I answered the journalists' questions and checked the time.
Assuming Dasrothe would exploit the purification announcement, I considered the directions they might take.
First and foremost, from Dasrothe's perspective, they might think this:
'Is he pretending to be virtuous to cover up the controversy?'
Of course, they would emphasize that my intentions are not virtuous.
The best way to provoke public sentiment is to cast me as an outsider, and presenting unrealistic magical rewards with specific figures is a tactic Dasrothe might use.
Dasrothe is accustomed to exploiting every topic related to desires, including money, so it was likely they would target the rewards.
"I have a question."
"Yes."
"The Royal Investigation Bureau expressed its intention to investigate Dasrothe, and the Imperial Court immediately issued a search warrant. This is based on the claim that Dasrothe used photos of Prussian citizens unrelated to the interview to fabricate reports."
Although this question is not related to the purification topic, the aide wisely did not interrupt.
Here it comes.
Although the preemptive donation blocked one of their expected counterattacks, it couldn't end there.
Are they the type to back down just because they were slightly off in their prediction?
No. They could easily shift the focus from money to the affair.
'When they reveal the fabricated reports, it's over.'
I thought Bavaria's warning would come first, but this came up instead.
No matter. Both will have significant impacts.
I smiled and listened to the journalist's continued question.
"I wonder if this issue had to go as far as a search and seizure, and I am curious about the Imperial Court's response in issuing the warrant. Do you know if the Bavarian Kingdom and the Bavarian Federal Government were involved?"
It's a valid question.
To summarize, his question is this:
'The Royal family usually turns a blind eye to anything that doesn't harm them directly, so why are they conducting a search and seizure over just a few photos of commoners?'
Honestly, I wasn't certain the prosecutors—meaning the Royal family—would request a search warrant.
I don't act with certainty unless I can read someone's mind.
However, it's not unreasonable for the prosecution to consider a search warrant necessary.
Is it plausible that a news outlet, known for its fair and just evidence gathering, suddenly decided to fabricate reports on a grand scale this time?
'Not likely.'
Especially considering that the subject is Dasrothe, who has likely always manipulated information.
Of course, Dasrothe wouldn't want to hand over evidence of their history of fabrications, so they might destroy all records or move them to a safe place.
There's enough reason for a search warrant now.
So, let's think about this.
'Why are they reacting so strongly to an issue that doesn't directly concern the Royal family?'
Hasn't Dasrothe cleverly generated gossip about the Royal family or government officials in their reports over the past few years?
Of course, they have. They touch on anything with a hint of sensationalism.
They haven't gone to the extreme as they have with me, but they've always skirted regulations and avoided penalties by phrasing things as 'suspicions are being raised.'
'And those suspicions were all originally created by Dasrothe.'
While it might not have been a significant blow, the Royal family likely sees them as a subject to be closely monitored, a target that should be properly dealt with.
However, in a society where media and the Royal family often collude, they usually align their interests.
The Royal family has previously hinted at their targets to Dasrothe, guiding the situation to their favor.
So… cutting off their magic support would be a waste of a useful card, and simply warning them would be ineffective because Dasrothe knows the Royal family needs them as much as they need the Royal family.
Thus, the Royal family, seeing a good opportunity, gave a strong warning, showing their power without inflicting long-term damage.
The timing was right.
The Royal family wanted to give Dasrothe a meaningful warning, and I needed to prevent Dasrothe from reinforcing false rumors about an affair.
I finished my thoughts and answered the journalist's question.
"As you know, I am a citizen of Bavaria. I reported Dasrothe's fabricated interviews and photo materials to the Bavarian Investigation Bureau according to my nationality. I am not aware of the details beyond that."
Another journalist raised their hand.
"Including the interview and photos, a total of five people were featured in Dasrothe's report. The Imperial Times has already reported that there are recordings proving that three of these claims are false. Should we consider all of Dasrothe's claims as lies?"
This one is trying to confirm that all of Dasrothe's claims are false. I like their attitude.
I nodded and answered.
"Yes, absolutely. To reiterate, I have not been in any romantic relationship with anyone. This was true in the past and remains true now. The people Dasrothe featured in their materials are all individuals I have never even met."
At that moment, the atmosphere among the journalists changed.
It wasn't because of my words. They glanced at something written on a paper they had received and quickly spoke up.
"I have a question."
"Yes."
"Two minutes ago, the Bavarian Royal family warned that if Dasrothe continues to publish false articles attacking the Royal family's authority, they will permanently expel Dasrothe's Bavarian branch. Were you aware of this?"
Perfect timing.
Perhaps the Bavarian Royal family coordinated this to coincide with the Royal Investigation Bureau's actions.
With the blow dealt by the search and seizure, it's hard for Dasrothe to keep pushing the issue, and this firmly nails it down.
With Dasrothe's credibility now in question, the Bavarian Royal family's declaration effectively proves that all of Dasrothe's claims are false.
This concludes it completely.
I smiled under my mask and looked at the broadcasting cameras, ready to speak.
* * *
Ding―!
〈 Chapter 4. Constant dripping wears away a stone (2) 〉
Proposal 3: [Impression] Score 5 Defense (?/N) (107 hours 09 minutes 58 seconds)
* Route 1 — 〈 Chapter 5. Good Things Take Time (1) 〉
* Route 2 — 〈 Chapter 5. Do Not Praise the Day Before Evening Comes 〉
Congratulations!
Proposal 3: [Impression] Score 5 Defense success!
Confirmed: Route 1 — 〈 Chapter 5. Good Things Take Time (1) 〉
I lay back comfortably and looked at the status window.
107 hours is about 4.5 days.
The proposal ended in a little over two days.
Since it had an "N" written, I thought it would last the full week, but that wasn't the case.
And….
Yesterday, the last digits of the impression score were 2513.
Lucas Rene Askanian
Impression: -9.9 [+5.0025496]
Thanks to the purification report and the donation news being fully reported this morning, the score jumped almost tenfold.
Considering that the ending score was in the 15000s after the proposal appeared, it has risen even higher.
'Finishing early means there's no chance of the impression score dropping further within the week.'
With the preemptive donation, the search and seizure, and Bavaria's expulsion warning all happening at once, Dasrothe could no longer continue the issue.
Instead, they even published articles subtly praising me.
They must have figured that pursuing it further would cause more harm than gain.
'But that doesn't mean I should stop.'
No matter how long the legal battle takes, I will ensure those bastards are dealt with.
Of course, filing a lawsuit as Nicolaus would only lead to my information being exposed, so I'll proceed after revealing my identity as a student.
'Still, increasing the score isn't easy.'
Even after spending 4.2 billion, my score barely climbed to 6.
I closed my eyes and continued calculating in my head.
To raise my impression score by 4 more points, I'd need two or three more events like the live broadcast.
As the numbers get higher, it's increasingly difficult to boost them significantly, so expecting a 3-point jump from a single activity like before is unrealistic.
'If I'm going to put in the effort, I should build my image more meticulously.'
As long as I continue attending school looking normal, my brother's anxiety about Luca will inevitably grow.
I can't completely avoid school life as a student, so unless I drop out, "Luca" will be used up in the process.
Accepting the wariness towards Luca means I need to make Nicolaus even more secure.
At that moment, someone tapped the floor with their shoe.
Opening my eyes, I saw Leo standing by my head.
Not surprising. This is Leo's training ground, after all.
Leo gestured at me.
"Get up. Let's train."
"I'm sorry, but I came to tell you I can't."
"What? Why?"
Leo raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"There's a lot I need to think about."
"Think? You can think while training. I won't say anything today."
"..."
He increases the intensity of my training as my skills improve.
How can I think about other things during that? It's amazing he thinks it's possible.
Moreover, he always knows if I'm even slightly distracted during training and gives serious advice.
Now, it's obvious he's trying to coax me into training just because he wants to.
When I closed my eyes again without saying a word, Leo tried once more.
"We haven't trained in over four days because of the council and Dasrothe. If we don't, the hard-earned sense will fade. We need to practice consistently."
What do I expect from this magic-obsessed guy?
I stood up suddenly and leaned against the wall.
"Maintaining my sense is important, but I need to build up my stamina to think properly. Let's start again tomorrow."
"Well… too bad, but okay."
Leo, looking somewhat gaunt, sat down beside me.
It's nice to see his magic-obsessed face again after a while.
But I still don't feel like training.
Elias is still healing his leg, so he can't train….
"Train with Narce. He's good too."
"Hmm…."
Judging by his response, they haven't built that kind of rapport yet.
Naturally. Other than our secret meetings, they haven't done anything together, so they probably see each other as just classmates.
Come to think of it… being able to see others' favorability could be useful.
'…No, scratch that.'
I don't want a power that lets me see others' favorability.
It might be useful sometimes, but compared to Insight and such, it's relatively useless.
Insight would be more helpful in seeing favorability between others.
If you're going to give me something, give me Insight.
With that thought, I recalled who Leo trained with last year. Luca had no interest in how the class functioned, so no one came to mind.
"Who did you usually train with?"
"Just classmates, taking turns."
"Then call them today and train."
"Not necessary…. There's too much pointless conversation to endure outside of training. So, what are you thinking about that you need to rest?"
Most of their conversations are indeed trivial gossip or family talk.
I nodded and answered his question.
"I'm planning to build Nicolaus's achievements more meticulously. I need to plan it out in detail."
"You're trying to make Nicolaus like your brother, right?"
"Right. I need to build him up enough so that I won't be undermined no matter what my brother says later."
To do that, I need to lay a solid foundation.
Especially my still-flawed past and identification.
These parts need to be improved.
"By the way, it's already November 15th. What about the monthly evaluation?"
The school postponed it indefinitely, and it's been a week with no news.
Leo frowned.
"We're not supposed to talk about it until the day after tomorrow… but I guess you should know. Don't mention it to anyone until then."
"What is it?"
"They're sending the magic department to clear a lower restricted area before the festival."
"…Are they trying to get everyone killed?"
"…I wonder how the students would react if they knew the lowest scorer was dismissing them like this…."
Ignoring Leo's chuckle, I smiled.
That's just my surface score, anyway.
"So, why do I need to know this?"
"You'll need to have your core re-examined. I told the professor it would be pointless, but they want to check everyone. There's a lot of talk about the restricted area at the school, so they seem interested."
"Hmm…."
"Also, because of suitability issues, the schedule got messed up. They're discussing selecting students to send after testing them… but nothing's confirmed yet. Are you just going to drink the potion?"
"Of course."
It's a good opportunity.
I can definitively reveal the state of my core to my brother. While it won't completely reassure him, it will provide decent evidence.
I took Nicolaus's identification from my bag, which was thrown far away.
Though it's called an ID, it's more like a mage registration card.
[Nikolaus Karl Bernhard Yoon Ernst]
The long name made me chuckle involuntarily, but making unnecessarily long names is a noble trait.
I couldn't omit the Korean surname inserted in the middle because of the records from my first restricted area visit, so I included it as one of my middle names.
Of course, that's not the important part. What I wanted to check was this.
**Temporary Registration Card of the Royal Bavarian Magic Association**
**General Magic Level 5**
"Registered at level 5."
"Yes. All temporary registration levels are based on the median value."
I can't stay with a temporary registration forever.
The expiration date is the end of this year.
There are only about a month and three weeks left….
"I need to go now. Do you have time? If not, I'll go alone."
"What, right now? Are we just going?"
"It has to be now."
If the school checks my core, my brother will find out my core level.
By matching the timing of the core check with the ID issuance, I can partly avoid suspicion.
Suspicion from my brother, who sees Nicolaus as an object of observation.
The school probably wants to do some good by mobilizing students.
Thanks to that, I can blend in.