[This concludes the semifinal examination. We will now announce the teams advancing to the finals.]
Thus, we smoothly advanced from the round of 16 to the quarterfinals and then to the semifinals.
Well, to be honest, the difficulty spiked noticeably in the round of 16, and we had a hard ti.
But in the end, we managed to go further than our initial goal.
“S-Semifinals...?”
“...Did we really make it to the semifinals? I’m pretty sure our goal was just the round of 16.”
“Co on, when did we pass that point already?”
Narce laughed carelessly as he shoved his hands into his pockets.
It was unclear whether he had foreseen the results of the tournant using his abilities earlier or if it was just his usual personality.
As I was pondering this, Narce draped an arm over my shoulder and spoke.
“You shouldn’t be thinking about right now.”
“What’s that supposed to an?”
“You’re the one who’s the most laid-back here. We were up against the best alchemy school in the Empire, and you didn’t seem nervous at all~!”
Starting from the quarterfinals, all our opponents had been from the prestigious Bavaria School of Alchemy.
Even Leo, who had been calm throughout, showed subtle signs of tension from the quarterfinals onward, likely due to the weight of our competition.
“Ahhhhhh!”
“Woooooahhh!”
Suddenly, cheers erupted from the section where our school’s students were seated.
I looked up at the scoreboard, and there it was—our school’s na shining brightly.
‘We made it to the finals.’
I felt satisfied.
That perfectionist of a brother wouldn’t tolerate being unaware of such developnts. He was surely observing this, too.
Thus, I had already achieved my goal of acting in direct contradiction to his plans.
Of course, technically, we’d already done so by entering the round of 16.
As I smiled faintly at the scoreboard, a student from Class 1 slapped my back.
“Man, I didn’t know you were this chill~ I’m jealous!”
“I was about to start crying when you didn’t show up earlier...”
“Gross.”
Leo cringed at the exaggerated description.
I responded to the Class 1 student’s remark with a smile.
‘There’s no reason to be nervous.’
Knowing the places we could win and the places where victory was out of reach helped avoid disappointnt.
So fields could be won through pure morization, while others couldn’t.
Given that we’d cramd for this competition, it was almost impossible for us to beat the top students from the Empire’s best school in the highest-difficulty sections.
‘Still, we made it to the finals....’
Luck was undeniably on our side.
The fact that we had advanced with a re 0.5-point lead over the other team was proof of that.
Another 30 minutes passed, and we finally withdrew our hands from the table.
[This concludes the final examination.]
“Phew...”
Even Leo, usually composed, looked visibly nervous, as if the situation didn’t feel real to him yet.
By making it to the finals, our team had already secured a prize as representatives of the Imperial Second Academy.
At this point, the results didn’t matter much, yet it seed impossible not to feel nervous.
[We will now announce the scores for each team.]
[Second-year representative team from the Imperial Second Academy: Experint Score, 28.5 points.]
[Second-year Team 1 from the Bavaria School of Alchemy: Experint Score, 29 points.]
[With each team receiving an additional 10 bonus points... The winning team is the Bavaria School of Alchemy’s Second-Year Team 1!]
‘Hmm.’
I’d expected a 2-point difference, but only 0.5?
We did better than I thought.
‘Though what concerns is...’
I might be the only one satisfied with this outco.
Even reaching the semifinals was a stroke of incredible luck, but the people directly involved often fail to see that.
I turned my gaze from the scoreboard to look at my teammates.
“Great work, everyone~!”
“It’s finally over!”
Thankfully, none of them seed disappointed with second place.
Hoping for victory after just a week of preparation would have been unreasonable.
Our school’s students exchanged light greetings with the opposing team.
Leo, looking thoughtful, muttered while gazing at our school’s na on the scoreboard.
“This is the first ti in this tournant’s history that an out-of-region school has earned an award.”
“His Majesty will be proud. Even if it’s from a Prussian school, it’s basically your accomplishnt.”
“Well, His Majesty expanded this competition for other reasons, so he’s probably satisfied with those outcos and not thinking about my role in this.”
“No way. He’s still your father.”
“Hmm, he’ll probably be pleased.”
For once, Leo responded with a student-like smile.
[In 10 minutes, the award ceremony will begin. All participants, please proceed to the waiting room.]
As we were heading toward the waiting room, a staff mber approached us in a hurry.
“Lucas and Narce, please.”
“Yes?”
“Follow for a mont.”
***
“This is unacceptable. There are 10,000 people waiting because of you, sir. Let’s wrap this up quickly.”
“......”
“Sigh...”
The investigator shook his head in frustration.
Currently, both the arena and the lab were under restricted access.
This was because the man Narce reported had remained completely silent the entire ti.
Indeed, there had been soone monitoring outside our team’s lab. According to Narce, they fled the mont they saw him.
“You said the door locked the mont you arrived?”
“Yes.”
“And this gentleman confird Lucas was trapped inside?”
The investigator turned to Narce for confirmation.
“Yes, there was a lock spell on the door handle. The lab supervisor verified it as well.”
“That’s right. We keep getting corroborating testimonies, yet staying silent like this will only make things worse. You realize how quickly the headline ‘10,000 People Delayed by One Man’ can spread?”
“......”
“Sir, do you even understand what you’ve done? The person you locked up isn’t just any noble; he’s the son of the Duke of Anhalt. If Askanian hears about this, they won’t take it lightly.”
When reasoning failed, the investigator resorted to invoking my family na.
Of course, I knew Askanian wouldn’t care much about this incident—but that was my secret to keep. The man sitting in front of , however, grew visibly more anxious.
“...It wasn’t ...”
“Sure, sure, of course not. You didn’t do it?”
“......”
The conversation stalled again, and the investigator’s expression darkened further.
At this rate, the building might still need to be sealed even after today’s competition ended.
A simple matter could escalate into an international incident involving the imprisonnt of a foreign noble from a ruling family, right in the heart of Bavaria. I couldn’t bla the investigator for feeling overwheld.
Though I lacked insight-based abilities, the look on his face suggested he was considering seeking a warrant to use Divine Power. Not that it would do any good—there weren’t any investigators here capable of wielding it.
‘It doesn’t matter much to if this blows up....’
The real issue was Bavaria’s position.
No matter how insignificant Luca might seem, he still held a title that couldn’t be ignored.
If this incident were to be publicized as a foreign noble from a ruling family being detained in the middle of Bavaria’s capital, it would be Bavaria facing the fallout.
‘It’s unlikely this man is the mastermind. My brother’s involvent suggests at least two or three interdiaries.’
Perhaps this man was afraid of retaliation from the true culprit if he said the wrong thing. If that was the case, he might open up to soone more trustworthy.
Soone with the authority to protect his identity, for instance.
While the Investigation Bureau excels at protecting identities, it isn’t trusted by the public.
‘If we want soone more approachable... Nicolaus might work. Should I give it a shot?’
Just then, Narce lifted his head sharply.
“Oh, that could work.”
“Pardon?”
“......”
He was reading my thoughts again, wasn’t he?
Narce gestured to the investigator, suggesting a private conversation.
Picking up on the cue, the investigator instructed a colleague to watch the suspect and moved to a back room with us, locking the door behind him.
“Thank you. I’ve got a question. Doesn’t Lord Ernst work with the Investigation Bureau?”
“Lord Ernst? You an Lord Nicolaus? No, he’s with the Royal Army. This is the Bavarian Federal Governnt, after all.”
“How about letting him handle the interrogation? If you get a warrant for Divine Power, he could conduct it.”
“What? But he’s not part of the Bureau, and...”
The investigator tilted his head, clearly uncomfortable with the idea.
“Is it against regulations?”
“No, not exactly. He could assist with the questioning, but isn’t he supposed to be guarding the Crown Prince?”
So it wasn’t forbidden, but summoning the Crown Prince’s escort to interrogate soone felt excessive.
Narce and I exchanged glances.
***
If we got approval, it was possible.
Hearing this, we dashed back to the waiting room.
Though the investigator offered to make contact himself, we decided to inform Leo and get permission directly.
‘It’s not like I can contact myself, right?’
Nicolaus couldn’t be both present and absent at the sa ti.
Leo stood as soon as he saw us enter.
“You’re back? Who’s behind this?”
“We haven’t found them yet. Leo, I’m heading to the Investigation Bureau.”
“Now?”
Leo raised an eyebrow as if to ask why I hadn’t already gone.
—“I’m borrowing Nicolaus.”
“Oh, him. Do as you like.”
I nodded and turned to leave, but Leo called out.
“Lucas.”
“What?”
“Just in case, tell them you have my permission. I’ll back you up if needed.”
“Thanks.”
“Need anything else from ?”
“You’ve done enough. See you.”
Leo gave a puzzled look, then nodded as he figured it out.
I quickly prepared myself and teleported to the Investigation Bureau.
Knock, knock—
The door opened almost imdiately.
The investigator from earlier greeted warmly.
“Ah, it’s an honor to et you, Lord Ernst. Thank you for coming so quickly after our request.”
Having just seen him, his formal greeting felt oddly stiff.
Adjusting my altered voice, I responded, “I was inford this could escalate quickly. Where should I go?”
“This way, please.”
The investigator led down a corridor while explaining the situation.
“He refuses to talk. The only thing he’s said is his na, and even that took ten minutes after ntioning potential punishnt.”
He handed a file.
“Is this the case summary?”
“Yes, based on witness statents. However...”
“Yes?”
“There’s a spell blocking Divine Power. We discovered it while inspecting him for a warrant.”
“...Where is it applied?”
“The arteries. We don’t yet know how to undo it. As you know, there aren’t many Divine Power mages in the kingdom.”
‘They’re pulling out all the stops.’
Soone had gone to great lengths to prevent this interrogation.
“If we can’t use Divine Power, is there any issue with trying other thods to make him talk?”
“Our current understanding says no. But he remains stubbornly silent.”
“I see. Thank you.”
I pushed open the heavy iron door and stepped inside.
The man from earlier sat slumped over, his head hanging low.
“Good evening, Mr. Jürgen Edder.”
He glanced at briefly before lowering his head again.
Not being able to use Divine Power wasn’t a problem.
I could resolve this calmly, relying on the information in front of .
‘First, let’s confirm one thing.’
[Jürgen Beck]Favorability 6
‘Huh.’
I still couldn’t get used to it. Even soone involved in such shady business didn’t have a terribly negative impression of Nicolaus.
Well, that wasn’t the issue now.
“...Or should I say, Jürgen Beck?”
“...!”
He visibly flinched and looked up.
Noting his expensive suit and gleaming watch chain, I spoke softly.
“By reacting like that, you’ve just proven your last na isn’t Edder. What do you think of that?”
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