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

　"Based on the ownership of those books, we can roughly determine how long the person hiding in this secret room has been hiding. I forgot to ask Professor Tomlinson earlier if the names on those books belong to first-year students."

　"Let's ask him when he gets back; he should be back soon." "After all, Lily's speed is reliable."

　"It's only late October, less than two months into the new semester. If I start self-studying this semester, I could finish a grade's worth of material in just two months, and that's self-study... Perhaps I'm a promising talent."

　"You never considered that this promising young man might be the murderer we're looking for."

　"The place where Charles triggered the trial is the same place where the murderer was hiding that we couldn't find before. If that's really the case, it's too much of a coincidence."

　"No story is complete without a coincidence."

　Perhaps it's not a coincidence.

　Suddenly, Dak mentioned something, and everyone looked at each other, then fell silent and began to think.

　Not long after, Professor Palmer Tomlinson was dragged out from under the floor by Professor Lily.

　"Metaphor—"

　Lily stopped abruptly, and Professor Palmer Tomlinson's screams didn't subside for a while.

　"How is it?" Professor Cazell asked.

　Professor Lily snatched a list from Professor Palmer Tomlinson's hand and said, "It's been stolen, and quite a lot of it."

　Professor Cazell took the list, glanced at it, and frowned, saying, "Quite a few things have been stolen; we hadn't noticed before."

　Professor Palmer Tomlinson clutched his chest and took a deep breath, taking a long time to recover before saying, "I focus on theory and don't often do experiments."

　In other words, his materials were basically just gathering dust in his inventory. Coupled with his weak personal strength and almost complete lack of vigilance, it's no wonder he was targeted by thieves.

　However, although a lot of his materials were stolen, few of them were rare. Professor Cazell glanced at them, made a rough note of them, and then handed the list back to Professor Tomlinson.

　But Professor Palmer Tomlinson waved his hands repeatedly, indicating that he didn't want it.

　"I won't watch it, it will break my heart!"

　……

　If you can't see it, it means it's not lost, right? Dark held back his complaints.

　Professor Palmer Tomlinson is quite an interesting one.

　Theorists who lack practical experience are only suitable for teaching lower grades. But even theorists are mages; someone who could steal so much material from Palmer Tomlinson without being discovered couldn't possibly be a powerless beginner.

　In other words, the thief must be a "powerful beginner." This makes them increasingly resemble that group of monsters.

　But after careful consideration, Dark felt that those monsters were unlikely to do such a thing.

　After all, with Shirley Augustine as a precedent, if they really wanted to go to school, they could simply apply to Professor Sylph.

　St. Marian Academy has always done a good job in "education for all". Unless it is a race that is completely opposed to the demons, almost everyone can enroll.

　"The suspicion against the degenerates is growing stronger."

　"But they shouldn't attack the grassland spirits. Besides, there's the deliberate leaking of information later, an attempt to muddy the waters."

　"We'll find out the truth by calling them in and questioning them."

　“They can’t lie in front of Professor Cazell.”

　"In my opinion, it's highly unlikely that it was them, but we can't rule out the possibility that it was an individual causing trouble."

　"Let's investigate."

　In the end, the discussion boiled down to just checking.

　This was a forced choice made due to a lack of clues and the inability to trace the true culprit. The investigation wasn't to uncover the monsters' problems, but to prove they were innocent.

　But there's no need to rush in that regard.

　By tomorrow afternoon, Professor Cazell will have taken a trip into the dense forest and should have some findings. The main problem now remains the connection: the [murderer], the "anomaly," and the "locked room." Are these three elements related?

　They didn't initially believe that the "anomaly" in the hidden trial was related to the "murderer".

　But the hidden trial that Charles triggered happened to be located in this very "secret room".

　So, "abnormality" → "locked room" → "murderer".

　These three elements are now connected.

　This led to a connection between the "abnormality" and the "culprit".

　However, the connection between the "locked room" and the "murderer" is still undetermined.

　The reason these two are temporarily linked is simply because all three events occurred during this period.

　From what we can see so far, both the person hiding in the "secret room" and the "murderer" who has been hiding until now are extremely cunning and cautious.

　The contents of this "secret room" appear to be scattered and disorganized, with books and items strewn about. However, nothing related to "identity" can be found among the remaining items.

　Not even a single hair of the person hiding was lost.

　If it weren't for Charles's hidden trial, they wouldn't have found this "secret room" in the first place.

　The "secret room" itself was already so hidden, yet the people living in it remained as cautious as if it were their own private world.

　This behavior, this level of action, is not something those monsters could do.

　But if it wasn't those monsters, then who could it be?

　This is the most troublesome problem in this series of events, because they simply don't have a "suspect".

　It's hard to imagine that someone no one knows would live in the castle of St. Marian Academy.

　Patrols within the castle were significantly increased during this period, yet no trace of the person was found.

　The professors also felt a vague sense of unease.

　"To track down a target, you need a suspect."

　"To lure out the target, you need to know the target's purpose."

　"The reason why previous investigations were stalled was because neither of these two points were met."

　"Aside from knowing that this person exists, we have absolutely no way of starting."

　"The appearance of this 'locked room' did provide a clue, but only a clue."

　"However, discovering the 'locked room' at least broadened our thinking."

　"I previously believed the so-called 'murderer' was hidden among the students. Now it seems very likely that this person simply appeared out of nowhere."

　"Not a student, not an employee, not a professor."

　"Let's wait for the investigation results tomorrow and see if we can rule out monsters."

　After a brief summary, Dak returned to the secret room to continue searching for any overlooked clues.

　Among the professors, some worked with him on the investigation, while others discussed the overall context of the matter.

　So, about half an hour later, Professor Sylph couldn't stand it any longer and simply went to the forest with Lily to bring the monsters over.

　They moved quickly and soon brought the group of monsters into the castle.

　The leader of the monsters is "Golden Mermaid" Aisalia Patus.

　Beside her was Dolores Stark, the "Revelation".

　Aisalia Patus is the former leader of the "Abyss" and the current village chief of the Monster Village. She is a young "Golden Mermaid" who looks only eleven or twelve years old.

　Dolores Stark is the former strategist of the "Abyss," the current deputy village chief of the Demon Village, and a Star Tower diviner who once predicted the destruction of the demon race.

　These two basically represent the will of the monsters, and they are the ones who usually handle the communication with the academy.

　They have always been very cooperative with the college's requirements, and this time was no exception.

　Therefore, the inquiry began quickly and ended just as quickly.

　The final result showed that all the monsters were present, but none of them had ever visited the castle.

　They have somewhat adapted to life in the dense forest. Although they each have their own ambitions, they are currently in a period of recuperation. Although they have future plans, they are still in the stage of gradual implementation.

　During this investigation, Professor Cazell not only ruled them out of suspicion but also deciphered their plans, though he kindly chose to keep them secret.

　—The monsters, led by Esalia Patus, are building a temple for the "God of Wisdom" in the dense forest.

　Their plan was also very simple: to become Ergane's servants.

　Professor Kazel decided to find a time to discuss this matter properly with Ergani.

　After Professor Sylph and Professor Lily returned the monsters to the forest, everyone gathered together again to continue their discussion.

　"Eliminate the demons."

　"Only the last option remains." "An outsider has infiltrated the academy."

　"Did they sneak in along with the teams from other academies during the academy competition?"

　"It's very possible."

　"So, will he leave with those academies?" "What do you think?"

　"Hehehe." "Okay, stop fooling around."

　"There's one week left until the end of the Academy Championship." "Investigate for one last week."

　"If the investigation yields no results by the end of this week, then we will resort to last resort."

　"Wait until the academy championship ends."

　"After the other colleges leave."

　"To leave him nowhere to escape."

　"Infiltrating St. Marian Academy always comes at a price."

　"Continue investigating."

　"it is good."

　The sequence of events is now clear.

　The thief hiding in the secret room was an outsider.

　Although the perpetrator who attacked the grassland spirits cannot yet be linked to them, the investigation should be conducted together, tentatively focusing on one person or an accomplice.

　Finally, the cause of the "anomaly" in the hidden trial may also be related to the person hiding in the secret room.

　If the "anomaly" is caused by external factors, then the hidden trial itself is not problematic and can be attempted with confidence.

　That's the only good thing I know of so far.

　After the discussion, everyone dispersed to search for clues while waiting for Charles's trial to end.

　They waited until 11 p.m.

　Professor Palmer Tomlinson, a first-year professor of magic, has been sent back to his dormitory.

　Suddenly, the black vortex at the entrance stirred. Then, Charles swiftly emerged from it.

　He appeared extremely disheveled, but his face was filled with ecstatic joy. There was no need to ask; it was clear he had successfully completed his hidden trial. In other words, he was now destined to be an "Emperor."

　After that, whether he was forging magic cards or continuing his assault on the throne, he was more confident and received more assistance.

　"Congratulations!" the professors congratulated him, and Charles was overjoyed. Afterwards, even though no one asked him anything, he began to recount his trial experience on his own.

　Principal Art waited until he finished speaking before smiling and saying, "According to the deal, 'Skult's Quill' is temporarily lent to us."

　“Of course, no problem.” Charles agreed immediately, but then added, “However… we need to agree on a loan period.”

　Principal Art smiled and said, "Of course, the borrowing period should be agreed upon." Charles said, "That's good. We can't borrow indefinitely, right? How about six months?"

　His decision of "six months" was certainly based on consideration.

　First of all, he would definitely be locked up in the palace by the king for most of the "six months" and continue to suffer, so he would basically not have any use for "Scody's quill".

　Secondly, let's talk about "six months". Of course, it can be increased further. Even if it is doubled to "one year", it is still within his acceptable range.

　But Principal Art had no intention of haggling at all. When he said "six months," Principal Art immediately agreed: "Six months it is."

　Charles was surprised by Principal Arte's decisiveness when he saw Principal Arte extend her hand to Professor Sylph and say, "The contract."

　Immediately afterwards, Professor Sylph actually produced a ready-made contract.

　Charles, in a daze, signed the contract, lending "Scotty's Quill" to St. Mary's College for six months.

　Then he was sent back to the teachers' dormitory.