<h4>Chapter 255</h4>


    As the dedicated alchemy teacher of the Temple, Aaron Mede was in a foul mood.


    Teachers were ranked ording to tiers as well, and Aaron Mede was a teacher who only taught elite students, which meant that the students attending his lectures were either from the Orbis ss or from the top-tier sses within the standard cohort.


    He personally disliked the Royal ss, as he had seen too many arrogant individuals relying solely on their innate talent.


    Strictly speaking, it wasn’t that he disliked the Royal ss. Rather, he favored the Orbis ss.


    He appreciated the desperation of the Orbis ss students and liked their determination to do anything in order to secure greater achievements.


    Such desperation clouded their judgment, causing their instincts to dull and leading them to sumb to subtle temptation.


    The brightest minds of the empire gathered in one ce, where he could experiment on them and their untapped potential in real-time... The Temple was the only ce on the continent where he could have a constant stream of such experimental subjects.


    However, that cradle had disappeared in an instant, all thanks to Reinhart, that lunatic from the Royal ss, who had started the sequence of chaotic events that led to this climax.


    Strictly speaking, things had turned out this way because the students and teachers of the Orbis ss had conspired to do something strange. Regardless, the root cause was still Reinhart’s meddling.


    The source from which he secured his test subjects, especially the most capable ones, had suddenly disappeared.


    Someone had disrupted his experiments.


    There was nothing he could do about the chaos caused by the actions of the Orbis ss. Therefore, he felt somewhat relieved.


    He had intended to kill Reinhart outside the Temple to avoid the situation being blown out of proportion, which would certainly happen if someone died within the Temple grounds.


    He was confident that his use of the Order’s forbidden spells would not be detected.


    People died surprisingly easily. A knight, no matter how strong, could die from a simple stab while asleep.


    Therefore, killing a student, no matter how talented they were—just one—should have been easy.


    If that kid died, suspicion would fall on the Orbis ss, not him, so the situation seemed perfect, and he wouldn’t be implicated.


    However, for some reason, the kid had noticed the existence of the assassin imnted with his insect. When he saw the target making a hasty escape, Aaron Mede felt the need to stay hidden.


    However, because of the danger that he had sensed, his target had not stepped foot out of the Temple ever since.


    Since Aaron Mede had not been terminated from the Temple like the Orbis ss teachers, he could have killed Reinhart while inside the Temple. Yet he was extremely wary of exposing himself to danger.


    There was no need to take unnecessary risks.


    As long as Reinhart remained in the Temple, he was within his reach.


    Reinhart couldn’t stay inside the Temple forever. He believed that the moment Reinhart stepped outside the Temple would be his death.


    However, the situation took a peculiar turn.


    When another student, who had been with Reinhart at the time of the attempted assassination, stepped outside the Temple, he saw an opportunity.


    He had intended to secretly tail her, capture her, and use her as a hostage to lure Reinhart out of the Temple.


    Although she was in the Royal ss, she was still in her first year. Kidnapping her should have been beyond easy.


    He would use his hosts, so his presence wouldn’t be revealed.


    However, who would have expected things to turn out the way they did?


    The target had knowledge of her pursuer, and it seemed that she had lured him in intentionally.


    Upon investigation, it became clear that the girl was the greatest monster in Temple’s history, although details of her were still unknown.


    It was a mistake to disregard information about students majoring in close-quartersbat just because he was a mage.


    Fortunately, the forbidden spell Insector, which was used by the Order, was unknown to the public, so that alone couldn’t lead back to him. The evidence had already been erased.


    It was a forbidden spell that the Order used secretly to carry out assassinations.


    His anger and annoyance made him lose his cool.


    Who could have predicted that a first-year student from the Royal ss would possess senses as sharp as if she had eyes in the back of her head?


    He had to find a more certain and meticulous way to kill Reinhart.


    And then...


    “A bug that controls people?”


    “Yes. Can such a thing be created through alchemy?”


    The student who had captured his host hade to his mansion, bringing another student with her.


    ‘<i>What luck,’ </i>Aaron Mede thought.


    He couldn’t believe how smoothly things were going for him.


    ***


    Though Aaron Mede wasn’t familiar with Ellen, he knew about Harriet de Saint-Ouen.


    He was more interested in Harriet than in Ellen.


    The renowned child of the Saint-Ouen family, possibly the most brilliant one in their entire line... No, perhaps the most brilliant child in the entire continent.


    A child endowed with the unprecedented talent of pure magic.


    Though she may have not realized it herself, Harriet de Saint-Ouen was the subject of utmost interest among those who knew her.


    Of course, Aaron Mede did not harbor feelings of affection towards her.


    Those born with talent were often arrogant.


    He preferred the desperate struggle of those in the Orbis ss who weren’t born with talent. He believed that the ruthlessness and determination to use any means necessary to be stronger was what ultimately ced a person at the top.


    To him, Harriet de Saint-Ouen, who had been born with everything and knew nock, was someone whocked desperation for improvement.


    He didn’t conduct experiments on students under the guise of offering them power because he was evil. He genuinely believed that his experiments were a gift.


    He wasn’t willing to gift anything to those who weren’t desperate. Therefore, although Harriet wsas an outstanding talent, he had little interest in her.


    She was just a curiosity.


    How could such a coincidence ur?


    Two perfect lures to reel Reinhart in had just walked up to him on their own.


    They hade via a rmendation from Ms. Mustang, and imed to be curious about certain matters.


    Ellen, the student standing before him, had wandered around gathering information about the worm that crawled out from his host, which eventually led her to that very spot—all the while having no idea that it was thest ce that she should ever be.


    The two students stood before him, unaware of the hundreds of those worms swarming beneath the mansion, innocently believing that they were just there to ask some innocent questions.


    The two students actively investigating the assassination attempt on Reinhart seemed to be very close friends of his.


    They would serve as excellent bait, and the pleasure of crushing the arrogance of the Royal ss’s budding talents was an added bonus.


    For now, though, acting hastily was unwise.


    If students introduced by Ms. Mustang went missing, suspicion would fall squarely on him.


    “Hmm... It seems you do have a sense of what it could be. I hate to admit it, but alchemists are the kind of people who have to experiment if they see any possibility. I might have heard of those who use such things, though...”


    “Oh, r-really? Is that true?”


    “...”


    The prospect of uncovering a meaningful clue caused Harriet’s expression to change instantly, and Ellen looked slightly more alert.


    “It might take some time to investigate. I’ll send word to the Royal ss if I uncover anything.”


    “Thank you so much! Thank you, sir!”


    He would send them away for now. Taking action so swiftly would be foolish.


    “Since you’re here, have a cup of tea before you leave.”


    He warmly served a cup of tea to each of the unsuspecting students.


    He would send them away, but he would take out some insurance.


    Alchemy could include elements of magic, or not.


    In this case, his concoction did not have magical elements, which meant that a dispel spell wouldn’t work.


    Aaron Mede was poisoning the two of them.


    It was a slow-acting poison. Symptoms would appear over a month, leading to eventual heart failure and death.


    Without an antidote, they would undoubtedly die.


    It was a poison that couldn’t be cured even with Divine Power.


    If things did not y out in his favor, he could lure Reinhart in using the antidote.


    This was his insurance n.


    “Ah, yes... Thank you.”


    Harriet cautiously reached for the cup.


    <i>‘Drink it,’ </i>Aaron Mede thought.


    He wore a faint smile as he thought about seeing the corpse of that arrogant madman who ruined all his experiments in just about a month’s time.


    He had the antidote. Thus, he calmly savored the poisoned tea he had served himself.


    The tasteless and odorless poison could not be detected by taste alone.


    Ellen didn’t touch the tea. She appeared indifferent.


    Harriet was about to drink, but she paused, tilted her head slightly, and set the cup down.


    “I have a question.”


    Aaron Mede noticed the green earrings hanging from Harriet’s ears.


    They did not appear overly fancy, and seemed an odd choice for the Grand Duchess of Saint-Ouen.


    Harriet, who had set the cup aside, continued, “Why didn’t you ask why we’re curious about such things?”


    Harriet sensed something incongruous.


    Everyone had asked that question.


    She herself had been curious.


    When Ellen had first asked her about it, she’d wondered why Ellen was interested in something so dangerous and grotesque.


    Likewise, the students in the Magic Research Club and Ms. Mustang had asked the same question as well.


    <i>“Why are you curious about a bug that controls people?”</i>


    They had all asked the same question, but Aaron Mede had not.


    That small incongruity... It probably wasn’t something to be suspicious of.


    Aaron Mede responded with a gentle smile. “Mages, especially students, are curious about all sorts of things. If you knew how many bizarre questions I get, you’d be surprised. I’ve gotten used to it and don’t think much of any question anymore.”


    “Oh, I see.”


    Aaron’s answer seemed usible. Yet he noticed that the two kids hadn’t touched their tea. They were being cautious.


    Not just talented, but perceptive too, it seemed.


    Aaron Mede knew forcing them to drink would just backfire. Harriet examined the study. Her gaze was not on Aaron, but wandered around the room itself.


    “And, this ce... It feels strange,” she observed with a calm expression.


    She wasn’t just looking around—she seemed to be sensing the space itself.


    “I can’t feel any ley line mana.”


    “Ley line? What do you mean?”


    Reinhart often tasked Harriet with seemingly impossible tasks.


    <i>Study dimensional magic. Try activating magic using natural external mana instead of internal mana...</i>


    Though she hadn’t seeded at all of them, she was making progress.


    Using natural mana for magic was still a far-off concept, but she’d grown ustomed to sensing and analyzing atmospheric mana.


    Other mages could do this too, but Harriet, who had been focused on it, had be more sensitive.


    Mana exists everywhere, just in varying densities. Even within a single space, its density fluctuates. Harriet doubted whether controlling such irregrly-distributed mana in a uniform manner to fuel magic was even feasible.


    Though she hadn’t achieved the ultimate goal, she could recognize the peculiarities in this ce.


    There was no detectable ley line mana under the mansion.


    It was as if a massive hollow had been carved out of the vast blue sea. She couldn’t sense whaty beneath at all.


    However, the nature of this barrier, which was designed to block detection, already suggested much.


    “I understand that barriers created to block detection often look like this.”


    For security or for other reasons, a ce that could not be scrutinized through magic from the outside existed beneath the mansion.


    “Mages, especially alchemists, are sensitive to such issues. It’s not unusual to have such a setup. And I’m an alchemist after all,” Aaron Mede exined.


    Aaron Mede was indeed an alchemist.


    It was a fact that alchemists were particrly vignt about security. They did not allow anyone to casually peek into theirboratories. Realistically, this in itself wasn’t suspicious. Harriet knew this too.


    What Harriet found suspicious was the scale of it. The barrier was excessivelyrge.


    Though he was a renowned alchemist, having aboratory that extended six floors deep beneath the mansion was unusual.


    “This feels somewhat ufortable. You seem to havee here out of curiosity, but it feels more like you’re interrogating me. Am I mistaken?” Aaron said.


    Aaron Mede didn’t bother to hide his displeasure.


    He thought a golden opportunity hadnded in hisp, but they seemed to have caught on to something and had begun to suspect him.


    He couldn’t allow this to go on. He had to get them to leave.


    He could act immediately, but doing so would obliterate the foundation he’d built within the Temple.


    A minor misstep with these brats couldplicate matters severely.


    Harriet seemed to hesitate at Aaron Mede’s overt displeasure.


    But Ellen, who had been silent until now, spoke up.


    “Do homunculi disappear when dispelled?”


    “... You’re both rather rude children, but I’ll answer that question. A homunculus is a magical being. Yes, it would disappear if dispelled.”


    “Then what would happen if dispel was cast on someone being controlled by a homunculus?”


    “...”


    Aaron Mede felt his mind go nk.


    <i>‘What is this kid saying right now?’ </i>he thought.


    “Well... I’m not entirely sure, but the parasitic homunculus would either perish, or... the host might die.”


    Aaron Mede knew it was thetter. Being controlled by a homunculus was irreversible. If the homunculus died, the host would die too.


    No—being controlled was akin to being as good as dead.


    “Why do you ask such a question?” Aaron asked.


    “We’re about to cast an Anti-Magic Field over this entire mansion,” Ellen replied calmly.


    “... What?!”


    “If there’s anyone in this mansion under a homunculus’s control, they’ll all drop dead. If nothing happens, we’ll apologize. We’ll ept disciplinary action andpensate you for any property damage if necessary.”


    Anti-Magic Field... Arge-scale spell that suppressed the use of magic, much stronger than a wide-area dispel.


    <i>‘Can a student cast such high-level magic?’ </i>Aaron Mede thought, his eyes widening.


    <i>‘Harriet de Saint-Ouen is reputed to be the greatest magical prodigy ever, so it might indeed be possible.</i>


    <i>‘This is bad. These kids, driven by wild conjectures, are about to do something insane.</i>


    <i>‘If they deploy the Anti-Magic Field, the countless ves within the mansion would instantly be corpses.’</i>


    His expression calmed.


    “The Royal ss surely is full of annoying pests like you guys,” Aaron said.


    He disliked all of them. He would have to resort to drastic measures to avoid losing everything if he kept his mask on.


    “Die.”


    <i>BOOM!</i>


    The Fireball shot from Aaron Mede’s wand was thwarted by the barrier Harriet had erected.


    “... I can’t believe that it’s actually you.”


    “I told you, Harriet,” Ellen said.


    Aaron Mede looked in shock as a silver sword suddenly materialized in Ellen’s right hand.


    “Intimidation works better than asking questions,” Ellen added.


    “Indeed...” Harriet responded.


    These two had suspected Aaron Mede from the start.