-683- Doesn't need Yaya anymore?

The following morning at the Walpurgis Royal Academy of Machinart, discussions about the previous night's Night Party could be heard everywhere.

"I didn't expect Silent Roar to have such an ace up her sleeve."

"I used to underestimate her."

"I thought she would definitely be eliminated on the first night, considering her opponent was August Veyron."

"But looking at Silent Roar's condition, such a method must come with a high cost, right?"

"It would be unfair if that kind of sudden boost in magic power could be used casually."

"So in the end, Silent Roar still fell."

"I wonder why Last One didn't take her gloves away."

"Maybe it's against his principles to have a woman not defeated by him but by her own hand."

"That guy does have quite the pride."

Conversations like these continued in various corners of the academy. Despite the grandeur of the Night Party, it was still just a competition for a hundred students. During regular class hours, students would naturally discuss it as a form of entertainment.

However,

"It's unknown if Silent Roar will participate tonight."

"Tonight, there are 98 participants, and she's 99th, so she has a one-hour standby duty."

"If she doesn't fulfill her standby duty, she'll be disqualified, right?"

"Maybe Last One will defeat the 98th participant, and if the top-ranked students are absent, Silent Roar won't need to participate."

"Because of that, maybe the 98th participant won't compete tonight?"

"Ah, that's a possibility."

Students in the academy were engaged in such speculations.

This is the challenging situation that Frey is currently facing.

If the 98th participant competes tonight, Frey must complete an hour of standby duty; otherwise, she'll be disqualified.

Now, everyone is looking forward to what will happen at the Night Party tonight. Will the 98th participant indeed take part?

If she does, can Frey compete?

And if Frey can't participate, except for the Medical Department declaring her unfit due to severe injuries that require hospitalization, she'll have to step onto the Night Party stage.

At this moment, Rozen is preparing to leave the academy, and Yaya is strongly protesting against it.

It's not that she's protesting Rozen going out; she's protesting the fact that Rozen is going out without taking her along.

"Yaya is Rozen's puppet! Puppet and their puppeteers should not be separated!"

Yaya, who had once strongly resisted being seen as an puppey and used by Rozen, is now saying such words, making Rozen start to miss the days when his moon automaton always looked down on him.

Nevertheless, Rozen opposed without hesitation.

"The academy explicitly states that a student's automaton cannot be taken outside the academy's premises. Don't you already know this?"

Rozen reminded Yaya of this point.

But Yaya wasn't buying it at all.

"As long as Rozen uses that invisibility magic on Yaya, Yaya can elude the guards. That should work!"

Yaya strongly advocated this point.

Unfortunately,

"Last time, I was just going to pick someone up. As long as you don't expose yourself, there won't be any issues," Rozen said, "But this time is different."

This time, Rozen isn't going out to pick someone up; he's going to conduct an investigation.

"If one wants to collect evidence of Divine Works violating taboos, just go to the nearby orphanages."

Rozen told Yaya this.

This is the method Rozen mentioned earlier.

Given this, Rozen needed to make a trip outside the academy, and he couldn't take Yaya along.

"This time, even I can't guarantee that I won't cause a big commotion," Rozen said to Yaya, "Since I might end up causing trouble, it's only natural not to bring you with me."

Once Rozen truly started causing a commotion, his whereabouts would no longer be hidden, inevitably leading to Yaya's existence being exposed.

If Yaya's existence is exposed, the academy would definitely investigate this unauthorized departure. According to the academy's rules, an automaton that leaves without permission would either be confiscated, disassembled, or even terminated.

So, Rozen decided to leave Yaya at the academy. This way, even if Rozen caused trouble outside, the situation wouldn't become too dire.

"This time, you just stay obediently at the academy," Rozen kindly advised, "You don't want things to really get to that point, where I have to oppose the academy. Even if I'm not afraid myself, it would be very difficult to continue investigating Magnus's affairs here, right?"

"But, but..." Yaya seemed to have some difficulty accepting this.

"Alright, just relax," Rozen shrugged his coat, and with a smile, said, "With Kinu around, even if you're not with me, I'll be fine."

This sentence not only didn't reassure Yaya but also dealt her a blow.

"Does this mean Rozen doesn't need Yaya anymore?"

Yaya appeared shaken.

Seeing this, even Rozen himself was startled and immediately tried to soothe Yaya's feelings. It took a considerable amount of time to restore her mood.

"This job is more challenging than conducting undercover investigations," Rozen wiped the sweat from his forehead and then sighed. He left the room alone and headed towards the academy gate.

Just as Rozen arrived at the academy gate, preparing to leave the academy, the person who appeared in front of him made him stop in his tracks, showing surprise on his face.

"Sword Emperor?"

Yes.

At the academy's entrance, Loki stood there. Moreover, he didn't have any automaton accompanying him.

Then, Loki coldly began.

"You want to come to our 'home,' right?"

Surprisingly, Loki saw through Rozen's plan from the beginning.

Rozen squinted his eyes.

"You want to stop me?" Rozen said with a half-smile. "But this time, neither you nor I brought any automatons. Are you planning a real one-on-one showdown?"

If that were the case, Loki would be asking for trouble.

However, Rozen guessed wrong.

"Come with me."

Loki fell silent, and then he said this.

"I'll take you there."

Upon hearing this, Rozen was momentarily stunned.