Reborn To Master Time

[23:33]

At around this time, most of the facilities at Rezen Academy had already closed, with only a few lights scattered here and there, while the rest of the campus was fast asleep. Of course, this didn’t apply to everyone. For one, the security guards were still roaming around, checking for any irregularities on campus, but besides them, there was one more facility still operating.

[Infirmary]

“Mmh. I see. Looks like you messed up.” A low voice reverberated through one of the hospital rooms, drawing a curious glare from the listener as she silently observed him. On one side of the room, a man with green hair, wearing a long white coat, stood near the window, his face turned upward as he gazed at the calm night sky.

“I didn’t do anything. That man was probably the one who told him,” a girl's soft voice retorted from behind him. She was seated on one of the hospital beds, still wearing her uniform despite the late hour.

Curfew had long since passed, but due to her ‘special’ circumstances, she was allowed to leave her dorm room at any time she wished.

“Tell me, why do you think that man was the one who told him?” the doctor asked, still facing outside. The girl paused for a moment, as if trying to figure out what might be wrong with her assumption, but in the end, she just couldn’t find it.

“We weren’t sure if the boy knew about us at first, but after making contact with that man, he suddenly sent me this letter. Isn’t it obvious?” she retorted, though despite her frustration, her expression remained unchanged. What she said made sense, especially considering the contents of the letter she had received. She trusted her leader’s judgment, which only further solidified her reasoning.

“That sounds reasonable. We chose to leave for Elondale last week to prevent him from making any connection between us and the Giant Killer,” the doctor said casually, showing no hint of fear about possibly being overheard by any of the other workers on duty that night. Hearing this, the girl nodded a few times, thinking the man agreed with her as she spoke up.

“Right. So it’s obvious the Giant Killer told him something—that’s why he approached me,” she said, reinforcing her point.

‘Y did that cripple hire gk? I hope he’s dead:)’

The letter didn’t seem cryptic to her, nor was it polite in any way. Rather than a message, it felt more like a childish insult.

“I think that’s where you’re wrong,” the doctor said, causing her to stare silently as he continued.

“Firstly, how sure are you that he’s the one who sent you that letter?” the doctor asked. It was a straightforward question, but she still paused for a few seconds before finally answering, as if trying to avoid saying something foolish.

“He’s the only first-year that might know about us, and he recently fought the Giant Killer. I don’t think anyone else would send something this stupid,” she said, her voice calm. Despite her composed tone, the doctor could tell she wasn’t in a good mood from how much she was talking.

“And that’s exactly where you messed up. Your deduction was flawless, but you put too much trust in it,” he said, turning around to face her. He then walked up to the girl, who showed little reaction, simply meeting his gaze as he stopped in front of her. He brought his hand forward, and she reached into her pocket, taking out the letter in question. It was a single strip of paper with the entire message written across it.

Rip~

He suddenly tore the paper in half, and the girl simply watched curiously. He then raised it, showing her the now-separated message.

‘Y did that cripple hire’
‘gk? I hope he’s dead:)’

“The messenger references two completely unrelated parties in this message,” he said, giving her the first note as he continued.

“If you received only that part of the message, could you have reached the same conclusion that it was him?” he asked. Eva looked down at the message, considering it for a few seconds before finally shaking her head.

‘Y did that cripple hire’

“It’s an insult, but it doesn’t tie back to him. It could be a random hater or even one of our spies,” she said, giving the message some thought. Since it was a direct jab at their leader, it wasn’t reasonable to jump to the conclusion that Ian was the messenger, especially since their involvement with the Giant Killer should have been unknown to him.

“Right. There’s a chance he might know about us, but that also applies to a few people at the academy, so he wouldn’t be the sole suspect. But…” He took the first piece of paper from her and gave her the second one.

‘gk? I hope he’s dead:)’

“Mmh. I think this one is still suspicious enough to lead to him. The 15 students who made it out of that floor would all become primary suspects, but I think he’d still be the most suspicious,” she said, reading the message a few times in her head.

She would have to consider the possibility of there being spies who already knew about her on that floor, and after Ian recognized the Giant Killer and told them, they could potentially use this information to exploit her, but that line of thought was a stretch. The information of the Giant Killer would have to reach someone who knew about the entire situation—a person with spies in [Ten Tedious], knowledge about the Giant Killer’s circumstances, and knowledge about [False Peace].

The chances of that were too low.

And since the note doesn’t explicitly mention [False Peace] 'hiring' the Giant Killer, it could just as well be from someone who hated the Giant Killer and wanted him dead.

“Right, it wouldn’t lead directly back to him since there’s no mention of our involvement,” the doctor said, handing her the other piece of paper. Although he said this, he had a completely different thought in mind.

“It’s only when you include both pieces of information that the message points directly to him. Now, tell me, what do you think would happen if he only knew half of these details?” the doctor asked, prompting her to tilt her head in thought as she replied.

“I don’t get it. Then why would he add that to the message?” she asked, but the doctor remained silent, giving her time to think.

She suspected Ian because he was the only person who knew all the information on that note. Even if another person knew and sent that message, it would still be easy to trace it back to Ian as the primary source of that information.

Two minutes went by as she continued to stare at the doctor. Suddenly, something clicked. She looked down at the strips of paper in her hands, then back up.

“So, he didn’t know about our connection to the Giant Killer?” she asked, and only then did the doctor speak again.

“I suspect so,” he replied.

“So when I approached him…” she muttered, trying to connect the dots, but something didn’t add up.

“Normal students shouldn’t recognize ‘gk’ as the abbreviation for the Giant Killer. Your reaction, as a student of the academy, was unnatural,” the doctor pointed out while she was still lost in thought.

“But how’d he know? Even if I was associated with [False Peace], that doesn’t mean I’d automatically know the Giant Killer was injured in that dungeon,” she said, still confused.

If the message was for all the members of [False Peace], it would make sense to assume some knew about the Giant Killer’s injuries. But the message was sent directly to her. The doctor was also nearby, so if Ian wanted a more effective provocation, he’d have had a better chance sending it to someone with the highest chance of seeing the Giant Killer’s injuries firsthand rather than to Eva, who, as a normal student, wasn’t supposed to know anything about it.

The only reason to send it to her was if Ian already knew about [False Peace]'s connection to the Giant Killer and, therefore, knew she was aware of the Giant Killer's circumstances. Seeing her thoughts swirling, the doctor calmly replied.

“The academy’s dorm policies aren’t too strict when it comes to sharing information about students to other students. I suspect he wouldn’t have a hard time convincing the dorm receptionist to tell him whether you were around this past weekend,” he explained, causing her to nod.

They had left for Elondale on Friday and only returned yesterday. If Ian knew about Eva’s ties to [False Peace], he’d easily infer that she was with the doctor during her absence. Whatever the doctor knew, she most likely knew about it too.

“So he thought I might have seen the Giant Killer’s injuries since I was likely with you,” she muttered. The doctor watched her, thinking back to Hiro’s words as they played in his mind, wondering if he should take his advice or let her learn from this.

“You messed up because you assumed he knew everything. If we weren’t involved, that letter would have confused you, and you’d have ignored it. The fact that you singled out Ian as the sender meant you knew exactly what he was talking about,” he finally explained, causing Eva to nod a few times as if finally connecting the dots.

A letter from an unknown sender and a message that directly tied it back to him, but only under specific circumstances. To trace everything back to the source, there were two things the recipient needed to know:

1. The Giant Killer was in critical condition.
2. [False Peace] hired the Giant Killer.

Without these two points, it would be impossible to identify Ian as the sender. The two points were directly tied to each other in such a way that, if a person didn't know either of them, it would be impossible to identify who sent the message. Regarding point number one, the only people who knew about the Giant Killer's injuries were those who witnessed them firsthand in that dungeon;

- Ian
- Rin
- Ruby
- Leven
- Lithe (only pre-critical condition)
- Roran (only pre-critical condition)

The first four students were the only ones who knew the Giant Killer had left the dungeon in critical condition. The only other person who might know would be whoever saw him immediately after his escape from [Golem's Nest].

Which brings us to the second point: the knowledge that [False Peace] had hired the Giant Killer.

The term “cripple” in the message referred to the leader of [False Peace]. The only people who knew with certainty that [False Peace] had hired the Giant Killer were the members of [False Peace]. Even [Ten Tedious], who received [False Peace]'s recommendation for a fighter(the Giant Killer), were struggling to determine whether he was actually hired or just acting on his own.

Eva, knowing both points, could identify the sender.

In their last meeting, their leader had mentioned the suspicion that Ian knew something about the doctor, which made them suspect he knew about [False Peace]. The Giant Killer’s nonchalance also hinted that Ian knew more than he let on. That was why they ran with the assumption that Ian knew about [False Peace].

So when Eva received the message, it became evident that the Giant Killer had possibly given Ian some clue about who hired him for the operation, helping Ian connect it to [False Peace].

That’s where Eva went wrong.

If [False Peace] had no ties to the Giant Killer, the second part of the message shouldn't apply. Information spreads fast in the underworld, so knowing the Giant Killer was in critical condition was something [False Peace] could have found out on their own after a few investigations. Even then, it wasn't an investigation that could be completed in just a day or two and then shared with all their members

Receiving a message like 'Y did that cripple hire gk? I hope he’s dead:)' would completely confuse anyone in [False Peace]. Without their involvement, none of it made sense.

‘Y did that cripple(cripple as in our leader?) hire gk(who is gk? Our leader never hired anyone like that...)? I hope he’s dead:) (who? the cripple or gk?).’

Ignoring it entirely was the only plausible option for anyone in [False Peace].

But since they had hired the Giant Killer, the two points together pointed directly to the sender. So when Eva approached Ian about the message, she unintentionally confirmed two things:

- She knew the Giant Killer was in critical condition.
- [False Peace] hired the Giant Killer.

“I’m sorry. I should’ve consulted you first,” Eva finally said, realizing she had given away crucial information because of her rash actions. Her instinct to protect her leader had once again been turned against her. The doctor shook his head.

“No, I believe he made an effort to make sure that never happened. He ensured the letter would be delivered to you in the morning, so you wouldn't have been able to contact me until either lunchtime or after school. Then there's that comment from the messenger,” he explained. As if recalling something, Eva thought back to the person who had delivered the letter to her.

‘Hehe, sorry, I promised not to tell you, but… maybe check him at the cafeteria? Who knows, maybe you might find him.’

“That loudmouth. She was baiting me,” Eva muttered under her breath.

She had kept asking the girl about the sender throughout the morning, and eventually, the girl seemed to grow tired of it and hinted at the cafeteria. Since Eva had already concluded that Ian was the primary suspect, she didn't make an effort to search for him, assuming he was still suspended and wouldn't be nearby. When she approached the cafeteria, she was looking for Ian's potential messenger—most likely a first-year student—but the moment she saw Ian, sitting there with his friends, she became confident beyond a reasonable doubt that Ian was the sender.

A completely normal psychological response.

“But it’s still my fault. I could’ve tried taking a picture and sending it to you, but…” she continued, her expression remaining indifferent. Despite this, the doctor could tell she deeply regretted her actions. Seeing her dismay, he decided to offer more comfort.

“I believe that’s why he chose to write it by hand. You're not allowed to use gadgets during class, but if it were an email, it would’ve been easier to forward it to me secretly while still focusing on class. But taking a picture and sending it to me would require you to wait for lunchtime. And I believe, at that time…”

“He baited me to the cafeteria,” she finished his sentence, her tone lowering.

With such little effort...

She thought back to the green-eyed boy with messy hair. It felt like all her thoughts were out in the open, and each and every step she took was pulled in the direction he wanted—without her even realizing it.

He's similar to them.

She couldn't help but compare Ian to some of her comrades, including the man standing before her—the man who deconstructed the whole message within minutes of hearing the full story from her.

“Well, I believe there are easier ways he could’ve done that. Maybe…” the doctor said, his thought trailing off. When Eva looked at him curiously, he decided to continue.

“I’ll leave the investigation to you. This is merely speculation, but I believe you’ll be able to gather the evidence to back these claims,” he said. However, Eva didn't seem enthusiastic. She turned away from him, staring down.

“What if he keeps tricking me like this? I’m already the weakest link, if…” she started to mutter.

“It’s an order,” the doctor said coldly, his voice sending a shiver through her body. She looked up, meeting his serious eyes. Seeing this, she silently nodded without arguing back. The doctor's words held a weight almost equal to the leader's.

‘Only a weak leader can have weak links. Why would it surprise me if someone walked through a door I left open in my own house?’

Looking at Eva’s current state, the doctor couldn’t help but recall another saying Hiro liked to repeat, a saying he himself had come to believe in: there are no weak links, only weak leaders. If they didn’t want Eva to know about the incident, they could have explicitly instructed her to stay at the academy when meeting with the Giant Killer, but they hadn’t.

The "less you know, the better" was a practice that most organizations followed to prevent information leaks. But in [False Peace], members were allowed to know whatever information they wanted, regardless of whether it was relevant to them or not. Instead of vague instructions meant to guide them toward a specific goal, they gave everyone all the information they could ever need.

It's all within expectations.

The doctor thought to himself, turning away from her and walking toward the window again. As he watched the calm night, he began weighing multiple possibilities, considering the optimal response to the message.

Confidence or arrogance.

What causes the little mouse to enter the lion's den?

Before he could properly respond to the message, he needed to investigate that first. If he didn’t like what he found, the response would be simple.

I'll just have to kill him.

~