Ch.49Chapter 49. Taking Care of Business in One Go (2)

The academy uniform felt quite unfamiliar after not wearing it for so long since the hourglass theft incident.

Before entering the academy, I used to wear it at least once a week, but now I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d put it on.

‘Did this robe always flap around this much?’

The robe fluttered awkwardly with every movement.

It never bothered me before, but wearing it after so long made it feel strange.

“Time to head out.”

Wearing the uniform in the dormitory gave me a fresh feeling.

It somehow made everything more exciting.

Yuria’s request was to investigate a suspicious person.

I thought “investigation” would involve following someone around and looking for suspicious behavior, which would take a long time.

‘Magic really is the best.’

Yuria suggested a method completely different from what I’d expected.

My job wasn’t to follow the suspicious person or sneak into an office to steal something.

I simply needed to sneak into the professors’ offices, place one item there, and retrieve it later.

Woong-

I teleported directly from the dormitory to the roof of the professors’ building.

The weather was perfect today.

The cloudy sky obscured the moonlight, making it much darker than usual.

‘All I need to do is install this and retrieve it tomorrow.’

Before starting the job in earnest, I fiddled with the so-called “Mana Analyzer” in my pocket.

A square object about the size of a finger joint.

To be precise, it wasn’t just an object but a magical tool.

What Yuria had given me when asking for this favor was the recently developed “Mana Analyzer.”

As the name suggests, it was a tool for analyzing mana.

I wondered what we could learn from merely analyzing mana, but Yuria explained her thinking as if she’d anticipated my question.

The Mana Analyzer automatically absorbs and analyzes the most concentrated mana remaining in a space.

If any trace of black magic or something equivalent is detected among the analyzed mana…

‘Then that person is our winner.’

It was an excellent method that eliminated the need to search for suspicious evidence or follow people around.

I didn’t fully understand the principles behind it, but if we could find out this way, it would be incredibly convenient.

After running a mental simulation, I slowly closed my eyes and awakened my senses.

‘Surprisingly, there are quite a few people here.’

Despite the late hour, many people were still in the professors’ building where their research labs and offices were located.

The academy professors are pitiful people too.

It’s past 10 PM, and so many haven’t gone home yet.

I’d need to move very carefully.

‘Not that I’m likely to get caught anyway.’

Woong-

I teleported with that thought.

My first destination was Professor Kassis Sinclair’s office.

His office was easy to find since I’d visited once after the competition ended.

I muffled my footsteps and looked for a suitable place to install the Mana Analyzer.

Sticking it under the desk seemed safest from discovery, but it was also too obvious.

‘He won’t notice if I put it here.’

I twisted it slightly and pushed the analyzer into a small gap under the drawer.

This way, even if discovered, it would likely be mistaken for trash and thrown away.

‘It needs at least 12 hours, so I can come back tomorrow.’

After looking around Kassis’s tidy office one more time, I headed to the next location.

I installed another analyzer in the same way in the office of the second-year professor, Lockhart or Robert or whatever his name was.

Everything had gone smoothly so far.

But the next destination presented a greater challenge.

The Vice Chancellor’s office.

The Vice Chancellor’s office wasn’t in the professors’ building.

The Chancellor’s and Vice Chancellor’s offices were located deeper within the academy, in a building that also housed the storage and vault.

‘Getting in there is the problem.’

Yuria had photos of Professor Kassis’s and Lockhart’s offices, but none of the Vice Chancellor’s office interior.

That meant teleporting directly into the Vice Chancellor’s office was impossible.

And I’d never been inside the Vice Chancellor’s office before.

The safest approach would be to somehow enter the Vice Chancellor’s office during the day as a student to see the interior firsthand.

Once I’d done that, I could come and go from the office whenever I wanted.

‘I should finish this in one go.’

But I wanted to complete everything today.

The positive thing was that I’d visited this building once before.

My memory was hazy, but I’d definitely come to steal something from the academy vault and succeeded.

The building structure seemed slightly different from back then, so I couldn’t teleport recklessly, but I could try if necessary.

Woong-

I instantly teleported from Professor Lockhart’s office to the roof of the storage building where the Vice Chancellor’s office was located.

Again, I closed my eyes and concentrated to sense who might be inside the building.

‘Huh?’

I’d assumed no one would be there, but my assumption was wrong.

I’d expected security guards near the storage area.

But I hadn’t anticipated someone being in the Vice Chancellor’s office.

‘The Vice Chancellor hasn’t gone home yet?’

I could somewhat understand why regular professors might still be working past 10 PM.

After all, professors are employees of the academy.

But I hadn’t expected the Vice Chancellor to be there too.

This disrupted my plan to finish everything today.

I needed to secretly install the analyzer in the Vice Chancellor’s office, but how could I do that with someone inside?

And it wasn’t just one person.

Though not as sensitive as Erika, my vague senses could detect two people in the Vice Chancellor’s office.

One person was sitting in a chair, and the other…

‘Lying face down on the floor?’

It wasn’t precise, but that was the general impression.

Something felt off.

It was already suspicious that people were in the Vice Chancellor’s office at this hour, but one of them was lying on the floor?

‘Maybe they’re not lying down?’

Wondering if my senses had dulled, I concentrated harder, but nothing changed.

One person was definitely sitting in a chair, while the other was crouched on the floor.

That’s when my instincts kicked in.

‘Could it really be the Vice Chancellor?’

I couldn’t be certain, but my intuition was telling me something.

That a very suspicious conversation was taking place inside.

I might not even need to install the Mana Analyzer.

If I could overhear their conversation and gather even a small clue…

As this thought occurred to me, I started to feel greedy.

Catching someone in the act is better than needing evidence.

‘If I can get inside the building and somehow eavesdrop on their conversation…’

Rustle-

As I was preparing to enter the building, I heard a sound from the forest beside the building.

I immediately froze and looked toward the source of the sound.

Though unlikely, it could be someone tracking me.

Rustle-

“Hello…?”

‘…Huh?’

I had opened a spatial pocket and was gripping the Black Shadow Sword in my right hand just in case, but I unconsciously dropped it when I heard the voice.

It was a familiar voice.

‘Cynthia?’

The voice clearly coming from within the forest was Cynthia’s.

Her sudden appearance was unexpected.

And right next to the building with the Vice Chancellor’s office.

“Um, I’m here…!”

Cynthia was speaking as quietly as possible, almost whispering, but with my heightened senses, her voice was perfectly clear.

She seemed to be waiting for someone.

‘Who is she meeting at this hour?’

My first thought was, ‘Did Cynthia get a boyfriend?’

A female student waiting for someone in a forest where no one would pass by at night.

It seemed entirely plausible.

“Hello, are you there?”

Cynthia’s voice grew slightly louder.

‘That doesn’t sound like she’s calling for a boyfriend.’

I’d thought I’d stumbled upon Cynthia’s romantic rendezvous, but I seemed to be mistaken.

Her tone definitely wasn’t how one would address a boyfriend.

‘Hmm.’

I was momentarily conflicted.

Should I continue with my original plan to enter the building and focus on the Vice Chancellor, or should I keep watching Cynthia?

“Ah. Over here!”

“I’m sorry. I’m a bit late.”

My dilemma didn’t last long.

Because I heard a man’s voice besides Cynthia’s from her direction.

I lowered my posture on the roof and moved as close as possible toward Cynthia.

Yes, I should listen to this conversation first.

“It’s okay! The candy…?”

“Haha. Here you go. I put in a bit more this time.”

“Ah.”

‘Candy?’

It was dark and distant, so I couldn’t see clearly, but the voice speaking in front of Cynthia belonged to a man.

From their conversation, it seemed Cynthia had come to receive candy from this man.

It was truly bizarre.

Meeting some man in such a place at this late hour to receive candy?

“The candy really gave you courage, didn’t it?”

“Yes. Tremendously.”

I could detect a slight tremor in Cynthia’s voice.

The more I listened, the more suspicious the conversation became.

Candy and courage?

“Haha. The Vice Chancellor will be pleased too. Now that Cynthia has found her courage. Feel free to contact me anytime you need more.”

“Thank you!”

‘Vice Chancellor?’

Whether by coincidence or not, the man happened to mention the Vice Chancellor.

Vice Chancellor Landgar Bayer, one of the suspicious individuals Yuria had pointed out.

My suspicions intensified as soon as I heard the mention of the Vice Chancellor.

“Oh, and remember. No matter how much courage the candy gives you, don’t take more than two pieces at once. Understand?”

“Why…?”

“Well, too much of anything becomes poison. I believe you understand what I mean, Cynthia.”

“…”

Cynthia didn’t respond to the man’s words.

“I’ll be going now.”

The man said this and left.

It looked so suspicious that I was about to follow him instead of Cynthia, but there was no need.

The man circled around once and entered the building where the Vice Chancellor’s office was located.

The security guards guarding the storage building let him pass naturally, suggesting he was either an acquaintance or an academy employee.

‘This is extremely suspicious.’

I had no evidence, but my intuition was responding sharply.

I had a strong feeling that the man who had just entered the building would head straight to the Vice Chancellor’s office.

‘I should quickly go in and hear what they’re talking about… Huh?’

I was watching Cynthia’s back and about to enter the building when I noticed something.

‘Where did everyone go?’

The presence I had definitely felt in the Vice Chancellor’s office just moments ago had disappeared.

Even the man who had just entered, the one who had given candy to Cynthia.

‘What’s going on?’

Gradually, my suspicion was turning into certainty.

Vice Chancellor Landgar Bayer of Crescen Academy.

This person definitely had something to hide.