Chapter 73: 002

The past flashed in an instant as Minoru looked at the girl he had saved back then. The girl who was supposed to be eaten by a hungry bear in the cage now stood in front of him.

'Was it a mistake?'

He trained her to become like him, and as time passed, she acquired a number just below his.

Fiona Frost, code name, 002.

Minoru shake the girl's hand and looked straight into her eyes.

"Yanagi Minoru, I hope you enjoy your time here before returning to France." (Do you want to die here? Withdraw.)

As she received the hidden message, Fiona understood it. Her face didn't change even slightly.

"Thank you, I might enjoy this country a lot, so I'll take my time here and enjoy different things. I heard there's a place where I could see beautiful sights. Furthermore, it's really an honor to meet Professor Moriarty. I've heard a lot about you these days." (I have my own mission here and you have a message; are you a magician?)

It wasn't about Kaguya. Dimitry just wanted to know if he was a magician or not. He thought about it again, realizing it was obvious since he already expected it, but to think they would send 002 all by herself to this school. He let go of her hand but kept his guard up because his current mission was Kaguya.

About 002 mission. He already figured it out, Dimitry wants her to watch after him.

"Thank you, but sometimes, people just exaggerate about me." (I'm not a magician.)

This answer will confuse them sure, but it's the safe way.

"..."

After 001 said that, Fiona's mind was racing.

002, aka Fiona Frost, had already read the file from the NATO classified archives about the gate on Mars that was hypothetically made by the God Particle, or now, magic.

And him, 001, was at the center of all of it.

Over the past 15 years, Fiona believed that the world was controlled by two people: a woman named Eileen de Luxemburg, and the man who controlled everything from the shadows, her mentor, 001.

And now, under his famous alias, Professor James Moriarty, the world suspected him to be the first human who could control the matter called magic, the power that could extinguish a 50-meter-sized meteor. He was the man every big country, especially NATO, wanted the most.

Fiona thought, was he not a magician? The man was still a mystery even to her. Even if he was really a magician, what could he possibly do with magic and the experience he had as the super soldier?

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

That one man who had power over wealth, arms, decision-making, economics, technology, and resources was the most feared man in the world, 001. The single man that now the US feared. If he could control magic and turn a meteor into dust...

If he is a magician.

He was the man who, with a flick of his finger, could turn her into nothing.

Just thinking about it made her frightened.

However, even he doesn't have such power, the man in front of him could kill her with just a single pencil in his hand.

"I didn't know the Professor would be this humble. But still, I'm a fan of yours." (Understood.)

"Make yourself comfortable here, in Japan." (I'm watching you.)

As the man spoke without a word with his mouth movement, Fiona trembled slightly.

Minoru glanced and saw Kaguya walking with another student.

"Sensei... did something go wrong?"

Kaguya felt that the air in the room was somehow colder than before, yet she wasn't sure about it. She also thought that Minoru was speaking French fluently, thankfully, she understood what they were talking about. But Kaguya couldn't read his stoic face, and she glanced a bit at Fiona, who had the same expression.

"Of course not..."

Minoru glanced at the other student as she smiled a bit cynically.

"Bonjour..." the girl said as Minoru nodded.

"My name is Betsy Beltoise, the vice president of the student council."

The girl with wavy deep purple hair and the standard school uniform also sported bright purple lipstick. Minoru didn't find anything strange about this girl. He didn't recognize her. Without a doubt, she was not a Ruska Bratva agent, just a normal student from France.

"Pleasure to meet you. I am Yanagi Minoru. Frankly, I have something to do now. If there's something you need, ask directly to our student council. Well then, excuse me."

Minoru said with his fluent French like the way he talked with Fiona, then, he left the room, and somehow, the heavy air around the room instantly vanished.

Betsy sighed as she retorted.

"What the hell is that man? He's creeping me out."

"Please watch your words, Ms. Betsy..."

Betsy frowned as she turned her head. A girl with black hair and red eyes was looking at her with a cold smile.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

Betsy thought this is dangerous. She was without a doubt the princess of this country, Shinomiya Kaguya. However, she really didn't like that teacher because he talked too much with her beloved president, Fiona Frost.

"President, isn't this country beautiful? Did you want..."

What the heck? Betsy knew that Fiona never changed her expression, but why was it much colder than usual?

'Why did she keep staring at her like that?'

After that, Betsy kept getting that stare whenever she was around Fiona.

---

After the mid-exam was over, Minoru received the list of students' scores on his desk.

As he had promised before, the student with the best score could ask him anything within his ability to fulfill.

He never said a perfect score but the best score among the second-year students.

Unexpectedly, there were three students who achieved perfect scores of 100. Coincidentally, all three of them were students in his homeroom class 1-A.

Right now, he was fulfilling a request from one of those students.

"If my son is going to learn under someone that the world recognizes, there'll be no reason for me to reject someone like Professor Moriarty. If you want to visit the White Room's facility, it'll be my pleasure, Professor."

He was meeting with the father of his student in the reception room.

As the father praised him honestly, Minoru nodded slightly.

"I'm flattered, Professor Ayanokoji."

Minoru didn't expect that the student's father was the man behind the White Room itself.

What Ayanokoji Kiyotaka asked of him was simple: he wanted to become his student. By student, he meant someone who would learn from him closely, even after Minoru was no longer a teacher at this school or after Kiyotaka graduated from Shuchi'in.

Minoru, who was already a father himself, understood what Kiyotaka wanted.

Kiyotaka wanted to use their student-teacher relationship as an excuse to get as far as he could from his abusive father. Minoru didn't care about the specifics, but he could relate, as Kiyotaka's father reminded him of Dimitry, a person who used him as a mere tool and weapon.

"Kiyotaka, from now on, learn everything that the Professor tells you without any time limits. Understood?"

Kiyotaka, who stood by the door, nodded emotionlessly.

"Understood."

After some time, Minoru saw Kiyotaka's father off.

"Are you happy now?" Minoru asked the boy as they talked in the school corridor.

"Thank you, Professor."

"Call me sensei, as everyone does in this school."

"As you wish. I know this is rude, but what exactly will you teach me?"

Kiyotaka wanted to know, as he knew the man himself was Professor Moriarty.

Minoru paused for a moment. "For now, enjoy your time here as a regular high school student. That's all."

Kiyotaka widened his eyes slightly. However, Minoru had already turned his back and walking away. Was he not interested in exploiting anything from him? Kiyotaka had such thoughts.

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A/N: I'm back, are you still interested in this fanfiction?