Chapter 33: Riddle [1]
I watched as Riviera tilted her head with a dumbfounded expression, then trudged toward me again.
"Here's the money."
She handed over the money once more.
I stared at it before opening my mouth.
"It's not enough."
"What? But That's all for today."
"It's ridiculously small compared to the price of my life."
I looked straight into her dark-circled eyes. It was an emotional yet calculated provocation.
At least until Chapter 6, when the objective was achieved, I had calculated that she wouldn't be able to touch me.
"Hmm."
Riviera rolled her eyes and looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking.
"No. I think it's enough."
Fortunately, it seemed like she didn't think anything like her intentions had been exposed.
It seemed like she thought I was picking a fight because of what she had said earlier about the value of one's life.
"Is that enough?"
"Huh."
"Yeah, maybe so."
"?"
She tilted her head again, looking like she had difficulty understanding something from earlier. I told her,
"Get me more money."
"Why?"
"From now on, I'm going to raise the price of my life tremendously."
It was natural. Because I'm not the Max guy I used to be. But of course, it would sound like nonsense to other people.
"… Is that possible?"
"You'll know for sure if it's possible or not when you see it for yourself."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah."
"Okay."
Surprisingly, she readily agreed.
Honestly, I don't really know what kind of personality she has because all you have to do is meet her as a boss in the essential event of Chapter 7. But after talking to her for a bit, I could immediately tell that she wasn't an ordinary person.
No, I can say for sure. She's four-dimensional, for sure. I sensed the scent of a weirdo, no less than a carnivorous high elf.
"Okay, I'll go. Do your best."
She turned her back and walked away without any regrets. I stared blankly at her as she disappeared, then blurted out,
"Okay. Let's stop worrying about it now."
From the moment we started talking about the price of life and such, I already knew that the huge mistake Max had made could not be recovered.
Even so, she won't harm me until she achieves her goal. It would be better to stop worrying about being tired and just focus on the task at hand.
Thinking that I had done everything I had to do at school, I headed to the Turk
Growl…
"No, I have to eat."
I headed to the cafeteria.
* * *
"Haam"
Lafitte yawned in boredom in the messy professor's office that hadn't been cleaned for a long time.
"Research is fun. Writing papers is also fun. If I could do that, I would consider teaching to be my calling.
But that's it. At the academy, professors are required to give lectures. I don't like that. It's extremely boring to lecture students, most of whom are idiots.
But if I can put up with that, being a professor is a pretty good job.
Oh, and there is one more good point. There are still plenty of secrets left to uncover here."
"I'll come in."
A voice came from somewhere.
Lafitte's gaze turned toward the window.
Soon, the window opened quietly, and a black shadow entered the professor's office in an instant.
"What an undignified visit. Just come from the door."
Lafitte clicked his tongue. Soon, the black shadow took on the shape of a human being.
A girl with black hair.
It was Riviera, the one he had been with until just now.
"Part of the border."
She answered in a quiet voice.
"I've cast a cognitive impairment spell; what are you worried about?"
Since her admission, Lafitte himself had placed a powerful cognitive impairment spell on her. It was a sophisticated yet powerful spell that naturally diminished one's presence.
He could confidently guarantee the effect.
But.
"That spell is a mess."
Riviera frowned slightly.
"What? Are you picking a fight with me right now?"
Lafitte's pride seemed to be hurt.
"Even the thugs found out."
"…."
At that moment, his mouth was tightly shut as if he were at a loss for words. After a while, Lafitte scratched his head and spoke again.
"That case requires some research."
"Trust is in jeopardy."
"Oh, okay, okay. I helped you with all my heart, and now I'm hearing something like this."
Even if they were executives of the same 'Red Rain,' there was no obligation to help other executives unless it was the Lord's command. He helped Riviera purely because her goals and his own interests coincided.
Anyway, the clear fact was that he had helped.
"Thank you for that."
"Give me some medicine, and I'll give you some."
Riviera asked him, who shook his head.
"Did you find it?"
"No, would it be found that easily?"
"It's been almost two years."
"I'll say it again; the mystery of Leferia Academy isn't something that can be taken lightly, right?"
Lafitte spoke with the eyes of a scholar burning with a spirit of challenge.
St. Leferia Academy.
As it boasted a history spanning over a thousand years, there was no small amount of uncertainty there.
Lafitte named this unresolved uncertainty the mystery of Leferia Academy.
'It was so thoroughly hidden from the very beginning.'
Lafitte's eyes lit up.
The founding origin was said to have been established through cooperation by all nations to honor Saint Leferia, who originally saved the continent from a terrible plague.
But that's a clever lie.
In fact, the academy that Saint Leferia took the lead in founding was the Leferia Academy.
If he hadn't accidentally discovered a thousand-year-old library buried underground by an earthquake and read the forgotten ancient books, he would have never known.
'There's no way there wasn't some intention.'
Who was Saint Leferia?
The greatest saint, even called the daughter of God. Her intentions were not something that an ordinary person could guess.
One thing was certain.
She was more compassionate than anyone else, felt saddened by the suffering of humans, and devoted her life to helping them overcome that suffering.
That's why Lafitte was sure.
She must have made various arrangements for the Academy to prepare for future disasters with her endless foresight.
'If it's a religious group, they might know.'
The head of Leferia Academy had been a person from the religious order for generations.
Everyone thought it was just a traditional practice, but once you knew the facts, it was clear that it was not.
It must have something to do with the saint's arrangement.
Of course, that didn't mean that everyone in the church knew everything about the arrangement. They had already investigated, but even the highest-ranking cardinals were completely unaware of this fact.
That is to say.
'I guess that means it's been passed down in great secrecy.'
The Pope. And the president. These two would be certain, and…No, there might just be two.
Even if there were more than three people, it wouldn't be easy to maintain such extreme secrecy.
"What are you thinking?"
Riviera's words broke Lafitte's thoughts.
"Oh, sorry. I'm the type of person who, once I start thinking about something, it just keeps going on and on."
Lafitte continued.
"Anyway, about that riddle."
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