Faint but Clear (3)
"Industry-academic cooperation? What is that?"
"Simply put, we provide knowledge from our tower in exchange for solving tasks given by our tower. You can learn tasks in advance from our tower, and I think it's better in practical terms..."
"In that case... I just need to take care of the basics so they can acquire other knowledge on their own."
That meant the young new professor only needed to focus on the basics.
Thomas's face, which had been burdened, brightened a little, but not all problems were solved.
"Even so, if the Silence Tower provides us with knowledge, won't other affiliated wizards object?"
"Objections are inevitable. However, to secure talent, they won't just sit back and do nothing. Approach them first and ask if they intend to do the same. These days, workshops and merchant associations are also considering whether to adopt magic engineering, so they'll likely be proactive."
Thomas nodded in agreement.
"I'll ask when the others come. Thank you for the great idea, tower master."
The most difficult people to adapt to rapid changes are educators.
Thomas must be grateful that Reed reached out first.
"I have a favor to ask."
"Yes, please tell me."
Thomas replied with a brighter voice.
"I would like to talk about the magic engineering major."
"Graduates must have already left... Are there any current students you're interested in?"
Reed shook his head at the question.
"It's not a graduate, it's a dropout."
"A dropout?"
* * *
Dream big tl dot com
[Original Source – dreambigtl . com]
* * *
"I have something to tell you about Kaitlyn Ramos."
"Kaitlyn Ramos?"
Thomas's face showed that he had no idea who she was.
"Yes. She must have been a student scheduled to graduate in the 398th class when I was learning magic engineering as a freshman."
"398th class... It's been a long time. I'll check if the former professor left any records."
As Thomas snapped his fingers, the library rotated quickly.
Thousands of files went by swiftly, and finally, the desired record was found.
"Here it is. Kaitlyn Ramos, expelled due to unpaid tuition after three years of leave of absence."
It was not a unique type of expulsion at Escolleia, but it was a rare reason.
Once you graduate from Escolleia, everyone wants to take you in, so you would want to graduate even if you had to borrow money.
"I heard that her scholarship was canceled due to plagiarism, is that true?"
"Wait a moment... One of her magic engineering major courses has an F."
Thomas tapped his finger on the grade section.
The cancellation reason was due to insufficient grades, but at the center of it was plagiarism.
Plagiarism is one of the taboos that wizards must not commit.
Thomas began to dig into the case he hadn't known about so far.
"But..."
Suddenly, Thomas, who was looking through the documents, asked Reed.
"Why are you telling me about this case?"
"I'm curious about the truth. Kaitlyn Ramos is our tower's chief engineer, and I promised to correct that mistake."
Thomas swallowed the word 'huh?' as if it was strange and tilted his head.
"Really? I thought you were the one who knew this case best, tower master."
"What do you mean?"
Then Thomas handed over what he was looking at to Reed.
It was a petition claiming that the paper Kaitlyn had written was plagiarized.
"I can see that you agreed on the plagiarism case of Kaitlyn Ramos's paper."
Reed looked down at the signature line.
There was no doubt; it was certainly Reed Adeleheights' signature.
At that moment, something flowed into Reed's memory.
It was a memory related to Kaitlyn Ramos.
***
Reed sat on a bench and took a short break.
When he left the department office, his legs were wobbly, and he could hardly walk anymore after trying hard to hide it.
All he could think about was Kaitlyn's plagiarism case.
'Did I ruin Kaitlyn?'
It was a time when guilt should have been felt.
It might have been a time when he would have despised her as human trash.
But Reed couldn't simply blame her.
'At that time...'
It was precisely when Reed Adeleheights was in his second semester of the fourth year at Escolleia.
Suddenly, he lost his parents, clenched his teeth leaving only his last semester, and it was a tough time.
There would have been no time to worry about anything, and he would have just dealt with things as they came.
Among them was Kaitlyn's plagiarism case.
'Kaitlyn was... a junior.'
He expanded his horizons thinking he would try to learn various things and ended up taking magic engineering in his senior year.
That day, he was attending a basic training class with the freshmen, and that was when he connected with Kaitlyn.
Kaitlyn followed Reed around like a puppy.
'She was a junior who followed a senior who bought her meals...'
Magical tools are all expensive.
There was no way Kaitlyn, who barely entered the school as a poor commoner, could have enough money to buy such magical tools.
Reed occasionally bestowed kindness on Kaitlyn, who was hoping for a handout.
'What to do...'
He couldn't predict what her reaction would be if Kaitlyn found out about this.
She could either brush it off casually or get extremely angry.
'First of all... telling the truth and apologizing would be best.'
It wouldn't be too late to decide after hearing her words.
One comforting fact was that at that time, Reed had no malice towards Kaitlyn.
When he first heard that Reed had agreed to the plagiarism case, he doubted if he had instigated it.
He might have had some negative feelings like resentment towards Kaitlyn or feeling annoyed that a freshman had too much talent.
'If only the memories didn't dig into my head.'
Then, a sudden question came to mind.
'Why are these memories coming to me all of a sudden?'
If this was some kind of event that came one by one when a trigger was pressed, other memories would have flowed in during the past two years.
However, the memories that dug into his mind began with the dream where Phoebe attacked him.
It wasn't long ago.
'Does this mean that I am gradually becoming Reed since then?'
Reed closed his eyes.
He tried to remember what he liked when he was in the original world.
'A hamburger with two beef patties and truffle sauce.'
'What did the original Reed like?'
'A chicken breast steak with tomato puree sauce.'
In this way, he would ask himself, and there was a boundary between the previous Reed and himself now.
However, sometimes there was only one answer when he asked.
It was natural that many questions overlapped, but Reed worried that even these natural things might be ominous signs.
It felt as if Reed had merged with his original self.
'But this is an opportunity.'
It's a chance to know Reed, whom he had learned about through others' perspectives for two years, on his own.
Reed was hiding much more than he had simply thought.
He decided to dig into himself.
What was the best way to know that?
'A place where Reed's memories reside.'
It was to go back to his hometown.
