment it activates, but it just keeps balancing itself by feeding on its own turbulence."

He glares at me like I personally broke the rules of magic.

"This is a mockery of the inscription principles themselves," he declares.

I pat him on the shoulder once before stepping back.

"Learn something," I tell him.

After that, I leave the room.

Walking away, I open Community.

Noname (Hell, group 4) - you were right, he is incredibly good at inscriptions.

NotDennis (Hell, group 4) - told you! That guy is a genius.

I close it again and think. Some of the items, while skipping the weird functions and what they were meant for, were incredible. Something I do not think should be possible to create at his level. Or at least not without incredible talent.

From some points of view, the skill of that selari boy I observed is scarier than that level 350 ten-year-old girl.

It seems like there is another name to be added to the list of suspects.

----------------------------------------

The Head Accountant looks surprised by my visit, especially as I start putting mana stones, materials, and some items onto the table. They are ones that do not require a permit or registration.

I know very well which items are best. During the previous loop, I asked this guy extensively. Overall, I end up dumping around 450 thousand shards worth of items onto the table.

"Assistant Professor Gwyn, may I ask where you got all these things from?"

"You can't, I'm shy," I answer, sliding a smaller mana stone worth around 20 thousand shards toward him. "For your trouble."

"I'm sorry, but I have to refuse."

I reach out and flick the mana stone until it falls to the floor and rolls under the table, out of sight. "Damn, I'm clumsy. I hope I don’t forget to ask for that mana stone before I leave this meeting. Now, tell me more about that Professor specializing in traits."

The Head Accountant coughs and wipes his forehead with a handkerchief. "He’s one of the oldest people on the continent, from the Second Generation, and his master was a powerful Champion candidate from the First Generation before he died in a Challenge. He has a lot of experience and knowledge, but can be very... moody."

"I can deal with that. Please book him for me as soon as possible." I slide the rest of the items and materials closer to him. "Since I'm here, can you also tell me about the Head Crafter? What materials does he need, and would he be willing to help with a side project for the right price?"

"He’s a very stubborn and straightforward man, not someone I get along with, so it is hard to say. But there are a few materials he always complains we’re missing. The Head Supplier always vents to me about his requests, so I can get you information on those materials. The problem is that they are hard to come by on our planet, and with interplanetary travel currently locked by our Absolute, they’ve been even harder to obtain."

"That's fine, just get me the list."

As swiftly as before, he does so. He checks a few accounting books and has a quick communication with the Head Supplier through a crystal ball. Then, written out on a piece of paper, he hands me a list of materials. Some of which I’ve never heard of before, but after a quick check, I notice quite a few are available in the system shop.

"Thank you for your cooperation," I say, standing up.

Before I open the door, he calls out, "H-Haven't you forgotten something?"

I turn around, pretending to think deeply.

"Oh, right," I say, walking back seriously.

The Head Accountant smiles awkwardly, and expecting me to retrieve the mana stone, he moves slightly so I can pass by.

Instead, I grab a pen from his desk. "This is a nice pen. Thanks."

Leaving him stunned, I walk out without looking back.