Chapter 11: What a Coincidence (3)
Ishmael froze for a moment when she saw me.
But she quickly regained her composure and asked.
"Han Tae-won. Why are you here……."
"Oh. To borrow a book."
"……."
Ishmael looked at the book in my hand.
Just looking at me, it was obvious I'd come to borrow a book.
But my real objective was right in front of me now.
"So. What brings you here?"
"Ah, well……."
She let her words trail off as she looked over at Bartleby.
Right.
That Scribe and Librarian, Bartleby.
The man cursed to repeatedly say things he doesn't want to do.
"That person is my family."
Not a single emotion was carried in those words.
As if she had deliberately stripped away every feeling.
Trying to act as though it didn't matter.
I looked back and forth between Ishmael and Bartleby.
Their facial features seem a little similar.
But the hair color, the eye color.
Not a single thing matches.
Still, well.
Those two are unmistakably family.
How do I know?
Because someone who has no family can know certain things too.
Soon, Ishmael began tying Bartleby up tightly.
No wonder she looked so natural carrying someone around wrapped up in rope like that.
Bartleby in "I don't want to" mode goes so far as to stop eating.
So there was a need to move him using somewhat forceful methods like that.
Otherwise he truly won't budge an inch.
Even if the building collapses, he won't move.
That's the kind of person he is.
With that, Ishmael hoisted Bartleby onto her back and headed toward the faculty lounge next door.
In name only a lounge—in truth, it's a dormitory for the library's Librarians.
The facilities are even better than my own Dormitory.
In less than five minutes, Ishmael came back out of the lounge.
I watched her blankly.
Because that entire series of actions had been carried out with such practiced familiarity.
Before I knew it, I'd slipped into spectator mode.
"Librarian Barbara. I used the Haeju Scroll. In about five hours, he should wake up and be able to return to work."
Having said all that, Ishmael bowed her head deeply.
"I'm always sorry."
"No, no~. Old folks don't sleep much at night anyway. Go on."
Ishmael bowed her head once more and then spoke to me.
"Do you have a moment?"
"Huh? Oh. Well, I've got…… nothing but time."
Ishmael gave a slight nod, then started walking.
I approached her and asked.
"Somewhere quiet with no one around would be better, right?"
"Yes. That would be good."
I led Ishmael to a secluded spot.
So secluded that it was the kind of place only people looking for trouble would pass through.
I sat down on the bench furthest from the corridor.
Ishmael sat down beside me.
"So. What did you want to say?"
I looked at Ishmael.
She seemed to gather her thoughts for a moment, then—
"I thought you might find it strange…… so let me say this first. It's a curse."
I furrowed my brow sharply at those words.
"Come again?"
"Oh, I mean. Bartleby…… didn't say those things to Han Tae-won on purpose."
Ah, so that's what she was thinking about.
Admittedly.
If someone asked you for something and you just got back—
I don't want to.
—you'd feel pretty bad about it.
But honestly, I don't care about any of that.
Because I already knew it was a curse.
"The Academy is researching the Haeju Scroll, but there hasn't been much progress yet."
"……."
I just listened without saying a word.
Han Tae-won is not good at consoling people.
Rather than offering some halfhearted comfort.
There are times when silence becomes a greater comfort.
So I simply stayed quiet and listened.
"So please don't be too hard on him……."
"Right. Well, whatever. It didn't really bother me."
At my words, Ishmael showed the faintest smile.
"I'm glad then."
After that, a brief exchange of conversation followed.
But even as we talked, another part of my mind was occupied with different thoughts.
Honestly speaking.
I actually find Bartleby impressive.
Arion Academy is not stupid.
More precisely—the personnel team and the executives of Arion Academy are not stupid.
They process administration by squeezing every last drop of human capacity in a way that gives you goosebumps.
A terrifying place that extracts maximum efficiency at minimum labor cost.
And that place has seated Bartleby as a Librarian.
They planted someone who lapses into fits from a curse every few hours as a Librarian.
Which means Bartleby as a person is someone capable of producing tremendous output.
He's extraordinarily good at his work.
A person like that can be made to work for minimum wage just by promising to help research the Haeju Scroll.
What a remarkably cost-effective arrangement.
But anyway…… they should be arriving soon.
Just then, three people came walking down the corridor.
Right. This is inside the Academy, and walking down a corridor is a perfectly natural thing.
There was a curfew set within the Academy.
But there were people who'd received S+ grades.
And things like that had long since become irrelevant.
So that was the problem.
Those people's footsteps were far too natural.
They have a sense of self.
But those who've been handed an S+ have no sense of self.
Even if they do, it's as good as nonexistent.
An S+ grade is not a blessing.
It's a curse.
Short for Slave +.
S+.
The fate of a graduate student.
In other words, they are the professors' slaves.
So they don't walk naturally.
No—they can't.
Because professors exploit their slaves to the limit.
Making them produce research results. Running them through training.
They always shuffle along with vacant expressions and hollow eyes.
That's the natural gait of a graduate student.
Ishmael's gaze had already fixed on them.
As they rounded the corner at the end of the corridor.
"……It's fine. That was natural."
I didn't catch the words before, but I heard everything after.
If I could hear it, then the B-rank Superhuman sitting right next to me certainly could too.
She slowly stood up.
I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but—
Ishmael enrolled under exceptional circumstances.
Her ability goes without saying—it far surpasses what's needed.
Even among the incoming students, she ranks among the very best.
And yet she ended up in the Failing Class.
Her older brother is a faculty member.
She didn't explain it in detail.
But I know it in detail.
Bartleby is in his fourth year as a Librarian.
He's had the Haeju Scroll for four years.
Which means Ishmael, for four years, from when she was thirteen up until now—
Has been at the Academy.
In other words. She is a semi–faculty member.
Because the Academy doesn't let freeloaders sit idle.
So she must have been working all this time.
And naturally, she would know the Academy's layout inside and out.
Without a doubt, she would know exactly where those people are heading.
"Just a moment."
She said that and immediately set off in the direction where they had disappeared.
I held back the smile tugging at the corner of my mouth and said.
"I'm coming too~!"
Good.
Step one, complete.
You might think they were discovered too quickly.
But don't worry.
They're latecomers.
The incident has already happened.
It can't be stopped.
Not by Han Tae-won as he is now—it's impossible.
Mm.
But saying it like that—
Hurts my pride a little.
Let me correct that.
I'm choosing not to stop it!
It's not that I can't stop it.
It's possible to cut things off before the incident happens.
But that would require killing someone.
Killing an Academy Cadet inside the Academy.
Han Tae-won as he is now doesn't know how to hit lightly.
No—the only thing he can use is a killing blow.
Because he's E-rank Han Tae-won.
If I were to stop them that way—I could stop them.
But.
What comes after cannot be stopped.
The price that comes with killing an Academy Cadet inside the Academy is……
It gives me chills.
Just imagining it gives me chills.
So I'm choosing not to stop it.
Instead, I'll handle the aftermath as swiftly as possible.
And the specialist in that aftermath is right in front of my eyes.
As both a semi–faculty member of the Academy and a sailor.
There is something she must do.
Following those suspicious figures, we arrived at—
A place that looked like a cutting-edge laboratory.
More multipurpose than a lab, so calling it a lab felt a little off.
They carefully opened the door and went inside.
At that sight, Ishmael tilted her head.
"Strange."
"Hff! Hff! What is?"
"The security system……."
A lab naturally has a security system.
But they'd walked in completely ignoring it.
Ishmael moved to resolve that question.
The camera, as if to say 'I'm dead!', had its neck snapped sharply downward, staring at nothing but the floor.
On top of that, the characteristic red indicator light wasn't on either.
"Oh no."
Ishmael immediately sent a text.
Probably to Librarian Barbara.
She's a semi–faculty member, not an actual faculty member.
So she wouldn't have the professors' direct line.
Unless she'd become one of their slaves.
Getting that direct line without becoming one of them isn't easy.
The moment Ishmael sent the text, she opened the door and stepped inside.
I followed behind—
"Han Tae-won, please wait here. The professors will be arriving shortly. Relay the situation to them and then head back to the Dormitory."
Ishmael suddenly stepped out and said this, then went back inside.
Hmm.
But even if you say that, Ishmael.
I'm going in.
Without me, stopping that incident won't be easy.
Still, I do have a conscience, so I decided to count to ten thousand in my head before going.
Ten, done!
Not that I ever said I'd start from one.
I slipped right in through the door, following Ishmael.
Inside was quite dark.
Like looking at a completely trashed laboratory from Jurassic Park, if that makes sense.
I felt my way forward, groping through the darkness.
Gradually, my eyes began adapting to the dark.
With that, my steps grew more confident.
I kept moving deeper inside when—
—Thud!
Someone placed a hand on my shoulder.
I hadn't sensed any Presence!
I startled badly and leaped into the air.
Whipping my head around, I found Ishmael standing there, her expression slightly twisted with anger.
She whispered in a low voice.
"Why did you come in here?!"
I laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of my head.
"Haha. I just couldn't help worrying about leaving you alone……."
"I don't think Han Tae-won, who is weaker than me, is in a position to say that. Please leave right now."
"S-Still, two heads are better than one, right?"
I'd just said that, but—
It was the kind of excuse that, if it appeared in a movie, would have audiences calling the character a troll.
"In this situation, two heads……."
—BOOM!!
"AAAAHH!!!"
Ah. So it's starting.
The first incident—one that leads directly to a game over.
Namely, the Monster Biology Analysis Laboratory Incident.
"Does this situation look like two heads to you?"
"Isn't that exactly why we should be going together?"
—Thump! Thump!
Ishmael looked like she had a lot more to say, but she said only one thing.
"Ha……. Do as you please."
Two things?
Anyway. Having said that, she dashed off in the direction of the sound.
I started running after her.
And not long after—
"Grrrr……."
I came face to face with Demons.
In the darkness, pairs of eyes lit red with madness and murderous intent appeared one after another.
At a rough count, more than forty pairs.
"Haha. Well. Not two heads—it was an elephant."
What kind of place was this, to have so many Demons?
It's simple.
This is a place for analyzing Demons' behavior patterns and finding their weaknesses.
On top of that—figuring out how to hunt Demons more efficiently.
Or what can be done with Demon byproducts.
A research facility.
Do you know how many species of Demons will have their weaknesses uncovered here in the future?
On this cramped little planet called Earth, approximately two million species of living creatures exist.
Then.
How many species might the otherworldly invaders living in a far wider world number?
At minimum, dozens of times more.
So Han Tae-won's head does not contain the weaknesses of that many species.
It can't.
Besides, even if only I knew them—
It wouldn't do any good.
A strategy guide coming from an E-rank would be trusted by no one.
In other words. My credibility is too low.
So this place must be protected.
Only then is there a future.
—Swish!
At incredible speed, something swung between me and Ishmael.
Both Ishmael and I barely managed to dodge the attack, but—
Without question.
This was a tough opponent for me—for E-rank Han Tae-won.
It's probably a D-rank Demon, a Forest Lizard.
If it were this creature alone, even E-rank Han Tae-won could fight through it and win.
Right. A D-rank is a manageable opponent.
But the problem is—
"Kyaaaaah!"
"Ian!"
"Aim for the Owlbear's eyes!"
"Idiot, you think that's easy?!"
"Use a Flash Spell!"
That.
That Demon, dangerously close to B-rank—that's the problem.
It's only not B-rank yet because it's not fully grown.
If it were an adult, everyone would already be dead.
Too large to call a hatchling, too small to call an adult.
Against that Demon, we must hold out until the professors arrive.
That's how it went in previous Rounds.
But not anymore.
My last puzzle piece hasn't arrived yet.
But it won't take long to get here.
I'm certain of it.
I glanced behind me.
This is where it begins.
What comes after this must not fall apart.
So until then……
"Ishmael."
Until then.
Let me borrow your help a little.