章 53: Gimmick?

[Chapter 52 Comment]

[Xinhuan: Knowing Theo, pressing the red button will probably summon an illusion of a clown that will pull a bunny out of a hat telling the student that it was just a prank. Then the prank will become a lesson.]

[Seby_Spina: to comfort you Theo I'll explain the chapters are daily and there may be comments written late and I note that this skill is not retroactive it seems that you can only read comments from the previous chapter written in a certain period of time]

[Twin_dragon13773: I'm sure the inscriptions will prove useful.]

While Theo was looking around, he was quite surprised when three comments appeared before him. Reading the comments, he couldn't help but make a wry smile and muttered in a low voice, "Looking at the comments, it seems that the author projected my thoughts or something. I don't want to force you guys to comment and end up feeling it was a chore. I appreciate your comments, though."

"Unfortunately, I can't tell you anything about the red button or the inscription for the time being," Theo continued.

Feeling relieved and thankful at the same time, Theo noticed something else in the distance and turned to Baold, who was guiding them around.

"Is there something wrong?" Baold asked, stopping to see what Theo wanted to say. Theo pointed to the right, specifically at two people who seemed to be talking to each other.

The first person was a young man with big round glasses, holding a pile of papers in his hands that reached above his head. The other person was a muscular man who appeared to be trying to mess with him.

Avalon and Haruka were surprised, as they noticed that during the first mission, Theo talked a lot with the captain from the military, and on the second mission, he brought Nana with him. Now, he showed a lot of interest in this new person.

"Is there something wrong with him?" Baold became suspicious.

"Not at all. He is carrying a lot of papers that seem to be related to Inscription," Theo hinted at what he truly wanted.

"Ah!" Baold realized that Theo wanted the Inscription knowledge. "Of course, we've asked Inscription Masters to decipher the inscriptions on the building. There might be a clue from there. As for that young man, if I'm not mistaken, he is one of the youngest Inscription Masters in the royal academy."

"Can you bring him to me later? I have a lot of questions regarding the inscription. Besides, there might be a chance that inscriptions play a significant part in the illusion. So, I want to study it a bit more," Theo requested.

Baold contemplated for a moment. Theo cleverly asked for someone talented without bothering Baold too much, and Baold had to agree since he couldn't use 'busy' as an excuse.

"Alright. I'll tell him about you after this. I can't promise anything though," said Baold.

"It's fine," Theo nodded. He actually used the last comment about how the inscriptions might be useful. Although he couldn't confirm if they were related, it didn't change the fact that someone mentioned it. He wouldn't focus on inscriptions unless the author emphasized them significantly. So, Theo thought about studying the inscriptions a bit as they might be a way to solve the puzzle.

Baold agreed and continued leading them to various places. After an hour, they finally reached their tent. It was a large tent for only three of them, but Baold had thoughtfully divided it into two sections. Haruka would take the left one while Theo and Avalon stayed in the right one. They could easily help each other in case something happened through the thin cloth separating the two parts.

Baold decided to send the young man, Yezlle, to Theo right away.

"Hello, Sir," Yezlle greeted him from outside the tent. "I am Yezlle from the Royal Academy. I've heard from the minister that you require my presence. May I know how I can help you?"

Without hesitation, Theo left the two students in the tent and brought Yezlle away for a discussion.

Once Theo wasn't looking anymore, both students actually took out the red buttons again, placing them on the table next to them. It seemed that both of them were curious about the mysterious buttons.

Since Theo was their teacher, there was no way the red button would harm them. However, Theo told them not to press it either. So, they were facing a dilemma.

"I wonder, what does Teacher want to do with this button?" Haruka didn't know that a simple red button had this much charm to the point where she slowly went insane from curiosity.

Avalon was holding Theo's command like a soldier, but even his knight's heart got swayed. His vision kept glancing at the button back and forth.

Meanwhile, Theo was asking Yezlle about the basics of inscriptions.

"Inscriptions alone are categorized into different types, and each type has its own basics. So, talking about this will take a long time," Yezlle had a hard time answering Theo's request.

Theo pointed at a place and said, "How about this one?"

"This one has at least two categories: Defensive and Utility. The defensive inscription is used to form barriers that repel all kinds of attacks from the outside. The Utility inscription is the one maintaining the whole tower to keep functioning even after a millennium has passed."

Theo thought for a moment and changed his question. "In that case, how about giving me some basic knowledge about this Utility Inscription, especially the part related to illusion."

"Understood. We have found at least three inscriptions from the Utility Category. The Memory Inscription, the Gathering Inscription, and the Illusion Inscription."

"Hoh? If I have to guess, the Gathering Inscription uses the black stone as a catalyst to absorb the essence in the air to maintain the tower's functions? Meanwhile, the Illusion Inscription is the one we're fighting now… No, in fact, the Memory Inscription sounds like it's recording what the owner did and applied it to the Illusion Inscription… Something like that?" Theo interjected, giving his opinions.

Yezlle dropped his jaw in disbelief. To think Theo could easily link all of them correctly, this was the first time he saw an outsider do it.

"Yes. You're completely correct, Sir. That's why we're having problems deciphering the inscriptions. I mentioned 'at least' earlier because we couldn't understand all of them."

"Hoh? There are more inscriptions that you can't recognize?"

"From what we can find as well as the size, we estimate there are more than ten unknown inscriptions. Unless we could decipher all of them, we wouldn't be able to reach the top of the tower."

"What do you know about the tower?" Theo asked.

"According to the first floor's layout, we are expecting the tower to have five floors. Each floor will give a different level of illusions. The first floor is already giving a powerful illusion that causes most of us to fall into despair. The people who have gone to the second floor have never returned, so we have no way of knowing about the illusion."

"How about the first floor?"

"From the witness' statements, there is a pattern to the first floor's illusion. It seems to be showing you helplessness."

"Helplessness, huh?" Theo looked down, contemplating. "In that case, tell me more about the basic patterns of the inscriptions."

"As much as I want to do that, I need my books and papers to show you."

"Then, you can guide me to the place where you can teach me about it. Though, that depends on whether you want to do it or not. I'm not going to force you."

"You are the esteemed guest that the minister has invited, so of course, I can make time for you, Sir. If you don't mind a bit of a messy place, then I'll guide you there."

"Sure." Theo extended his hand as if telling him to lead the way.

While the two of them talked more about the inscriptions, Haruka and Avalon were trying to distract themselves from the buttons.

"Avalon," Haruka called him, as talking to him was the only way to distract herself.

"Yes?"

"I have a question for you. What do you think we can learn from this? You should have listened to the people's words regarding Teacher Theo's lessons in each mission, right?"

"Yeah. All of them are tailored for them, but it doesn't mean the others can't learn from the lessons as well."

"Then, what do you think we will learn from this mission?"

"I'm not sure. This mission is related to illusions, his specialty. In addition, it's said to be a very dangerous mission."

"Are you saying there is a chance that we won't be able to learn anything?" Haruka didn't mention anything about the dangerous mission or her safety. After learning about Theo's power from her classmates, it was the least of her problems. Even if the mission ended up in failure, Theo would prioritize his students' safety.

"It's not about that." Avalon shook his head. "I'm talking about how the illusion might harm us in a way that Teacher Theo can't prevent."

"Well, illusions attack directly into the head. Teacher Theo can't really know what happened in our minds, right?" Haruka looked down, contemplating. Theo might be a monster, but he surely could not read their minds.

However, Avalon had a different opinion, especially after remembering how Theo used the spy to see through their plans during the game. "I don't think so. I mean, I have become the bridge to see everyone's mind during the game."

"What? Don't tell me…" Haruka gasped. "The game is used for the sake of preparing us?"

"He did tell us that."

"Now that I think about it." Haruka made a wry smile. "Though, this means that there is another reason why Teacher is bringing me through that so-called hidden assignment. We don't even know if he made that up or not…"

"Yeah." Avalon agreed with her.

"I think he is planning to use me." The woman ghost next to Haruka suddenly opened her mouth, but Haruka was the only one who could hear her.

"You?" Haruka raised her eyebrows.

"Hmm?" Avalon tilted his head in confusion, not understanding Haruka's reaction.

"There is a chance that illusions don't work on ghosts. If this is correct, then I might be able to break through the tower. And since we're not restrained by physical objects, we can simply pass through it."

"I see. There is that way…" Haruka frowned. If what the ghost said was true, then this mission would be an easy one. But Theo should have assessed the mission's difficulty and still claimed it to be dangerous.

So, Haruka couldn't help but think there was something that she hadn't thought through.

"There might be a catch somewhere. I think this mission won't be as simple." Haruka muttered while Avalon tried to think about their situation.

They couldn't help but glance back at the red buttons that Theo gave earlier. When their gazes intertwined with each other, they seemed to realize that they had the same thought.

"Don't tell me. The red buttons are the clue?"

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