"Someone approached you?" Ansu wondered if someone had beaten them to it.
"They offered to sponsor you too?" Cecilia raised an eyebrow and asked evenly, "Professor, may I ask who they were?"
"I don't know who he really is either," Professor Duncan said helplessly. "He's rather mysterious."
After Ansu pressed him repeatedly, Professor Duncan finally shared some information with them. They also learned why he had recently restarted his project to locate the Demons' treasure.
Although the Empire allowed dwarves to study and teach, Professor Duncan, as a "demihuman," had inevitably faced discrimination from his colleagues and superiors. His academic career had been fraught with setbacks.
Ostracized by others, he received limited research funding and barely had any students working under him. Professor Duncan's research had gone without results for so long that he was now facing dismissal by the vice chancellor.
But just then, a mysterious man had approached him.
The man had offered to sponsor his research, on one condition: rather than his usual magical machinery, he wanted Duncan to investigate the legends surrounding the Demon Army's treasure and pinpoint its location.
"He's already given me some funding, though not as much as Miss Haley here..." Duncan cast an apologetic glance at the pretty girl. "But he promised to keep providing funds, which will certainly add up to a considerable amount. And he was the first to propose this, so..."
He scratched what little hair he had left, looking thoroughly vexed. "Ah... why couldn't you two have come earlier?"
When he needed money, none came his way. Yet over these past few days, people had been lining up to give it to him...
Ansu exchanged a glance with Cecilia and caught a trace of coldness in her eyes.
He had a feeling that if the old professor refused