Chapter 64: Grandmaster

“You are still a disrespectful little brat,” said Mr. Professor after closing the door behind him. The wrinkles on the old man’s face were enough to trace the map of the Central Alliance.

“…” Master Abraham stood in silence, carefully watching Mr. Professor as the latter voiced for them to proceed to the main office.

“Would you boys like anything to drink?” The old man fidgeted around an open drink refrigerator with different brands of soda. He was of average height, with a voice sounding quite bold and grainy.

“We’re not here for anything. Give me a pass to leave the City,” Master Abraham quickly said, stopping Roy from voicing his pick.

Mr. Professor disregarded Abraham’s words and brought two drinks, one for himself and one for Roy.

“This must be your Initiate. You’re taking students now, Black Zero?” the old man said with his permanent smile as he handed Roy the soda can from across his desk.

Looking at that unsettling smile, Roy hesitantly took the drink and said, “Th-Thank you.”

’This is like taking candy from a murdering clown. I should’ve rejected it. But I don’t want to be rude…’

Master Abraham eyed the old man and the soda can suspiciously.

“Oh, come off it, Abraham. You should be more mature than that,” Mr. Professor said and rested his back on his chair.

The office was minimal, with a bookshelf, flower decorations, a wide desk, and so on.

Tsss!

Mr. Professor opened his can and gulped down the drink in one go as both Roy and Abraham watched awkwardly. Though if the latter was feeling awkward, he didn’t let it show.

After emptying the soda, the old man burped loudly, threw the can away, and said, looking at Roy, “Are you going to introduce yourself, or?”

“Oh! My name is Roy—uh, Roy Mclloyd, sir. Nice to meet you.”

“Roy… have you heard of me?” Roy shook his head. “As expected. I taught Black Zero here during his Irregular Academy years, and he didn’t even mention me to his student?”

“You are inconsequential,” said Abraham nonchalantly.

The old man’s smile widened, and he laughed.

He put his attention on Abraham and continued, “I heard you dissociated yourself from the Association.”

“You heard right. And you should rephrase to the present tense.” Meaning, it was ’dissociate’ and not ’dissociated’ since the former was still the case.

The old man’s laughter boomed even louder.

“You are still as bold as ever. As expected of my star student. Now, what is this thing you mentioned about leaving the City?”

“You heard me right. Give my vehicle a pass, and I’ll be on my way,” Abraham said in that calm, plain nature of his.

The old man fell silent, his wide-lipped smile never leaving his face. Such a person was hard to read.

’I wonder what his system is,’ Roy thought. Letting his mind wander a bit.

Mr. Professor clicked his tongue and shook his head. “I am afraid that isn’t possible right now.”

Black Zero frowned. “Why?”

Mr. Professor steepled his fingers and said bluntly, bearing teeth in his creepy smile, “Well, isn’t it obvious, Black Zero? Because I don’t gain anything from this.”

Black Zero’s eyebrows creased even further. “You never change.”

“As expected.” The old man shrugged.

“What do you want?” Master Abraham asked.

“Your help. Since you are going beyond the gate, just three days ago, a team of experts was sent on a field mission to collect samples of a particular type of abyssflora—”

“No.”

Mr. Professor laughed. “Just this morning, we lost contact with them—”

“I said, no,” Abraham repeated.

“And I heard you. But you will do it anyway because it is what I want. If you decline, then you should start being on your way to the next city gate,” Mr. Professor said, non-threateningly and smiling throughout like some addict high on laughing gas.

“What happened to your reconnaissance teams? I’m leaving the city for my own agenda. Not yours.”

“By taking a sixteen-year-old boy on a death trip outside the city?” Mr. Professor said, making Roy gasp a little. “Don’t worry, kid. I know everything.”

“Almost,” Master Abraham added for him.

Roy’s eyes widened. ’I know everything… could his system name be KNOW.exe? That would fit his Mr. Professor nickname.’

Mr. Professor voiced, “You must be thinking that my system name is KNOW.exe, right kid?”

“Yeah, is it?” Roy asked, and the old man nodded proudly.

’I see it now. He’s the one that Master Abe got that attitude of predicting others’ thoughts from. Their systems are similar in a way. They complement each other as master and student. Wait, so he’s like… my grandmaster!’

Master Abraham’s eyes narrowed into a slit. “If I leave for the next city gate, by the time I get there, you would’ve told them not to permit me through, right?”

Mr. Professor shrugged in a defeated and mocking manner and said, “You know me so well.”

Abraham’s jaws clenched. “How about I cut you down here and now?”

“Ahahaha,” Mr. Professor laughed, “Always as angry as ever, Black Zero. In fact, in addition to the previous mission, there’s something else I need you to do for me.”

“You have special eyes, and my back had been killing me.” Mr. Professor pursed his lips in a funny manner and leaned closer to his former student. “Can you massage it for me? For old times’ sake.”

“I should kill you,” Black Zero sharply said, a dark shadow hovering over his eyes.

Roy watched his mentor boil, innocently amused. It was always something to see when someone got under the skin of the otherwise stoic man.

It took the strength of Hercules for Roy to be able to stop himself from bursting into laughter. Mr. Professor wanted the feared Black Zero to use his [Solve for X] to massage his back!

“You can let it out, boy. He won’t do anything,” Mr. Professor added, glancing at Roy.

Roy swallowed his smile and just waved. “It’s fine. I’m fine.”

Master Abraham clicked his tongue. “You know I want nothing to do with the Association.”

Mr. Professor said plainly, more like creepily with those stretched lips, “I do. But this is not for the Association. It’s for me.”

“…” Master Abraham fell silent for a few seconds, observing the old man before asking:

“What’s your research got to do with abyssflora?”

Mr. Professor threw his hands up and rested his back on his seat. “Oh, you know. The usual.”

“Anti-aging,” Black Zero voiced measuredly.

Mr. Professor’s smile widened.

Master Abraham sighed. “You never change.”

“As expected.”

Roy raised a hand. “Wait, you said you know everything, right?”

He had been ruminating in thought since, considering the skills such a system could have, but he couldn’t really figure it out.

“Yes.”

“Almost.”

“Can you see the future?” asked Roy.

“Not entirely. Like your mentor here, I can make ample predictions.”

’Oh,’ Roy voiced inwardly, ’then almost.’

“Then almost,” Mr. Professor voiced right when Roy thought that, making the boy shudder.

Acting unfazed, Roy then asked, “What class are you, sir?”

“D-Class, my grandstudent.”

Roy’s face twitched in annoyance. That last suffix was a reference to the thought he had about Mr. Professor being his grandmaster.

“Uh, I always had a question that I just never knew who to ask. Why are all system names in English? Isn’t that like… a bit, uh, unfair to other languages?”

“Oh, this is a very unique question.” Mr. Professore leaned forward, taking on a more teaching tone. “Well, Roy Mclloyd, I wish I could tell you I knew for sure. But I think the simple answer to why system names are written in English is simply because… it’s cleaner on the eyes.”

’The Maximum Inventor. They are who the S.C.E. referred to as its creator.’

Roy voiced, “Compared to… let’s say French? Or Chinese?”

Mr. Professor nodded. “The systems normally change to match the local language of the host, but the system’s name remains the same English letters whenever referred to.”

“Huh.”

“We’re done. Let’s leave,” Master Abraham said assertively.

“It’s already dark. Stay the night and leave next morning,” Mr. Professor said and stood up.

When Abraham wanted to retort, the old man placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I insist,” he said, his creepy smile never lessening. One couldn’t help but feel unsettled in the D-Class Executioner’s presence.

’Even more weird, how did he become an executioner with only a utility system like KNOW.exe? That’ incredible.’

The old man continued, “Oh, and we currently have a guest you would most assuredly love to see. She is here now.”

The door opened right then, and Lady Sunfire walked in in all her majestic splendor.

“Black Zero…” she called out with squinted eyes. Seems she wasn’t over that Mutated Undead’s energy crystal issue.

“Sunfire.” Abraham merely greeted back, his expression never letting on his true thoughts as usual.

“This feels like a family reunion, don’t you two think?” Mr. Professor said with a proud smile. “We should have dinner together.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep