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He probably wasn’t included in Princess Leshy’s list due to the reputation he built in time as a former imperial sorcerer and because his Job isn’t related to sorceric tools. After all, if you only judge him by his history, he doesn’t really appear that competent.
But because of that, it’s possible that he currently doesn’t get proper acknowledgment as well.

『After this period, let’s investigate Professor Liens for a bit.』
『I don’t mind, but why is that?』
『It’s just a hunch, but he seems suspicious.』
『Understood. What should I do?』
『For now, I’ll only observe his movements, so please continue as normal.』

If it’s only one person, I can monitor their movements through detection. I’ll have difficulty staying alert against other people if I focus on a single individual, but I don’t really need to be on high alert inside the academy.
Hypothetically speaking, even if someone does happen to stab Ciel in the back because I have my guard down, it’s not like I’ll undo our barrier anyway, so, for the moment, I decided to stalk Professor Liens’ presence.

◇◇◇

As I continued following Professor Liens’ presence, despite not leaving my detection range, he suddenly disappeared. That’s when I also noticed that there’s apparently a mysterious room that my detection can’t perceive. It’s probably being obstructed by a sorceric tool or something.
If we were closer, we could forcefully investigate it, but since I’ve spread my detection range thin in following his presence, the fidelity is pretty bad. In this state, if I didn’t focus on following Professor Liens from the start, I would’ve immediately lost track of him in the crowd.

In exchange, my range can be spread to the point where it could envelop the entirety of the royal capital. Having the royal palace within my detection range is probably more trouble than its worth, so I didn’t stretch it that far.
Well, while I did lose him, this does lead to one possibility.

『Found a suspicious room.』
『Oh, that was fast.』
『He most likely wasn’t expecting anyone to search for him.』

If he had been vigilant and avoided going to that room for several days, it would have taken a long time for me to discover it. Even if we assume that the headmistress informed him about Ailneige, it’s already been several months since then. Staying vigilant for that long should be difficult… I think. Well, it should be doable if you really put your mind into it, but I even probably couldn’t do it if it isn’t for Ciel’s sake.

『Shall we go right now?』
『We’ve confirmed the location, so let’s head there at another date. Even if we go now, there’s no assurance that we’ll find Professor Liens there; it would be better to book an appointment today so we can meet with him for certain.』
『Is that really okay?』
『It’s fine. The hidden room is apparently inside a regular room.』

If Professor Liens isn’t present, we likely can’t even enter the room connecting to the hidden room. Our goal isn’t really to expose the hidden room, but that’s probably the best way to corner him. After all, without firm evidence, he could still talk himself out of admitting the truth.

◇◇◇

The next day, we successfully secured consultation time, so we arrived in front of Professor Liens’ laboratory. The laboratories are located in a building separate from the lecture building, and every teacher is granted their own.
While we’re free to go to their laboratories for walk-in consultations, it would be a big waste of time if you went and the teachers weren’t available, especially with it being a fair distance away. Because of this, you can request an appointment at the dormitory reception desk.

Valid reasons are required, but since we have a course with Professor Liens, I was able to secure an appointment without any questioning.

「Professor Liens, it’s Ailneige.」

With a knock, I gave my name, and he responded, 「Come inside,」 from behind the door. Minding my manners, I bowed upon entering the room while also tapering with the room a bit.

「I see, it’s you. I was informed that you had inquiries; what would you like to know?」

It looks like he hadn’t matched my name to my face. Well, I’m sure we’re not the only students he’s handling; memorizing each of his students’ names and faces must be a difficult task.

「I do have a question, but I was also hoping to see the sorceric tools you’ve made for inspiration. Would it be alright to ask after seeing them?」
「Sure, feel free to examine all the sorceric tools in this room.」
「Thank you very much.」

Since there were a number of sorceric tools displayed, I made that excuse on a whim, and it turned out well.
Nonetheless, there are so many sorceric tools. This personally tickled my interest, so I put aside our original goal and examined the sorceric tools, asking Professor Liens for explanations from time to time.
There were some so intricately made that I―a beginner who only started crafting sorceric tools a few months ago―could only marvel at his high skill level.

「That reminds me, what does the marriage compatibility sorceric tool assess for?」
「Ahhー… I’d prefer you pretend not to have heard that.」
「Understood.」

He was about to say something, but it’s probably not something he could openly state in public. At the very least, it isn’t something he can say to a student.
I was just a bit curious, so this isn’t really an issue, and after going around the whole room, I stood at a certain spot and returned to our actual purpose here.

「Thank you very much. It has been quite educational.」
「I’m glad to hear that. Now, have you finished formulating your question?」

He spoke with a smile, but I felt a hint of suspicion from him; maybe I was prying too much earlier.
At any rate, since he appears to be willing to answer, I decided to go straight to the point.

「Professor Liens, are you attempting to commit a taboo?」

Hearing my question, he responded, 「What are you talking about?」 with an unchanged expression. Him playing dumb is within expectations. I turned my back to where the hidden room should be connected to before interrogating him again.

「Since you insist that you’re innocent, then it’s fine for me to enter the room behind me, right?」

The instant I said that, Professor Liens’ face jerked.