Charlotte, who knew the backstory, was completely shocked by this news.
Let alone President Robb, who had no idea about Asher's recent actions before receiving a call from him.
Nothing but shock. His whole being fell into a hazy, bewildered state.
'What?'
'Is it real or fake... alright, Asher definitely won't lie about something like this.'
In fact, unless he was absolutely sure, Asher wouldn't even bring it up.
No one knows better than President Robb about Asher's steady personality.
'So...'
'We really discovered a mechanical attribute beast?'
"Oakridge City, right?" President Robb said to Asher on the other end of the phone without hesitation.
"I'm heading over right now."
A mechanical attribute beast appeared in Oakridge City.
Though, however, as long as there's even the slightest possibility, President Robb wanted to fight for it.
'This is Asher! Discovered by Asher. Shouldn't the credit go to Asher? Shouldn't the follow-up matters be handled by our NY City Beast Tamer Alliance? What Oakridge City, never even heard of it!'
Jason and his colleague, who vaguely heard President Robb's excited voice over the phone from Asher: "…"
The two exchanged a glance.
Their gradually calming minds made them realize the importance of this issue, it wasn't just the mechanical attribute beast brought by Asher.
It also involved the endless stream of mechanical attribute beasts to come.
At this point, saying that Professor Asher has nothing to do with Oakridge City?
Absolutely not.
A meeting is fate. Since Professor Asher was teleported to Oakridge City's territory by those mysterious characters, it means they're destined.
NY City condemns them for stealing credit?
They want to condemn NY City instead.
President Robb didn't know that his words had already been heard by the staff of Oakridge City Beast Tamer Alliance.
Even if he knew, President Robb wouldn't care about such a trivial matter.
After briefly understanding the cause of the matter.
President Robb hung up the phone.
And really set off without delay.
Asher looked toward Charlotte on the other end of the phone.
Charlotte also looked at Asher.
Charlotte was silent for a moment, then let out a long sigh, ["I knew it, giving this task to you was absolutely the right choice."]
'See!'
'How long has it been, start to finish?'
Asher already found out what was going on, "…If you call me by that nickname again, don't blame me for being rude to you."
Noticing Charlotte's mouth forming the nickname, Asher showed a threatening smile.
Charlotte swallowed back the words she was about to blurt out.
["Alright, alright, since you don't like it, I won't say it,"] As she spoke, Charlotte raised both hands, indicating she was truly innocent.
Asher chuckled.
Seeing this, Charlotte lowered her hands and looked seriously at Asher, trying to reason with him.
["Honestly, don't you think you sometimes have a bit of luck on your side?"]
Charlotte started going over it carefully with Asher.
Starting from when Asher discovered the evolution path of the honey bug, it already had an inexplicable mystical feel to it.
And then, Asher's journey to becoming a pet evolution research professor had been extremely smooth.
So smooth that anyone who understood Asher's situation suspected he was heaven's favorite child.
["And then this time."]
Charlotte said, ["We interrogated Kates about the map. Guess what she said?"]
Asher: "What did she say?"
Asher's tone was flat, as if he wasn't very interested in what Kates had to say.
Charlotte wasn't discouraged by Asher's indifference and continued excitedly, ["Ha!"]
["Kates said, she found and picked up this map in a trading market eight years ago!"]
'Hmm?', Asher raised an eyebrow.
He was indeed intrigued.
A lucky find.
Just ask, who hasn't fantasized about picking up some cheap little trinket at a street stall, only to find out it's a priceless treasure?
Wishful thinking is fine.
But Asher hadn't actually been to that kind of trading market.
Thinking of this, Asher stroked his chin.
'Looks like when there's time, I really should go check it out.'
Otherwise, who knows what kind of opportunities he's missing.
"How did she find out this map was special?", Asher asked.
Wanting a lucky find is one thing.
Actually having the ability to find one is another.
Getting a lucky find isn't something just anyone can do.
You need to be knowledgeable.
Otherwise, you can't even tell whether something is valuable.
Your acting skills also can't be too weak.
If you act too obviously, the vendor will notice the item is a treasure.
Whether they're still willing to sell it to you is another matter.
The price definitely won't be cheap.
Paying a high price to buy it, well, that's not a lucky find.
That's just a regular purchase.
Charlotte said, ["It's her innate talent skill."]
["It's something like a sixth sense, but not quite. She calls it a perception-type talent skill."]
Saying that, Charlotte paused.
["In this regard, you're better than her. Your sixth sense is seriously amazing."]
Asher: "…"
'Ahem!'
'Hers is real.'
'Mine is fake.'
But Asher didn't show a single hint of anything wrong on his face, and nodded.
That's right. His sixth sense is just that amazing.
["Anyway, she sensed something special from the map, and then bought it at a very low price."]
Less than three digits.
That's really cheap.
Unfortunately, although Kates sensed the map was special, she couldn't figure out what exactly was special.
Just like Charlotte before.
The only thing Kates could tell was that the terrain on the map looked a lot like South Soren.
["She couldn't understand those scribbles on the map. After roughly confirming it looked like South Soren terrain, Kates thought it over many times and decided to enroll in South Soren Advanced Beast Tamer Academy."]
["Tsk!"], At this point, Charlotte clicked his tongue, looking rather annoyed.
["She's really talented in beast mastery, plus her original goal was to infiltrate."]
["And what could be a better way to infiltrate than enrolling in a top-tier Beast Tamer academy?"]
And she actually pulled it off.
The more Charlotte thought about it, the more irritated she got.
["But in the talent-packed Advanced Beast Tamer Academy, she went from a top genius to just a regular genius."]
Charlotte's mood flipped quickly.
A mischievous grin appeared on her face.
Asher understood.
Every student who gets into the Advanced Beast Tamer Academy is surely the cream of the crop, a genius among geniuses at their regular universities.
Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to become a third-rank Beast Tamer upon graduation.
Even at Bluewind University.
The graduation requirement is just a first-rank Beast Tamer.
Their past experiences nurtured their arrogance or perhaps their aloof personalities.
But before they could even bask in the pride of entering the Advanced Beast Tamer Academy, in the blink of an eye, they realized—
Huh?
Why is it different here?
Not to mention anything else.
They suddenly realized their former "genius" label no longer worked.
The academy is full of geniuses.
You can't even get in without genius-level abilities.
When you're surrounded by geniuses.
You're no longer special.
They were truly starting on the same line, as just another ordinary student.
The psychological gap and the difference in actual combat, could really hit people hard.
That's why teachers at the Advanced Beast Tamer Academy love to "mess with" students.
Give them some challenges.
Shift their mindset.
Otherwise, some might just mentally collapse.
It's not uncommon for students to drop out after getting in.
As long as the student's will is strong enough, the academy won't stop them.
This is also a way of filtering students based on mental strength.
There's no end to the geniuses in this world.
Keep looking at others and you'll never see yourself clearly.
Anyway.
Asher didn't expect, "Kates also ran into this situation?"
["Mhm~"] Charlotte hummed lightly.
["Of course she did."]
["Guess what happened with Greystone?"]
Asher shook his head.
He only knew it was related to Kates.
As for the details, he didn't know.
["It's kinda funny, her infiltration mission didn't even include that part."]
Hearing this, Asher seemed to vaguely realize something.
Then Charlotte calmly said, ["She just lost control of her emotions, and went and did it on her own!"]
Asher: "…"
How to put it?
Unexpected.
Yet not really.
Thinking of Kates's personality, and the pressure from all the genius competition in the academy… Asher actually thought it kind of made sense?
["Damn it…",] Charlotte was still muttering curses over there.
Can't help it.
The smuggling operation involving Greystone and the series of actions afterward brought Charlotte a massive, truly massive workload.
Asher clearly remembered too.
No matter when he met Charlotte, or talked to her, she always seemed to be working?
Asher: 'This is probably the pain of being a civil servant! Good thing I'm a free Beast Tamer! Yeah! What pet professor? What teacher?'
'I don't know any of that!'
'Ahem!'
Asher suppressed all the random thoughts in his head.
["You really are lucky,"] Charlotte emphasized again and nodded heavily.
["And that mechanical attribute beast thing…",] After the luck talk, Charlotte refocused on the main issue.
Mechanical attribute beasts.
Just thinking of those few words made Charlotte's head feel clearer.
Mechanical attribute. An attribute that had never appeared before in beasts.
Just imagining it is exciting.
["I can't make the decision, since President Robb is heading your way, I'll report it to Elder Cavendish,"] After careful thought, Charlotte felt this really needed to be reported.
Small things shouldn't bother Elder Cavendish.
But this wasn't a small thing.
She really couldn't make the call herself.
Asher nodded. No objections.
Processes need to be followed.
He understood this very clearly.
Charlotte hesitated a little longer, then asked, ["That Heart of Machinery… can I take a look?"]
A device that can produce mechanical creations…
Just hearing about it makes people curious.
"Sure," Asher walked toward the location of the Heart of Machinery with his phone.
All around, nothing but ruins.
Charlotte was still a bit confused.
Before she could say anything.
The camera turned.
Inside a clearly tattered room, with only one wall remaining, a giant Heart of Machinery pulsed slowly through the screen in front of her.
Charlotte: "!"
Charlotte's eyes widened suddenly, too shocked to speak for a while.
What she heard from Asher and what she saw with her own eyes felt completely different.
The impact of the real Heart of Machinery far exceeded her imagination.
For a moment, charlotte felt like she'd become the little girl from years ago, seeing an beast for the first time.
It was a kind of indescribable, unique shock.
"Alright, that's basically it. Any other questions?", As Asher spoke, the phone camera shook a bit.
Charlotte quickly took a screenshot to use as evidence for her report later.
["That's it, dismissed,"] Charlotte waved her hand, unceremoniously.
Asher smiled.
And hung up the call.
Jason, who had been standing nearby, slowly shuffled over to Asher, "Professor Asher, um…"
Jason hemmed and hawed, stammering as he looked at Asher.
Asher smiled at Jason, giving him an encouraging look.
'What's the matter?'
'Just say it.'
'If you don't say it, how would I know?'
"Well, it's like this," Glancing at his indifferent colleague beside him, Jason gritted his teeth and spoke up.
"It's about this Heart of Machinery… what should we do with it?"
This giant mechanical thing? Machine? Mechanical attribute beast factory?
Anyway, the name isn't important.
The idea is what matters.
Surely we can't just leave it here.
It has to be moved, right?
Where should it go? That is, could there be even the slightest possibility of placing it right here in Oakridge City?
Thinking of that, Jason also looked a bit embarrassed.
It's kind of shameless, huh.
But a person should have dreams.
Otherwise, what's the difference between them and a salted fish?
Jason felt like it was worth thinking about.
What if it worked?
"Hmm…", Asher paused, then under Jason's nervous gaze slowly spoke.
"This matter…"
'Yes!'
Jason's eyes sparkled as he looked at Asher, 'Say it, go on!'
'Say it boldly!'
Since Professor Asher hadn't shut them down directly, maybe there's still a sliver of possibility, right.
"What?"
"What are you guys talking about, count me in!"
Just then, a loud voice came from midair.
Jason: "?"
Asher: "…"
'Sounds familiar.'
Asher looked up, helplessly glancing toward the sky.
The Lightyear Dragon Rider flapped its wings, soaring through the air.
On its back sat a very familiar person, President Robb.
President Robb urged the Lightyear Dragon Rider forward with a pat on the back.
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