Science/Magic

"I can give you the resources you need to spread the legacy of your mother around the world. Moreover, I can support your goal completely. However, it must be used for the benefit of Academy City first. That is my only condition."

Hearing Headmistress Wave's words, Bloed fell silent.

To be honest, her proposal was not bad.

He had been observing Headmistress Wave for a while. And to be honest, he had a good impression of her.

Headmistress Wave was an idealist. She talked many times about her dreams of creating a place where people could study and become stronger regardless of race or identity

That was the reason she created Academy City. To accomplish that dream.

Someone like that did not seem like an ambitious person.

However, it did not mean that Bloed would agree to her proposal just like that.

"I have several conditions." He said.

"Do speak, boy."

"First. I must supervise everything. I need to make sure that what I'm giving you is not used in the wrong way."

"What else."

"I won't give out the technology. It will be under my complete control, so don't ask for the method to create certain things."

"I see. Is that everything?"

"No. There is one last thing. You can't trade this technology with any country or organization. It can be used only in Academy City."

"… You know that no matter how much you try, someone will eventually leak it outside, right? Even if I promise you not to trade the technology, I can't control every person in the city. With how valuable your technology is, someone eventually will find an opportunity to sell it."

"I understand that. Everything is alright as long as you don't trade it. The rest doesn't matter." Anyway, it was not as though they could copy his technology just after seeing it.

You needed the technical knowledge first if you wanted to learn how to recreate it.

Headmistress Wave fell silent for a moment and thought deeply.

Only after several seconds, she looked at Bloed and nodded.

"I can promise you that. But there is a condition."

Bloed wrinkled his brows.

"Then, I'm sorry, but–"

"Wait, let me finish first." Headmistress Wave interrupted Bloed's words. "You don't have the qualifications right now to get such rights. Once the people in the city realize the usefulness of technology and learn that you are in charge of it, they will try to take that responsibility from you."

"But I'm the only one with knowledge about technology."

"That is even worse. If people with bad intentions learn that the technology comes from you, you will experience attempts to kidnapping daily."

Bloed was speechless. However, he soon realized that Headmistress Wave's words, though exaggerated, were not completely fake.

"What do you propose then, Headmistress?"

"Here comes my condition. You must make your club one of the top ten clubs."

"Top ten?" Bloed was stunned.

"Yes, boy. I'm the greatest authority in Academy City, but right now, the city is in a delicate period. If I give you too much authority in the city without enough reasons, then I will most likely meet resistance, and in the current situation, that is not something that I can allow. Not when many people are waiting for an opportunity to extend their claws inside my city."

"In other words, you need an excuse."

"Yes… Well, we can get around it using other methods. Mm, we can give the authority to Miss Regina. After all, she is a powerful powerhouse, so not many people will oppose her for a while. However, this city values achievements a lot, so it's still preferable if your club enters the top ten."

Bloed smiled bitterly.

Although he understood Headmistress Wave's opinion, how could becoming one of the top ten clubs be easy?

Each one of the top ten clubs was led by a powerful student, with hundreds of club members. Moreover, the weakest members of these clubs were generally B-Rank practitioners. Although he hated to admit it, his Machine Revolutio was far from comparable to them.

But just then, the headmistress spoke up again and put on a sly smile.

"Actually, I have another way."

"Huh? What is it?"

"Simple. Become my student."

Bloed was stunned.

"Think about it, boy. If you become my student, then you can supervise everything related to technology under the excuse that you are doing it under my orders. That way, even if someone is unhappy, nobody will dare to mention it when you are under my protection…" The headmistress chuckled softly and looked at Bloed with a mischievous smile. "Actually, it's not even a lie. You have been learning magic from me for a while, so you can be considered my student."

Bloed was dumbfounded. This proposal.

But when he saw Headmistress Wave's smile, he realized something.

... Perhaps, this was Headmistress Wave's intention since the start.

"That is… An interesting proposal." Bloed said with a wry smile.

"Right? I think I'm a genius for proposing it. Moreover, that is not the only advantage of becoming my student." Wave's expression turned slyer as she looked at Bloed. "If you are my student, then nobody will question the origin of your technology."

Bloed's expression stiffened completely.

He hurriedly returned his expression to normal and tried to feign ignorance, however, the changes in his expression had already fallen in Headmistress Wave's eyes.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Do you think I'm a fool, boy? No matter how much of a genius your mother was, she couldn't have created everything that you have told me about by herself. However, it's the first time that I heard about all these things. Where did they come from then?"

"What do you want to say?" Bloed's eyes quickly turned cold.

"Don't look me like that, boy. I don't have bad intentions." Headmistress Wave chuckled calmly. "However, if you spread your knowledge carelessly, eventually someone will suspect its origin. I have been even in places beyond this continent, however, I have never heard about many of the things that you have told me. In other words, the origin of your knowledge must be very extraordinary."

Bloed fell silent.

That was certainly a problem.

His mother's knowledge came from another world. A more advanced civilization than this world. The problem was that the origin of the Blight was similar.

A danger that came from outside this world. Due to it, the people of this world had a preconceived notion that another world = dangerous.

In fact, from a certain perspective, his mother was the culprit behind the disaster of the Blight. In the end, the Blight, or Devourers, came to this world in the hull of Camilla's spaceship.

Due to that reason, Bloed did not want to explain his mother's origin. In fact, not even Liu Ying knew the truth about Camilla's origin. She only knew that she came from a very far away place.

As though understanding Bloed's thoughts, Headmistress Wave smiled playfully.

"You don't need to worry, boy. I don't plan to pry into your secrets. If you don't want to tell me, then I'm not going to ask. But… If you use me as a shield when you spread your technology, then many people will attribute its origin to me. It will reduce a lot of your troubles."

Bloed smiled wryly and nodded.

"I guess that is true."

"Then, will you agree to my proposal?"

Bloed did not reply immediately. Instead, he tapped his desk twice and furrowed his brows in thought.

Eventually, though, he sighed.

"… I want to think about it a bit more, but I think I'll agree."

"Wise choice."

"But… We will start with the Security Cameras first. If our cooperation is successful, we will talk about the rest."

"Mm… You are right, that is a good idea. Okay, sent me a list of the things that you need then. I will have it ready before the end of the War of Clubs."

"I understand. I'll send it to you in a while."

"Also, it would be great if you can get into the top thirty during this War of Clubs. As the headmistress, my students should be the most outstanding. A sixteen-years young man that led his club to the top thirty in the first month of being in the city would be talented enough to be chosen as my student."

Bloed smiled wryly and nodded in understanding.

'It looks like I'll have to try harder during this War of Clubs, huh.'