Hyperdimensional Warlock

Chapter 4336 A Cunning Man for the Public Good
When Merlin arrived earlier, Angel did have a brief chat with him.

During the conversation, the group of human instructors at the Yorozuya were also mentioned.

But Yekaren was not specifically mentioned.

Merlin was simply adding his own drama.

However, it must be said that his words did inspire Yekaren, and he also gave Yekaren an even more important task.

All I can say is, Merlin is truly something else.

A few words can win someone's heart, but the method used is a bit...

What do you think of Merlin?

Angell turned to look at Lawrence beside him. Lawrence was leaning on a slender black walnut cane. His elegant gentleman's suit accentuated his lean and upright figure. The wide-brimmed black hat he wore covered most of his eyebrows and eyes. Although his face was etched with the wrinkles of time, he was still very energetic.

Lawrence raised his hand to remove his hat, gently shaking off the light rain clinging to the eaves. His movements were slow and deliberate, and his tone was calm and composed: "Which aspect would you like to ask, sir?"

Angell: "Anything is fine, you can say whatever comes to mind."

Lawrence lowered his eyes and pondered for a moment: "I have never met Merlin in person, but Luigi and Merlin have met several times."

"Luigi?"

“It is him.” Lawrence nodded and said, “Luigi often stays in the Undying City, where he has a regular performance venue and has been invited to participate in the city’s celebrations several times.”

"Merlin once served as the head of the internal affairs of the Royal City, and happened to be in charge of the approval of cultural and entertainment celebrations and performances."

"So, they've had dealings before."

"And Luigi's assessment of Merlin was... a smiling tiger, an ambitious man."

The reason for this assessment is that every time Luigi and Merlin meet, the latter is all smiles, but the smile is very restrained... and it's hard to see into his eyes.

Moreover, Luigi never felt uncomfortable with Merlin's actions whenever he went to him for favors.

"Not being harassed is also wrong?"

Lawrence: "Because sometimes, Luigi would apply for performance venues and repertoires that he himself knew were quite controversial, and he would even prepare a bunch of excuses. If it were a normal approval officer, they would definitely conduct further verification, but Merlin never did that. He would always smile and open the door for Luigi."

If Merlin were a lazy administrator, these actions would be understandable. But Merlin has an excellent reputation; from management to the general public, everyone thinks he is very responsible.

This was completely different from what Luigi had seen and heard.

On one occasion, Luigi applied to perform "Autumn in Decay," one of his signature pieces.

This piece had been rejected multiple times by the censors of the Royal City and had never been approved; but Merlin, of all people, approved it.

This further fueled Luigi's suspicions.

"After the approval, Luigi became suspicious?" Angell asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Because the content of this piece does not conform to the mainstream values ​​of the Undying City; it is an anti-traditional poem."

"Autumn of Decay" is a tragedy.

One particularly memorable character is the villain, who always sports a refined smile but is actually an ambitious schemer plotting to seize control of the entire country.

The background story is roughly that the passionate protagonist uses various means to expose the villain's true colors and ultimately engages in an epic battle with the usurper.

However, the protagonist did not defeat the usurper as in other classic tales; he failed, and the poem ended with a scene of desolate autumn.

This type of hymn is a typical anti-classic, telling that things in life are not always as one wishes, and that even the invincible protagonist in the poem may fall into ruin, reminding the audience to recognize reality.

“These kinds of scripts, where evil triumphs over good, or classic usurpations, don’t fit the tone of the royal city, so the reviewers won’t approve them.”

"But Merlin approved it."

This made Luigi think that Merlin had a big problem, and even suspected that Merlin passed the film because he empathized with the villain in "Autumn in Decay".

Luigi then concluded that Merlin was a two-faced, ambitious man.

"That was Luigi's first impression of Merlin. Later, Merlin stopped being in charge of approval matters, and Luigi never saw him again, so he gradually stopped paying attention to Merlin."

Lawrence: "And now, we know Merlin's true identity; he is actually the incarnation of O'Secret Dragon."

"Then many things might be resolved."

Laplace once taught Osborne, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him a "teacher".

Since Merlin also knew about Laplace's various incarnations, he must also know that Luigi was Laplace's incarnation.

Even though Merlin and O'Neill didn't get along well, he couldn't possibly treat Laplace poorly.

Therefore, it is logical for Merlin to make things easy for Luigi.

"In other words, you believe that Luigi's assessment of Merlin as a smiling tiger and an ambitious man is untrue." Angell turned to look at Lawrence.

Lawrence nodded: "At least from today's perspective, that's not true."

Because they only learned Merlin's true identity today.

Looking at the distant city scene shrouded in misty rain, Angell said softly, "However, I have a different opinion."

Lawrence: "Please speak, sir."

Angell: "Perhaps Merlin did indeed make things easier for Luigi because of Laplace. But that doesn't prove that Luigi's judgment was completely wrong."

At this point, Angell recounted to Lawrence what he had seen from God's perspective earlier, regarding Merlin's conversations with Yekateren and other faculty members.

"While these conversations don't prove that Merlin is a two-faced, ambitious man, I feel that his thoughts are much deeper than we imagine."

In other words, Merlin is a very cunning person.

Angell: "However, being cunning isn't necessarily a bad thing..."

The essence of being cunning is "having strategies but not revealing them," not simply "harboring malice and scheming."

Merlin's cunning wasn't intended to harm anyone, but rather to efficiently win over people and solidify the foundation of the Citadel. For Angor, with the Citadel just starting out, what was needed most was precisely someone like him who could get things done beautifully without making a scene.

The bad thing is "being cunning and selfish, harming others for personal gain"; the good thing is "being cunning and selfless, influencing others silently".

At least for now, Merlin is clearly the latter.

Next, Angell inquired from Lawrence about Merlin's "achievements" in the Undying City.

Its greatest achievement is urban planning.

The planning here is not conventional planning. Instead, it involves making simple changes to the city's layout to rationally guide some of the "strange rules" in the Undying Royal City, turning them from negative rules into positive ones.

Of the six forbidden zones in the Undying City, half are related to Merlin's urban planning.

Merlin's achievement was transforming a death trap into a less terrifying no-go zone.

In addition, Merlin also demonstrated outstanding leadership skills.

It can be said that he was both a pragmatist and a political leader.

"Unfortunately, the leadership of the Undying City is already entrenched, making it virtually impossible for Merlin to break through the constraints and create new miracles in the Undying City," Lawrence sighed.

Angell: "Isn't that perfect? ​​The Fool's Academy can give him a whole new world."

Lawrence pondered for a moment, then nodded in agreement: "In that case, he is indeed more suitable than I to be the vice principal of the university."

Angell: "If he does a good job, he can be the principal."

Lawrence looked at Angell in surprise.

Angell spread his hands: "I can't be tied to this place forever... Once I bring the Prussians in, I'll leave."

"Ultimately, this place still needs to be handed over to the deans and vice-principals."

Given that he is bound to leave, it is not good for him to continue occupying the position of dean.

Therefore, when the time is right, he will definitely hand over the dean to someone else.

As for who it is, perhaps it's Lawrence, the Decayer, or perhaps... Merlin?
Everything depends on how things develop here.

……

During the conversation with Lawrence, a shout suddenly came from not far away.

"Lord Angell!"

"Oh, no, it's Principal Angell! I forgot again!"

Angor looked up and saw the Spirit of the Citadel leading a red-skinned Piruchu down from the retractable ladder on the mechanical bird.

Angor nodded to the spirit of the city, then looked at the red-skinned Lucius.

"Pixi? You're back so soon?"

Pixi laughed smugly: "Unlike that stupid kid Merlin, who actually chose to walk, I could have taken the express school bus and flown through the sky to see it. Why would I need to walk!"

When Merlin arrived at the City of Schools, the first thing he did was to explore the city.

After Merlin left, Pixi said he was going to investigate the city's economy, then found the Spirit of the Citadel, muttered something for a moment, and then flew away on a mechanical bird.

The last Vasha didn't leave the school district; instead, led by the water tower, she and a group of faculty and staff began their assigned tasks.

It can be said that Vasya was the most orthodox of the three "leaders".

This is actually normal. Vasha comes from the Yingji ethnic group, although she herself is not Yingji, her actions are entirely Yingji in style. After receiving a specific mission, completing the mission will naturally be her priority, which is her quality as a soldier.

“Merlin? You fool?” Angell looked at Pisi with a meaningful gaze: “Do you know Merlin’s identity?”

Pixi was taken aback: "Merlin's identity? Isn't he just an official in the Undying City? I've dealt with him quite a bit. He always tries to drive down the price of Pilushi's goods. He's a total skinflint..."

"However, he also has his good points. In the past, the number of places for Pilushi scholars to study in the Undying City would be reduced or rejected by their admissions office, but during the period when Merlin was in charge of education, he never suppressed our number of places."

"besides……"

Pixit recounted his past with Merlin as if he knew it all by heart.

Angell was stunned by what he heard.

Based on Pisi's account, Angell basically confirmed that Pisi did not know that Merlin was Ea's incarnation, but Pisi and Merlin had a good relationship.

No wonder Pixie dared to call Merlin a stupid kid.

However, upon hearing Pisi's complaints, Angell was once again impressed by Merlin's abilities; the scope of his administrative duties was incredibly broad, encompassing entertainment, economics, education, city affairs...

He's a true all-rounder!
But considering that he was the reincarnation of Secretary Dragon, everything makes sense.

Seeing that Pisi was still recounting her ill-fated relationship with Merlin, Angor interrupted, "Alright, let's get down to business. Why aren't you doing your own mission? What are you doing here?"

Pixi touched his bald head, revealing a mouthful of green-stained teeth: "Hehe, I just heard the Spirit of the Citadel say that there's something that can be connected to the Citadel system to see the Citadel point allocation more intuitively..."

"That's right, it's Jingyi."

"I was thinking, could you spare some for me first..."

Pisi looked at Angel with a praying gaze, as if he were a fly rubbing his hands together.

Angell looked at the spirit of the Citadel: "Make one for him and Principal Lawrence."

The Spirit of the City: "Understood."

The next second, the Spirit of the City directly rubbed two crystals together in front of Pixi.

Pixi stared in disbelief: "If you can make this, then why did you just now...?"

The Spirit of the City: "I can indeed build them, but I have no right to allocate them. The Crystal Instrument was created by the Headmaster, and the ownership belongs to the Headmaster."

Pixi stopped arguing, took the crystal, and began to operate it.

First, I added everyone as a friend, and then I explored all the features.

“Vasha has already started his own mission, aren’t you in a hurry at all?” Angell raised an eyebrow at Pisi.

While fiddling with the crystal device, Pixi said, "It's not that I'm not in a hurry. I just finished the first round of the quest, but I'm stuck on the second round."

“I bet Vasya is probably stuck too, and he’ll be coming to find you soon.”

Curiosity flashed in Angell's eyes: "Oh? What is your second mission?"
Just as Pixi was about to speak, the Spirit of the Citadel said, "I know that. The second task for all the deans of academies is to analyze the development path of their academies!"

Pixi nodded: "That's right. The Spirit of the Citadel just told me that Headmistress Mona and Headmistress of the Water Tower were also stuck at this stage before. But it seems that after they chose the direction of the Academy, they were no longer stuck."

"I haven't decided on a college yet, so I can't move forward."

Angle's eyes flashed with understanding: "You've chosen a direction for the academy... So, do you have a preference now?"

Pixi: "I really wanted to choose the School of Physics, but the Water Tower got there first. As for the rest... I think I'm more suited to the School of Science."

After a moment's thought, Angell nodded and said, "Okay."

Pixi: "Okay, I'll go to the science department office later and finish the second part of the task. I wonder what the third part is..."

Pixi shook his head, no longer caring about the future, and continued to manipulate the crystal.

Angor turned to the Spirit of the Citadel: "Contact Vasya and ask her which academy she wants to choose, so she won't have to make a trip back and forth."

Soon, the Spirit of the Citadel received a reply from Vasha.

Vasya ultimately chose the physical education academy.

After confirming that neither Pisi nor Vasya would get stuck on the second stage of the quest, Angor looked at Lawrence beside him: "Are you stuck on your quest?"

Lawrence shrugged: "I'm stuck on the second step too, but my task can't be completed right now."