Chapter 1245. Blue Guild’s Youth Center (14)

Perhaps I was just overreacting, and perhaps it was just by chance that he caught my attention. However, there was something about him that I just couldn't ignore. What really bothered me was the fact that he noticed Anemone's Eye.

I wanted to expand the range of Anemone’s Eye to Lindel, the Democratic Country, and even the continent to track him down, but if he was capable of noticing it like Cheon Kwan-Wi did, then it would all be pointless.

‘Do I need to go through all the CCTV footage?’

The so-called CCTVs weren't as good as Anemone's Eye, but I would surely be able to find something in them.

What bothered me was that he went out of his way to enter the academy. More than the academy itself, it was more accurate to say that his influence was beginning to extend across the continent.

Still, the fact that someone like that was wandering around the Blue Guild’s territory was hard to ignore.

One case in the Republic, one in the North, and another near the border between the Federation and the Union. It was possible that these three cases were nothing more than bait. There was also a chance that they believed that expanding their reach was far more important than staying hidden and scattering their traces all over the continent.

However, there was no way someone meticulous enough to avoid Anemone’s Eye would get caught so easily. Moreover, they were probably a member of some kind of fanatical cult.

With so many things not sitting right, this clearly called for more than just the standard response.

“...”

“...”

‘Looks like it’s time to put them to work again.’

“...”

‘Who’s on duty right now? Was it Lian? It’s probably Chang-Ryeol.’

“Mr. Chang-Ryeol,” I mumbled.

“Yes, sir,” Lee Chang-Ryeol replied.

He immediately appeared next to me as if he had fallen from the ceiling.

“There’s someone I want you to find,” I requested.

“Understood,” Lee Chang-Ryeol said.

“I sent a photo to the communication channel, so please check it,” I informed him.

“I have checked the photo,” Lee Chang-Ryeol said.

“It’s that man. There are clear traces of him entering the academy, but I don’t see him anywhere else after that. I have no idea where he went...” I said.

“...”

“Demon worshippers with the same symbol were found in the North and near the Federation-Union border, so I’m feeling pretty uneasy about this. If there are people carrying the symbol in Lindel, I don’t care who they are, just please investigate them,” I ordered.

“Yes, sir,” Lee Chang-Ryeol answered.

“I want you to find out who he met here. I also want you to investigate if there’s someone connected to him here as well as where he went. Do you understand?” I asked.

“I won’t disappoint you,” Lee Chang-Ryeol said.

“Please pass this information to Miss Ye-Ri and Miss Lian as well,” I added.

“...”

When I brought up Kim Ye-Ri and Park Lian, he looked kind of sad.

I understood how he felt, but...

“It’s not because I don’t trust you, Mr. Chang-Ryeol. I just want this to be taken care of as soon as possible. I don’t think we can ask the Black Swan Guild to help... and it’s a pretty serious matter for one person to handle alone... Anyway, you can handle this as quietly as possible, right? I leave it up to you,” I said, patting his shoulder.

“I won’t disappoint you,” Lee Chang-Ryeol said before disappearing.

He seemed disappointed that it wasn’t a solo mission, but considering the severity of the matter, he accepted that it was only natural to work with other people here.

It probably wasn’t good news for Kim Ye-Ri, who seemed to have plans with Park Deok-Gu and Ahn Ki-Mo, but since this was considered a special mission, it wouldn’t take long for me to receive the results.

While I was busy with Anemone’s Eye, daybreak arrived.

Sure enough, I heard Miss Kim Mi-Young knocking on the door.

‘Ah... damn it. I don’t want to go to class.’

Miss Kim Mi-Young hadn’t gotten much sleep either. She looked like she spent the entire night making plans for her to become friends with her son.

Despite feeling exhausted, she had to have been enjoying the process of getting to know her son better, as there was a faint smile tugging at her lips. Honestly, I couldn't help but think about telling her what I discovered last night.

When I saw her expression, however, I decided it wasn’t necessary to tell her.

“Sir, is there... something on your mind?”

At least until she asked that question...

I had no idea if it was because I couldn’t hide my emotions well due to the fact that I became younger or if it was simply because Miss Kim Mi-Young knew me well, but either way, it was clear that I wasn’t hiding my feelings as well as I thought.

“It’s nothing serious,” I answered.

“...”

“There were traces of a rat sneaking into the youth center... I want to ignore it, but something about it keeps bothering me. I asked Mr. Chang-Ryeol to take care of it, so you don’t have to worry about it,” I told her.

As expected, her face turned serious. It was a natural reaction considering her son was a student of this youth center. Obviously, I explained calmly to make it sound like it wasn't a big deal.

I told her that there was an issue in the Democratic Country, and while I wasn't certain of it, I just wanted to mention the possibility that it was connected to me somehow.

“...”

“...”

“You don’t have to worry about the students’ safety. I’ve already taken measures regarding that. If the enemy really is after something inside the youth center, it’ll be much safer to keep them around her rather than send them outside,” I reassured her.

“Yes, I understand. But... can I show you what I’ve put together? It might not be much help, but... maybe...” Miss Kim Mi-Young asked.

“Yes, show me,” I answered.

After leaving the room, little Kim Mi-Young returned with a large stack of documents and several hefty documents displayed on the Goddess’s Mirror.

“These are the financial statements from the youth center over the past few years. I’ve also included records of how the professors and assistants have used their research budgets.

"There's also a list of visitors, staff sick leaves, and vacation logs. There's also information about the Blue Guild’s surveillance systems, but I haven’t organized them yet.

"I tried to sort everything as quickly as I could... I was planning on formatting it more neatly before submitting it, but...” Miss Kim Mi-Young trailed off.

“When did you have time to do all this?” I asked.

“I started... the moment you assigned me to do an undercover investigation with you...” Kim Mi-Young answered.

“It’s clearly organized,” I commented.

“I’m sorry,” Kim Mi-Young said.

“No, it’s nothing to apologize for. This isn’t something that can be done by one person... Anyway, I’m sure I’ll find something.

Wow,

I can’t believe there are still records of this,” I said.

“Basic records like the Blue Guild’s entry logs and payroll details have all been digitized. Mr. Max helped me out with that,” Kim Mi-Young added.

“...”

“And... just now,” Kim Mi-Young paused.

“Yes?”

“I also requested an audit of the gold expenditure and currency transaction records for all individuals within the Blue Guild’s youth center, including the students,” Kim Mi-Young continued.

“...”

“...”

‘That’s scary. That’s a crime, you know that, right?’

There was a slight trace of madness in her eyes. The fact that she openly spoke about committing a crime made it clear to me that Miss Kim Mi-Young was pretty bothered by the matter.

Of course, she wasn’t always innocent. Having handled all major affairs of the guild, she had walked the fine line between legal and illegal more than once. Even then, most actions were taken only after multiple rounds of verification. In other words, she was very cautious and meticulous.

The fact that she had done something like this told me that she was under considerable pressure as well.

‘Looks like I’m a fool as well...’

I had never really considered this. Whenever something went wrong, there was no need for one to rush over to the incident site as soon as possible.

Of course, in a continent full of all kinds of supernatural powers, it was ideal to see things with your own eyes and handle things right there and then, but I couldn’t say that Miss Kim Mi-Young’s approach was wrong.

In fact, her approach was probably more suitable here.

Identifying an accomplice through systematic records was a rational approach. Since every action was recorded and traceable in the system, one could make a pretty good guess about what the target was doing or their capabilities.

I could figure out who met with whom, where they were, and what they were doing.

I could also figure out why they had to take a sick or vacation leave.

It wasn't perfect, but I could get close to it. I could also predict changes between routines from a few years ago and their routines nowadays. I could also track where their money was coming from and where it went.

Sure, it was technically spying on the civilians, but...

‘But they probably don’t even know they’re being watched anyway...’

𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Sometimes sacrifices were necessary for the sake of the continent.

“Let’s skip the afternoon classes,” I suggested.

“Okay,” Kim Mi-Young answered.

“How about we work together?” I asked.

“Sure.”

“You started from the right and I’ll start from the left... Also, it might be a good idea to look into the families of the staff and students as well,” I instructed her.

“Understood,” Kim Mi-Young said.

“I’ll start with Senator Hanest...” I told her.

“Okay.”

Naturally, information that wasn't really necessary popped up nonstop. For example, the investigation revealed that two faculty members had been coordinating their vacations and sick leaves together for the past two years...

‘Ah, it’s just an affair.’

I was actually expecting something out of it. The majority of the gold funneled through indirect channels was used for meeting venues. Video evidence of their time together was also obtained. It was clearly just an affair, but the results were somewhat underwhelming compared to my expectations.

“Sir... Professor Cheon Kwan-Wi is... kind of...” Kim Mi-Young mumbled.

“What is it? Something wrong?” I asked.

“His records are a little too clean. It’s like he's been trying to force a square peg into a round hole...” Kim Mi-Young said.

“I’ll take a look at that,” I said.

No one was truly without flaws. I wasn’t sure if there was something fishy going on, but there were definitely parts that seemed forced. Most of it had been sorted out recently, so it looked really suspicious.

However, Kim Mi-Young had checked the details using Anemone’s Eye, so she needed time to organize anything that could be useful against him.

‘He’s not the culprit.’

He wasn't gutsy enough to do that. I heard there was a time when he was pretty bold, but after getting beaten up by Hee-Ra noona, he became quite cautious and started holding back.

“What do you think?” Kim Mi-Young asked.

“He’s not it. Let’s look elsewhere,” I answered.

“Okay.”

No matter how perfectly they cleaned up their tracks like Cheon Kwan-Wi, there would always be holes as long as there were existing records.

This was especially true for ordinary professors, staff members, and facility workers. Finding the pieces of the puzzle that didn't quite fit was actually pretty easy. The problem was that there were too many puzzle pieces. Fortunately, there were cracks here and there, so we managed to narrow down the list of suspects.

‘Not him...’

“He... got his hands on illegal potions...

Haa...

I can’t believe someone like him has been teaching the kids,” I mumbled.

‘He’s a member of the black market... Maybe I should look into him.’

The more I looked into the data, the more astonished I became at the fact that such individuals somehow managed to work as professors. Unfortunately, there was no sign of anyone connected to a group with a six-pointed star as an emblem.

Just as my eyes were starting to get tired, Miss Kim Mi-Young abruptly stood up and approached me.

“I found it, sir,” she said.

“...”

“...”

“This is...” I paused.

“That’s right,” she said.

“It’s time for the next class,” I told her.

“It is.”

“Let’s go,” I said.

Soon, Professor Traore, a guy with a massive frame, came into view.

“

Hmm

... You’re late... but come in,” the professor said.

“...”

“So... where did I stop? Right. I was talking about the spells that are currently banned under the continental laws. I'm talking specifically about the large-scale destructive spells,” Professor Traore said.

As soon as we entered, he said a line that made him look like a villain.

“I find myself thinking if such restrictions on magic spells are really the right thing to do. Is it right to restrict an individual's potential? Who decides what should be forbidden, and on what grounds? If large-scale destructive spells are deemed dangerous, then why is the existence of the archmage from the Blue Guild—someone capable of massacring tens of thousands with a simple spell—being tolerated?” Professor Traore said.

“...”

“Let me ask you all a question. Do you really believe that there's a meaning to this kind of oppression? Is there really a meaning to such restrictions?" Professor Traore asked.

He was clearly a villain.