Magic Academy Bans Harem

Chapter 68 Priest

On the third floor of the Latras Chamber of Commerce, Platina was temporarily driving the butler who had been serving tea and water out of the room.

Ritas, on the other hand, calmly used a small spoon to gently stir the black tea in the cup.

so.
What is a candidate? Or, in other words, a candidate for something?
Although Ritas appeared calm, his mind was full of questions.

He was of course familiar with the word itself, but in the current situation, it should have a more complex and profound meaning. Otherwise, Platina, who had been impeccable before, would not have revealed a "flaw".

"I don't know what happened, but it seems like she got fooled!"

"."

When will the Bathing Goddess stop saying “I don’t know what’s going on”?

"I have experience with this kind of situation! Ah, I should say I have seen it a lot. Then, you just need to pretend to be profound, and the other party will interpret and understand your words on their own initiative. Then, impressed by your thoughts and ideas, not only will they say everything on their own initiative, but they will also worship you!"

Why? Did someone poison Platina's teacup or something?
Ritas grumbled inwardly and continued to think.

After removing the dross, Ritas felt that the "pretending to be deep" option in the Bathing Goddess's suggestion might work. Or in other words, the only strategy he could adopt now was bluffing, after all, he really didn't know much.

While thinking, Platina, who had driven the butler away, sat down opposite Ritas again.

"I'm very sorry, Professor Elson, I made some mistakes earlier. However, I still want to make this question clear. Excuse me, are you a 'candidate'?"

"No need to answer directly, Satoshi. Just turn your face away and sneer. That will be enough."

Blocking out useless information from the Bathing Goddess, Ritas's brain worked rapidly.

In the current situation, even if bluffing works, he is really acting like an empty shell, and it is only a matter of time before he is exposed. Moreover, if he is just pretending to be deep as the goddess of the bath said, it is likely to make the result very bad. Because, if his behavior is considered "cheating", Platina will not tolerate such behavior, whether as the president of the Latras branch or a member of the mysterious organization.

"I am not a 'candidate', exactly."

After just a brief pause, Ritas gave his answer.

And after Platina's expression changed slightly and the Bathing Goddess uttered an "eh——" sound, he spoke again.

"However, depending on the circumstances, I could be a 'candidate'."

According to the development of the conversation, it is normal to judge that the so-called candidate is a candidate for "Star Priest".

Moreover, just hearing the name of "Star Priest" touched Platina, proving that although she was not a member of the "Forgotten Temple", she was very likely in a similar organization.

Moreover, although the term "Star Priest" is rare, it is not completely unheard of in the Kingdom of Libera where the church is prevalent. So, Platina did not think that Ritas's mention was not a coincidence or even a test from the beginning. There must be a reason.

It is very likely that Ritas had unknowingly acted like a "suspected" candidate for the Star Priest, which allowed Platina to identify him as the candidate in the first place.

So what actions of his are related to the "Star Priest"?
After much thought, Ritas thought it should be related to Noah Greens, the owner of the Star Mark Emblem.

There are multiple holders of the Star Mark Emblem, multiple organizations related to the "Star Priests", and there should be multiple "candidates".
In addition, the Chamber of Commerce and Engel took an attitude similar to protective observation towards Noah.
Ritas has connected these information clues together, and his inner anxiety has gradually turned into calmness.

"I can be a 'candidate'."

"Wow? Can I be one?"

After hearing Ritas's denial, Platina's slight nervousness quickly faded. Obviously, only a candidate for the Star Priest could make Platina wary, even if the candidate was not from her organization.

However, even if Ritas is not a candidate, he has obviously aroused Platina's interest.

"I guess your organization doesn't have any 'candidates' right now. And since you lost Noah Greens, it will be hard for you to find any more candidates in the future."

While steadily picking up the teacup and drinking tea, Ritas continued to speak calmly.

Just from his performance, he didn't seem like he was in a fog at all.

"So, the professor hopes to fill in this gap for us?"

After a moment's silence, Platina spoke again.

Ever since the conversation entered the "second stage", the previous harmonious and smooth atmosphere disappeared.

"As someone who took away the Chosen One himself, he still makes such a request to us. Depending on the situation, we might think that the professor is threatening us."

"It's not a threat."

Ritas's brain continued to work rapidly.

Star Selector.
Another unfamiliar term popped out of Platina's mouth. It was just as the goddess of the bath said, sometimes when faced with temptation, even cautious people would unconsciously say some information that was quite useful to the other party.

Obviously, the Star Chosen Ones are used to refer to star mark holders such as Noah and Merci.

Then next time, when facing other similar organizations, Ritas will have one more key word to use when testing.
No, now is not the time to think about this.

Ritas's previous words were purely speculative. So if the other party denied it, he only needed to admit that he was wrong, and there was no loss. On the contrary, if he had said the right thing about Platina's organization, he would be in an awkward situation now. Then, he needed to think carefully about what to say next.

"I just think that our cooperation is more beneficial to both sides. You should feel that although we met under the guidance of the Star Mark, there are great differences between our organization, the Church of the Bathing Goddess, and your organization. In other words, it is different from most star organizations."

The content of Ritas's words is actually very vague. When he encounters something that he cannot overcome, he either uses exaggerated rhetoric or simply adds the word "star" to cover it up.

Judging from the surface, Platina has not doubted his words yet.

“Our origins, development history and systems are all different. However, we are destined to return to the same sky.”

Ritas saw that Platina's eyebrows seemed to be slightly raised. It seemed that the sentence "return to the same sky" was not said very well.

However, it is not a big problem. After all, he emphasized that their systems are different, so some differences are reasonable.

"What you lack can be made up by me. And with your help, I can get what we want more easily."

The living room fell into silence again. In contrast to Platina who was in deep thought, Ritas remained calm.

The Bathing Goddess realized belatedly that Platina, whom Ritas was fooling, was most likely a high-ranking figure in a mysterious organization similar to the "Forgotten Temple". In other words, he was actually doing something very dangerous.

So, she suddenly became nervous and dared not breathe for fear of disturbing Ritas.

"It's no wonder your organization includes 'Goddess' in its name. It's hard to imagine this for us."

Is that so?
Ritas thought to himself that this was a close call.

If there had not been some preparation, many places would have been filled with traps and leaks.

However, he had noticed that the repeated "differences" had aroused Platina's suspicion.

"It is precisely because of our differences that we can both bring out what we have and complement each other. For example, compared to your organization, I think our advantage lies in the guidance and control of those 'Star Chosen'."

After thinking about it for a while, Ritas realized Platina's pain point.

Although they didn't know the specific reason, they must not dare to let the Star Mark holder awaken or run away without permission. Otherwise, they wouldn't have just stayed by Noah's side.

“Guidance and Constraint”

"As you can see, the results are as follows. Currently, the 'Bath Goddess Church' already has two Star Chosen Ones who can freely use the power of star patterns. Moreover, I think our system for cultivating Star Chosen Ones is also better."

After considering it again, Ritas decided to reveal more, or in other words, to show his "trump card" disguised as a small card.
"As a sign of sincerity for cooperation, I am willing to provide some information recorded in our heritage to enhance the power of the star pattern. I wonder if Ms. Platina has ever heard of 'Morning Rain Dew', 'World Tree Resin', and 'Fairy Scale Powder'."

After hearing what Ritas said, Platina's expression changed.

Although Ritas didn't know how much of the three things he mentioned were information they already knew, it was obvious that some of the "answers" were correct.

As a result, Platina's previous suspicion gradually dissipated. Ritas, a "candidate" from a different system, became more and more credible.

After some more conversation, the meeting was coming to an end.

"Please allow me to express my apologies again, Professor Elson. I am very sorry. Although I do not want to completely deny the professor's proposal, it is difficult for us to rely on these words at this stage."

Platina is obviously quite confused inside.

She thought that today she would just chat with a professor who was bored in the academy and played some detective games, and sell some unsold torture instruments. Unexpectedly, the professor came directly and said that he wanted to cooperate with them and be their "candidate".
Although Platina had doubts about Ritas due to the abnormal situation of two "Star Chosen" around him, it was really just some doubts.

She was not mentally prepared at all for the situation to develop into this.

"That's understandable. If Ms. Platina agrees readily, I will doubt your organization's sincerity."

Ritas said as he observed Platina.

He always felt like something was missing.

His performance should have impressed the unknown "Star Organization" that had problems with its development plan due to a sudden change. So, what was the problem?
After staring at Platina's troubled expression for a moment, Ritas suddenly realized something.

"The reason why I chose to cooperate with your organization is because Ms. Platina comes from the Latras Chamber of Commerce. I believe that as a businessman, Latras, who has a keen eye and unique vision, can discover the true value of the 'Bath Goddess Church'. You can understand that investing your property in me and my church is a matter of infinite benefits. Moreover, I don't mind adding another contract on top of the oath as a guarantee for our cooperation."

The problem is that even though he impressed the Star Organization, he failed to impress Platina and Latras.

After saying this, he felt that it was about enough.

"Thank you for your trust, Professor Elson."

Sure enough, Platina, who seemed a little hesitant before, had a little more brilliance of "Latras" in her eyes after hearing Ritas' words.

"If possible, I hope our next meeting can be in mid-August, in the middle of summer. It's not that we are being slack with potential collaborators, but I'm not the leader of the organization. And our leader is currently in a very far place, so it will take time for her to arrive in Spring City."

Platina opened the iron fan in her hand with a "swish" and regained her shopkeeper-like appearance, and suggested this.

"Waiting for good news."

Ritas nodded.

And after he stood up, before leaving he asked Platina another question.

"It suddenly occurred to me that I haven't asked for the name of your organization yet."

"'People of the Stars', this is the name of our organization, and it is also the identity and self-proclaimed name of us members."

The cooperation was almost done, but Ritas didn't even know the name of their organization.
This may sound a bit outrageous, but in Platina's opinion, this is proof that Ritas values the "Latras" brand more than the "People of the Stars" and that is why he seeks cooperation from them.

The academy's black carriage started slowly.

When the carriage passed through the East City, left Spring City, and stepped onto the forest path, Earls College was already in sight.
Ritas breathed a sigh of relief.

The bathing goddess, who seemed to be holding her breath in sync with Ritas, immediately made a series of noisy noises.

“Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey——what on earth have you done?! How come you’re almost collaborating with a mysterious organization?! Are you serious?! How come you’re still causing trouble while I’m watching you?!”

The goddess of bathing originally thought that Ritas was just a "candidate" and pretended to be profound and showed off in front of others. Unexpectedly, she completely underestimated Ritas.

"This, this, this, this. If the 'Star People' really list you as their 'candidate', what are you going to do? Are you going to become a star priest?"

Hearing the rather panicked voice of the Bathing Goddess, Ritas lowered his head in silence for a moment, then replied calmly,

"Isn't it good for me to be a star priest?"

Ritas, who found the goddess of the baths' panic quite interesting, added,
"Perhaps, Ritas Elson in the game world became a star priest after faking his death."

　When I was writing the title, I found that "星" and "里" look quite similar hhh
　　
　
(End of this chapter)