episode_0021

On a determined night when darkness had fallen, well past curfew at the dormitory where no one should be wandering, there was no one who opened a window and leaped out without a sound…

‘All because of this damn penalty.’

If I were to leap out like that with my body right now, there’s a high chance I might get hurt somewhere. In the worst-case scenario, would I be discovered with broken bones, groaning behind the dormitory?

To prevent such an accident from happening, I prepared to tear down the curtains in the dormitory’s private room quietly.

Placing two different pieces of fabric side by side, wrapping them together to make a loop, passing through the loop and pulling in the same direction repeatedly will complete the task.

The knotting technique tightens more securely as more force is applied, so the safety should be fine.

Finally, after securing it firmly in the wardrobe, finding no issues even when pulled, I threw the fabric rope outside and began descending slowly.

The rope length was slightly short, and although there was a bit of noise as I jumped down ungracefully at the end, fortunately, it seemed like no one noticed.

At Ardente Academy dormitories, students are checked every three hours to ensure they are in their rooms, in case they might sneak out after curfew. From now on, I must engage in a time attack.

Within three hours, I must pass through various obstacles, break through barriers and safes, grab what I need, and return to the dormitory.

Activating heightened senses expands perception, revealing unwanted information, including students deeply asleep, studying late into the night, and even couples meeting secretly in the early days of the academy.

As I focused more, I faintly sensed seven presences observing me. There might be individuals beyond my current level of detection.

‘To be honest, these guys bother me a bit.’

The fact that I, not long after enrolling, am raiding the academy’s secret warehouse will surely be relayed through them to Cineria, reinforcing her misconception that I am connected to something.

Still, releasing the penalty comes first, so it’s an inevitable choice. If I can’t overcome this, I won’t be able to follow the scenario.

From her recent actions, it seems she has chosen to watch over me for now. Of course, I shouldn’t neglect Claire’s safety either.

Such concerns can wait until after raiding the academy warehouse, so I quickly raided the storehouse and quietly slipped away from behind the dormitory.

Ultimately, the academy’s secret warehouse is located underground in the building where the principal’s office is.

The conventional entry route involves infiltrating a building disguised as a regular laboratory, guarded by two professors from the Department of Combat Arts and the Department of Magic, alternating shifts in pairs, ensuring the two professors do not escape outside, then finding the hidden door leading downwards and overcoming various magical traps and physical obstacles.

Just saying it sounds simple, but facing two powerful professors in a stable combination of offense and defense is sheer madness.

Even in a normal state without fighting the professors, the rear magical traps and obstacles are designed to prevent easy access to the warehouse.

Of course, even if one manages to deal with the two professors after some growth, there is no way that this will go unnoticed from the outside, and once the principal catches wind of it, everything will be cut off.

One should consider the conventional method impossible unless the academy is malfunctioning in the latter stages.

‘But still, it’s not like there’s absolutely no way.’

Entering through the back door of the building with the principal’s office, if you carefully examine the floor of the first room on the right, you will find a basement entrance to a secret warehouse underground.

If such magic were laid where students could walk, they might get hurt, so it is not set up during the day when students are around.

One might think it would be as simple as piercing through the back door during the day, but it is impossible as Principal Iris guards the building from the principal’s office during the day.

It would be like jumping into a lion’s mouth to avoid a wolf.

Even though there are magical traps and pitfalls when infiltrating at night, they are significantly weaker compared to the main route, and unlike the main route, there are no professors constantly guarding them.

The problem is that even if you break through there, you still have to penetrate a powerful protective barrier surrounding the warehouse… I can only hope my gamble pays off.

I could tell from the fierce warning sent by my heightened senses that I had arrived properly.

The distance to the back door was about 10m, but it was already filled with alarm spells and magical traps scattered throughout.

“Now, it begins.”

From now on, I must rely on my intuition and memory to break through.

I’ve never attempted something like this with such weak specs, but I have no choice but to try.

“A flame trap ahead. If triggered, it will ignite after walking past it nonchalantly in 3 seconds.”

I precisely counted to three and rolled, but due to my low specs, I couldn’t dodge properly.

Feeling warmth on my back, indicating a burn, I bit down hard to stifle any groans.

Still, this is manageable. As long as I’m careful not to trigger the alarm spells, I’ll be fine.

Due to experience, I knew in my mind and intuition what to expect, but my body didn’t cooperate, resulting in additional injuries. However, I successfully reached the back door without triggering the alarm spells.

The members of the Sineria Black Moon organization seemed to no longer be following, apparently unwilling to risk various dangers, including alarm spells.

“They must have realized that setting off an alarm spell would be a disaster if they tried to monitor us. It’s fortunate they held back.”

Carefully opening the door and stepping inside, I entered a room immediately to the right, which felt dimly lit, filled with old bookshelves.

Under one of these bookshelves lies a passage leading to the underground, which can be found by repeatedly pushing shelves and feeling the floor.

One could criticize for not memorizing the position of a single bookshelf, but it’s random spawn, so it can’t be helped.

After pushing and feeling the shelves for a while, I sensed the cold touch of metal.

“I finally found it.”

Turning what seemed like a handle, an entrance opened, revealing a circular staircase leading downward.

There were no additional traps here, so I could descend comfortably. My intuition also did not send any warnings.

After descending for a while, I came face to face with the wall of the warehouse surrounded by a glowing blue protective barrier.

In the early stages of the academy, given my weak specs, it felt particularly sturdy, but I pushed aside my unease, drew my neck sword from my waist.

Cautiously gripping the twisted celestial neck sword, I closed my eyes, opened my mouth.

“Even if my body breaks, lend me your utmost strength. Please. If it’s not you now, there’s no other way.”

As if reluctant, it grumbled, but gradually began to increase its output in response to my earnest plea.

Reaching the output level from the entrance exam room, my trembling arms and the neck sword stopped increasing the output.

“I’m fine, so I’ll ask until the end.”

The power felt from my words in the throat sword explosively increased.

The tendons in the arm holding the throat sword burst and a creaking sound was heard.

“If you pull any further, your body could be destroyed before breaking the barrier. It’s dangerous. It ends with just one time.”

As I thrust the throat sword towards the barrier until both arms broke, an immense counterforce was felt, then quickly faded away.

The throat sword turned to dust as if it had exhausted its power, and my arm burst all its tendons, becoming completely useless.

My right arm, which first held the throat sword, feels like even the bones are broken. This is serious.

It will soon be revealed that the warehouse has been raided, and to avoid suspicion, I can’t go to the Academy’s infirmary.

“Could Claire use healing magic?”

Turning my gaze towards the barrier, part of it was broken, and there was now a gap where one person could enter the vault.

I thought there was a possibility of failure on the barrier and vault walls, but fortunately, I succeeded in breaking through.

Now, with joy at the thought of entering through this gap and bringing out only what is necessary, a moment of overwhelming happiness was interrupted by a sound that made me doubt my ears.

– Whyyyy

Why is this activating now?

Isn’t this something that should happen in the latter part of the scenario?

I lost.