Academy’s Undercover Professor-Novel - Chapter 114

ACADEMY’S UNDERCOVER PROFESSOR

[Translator – Alice]

[Proofreader – ilafy]

Chapter 114 – Ludger’s Eight (2)

Ludger sent the signal to the other members.

‘Ludger isn’t able to act? Is this plan going to be okay?’

Violeta was concerned by the news that she heard through the portable communicator as she followed the ‘Key Master’ to a private room.

However, they had prepared for that kind of situation beforehand and had planned to let the prepared personnel move instead.

She had no choice but to believe and trust him.

Clack.

The ‘Key Master’ locked the room’s door and wickedly laughed.

“Hehehe. Hey, lady. Shall we play a fun game?”

“Oh, my. I like games,” Violeta replied with a vigorous answer as she hadn’t just been acting drunk.

The ‘Key Master’s’ face, who thought that she would stagger due to her drunkenness, was dumbfounded for a moment.

Griip!

At that moment, Violeta’s slender hand gripped his collar.

Violeta squinted her eyes at the bewildered ‘Key Master’ while giving an enchanting smile.

“How about we play like this?”

Boom!

And she threw the ‘Key Master’ down with all of her strength.

“Cough!”

The ‘Key Master’, who hadn’t expected that he would be thrown down, coughed in vain and fainted as his eyes rolled into his head.

Violeta circulated the mana in her hand throughout her body as she clenched and unclenched her fist.

—There was a subtle mana that shone in both of her hands.

‘Reinforcing my body with mana… It feels really strange.’

Violeta could only handle Elemental and Mana Release magic.

Moreover, in the case of elements, she could only deal with the wind element, and compared to real wizards, her magical knowledge was only half-baked.

However, Ludger had recognized her ability and filled the other half that she lacked.

Violeta became aware of the talent that she possessed in having a natural aptitude for magic.

Among the five classes of magic, she specialized in Spellcasting.

With Ludger’s help, Violeta had learned to handle the subcategories of the Spellcasting specialization, Reinforcement and Telekinesis, in a short period of time.

She’d only scratched the surface and couldn’t call herself well-practiced yet, but it was enough for the moment.

‘Anyway, I need to get the keys for now.’

Violeta thoroughly searched all over the fainted ‘Key Master’s’ body.

However, no matter how hard she searched, she didn’t see the keys.

—It meant that the ‘Key Master’ didn’t have the keys on him.

‘This is where he usually spends his time, the keys must be somewhere around here.’

Violeta walked toward a tightly closed cabinet on one side of the room, opening it wide.

Then, she spotted them…

“…Oh, my.”

—The many keys hanging inside the cabinet.

The keys which looked to be beyond hundreds in number were all those used for the Kunst auction house and hotel.

* * *

‘Damn. Why do I have to personally go in?’ Hans inwardly muttered, but he was getting ready to go out.

“Mr. Hans, are you going to go?”

“Yeah. Since it’s hard for Ludger to move, I have no choice but to step in. So, Arpa, I’m asking you to use the machine instead.”

“Oh. Ah, come to think of it, Mr. Hans, there’s a problem.”

“Problem? What problem?”

Arpa pointed at the machine that Hans had entrusted to him and spoke.

“This. It’s not working.”

“What? That’s impossible.”

“I tried activating it once as a test, but there was no reaction. Is the signal weak?”

Hans looked at the invention that Sheridan had made with a rigid face.

The way to activate it was simple—they just needed to press the button at the right time.

When done, the machine’s lights were designed to shine red as proof that it was operating properly.

However, Arpa pressed the button for the sake of demonstration, but the red light didn’t shine.

On the contrary, there were only crackling noises that resounded.

Hans hurriedly sent a radio to Sheridan once he realized that something was wrong.

“This is ‘Kafka’. Can you talk right now?”

[Yeah. This is ‘Wells’. What’s the matter?]

“I think that the machine you made doesn’t work properly. Is this really it?”

[Oh? Really? Wait. What’s your current location?]

“The building opposite the auction house.”

[Hmm. What does the machine do?]

“It only crackles, and the light doesn’t shine properly. There’s nothing strange apart from that.”

[It seems like a signal problem. Is there some kind of electronic jamming signal between the inside of the auction house and the outside?]

As Sheridan mumbled something, she soon came to a conclusion.

[The light still comes on, right?]

“Yeah. It’s just that it’s super dim, the machine itself doesn’t look like it has many problems.”

[Then there’s only one way to fix the weak signal… You have to activate it closer.]

“Closer? How much closer?”

[At least closer than in the building on the opposite side of the road.]

He was going crazy.

Hans felt pain in his head.

Because it’d become like that, Arpa had to move, too.

[So are you going to do it?]

“…Of course. This is what Ludger entrusted me to do.”

[Alright. Good job, ‘Kafka’. I need to get moving as well.]

After finishing his communication with Sheridan, Hans tapped his forehead with his fingertips and spoke to Arpa.

“Let’s go. We should move now.”

“Sure.”

Hans and Arpa wrapped the machine in a cloth and stepped out of the building.

* * *

As she had been laying blankly in her VIP room, Elendil thought that she would get cabin fever if she kept staying like that, so she couldn’t endure it any longer.

‘It’d be nice if I could just stay still like this, but this is a bit too much.’

Still, she should at least have some stories about what kind of mysterious items came out in the auction house to tell to her first ever friend, Lynne.

Elendil imagined her appearance as she impressively explained what she’d seen there to her junior.

Lynne’s eyes would sparkle, and she would hang onto every word.

Elendil would be sure to show a chic appearance as a senior and would receive a yearning gaze.

‘It’s not bad…’

After she thought of it positively, Elendil felt somewhat motivated.

She soon got up from her spot and prepared to go down.

Her attendants, who were on standby at the entrance, hurriedly stuck to her side as soon as she left her room.

“Your Highness, where are you going?”

“The auction is about to open soon, right? I’m thinking of doing some sightseeing.”

“Yes. I will escort you directly to the best VIP seat.”

Elendil was guided by her servants and headed to where the auction would start.

A wide hall on the first floor…

There were many seats in the place that resembled an opera’s auditorium, and the place was filled with honored guests who wore expensive attire.

Elendil sat in a VIP seat that only specially invited guests could sit in.

It was a seat of honor located in a higher place than the other seats, and she could look down at the auction house at a glance.

When she sat there, the auction started right away.

“Ladies and gentlemen! Thank you for coming to the Kunst auction house!”

As the host lightly greeted everyone, the auction started right away.

“Now! The first item that will be displayed on the second day of the auction house is this! The Mermaid’s Tear!”

Oooooh!

A great item came out from the start.

The Mermaid’s Tear was a beautiful azure jewel that did justice to its name.

As it was exactly like a legendary mermaid had directly produced it, the jewel in tear form shone purely and brilliantly.

‘Whoa.’

Elendil, who didn’t have much interest in such an item, was unconsciously entranced by the sight of the beautiful jewel.

“Now! The starting price is one million denars! Please bid freely!”

The auction was engulfed in excessive heat from the start.

When the price soared to half a billion denars, Elendil felt sick rather than amazed.

‘Still, it’s not a real mermaid’s tear, but only a mere jewel. They use that much money for such a luxurious item? They can feed and save many people with that money.’

As she thought so, she felt that her seat was getting uncomfortable.

The auction house was a place with greed and ambition entangled in it and a negative energy permeating it.

It couldn’t be compared with when she’d encountered her sister, but it didn’t mean that the place was comfortable.

‘Should I just leave?’

Right when she thought so, someone came and sat in the empty seat beside her.

“Your expression doesn’t look that good.”

“Ah, yes…”

It was a woman with a side-ponytailed hairstyle and sky-blue hair.

What made the woman stand out was her eyes that resembled a blue sea.

Elendlil immediately thought that she was a mysterious and gorgeous person.

“The Mermaid’s Tear is said to be a tear from the legendary mermaid of the ocean. Of course, the Mermaid’s Tear that’s being displayed on the stage right now is fake.”

“How can you be certain of it?”

“I’ve seen the real one. The beautiful shine is still the same, but there should be peacefully flowing mana that’s akin to water flowing through it, and this jewel isn’t like that.

Her blue eyes saw through the nature of that jewel as though they were piercing through it.

‘She can feel whether there’s mana or not from this far away?’

Elendil was in awe before she suddenly felt curious about the woman’s identity.

“Rather than that, who are you? Since you’re able to sit here, you must be somewhat more than ordinary.”

“Oh. Right, I’m late to introduce myself. I’m this kind of person.”

She skillfully pulled out a business card using her index and middle finger then passed it to Elendil.

It wasn’t a polite attitude, but since Elendil was a person who suited the attitude, she received the business card.

There was a name, Casey Selmore, written on the business card.

And there was a title written below it, occupation: Detective.

‘Casey Selmore… Casey Selmore…’

After she mumbled the name inwardly, Elendil shouted out in shock.

“No way! Are you the famous genius detective, Selmore?!”

“Oh, my. So you know me.”

“O-of course! You’re the one who arrested the notorious criminal James Moriarty! Moreover, you’re the person who gained a color title as a wizard of the water property!”

Elendil had learned magic, so she was able to know how amazing of a person Casey was.

Because wizards who gained a color title from the magic tower were not common.

“I didn’t know I’d see you here. Nice to meet you. I’m…”

“Elendil, the third princess, right?”

“Oh? Do you know me?”

“No. This is our first meeting.”

“But how…?”

Casey smiled brightly at the confused Elendil.

“You showed a bored face when you saw the auction. Moreover, seeing that the back of your hair is slightly pressed, you were laying in your room until just recently, right? The scent of the air freshener used to clean the room is still clinging to you.”

“…!”

Elendil hurriedly adjusted her hair.

Casey shrugged her shoulders while continuing her deduction.

“And you didn’t sprinkle any perfume, nor did you do any make-up. It’s an unconstrained manner that usually wouldn’t be seen from a person who sits in these seats of honor. The fact that you don’t have to care about others’ gazes or have to be on eggshells means that the status that you possess is that overwhelming.”

She hadn’t felt entertained by the auction, so she was bored, but she sat on the seat of honor where only invited people watch the auction.

“The rumor that the descendant of the imperial family was attending the auction house already spread wide. Seeing as that’s the case, there could only be one deduction, right?”

“…You’re amazing.”

Elendil was in awe of Casey’s deduction and acknowledged that her words were true.

She was the prestigious genius detective whose legend had been spread throughout the continent, after all.

Then, Elendil suddenly had a question.

Why had Casey Selmore come to the auction?

“You look like you’re curious.”

“Yes, well…”

“Well, I received an invitation right when I came to Leathevelk. They said they would give me excellent treatment in a good room, so there was no need for me to reject it.”

“Then what’s the reason for you to come to this auction?”

“The reason why I attended this auction… should I say it’s my gut feeling?”

“Gut feeling, you said?”

“Yes. Since this is a big event where the attention and gazes of countless people gather in one place, there’s bound to be an incident.”

An incident? Elendil considered Casey’s words as a joke.

How could such a place let an incident happen?

According to her judgment as a princess, the security of the Kunst auction house was so strict that it reminded her of the imperial palace.

Moreover, knowing that there were personal escorts who tagged along with each of the visiting guests, if there was a criminal who showed up inside, they would be overpowered in an instant.

“Your Highness must have thought that I was joking around.”

“What? N-no. That’s not it…”

“Well, I understand. Since I suddenly said that trouble would arise, it’s obvious for you to think like that. So, why don’t we wait and see?”

Elendil felt odd at Casey’s remark, which was full of certainty.

* * *

The alleyway heading to the Kunst auction house building…

Hans and Arpa were standing with their backs against the wall while fiddling with a machine in the dirty alleyway near the dumping ground where the food waste from the restaurant got disposed of.

“Is it like this?”

“Oh, Mr. Hans, please look at this. The light is shining perfectly. I think the signal is being transmitted properly.”

“Good, then I don’t need to go inside. And you should call me ‘Kafka’ here. Do you want my name to be exposed?”

“Oh, right. Okay. Mr. Kafka, please call me ‘Dumas’ as well.”

“I was already planning to do so.”

After he lightly grumbled, Hans finished preparing the machine for operation within the designated time frame.

It was then…

“Hey, who’s that?”

A big guy dressed in a formal suit seemed to hear their talk as he entered the alleyway.

The bald and bearded guy was holding a lamp in his hand.

‘Damn! We got caught!’

Hans was confused. He didn’t expect outdoor security to do a patrol directly to that alleyway.

“What? What are you doing there?”

Since they’d gotten caught by an outdoor patrol team, their other colleagues would come if he sent the signal.

Hans was contemplating what to do.

At that moment, Arpa got up from his crouching and walked toward the patrolling security.

“H-hey! What are you doing?!”

Hans quietly called to him from behind, but Arpa didn’t care and approached the man.

“Huh? What? You’re a kiddo?”

The patrol guy lowered his vigilance for a moment as he saw the young Arpa.

—And that was his defeat.

Baam!

“Aargh!”

Arpa’s small fist hit the guard’s abdomen, who had a body twice as large as his.

The guard’s large physique collapsed and fainted, and Hans watched the scene with a blank face.

‘What did he do just now?’

Such a huge guy got knocked down in one blow? His level was a bit lower if compared to the indoor security of the Kunst auction house, but even so, the guard had to have been more than an ordinary human.

However, Arpa, who’d just calmly done the incredulous thing, looked back at Hans with a beaming face.

It was even harder for him to give an estimation of Arpa, who showed an expression which seemed to be saying, “I did well, right?”.

‘That kid… What the hell is he?’