Rebirth: The Universe's Hidden Heiress-Chapter 76: Secret Exposed

After the match, the voices doubting "Lady" had significantly decreased.

Still, a small group remained skeptical, believing it was improbable for "Lady" to continue her smooth sailing. They hoped she would face off against the top-ranked team to dampen her spirits.

However, much to their disappointment, Yuka and her companions didn’t encounter any higher-ranked individuals or teams in the subsequent matches, leaving everyone to watch their points steadily climb.

Roukujou, no longer keeping a low profile, was full of pride. In the livestreams, he vigorously praised Pinky, and the audience picked up on the subtle sarcasm, using it against any unruly fans from Hephaestus, driving them away with their witty comebacks.

Before leaving, Yuka approached Mr. Bald’s betting station to hear more about the top two players he hadn’t finished discussing last time. Mr. Bald, having time on his hands, eagerly chatted with the trio. "The top player is mysterious, similar to the current third-ranked ’Lady’, with no contact information listed. No one knows their true identity. They’ve been competing in the underground arena since the start of the year, accumulating a high score. Some suspect they’re a previous contestant playing under a new account, but I doubt it. It wouldn’t make sense to abandon an account with already accumulated points to start anew."

Yuka asked, "Is it possible to play under a new account?"

"Of course," Mr. Bald replied with a cold laugh. "Since the start of the underground arena, I’ve seen only one person do it. I recognized him immediately in his first match!"

"That’s Rabies, currently second in the rankings," Mr. Bald continued, calming his emotions. "Most who’ve competed against him have withdrawn from the competition."

Ayoi, wide-eyed, asked, "Why is that?"

"His style is brutally aggressive, like a mad dog chasing and biting. The underground arena even changed its rules because of him," Mr. Bald recalled. "Previously, if a mecha’s cockpit damage reached one hundred percent, the pilot wouldn’t be immediately eliminated but marked as [Eliminated] and could stay in the arena to watch without moving or speaking."

"But this mad dog would repeatedly attack the eliminated contestants until they mentally broke down, only then sparing his opponent."

"See that flashy pink mecha on the ranking board?" Mr. Bald pointed at the ranking display. "At first, I thought this mecha was another account of ’Rabies’, but I soon realized the guy’s not like ’Rabies’ at all."

Mr. Bald stroked his head, his eyes narrowing in thought, "Speaking of which, I’d really like to see ’Lady’ encounter ’Rabies’. That would be quite a spectacle."

The butler muttered quietly, "No, Master won’t encounter him."

"Right, Master, we should head back to school," the butler said to Yuka.

Yuka waved goodbye to Mr. Bald and then returned to school with Ayoi and Alex.

Monday morning brought routine physical training.

Fred, still holding a grudge for being eliminated by Yuka in the last mid-term exam, intentionally jogged beside her during the weighted run.

He mocked her, "Heard you fainted in last week’s mecha mid-term. Scared by an insectoid, right? Everyone now knows you’re just a useless vase."

"Mr. Kuba must have scolded you," Fred said with smug satisfaction, his eyebrows raised. "Let me guess, you definitely failed the mecha class."

Yuka weakly lifted her hand, wiping the non-existent sweat from her forehead, then stepped on Fred’s foot, which he had stretched out to trip her. Hearing his muffled groan, she smiled and said, "Ooops, I stepped on you."

"Insectoids are indeed scary," Yuka continued to jog slowly, "But Mr. Kuba didn’t scold me, you know."

Before Fred could respond, Instructor Yonda’s booming voice echoed behind them, "The two in the front! No talking while running! Do you want to run extra laps with more weight?"

Fred quickly ran away from Yuka, catching up with the group ahead. Yuka continued at her slow pace, timing her arrival at the finish line perfectly.

After the physical training class, Yuka and her friends had lunch in the cafeteria, then parted ways at the door, heading back to their dorms.

On the way, Yuka heard her opticomputer beep. She took it out of her pocket and saw a series of messages from Kimiko.

Kimiko: [Ahhh, Yuka, I’m so sorry!]

Kimiko: [I went to ask my grandfather about the current dean, and he found out I took his solution!]

Kimiko: [My grandfather is super strict. I got scared when he started questioning me. I’ve locked myself in my room and bolted the door. I’m afraid to go out, and he’s still asking questions outside.]

Kimiko: [What should I...]

The vibrating of the opticomputer stopped. Yuka, looking at Kimiko’s unfinished message, suddenly had an bad feeling.

Ayoi leaned over and asked, "Yuka, what’s wrong?"

"Kimiko got caught by her grandfather," Yuka explained. "It looks like we won’t be able to keep the secret of our visit to the restricted area anymore."

The next moment, an invitation for a video call popped up on Yuka’s opticomputer.

Yuka and Ayoi silently stared at the screen before Yuka sighed, "I can mute it for now, but we can’t just avoid it forever," and accepted the call.

On the screen appeared an elderly man with graying hair and glasses, with a remorseful Kimiko behind him. Kimiko silently mouthed to Yuka and Ayoi, "This is my grandfather, don’t admit anything."

Tanaka looked back at Kimiko, who was frantically waving her hands. She immediately stood straight, bowing her head as if she hadn’t done anything.

"Hello, Mr. Tanaka," Yuka greeted.

"So, it was you guys who sneaked a book out of the restricted area?" Tanaka squinted and said. "And the matter of Humphrey, did you also learn about it from the book there?"

"The information about Humphrey wasn’t from the library," Yuka skillfully dodged the key point. "I got it from other sources I purchased."

Since Kimiko was involved, Tanaka, not wanting to implicate his granddaughter, skipped this topic and continued, "Why do you want to know about this, and what are you planning to do?"

"Well, here’s the thing," Yuka said, switching to a sorrowful expression. "My former butler was a very talented but ill-tempered person, rumored to be from the Alliance Science Academy. He taught me a lot, and seeing him wrongfully accused, I felt angry and sad. I wanted to clear his name."

"So your former butler is..." Tanaka prompted.

"Nori," Yuka replied.

Tanaka’s expression turned curious. ’Nori, known for his arrogance, serving as someone else’s butler? He must have been desperate...’

Snapping back to the conversation, Tanaka looked at Yuka, "How do I know if you’re telling the truth?"

Yuka answered, "He prefers to use his left fist to punch other people’s ribs."

Tanaka’s glasses slid down as he recalled Nori causing chaos at the academy, even feeling a phantom pain in his ribs. He quickly said, "Alright, I understand."

"To be honest, I’ve also had doubts about the incident back then," Tanaka confessed. "I was forced to take the position of dean, but it should have been Nori next in line. The situation was very chaotic. You didn’t see it, but Nori knocked down a group of people blocking him and ranted like a madman, claiming he’d kill Humphrey."

Tanaka’s expression turned grave. "Nori was known for his bad temper and arrogance in the academy, which strained his relationships with others. Humphrey, on the other hand, was approachable and good-natured, making us more inclined to communicate with him. We suspected Nori’s mental state was unstable at the time, so we applied a sedative to him and then consulted Humphrey about the situation."

Tanaka sighed and continued, "But by the time we turned to find Nori for confirmation, he had already disappeared."

"Humphrey suggested that Nori might have fled due to guilt. Our surveillance showed that the insectoid Queen cells from the lab were indeed taken by Nori. At the time, everyone was blinded by anger, but now, on reflection, there were indeed some suspicious aspects. However, it’s all in the past...

Tanaka pushed his glasses up. "I’m retired now and no longer work at the academy. Clearing Nori’s name will be difficult."

Yuka remained silent.

"But," Tanaka changed his tone, "I still have students in the academy. If you trust me, I can ask one of them to help you gather evidence."

Yuka thought for a moment and asked, "Are there any conditions?"

Tanaka’s face became serious. "Of course. If your trespassing into the restricted area is discovered, you must not implicate Kimiko. Ensure she is completely uninvolved."

Kimiko couldn’t help but exclaim, "But... Grandpa!"

Tanaka glanced back at her. "Got bold now, have you? Daring to yell to me like that?"

Kimiko shrank back.

Yuka and Ayoi exchanged glances. Ayoi quickly consulted Alex, who agreed there was no problem. Yuka bowed her head and solemnly said to Tanaka, "It’s a deal."

Tanaka nodded. "My student is currently engaged in closed research. I’ll discuss this with him when he visits. You won’t have to wait too long; you can rest assured."

"Thank you," Yuka said.

Tanaka nodded again. "Is there anything else you want to ask? I’ll tell you everything now, as you might not get another chance."

Yuka hesitated, then said, "I want to know... what exactly is ’the Gate’?"