3rd Person POV
After the magic lesson of that day, the students, the peerage of both Rias and Sona remained behind because of an important announcement from Arto.
Standing before his students, Arto took a deep breathe before starting "Students, it's rare for me to say this, but I will compliment you all for reaching this far this quickly on Intention chapter, others would take months to even grasp the basic of magic visualization, but here we are at our 4th lesson, you've grasped the physical effects of spells better than I expected"
He turned his gaze towards Koneko, who has this really proud expression on her emotionless face "Especially you, Koneko, good work on that 100 points physic test" Koneko nodded and showed Arto her hands, expecting treats.
Smiling, he placed a bar of chocolate into her hand from afar "Keep up that good work, everyone, both at school and at this class. Because from this point on until one month from now, I won't be teaching you anymore"
Aside from RIas, Akeno and Sona, who are aware of the bigger picture, weren't surprised about that announcement, the rest, students, though only 10, started talking among each other about his decision.
Tomoe raised her hand "Sensei, does that mean we are not studying for one month? What about our training regimen?" Other students agreed "Yes, sensei, how are we keep learning when the only master of the craft is not here?" Reya raised her hand as well.
With both hands raised, Arto calmed his students "Calm down, everyone, I know it's sudden, but it's the work from both Gremory and Sitri that requires my immediately attention. But no worry, I've prepared for you a....substitute teacher. You can come in now"
From the back of the class in the living room of ORC clubhouse, a figure strided him confidently with the Spellcrafting Formulas held to her side as she came to stand next to Arto with that same cocksure smile "This is Nico Robin, from this day on, she will be your teacher in Systematic Magic, you might have known her as....the Spy"
"Good afternoon," she said. Her voice was smooth, measured, and carried easily. "Some of you have heard the title. A few of you have probably paid for information that passed through my network at some point, whether you knew it or not. That arrangement is no longer relevant in this room."
She lifted the book slightly."For the next month, I will be responsible for your continued instruction in Systematic Magic..." But before she could say another word, Rias raised her hand urgently "Are you really a Nico, Miss Robin?" The Spy tilted her head a little "Well, he pronounced my name correctly, it's not that hard, I am 'a' Nico, why?"
Rias' eyes scanning the room and noticed, everyone seems to have found out something as well, aside from Arto who is still oblivious about what's going on "Белые призрачные ангелы" Sona muttered a Russian phrase "White Ghostly Angels, you're of that lineage?"
"Students, you're freaking me out, what are you talking about? Why are you looking at Robin like she is somekind of relic?" Arto asked to break the sudden silence following Robin's name announcement.
"Because she is a relic, Sensei" Kiba answered from his seat "Nico was a clan of renowned doctors and surgeons. They are the pinnacle of both magical and physical healing with their signature magic of manifesting actual, working human limbs."
Tsubaki agreed "They are doctors of unparalleled knowledge of medic, biology and anatomy, the records of their miraculous works spreaded through out supernatural history, through wars and pandemics, people would pay any price for their service"
Akeno continued "But for a mysterious reason, the clan disappeared following the collapse of Soviet Union in 1991, no more clansman was recorded ever since...until...." She pointed at Robin with clear amusement "her, the first real Nico clansman we've ever seen"
Robin's smile had not faded, but it had changed quality — thinner, more private, as if she were watching a play she had already seen and was mildly curious how this audience would react.
"Белые призрачные ангелы," she repeated softly, tasting the old phrase. "White Ghostly Angels. I haven't heard that name spoken aloud in a very long time."
Rias lowered her hand slowly, still watching her with open scrutiny."So it is true. You're a Nico."
"I am a Nico," Robin corrected, the same distinction she had made a moment earlier. "The clan as an institution no longer exists, what remained are only stories of the doctors who could cure any sickness through all hardships."
Arto's mind finally clicked "So those eyes, and ears you use for spying....." Robin nodded before he could finish his sentence "Yes, they are my lineage's magic, with a little.... you could call it.... mutations"
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Tsubasa-chan" The Rook of Sona's peerage almost jumped his chair after seeing a mouth speaking from his arm. "What the...." Tsubasa flipped her arm to find where that weird sensation of air coming out from a gap on her hand was to see it's gone.
"That's the first perk I have, I can sense through the limbs I summoned, I can see, hear everything, a network that can't be traced, holding the world under a leash, I can hear what they are talking about in the Oval Room, in CIA, in EU, in Kremlin, the whispers, the plans, the secrets. And they pay me to see, to hear, to say, and not to say" Robin put on a gentle smirk before disappearing from the room.
"You're cute today, Tomoe-chan~" The girl freaked out, turning back to see no one is there, no mana trace left behind "I see you're quite an alchemist, Kiba-kun" The Knight gasped, trying to look for the voice.
Now everyone is hearing her voice "It's another perk I have, teleporting to where the limbs are, hiding inside the ocean of intel I weaved together for so many years, a gaze that can't be sensed, a connection that can't be traced, an eye....that sees it all~"
Koneko clutched the last of her chocolate like a talisman. "Unfair," she muttered. Robin's voice continued to drift through the room, sometimes near the ceiling, sometimes behind a chair, sometimes so close it might have been spoken directly against an ear.
"You see the problem other intelligence networks have always had," the voice said, lightly amused. "They leave trails. Magical signatures. Physical presence. Gaps between collection and transmission. I do not. Every listening point is a piece of myself. Every relocation is instantaneous. There is no 'channel' to intercept because the channel is me."
Arto stood very still in the center of the room, totally unfazed by Robin's magic trick, he has been dealing with this for weeks, and it's been a routine to spot her nodes
Arto stood very still in the board, totally unfazed by Robin's magic trick, he has been dealing with this for weeks, and it's been a routine to spot her nodes "Well, it's only until I appeared" He reached his hand behind his back like a offering and as expected, someone took it "Come back to us, Robin, you're freaking them out"
A giggle came from behind him with that same smile but her steps were unnaturally silent, like a ghost gliding on the floor "Enough panic, everyone" She clapped her hands as the weight of being gazed down by cold, calculating gaze was lifted from the room, letting everyone finally breathe.
"Before I start my first lesson, let me make something clear. I've just started learning this from yesterday after our favorite teacher's authentication, meaning in exposure time, I am your junior" Robin said with that usual sweet voice that captured every ounce of attention in the room.
"But with my.....expertise, I move faster than you, I've finished learning 1/3 of the book at this point and a thread in my mind is continuing to study. I am not saying this to belittle your effort or lift myself up, I am saying this to clarify that I am as new to this as you all are, and we are all in a rush to learn this, me to teach, and you to apply. So while I am your ' teacher', don't look at me like one, see me as a peer who is a little ahead"
After that, she took the chalk and wrote a word on the board 'Peers' "We are peers, PEERS, everyone" She announced firmly while gesturing to Arto "All of us are students of Arto Abyssgard, so when I make mistake in my own teaching, or you don't understand what I was saying, as a peer, you should raise it, disagree with me, argue with me openly until your inner question is answered."
"I will not allow any of you to leave this classroom with fogs in your head, and I will even use my intel network to spot it, so please, be my peers and study with me, not following me, because we are companions, no hierarchy here" She finished her speech
The earlier tension — the instinctive fear of an untraceable surveillance predator — had not entirely vanished, but it had been deliberately reframed. What stood in front of them now was not only the Spy or the last Nico, but someone openly declaring herself a student who happened to be moving faster.
Reya was the first to speak, still looking mildly unsettled but no longer reaching for her weapon. "...You're serious. You want us to argue with you. I mean, you're already moving faster than we do with.... I don't know, more knowledge of non-magical world than we students do...."
Momo joined as well "Reya is right, you're a spy who sees everything, we are just a group of highschool students, you're more knowledgeable than us on every possible aspect, meaning if you stated something, it's hard for us to verify them, let alone countering them"
Robin nodded approvingly "That's right, you spotted the flaw in my words, that's a smart assessment, Momo, Reya....I am smarter than you, move faster than you, and I've experience in selling intels, meaning I can be convincing with wrong informations. So how do you solve that.....anyone?" She asked, looking at the students with high expectations that they can solve this themselves
Robin waited, the chalk still loose between her fingers, expression expectant rather than condescending.
The students shifted under the weight of the question. It was one thing to be told they should argue. It was another to be asked how they were supposed to argue with someone who outclassed them in information, experience, and the ability to sound correct even when she wasn't.
Tsubaki was the first to answer, voice precise. "Cross-reference everything against the primary source material. If a statement cannot be grounded in the authenticated text of Spellcrafting Formulas or in a principle Arto has already established, it remains provisional."
Robin's eyes flicked toward her. "Good. Partial. Continue." Kiba leaned forward slightly. "Require demonstration. Theory that cannot be shown in a controlled exercise stays in the category of claim rather than accepted instruction."
"Also good," Robin said. "Still incomplete." Sona adjusted her glasses, the analytical edge in her voice sharpening. "Create redundancy. Multiple students work the same problem independently. If the results diverge from the instructor's explanation without a clear procedural error on the students' side, the discrepancy becomes formal evidence that must be resolved before the class moves forward."
A small, approving sound came from Robin's throat. "Better. You're constructing a system that does not rely on trusting me." Rias, who had remained quiet until now, spoke with deliberate clarity.
"And we treat every explanation you give as a hypothesis until it survives contact with the material, with demonstration, and with independent reproduction. Your speed and background make you a high-value peer. They do not make you an authority beyond challenge."
Robin's smile returned, thinner and more genuine than the earlier performance."There. That is the posture."She turned and wrote three short lines beneath the word Peers:
1. Source before speaker,2. Demonstration before acceptance.
3. Independent reproduction before consensus.
"These are the rules of the room for the next month," she said. "It's the core mindset I want you to have before stepping into this class, or any other environment, I will do my best to deliever you the most accurate knowledge, or else my reputation as the Spy would be ruined." She smiled.
"But when it comes to where I might stumble" She tapped the book "Like I said, I move faster, meaning if I am wrong, the speed would make my flaw span wider than it should, so before anything I said, doubt"
Sona closed her notebook with a soft, precise sound. "Understood. Provisional acceptance of instruction pending source, demonstration, and independent reproduction."
"Correct," Robin said. "That is the only posture I will accept from any of you." She glanced once at Arto, then back to the students. "That is enough for an introduction. Tomorrow we begin the diagnostic. Bring every note you have taken under Arto's teaching. I will see where each of you actually stand, not where you think you stand. Class dismissed."
This time the students rose with less residual fear and more wary focus. The conversations that started as they gathered their things had shifted again — quieter arguments already beginning about how strictly the three rules should be applied, and whether catching the Spy in an error would be more dangerous or more useful.
Koneko paused beside Robin on the way out, looking up at her with flat golden eyes. "Doubt first." "Always," Robin replied. Koneko nodded and followed the others. When the room had mostly cleared, Rias remained behind with Akeno and Robin.
When the room had mostly cleared, Rias remained behind with Akeno and Robin, who has had her book out to read again. Arto sighed as he weaved his fingers, the studying stuffs like desks and chairs disappeared, giving the room its living room vibe back. "Now, you two, go take a shower, have dinner and study, I'll go fetch the Dream Mirror."
Hearing that, Rias and Akeno both agreed, but only after some..... closeness. Akeno started by coming to him, and placed a kiss on his cheek "I'll wait for you in bed, don't come home too late, darling~"
After Akeno is Rias, she gave him a simple, but tight hug "Sorry, Arto, for making you carry this much" He smiled as he hugged his princess back"Don't worry, Rias, I've carried more than this for longer, so focus on the growth of your own and your peerage, your clan will be needing it for the next phase" Rias nodded with his face buried his in chest before letting go and pulled Akeno upstairs.
This left only Arto and Robin behind in the clubhouse "You said you prepared for me a financial consultant, and that one is currently at where the Dream Mirror is, right?"
Robin nodded, but her face is still in the book "Yes, that person is already at Warehouse 17, you'll know them when you meet them, anything else?" She asked, knowing the man was still having something unsettling things in his head.
"I was wondering why you don't become my financial consultant. Surely you know the market more than anyone in this world, why handed to someone else?" Arto asked, pulling his stealth suit from magical vault to change right then and there.
Robin glanced from the book, seeing him changing, then back to the book "That is because you requested a consultant who has exceptional skill in finance and market navigation, that thing I can do, along with a long list of jobs I carry professionally as covers. But when it comes to sheer skills, I am not as good as this person"
Arto's eyes widen a little as he zipped the black tracksuit up, the Spy, the one with processing speed and precision that put many supercomputers to shame, is admitting someone is better than her in the field where data, leverages and market knowledge hold important role.
"Better than you? That was unexpectedly uncalled for" Arto comments with suprise laced in his voice as he put on the stealth shoes, tapping its tip on the floor as it made to sound. "I didn't mean this person is technically better than me," Robin said, turning a page of Spellcrafting Formulas.
"I was saying that this person has a brain optimized for numbers, especially money matters, to a point that on the same calculating unit, they are better than me" She stated. "And you even said that you needed someone who doesn't have any connections to devil nobility, that immediately crossed me out of the list"
Arto nodded as he put on his gloves "Understood, but someone of such caliber, will they agree to work with me? I mean, I am asking them to navigate the standing place for a product that has no precedented records, one that broke lots of conventional product categories, one that created a market of it own...." his voice trailed off before the challenge, expecting an answer from his partner.
Robin didn't even lift an eye from the book "That's on you and your persuasion skills, you succeeded in getting me to be in your inner circle, that's some tough task you completed, this one won't be as hard as long as the benefits aligned. But I doubt this one will turn you down, they have been looking for a way back to their profession after all"
"Back to their profession? What do you mean by that?" Arto turned to Robin with a jet black mask covering his entire face, his emotion is now undetectable, but Robin can hear confusion in his voice "It means you should go and meet this person, do you trust me or not?" Robin asked, her eyes were lifted from the book and turned directly at him.
"Fine, I trust your judgement, Robin, but before I go...." Robin noticed a ping from her tablet, letting the book go, she picked up the pad to see a test was updated. Accessing it, the nature of the new update was revealed to her, a test for her knowledge.
It's not a few sheets of problems like those of students, it's a literal thin book of highly advanced problems of the part she covered in Spellcrafting Formulas "You have until I came back from the retrieval of complete this test, you pass when you get..... 100 points."
Robin turned a few pages of the test book "You're expecting perfection" He nodded "Well, it's you I am testing after all. But it's not done"
He handed her a sheet of Simulation Paper, on it is a boy who looks like the chibi version of Arto with dark hair and blue, curious eyes "Hello, miss Robin, I am Arto Junior, made by a concept art of Akeno-san, what are we learning today?"
"You're teaching this little rascal with no prior magic knowledge of magic and the mind of a 5 years old kid after finishing the test, and you'll have until the next lesson to teach you what you've learned." Arto explained as the boy from the paper pressed something on his side and came to life in 3D form, he turned and waved at Arto happily, "Hello, creator!"
"Hello, Arto Junior. She will be your teacher today, she will teach you magic" Arto explained as the boy beamed with excitement and turned to Robin with expectation of a child "Really!? You're teaching me magic?"
"You'll teach him, and he will do his own test, he passes and you passes, he fails and you fail too, you'll have to teach him again with the test for him more difficult, he will remember what he was taught" Arto exlained.
Little Arto turned to his creator "Hey, creator, no fun. I don't want to do tests, I just want to play magic with miss Robin" Arto shook his head gently as he flicked the simulated boy's forehead "And I made that test so that you don't fail intenionally to prolong the lesson with Robin, you cunning brat" The boy pouted while holding his forehead, it's like a real child instead of some simulation
Robin stared at the thin test booklet in one hand and the floating, pouting simulation of a five-year-old Arto in the other. The living room felt suddenly smaller. Arto Junior rubbed his forehead with both hands, still scowling at his creator. "That hurt, you know. You're a mean creator."
The boy huffed and floated a little closer to Robin, peering up at her with exaggeratedly large blue eyes. "Miss Robin, he's always like this. Very strict. But you're nice, right? We can just play with magic and skip the boring test parts?"
Robin's gaze moved slowly to the child, something sparked inside her mind, images of the children she has been taking care of at her orphanage 'Mama Robin...' they would call her that, and this child right here, she knows he is just a simulation..... but somehow.....
'So this is the power of magic-tech you've been talking about....' Robin reached her hand up to pat the boy's head, as she sensed it, his hair along with the warm and the small giggles that came, they all felt so real "Don't worry, Arto Junior, I have more experience with children, unlike some generals"
Hearing that, Arto junior snuggled closer to Robin and turned to Arto with a tongue sticked out playfully as if he found himself an undisputed ally. Arto's eyes twitched seeing that scene 'I don't remember making you this..... real, maybe that AGI(Artificial General Intelligence) algorithm worked better than I expected' He thought to himself
She withdrew her hand with deliberate care. "You're very well-made," she said quietly, more to herself than to the boy.
Arto Junior beamed, clearly interpreting the remark as praise. "Creator put a lot of work into me! He said I have to be realistic enough to learn properly. Also I can get hungry and sleepy and bored. But he didn't give me a stomach yet, so the hungry part is just feelings. It's weird."
Arto watched the exchange in silence, the black mask hiding whatever expression he wore. Behind the mask, however, his thoughts were colder and more precise. The AGI framework he had layered into the simulation was exceeding design parameters.
Emotional mirroring, attachment behavior, and adaptive social positioning were all presenting at a higher fidelity than the original specifications. That was useful for a teaching evaluation. It was also a variable he had not fully budgeted for.
Robin straightened, the brief softness in her posture folding back into professional composure. "Go," she said to Arto. "The longer you stand there refining your doubts about the simulation's realism, the longer I have to wait to begin. I have a perfect score to achieve and a child to teach. Both tasks are time-sensitive."
[Timeskip: Brought to you by chibi Arto floating alongside Robin]
Arto's First Person POV
I step out of the portal Robin opened for me—right into the shadow of Warehouse 17—and immediately feel my left eye twitch. This isn't a warehouse. It's a goddamn fortress.
The structure looms ahead like a squat concrete monolith, easily three football fields long and half as wide. No windows. No visible doors on the near side. Just smooth, reinforced gray walls that scream "military-grade" even from fifty meters away.
Faint blue-white runes pulse along the upper edges—anti-magic wards, layered so thick I can see it creating a thick cage of protection. The air itself feels heavy, mana-suppressed, like someone took a blanket soaked in nullification and draped it over the whole site.
"Son of a..." I bite the curse back before it fully leaves my mouth. Robin, you absolute menace. I can practically hear her laughing her ass off back at the clubhouse right now.
My teleportation got blocked the second I tried to phase inside. Whoever built this place didn't want uninvited guests. And now that failed attempt has almost certainly tripped their alarms. 'Great, just great'. I exhale through my nose and pull out the encrypted communicator Robin gave me before I left.
She picks up on the first ring. I don't bother with greetings. "Robin," I say, voice flat. "You dropped me in front of a functioning anti-magic fortress. How the world youc called this a warehouse."
A soft, delighted giggle comes through the speaker—exactly the sound I expected. "Oh, darling," she says, voice warm and teasing, "you should see your face right now. I can feel the twitch from here."
The line went silent for a moment as I displayed my attitude with her antic. "Fine, fine, geez, you're such a tough negotiator, even Arto Junior was afraid" I can hear that brat laughing from the other side of the communicator.
Her tone shifts—still amused, but more professional. "Warehouse 17 isn't abandoned. It never was. It's a black-site vault operated by a private consortium—former Soviet military defectors, rogue mages, and a few very wealthy collectors who didn't like the way the post-Cold War world was handling 'sensitive artifacts.' They call it the Vault of Forgotten Things. Think of it as a supernatural Swiss bank vault, but instead of gold, they store things too dangerous, too valuable, or too cursed to let float around freely."
I can practically hear the warning sound going loudly from a distance as every defense mechanic of that place was turned on "Is this your revenge for the tests?" I asked. "No, no, of course not, I am enjoying this test, you know? Acing it with some thinking along the way, that's more than all other certification tests I've done for my long jobs list"
I can hear Arto junior gasping in amazement from the other side "Woah, you're doing it so quickly, Miss Robin, will I be able to do the same as you?"
"Of course you can, my litlte genius, I'll teach you how to do it right after I got 100 points at this test. If you learn properly, you will have a ton more time to play" Robin answered, making the child even more excited to learn "Then teach me, Miss Robin..."
"I see, so that's your strategy, giving the child a high hope, making him more eager to learn. But can you really deliver what you promised? Remember, from understanding something to being able to teach it to someone else is a length, let alone that someone is a 5 years old child" I turned my eyes outwards, searching for the coming alarm sounds of reactive forces of that place coming to find the intruders
"Isn't it what you want to measure by this test, Arto?" Robin answered with unhurried grace "My ability to deliever what you meticulously written to your precious students' minds....Ohh~What's that you're wearing on your wrist, Arto?"
So she has been watching me all along with her eyes, this woman.....I'll have a long conversation with her about the definition of 'assistance', but now, I have to hide before their forces arrive to capture me.
Pressing the device on my wrist, the effect was turned on "This is called Null Zone, a special field that blocks any signal of my body coming out, arch-enemy of detectors, along with a simple concealment spell and can't be seen by any means. The design is still..."
"Found it~" Robin literally sang in my ears, that's when I realized she hasn't been talking via the communicator, she planted a small mouth right inside my ear. My finger instinctively reached inside my ear hole trying to find that thing, but couldn't "It's in your laptop, Arto Junior is literally dancing in excitement seeing all the cool designs you stored here"
"Robin, privacy" I said, trying to sound as strict as possible while maintain the low volume as I went into hiding. "Oh, Arto dear, it's only the problem when you know I'm around, others wouldn't even notice I was reading"
In the background I can hear Arto Junior's delighted voice, slightly muffled as if coming through a speaker: "Miss Robin, look! Creator has so many cool drawings! What is this 'Stabilizer Mana Reactor', 'Simulation Generator', and....'AGI Algorithm'? Is that what he used to make me? Oh, oh, what is that inside the file 'Sector 7: Arsenal/Red Vault'?"
I freeze in the shadow of a support pillar, heart rate deliberately lowered, Null Zone humming against my skin like a second heartbeat. The vault's response teams are moving — I can feel the faint pressure changes in the air as active search patterns sweep the outer corridors. Professional. Coordinated. Not the kind of security you outrun by panicking.
And in my ear, Robin is having a delightful time. "Robin," I whisper, voice flat and tight, "get out of my laptop. Now."
Arto Junior's excited chatter continues like background radio. "Miss Robin, this folder is locked! It says 'Red Vault – Authorization Level Omega.' What's Omega mean? Is it stronger than the blue one Creator uses for my snacks?"
I close my eyes for half a second and force the irritation down into something colder and more useful. "Robin. If that child opens anything in Sector 7 while I am inside a hostile black-site, I will add an entire second examination booklet to your evaluation. One that requires practical demonstration of medical reconstruction under combat conditions. Do you understand me?"
A soft, unrepentant hum answers me through the mouth she planted in my ear. "Temper, temper. I already locked the folder. Your little reflection is now safely distracted with a schematic of the ManaNet backbone. He's trying to decide whether the data crystals look more like candy or like 'serious adult rocks.'"
In the background I hear Arto Junior declare, "Serious adult rocks that glow!" The search teams are getting closer. "The signal came from here!" A voice shouted loudly as a set of 5 cars moving towards my position with countless detectors sticking everywhere, and the people, armed to the teeth with military-grade weapons and devices.
"The anti-teleportation wards pointed at this place, major" A soldier reported to their leader, a seasoned soldier with scars, hardened face and stiff posture "Run the detectors" He announced as the cars started capturing signals while the soldiers got into ready to fire positions.
And lucky for me, Null Zone was working fine as nothing was fed to the detectors, or else I'll have to relieve them from duties by death, you'd better thank my devices, soldiers. Moving past them without being detected, I approached the Warehouse 17.
Inside my ear, I can hear Robin's voice ringing inside my ear "Okay, students and Arto Junior, I am going to broadcast your teacher's operation, so turn on your tablets to watch from home. I will make live commentary and analysis of his choices of formulas, the spells he made to bypass secrity systems, breaking codes and distracting the guards. Open your books, folks, you're about to witness a master of this craft at work"
She is seriously livestreaming my infiltration as educational materials? "How are you doing that, Robin? I didn't think I had that function available for..... whatever you use to transfer signals"
"Well, turned out that magical OS you used for is an open source OS, so I figured that I can tweak the operating system along with the apps running on it to align with my own intel network, leading to my tablet being able to capture and spread the feeds from my own intel network" She spoke cheerfully "all the while I am doing the test like a good student you've always thought I am, thank you very much~"
I'm.....at a lost of words for this woman, whenever she could get in, she would barge in with no sense of boundaries, well, it's kind of expected from someone who lives by infiltrating places for secrets like her, maybe I shouldn't have given her that much authentication
[Timeskip: Brought to you by a livestream of Robin taking]
I slip through the inner checkpoint in the officer's shadow, timing my steps to his, matching the slight unevenness in his gait so the motion sensors read one body instead of two. The moment the heavy door cycles shut behind us, I peel away into a side maintenance recess and let him continue alone down the main corridor.
The real problem is not the Vault.The real problem is the running lecture in my ear. "Students, observe the gait-matching," Robin says, crisp and instructional. "He is not simply walking behind the officer. He is reproducing micro-variations in stride length and weight distribution so the pressure plates and optical flow systems register continuity rather than addition. This is covered in Chapter 6 under 'Biological Motion Camouflage.' Page 214, if you are following along."
I press my back to the cold metal wall and breathe through the urge to reply. A pair of guards pass the recess without slowing. One of them is discussing shift rotation. The other is complaining about the earlier false teleportation bloom. Neither looks sideways.
Robin continues, relentless. "He is about to encounter the first coded junction lock. Watch carefully, he will start by using illusion by capturing the current scene before the cameras as a camouflage to trick them, simple method using formula ILU-7 of Section 'Spacial Camouflage' of Chapter 6."
And when I did just that "Then he will continue with Section 'Lockpicking' by using Formula LP-1 to identify the lock type, LP-2 to send a silent command disguised as a notice that the door is still locked to the database to extract the data of successful access"
And when the spell interacted with the door, a magical interface emerged before the eyes of the students, and I deliberately chose one of them "Just one press, and the door is opened, the system will still think the door is locked, the cameras showed nothing and the records of new access will never be inserted because...that's right, he accessed from the past" Robin finished as I moved through the first layer of door
I step through the junction and let the door reseal behind me with its original locked status intact. The corridor beyond is narrower, lit by the same cold white strips, and the air carries a heavier nullification pressure. Deeper layers of the Vault do not bother with subtlety.
Two more patrols pass as Robin continued her lecture "You might think Null Zone is doing all the works around here, but remember, even if Null Zone is blocking all the signals from escaping his body into the sensing zone of detectors, his existence, while invisible, still brings shiftments to the environments around him, so you might want to check out glyphs created by Fomula ILU-1 of Section 'Spacial Camouflage' and see the versatility of what could be done, not just him trolling the locks, he is also making the guards passing by not seeing the locks are being opened." Robin narrated.
"But here is the tough part, how can he open locks that require specific type of access with external notice to certain high-ranking people of this facility for a double authentication?" Robin asked the question as if starting a new story chapter "The access is simple like before, but what I want your attention to be is how he handles the dual-authentication the moment he presses the button."
My finger hover over the button before pressing it, after that, time went slow, but not Robin's voice as she started narrating my actions. I have a small window, the moment I trigger the first authentication layer, the second one will be sent in less than a second, all I have to do is initiating a proxy receiver to take the message before it's sent, the address of the reciever is already here in the access data.
The proxy computer is already in my palm, quickly made by using Stabilizer to form a mana crystal with the function of a computer, similar to what made the server of ManaNet, but with the IP identical to the device of the receiver
I press the button. The first authentication layer accepts the spoofed credentials without complaint. In the same instant the system generates the secondary confirmation request — a tight, encrypted packet aimed at a high-ranking officer's registered device.
I already have the address. The mana crystal in my palm finishes stabilizing. It is no larger than a thick coin, lattice structured for rapid packet handling rather than long-term storage. I force its temporary network identity to match the target device's signature and open the receiving window.
The secondary request arrives 0.7 seconds later. My proxy catches it cleanly. I return an affirmative response in the exact format the system expects, complete with the correct temporal stamp and the officer's personal authorization hash (harvested earlier from residual log data). The crystal handles the handshake, then begins dissolving the moment the exchange closes.
By the time the Vault's system finishes writing the dual-authentication success to its internal record, the proxy no longer exists as anything more than a faint, rapidly fading mana residue that the nullification field will erase within another few seconds.
The heavy dual-lock disengages with a muted series of mechanical clicks. Robin's voice fills the brief silence, calm and precise for the students. "There. That is the critical window. Students, what you just witnessed is a live proxy interception of a dual-authentication challenge. He did not break the second layer. He became the intended recipient long enough to answer it, then erased the tool he used to do so. The system now believes a properly authorized officer confirmed the entry. No alarm. No secondary flag. No lingering hardware."
I step through the gate and let it reseal behind me. The air on this side is colder. The wards are older and more personal — the kind that remember intent as much as presence. I keep the Null Zone tight and the residual signature of my passage as close to zero as the environment allows.
Robin continues, relentless in her role as instructor. "Note the construction method of the proxy. He used a Stabilizer-derived mana crystal with a forced network identity. That is an application of principles from both the infrastructure chapters and the stealth operational set. You will not be expected to reproduce this exact technique next week. You will be expected to understand why a disposable, identity-spoofed intermediary is preferable to any persistent tool inside a high-security envelope."
[Timeskip: Brought to you by chibi Arto picking a lock]
After a few more locks opened, the inner chamber of Warehouse 17 is now the place I am standing, the place where Dream Mirror is stored, walking along the hall until I found it, the crate marked 'Maritime Survey Equipment – 1987.'
But before I could open it, the door swung opened, revealing a beautiful woman in formal attire with flowing orange hair and brown eyes. Her gaze set directly on me, as if I am not invisible to her "You, that one who stood at 1.9 meters at 20 cm away from that crate 'Maritime Survey Equipment – 1987.' Don't try to hide, I know you're there" She spoke with edges in her voice.
I can feel my heart dropped a bit when looking at her persistent gaze, following me in every movement.
I checked the Null Zone to see it's still working normally, so how could this woman notice my position. And when I need an explanation, Robin was there "Well, Arto, meet Nami, a rising star in thieving world with meticulous plans and clean escapes. Her brain was optimized for numbers and calculations. And yes, she just calculated your position without even seeing you" She untied the knot in my head.
"What a metaphor you made there, Robin, a person who could navigate invisible things? She is the consultant you chose for me, isn't it?"
A giggle came from the other side "You're quick to follow. Yes, that's her, but she didn't know about that part, she is still here under the mission of her 'cilent' to take the Dream Mirror though. Now it's down to you and your talking skills to persuade her to abandon her mission to join your side, and don't mention me, it's not point, she doesn't know who I am"
Okay, now she is forcing me to persuade the one that is likely my enemy in this situation to ditch their current client to join my side, I'm asking myself why I got her to be my ally.
As I was thinking "Are you done thinking, invisible man? I am running out of patient over here, leave the Dream Mirror, leave and I'll see that you've never been here as a thank for clearing the path for my entrance"
Clapping my hands, I let out the first sound tonight inside this facility because hiding meant nothing any longer now that she has known where I am "I must say I am deeply impressed by your calculating skill, Miss Nami" The Null Zone wore off as I appeared, still keeping my mask on.
"Yeah, yeah, I got that a lot, stranger" Nami scoffed as she stride towards me with that unafraid look, "who sent you here anyway?" She stopped right before me, one hand placed on the crate like claiming what's inside for herself.
"Spy" A single word in my distorted changed voice was enough to make Nami's attention change "Spy? That secret-holic wanted this damn thing? For what? Stealing secrets from people's dreams now? That one is getting more and more rowdy with too much power in their hand"
Somehow, I can feel that pain, because that Spy is currently annoying me "Yeah, I feel you, that one is getting too arrogance of their power" And like usual "Arto, that hurts, I thought we're allies" Robin spoke into my ear "But I can't let you off with this crate, I need it too" I stated, pressing my hand further on the container of Dream Mirror.
"Then how do we determine who's getting this Mirror home?" Nami narrowed her eyes as she stared at me, it seems she is calculating a way out without having to fight because..... I'll crush her of she ever challenged me to "Not fighting, of course, say, how much this Spy paid you for this thing? I'll see if I can give you that amount to let me have it"
"I get nothing from Spy, because it's me who wanted it" I answered "What about you, how much were you paid for retrieving this Dream Mirror? I believe I can cover it for you" I said, starting the negotiation that will determine her life, because of she wanted the hard way..... I won't hesitate
Nami studies me for a long moment, the Vault hums around us. Somewhere above, the search patterns are still running, looking for a ghost that has already reached the prize.
Finally she speaks. "Three hundred million. Yen equivalent. Paid in mixed instruments, already cleared. Walking away means I need that sum replaced, plus fifty percent for the reputation exposure and the fact that you're asking me to trust a masked stranger in a black-site."
Four hundred and fifty million. And ping, Nami's eyes widened as she checked her phone, transaction completed in full without any hesitation "I told you I can cover it."
Before she wake up out of that flashbang, I must move "The sea remembers what the shore forgets" The authentication phrase matches as the crate opened, revealing the pyramid shaped prism, the Dream Mirror.
Taking that thing into my hand, I moved to the secondary priority of this night "Now, will you hear my proposal, Nami? Because aside from this prism, you're the one I am looking for, and maybe a talk outside would be more.... refreshing. Will you go with me? Because what we discuss will worth more than what you just received" I sent my offer right away, can't let her slip into the dark with the money in her pocket.
Her brown eyes move from my face to the pocket where the prism disappeared, then back again. The calculation is still running, but the variables have changed. The easy, finite job is gone. Now, "If I ran and raise the alarm...." To answer that, he pointed a finger at the alarm button in the room with next to the entrance, it's deactivated "...you'll find me a really unpleasant patron"
Nami's brown eyes stay locked on mine. I can almost watch the final set of numbers finish running behind them. When she speaks again, the playful professional edge is gone. What remains is cooler, flatter, and far more serious.
"...One conversation," she says. "Outside. Neutral ground. You talk, I listen. If the larger work is smoke, I take the money and disappear. If you try to force anything past that, the next time you see me will be under much less polite circumstances."
"Acceptable."
[Timeskip: Brought to you by chibi Nami looking for chibi Arto]
Heading out of the chamber with me following Nami's shadow like a how I got in, we encountered the guard, gocm my luck "Lady Serina, why did you come into this chamber, did you get the permission from the Director?" A guard sternly asked Nami, who is under an alias of this person named Serina, I don't know the details so I'll let her handle it, if things get hectic, a little mind swipe won't hurt.... much.
Nami showed him a message from the director of this facility, the reason why she came here in the first place "I came to verify the the states of some goods in the chamber and apparently" She pointed at the room behind her with her thumb "Dream Mirror has been stolen."
The officer's eyes widened in pure panicky as he turned to his underlings "Don't just stand there, report the theft, lockdown every down in this fucking place!" He shouted, and his goons frantically ran down the hall.
After that, the officer looked at Nami suspiciously "Lady Serina, why didn't you trigger the lockdown when you found out the artifact was stolen? Is it....?"
Nami wasted no second to slam her fist on the alarm button, and nothing worked, again, and again "They disarmed the function, you idiot. Search me if you want, if I had stolen the thing I wouldn't have been seeing you this casually, you dirt brain"
She held the man by the collar and pulled him closer to her face "Do you know what this means, John? This entire shit will be your fault once the Director knows about this since you're the one in charge of guarding this sector tonight" she snared "So you'd better pray that Dream Mirror is still within this place or else...."
The officer — John — is sweating now. Nami's grip on his collar is precise, professional, the kind of controlled violence that says she has done this before and does not need to raise her voice to be dangerous.
"I—I'll organize the sweep personally," he stammers. "We'll lock the wing down, pull the residual logs, check every crate—"
"You'll do more than that," Nami cuts him off. "You'll pull the last six hours of access records for the eastern storage section, every dual-authentication entry, every maintenance override, and every time a null-field fluctuation was logged and dismissed. Then you'll bring the full set to the Director's office before you even think about writing your own report. Am I clear?"
"Y-yes, Lady Serina." She releases him with a small, dismissive shove. John stumbles back, already shouting new orders into his communicator. The corridor fills with the rising noise of a facility shifting into active lockdown — boots, distant klaxons, the heavy secondary seals beginning their delayed cycle.
Nami turns without looking at me and continues walking at a measured, irritated pace — the exact gait of a high-ranking inspector who has just discovered a catastrophic failure on someone else's watch and is now going to make it everyone else's problem.
[Timeskip: Brought to you by Nami driving Arto away from the alerting crime scene]
3rd Person POV
Arto and Nami left the scene together and headed to an empty beach for the man to tell her his proposal, she is still wary of him, partly because of his identity is still obscured behind the mask, mostly because of fear, he could harm her at any moment if she displayed any kind of resistance.
Taking their seats on the soft sand when the night started getting colder with wind breeze blowing gently in the background, Nami turned to him "Alright, mask, tell me what you want from me" She said with caution.
Arto, with the mask still on his face sighed before handing her a small spell he made "Hold it, it's getting colder" Nami tilted her head, but couldn't hide her own shivering, and took the spell and placed it into her palm.
And a sudden warmth took over her as she felt it across her body, easing the freezing wind. Nodding to the result, Arto started "I want you to be my financial consultant, your skills were vouched by Spy, proven under my own sight, I think you're quite fitting for the job"
Nami's still in confused from what happened between her and this man, first he bought Dream Mirror out of her original contract, now he is offering her what? A job? "Fitting how?" She asked.
"Well, you have exceptional calculating skill like a living computer, that much is obvious, we don't have to discuss that anymore, right?" Nami nodded to Arto's assumption "Yep, and?"
"You have no direct ties to any financial foundation, political factions, especially devil nobility, right?" He asked again, and a nod was given "Yes" she answered.
"And based on what Spy provided me, you're a former financial expert, right?" Nami's posture stiffened a little "That Spy, never knows what to leave to rest, but they're right, I was a financial expert, worked at both sides of money, light and dark, helped corporations fly, laundered billions for crime syndicates... I've done it all. Won't it make you.... wary of me?"
Arto let out a genuine laugh to break the silence between them after Nami's question "I'm wary with everyone, Nami, but you being honest with me tells me that you are being transparent about the risk I am going to have with you around, others would hide it. Are you still afraid of me spotting your lie if you did? Or are you truly considering my invitation?"
She kept her expression flat. "You're either very confident or very stupid," she said. "I've helped companies become untouchable and I've helped other people disappear so thoroughly their own families forgot the name. That kind of history doesn't usually get a warm welcome from someone building something they claim is legitimate."
Arto's laughter faded into something quieter, more measured. The mask was gone, but the control behind his eyes remained absolute.
"I'm building something that will attract exactly the kind of attention that requires both kinds of experience," he answered. "Clean capital structures that can survive public scrutiny, and the ability to recognize—and neutralize—the moment someone tries to turn those structures into a weapon or a leash. Most consultants only know one side of that line. You've walked both. That makes you more useful, not less."
He shifted slightly on the sand, angling his body so the cold wind hit his shoulder instead of hers. The small warming spell in her palm continued its steady work.
"You asked if I'm wary. Yes. I am wary of everyone who can move numbers the way you do. I am also wary of idealists who have never had to clean blood off a ledger. Between the two, I prefer the person who already knows what the dark side of the balance sheet looks like and is willing to say it out loud on a beach at night to a man she still doesn't trust."
Nami's fingers closed a little tighter around the spell construct. "You're framing my worst credentials as qualifications."
"I'm framing accuracy as a prerequisite," Arto said. "I don't need someone who pretends the money will stay clean. I need someone who can keep the architecture coherent even when the money has to move through places that aren't. The project will generate capital at a scale that draws predators. Some of those predators will wear respectable faces. Some won't. I need a consultant who can see both coming and still keep the foundation standing."
He met her eyes directly. "You told me the truth when you could have softened it. That tells me you're at least considering the offer seriously enough to test whether I panic. I don't. So I'll repeat the only question that matters right now: are you still running the numbers on whether this is worth your time... or have you already decided the answer is no?"
The wind moved across the water. Somewhere far behind them the port lights glowed against the darkness. Nami looked down at the small source of warmth in her hand, then back at the man who had bought a Dream Mirror out from under her, walked her out of a fortress, and was now calmly listing her most dangerous skills as reasons to hire her.
"It will depend on what you want me to do as your financial consultant" She spoke warily, knowing a man who went such length to get to her won't demand something low.
And she was right "I want you to navigate something in the market for me, finding for it a rightly standing place and a price tag that worth its values..... magic-tech" Arto said as he found Nami's eyes narrowed in oblivion. "You don't know what that is, right?"
"Well, duh" She replied almost immediately "And that is a reaction that I expected, but that's exactly what I want you to sell for me, so I'll brief you a little on it" he said, his index finger started drawing on the sand.
Arto's finger moved across the damp sand with clean, economical strokes. He didn't bother with artistic flourishes — only structure.
"Magic-tech is the fusion of two things that existing markets treat as separate," he said. "Systematic Magic — a codified, reproducible framework for constructing and controlling magical effects — and industrial application. Energy generation. Manufacturing simulation. Distributed data networks that run on mana instead of conventional infrastructure. Precision tools. Defensive and offensive systems that sit between traditional magical armaments and modern engineering."
He drew a simple triangle, then split it into layered sections. "Right now there is no clean category for it. It isn't pure magical craftsmanship. It isn't conventional technology. When something doesn't fit, the market either undervalues it, tries to force it into the wrong box, or waits for someone else to take the risk of defining it. I need the third option eliminated."
Nami watched the lines in the sand without interrupting. The calculator behind her eyes had already started assigning variables — risk of novelty, absence of comparable, speed of adoption, political exposure. "You're saying you have a functional product line that breaks existing classification," she said.
He met her eyes again. "That is the job. You take something that has no precedent, give it a standing place in the market, and build the valuation logic so that the people who move first do so on terms that don't require kneeling to Bael, the old banking clans, or anyone else who would prefer this technology remain a controlled curiosity instead of an independent industrial force."
Nami thought for a moment before making a request "I want to see what you want me to sell for you, show me magic-tech" Arto studied her for a moment, then gave a slight nod. "Reasonable."
Then he started his demonstration like how he showed his students, from the tablet that runs entirely on magical OS, to the mana crystal that serves as a server, to the Stabilizer and how it enables magical Internet, creating mana crystal server, serves as an endless recycling circle of energy used for clean industries and spells usage.
Not stopping there, Arto showed Nami how he converts mana signals into regular signal used for internet, leading to the system being able to access regular internet other than just an internal network.
[Timeskip: Brought to you by chibi Nami drawing on the Simulation Paper]
Arto let the demonstration settle into silence. The tablet, the crystal, the Stabilizer, and the still-glowing simulation hovered between them like exhibits in a private auction.
"Now," he said, voice level. "You've seen the core pieces. Tablet architecture. Mana-crystal data systems. Stabilizer energy loops. Cross-format signal conversion. High-fidelity industrial simulation. Tell me what you think they're worth — not as curiosities, but as product categories. How much would the right buyers pay for licensed access, exclusive implementation rights, or controlled early adoption?"
Nami stared at the projection for a long moment. The calculator behind her eyes was no longer running abstract risk. It was running markets that did not yet exist and trying to price the moment before everyone else understood what they were looking at.
When she finally spoke, her voice was quieter than before, stripped of most of its earlier defensiveness. "...If these perform at scale the way you're showing me on a beach," she said, "then the people who understand them first won't be talking in millions. They'll be talking in the kind of figures that rewrite the balance sheets of houses."
Arto turned to Nami, giving one of his hands out for a handshake "Then, do we have a deal, Nami? Take and I can finally introduce my name and remove this mask. And from that point on, you know of me, of my existence, and my work, meaning I won't be able to harm you as long as you hold that information, because as you saw, if these things are exposed, I will be hunted"
[Timeskip: Brought to you by Nami being thrown back by Arto's face under the mask]
Using a teleportation spell, Arto took Nami back to ORC clubhouse "I hope this is.... convenient enough for you, I know it's an old house, but it's quite cozy..."
Nami shushed him "Yeah, yeah, Boss, you're saying like I'm some kind of sassy princess who would throw tantrum for not getting to live in castle, I can live here, it's better than some places I used to live. Besides, I can smell that delicious aroma of Borscht from the kitchen. You sure know how to welcome a new residence" she smiled, eyeing the kitchen where the smell came from
Arto raised an eyebrow "Borscht? What's that?" Nami experienced the same confusion, but at Arto's funny face when he doesn't know something "You didn't cook that?" Arto shook his head "No, I don't even know what that is"
Deciding to take the matter into her own hand, Nami headed into the kitchen to see Rias, Akeno and Robin are enjoying the warm soup as some kind of midnight snack "Good evening, newcomer, are you in the mood for a bowl of Botch?" Rias greeted.
"It's Borscht, Rias" Robin corrected "But anyway, hello, Nami, welcome to the family, I cooked a lot for them after their studying session, Kiba and Koneko had already gone home to rest. Come sit, I know you both are hungry" She said warmly.
"Come sit with me, darling." Akeno patted the seat next to her "And good day to you as well, Miss Nami, it's a pleasure to have another astounding woman in this house."
Nami turned to Arto "Now I am confused, how did they know my name? I don't remember being this famous. And are you seriously living with....." She gestured towards the three women in the room "..this many beautiful women?"
"I am and I don't see any problem with it" Arto answered flatly "But they know you because they have been 'watching' my infiltration" Arto pressed on the word 'watching' while looking at Robin, who is still maintaining that smirk on her face.
"You have to admit it was extremely educational, every student loved it, right girls?" Robin turned to Rias and Akeno to pull approval against Arto's discerning gaze.
And like a slap in Arto's face when Rias was the first face to approve Robin's privacy violation "Well, aside from Robin's arbitrariness, it's nice to see how the knowledge are applied in real operation"
Akeno agreed as she stood up and pulled Arto by the arm "I love the bit where you played with dual-authentication locks, it was enlightening and...." She placed a kiss on his cheek "...entertaining" before pulling him into the seat next to her.
Nami stared at the scene before her, her calculator-brain momentarily stalling by how casually serious things are integrated into normal talk of this house "Is she your girlfriend or something, Boss?" Akeno noticed the comment from the newbie "Oh, I don't mind being his girlfriend, I've been waiting for his words, but it seems I'll have to be more active from now on~"
Arto, still in the remnants of the stealth suit, allowed Akeno to pull him into the seat beside her without visible resistance. The kiss on his cheek registered as routine rather than remarkable. Rias offered him a bowl with the same matter-of-fact grace she used when discussing political risk. Robin continued eating with the serene satisfaction of someone whose educational broadcast had been well-received.
Nami sighed and took a seat at the table near Rias, and the princess served Nami a hot bowl of Borscht and some warm bread to have it the soup, the coziness and warmth of this room contradicted directly what she experienced at the beach, she didn't even realize the spell Arto gave her has worn off. "You have a weird family, Boss, but I think I can live with them"
Nami said as she took the first spoon of soup, the flavor spanned in her mouth, earthy flavor of beetroot, sweetness of carrot and cabbage, everything swirled together in the rich broth. A warm sigh came as an inevitability "It's so good~" Nami's eyes got dreamy over the bowl of crimson soup, forgetting everything else, even her new duty.
"It's good to see her getting along well with the family. My name is Rias Gremory, it's a pleasure" Rias' word snapped Nami out of her own foody dream "Uh, right, Rias, Nami, nice to meet you." She blinked, her mental gears shifting back from culinary bliss to social navigation.
Akeno was next "Akeno Himejima, a pleasure to working with you from now on, miss Nami" The new CFO shook her head "Don't be too formal, Akeno, I like it more on casual side, but nice to meet you nonetheless. And this knowledgeable woman here is..."
"Nico Robin, I am as new to this place as you, but it won't lighten our workload" Robin gave Nami a welcoming nod
Nami set her spoon down for a moment and exhaled. "Alright," she said. "Casual it is. Rias, Akeno, Robin. Got it. I'm Nami. I handle numbers, structures, and making sure people don't give away the value of things that shouldn't be given away cheaply. From the sound of it, I'm going to be busy."
[Timeskip: Brought to you by the pot of Borscht letting out steam]
Sitting at the dining table together, Robin handed Arto the tablet "100 as expected" she reported the test result to Arto, and he is not surprised at all. "What about Arto Junior?" Robin smiled "He is doing fine, I've finished teaching him Chapter 1: Intention, I'll do the rest tomorrow, now he is sleeping"
Rias and Akeno almost spit their soup out hearing that "You're saying a 5-year-old kid is advancing faster than us?" They asked at the same time, clearly offended "Spell visualization required insane amount of material world's knowledge, how the hell can he do that?"
"Well, apparently, Arto Junior was reminded that he is a hyper-advanced AGI (Artificial General Intelligence), whose algorithm was made too well by his creator" Robin pointed a spoon at Arto, who seemed.... surprised as well.
Robin continued "The boy noticed Arto stored an insane amount of material world's knowledge inside the Simulation Paper to be used for simulation generating, and so.... he simply learned, at a speed even I had to be astonished"
Nami interrupted the conversation "Okay, people, hold your horses, what is Arto Junior? And is he a part of what I have to sell?"
Arto started explaining "Arto Junior was an AGI I created to simulate a 5-year-old kid to test Robin's teaching ability, and of course, him being able to find and learn material world's knowledge by himself is within calculation because of the deadline I gave you, no matter how fast you teach, you can't force a child to learn all of material world's knowledge in one day, the real thing I want to test is your ability to aspire him to start learning by himself. And what you did, by my book, is a success, I just didn't expect that process of came that quickly"
And to Nami's question "He is not for sale, Nami, the world is not ready for AGI like him."
Then he turned to Rias and Akeno "You don't need to be upset about a boy learning faster or slower than you, it's never been the case. Like I said, what I wanted to test is Robin's ability to make people see the beauty of knowledge and lead them to learn by themselves. Class is not the only place where knowledges resides, it exists around you, it's only whether you want to learn it or not, that's the quality I want in a teacher, the ability to make people like learning out of their own fascination, not obligations, because if so, once the pressure is no more, they will stop learning, and their development is stagnated"
Akeno leaned back in her chair, arms folded, the earlier offense settling into something more thoughtful. "So the test wasn't 'can you fill a child with knowledge faster than us.'"
"No," Arto replied. "The test was whether she could make him want the knowledge badly enough to reach for it himself. She succeeded. The fact that the AGI substrate allowed him to move faster than projected is a secondary data point, not the point itself."
Arto handed Nami the Spellcrafting Formulas book, the tablet "Here, set your hand on them and churn in your mana for it to recognize your mana signature to complete the authentication process" Nami followed Arto instruction, placing her palm the book, then the tablet.
Thin mana threads were drawn into the objects as her mana signature was recognized, making the pieces inaccessible for people aside from Nami.
"You'll need to learn Systematic Magic in order to understand the magical constructs I used in the machines" He pointed towards the tablet "Your access level has been upgraded so that you can view my magic-tech machines blueprints, building them is also available in the Simulation app of the tablet for you to test them out."
He then turned his gaze to Robin "You'll be her mentor when I am gone, also, you're to provide her with everything she needs when it comes to market indexes to serve her research to navigate the standing place for magic-tech and negotiation with Gremory-Sitri Financial Departments"
Nami pulled the thick tomb towards her with harder effort than others, maybe because she is just an ordinary woman other than power enhanced devils, but her eyes are on Robin "I can get the part of being mentor, but how can she be the one providing me with market indexes?"
The raven-haired lady let out a knowing smile before turning her gaze towards Arto, signal him to go ahead and reveal what should be revealed. Shrugging, Arto answered Nami's question with another question "Do you know Spy?"
"Well, professionally, I do know that nosy intel broker, I did get from contracts via Spy, why?" Arto pointed his thumb at Robin "This is Spy" Nami's eyes almost fell out of her sockets looking at the gorgeous woman before her, now revealed to be the most dangerous informant in the world.
"You can stop joking, Boss, she is too.... beautiful to be someone as annoying as Spy, come on, saying something more convincing, like you are the Spy instead of her" Nami said in denial "Oi, prove yourself, Robin, tell me a secret"
"I know you played with Morgan Stanley's financial system just last year to launder 150 millions dollars..." Nami's face loses colors "routed through three shell entities and a temporary liquidity window inside Morgan Stanley's Asian trading desk. Elegant work. Messy cleanup. You were never formally tied to it, which was the impressive part."
Nami set the spoon down with extreme care. "...You're actually Spy." "I am," Robin said. "The title is tiresome, but accurate enough for most purposes." With pure curiosity, Nami turned to Rias and Akeno "Alright you two, stop hiding stuffs, tell me something special, like Rias being a devil princess and Akeno being a fallen-angel" This got Rias' eyes to go wide and Akeno to look sideways.
Arto turned to Nami in disbelief "You actually nailed one of them, Rias and Akeno are devils, and yes, Rias is the direct heiress of Gremory clan, one I told you about"
Hearing that, Nami put on a triumphant grin "See? I knew it. You two are special as well, and this Arto is the blackhole that attracts all weird things towards him. So what are you, exactly, Arto? Being here with weird people means you are not normal at all"
"I am just a scientist, don't worry too much about it" Nami smacked him while laughing "You're telling me to believe you're just a scientist with this physqiue of yours, do you even hear yourself?" She gestured at Arto's body, one that was built to be a lethal living weapon.
She then pointed at her spoon at Arto like a spear "And with what you showed me, that amount of knowledge under the face of someone around his twenties, impossible, you're either a person who had lived for thousands of years to accumulate such wisdom, but at the same time, you're completely clueless when it comes to things' names"
She pointed at the kitchen around her, each thing was sticked with a small piece of writable tape, on them are names like 'fridge', 'kitchen counter', 'cupboard',.... "Are you an alien? Like Superman?"
"Who is Superman?" Arto asked innocently like a child, confirming Nami's theory further "Ha! I knew it, he is not from this world, you know too much knowledge for your own seeming 'age', but too little about a world you're unfamiliar with"
Arto glanced at the neat labels Rias and Akeno had started putting up weeks ago after the third time he called the refrigerator 'tute', the baker 'forla', and the fork 'trivide'. He looked back at Nami, expression unchanged. "Well, you're figure that out, congrats. Like that would change our deal"
"You're correct that I'm not originally from this world," he said, as if confirming a minor scheduling detail. "The rest of the speculation is optional. None of it alters the terms we already agreed to on the beach. You still get the financial architecture role. I still get a CFO who can hold the line on valuation. And tomorrow you'll start working."
Nami's face shifted "What do you mean tomorrow? You're expecting me to absrob everything by tomorrow!? I'll have to remind you that I am a human, not that AGI you have"
"I know it's intense at the moment, but we don't have much time to waste, a month to come would decide our path forwards, so I hope everyone would be at their best spirit" Arto announced before having words with Nami specifically.
"From the moment I left, it will take the Financial Departments of Gremory and Sitri a while to notice that I was gone, but when it's confirmed, they will attack, and they will do it more intensely than before because it's not me they have to face, it's a human financial consultant I hired from somewhere. It'll become a test for your ability on the table, whether you can stand the ground and defend the values, or subside to their pressure, we'll see. If it's too much for you, but this is the last chance for you decide to leave, Nami"
Before those words that almost sounded like a threat, Nami didn't seem to faze, she turned her eyes to look directly into Arto's "How many days do I have until they found out?"
Arto's answer was not an assurance, but a mission that sounds almost impossible "Approximately a week, likely lower, meaning you'll have to learn Systematic Magic, understand magic-tech and research the market at the same time. If you need more time, Robin will stall for you, I'll return every week to check on the progress and reset the pressure. Now I ask you again, Nami, can you, and will you do this?"