C220: Research results (2)
"Hey, did you hear that?"
"You mean the Mana Emissions Study?"
"Yes, I found out that it was true."
Rumors spread in Theon that the research to increase mana emissions ended with successful results.
Originally, no one should know until the results of the study were published but the reason it was known in Theon was because someone leaked the results.
There were people at the monitoring station beside the observers who saw the results of the increase in mana emission and they couldn't stop everyone from speaking.
Those who went as observers will also testify what they saw after returning, so it was a set procedure anyway. It was only pulled forward a little.
The students who heard the news naturally responded enthusiastically.
"I should've done it if I knew this would happen!"
"I can't believe it was real!"
The students who did not apply for Rudger's research regretted their choices. Of course, even if they said so, their judgment at that moment was definitely right because the purpose of the study itself was absurd.
But who knew it would actually succeed?
However, it was too late for regrets so the students' interest shifted to the other side.
If they couldn't participate in Rudger's research shouldn't they ask the students who participated in it?
As many as six applicants participated in the study and they might be able to get information from them but they didn't approach anyone.
First of all, there were people whom they couldn't talk to like Flora Lumos, the second-grade genius and the daughter of Duke Lumos, Erendir von Exilion, the third princess and the eldest son of Duke Ulburg, Freuden Ulburg.
They were all people with prominent families and, above all, extremely unfriendly relationships with others.
If Erendir had heard it, she would have cried out why she was on that list, but that was what most of Theon's students thought.
As a result, their target was narrowed down to first-year students.
Julia Plumhart, who was the first-year top student, was like an iron wall so she was excluded.
Most of the time she responds with a smile when spoken to, but the reluctance felt in her smile bothered people.
As a result, Aidan and Line became the easiest targets.
"Hi. Are you going to class now?"
"What?"
As she was heading to class some students suddenly approached Rene.
They weren't interested in her, but you suddenly approached her pretending to be friendly. Did they suddenly want to get close?
'No way.'
Rene was not naive.
There must be a plot behind the sudden change of attitude and Rene knew exactly what they were after.
"If you have time, let's……."
"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you the results of Mr. Rudger's research."
Rene flatly refused.
There are some things that she didn't know that much, but she didn't intend to tell them even if she knew.
It's not because she signed a magic contract but because she promised and didn't want to betray Rudger.
The students who tried to aim for Rene while Erendir was away had no choice but to open their eyes at the sharp rejection.
Rene passed by the students who called her up.
"Ah, no luck."
She tried to ignore the voice from behind. Rather, the eyes of other students who were interested in this were sharp.
Now that rumors were already rampant and they wanted to find the secret of increasing mana emissions from Rene somehow.
'Go to the classroom…….'
As soon as Rene's steps were about to get faster, someone blocked her path.
"Are you a freshman?"
She looked at the name tag and it was a third grade student.
"I want to talk with you. Follow me."
"……I don't want to."
It was not a subtle suggestion, but an order to follow.
Rene naturally backed away, but his opponent wouldn't tolerate it.
"Look at this guy. Are you talking back?"
"When did I?"
"This is why commoners don't do it. You can't understand if I say it nicely."
When did you ever say good things?
Rene tried to argue, but the opponent strode up first. She did not panic, but rather stared at her opponent strongly and the third grade aristocrat didn't like it.
"What's with your eyes? How dare you look up to the aristocracy when you are a commoner?"
"What?"
"I wonder if you can keep that attitude going after this."
It was then that a third party intervened.
"I'm curious about that, too."
"What's going on?"
Annoyed by the sudden interruption, the third-grade nobleman stared at where his voice was heard and when he saw the person standing there, he froze.
"Rudger Chelici……."
"You call a teacher's name recklessly when you're a student."
The third-grade aristocratic students froze, perhaps because they didn't know they would face Rudger in a place like this.
Rudger looked at the frightened Rene and the frozen seniors with a knife-edge stare.
It was easy to see how the situation was going without needing an explanation.
"I can't believe third grade students are doing this since early morning."
"What are you talking about? We haven't done anything."
"You didn't?"
"Yes. We just talked to the junior here for a while."
It was just an attempt anyway.
'What are you going to do if it's nothing?'
The other two naturally nodded at the words.
"That's right. The teacher misunderstood."
"It's just a joke, a joke."
Rudger squinted at them.
"You are joking?"
"Yes, we're just kidding."
Rudger released his magic and a huge amount of mana spread around him.
"Ah!"
At the pressure the faces of the third-grade nobles turned white like corpses.
"Why, why the hell?"
"What's wrong with you? I'm just kidding."
"What kind of joke is this……?"
"Isn't this the kind of joke you like?"
Under increasing pressure, the third-grade students could not even answer.
"Did you think it was funny enough if I would have fallen for a lie that even a child would not have been fooled by?"
"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…"
"Since you are aristocrats, you must have thought that if you put it around properly, I would let it go."
"Agh!"
"That's just stupid."
Despite the stifling situation, Rene felt strangely relaxed.
"That's strange. I don't think I've ever seen my opponents as aristocrats. Should I remind you where you are again?"
The violent energy flowing out of Rudger's body made the third-grade nobles go blank. They couldn't think of any excuse to make, and they couldn't even speak.
All they were allowed to do was tremble like a mouse standing in front of a predator.
"Mr. Rudger, please stop there."
Rene reached out and dissuaded Rudger.
"There was a minor misunderstanding."
At those words the pressure weighing on the third-grade nobles disappeared.
Ignoring the students who were out of breath, Rudger looked at Rene and she looked back at him with clear eyes that were as pure as a child's.
"Really?"
"Yes, I'm telling you the truth. You think so too, right?"
The third graders, who got the redemption rope at her words, nodded hurriedly. Of course, their drooling looks were not normal to anyone.
"Rene, now that you say so, I will not argue about this anymore."
"Thank you, sir."
"Even so, you don't know the future. If anything happens later, come to me."
Rene opened her eyes wide.
"What?! It's okay. You don't have to do that……."
"Although it was purely your will to participate in the study, it's also my duty as a teacher to help you if you have troubles.
Rene opened her mouth at the words and soon smiled.
"Yes, sir. I will."
"You'll be late for class. Follow me."
"What about those seniors?"
"Leave them alone, they will recover on their own."
Rene didn't defend the seniors any more.
They made a mistake first and paid the price for it.
"Follow me…….You were going to my class, weren't you?"
"Ah yes. I was."
"So let's go together."
"Yeah?"
For a moment, Rene thought that her ears weren't working properly.
* * *
Aidan was also targeted by other students.
"Aidan, did you eat? Do you want to eat with me?"
"Aidan, why don't we go to the study room together?"
Aidan. Aidan. Aidan!
His name was called everywhere and Aidan was dizzy for the first after hearing his name being called a lot.
At first, he was happy to think that he would make a pure new friend, but his thoughts quickly changed.
"Everyone wanted to ask me about the research process."
"Of course they want to. You haven't had much contact so far, but now they're suddenly talking to you, so what other purpose is there than that?"
"No, I thought it might be because they just wanted to get close all of a sudden. It's a bit of a shame."
"……you. What a flower bed your head is."
Leo shook his head and sighed and it was the same for Tracy.
Aidan is too white compared to other black-hearted guys, that's why she couldn't leave him alone.
Had Leo, Tracy, and Iona not been able to stop the countless students a while ago, Aidan, who has a good personality, would have accepted everyone's questions.
That was a terrible thing to imagine.
"Aidan ignore everything. They're not talking to you because they like you anyway. It's because they're all after something."
"Yes, I should. I'm the reason why you guys got swept up. I'm sorry."
"You don't have to apologize. I was worried that you wouldn't have been prepared to do this at the time I wasn't with you."
Aidan was deeply moved by the words.
"Thank you, everyone!"
"……Why are you so moved? I didn't compliment you."
Tracy replied curtly.
Even if she said so, it was her who was attacking the people who were approaching Aidan like an angry cat more than anyone else. In particular, when the female students approached, her reaction was the most intense, and Leo did not bother to point that out.
The important thing is that the class will start soon so they'll be safe for now but what about class?
They were already worried about how many people would come.
Then Iona said in a blunt tone.
"But I understand their reaction, too. Everyone's trying to be strong."
That was something Leo and Tracy agreed with but there was a limit.
Tracy asked, twisting the ends of her braids with her fingers.
"So…… Aidan. Is the rumor true?"
"What rumor?"
"The fact that you secretly participated in Mr. Rudger's research this time."
"Oh, I'm sorry about that but I really wanted to do it."
"Okay. We don't mean to say anything to you about the past, you wouldn't have stopped even if we said something."
"Oh."
"The important thing is that the rumors are spreading now, so is Mr. Rudger's research true?"
"Uh… That's true, as you've already seen other people's reactions."
"Really?"
"But I can't tell you more than that……."
"All right, that's it."
Aidan, who thought they would ask more questions, was dumbfounded by the unexpected answer and the sight made Tracy wince.
"What? Did you think we were going to ask a difficult question under the pretext of friendship?"
"Oh, no, so that's……Yeah. Sorry. Honestly, I knew it."
"What do you think we are?"
"I'm sorry."
"Hmm. You apologized honestly, so I'll let it slide this time. You can't say it even if you want to."
"That's right. I signed a magic contract."
"That's why I don't want to bother you for no reason, so I won't ask. If the research is successful anyway, it will be published later and we'll check the results then. Well, those idiots who still keep an eye on us don't seem to care about that at all."
At those words, Aidan realized that his friends were very considerate of him.
Leo murmured.
"This is very surprising. Mr. Rudger hasn't even finished giving away the framework for the Source Code and he came up with something even more interesting. What the hell was Mr. Rudger doing?"
At this point, he should be used to being surprised, but he couldn't do anything about Rudger.
'He's not just a normal teacher.'
Doubts have sprung up inside Leo's heart.
'……I really hate to ask the Liberation Army, but I have no choice but to ask them to find out about this.'
It seemed necessary to clearly confirm Rudger Chelici origin and family.
At that time, the students sitting by the window talked.
"Here comes Mr. Rudger!"
At the word that the owner of this classroom and the party that is receiving the most attention right now was coming, the students quietly took their seats.
At that time, the back door opened and Rene entered at the same time as Rudger was entering through the main door.
'What? Why is she coming in now?'
Most of the students were not interested in Rene because they only cared about Rudger but Flora Lumos was different.
Maybe it's because she's been conscious of it for a long time, but she noticed that Rene came in at a similar time as Rudger.
'What is this? Are you two here together?'