Chapter 84

A few days later.

After finishing my consultation with Miyu, I checked the status of my Moduling.

Activated Modules: 27

Replacement Rate: 60.5%

Overload Rate: 5% (Safe)

A whopping 60% replacement rate.

Without crossing the 70% threshold needed to protect my human rights, my total module level had easily exceeded 100.

In other words, I had completely caught up to Aaron Stingray’s prime specs.

Of course, if I were to be precise, my stats might still fall slightly short.

But since the reason was “to become stronger,” it wasn’t something I cared much about.

—Aaron’s original “cuteness” was compromised to match two “Lv.5 Arcane Modules.”

—Don’t call it “cuteness.”

—S-specs, I mean…

That had been a conversation I once had with Miyu.

To put it simply, it was like sacrificing the rest of the slots for the sake of two important item slots.

Naturally, to the world’s greatest Modular, it must have seemed like a less-than-satisfactory combination.

Like someone spotting a single misplaced tile among an otherwise perfectly aligned wall, she had looked visibly uncomfortable and made me a suggestion.

—Please get a new Essence of [Arcane]! I’ll try to make a highly efficient module that fits your replacement rate!

That was why my current replacement rate was just short of Aaron’s prime.

Of course, even if it was “short,” considering my pure specs had increased by about 20% thanks to Pandora, it was negligible.

‘I’m out of tickets now…’

Just reaching this 60% replacement rate had cost me a staggering 71 Module Compatibility Increase Tickets.

Thanks to that, I only had 500P left.

So, what I had in my hands now was—

Achievement Points: 500P.

Hunting Ground Tickets: 2.

Module Level +1 Tickets: 2.

Where had all those points gone?

Of course, the culprit was me.

Well, since it had been a bold investment, I didn’t really regret it, but seeing my point balance scraping the bottom made me feel a bit bitter, as if I were looking at my old bank account from my past life.

Back then, even if payday made me happy, my credit card bill would drain it all away in an instant.

‘I’ll have to go to the Hunting Ground soon.’

I had planned to take it easy for a while, but seeing my remaining points made me change my mind.

Even though my stats were already “super-high-spec,” if I wanted to push them to a “high-end spec” level capable of fighting Dragons, I’d have to hunt higher-grade [Arcanes] and extract their Essences.

‘I’ll also have to diligently resolve scenarios to earn points and crush my competitors.’

While handling the Foundation’s work assigned to me, I spent my days busily drawing up blueprints for the future in my head.

But then Maria suddenly brought up a strange topic.

As usual, she had been briefly going over other Foundation-related matters, and then, like a dessert, she brought up that subject.

“Recently, rumors about Iri Elisbell have been spreading.”

Rumors, huh.

Not something I welcomed.

The stigma attached to her for being from the Fallen Sector wasn’t something easily removed.

The last time Miyu and I visited the village where the Dwarf “Hans” lived, the people there seemed relatively gentle and honest, but other places were much more dangerous.

For one, those from the Fallen Sector didn’t have citizenship, so they had no legitimate way to earn money.

As a result, they would infiltrate the city through their own channels and commit all sorts of illegal acts to earn Credits.

Many belonged to the Mafia or gangs, and even if they didn’t, surviving through theft or robbery in nearby Sector E or Sector D was commonplace.

And that wasn’t all.

They would also raid supplies produced and transported from corporate colonies, and sometimes they’d manage to capture lower-grade [Arcanes] to distribute.

‘Iri wasn’t all that different, honestly.’

Thanks to her older brother, Peter Jones, doting on her like a princess, she had been spared some of that grime, but she still grew up committing countless petty thefts.

But was that really her fault?

It was all because of the environment that forced such behavior…

“Sir?”

Maria’s voice cut through my thoughts.

I had a bad habit of overthinking whenever something involved my people.

“…Where was I?”

“There are strange rumors about Iri Elisbell spreading.”

Maria repeated the same line.

The fact that she was bothering to report this to me meant it was something worth my attention.

“They say students who bad-mouth Iri Elisbell suffer misfortune.”

“Misfortune?”

“It’s quite varied. Things like falling down the stairs, losing sleep from nightmares, or even wetting the bed.”

“…”

Yeah.

Even if I ignore the rest, that last one is a bit fatal.

If a twenty-year-old did that in a dorm, it would be something they’d be teased about for the rest of their life.

Well, that’s probably not the important part right now.

“Have you found the source of the rumor?”

I asked that, but in my head, I’d already half-formed the suspect’s composite sketch.

At this point in time, there was really only one person who might pull something weird like this.

But the words that came out of Maria’s mouth were completely unexpected.

“…Wasn’t it you, sir?”

“…?”

“S-sir?”

Maria looked genuinely flustered.

But I was just as taken aback.

Why would Maria think I was the one who spread the rumor?

She knew I’d been with her all this time, so I couldn’t have done it.

When I pointed that out—

“I-is that so? My apologies. I was certain it was your doing, sir.”

“And why is that?”

“B-because…”

Her voice trembled as if she was seriously rattled.

I doubt she reacted like this even when I showed up to rescue her from prison.

“Iri Elisbell doesn’t have a good image among the students because of her origins. I thought you stepped in to fix that…”

Iri was looked down on by other students simply because she was from the Fallen Sector.

Even if the Crown Prince had personally selected and sponsored her, and even if she had outstanding talent herself, prejudice based on origin didn’t vanish easily.

Being from the Fallen Sector in this era was similar to being a Black person in America in the early 1900s—such deeply ingrained stereotypes couldn’t be shaken that easily.

So, while people wouldn’t openly bully her because of the Stingray name, subtle gossip and quiet ostracism still remained.

It seemed Maria thought I couldn’t tolerate even that, so I had used public opinion to completely flip her image.

‘Of course, if it were up to me, I might have done that.’

It’s not like I don’t want to put collars on every person whispering about my kids and drag them deep into the Black Market in Sector E to sell them off.

But I didn’t, because as the chairman of the Stingray Foundation, I had to maintain a certain degree of neutrality.

Even if she was a special scholarship student, if people thought there was something between a scholar and the chairman beyond that relationship, complaints would arise.

…When I honestly told Maria this—

“Y-you mean that sincerely, sir?”

“??”

“…Never mind.”

She shook her head, trying to change the subject.

But that only made me more curious, and when I pressed her, it seemed my image had already become: ‘The chairman who’s thrown neutrality to the dogs!’

“Is… that really true?”

“…”

“Answer me honestly.”

“O-of course.”

“Maria, you think so too?”

“…Yes.”

“…”

What the hell.

Then what have I been trying to protect all this time?

I thought I at least maintained the image of a “strict father,” even if I did care about my kids.

But it seemed I was nothing but a doting fool in everyone else’s eyes.

No—this is all Aaron Stingray’s fault.

Since Aaron was such a famous sociopath who never got attached to anyone, the moment I showed even a little kindness, people took it the wrong way.

“…Let’s get back to the main point.”

“Yes.”

I’d thought enough about my image, so I decided to return to the original topic.

The important question was: who was the culprit spreading rumors about Iri?

“Do you have someone in mind?”

“Of course.”

Raina Alton.

Judging by the timing and circumstantial evidence of when the rumors started spreading, she was the only one it could be.

And the reason was obvious—

“She probably didn’t like seeing someone she liked being ignored.”

Of course, the fact that someone who had been just an extra was stepping up like this was a surprising revelation to me.

As far as I knew, Iri hadn’t done anything to raise her favorability to that extent.

That part was still puzzling.

The sudden reason for her confession.

Could she be a Transmigrator?

It didn’t quite fit if that was the case.

“What will you do? Shall we suppress the rumor?”

“No.”

Why bother?

If I left the rumor alone, the harassment toward Iri would naturally decrease.

For the sake of my kid’s comfortable school life, I didn’t want to waste such an opportunity.

“But…”

Direction.

I figured the direction of the rumor needed a bit of tweaking.

What was with “You must not be associated with her”?

It’s not like our Iri is Voldemort.

“Raina Alton.”

I’d thought she was just a disposable extra, but now I was starting to think she might actually be a talent worth using.

And then…

“Maria. How’s ‘that matter’ going?”

“My apologies. We have no concrete results yet.”

The three headmasters who represented the Academy.

Among them, the one representing the Minjung Faction was suspected of being influenced by Ashita-kyo.

We had been trying to dig up proof of that to bring him down, but it hadn’t been easy.

He was apparently meticulous enough not to leave any evidence, and since the start of the Ashita-kyo eradication operation, he had been careful with his behavior.

“What do you think, then? I believe we can use this incident.”

“You mean using the rumor?”

“That’s right.”

If I used Raina’s abilities well, I might be able to completely wipe out the pests in this Academy.

And beyond that—

‘Make Iri a hero.’

Yes, that was definitely doable.

If I handled this incident right, I could flip the Academy’s ecosystem upside down.

—Have you thought about your answer?

—Sorry, but I can’t date you.

—Huh? W-why not?!

—Because I like men.

—That can’t be…!

—Anyway, I’ve said my piece. I don’t know why you like someone like me, but if you get involved with me, it won’t end well for you. Let’s just keep our distance.

—W-wait!

—That’s it.

Just like that, I turned Raina’s confession down in one sentence.

I had consulted with Maria and thought it over, but no matter how I looked at it, keeping my distance from Raina was the right call.

‘I don’t want to get involved.’

Never mind that I had no interest in women, I didn’t even want to be friends with her because the circumstances were suspicious.

After all, anyone who knew anything would know she was from the Fallen Sector.

So why approach me now of all times?

It’s true her “intuition” didn’t set off any intruder alarms for me, but still—it was suspicious enough.

Anyway.

After cutting ties with Raina cleanly, Iri tried to return to her daily life.

Her usual days of staying out of sight, ignoring the envy, jealousy, and contempt aimed at her, just enough to get by.

But contrary to her intentions—

As time passed, the atmosphere around her began to change in a strange way.

The voices that would normally talk behind her back loud enough for her to hear were gone.

‘What is this…?’

The leering, contemptuous smiles she would get when passing in the hallways, the discriminatory word choices she’d catch in short conversations—

They were all disappearing bit by bit.

Iri couldn’t know exactly what the students were thinking, but she could read the emotions that came through whenever she faced them.

It was fear.

The students were starting to fear Iri.

‘Why…?’

Iri couldn’t make sense of such a sudden change.

Even when she had knocked down Donovan at the [Showcase] and shown her abilities—

Even when Aaron Stingray, the Crown Prince of the city, had openly backed her—

Even when she had scored decent grades on the midterms and shattered their prejudice—

Those who had stubbornly rejected her then—

Had suddenly changed now?

Why?

For what reason?

‘Well, I do like that the annoying flies are gone…’

But it still bothered her.

What in the world was making them act like this?

‘Could it be related to Raina?’

The first person who came to mind was the girl who had approached her recently.

But Iri’s reasoning didn’t get much further than that.

Had Raina taken offense and spread some nasty false rumor?

If that were the case, life should have been harder, not easier.

Or maybe a rumor had spread that she was dating Raina, and that caused this?

She considered it, but it didn’t make sense.

There was no way the other students would start fearing her over something that trivial.

‘I really don’t get it.’

With no friends, she had no way to accurately figure out the details of the rumor.

Even if she grabbed someone in passing and threatened them, it was unlikely she’d get any real information.

‘Should I just leave it alone? No… I’m still really curious…’

In the end, Iri chose stalking.

She decided to tail Raina Alton, who was the most likely suspect in this whole affair.

She used her free time after classes to find out what exactly Raina Alton was up to.

But after several days of effort, she had nothing to show for it.

It wasn’t like she could attach a bug to Raina and track her 24/7.

‘What the hell am I doing…’

After rejecting a confession so bluntly, here she was doing the stalking instead—it filled her with self-doubt.

In the end, she was about to abandon her original plan and return to her routine when—

‘Huh?’

She spotted something.

The elevator Raina took had stopped on the 249th floor.

The floor where the corporate foundations that sponsored the Academy had their offices.

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