第６０８堀：世の中曲解して伝わることもよくある (Part2)
"I see. So, thanks to your training up until now, you've developed a resistance to it."
"Right? It’s decreasing, isn't it? But we haven't actually done anything, have we?"
"Indeed. Nothing in particular..."
Hearing that conversation, it clicked for me.
"Yuki."
"Yes. For now, Taizo, is that alright?"
"Yeah, go ahead."
"Then, excuse me..."
Yuki and Taiki possess the ability to "Appraise" in this world, which allows them to quantify a person's power when they look at them. Of course, it’s merely a guideline; having a high level or numerical value doesn't make one invincible. It’s all about how you use your skills, so it serves only as a reference. Relying solely on those numbers is dangerous. However, it is certainly a useful reference. In my own magic research, quantifying things like mana levels has been a great help.
While I was thinking about this, Yuki finished appraising me and nodded.
"Taizo. According to the appraisal..."
"Yeah, I checked my own status as well, but..."
I had been checking my status screen myself, and it was exactly as I had suspected. Hearing the information from Yuki’s appraisal, it seemed my hypothesis was correct. But we still lacked enough data.
"Rurua. Actually, everyone, please check your mana status in your menus for a moment."
"Eh?"
Everyone was caught off guard by Yuki’s sudden request.
"Ah, sorry. Rurua noticed that Eoid’s mana was decreasing, right? Even though he hadn't done anything. It’s possible that ours are decreasing as well. Please, take a look."
Prompted by this, everyone checked, but the results were inconclusive.
"I haven't even lost half..."
"I’ve lost a tiny bit, but it’s negligible."
"Same here. Mana fluctuates this much depending on how you're feeling, and I felt like my mana was being drained quite a bit during the initial ghost story investigation."
Since the fluctuations were within the margin of error, the others hadn't realized Yuki’s intent. However, Taiki seemed to have grasped it; he appraised Ruth’s status and listened to her report.
"Taiki. Is there a fixed amount missing?"
"Ah, yes. It’s gone down. By about 50."
"Mine is down by over 50 as well."
"Me too, Taiki."
"Is that what this is?"
"Probably."
As we reached this conclusion, the others listened to our conversation and realized that their mana values had indeed dropped by a consistent amount.
"Um, what does this mean?" Solo asked us, sounding a bit nervous.
"We can't say for sure yet, but it’s likely that this corridor has a mechanism that absorbs mana. To a degree that’s almost unnoticeable."
"Eh? Isn't it just that it decreased during the process of investigating the rumors?"
"By more than 50 for everyone equally? Doesn't that seem strange? This level of reduction is something that recovers quickly. Well, not 'quickly' in the literal sense, but it’s been over an hour since we explored the restrooms. There’s no reason for us men to have lost mana, either. That leaves only this corridor, which we all investigated together, as the cause."
"I see... But why?"
"Because this academy has facilities that need to collect mana, you see."
"?"
Solo didn't know about Souta, so he didn't understand, but the rest of us realized what Yuki was getting at.
"Could it be... the First Headmaster?"
"Probably. Even for us, who only stayed here for a long time, the reduction was this minor. For regular students passing through, it would be a drop in the bucket."
"But the people who appeared before me and the Academy Principal..."
"Well, we haven't confirmed that Souta is the culprit yet, but if that secret room in the library was being used to collect mana and search for people simultaneously, it would explain everything. Targeting high-achieving students and draining their mana all at once—it’s efficient, I’d say."
"Ah..."
Yes, the possibility was that the truth behind these rumors was simply mana collection set up by Souta. Well, we wouldn't know for sure until we asked him.
And so, we went to check immediately after...
*"Ah, I am indeed collecting mana in the corridor. I was targeting graduates and collecting it in bulk, too. I also tried to lure them to this room on the side, but that didn't work out. To think that would turn into such a rumor. Man, word of mouth is never reliable, is it? Ahahaha..."*
He laughed it off. He likely never imagined that his mana collection and library-luring would be misinterpreted and twisted into such strange rumors about mysterious classrooms appearing in the evening.
And so, only one rumor remains. In a sense, things are going smoothly. Though, for me, it feels a bit underwhelming.
There was certainly some "scouting for talent" involved, but the root of the rumors was simply Souta’s mana collection. Once the facts are laid bare, that’s all a rumor ever really is. It’s the same everywhere—the game of "telephone" always ends up taking a strange shape.
Now then, only one rumor remains!!
Can you solve this mystery?!
Stay tuned for the next installment.