Chapter 2485: Lucine Morgenstern: 3rd Dean Of Morningstar University
Chapter 2485: Lucine Morgenstern: 3rd Dean Of Morningstar University
Date: Unspecified
Time: Unspecified
Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Central Region, Central Academic City, Morningstar University District, Morningstar University Campus, Garden of Beginning
"Young friend, we have been nothing but welcoming and hospitable as hosts to you, do you agree?" Dean Faust said, skipping the small talk and formalities, hearing the sarcasm in my words. He was already pissed that he had to hurry over abandoning his experiment midway because of his young guests’ antics.
"I don’t know because I am not your guest. Haven’t I made that clear when I first entered your campus? I am here to seek justice for my auntie Denise and her daughter. And your organization has been nothing but uncooperative. If you guys don’t arrange a meeting between me and the pristine princess ASAP, I’m willing to go to any lengths to make you cooperate," I threatened as my fingers dug into the dead bark of the stump. The crisp crunch of it made Dean Faust’s heart almost explode in shock and fear, prompting him to exclaim, "Wait, don’t do anything rash."
"Rash? Dean, you haven’t seen anything yet," I glared at Dean Faust as my eyes scanned our surroundings. I was surrounded. There were about seven dozen demigods surrounding me from every direction possible in a very complicated battle array formation which was again an extension of the pseudo-natural formation and the artificial field dungeon whose shared core and time rule power source was hidden in the past. Therefore, I couldn’t help but add, "I’m warning you, my physical prowess is no weaker than that of the Heatsend royal family’s unparalleled physique, before you even think of it, I will have destroyed this temporal anchor. Don’t force me to do something you all will come to regret."
"Go ahead, break it..." a playful voice sounded, daring me to destroy the lightning-struck stump, "We have other temporal anchors made just for a situation like today."
"And who might you be?" I asked the woman who suddenly appeared besides Dean Faust, realizing it wasn’t just the dean, but every faculty member didn’t seem to understand the basic manners of introducing oneself. These so-called elite academicians were very socially awkward. No wonder Sansa chose to hide here among these as professors.
Also, I noticed that expressions of the Dean and the other demigods surrounding me turned dignified with the woman’s arrival. It appears they were just as astonished by her sudden arrival and words as I was. Their faces appeared like children who got caught doing a mistake. To get such a reaction from the Dean and others, she must be a bigshot in Morningstar University, who apparently had not been informed about me taking the temporal anchor hostage.
"I am Lucine Morgenstern, Morningstar University’s 3rd dean. Ahalya Johnson’s mentor and guardian," Lucine introduced herself as the ex-dean and Ahalya’s mentor. Also, her surname came as a huge shock to me. I couldn’t help but wonder about relation to the founder of Morningstar University.
"Man, I sure thought that the 3rd Dean of Morningstar University would be smarter. You and I both know that Morningstar University doesn’t have the capital to waste on maintaining two or more temporal anchors at one point in time. Don’t get me wrong, you guys are rich, but you are not bottomless. Budget wise, it would make more sense for you guys to opt for linear time travel. I.e. one time tunnel connecting all three past, present, and future of this lightning struck stump. This is more economical and energy efficient for a long term usage. Not only can you not afford multiple temporal anchors, they will further complicate this whole arrangement you guys have going on here," I mocked Lucine’s intellect even though I knew she was just bluffing to call my bluff.
"Young man, if you are smart enough to catch my bluff, then you must be smart enough to know that if you destroy that temporal anchor, then you will never be able to meet Ahalya because she will be lost in time with the time vestige. They weren’t lying when they said Ahalya had entered the time vestige for her time rule related doctoral project," Lucine replied with a hint of astonishment. She didn’t expect a teenager to be so well versed in the functioning of time and University.
The teenager’s deduction was spot on. The more temporal anchors they created, the more complex the arrangement would get, and it would propositionally consume an increased amount of Time Rule power to maintain multiple interconnected time tunnels across past, present, and future of all the time anchors.
All this for what? To hide the Time Vestige from an enemy that might or might not come. The Time Vestige was precious, but they couldn’t spend so many resources just to safeguard it. It had become the prime example of the saying: the vault was more valuable than the treasure in it.
However, they also couldn’t just leave Time Vestige without enough protection. So, they found a solution within the budget they found acceptable. Leaving them with a single temporal anchor guarded by a hidden kaleidoscope maze array formation, but before they could even get an opportunity to use this array the boy had already taken the time anchor hostage and then it was too late for them to do anything about it.
"Fine, then call her back. I am sure you guys have a way to contact the card apprentice that had entered the time vestige. I need to confirm that sending her to the time vestige was not your conspiracy to get rid of the victim, your crime, and evidence under the guise of an accident or something similar to that," I said, testing Ahalya’s mentor/guardian. After all, Ahalya has been under Lucine’s care and guidance for almost a couple of decades now. I had no plans about asking Ahalya to choose between her birth mother and the mother who raised her. So, if Lucine was a bad mentor/guardian then it will make my job easier. However, if her feelings for Ahalya were genuine then things would only get more complex.