The villainous young master just wants to live a Buddhist-like life.

　Professor Sylph said, "It's Palmer Tomlinson." "Tomlinson?" Professor Cazell said, "Should we ask him about it?"

　Professor Sylph glanced at the door to the hidden trial and hesitated slightly.

　But Principal Arte simply said, "Call him in and ask." "Okay." Professor Sylph immediately took out her professor card and summoned Professor Palmer Tomlinson.

　Then they continued their search.

　The Secret Chamber.

　Besides various odds and ends, the most scattered items in this secret room were charred paper sheets.

　It seems someone ran out of paper, but burned it all.

　...

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Chapter 1278 [18k votes requested] Darkdemon distributes his favors evenly (18k)

　Burn after reading

　Obviously not.

　The fact that so many charred papers could be scattered so carelessly inside suggests that the people living in this secret room didn't really care about the contents of those papers.

　Most likely, it was just handled casually.

　Dak picked up a piece of paper and examined it.

　The piece of paper wasn't completely charred; some writing remained in the corner. The writing was fairly clear, using contemporary characters, but since there were only a few words, it didn't form any meaningful associations.

　He thought for a moment, then picked up a few more pieces of paper to examine.

　After looking at several more pages, he finally found some clues, but not many. He then turned to look at the books scattered on the table.

　Then it was discovered very quickly.

　Most of those books belonged to students; basically, if you opened the cover, you could see the page with the student's name on it.

　And there are several different names.

　Names are the simplest clues.

　If there is only one name, it is most likely to point directly to the core.

　But the fact that each book has a different title is intriguing. "It's not complicated; these books should all be lost items belonging to the students." "Experimental materials; we can obtain them by infiltrating the dungeon."

　“These tableware and cups are clearly the same style as those in the cafeteria.” “It seems someone is indeed hiding in this secret room.” While Dak was still pondering, Professor Cazell had already confirmed the result. But after hearing him, the professors' expressions all became noticeably serious.

　Even Professor Lily was seriously thinking about it.

　But as she thought about it, her eyes suddenly lit up, and she said, "Wait, is it possible, I mean, is it possible, that this is just a student's secret base? Suppose someone happens to discover this secret room, and then moves some things here, and occasionally stays here after curfew to avoid punishment."

　“While it might seem a bit far-fetched, it’s not entirely without merit,” Professor Pava Jones said, stroking his chin. “In that case, the presence of residual ‘magical beast hair’ makes sense. The other person might be a first-year student who just learned how to create ‘magical beasts,’ which would leave behind some materials.”

　"And what about these other people's books?" Professor Sylph asked.

　Professor Jones immediately replied, "He has a kleptomania."

　Kleptomania, also known as theft addiction.

　There was no other reason than to steal.

　The stolen goods were conveniently hidden in this secret room. But as she spoke, she started laughing out loud.

　She shattered the serious atmosphere that had been carefully cultivated in the secret room.

　"Let's wait for Professor Palmer Tomlinson to arrive before we talk about it," Principal Art said with a smile.

　So the group continued searching for clues in the secret room.

　The secret room contained numerous traces of daily life, and many of the stolen books contained notes written in the same handwriting.

　Clearly, the person reading the book was very attentive, even more so than the original owner of the book.

　Logically speaking, the person hiding here couldn't possibly be a student.

　But there was no one else at St. Marian College except for students, staff, and professors.

　However, the merchants on Traveler's Street cannot actually access the spatial hub within the lakeside pavilion.

　Dark's maids were an exception among exceptions.

　In short, by eliminating these individuals one by one, the remaining possibilities become extremely small.

　The only remaining intelligent beings within the academy are Dark's magical sprites and...

　Darke's heart skipped a beat, and he said, "I almost forgot that the monsters brought out of the underground city still live in the dense forest."

　If it's one of those monsters, then they do have a motive to hide here.

　As soon as he finished speaking, the professors all thought of that group of monsters and began to speculate based on it.

　The fact that the hideout is one of those monsters is clearly the most acceptable conclusion at present.

　In any case, it's much easier to accept than someone suddenly appearing out of nowhere.

　St. Maryann's Academy wasn't particularly heavily guarded. However, to enter the academy, one had to pass through a barrier, making it unlikely that anyone could sneak in.

　Although there have been instances of infiltration in the past, that is in the past, and the academy has patched up the loopholes ever since.

　In short, after thinking it over, there is no better conclusion than that "the hider is one of those monsters".

　However, this way of thinking is incorrect in itself.

　The professors were all well aware of the situation, so they wouldn't simply accept this speculation as the final conclusion.

　Everything needs to be investigated before speaking.

　While Darke and the others awaited Professor Palmer Tomlinson's arrival, Prince Charles had already begun his operations within the trial world. This time, he had once again triggered the hidden trial of the Noble Academy—this single unchanged aspect brought Charles some comfort.

　However, the trial he triggered was completely different from the ones in the past. The trials he triggered in the past involved using political maneuvering or other forces to help the person destined to become king smoothly ascend the throne.

　Compared to the trial mission triggered by Dark, that's like the difference between an F-rank and an A-rank.

　In short, the trial itself is very simple. Since the storyline is based on existing historical events, and he plays the role of the destined king, as long as he acts and chooses in accordance with history, he can successfully ascend the throne and complete the mission.

　The core of that trial mission is to not have your own ideas, but simply follow the historical actions and choices.

　But this time, when Charles entered the hidden trial again, he triggered a rather difficult task.

　The setting is almost identical, but from different historical periods. In this trial mission, Charles will play the role of a historical figure who failed in a power struggle.

　What he had to do was to use this character, who had failed in his power struggle and was ultimately beheaded, to compete with the character who was originally destined to be king for the final throne.

　The same task with a different objective, but with a different background and different roles, suddenly becomes extremely difficult.

　While it's not quite as challenging as Dark's mission to preserve the kingdom, which was filled with traitors, it's still not an easy task to complete.

　If Charles can pass this trial, at least he shouldn't have too many problems with his basic mindset of "striving for power and profit".

　But if he can't even complete this trial, then it would seem ridiculous for him to want to ascend the throne in reality.

　Therefore, after reading the mission objectives, he rallied his spirits and embarked on the trial.

　Charles himself studied this subject quite seriously. Therefore, he is truly capable, at least in terms of theoretical knowledge.

　Barring any unforeseen circumstances, he is confident that he can successfully pass the trial this time.

　He was initially worried that something "abnormal" might suddenly appear and cause trouble, but in reality, nothing did.

　The initial trials were not too difficult, and he progressed smoothly. However, as time went on, the difficulty of the trials gradually increased.

　Any deviation in the early choices can have a significant impact on the later stages, and may even lead to complete failure.

　Charles focused intently on passing the trial, becoming increasingly cautious and absorbed, gradually forgetting the existence of the "anomaly".

　Time passed slowly, but the "anomaly" never appeared.

　"Good evening, Professor Sylph; good evening, Principal Art." Professor Palmer Tomlinson finally arrived, and he saw Professor Sylph first. Then he suddenly noticed that the principal was also there, and then he saw a whole string of professors, and couldn't help but show a surprised expression.

　Dark and the others then emerged from the secret chamber and explained the situation. Professor Palmer Tomlinson was the first-year professor of magic theory. However, unlike Professor Cazell, he was a theorist with his own unique understanding of magic theory, making him an exceptionally talented professor.

　In addition to his baldness, another characteristic of Professor Palmer Tomlinson is that he is bald.

　I heard that he was very bald when he was young, and by middle age he was completely bald. Later, he simply shaved his head and has maintained a bald appearance ever since.

　Fortunately, he has a kind face and his shaved head won't frighten the children.

　But Professor Tomlinson can be too impatient at times, and I've heard that he's even gotten so angry with his students that he broke down and ended the broadcast early... oh no, I mean he broke down and left early.

　However, those situations are irrelevant to this incident.

　"So, you stumbled upon this secret chamber by chance due to some special circumstances, and then found a magical beast's hair inside, which led you to summon me here."

　After listening to the whole thing, Professor Palmer Tomlinson couldn't help but ask a question in return.

　"What, is there a problem?" Professor Sylph frowned, habitually putting on a serious face.

　“Of course, no problem,” Professor Palmer Tomlinson quickly said. “Could you bring me that magical beast's hair so I can take a look?”

　“Here you go.” Professor Cazell took the hair and handed it over. Professor Palmer Tomlinson took the magical beast's hair and examined it closely.

　But what could you possibly observe from a single hair of a magical beast? It's impossible for someone to leave a mark or anything like that on a single hair of a magical beast.

　Many thoughts flashed through everyone's minds.

　But all we could see was Professor Palmer Tomlinson looking at and sniffing the magical beast's hair, occasionally even bringing it to his ear and flicking it with his finger, as if listening to the sound of his finger on the hair... leaving everyone completely bewildered.

　What's even more baffling is that after this series of nonsensical actions, Professor Palmer Tomlinson actually said directly, "That's right, this is indeed magical beast hair that came from here."

　"How do you tell the difference?" Professor Cazell asked instinctively. Professor Palmer Tomlinson replied, "By judging a combination of factors, including color, smell, and sound. Is there a problem?"

　Professor Cazell sensed something was wrong, but couldn't quite put his finger on it.

　Ultimately, he decided to trust Professor Palmer Tomlinson's judgment.

　Professor Sylph asked, "Since this material came from you, what's your explanation?"

　Professor Palmer Tomlinson exclaimed in surprise, "What can I say? This is for teaching; of course, I have to give the students the materials."

　Professor Sylph frowned again and asked, "Is there a way to trace the origin of this magical beast hair?"

　Professor Palmer Tomlinson thought for a moment and said, "Unless we investigate the entire class... well, that's not necessary. I can probably filter out a few students who might still have magical beast hair. But do you really need that?"

　The group exchanged glances and realized that there was little point in doing so. Since the person hiding in this secret room was already proven to have stolen books, it was highly likely they had also stolen the magical beast's fur.

　First grade

　Students lack the ability to protect themselves, so it's perfectly normal for their materials to be stolen.

　Judging from the fact that no one has reported the theft to the professor so far, the person whose materials were stolen might still think they lost them.

　After all, it was just a single hair from a magical beast... But was there really only one?

　There was indeed only one remaining in the sealed room.

　However, the fur of magical beasts is a rare commodity, and the only possible purpose of stealing magical beast fur is to learn how to create "magical beasts".

　Judging from the annotations left in the books, the person hiding in the secret room was learning very quickly, far beyond the scope of a first-year student.

　In other words, there is a very high possibility that he had already created a "magical beast".

　That magical beast's hair was just leftovers after it was used up, and it was no longer needed, so it was just left lying around carelessly.

　“Professor Tomlinson,” Professor Cazell looked up and asked, “have any students exchanged large quantities of magical beast fur from you?”

　Professor Palmer Tomlinson immediately recalled, then stated with certainty, "No. Magical beasts are only for initial learning; students at this stage don't have that many credits to exchange. I also don't remember giving anyone a lot of magical beast fur."

　Professor Cazell pressed on, "So, have you lost anything?" At this point, Professor Palmer Tomlinson instinctively wanted to deny it. But just as he was about to speak, he suddenly remembered, "I haven't checked the inventory for a long time."

　“Then let’s go get it checked out,” Professor Kazel said.

　Professor Palmer Tomlinson replied decisively, "No problem. I'll go check it out right away."

　Professor Cazell nodded and added, "Let Professor Lily go with you."

　Professor Palmer Tomlinson immediately frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"

　Professor Cazell simply said, "She's faster."

　"what--"

　As the shouts faded into the distance, Dark and the others continued their discussion.

　"What we can confirm at the moment is that the person hiding in this secret room is indeed studying. Judging from the book's annotations, he should have completed the first-year curriculum, focusing on magic theory and summoning spells. As for the second-year curriculum, he has completed about half of it. Among them, the textbooks for magic language and mathematics are relatively new, and he may have encountered difficulties in the learning process and was unable to continue."