Chapter 58

There is a spy in the academy!

After I was certain of that, I took one action.

“Principal!!!”

“Hmm?! E, Edu?”

The secret of school life, Chapter 1, the call-out!

“There is a spy in the academy!”

As I charged into the principal’s office on a Bungbungi, shouting that, Ryuje was taken aback.

“You said spy?”

“Yes, look at this.”

I handed Ryuje the data chip that Mew had given me, which I recovered from Nightmare.

“Um? A data chip? Please wait a moment.”

Receiving the data chip, Ryuje leapt off the chair and disappeared under the desk. I heard some rustling sounds before a hologram appeared.

Ryuje returned to the chair, and the scene I had seen began to play, with the person in the video speaking those words.

– “Hmm, try to adapt as much as possible. Also, record the academy’s curriculum.”

Ryuje’s eyes narrowed.

“How did you get this…?”

“When I snuck into that person’s house, I met Mew. I received it back then.”

“Mew?”

“Yes, she is a female automaton who works at the explorer’s guild.”

After hearing my explanation, Ryuje nodded.

“I see, an automaton. But Edu, did you just refer to the automaton as ‘she’?”

“Yes, why?”

“…No, never mind. I asked an unnecessary question.”

Saying that, Ryuje shook her head.

“But a spy, that’s quite a troublesome story. I thought something like this might happen someday…”

With a frown, Ryuje trailed off. Knowing her personality, it’s probably not appealing for her to suspect the academy students and dig into their backgrounds.

Knowing that all too well, I suggested to Ryuje.

“It’s okay, Principal. I’ll find out.”

She stopped scrunching her face at my words, staring at me with wide eyes. I could see my reflection in her bright red eyes.

“Um? Is it really you, Edu?”

“Yes, after all, you know I have knowledge about AOE, right?”

“That’s true.”

“So, it’s fastest for me to find out; I’ll narrow it down using the process of elimination among the others who are not in AOE, right?”

“Hoho, that’s a valid point. However, why do you think it will be in your class?”

“Because it’s obvious.”

There are various pieces of information that can be confirmed from the video.

First, the other party is someone who follows the person. Given that they wouldn’t hesitate to give orders, it doesn’t appear that they received a mission from someone higher up.

In short, it was entirely an event centered around them.

Additionally, the person and the explorer’s guild had previously suffered a significant loss when I had caused an uproar. Yet, they infiltrated a spy anyway.

Would a spy infiltrated in such a situation just be an agent gathering information? No way.

Most likely, that person is an assassin.

A highly trained assassin, at that.

And didn’t that person say, “I’ll give the orders for the ‘timing’”?

“Considering that, the spy who has been sent under several burdens is probably targeting me.”

“Mm.”

A quiet response, but from that, I could tell that Ryuje shared the same thought.

“But isn’t that dangerous?”

“I can’t guarantee an easy win, but that person doesn’t know all of my abilities, right?”

I answered with a smile.

With the hand glider in my collection, and the marionette in Nightmare, there are many means I can utilize.

“…What are you planning to do?”

“Ah, don’t worry, I won’t kill him.”

“….”

Ryuje looked at me with a subtle gaze, and after a small sigh, she quietly added.

“Just, don’t do anything too cruel.”

“Yes!”

“….”

In the sacred academy, you’re doing spy work? Just try to find out who it is, I’ll make them regret it.

While I was thinking like that, Ryuje asked me a question.

“By the way, Edu. About that Mew you mentioned earlier…”

“Yes.”

“Do you happen to remember the model name or serial code of that child?”

Mew’s information? It was a somewhat unexpected question, and I tilted my head as I asked her back.

“Why do you ask that?”

“Well, she helped you, and there’s a chance that child could be in danger. So I plan to take precautions.”

“Oh, I see.”

That was the reason, huh.

“Well, if I can’t think of anything, I’ll just look it up—”

“No, the product name of Mew is WM1-OU. The serial code was 458024.”

“…? You remember all that?”

“Yes. This much is easy.”

Since a long time ago, I had immersed myself in numerous robot stories, memorizing the information about the main machines and mass-produced units.

A few letters and numbers aren’t hard to memorize at all.

“You have quite a good memory.”

“Only when it comes to robots.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

If I could remember everything easily, my school grades wouldn’t be so terrible. Well, it doesn’t matter much now anyway.

While I was thinking that, Ryuje cleared her throat to change the mood and looked at me.

“So is that all the things you wanted to say?”

“Um….”

I took a moment to gather my thoughts.

I need the Principal’s help to rescue Freya anyway, so it wouldn’t hurt to say it now, right?

“Principal, about Freya whom we met before.”

“Yes.”

“Where is she now?”

“Having gotten a vacation after a long time, she probably went home to spend time with her family.”

An ordinary answer, but a slight shadow darkened one side of Ryuje’s face.

“How long will she be staying?”

“I don’t know for sure, but I heard this vacation is a bit long, maybe about a week?”

“I see.”

“Why are you curious about that?”

As Ryuje asked that question, I lowered my head as I had been thinking.

“Hm? Edu? Why are you doing that?”

“I’m sorry, Principal. Actually, I overheard the conversation between you two earlier.”

“….”

Ryuje made a complex expression that was hard to describe at my words. Her gaze pierced into the top of my head.

A brief silence.

Eventually, Ryuje was the first one to speak.

“…Why is that?”

“I know a little about her, and I’m curious…”

“…Are you talking about Freya?”

“Yes.”

Ryuje let out a small sigh at my words. As if she couldn’t contain herself, she held her forehead and then raised her head again.

“Well, thinking about it, you must be curious too. So what do you want to say?”

“Let’s search together.”

I extended my hand towards Ryuje.

“…What?”

“Let’s rescue Freya together.”

“….”

Ryuje looked back and forth between my outstretched hand and my face, unable to hide her flustered expression.

But that was for just a moment; soon after settling her mind, Ryuje looked at me with a calm gaze.

“…Edu, do you know what you’re saying? The enemy is—”

“Yes, you’re talking about Megabase, right?”

Ryuje was again left speechless by my answer, and a look of questioning appeared on her face, as if to ask why I knew that.

“….”

Ryuje was left speechless, her lips trembling. The image of her always confident and self-assured self seemed to have vanished, replaced by the small, wounded girl’s gaze directed at me.

“…Can you really do it?”

“I can.”

“…How can you be so sure? No matter how knowledgeable you are, you have never seen that monster directly, right?”

“That’s true.”

“Then how can you say that? That creature has pushed humanity into this situation, taking countless cities and countries, and countless lives as well.”

“You’re right.”

“Many heroes have confronted that being and were defeated. Among them were those stronger than you, and those who were called saviors. Is that all? Many who couldn’t be recorded have perished alongside them.”

“That’s true.”

“…Yet, you’re telling me you can really achieve that? You can rescue that child?”

“Yes.”

I said to Ryuje with sincerity.

“I can do it. I already have a plan in mind.”

“….”

Ryuje closed her eyes at my answer.

Perhaps it was too sudden, as she leaned against the chair and took a long breath.

“Edu, you could die.”

“Still, if I don’t do it, Freya will die.”

“…We only met just yesterday, right? Do you have a reason to go that far?”

“Yes.”

I answered with a smile to Ryuje’s words.

It was something I had thought in my heart, but I had never voiced out loud.

“Isn’t it necessary to have a reason when a person helps another? You said that too, right, Principal?”

“….”

“And, I don’t plan to die. I’ll come back with a grand victory.”

“Hah.”

Ryuje sighed as if I had hit a nerve, and finally a faint smile appeared on her face.

“Alright, I understand. I will lend you my strength, so be sure to tell me about it later.”

“Yes!”