The Author's POV

"Sure, yes, okay, we're coming."

Hanging up the phone, Kevin headed for the entrance of the academy.

I followed him from behind.

Glancing around the place, I curiously asked.

"Where are we going now?"

"Section B."

Kevin answered before he turned his head to glance my way.

"By the way, I forgot to compliment you about the glasses."

"Oh, these. "

Raising my hand, I pushed my glasses up a little.

"Wanted to look the part."

"...Kind of cringe."

"Says the guy who is wearing a suit."

I bluntly replied while pushing my hair back.

Actually, the reason why I was wearing the glasses wasn't actually because I wanted to look the part.

Well, a small part was. However, the main reason was something else.

Connected to the glasses was a small camera that Smallsnake and Ryan could see through.

From there, whenever I wanted to pick information about someone, they would quickly send me a brief overview of their information.

Was kind of handy.

"Wait is that..."

"It's them."

"It can't be..."

Along the way, some of the staff and students that were not in the auditorium managed to recognize us as I could hear faint whispering coming from their direction.

Some even went as far as taking out their phones and started taking pictures of us from the distance.

I feigned ignorance to that.

"We're here."

Walking for the next ten minutes, we soon stopped in front of a familiar rectangular infrastructure.

Even after having seen the building countless times in the past, I couldn't help but be amazed by the sheer size of the structure.

"Let's go."

Waving his hand toward the guard, Kevin and I entered the building and soon made it all the way toward Donna's office which was on the fifth floor of the structure.

To Tok—!

Kevin knocked on the door and Donna's voice echoed soon after.

"Come in."

"If you will excuse us."

Clank—!

"Welcome you two."

Upon entering the room, we were greeted by Donna who sat behind her desk. Kevin was the first to greet her.

"Hey. It's been a while, Donna."

"Mhm, it's nice seeing you again, Kevin. Did you have any trouble getting here?"

"Not at all."

"That's good."

As the two were talking, I glanced around the place. It had been a while since I had been in Donna's office and it still looked exactly as it did in the past. Small, and comfy.

"Ren?"

Snapping me out of it, I suddenly felt someone tap me on the shoulder. It was Kevin.

"What is it?"

"Are you not paying attention at all?"

before nudging his head,

saying hit to

realization, I lowered

good to see

good to see you

not minding my rudeness. She then pressed

get straight to the point, I need you

passed the papers, a

"Mana contracts?"

"That's right."

two pens next

the academy policy. Each professor, be it an assistant, staff, or regular professor must sign a mana contract. This is for security reasons, I'm sure

"I see..."

a brown leather chair opposite Donna's desk and picked up a

was about to sign, his hand came to

on, if you guys do this, how

a

made everyone sign mana contracts, how was it

knew

smile on her face, Donna

deep-rooted the

I sat down next to Kevin and did a quick skim of

nothing I was against, I signed it

sure you know this by now, but a mana contract is

although useful, weren't exactly

influence, although, the method was actually extremely complex and it required massive

user would find their lifespan shortening by a large degree due to the fact that their soul would get split in half

was not something that could be done easily, and the fact that the Monolith had managed to infiltrate the Lock despite all of this went to show how big

"I guess you're right."

Kevin signed the paper

straight. I barely signed more

passed the

"Here you go."

"Thank you."

a satisfied smile, Donna

was then

a brief rundown on who the

of

low-ranked professors to high-ranked

and the level of suspicion that

the Lock

a few familiar faces amongst the list of

to the point of being

after a quick skim, I was in fact able to spot a couple of

of

professor while Ren

snapping me out of my

Kevin is

curved upward, then

you have not even finished your first year at the Lock. Even if you do have the qualifications

"Oh."

moved my

happy with this arrangement. Since I was an assistant professor, it could only mean that I

have any

Donna clapped her hands.

again turned her attention toward the holographic projection in front of her and started to brief Kevin and m, on all the individuals we had

roles are. I will now start giving you details

...30 minutes later.

proper rundown on the situation, and what I was supposed to do in the

do was stick close to one of the targets and be

***

Demon Hunter Guild.

"Young Miss? Young Miss?"

"Hm?"

Amanda out of her thoughts was

worried

alright, young

"Yeah."

replied in short. She then lowered her head and stared at the papers in front of

"What were we discussing?"

launch of the magic cards system. We have currently mass-produced over a couple of millions of cards, and we're currently sold out in terms of pre-released booking. We're practically ready to launch them, however, what we need at the moment is confirmation to officially

"Ah, right."

eyes squinted. After a

during the time, and make sure that nothing happens to the reserves. Make sure that nothing happens during the transition phase. We can't

"Understood."

with a

folder, Amanda

"Is there anything else?"

"No."

a kind smile on his

reaction caused Amanda

there something else you need from

"No, no."

his