Magic Academy Bans Harem

Chapter 67 Star Priest

Ritas is currently in the Las Las Chamber of Commerce's office in Spring City. However, the decoration and furnishings on the third floor are all full of the style of a private house.

This was not the first time that Ritas had come into contact with the Latras Chamber of Commerce. When he had purchased various cultural relics before, the Latras Chamber of Commerce had also provided a lot of services.

Compared to those opportunists who came for his title of "King of Fakes", Latras, a well-known large chamber of commerce on the continent, was quite honest. They did not take the opportunity to sell imitations or fakes, nor did they deliberately raise the prices of cultural relics. They just sold some things that were difficult to sell under normal circumstances to Ritas at a 20% discount.

That's right, the Iron Maiden in Yew Fir Class, the guillotine in the old Ritas dormitory mansion, and the three-person swing at the door of the current Ritas dormitory mansion were all sold to Ritas by the Latras Chamber of Commerce.

However, although Ritas is an old customer of the Chamber of Commerce, this is the first time he has met with the head of the Chamber of Commerce in Spring City.

Opposite Ritas was the smiling Platina Latras.

Apart from insisting on playing with the iron fan, Platina's words and actions were very decent.

This kind of propriety is somewhat different from aristocratic etiquette. After all, if two nobles who are extremely well-mannered in both body and mind sit face to face, it is more likely that they will both hold their heads high and confront each other like proud fighting cocks.

As for Platina, people who talk to her can easily feel a sense of harmony from her voice, words, tone and other things.

Just like now, there are almost no "gaps" in her conversation with Ritas.

She seemed to be able to predict what Ritas was about to say, and then lay the groundwork in advance so that Ritas could say those words more smoothly.

Under Platina's silent guidance, Ritas not only felt that it was very pleasant to talk to her, but also unknowingly took the initiative of the conversation into her hands.

"Professor Elson, our Chamber of Commerce has recently acquired a very interesting product. And, the professor should be very interested in it."

As Platina spoke, she opened the iron fan and placed it beside her, then leaned forward, creating an atmosphere as if she was whispering to Ritas, separating herself from the "outsider" who was serving tea and water.

"Oh?"

"It's a... triangular wooden horse."

From Platina who was close to him, Ritas smelled a fresh scent of perfume.

"Ms. Platina, it was just a coincidence that I ordered those items from your Chamber of Commerce. In fact, I am not a fan of torture instruments."

Ritas said with a subtle expression.

The reason why he called Platina by her first name was because she took the initiative to ask him to do so. The reason was that Sylvie was in the same class as Ritas, so calling her by her last name would easily confuse the two.

As for the triangular wooden horse that Platina wanted to sell, Ritas was even less interested.

Although the triangular wooden horse, a long-standing torture device, has basically withdrawn from the stage of torture, it is still not uncommon in the world, and its appearance rate is even much higher than that of the gallows.

If nothing else, just walk out of the door of the Chamber of Commerce and go to some suspicious stores in remote locations in Dongcheng District. The triangular wooden horse may be placed directly in every room.
"Professor Elson may have misunderstood. The triangular wooden horse that our Chamber of Commerce obtained is naturally not an ordinary type but the original type. I don't know much about history, so I can't say for sure. But I heard that the original triangular wooden horse was not a prop for torture, but was directly used for execution."

"You mean the Triangle Horse of Punishment?"

Although the Splitting Triangle Trojan Horse is called a "Trojan horse", its material is no longer wood, but extremely sharp metal.

so.
So, after seeing Platina nod with a smile, when Ritas wanted to say, "In that case, just tell me the price," a cough sounded from the white disc beside him.

"Ahem, Xiao Li, now I know where all that crap of yours comes from. Anyway, wake up! You're almost hypnotized!"

ah.
Listening to the penetrating voice of the Bathing Goddess, Ritas "woke up".

I never thought that there would be a day when the goddess of bathing would remind me.
Not long after, Ritas, who was still sitting in the living room, couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

It was really dangerous.

When Platina said that it could be paid in installments and that the signature of the craftsman who made the wooden horse was engraved on it, Ritas almost couldn't help himself again.

It was only after the Bathing Goddess persuaded Ritas to think carefully about where to put the triangular horse after buying it, what the use of it was, and that they had other purposes today that Ritas finally gave up.

After calming down, Ritas faced Platina again.

Even though the sales failed, the fourth young lady from Latras did not show any negative emotion on her face and still maintained a friendly smile.

The reason why Ritas was completely led by Platina before was, on the one hand, that Platina's way of talking was quite clever, and Ritas's intelligence was sometimes unsatisfactory. But the more important reason was that Ritas was quite restrained.

Simply put, Platina, the branch president of the Latras Chamber of Commerce, is not a criminal. Moreover, she is not under the jurisdiction of Earls College.

Therefore, Ritas is not qualified to interrogate the other party.

Only when necessary, Ritas felt that things like "handles" were really useful. Although, using handles to threaten others seemed immoral.

As for why Ritas had to ask in a high-profile manner, it was because without a certain degree of advantage, the other party would definitely not answer.

"You are actually from the Forgotten Temple, right?"

"Oh? Professor, how did you know that? That's right, we are from the Forgotten Temple. We are a mysterious organization of similar size to the Trickery Society. We have also done many shady things and plan to resurrect the Demon King in the future! Professor, are you interested? I will tell you the details and the composition of the personnel."

Ritas felt that unless he could suddenly jump up and hit Platina with a stick and make her stupid, such a smooth question and answer session would definitely not happen.

Before, Ritas also tried to get some information from the side. However, it was obvious that Platina was much smarter than him and was impeccable in the face of the temptation.

As a businessman, Platina must be very good at communication. As for Professor Ritas, he just said "I don't need to communicate."

And Ritas also thought about starting with Sylvie, using Sylvie's various deeds in the academy as a starting point to bring him and Platina closer and let the other party relax his vigilance a little.

However, this idea was rejected by the Bathing Goddess.

"If I remember correctly, the Latras family is very competitive, and the relationship between the children is particularly bad. So, don't mention another Latras in front of one Latras."

When the Bath Goddess offered useful advice, Ritas would accept it.

So. What to do now?
Ritas stared at Platina for a moment, and Platina just showed her natural state generously.

Most noble ladies would use a fan to cover their faces from time to time, but Platina would just hold the fan open around her chest most of the time.

"Ms. Platina, I'm here today to visit you regarding a student. Engri Wilvedo. I think he entered Earls College with your recommendation."

After thinking it over again and again, Ritas felt that it was futile to deal with the field he was not good at, so he brought up the topic directly and planned to "attack" head-on. "Engri, first of all, I am deeply sorry that he ran away from the academy. I believe that a rebellious teenager has all kinds of thoughts in his mind that adults cannot understand. However, if you ask about his whereabouts, I can only apologize again. Because we don't know either."

Platina's smile seemed to be unable to hold back her laughter, as if she was silently saying "Professor, you finally can't hold it back anymore."

Ritas didn't feel annoyed about this, he was just glad that he didn't continue to go around in circles with Platina.

"He did come from the 'Latras Training Institute'. However, the so-called training institute is not much different from the academy. We can only control their words and deeds in the training institute. And, after the training is over, we will try our best to arrange a suitable path for them. So, after Engel entered Earls College, he basically had nothing to do with us. On the contrary..."

Should Earls College regulate his behavior in the college?
Ritas was not surprised by Platina's response.

"Even if your Chamber of Commerce's training center provides an 'assassin'?"

"Assassin. It sounds like a terrifying name. So, Engel, who was assassinated?"

Platina had a very broad smile on her face, and it was unclear whether it was because she was confident or because she found her own words humorous.

"Since your Chamber of Commerce believes that Engel's behavior is not out of line, then how about letting him return to the academy? He is currently only on leave and is still a member of the Yew Fir Wood class. Many things only seem serious. Moreover, at that age, it is easy for him to over-complicate things. In fact, as long as he is willing to return to the academy, he will find that most things are actually very simple to solve."

Since Platina was determined to pretend that she knew nothing and that nothing had to do with her, Ritas could only speak to himself and put forward his demands unilaterally.

"Well, maybe there really is a misunderstanding between us. Engel is indeed not here with us."

Platina said, shaking her head.

And Ritas was unable to judge the truthfulness of the other person's words based solely on tone, expression and other things.

So, after pondering for a moment, Ritas decided to reveal more information to find out Platina's attitude.

"Ms. Platina, do you mean that Engel has also defected from the Chamber of Commerce? However, he doesn't seem to have any reason to do so. Because the mission you gave him was to observe and protect student Noah Greens. And he completed his mission very well. The reason he exposed his identity was to save student Noah from Malik Azan."

As Ritas finished speaking, the reception room, which had been particularly harmonious under Platina's guidance, fell silent for the first time. Ritas knew that he was right and his judgment was correct. Engel was hiding around Noah not to assassinate him.

After a while, Platina finally moved. She gathered up the iron fan, raised it, and shook her head forward.

Just when Ritas thought this was an order to take action and was about to deploy a defensive barrier.

The butler named Mount Platina received the order and refilled Ritas's teacup.

"Sure enough, the professor knows much more than I thought. Perhaps, if we don't clarify this, another 'Lord Assassination' incident will happen in Spring City."

Platina sighed softly.
"Engri is indeed not with us, at least not 'at the moment'. Professor, don't you think that what you said before is also applicable to the academy? Engri also has no reason to escape from the academy."

Currently
In other words, Platina was probably looking for Engel just like Earls College. Although, the college was only looking for Engel as a by-product, while the Chamber of Commerce was mainly looking for Engel.

And what she said was indeed one of the things that Ritas was puzzled about during this period.

There were actually only two things that Engel did that were out of line that night.

One was the conflict with Miriam, and the other was the attempt to stab Malik Azan to death at the end of the incident.

As for Miriam, he obviously had no intention of pursuing the matter, he just wanted a revenge battle. Moreover, even if he wanted to pursue the matter, the fight between the two students was not serious enough to warrant escaping from the academy.

As for Malik Azan, he was so filthy that even dogs passing by would spit at him and cut off all ties with him. Therefore, attacking Malik was not a reason for punishing Engel, whether for the academy or the Chamber of Commerce.

Moreover, his assassination attempt was generally a failure.
So, assuming that Platina had no need to lie, then where did Engel, who was neither in the academy nor in the Latras Chamber of Commerce, go now?
Ritas frowned, becoming more confused.

After the conversation was over, the conversation between Ritas and Platina basically came to an end. He even felt that the atmosphere in the living room had reached the point where if he left without knowing what was good for him, Platina would soon have someone carry him out.

Although Ritas had obtained some information about Engli, he did not get much intelligence in this conversation.

Even though she mentioned Noah, Platina didn't seem to want to expand the topic. So, Ritas didn't even have the chance to mention the "Forgotten Temple".

If he left like this, he wouldn't know when he would see Platina again. Besides, she might not be willing to see him.

In that case
"Before I leave, I have a few more questions for Ms. Platina. Have you heard of the 'Forgotten Temple'?"

Ritas decided to go all out. After trying his best this time, if there was no new breakthrough, he would temporarily give up the clues from Platina.

"The Forgotten Temple. Is this a specific place? An organization? Or something else?"

Platina asked with a bit of confusion on her face.

However, facing Platina's attitude, the Bathing Goddess let out an "Eh——" sound.

"Oh, I heard that a professor at Earls College is running a church recently. Is this a special form of persuasion?"

After thinking for a moment, Platina said with a joking smile.

Although she herself did not intend to have any further relationship with Ritas, after all, the two sides had not torn their faces apart, so she still wanted to keep a high-quality customer for the Chamber of Commerce.

"No, the church I founded is called 'Bath Goddess Church'."

Ritas said, unable to help but sigh.

Since Platina didn't seem to know much about the "Forgotten Temple", many of his guesses might be wrong.
While thinking about what the problem was, Ritas asked casually,

"So, have you ever heard of the name 'Star Priest', Ms. Platina?"

Ritas came out of his thoughts a little, raised his eyes, and saw Platina's surprised eyes.

Platina seemed to be very good at hiding her emotions, and even in her state of shock, her expression did not fluctuate much. But even so, her abnormality was still caught by Ritas.

Just when Ritas was about to say something to test the waters, it was Platina who took the initiative to speak.

"Oh, I see."

She seemed to have figured something out on her own.

"You are the 'candidate'."

(End of this chapter)