344 Why Won’t You Believe Me?

Baiyi's penchant to give ambiguous answers had begun to annoy those in positions of authority, yet they were powerless to act against him. Because if the treasure really was the Book of Servitude, just how do they plan to intimate him? If the rumors were true, then he was now someone armed with a legendary book filled with forbidden spells, making him a terrorist deadlier than the gods! Provoke him? Oh, hell no.

This was the sentiment that Baiyi wished to incite; it was also the same effect that the Archmage had hoped for. The Book of Servitude was not given to him to ruin the lives of others; it was given to him to stop others from disturbing his life.

Regardless of how empty Baiyi's responses to inquiries were, he was still the topic of discussion in many societies; 'the hottest personality du jour'— if you will. This time, the North had also joined the South to talk about him. As of now, Baiyi no longer needed the Church's help to increase his fame; the survivors of the secret realm expedition, on their volition, were now his propaganda-spreading-machines, singing praises of how noble he was to anyone who cared to listen.

Although the hostages in the Void were still uncooperative, Baiyi had still obtained impressive rewards in terms of fame. He had not needed to leave his house to know how famous he had become.

Despite that, his daily routine at home did not change. For about ten days, he continued living a mundane life, giving lessons, preparing documents for his upcoming Academy, playing around with Mia, Tisdale, and his Kitty Cat Maid; it was quite the comfortable life. However, the fame did not make it easy for him to go about his business, so anytime he needed to run some documents by some organizations, he would ask his students to do it for him.

On this day, after Baiyi finished writing a request letter, he handed it over to Potter the Owl. "Take this to the Sorcerers' Association. Attached to this is my newest thesis."

The Owl looked at him unwillingly. 'You're basically treating me as your carrier pigeon now, aren't you?'

Unfortunately, it, too, was not inclined to go against Baiyi's words, so it gripped the canister containing his letter, flapped its wings, and flew out the door.

"My documents are almost completed now. Let me see if I left anything undone." Baiyi produced a checklist from his inner pocket. With the documents cleared, he could now shift his attention to the staff resources and money.

He quickly penned a letter asking for monetary aid and handed it to his youngest student, Mia. "Take this to Vidomina's butler next door, and tell him to send it as soon as possible."

Mia nodded and left the house in a hurry.

'Hmm… A few building materials, desks and chairs, and dispensable wares… I should probably start preparing them now.' Baiyi thought, then he wrote another letter. After that, he summoned Tisdale and gave the letter to her. "Give this to that money-loving Undine. Tell her to take care of these quickly and also choose only merchants with high-quality wares."

After receiving her instructions, Tisdale left the house in a hurry.

"I need staff, too. Now that my fame is at an all-time high, I could probably get some decent staff members via public requests. Man, I really picked a great time to present My Greatest Show Ever..." Baiyi murmured as he wrote two more letters. After writing them, he gave one to Attie and the other to Nota.

"Take this letter to the city's local government office. Tell them to like it and share it," he instructed Attie.

"Take this letter to the headhunting guild. Tell them to follow my requirements to the letter," he instructed Nota.

Both girls left the house in a hurry after receiving their instructions.

"Mmm… right. I still have some unfinished business with the Church." Baiyi took out another paper and wrote speedily. When he was done, he called Laeticia and said, "Take this to the Church — straight to the higher-ups."

Laeticia, too, rushed out of the house after receiving her instructions.

"That should do it. The rest of you, assemble for class!" Baiyi announced loudly.

His holler was answered with an echo and eventually, silence. All he could see was the Jawflower peeking at him through the window, with curiosity written all over its face. There was no one at home.

"Tsk tsk. Why do I feel like an old man whose kids have all grown up and left the house?" Baiyi murmured, feeling a little unhappy as sat in the living room.

Unfortunately, such things could not be avoided, even if he went out of his way to try to prevent it. When his students finally returned from their errands, they brought news with them.

As Baiyi was now famous, the academics had agreed to analyse his credentials and research papers with a fine-toothed comb, provide the publicity necessary, and obtain government subsidy; all on one condition, however: he had to attend a quorum hosted by the Doors of Conundrum, which would be joined by other important people from many organizations and academies.

To put it simply, they wanted to force his presence. Of course, it wasn't for a meet-and-greet fan event; it was for the treasure he had obtained.

"Looks like I don't have a choice this time. But, I guess it's okay; I might as well as settle this once and for all," Baiyi murmured as he played with Mia's hair.

Mia, however, shook her hair out of his grasp and asked, "So, Mr. Hope, what's the name of the Academy going to be?"

'Ey? This is something I haven't… really thought about.' After all, he was not the First Walker, who had a lot passion for coming up with names. Before he could start thinking about it, the Voidwalkers began to discuss amongst themselves.

"Since this it academy is being established by his Majesty, the Emperor, himself, it should be called the Rohlserlian Royal Institute!" The Archmage stated. It was quite rare that he came up with a name that was not embarassing or copyright-infringing!

"Such audacity within the Walhart Empire? That's simply asking for a war!" The Scholar Walker replied. " Fortunately, my keener insights has determined a name that suggests more prudence… The Void Academy! How is that?"

'How the hell is that name prudent? The Archmage's suggestion may turn us into enemies of the Walhart royalty, but your suggestion… may turn us into the enemies of the entire world, okay?' Baiyi said, instantly criticizing the suggestion. 

"Nah, that's not too apt. Just called it the Hope Academy. After all, it's customary to name a school after its principal," the Apprentice Walker said, drawing experience from his own tenure.

'Sure, that is customary. 'Hope' is a pretty good word, but when it is attached to an organization, anyone could mistake it to be a famous organization that manufactures pig-feed, which is totally not halal.'

"Please! If we are to build our private academy in a private realm, then we should be open minded when christening it. It should have a name that is unique and highlights our individuality! So, let us christen it… The School of Gentlemen!" The Cleric Walker suggested, hopefully. 

For his suggestion, Baiyi punished him with a twenty-four hour forced mute.

"Fine, you wanna be straightforward? Let's called it Fair Maidens Grooming Academy! And, the only students we accept in our application will be ladies and cute boys who look like ladie — mmmhhh!" The Cleric Walker's brother-in-arms, the Paladin Walker, was also muted for twenty four hours.

However, the Cleric Walker's lousy suggestion seemed to have influenced the other Voidwalkers, because the suggestions that began to come in were without logic. Hogwarts, Totsuki Saryo Institute, Ooarai High School, Otonokizaka Academy, Academy City, and even debatable schools like Chinese Academy of White (Album) Studies, the Academy of Lightning, the Chinese Academy of Chtholly. They had come up from the ding.

These suggestions really made him wonder why the Voidwalkers spend their free time doing.

By the time Baiyi arrived for the special quorum the next day, suggestions for an academy name were still pouring in from the Void, despite forcefully muting the weeaboos, NEETs, and researchers of 'White Album' and 'Chtholly'.

Therefore, Baiyi decided to ignore and turn his attention to reality. Let them mess around amongst themselves; he had serious business to attend to.

Although they had called this a special quorum, to Baiyi, it seemed more like a public Senate hearing. It was being held in a conference room within the Sorcerers' Associations. By the time Baiyi arrived, excluding a circular desk in the middle of the room, the conference room was packed with representatives of various factions and societies; they numbered more than a hundred. Even the Northerners had sent their own representatives to attend the hearing, despite not having any intention to actively participate in the questions and discussions.

It seemed that everyone there was very interested in the book that Baiyi found in the secret realm. The meeting had not started yet, but the room was noisy from hushed whispers, which, no doubt, had Baiyi as the topic of conversation.

The quorum began with a greeting and an introduction, as was customary. After that, Baiyi's academy was only briefly discussed. No one was against it. Instead, they all quickly congratulated him, and some directors of other academies quickly expressed their desires to establish a good rapport with Baiyi, hoping to rope him into an alliance with them.

After a short period of pretending to host a discussion and a few superficial congratulatory words, the host of the quorum, an old fellow from the Doors of Conundrum called Great Sage Tom, instantly shifted to the true agenda for the gathering. "Master Hope, as your fellow academic in the Doors of Conundrum, I'm very curious as to what you acquired. Could you please sate our curiosity?"

"Sure!" Baiyi replied, without any hesitation. The Book of Servitude appeared in his hands, and this time, its cover was not black but dazzling gold.

As a divine item, the Book of Servitude could change its appearance according to its owner's will.

Baiyi told the crowd that he believed the book to be an ancient relic of the Ancient Rohlserlian Empire, but that was all he knew due to lack of research; this was the same tale he had been telling since he got the book.

"Master Hope, I think you'd been saying the same thing for a while now, yes?" Great Sage Tom replied, visibly unimpressed. " Everyone's here to eagerly listen to your finding, yet you're dismissing us… quite uncourteous, don't you think?"

"But, what I'd said was the truth. Why won't you believe me?" Baiyi shrugged helplessly. "Maybe I should just do it this way…"

He tossed the Book of Servitude onto Great Sage Tom's lap.I… am lost on why he would think so, really. It didn't conjure that image to me… But, perhaps there is a famous pig-feed manufacturer in China that goes by the name 'Hope'...?I skipped Hogwarts because, damn, I really expect everyone to know what Hogwarts is. (A) The culinary institute featured in Food Wars. (B) The school featured in Girls und Panzer. (C) The school featured in Love Live! School Idol Diary. (D) The school featured in A Certain Magical Index. (E) A parody "academy" established by the Chinese to conduct "research" on a galgame called White Album. (F) If it was originally some sort of Chinese meme, I'd failed to establish a connection. (G)A self-proclaimed "academy"/ "religion" centered around some tragic fairy, Chtholly Nota Seniorius from… Sigh, Shuumatsu nani shitemasu ka? Isogashii desu ka? Sukutte moratte ii desu ka?