CH 51

Chapter 51: Hubert Graham

I ended up buying an item for Kaen over the weekend and I knew she would love it because it looked so cool.

It was a pretty expensive item with good specs, but it was worth it to me because I knew it would help her grow.

The next weekday arrived, and my normal routine began once again.

‘I don’t see Aizel.’

I thought she was going to be late, but when Edward’s class started, she didn’t show up.

Eventually, in the middle of the lesson, I caught Edward’s eye and whispered to Yuri.

“…Why isn’t Ms. Aizel here?”

“Huh? I haven’t seen her since the weekend, either… I thought you two were spending some quality time together without me, or something like that?”

Yuri asked me, emphasizing the ‘without me’ in the middle.

There had been a lot of things going on without her lately and I guess that made her a little sad so I opened my mouth with a bitter smile.

“I didn’t see Ms. Aizel this weekend either.”

“Well… She’s probably skipping class somewhere, because she’s been known to disappear without warning, like she did at the last tournament.”

Yuri fiddles with her tightly braided hair as she says this.

In the game, Aizel often skipped class so it seemed odd that she hadn’t missed a class in a while.

‘She was gone for a whole weekend…’

Aizel is a regressor, and as Aizel Ludwig, she has enemies to defeat.

The last time she came to me, she was covered in blood.

Aizel was strong and as a dangerous regressor, she’s not going to go down easy.

‘As long as she doesn’t push herself too hard, she’ll be fine…’

Edward’s class was over before I knew it so I checked the status window just in case, but nothing had changed.

…I’m used to it now.

At this point, I realized that the class rewards weren’t random, and I wondered if Edward was intentionally stunting my growth.

However, the content of the lessons wasn’t as exciting.

Edward’s lessons were simple, yet challenging enough to make the cadets think for themselves.

The class was over and I was trying to figure out what to do next.

“Cadet Zetto, come here for a moment.”

I was about to leave the classroom when Edward called out to me.

“What is it?”

Yuri, who was sitting next to me, questioned and I was wondering the same thing.

As I approach Edward, the corners of his mouth turn up.

‘I’m not used to that smile.’

It’s the same suspicious smile I’ve seen so many times in the game but I followed him out of the classroom even so.

As soon as we’re outside, he starts talking.

“Cadet Zetto, I’ve been following the events of recent days, and this one in particular was… outrageous. It was nothing short of spectacular.”

“Yes…”

“That’s a compliment.”

Edward tilted his head to emphasize my stuttered response. Soon after, he turned his head forward again and began to walk away.

“By the way… Cadet Zetto has a lot of secrets, doesn’t he?”

I tense up slightly at the implication.

“I had my suspicions, given the lack of information…but I didn’t think Mr. Chairman would have let you in, haha.”

Edward said as he continued to walk down the hall.

‘The chairman admitted me?’

Innocence Academy was founded by the Sage but the Academy also has a president.

Hubert Graham is the current president.

The Graham family has a long history with the Sage, and they have held the position for generations.

As represented in the game, the family itself is mysterious, with not much information available.  It’s like the rich people in conspiracy theories.

To put it simply, the Grahams were the financial backers of the academy, so I knew they had plenty of money.

In the game, President Hubert Graham, is a character that only appears occasionally, he’s not a very important character but he was the reason the player got into the academy in the first place. You can see it in the intro scene when you start the game.

I thought, ‘Does that mean the same thing applies to me?’

When I entered the world, I had already been accepted into the Academy, so I had no way of knowing, but Edward’s words seem to indicate that this is the case.

“He doesn’t come to the Academy that often, so I was surprised to be summoned out of the blue.”

Edward said in a puzzled voice.

“I suppose the president called for me?”

“That’s right.”

Edward’s footsteps stop in front of the door after my short answer.

I see a sign on the wall next to the door that reads, “President Office.”

‘Is there a reward?’

The President’s summons is something I’ve experienced occasionally in the game. He’ll summon you out of nowhere, praise you, and give you different rewards at different times.

Edward knocks on the door.

“Mr. President, I brought Cadet Zetto for you.”

“Come in,” a gruff voice says from inside the room, and Edward swings the door wide open.

I follow Edward’s lead into the President office.

Up ahead, I see Hubert sitting at his desk and next to him is a woman who appears to be his secretary.

As soon as Edward closes the door behind him, Hubert’s mouth opens.

“Cadet Zetto, it’s been a while!”

Hubert greeted me with a booming laugh.

He already knew me but I saw him for the first time.

***

“Cadet Zetto, it’s been a while!”

The Sage was currently disguised as Hubert Graham since changing his appearance wasn’t too difficult for him.

Even with his ‘limitations’, he had no problem using polymorph magic.

“It’s been a while, Mr. President.”

The sage greeted Zetto, and he bowed in return.

‘It seems I know Hubert after all.’

The Sage himself was Hubert Graham but he doesn’t remember meeting Zetto.

As he stands in the room, motioning for Zetto to sit down, the voice of his secretary, Itea, echoes in his head.

[…My lord, I remember Hubert Graham being a little less frivolous, please note.]

It was a magic that the sage had specially prepared for Zetto because he had determined that his senses, other than sight, were extremely well developed.

“…”

The sage’s mouth fell open at Itea’s words.

Itea had been helping the Sage perform his role as Graham from the sidelines.

‘Hubert was the first Graham…’

All the presidents that had ever existed at the Academy, all the Grahams, had been the Sage himself and to avoid raising suspicions, each Graham used to have a personality or characteristic.

Hubert Graham was a bright, affable personality, while the Graham before him, Altair Graham, was a cold, calculating figure. But the longer he was a Graham, the more confused he became.

That’s why he didn’t go out as a Graham as often.

‘Maybe it’s time to start a real Graham family.’

The sage contemplated adopting a child to become a Graham, but then he looked at Zetto and spoke.

“Make yourself comfortable.”

Zetto sits down on the couch in the right spot. His senses are heightened by this seemingly natural movement.

‘I wonder if I’m seeing things at this point.’

The Sage swallowed hard, not wanting to make such a lame joke.

“I do like the design of that necklace you’re wearing.”

The Sage’s eyes fell on Zetto’s chest, where he wore the Hero Favor Necklace.

The design meant little to Zetto, who now owned the necklace. But the Sage who had made it thought the design of the necklace grew on him the more he looked at it.

“Ah, I got this by accident when I went to the Labyrinth. It looks like it contains magic… I guess it’s all thanks to the Academy, haha.”

Zetto then scratched his head and laughed.

Hehe, that’s good, many cadets get good experiences and rewards thanks to the Labyrinth. By the way, I haven’t seen you in quite a while… Maybe three months?”

The Sage cuts right to the chase with his rambling about the necklace.

The Sage never met Zetto even as Hubert Graham.  But the man in front of him, with a bandage over his eye, has a nonchalant demeanor that suggests he has met Hubert so he decided to ask him.

Zetto’s papers said that Hubert had granted him admission three months ago. That must be when he met him.

The Sage’s question brought a smile to Zetto’s lips, and he spoke.

“…I can still remember it vividly: you were riding in a carriage into the city, and you must have been going to… ‘Millibrium’?”

Zetto’s next words puzzled the Sage.

Not because he had never been to a city called Millibrium since he remembered traveling to Millibrium in a carriage in the guise of Hubert Graham and that must have been about three months ago.

And yet this man, Zetto, was still unrecognizable.

The Sage was silent, trying to hide the embarrassment that was creeping up on him, when Itea’s voice rang out once more from beside him.

[Master, I have searched my memory, and it seems that I was not present at the time.]

Itea was a golem and a golem’s memories can be ‘stored’ with the same precision as a human’s, but if she had been present at the time, she would have remembered this man named Zetto in the first place.

Why she didn’t recognize him, though…Since the details were becoming frighteningly familiar.

‘Did I really forget…?’

The sage turns to Zetto to deny it.

“…I didn’t expect to see you there.”

“Lucky for you, the carriage you were riding in was being attacked by bandits… I happened to be passing by it, though I didn’t realize it would be the catalyst for my entrance into the Academy.”

“Hehehe, it was, it was, it was, it’s a nostalgic story…”

The Sage smiled broadly, hiding his suspicions about Zetto.

‘I do remember traveling to Millibrium, but… I don’t remember anything after that carriage ride. We were attacked by bandits…’

It was bizarre, as if someone had cut the thread of his memory.

Either the Sage had lost his memory, or someone had tampered with it but he was a ‘Sage’.

Magic that tampered with memories was unheard of, and if someone dared to tamper with a Sage’s memories, they would have to bring in a god.

‘At this rate, I guess I really did forget him.’

After all these details, there was no way he could just say he didn’t remember Zetto.

Just as the Sage is about to accept the reality of his forgetfulness and let out a sigh, Zetto speaks up.

“…So, what did you call me for?”

“Whoa… yeah. I heard that you’ve been making a splash in the academy this time around, so I thought I’d pay you a visit.”

The Sage replied, tapping his fingers on his desk to signal to Itea.

He hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary about Zetto during his conversation with him so it was clear that the Sage had forgotten him.

The reason for the President’s out-of-the-blue summons shouldn’t have been to make small talk. It was a proper cause for conversation.

Itea checked the Sage’s signal and held something out to Zetto.

Zetto takes the key, tilts his head, and opens his mouth.

“What is this?”

“The first years are going on a field trip soon, and it looks like they’re going on an airship. It’s the key to my cabin on the airship. It’s a lot more luxurious than the other rooms, so it should be easy to get to, and since you’ve already gotten a reward from the Academy…I’m sorry that this is all I can do for you.”

Zetto listens to the Sage for a moment, and then a smile appears on his face.

“No, I’m just grateful for your concern. An airship… I’m looking forward to it.”

“I’d love to talk to you more, but I’m in a hurry, so if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to get back to work.”

The Sage decided to keep a closer eye on Zetto. After all, Zetto was a man of note to the Sage, as he was supposedly able to speak to spirits.

He might not be a saint… but he certainly had special powers.

Zetto then bows his head and leaves the President office.

The room fills with silence after Zetto’s departure and Itea, standing next to the sage, speaks up.

“Master, let’s see if you have any elixirs that improve memory.”

“…”

The sage turned his head and looked at the serious face of Itea but he couldn’t think of anything to say in retort.

“If there is such an elixir… I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to try it…”

***

My brief encounter with Hubert is over.

As I suspected, the same thing happened as in the game’s intro.

In the game’s intro, the president’s carriage is attacked and the player helps him to gain admission.

I realized this as soon as Hubert mentioned three months. It was right in line with the time frame of the incident in the intro.

‘I don’t really remember it happening to me.’

We don’t even know if it really happened but I don’t want to raise any suspicions.

‘One question I have is…’

I’ve had a bandage over my eye since I first entered this world and Hubert didn’t find it strange either.

Two things could have happened.

The first is that a person named Zetto was living in this world with a bandage over his eyes.

The second is that some unknown “force of fate” was at work when Zetto came into this world. In other words, Hubert’s memories have been tampered with.

I don’t know which one it is but the former seems unlikely.

Zetto was a character that I customized and created myself.

It would have been hard for me to recognize that the bandage was an item called “Blindfold That is Beyond Reason” and yet Zetto, who shouldn’t have lost his sight, wore a bandage over his eyes…

…That was a little strange.

I’m wearing it because I know it’s an item but I think it’s more likely that a transcendent entity intervened in this situation by placing me in the game world.

Hubert’s reward for me this time is a key to an ultra-luxury cabin on the airship we take on field trips.

True to Hubert’s word, the first-year class would soon be taking a field trip to a location far away from the Academy.

This is where I will encounter the second main boss after Lycanthrope.

I remember receiving this key in the game but it wasn’t a very useful reward.

Anyway, after the meeting with Hubert, I went back to my dorm and immediately prepared to go out.

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t stop thinking about Varsum.

Even if he wasn’t in the game, I figured it couldn’t hurt to be prepared.

Varsum was a high-ranking vampire and vampires are considered part of the undead.

This meant that light attribute attacks, which are the effect of the Hero Favor Necklace around my neck, would be highly effective against him. But I didn’t think the necklace would solve everything.

Chapter 1 had its limitations.

I could send a sword blast at a distant opponent without a sword, but… If my opponent had experienced Chapter 1 and wanted to deal with it, they could.

They could see where I was going to cut and take precautions.

Chapter 1 was meant to be used for surprise attacks, or to attack from distance.

Now that I had leveled up, I decided it was time to start learning Chapter 2.

It was more of a skill point increase than learning, but as long as Sierra existed, it was only right to go through the process of being taught by her.

The skill points were already spent as I invested four points in the Ghost Slayer Technique, raising Reverse Heaven to level 4.

The current location was a tranquil forest outside the academy. This is also the same place where I previously learned and mastered Chapter 1 of the Reverse Heaven.

Sierra approaches me as I sit on the stump I cut down using Chapter 1.

[You said you wanted to learn Chapter 2. Hmm…You seem to be progressing quickly, but I can’t be a master if I let my pupil’s talent rot.]

“You said that Chapter 2 is definitely about time, then…”

[Against time, to be precise.]

Sierra interrupted me, adding an explanation.

“The flow of time…”

Previously, I thought it meant to reverse time but now that Sierra is explaining it, I’m starting to realize what Chapter 2 is going to be like.

The status window helped a lot.

Chapter 2 of Reverse Heaven reverses the flow of time and slows time down for the caster only.

When I use Chapter 2, everything seems to slow down except for me and I can experience the world in slow motion.

Technically, the caster’s speed increases by the same amount.

[However, how long your current body can hold out… I’m not sure.]

Sierra, who was staring at me, said in a worried voice.

“My body?”

Even as I asked that question, a part of me was thinking that it would be weirder if there was no penalty.