Supreme Masterpiece

"Hmm?"

Walnut's fingers suddenly stopped tapping the keyboard. She frowned slightly, letting out a short, questioning syllable. Staring at the data stream scrolling across the screen, her gaze was focused yet tinged with a hint of confusion.

"What's wrong?"

Mazumi Mami immediately noticed her reaction and leaned forward slightly. "Did you run into a problem? Or did you find something unusual?"

"You could call it... unusual."

Walnut nodded, sliding her fingertip across the touchpad to pull up another window.

"Young master, take a look. Regarding Sakayanagi Arisu, the routine information gathering went smoothly."

She pointed at the clearly listed entries on the screen:

[Sakayanagi Arisu]

Eldest daughter of the Sakayanagi family, daughter of Director Sakayanagi Narumori.

Height: 150cm, Weight: 35kg, Birthday: March 12th.

Congenital heart disease; strictly prohibited from participating in any strenuous physical activities. Records of physical fitness tests are nearly blank.

Extremely high IQ, sharp thinking, especially skilled in Western chess. Privately rated by certain educational evaluation institutions as a "strategic thinking specialized genius."

From kindergarten to middle school, she has clear records in specific aristocratic schools or private education systems. Although some details are protected by privacy, the overall trajectory is clear.

"As expected, it's about what I anticipated."

Mazumi Mami quickly scanned the information, imprinting the details into his mind.

"The director's daughter—frail in body but extraordinary in mind. Keeping an eye on her movements might indeed touch upon some of this school's hidden operational logic."

He paused, then looked at Walnut. "But this information seems to have been gathered quite smoothly. That's not what puzzled you just now, is it?"

"No, it's not."

Walnut switched the screen. A much simpler—one could even say "crudely" sparse—file page appeared. The photo was exactly the brown-haired, yellow-eyed boy from Class D that Mazumi Mami had noticed in the gymnasium.

"What puzzled me is the second person you mentioned, young master—Kiyotaka Ayanokouji."

On the file page, aside from his name, gender, class (Class D), a standard enrollment photo, and extremely basic physical data, almost everything else was blank.

Family members, past educational experience, hobbies and interests, social activity records...

Every section that should normally be filled in was either marked "No records" or filled with extremely template-like, perfunctory content that looked hastily thrown together.

"Based on the physical description you gave, the only match among the new students in Class D is this 'Kiyotaka Ayanokouji.'"

Walnut tapped the screen with her fingertip, pointing at the expressionless photo.

"But the problem is, his 'information'—or rather, the 'traces' he left as a social individual before entering this school—are unusually sparse, to the point of being almost fabricated."

Walnut continued.

"How so?"

Mazumi Mami's gaze sharpened.

"I tried to trace his academic trajectory..."

Walnut pulled up another window, displaying a complex search path and a large number of red prompts reading "No results found" or "Data missing."

"From the official or civilian database records of kindergartens, elementary schools, and middle schools that should theoretically exist, they're either completely blank or crude forgeries that can't withstand any cross-verification."

"In the underlying database of citizen information and educational records under the Chongying Protectorate, this 'Kiyotaka Ayanokouji' was almost like a ghost before the age of sixteen."

She turned to Mazumi Mami, her blue eyes carrying the rigor and confusion of a technician.

"This is highly unreasonable. Given Sakayanagi Arisu's family background and special circumstances, some of her information can be protected at a high level, but it still leaves a logical, coherent social trajectory. An ordinary student, in theory, would find it even harder to completely erase early traces—unless..."

"Unless he grew up from the very beginning in an environment isolated from mainstream society."

Mazumi Mami picked up the thread, his tone low.

"Not some myth of falling from the sky, but growing up to a certain age within a highly closed, self-sufficient system before being 'released' into normal society."

"Exactly."

Walnut nodded, further analyzing.

"Considering the objective needs of human growth, that closed environment would also have to provide stable survival guarantees—ample food, safe shelter, basic medical care to fend off illness. Otherwise, a child would struggle to survive healthily into adulthood."

"Not only that," Mazumi Mami's fingers unconsciously tapped lightly on the desk—a habit of his during deep thought.

"To allow him to seamlessly integrate into society without arousing suspicion, that environment must also have a complete educational system within it."

"Not just teaching him to read, do arithmetic, and learn common sense, but also training his speech and behavior to make him seem 'ordinary,' teaching him how to hide his peculiarities, how to observe and imitate..."

"Doesn't this sound a bit like the extreme closed-door elite education some of the Empire's ancient families use to cultivate their core heirs or special talents?"

"Except those families usually have enough power and reason to legitimize its existence, without needing to so thoroughly erase external traces."

He suddenly paused. A thought that had vaguely surfaced before now crystallized sharply.

"...To so deliberately erase a person's proof of social existence, forging them into a nearly 'blank' individual, then sending them into this equally special school..."

"It reminds me of some historical cases attempting to cultivate 'perfect tools' or 'secret weapons.'"

"Supreme Masterpiece."

Almost simultaneously, Mazumi Mami and Walnut spoke the word in unison.

As the words fell, the two exchanged a glance and saw the same judgment in each other's eyes.

"Extremely high probability."

Walnut quickly sorted her thoughts, her pace quickening.

"One of the objectives His Majesty gave us was to 'verify the 'Supreme Masterpiece' claimed by independent forces within the Chongying Protectorate.'"

"If this 'masterpiece' refers to a specific 'individual' rather than a mere technique or system, then to forge such a 'masterpiece' and hide it in plain sight, one of the most effective methods is to completely erase his past."

"Let him appear on the evaluation stage with a 'brand new' and 'ordinary' identity. Kiyotaka Ayanokouji's abnormal file status perfectly fits this operational logic."

Mazumi Mami slowly leaned back into his chair, a flicker of light in his eyes.

"Indeed, this reasoning is sound. If Kiyotaka Ayanokouji truly is that 'Supreme Masterpiece,' then our mission objective this time has likely appeared before us in the most unexpected way from the very start—and in what we considered the 'worst' Class D."

A hint of amusement curled at the corner of his mouth.

"This saves us the trouble of searching for a needle in a haystack. Walnut, immediately elevate Kiyotaka Ayanokouji to the highest priority investigation target."

"Try to cut in from other angles, such as fund flows, records of special material procurement, any covert projects possibly related to this school's founding or the S System's development... any trace that might point to the training system behind him."

"At the same time, raise his real-time surveillance to the maximum level. I need to know every move he makes on campus, especially his contact with specific individuals."

Mazumi Mami said.

"Understood, young master."

Walnut's expression turned extremely serious as her fingers once again danced across the keyboard, launching more analysis windows and penetration tools.

"I'll mobilize all available resource channels and try to piece together his background. However, if the other side's security is truly that high, we may not achieve a breakthrough in a short time."

Walnut said.

"No matter. Having a direction is good. We have three years."

Mazumi Mami said in a low voice. "For now, the top priority is to confirm his 'special nature.' If he really is the 'masterpiece,' then in this school that advocates 'survival of the fittest,' he will inevitably show something extraordinary sooner or later. All we need to do is observe patiently, wait, and at the critical moment... carry out our 'verification.'"

Just then, a soft knock came at the door of the private room, followed by it sliding open.

Chisato Nishikigi and Runa Inoue walked in carrying trays laden with sumptuous food, the aroma instantly filling the room.

"Lunch is here! You must be starving!"

Chisato Nishikigi's cheerful voice broke the somewhat heavy analytical atmosphere in the room.

Runa Inoue deftly arranged the dishes one by one, her movements quiet and efficient.

"Perfect timing. Let's eat and talk."

"Come take a look too. We've made a major discovery."

Mazumi Mami said.

"What discovery? Let me see!"

Chisato Nishikigi said.

"For you and Walnut to look so serious, it must be something significant."

Runa Inoue said.

The four sat around the table, and what seemed like an ordinary campus lunch began.

But beneath the seemingly lighthearted conversation, the investigation and evaluation of the "Supreme Masterpiece" had quietly entered a substantive phase.

The target had surfaced.

And next came how to approach, observe, and ultimately complete the final trial known as "verification."