Chapter 37: Von Schneider

"Indeed, it seems Professor Schneider has beaten me to it and found it first." Manstein stepped forward, extended his hand, and after a brief pause, took the sealed folder from Schneider's grip.

No one knew how Schneider, a man so disabled he had to drag an oxygen tank with every step, had managed to arrive before Manstein to retrieve this file. But at the very least, anyone capable of becoming the Director of the Department of Operations was bound to have a few tricks up their sleeve.

"You are not the only one in this school who cares about this strange student," Schneider said, releasing his hold and letting the document fall into Manstein’s hands. "What is wrong with his file? It was enough to make you rush here in the middle of the night to check it."

"A minor issue. During his physical assessment yesterday, the file lacked a timestamp," Manstein said, pulling out a single sheet of paper. "I will send a fax to NOMA once I have corrected it, and I aim to have the file information updated by tomorrow morning."

"Does a timestamp on a physical assessment really affect a student’s bloodline evaluation?" Schneider stared into Manstein’s eyes, as if trying to discern something hidden beneath the surface.

Manstein said nothing, simply holding up the extracted document between them. Schneider glanced at the bottom of the page. True enough, there was no information in the entry-time field. If anyone were to review this file in the future, they would know the student had undergone a physical, but the exact time of the assessment and the student’s performance during it would remain a complete mystery.

The person who had submitted this file was Manstein himself, and he had classified it as "Top Secret." Even NOMA could not alter any of the information within it, so it was naturally impossible to append a simple timestamp.

"It seems the students’ assessments are correct; Professor Manstein is indeed a meticulous man." Schneider reached out to press down Manstein’s arm, locking eyes with him once more.

"When it concerns the bloodline advancement of my student, I will not be the least bit careless. Any oversight must be rectified," Manstein replied, his expression unmoved.

"I heard your student answered ten questions on the 3E test today," Schneider chuckled hoarsely. "You certainly have the right to be confident—he is the most promising candidate for an 'S' grade in recent years."

"To personally cultivate an 'S' grade student would be a distinct honor. Perhaps it will add a brilliant stroke to the records of my future tenure as a lifetime professor." Manstein clutched the folder and turned toward the shelf belonging to Lin Nian.

"Professor Manstein." Schneider suddenly called out to him.

Manstein paused, though he did not turn back.

"You and I both know why you are here tonight. The idea of an entrance physical assessment is certainly clever; even if someone were to investigate tonight’s events through NOMA later, you would leave behind no shred of evidence. But since you have such reservations, why not simply give up on this student?" Schneider asked coldly.

"Has Professor Schneider ever mentored a student?" Manstein asked, his back still to Schneider.

"Of course. The first prerequisite to becoming a lifetime professor is the successful cultivation of an outstanding graduate."

"Then you must surely remember your state of mind when you signed the papers to take on a student," Manstein said.

"I haven't mentored students for many years, and you know that," Schneider replied.

"Then you understand. One day, we will personally send these children into the battlefield, and I simply wish for them to have no doubts or slanders behind them when that time comes," Manstein said, looking down at the stacks of files he had removed from the folder.

"We are the Secret Party; this is our duty," Schneider said, his eyes reflecting a cold, iron-gray light.

"But we are also educators. Do not tell me you never once viewed your students as your own," Manstein retorted.

Silence fell over the archives. After a long moment, Schneider turned, dragging his oxygen cart along with him. "The truly classified files are not here. Everything you have seen of his life has been polished. His real history has likely already been sent to the Board of Trustees."

Manstein silently placed Lin Nian’s documents back into the folder. The scheme to use a meaningless physical assessment to gain access to the classified student file had ultimately failed. Just as Schneider had said, all the documents in the folder were identical to the intelligence he had received when he first encountered Lin Nian. The matter was far from simple.

He could not believe that with the intelligence sources at the Secret Party's disposal, they could not uncover the "origins" of a Chinese student with no background. Whenever the Department of Operations went on a mission, the eighteen generations of any suspicious individual, along with their friends and family, would be thoroughly investigated. Yet, Lin Nian’s file contained only the word "orphan," with no other secrets to be found.

Lin Nian was as if he had appeared out of thin air, landing one day at the gate of an orphanage in that small coastal city. The file did not even note who had abandoned him there. Perhaps the true intelligence, as Schneider suggested, had already been secretly transmitted to higher levels.

"If you care about him so much, perhaps practice is the only way to know the truth. Placing him in a specific environment will reveal his true nature," Schneider said coldly. "As it happens, isn't your student currently attending classes with the first-year freshmen? I can have NOMA assign him a mandatory battlefield practice course for the second half of the freshman year."

"Are you insane? He has only just enrolled! He has barely set half a foot over the threshold of the dragon world!" Manstein cried out in shock and anger.

"Whether you step in or not, the real world remains where it is. Do you think it will vanish just because you hide from it?" Schneider rasped. "You believe he has 'S' grade potential? Fine, let him prove it!"

"Then I have no choice but to protest to the Board of Trustees. If you had a student of your own, you would be just as concerned as I am, Professor von Schneider." Manstein gloomily placed the seal back into the kraft paper envelope and returned it to the shelf.

"Perhaps. But rather than sneaking into the archives at night, I prefer to dig out all his secrets with my own hands," Schneider said hoarsely. "The Department of Operations recently received an anomaly report: in a small city in China, an IP address has been repeatedly trying to find the Academy’s location on the internet. We dug up the user's information. Guess what we found?"

"Those hunters from the Hunter Website? I’ve heard they’ve always had designs on the Academy." Manstein frowned at Schneider’s back. "But I have no interest in that; that is a matter for your Department of Operations."

"No, you should be interested. That small Chinese city is the very coastal city where your student lived for over a decade. And the person searching for the Academy is a high school sophomore at the same school as him," Schneider chuckled lowly. "Quite a coincidence, isn't it? Two outstanding talents appearing in the same city. Perhaps one day we will find a third one there?"

Manstein’s brow furrowed so deeply it could have been wrung out. He suddenly and inexplicably recalled some of the things Lin Nian had said on the CC1000 train, but in his current state of distress, he could not piece those memories together to connect them with what Schneider had said.

"Judging by his progress on the internet, the Psychology Department estimates that in another half-year, the boy won't be able to resist coming to find us himself. Curiously, before this, he wasn't even on our observation list, whereas your student was already on record," Schneider said, dragging his cart toward the elevator. "I will interview him myself when the time comes. Because this is just too interesting, don't you think?"

Manstein did not answer. He simply watched in silence as the thin, black-clad figure disappeared behind the closing elevator doors. As the elevator ascended, the sound of violent coughing from within grew fainter and fainter until it vanished entirely.