After gaining a suspicion that Jigoku was a key associate of Oknodie, Robert Elahim decided to further investigate Jigoku’s past actions for confirmation.
“Oknodie is a special student, so that’s fine, but it doesn’t seem like Jigoku is the kind of student many people are interested in.”
If a professor starts digging around asking about a mere student, it would attract too much attention.
That’s when you utilize instructors.
Of course, not just any instructor would do errands.
A professor’s direct subordinate, known as a Jaku.
They follow the professor around like a shadow, living and dying in the darkness.
Such a valuable shadow couldn’t be wasted on such a trivial investigation.
Then there’s the Practical Support Instructor, also known as the Training Instructor.
They mainly assist individual students during practice and handle accidents on the spot.
It wouldn’t make sense to use such a skilled personnel, who can handle accidents, for anything other than lectures.
Then we have the Administrative Support Instructor, or simply the Administrative Instructor.
They handle everything from sourcing materials for lectures to dealing with parent complaints and grading tests.
Currently, the new recruits rolling around in the research lab, Tommy and Brittany sent to the Northern Region, fall under this category.
“If it were up to me, I’d want to wrangle one more, but if I do that, the number of people left in the research lab would be too few. I need to hire just one more this year.”
But for now, things are alright.
He has a real errand runner.
The Security Support Instructor, or simply the Security Instructor.
Among the four attribute instructors, they are the lowest tier, aiming to remain unnoticed while handling patrols and security duties.
From the start, the professor’s Defensive Spells can handle all truly important matters, and hiring an external security business is even more beneficial for security.
Yet, the reason for having a Security Instructor is due to a system akin to rural community quotas, which the Gift Academy also has for Security Instructors.
“Damn Administrative Department graduates…”
Having been forced to hire at least three Security Instructors to make professors spend thirty thousand points fixed monthly on useless expenses.
If there’s a historically obnoxious and vile graduate in the Gift Academy, it would be the ones who submitted the mandatory hiring ordinance for Security Instructors in the Student Council.
Anyway, although their value might be lower than various administrative task-processing instructors, Security Instructors are used as errand runners for miscellaneous tasks!
The harsh treatment of instructors by professors is so severe that one of the Security Instructors, sneaking around like a hamster trying to avoid the hooks of a barbaric hamster vending machine, came to a stop.
“Nepher-tem.”
“Ugh!”
Lacking the mental power to defy the professor’s summoning magic, [True Name Summon], the Security Instructor fell helplessly from the ceiling.
“It’s time to earn your keep. Go dig up everything there is to know about a student named Jigoku. I’ll give you three days. If it’s not satisfactory information, I’ll throw you into the difficulty test before the next lecture.”
“Ugh….”
“Go.”
Security Instructor Nepher-tem dashed away as if fleeing from the fear of death, zooming down the hallway.
*
Nepher-tem felt wronged.
“Why am I the only one caught when there are two other Security Instructors? Was it the ceiling’s fault after all?”
Nepher-tem, oblivious to the professor possibly thinking, ‘How dare a Security Instructor try to rise above me?!’ was still an inexperienced Security Instructor who didn’t understand why instructors live shadowy lives.
“Felix. This thing happened; how do you usually investigate students?”
“Why are you asking me that?”
“Felix, you’re popular among the lower years and in the club. Isn’t there a way to get information about someone by naturally approaching the younger students?”
“There are easy and hard ways. What do you want?”
“The easy one!”
“Show that you like the student. The juniors will bring all the information, and you might even date one of them.”
“…Isn’t that too easy? Plus, using flattery is such trashy behavior!”
“Then I’ll tell you the hard way!”
As a third-year student on a leave of absence, Nepher-tem glanced at Felix, who seemed a bit more cheerful while looking at her friendly and carefree demeanor.
“Steal the Student Council’s record register. The Student Council has all the personal information of students, their interpersonal relationships, class attitudes, and any rule violations.”
“Why do they have information on rule violations?”
“To overlook violations as a condition for outsourcing their filthy work to the Student Council or to pocket points under the pretense of ‘expression of goodwill cheaper than fines.’”
“Wow… That’s just garbage.”
“Since you’re robbing the pockets of such garbage, you wouldn’t feel bad or have any resistance, right?”
“Of course not! Thanks for the info, Felix. You’re the best! Let’s eat Black Bread together later!”
Mentioning that she wanted to eat the poverty relief Black Bread bundled at five pieces for one point earned a grimace from Felix.
Regardless, Nepher-tem excitedly ran toward the Student Council Building.
[Field Trip Spell Not Verified.]
[Alternative Spell Entered.]
[Verifying…]
[Verifying…]
[Verified.]
[Intruder Detection Spell Deactivated.]
[Intruder Lethal Spell Deactivated.]
According to the professors’ belief that even the most trivial things have some use, Nepher-tem actually had some talent for unlocking a magically protected door!
While walking through the magically expanded street in the middle of a vast city, she suddenly noticed something strange.
“Hmm? Where did all the Golems go?”
The Student Council, resented by many current and inactive students, is unpredictable in when and where they might be targeted.
Thus, many human-type Golems, intended for covert activities, were placed throughout the area and could act as battle units in emergencies.
However, it was strange that not a single Golem was in sight.
“Oh, it’s maintenance time!”
It’s good news that the security devices targeting her as a potential enemy are not functioning, but the bad news is it makes her more noticeable.
“Still, I’m not going to the Student Council’s Execution Headquarters, so there’s no need to freak out too much!”
The Student Council has several sub-organizations.
The [Inactive Student Control Department], responsible for managing all disturbances caused by inactive students.
The [External Cooperation Department], which handles the external affairs of the Administrative Instructors.
The [Dimensional Control Department], which secretly patches, tears, and explodes dimensions as upperclassmen wreak havoc.
The [Anomaly Recovery Department], which puts up access restrictions in places where upperclassmen provoke chaotic magical effects, and cleans up the tangled magical spells.
The [Facilities Department], which conducts inspections and maintenance of major campus facilities, taking the place of those fools who simply cause explosions and damage while practicing.
At the peak of such prominent Student Council sub-departments, the [Execution Headquarters] investigates and punishes their corruption.
Therefore, infiltrating the Execution Headquarters is crazy.
Especially since the current head of the Execution Headquarters is Velvet Belle, known as the most powerful of all time.
“Ah, that person is!”
Nepher-tem froze in her tracks, startled by the sudden decrease of people, seeing a suspiciously wandering figure cloaked in robes, and hurriedly approached.
“Excuse me!”
“Uwah! I am no suspicious person! I have no plans to infiltrate the Student Council to steal important confidential information while the Student Council President is graduated!”
“Did you take a truth serum or something?”
“Ugh, it’s this damn third-year alchemist named Bixton who failed in drug manufacturing and filled the entire Production Department’s lab with vapor, leaving the effects lingering unjustly…”
“Don’t panic. Aren’t you from the Dark Cult?”
“W-What? Are you also a member of the Dark Cult?”
“My childhood friend is a senior member of the Dark Cult!”
“Hey, the Dark Cult is a place where everyone keeps each other’s secrets like friends! So don’t worry about spilling secrets or selling friends to the Student Council!”
“So, is there any place in the Student Council that has information about students that’s easy to rob?”
Without taking any truth serum, Nepher-tem bluntly asked in her naive way, causing the robed figure to giggle foolishly.
“There’s a lot of information piled up in the Environmental Cleaning Department about clubs and students who are involved in property damage or illegal dumping! It’s the perfect place to steal information since it’s dirtied and smells bad, so nobody targets it!”
“Wow, that’s sweet! Thanks! Here, take this!”
“Huh, Black Bread…? What do you want me to do with this tasteless Black Bread if I’m not a broke refugee? Ah, wait, are you trying to trick me into eating it and get caught by the Student Council?!”
As the robed figure grumbled in complaint but was scared enough to shrink back at the thought of getting caught by the Student Council, Nepher-tem used her quick legs, second only to her magic lockpicking, to find the Environmental Cleaning Department.
Next to the Underground Water Gate, it was obviously a building protected by magical spells, so it couldn’t be mistaken for a Student Council facility.
━━━
Environmental Cleaning Department
━━━
Excitedly unlocking the magic seals on the Environmental Cleaning Department’s door, Nepher-tem fainted as an overwhelming flash of light shot at her from the front.
Countless magic nets fell on her as she collapsed, and a massive beam came down from the ceiling, repeatedly squishing her like smashing garlic in a mortar.
“Help me…!”
“The remaining mana is still over 80%. You’re just faking it, so keep smashing until your mana runs out.”
“Ahhh!”
Bam!
As the mana barrier crumbled like minced garlic, a chilling voice spoke again.
“The remaining mana is still above 20%. You can still cast an escape magic even if you feel slight mana depletion, so push it down to 10% or below for stronger fatigue.”
“Ahhh!”
Thud! Thud!
Just as the body mana that protects her internal organs dwindled due to getting hit by stone hands protruding from the walls, the chilling voice spoke again.
“Good job. Let’s push down to the verge of unconsciousness at 5% remaining mana with electric shocks.”
“Please stop! I’ll tell you anything! Just save me!!!”
“What a loose-lipped kid. To open up like this, I’ll forgive you. Let’s leisurely hear why you were trying to dig up the student’s personal information.”
“Wha- how do you know?!”
“Don’t you get it yet? Heh. You can come in.”
At the command of the chilling voice, footsteps entered the Environmental Cleaning Department.
Nepher-tem, struggling to keep her blurry eyes open, felt a strange déjà vu as her eyes widened in surprise.
“Is that the robed figure from earlier?!”
“Ha-ha! You’ve been fooled by my performance! I’m a second-year transfer student and an elite rat person who just joined the Student Council Execution Headquarters this year!”
“What?! That can’t be… But… you were wearing a sinister robe!”
“Through my clumsy appearance, I stimulate the emotional connection of the intruder to make them confess their crimes and enter the facility where I’ve been lurking! This is the genius rat person’s project to capture! Robes can be worn by anyone, even those not in the Dark Cult!!”
“That can’t be!!!”
“A rat knows best about rat hearts!”
Just when it was already scary enough infiltrating the Execution Headquarters, now there’s this terrifying new face!
Trembling in fear, Nepher-tem suddenly felt a tremendous dread at the mention of the Execution Headquarters.
Then… who was the owner of the voice that had relentlessly pressured her until just now?
“I should have introduced myself. I’m Velvet Belle, the current head of the Execution Headquarters and a candidate for the next Student Council President.”
Nepher-tem’s expression of despair was evident.
She had fallen into the hands of the scariest person in the Student Council.
