47 - I sneak up on the criminal








 My name is Hurt C. In the morning, I went to Professor Tia's lab at the request of the main body. Riza is with me.



"Hmmm. This is some kind of magic tool, isn't it? It is a very delicate thing.



 When he arrives at the laboratory, he shows Professor Tia a mysterious needle, saying, . It was aimed at Lias. We have no idea what it is, so we decided to show it to the experts.



"Do you know what it is?"



"I don't think anyone would try to make such a thin needle without a special intention. If we can find out what kind of magic is being used, we will be able to figure out the intention.



 Professor Tia's glasses twinkle.



"Let's get on with the analysis. Come on, you guys."



 Move around the room. Most of the rooms are cluttered, but this is a semi-cluttered laboratory.



"By the way, Hurt, have you ever heard of the name Weiss Ohl?"



 Riza, who had suddenly begun to fidget, looked at him and replied in a nonchalant manner.



I heard about it for the first time yesterday in class. I heard that he is an unidentified genius researcher.



"You don't know much about it?"



"Not at all."



 He replied casually, but then looked at Riza with a whisper, "Is this girl different ......? Riza gave a small nod.



 Without any further questioning, Professor Tia removes a black cloth from a desk in the corner of the room.

 A 50 cm square table with a grid pattern on it, like a drafting table, appeared.



 Professor Thia placed the needle on the table and closed all the curtains in the room. The room was darkened only by the light from the candelabra.



"From the way you are looking at me, it seems that this is the first time for you to use the <>."



"What's that?"



"As the name implies, it is a magical tool to appraise the magic done to an object. It is an excellent tool for accurately analyzing the attributes and, in some cases, the special effects of an object. <


I'm surprised you kept it.



"It is essential for the study of ancient magic. It was very hard to get. It was really hard. ......



 I'm in a daze. Don't ask me how it happened.



"Only a few people at the institute know that I have this. Please don't tell anyone, okay?



 He puts his hand on the table. There was a flash of light. The light shimmers for a while, and then a beam of light shoots out from it.



 On the wall, letters appeared in a flash.



"What is this?"



 I had never seen those letters before.

 Riza answered first. She mumbled something like "I can't help it.



"Ancient language ....... But this is ......."



"That's Riza-kun, isn't it? It's an old language, also called Jindai. It can be easily read by an expert, but the letters in it are far from the grammatical structure of the ancient language. Experts would snicker at the <."



"You can't read that, can you?"



"But there is a rule. Think of letters as symbols and convert them into numbers. If you break them up according to the law and convert them back into letters, you can read the meaning.



 Is it like converting a machine language into a program language? I don't know much about it.



"But there is a lot of information. It's very complicated and ...... hmmm ......"



 It seems to be converted and read in the brain.

 It might take a while, I thought.



"Hey! Are the f*cking little glasses there? I know you're in there. Come out!"



 An angry voice rang out from far away.



"This way? He's not here. Then this way! Well, let's see..."



 The dignified voice of a woman I had heard somewhere came closer and closer.



"Here it is!"



 The door was opened with a bang.

 A beautiful person with long blond hair in a black robe. This person with the one-glasses is...



"Hello, Ora. You wanted to see me?"



Don't abbreviate my name. My name is Oratoria Belcam.



 Yes, yes. Thank you for your help in yesterday's lecture.



"Oh? Hurt Semphis was there too. Just in time. I'll take him."



 Professor Belkam looks at me suspiciously as Riza stands over me to protect me.



"You're as abrupt as ever, my dear. Are you trying to lure Hult into your lab because of his talent? No. I won't give it to you."



 Can you please stop treating me like I'm a thing?



"Hmm, so much talent for the dead study of ancient magic... What, are you appraising it? Mmm..."






 Professor Belkam stares at a series of letters displayed on the wall. They don't seem to get along well with each other, but they don't seem to be suspicious of the existence of the device. Did he know about it?



"......[darkness] and [chaos]. Curse."



"You are indeed a leading researcher on attributes. You're the leading researcher on the subject.



"Don't flatter yourself. It's disgusting. But this is ...... how hideous.



"Yes, the mineral poison invades the body and has a cursing effect, preventing healing. It's clearly intended to kill. And make them suffer terribly. It's in very bad taste.



 Professor Belkam, with a stern look on his face (sterner than he had been from the beginning), approached the device with a broad step.



"You were going to let the needle ...... dissolve in your body and spread all over your body, weren't you?"



"I guess so. Now, Mr. Hurt, you said you picked this up off the floor, but maybe you know who it was aimed at?"



"......" what do you think? I don't know."



 I'm not lying.

 It was fired at Lias, but it could have been aimed at someone else and missed. I'm almost sure of it, but I can't say that it was aimed at the prince of this country lightly.

 More than that...



"You don't have any idea who did it?"



 Professor Belkam answered.



"The curse itself is a very advanced technique. It is difficult for a student. And if you have [Darkness] and [Chaos], even teachers are limited..."



"The most likely candidate is Ora. Fire and water plus the four advanced attributes of the High Quad.



"So don't abbreviate my name! And it's not me.



"Well, you don't have to be such a prick. Too clean is both a good thing and a bad thing. ...... No, it's still a bad thing. If you had the determination to kick the other guy's ass, you wouldn't have lost so much ground to me when I was in school.



"d*mn, you were the best. But as a researcher I am far superior to you!



"What? If we were doing the same research, I'm sure I'd be better than you, right?"



"Gnnnnnnnnn....... You! That's what I don't like about you! If you know what you're talking about, why are you so busy with ancient magic?



"Modern magic is a dead end. Ancient magic is more interesting.



"You've got the gift, but you're not a genius!"



 The two of them are making a lot of noise. Mostly Professor Belkam.



So, who did it?



"Mm-hmm. As I said before, it's unlikely that the creator was a student. I also don't want to think that it was a teacher ....... At least if we know who they were targeting and their motive, we can get closer to the culprit ......."



"Without getting into emotionalism, there are teachers who could do it and who could not do it. But it could also be an outside culprit.



Did he bring it onto campus?



 They both shook their heads.

 Professor Belkam was the first to open his mouth.



"I said . It is possible that the author and the perpetrator are two different people."



 Huh? Meaning?



"The needle recorded a curse effect as well as a trace (・・・・・・・・・) that would have sent this thing flying."



"The traces show that magic is possible, even for a student. It even shows that a student level person flew it."



"Let's see, you're saying that some amazing person outside of ...... made a cursed needle, and a student who received it off campus magically sent the needle flying at someone?"



""Exactly."""



 That's perfect.



"But there are lots of students, aren't there? Do you have any clues?"



 They both grin at the same time. Are they actually close?



"Mainly [wind] attribute, but [water] and [dark] make it more covert."



"That narrows it down to two digits at worst."



 Still, that's a lot, isn't it?



"Can't you narrow it down even further?"



 They both cross their arms and groan at the same time. And they talk in the same order.



"I can give you a rough ratio of attributes, but ......"



"It's all the same in the end, isn't it, if you're going to examine all the subjects?



 Attribute ratios are that. It's a quantification of how good or bad you are at the attributes you have.



 That's easy enough.



Can you tell me that?



 The body can accurately measure the ratio of attributes. I can do it at a glance, and I'll go through every student in the class. The body!