Chapter 146: ~Chapter 52~ Part 3

"We arrived," the class rep solemnly declared as she stopped in front of the familiar basement entrance by the side of the main school building. Classes were already over for a while, and most of the placeholders left the school grounds a while ago, save for the ones having their club meetings, like the sports club members hyping themselves up on the nearby tennis court. They couldn't see the two of us due to the picket fence between the main grounds and the sports field, but I could still hear their chanting all the same.

Anyhow, once we arrived, Ammy turned on her heels and locked eyes with me for a few long, silent seconds, and then she eventually stated, "I think I should go with you after all."

"No, you shouldn't," I replied on no uncertain terms, which earned me an increasingly rare yet still somewhat menacing glasses-tweaking from her.

"I'd feel considerably more at ease. I'm too afraid to leave you alone with grandfather."

"Oh, please. I know he agreed to this meeting a little too readily, but you don't have to worry about me. Even if he tries something underhanded, I have multiple exit strategies up my sleeve."

"No, I'm not worried about you," Ammy denied my words in a clearly exasperated tone. "I'm worried that if none of us are around to keep you on a short leash, you're just going to escalate the situation and make things even more complicated."

I wanted to ask 'When did I ever do that?', but she wasn't in the mood for hypocritical humor, so instead I told her, "Don't fret about what-if scenarios; they are only going to give you wrinkles." She didn't seem to appreciate that comment either, so I quickly added, before she could launch into a lecture, "Not to mention, the others are waiting for you, aren't they?"

"That's true…"

She was still reluctant to leave, but before I could push her just a little bit more, her brows abruptly descended into a frown and she asked, "Speaking of waiting, you still haven't told me where you and Josh disappeared to after the end of classes. We agreed that we would meet by the lockers, and I had to wait for almost twenty minutes for you!"

"We had something to discuss with the Disciplinary Committee," I told her a half-truth I've prepared in advance, yet it only made her narrow her eyes even further.

"Are you two in trouble?"

"No, it's some other guys." My answer still didn't satisfy her, but my lips remained sealed. There were some things that she was better off not knowing about…

We locked eyes for a few long seconds, and once she realized I wasn't going to elaborate, she let out a tiny little sigh and raised a hand to poke me in the chest.

"Fine, I'll go with the others. Don't escalate things with grandfather."

"I promise I'll make an attempt to try."

That earned me another frown, but at the end of the day she gave up all the same and told me, "You should know the way to the elevator. I arranged a guide for you to take you to grandfather's office. And once more, for emphasis," she paused as she poked my chest again, this time a little harder, "Don’t. Escalate. The. Situation."

"I get it, I get it. Geez."

I gently pushed her finger aside, and after one final huff, she turned on her heels and walked away, though not without sparing me one last glance as she rounded the corner of the school building. I had to wonder; was this the 'sisterly type' thing that the four creepy amigos claimed was her main claim to popularity? Did people like to be pestered like this? Though on second thought, someone being worried for me and trying to look after me was oddly nice, even if the unneeded nature of it all made it just a teensy bit annoying.

Anyhow, putting all that aside, I decided to enter the den of the lion without any further ado. As embarrassing it was to admit it, when we came here as a group, I was mainly just following after the class rep and I didn’t pay much attention to where the lift door was. Because of that, it took me a few really embarrassing minutes to find it in the basement.

After a short ride down, surrounded by the familiar and slightly unnerving stock elevator music from the last time, the automatic doors opened and revealed a stocky, middle-aged man standing in the middle of the well-lit stony corridor. He was wearing semi-formal apparel under a thick, brown leather apron, had a bushy beard with a few white strands here and there, a balding head, and one of those jewelers' eyepieces on his forehead. In other words, he looked exactly like an artificer (specifically the type that I had already seen talking with Ammy through Far Sight), and the moment our eyes met he immediately stepped up to me with a broad smile.

"Leonard Dunning, I presume?"

He offered a stubby hand ending in thick fingers, and I had no reason not to take it.

"Yes, that's me. Pleased to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine," he squeezed my hand, not too hard yet tight enough to show that he could turn his grasp into a vice if so he chose, and then shook it. On a closer listen, he had some kind of accent, but it was refreshingly subtle. Irish? Maybe Scottish? Some kind of Celtic influence, of that I was fairly sure. Anyhow, he let go of my hand and continued with, "The little miss told me you'd be visiting the Lord today, so I volunteered myself to be your guide."

That explained a few things. I had no idea why Ammy arranged a guide for me, considering the Arch-Mage's office was at the end of the same corridor where the lift arrived, but looking at the eager man in front of me, I had a feeling it might not have been her idea after all.

"I presume you had a reason for that," I mused aloud, and the man, who conspicuously avoided properly introducing himself, nodded in confirmation.

"Certainly! You see, I'm an artificer."

"I've gathered as much, yes."

"What gave it away?" Since he was tugging at his leather apron, I figured it was a rhetorical question, and so I didn't bother answering. After a short while he added, "Not too long ago, the little miss asked us to fabricate a few artifacts for her. I was in charge of the project, and suffice to say I was quite shocked when she showed me the modifications you made to her device. Since the opportunity presented itself, I decided I would use it to introduce myself and maybe discuss matters of the craft with you. I'm not ashamed to admit that I was quite entranced by your work and was curious about its maker."

"Thank you for the compliment, but could we do that after I talked with Lord Gra— I mean, Endymonion?"

"You're right. Please excuse me; I'm just somewhat excited at the moment." He gestured for me to follow after him, and it didn't take us more than two steps before he continued anyway. "I must say, the changes you made to the suit stored in the artifact were absolutely marvelous. I naturally couldn't inspect them too closely, due to the security measures you implemented, but even at a cursory glance, it appears you took our prototypes and turned them into some of the most sophisticated enchantments I've seen in my career! The fidelity of the warding array alone was astounding! Is it true that you made it without the aid of any instruments?"

"I didn't have any on hand, so I had to improvise," I responded off-handedly, as at the moment I was preoccupied with memorizing the locations of the magical surveillance balls in the hallways.

"Is that so?" my guide perked up even more than before and he even leaned closer to me while we walked. "Can you show me how it's done? I was told ever since I was an apprentice that the techniques to directly interact with the inscriptions of a magical array were a lost art! Where did you learn them? Can you teach them to me?"

"Can we discuss this later? I think we are almost at our destination."

"Ah… Please forgive me; I let excitement get the better of me again."

"No problem," I said a little vaguely, and once we arrived at the large double-door leading to Lord Grandpa's place, I decided to throw the man a bone and amended, "That said, while my technique is not something I could teach to others, I'm not against exchanging some pointers once things calmed down a little."

"In that case, can I ask you to attend the symposium on the weekend?"

"Symposium?" I repeated after him, the word accompanied by a curiously raised brow.

"It's a regular conference where us artificers gather to discuss new findings and exchange ideas. We didn't have a guest speaker for two years, and I'm afraid my colleagues would flay me alive if they learned I kept you all for myself."

"Being a guest speaker might be a bit too much, but as long as you can bring along some interesting artifacts, I can probably open up some time in my schedule."

"Trust me, friend; if there's one thing you won't find wanting, it's the number of odd and exotic artifacts on display."

"In that case, you can count me in," I told the friendly artificer with a smile, then exhaled and pointed at the door in front of us. "Let's discuss the details later; I want to get this over with."

"I understand. Give me a second, I'll knock."

"No need, I'll let myself in," I told him with the smallest of smirks and I placed my hand on the door… at which point there was a blood-curdlingly melodramatic 'Noooooooo!' on the other side, and before I could even start pushing, the surface of the door lit up with a web of circuitry-like patterns and it slowly opened up without any effort on my part.

That made me curious. I'm not talking about the blood-curdling bit, but the light show that followed after it. It was evident that there was some kind of magic involved with the door, so was it a spell laid on top of it, or was the whole thing a single artifact? I was never one to let an opportunity to sate my curiosity go by, so I quickly extended my Phantom Limb and plunged it into the retreating door wings.

What I found was quite surprising, yet at the same time it perfectly explained something that was bugging me for a while. I've been in the old man's office many times, mostly as an incorporeal observer, and it always struck me a little odd that, unlike the rest of the underground School, this place had a conspicuous lack of security. No magical cameras, no fancy mystic laser beams, no nothing. Now I knew why.

Contrary to my expectations, my Phantom Limb didn't interface with the doors, but the entire room, which was covered by a single, enormous security array. After proverbially leafing through its functions, I found that it was an interlinked system of multiple, layered wards that were a step above Snowy's handiwork, a full anti-surveillance system, a spatial relocation suppressing subsystem (read: anti-teleportation stuff), and a whole bundle of anti-tampering functions rolled into one. It was no wonder the old man freaked out when I broke his door; it was the linchpin of the whole structure.

Speaking of which, I really didn't want history to repeat itself, so after committing as much of the array in front of me to my memory as possible, I quickly retracted my extra appendage. To my silent relief, it seemed like the security system was no worse for wear.

I may have taken just a tad too long though, as by the time I finished my inspection, the door was already open, and I was face to face with a certain grandfatherly and yet still eminently punchable old man staring daggers at me. I took a quick breath to calm the rising tide of irritation in the pit of my stomach, and once I exhaled, I let my still raised palm down and addressed the owner of the room.

"Sorry, I spaced out for a moment."

The Arch-Mage was still only glaring at me in silence, which I naturally took as an invitation. I directed a grateful nod towards the enthusiastic artificer by my side, after which I promptly entered the room, and not a second later the wings closed shut behind me.

"Good afternoon. It's been a while," I casually greeted the old man and took a few steps towards the large mahogany desk with my hand extended, yet he remained seated without any apparent intent to return the gesture.

"I must say, your unexpected request to meet me was sudden, to say the least," he said in a steady, measured voice, still showing no sign of reciprocating my attempted handshake. I suppose it was to be expected. When was the last time anything went smoothly in my life? Anyhow, while I let my hand down and considered what alternative approaches I could try, he continued by asking me, "Pray tell, could it be that you are looking for assistance?"

"You wish," I responded with a smile that ended up a teensy bit more vicious than I originally intended. After I reined my emotions in, I quickly added, "As a matter of fact, I'm only here to give you an update on the 'tokens of your appreciation' that you dumped on me the last time I was here, and maybe a few questions besides that."

"An update, you say? How unusually courteous of you, and yet a pleasant surprise none the less," the old man stated with an inscrutable smile partially hidden under his beard. "What exactly have you found in your endeavors?"

"Many things, most of which don't make you look particularly reliable, or capable, if we are at that," I responded by employing an equally inscrutable smile of my own. I paused here for a long moment to let him stew in his own juice, then I continued while slowly walking up and down in front of his desk. "First and foremost, let's discuss the Chimera running around on your island."

"A Chimera, you say?"

For some reason the old man's eyes lit up with something resembling approval. I didn't like that, so I quickly threw some cold water on him by answering, "Yes, though I think you're focusing on the wrong part. I'm more worried about the fact that you let a literal monster prowl your island without doing anything about it."

"I have sent a renowned Chimera Slayer to find it, did I not?"

"That would only make sense if you knew that it was a Chimera from the beginning, and you hid that information from me," I countered, which finally made him stop smirking at me like an idiot. I decided to press on while the iron was still hot, so I told him, "On an unrelated note, you're also letting the idiot with the silly robots run amok as well without lifting a finger. Not only that, you even red-taped the Dracis from dealing with them."

"I naturally did. There are rules by which all who live on my island must abide by, and I will not make exceptions." After saying so, Lord Grandpa's eyes glittered with a hint of playfulness as he added, "Why does it matter to you? Could it be that you wished to employ the aid of the winged ones against the Research Society?"

"It is true that with their help we could've shut them down a while ago, but no. I only brought them up because it almost feels like you're trying to maintain the current chaotic situation by refusing to intervene and by holding any third parties at bay."

"Oh? And what exactly would I gain from doing so?" he asked me, and I couldn't help but notice how he was only asking questions and never giving a straight answer. Not that I minded, as I was still busy trying to figure out how to mark him, so firing blanks back and forth in this verbal duel suited me just right.

"How should I know? I'm not a mind-reader," I responded with a shrug, and I wanted to continue pressing him on Labcoat Guy, yet before I could he cut me off with another question.

"In that case, what can you tell me about the third lead I provided to you? Did you find out anything about the unknown swordswoman?"

"She likes cats," I blurted out off-handedly and forcibly returned to the previous conversation before the old man could react, "Anyhow, I still don't understand why you haven't taken any action against the Research Society. They are a constant menace that threatens your own granddaughter as well. Could it be… that you don't consider them as a threat?"

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"It would be more accurate to say that after the recent events pertaining to the house of Inanna breaching the security of the School, we simply can not spare the manpower on a wild goose chase. If only we could locate their headquarters…"

"Oh, I can help you with that," I told him with a toothy grin, and for the first time since I entered the room, the old man appeared a little apprehensive.

"Could it be that you have pinpointed the location of their headquarters?"

That made me pause for a moment while I internally debated how I should respond to that, and in the end I decided to go with the safer choice and, after adopting a suitably miffed expression, I answered with, "Well, not yet, but it's only a matter of time."

"In that case, I am afraid there is little I can do about the rogue elements of the Research Society at the moment. With that said, let us return to something we have unfortunately skimmed over: could it be that you have learned something in regards to the unknown swordswoman?"

"Yes, I learned that her sword is really rude," I answered quickly and decisively before I once again grabbed the reins of the conversation back from the old man. "More importantly, based on what you said, wouldn't that mean that if I did find the hidey-hole of the Research Society, then you would actually get off your backside and do something about them?"

"It all depends on how reliable your information proves to be."

After hearing that wishy-washy answer, I couldn't help but scoff at the old man.

"And how am I supposed to prove the reliability of the information? Storm their base, capture them, and then say 'See, I told you so?'"

"On a second thought," Lord Grandpa interrupted me, his brows set so low in a frown they looked like two bushy caterpillars sitting on his eyelids. "I must advise you against such hasty actions. Even if you were to discover the hidden headquarters of these ne'er-do-wells, the Research Society possesses a long and well-documented history of employing mystical and mechanical traps of all shapes and forms. Assaulting their stronghold without the aid of the right experts could prove fatal."

Look at that. It seems like I touched a nerve there. Now, I didn't want to push the old man too hard, lest he would warn Labcoat Guy and muck up Josh's plans, but I figured giving up too readily could be just as suspicious at this point, so I made one last counter.

"And let me guess: only you have such experts?"

"I could hardly claim so, but it is true that you would be hard-pressed to find any such specialists on this island who do not already belong to my School." I remained silent on purpose for a while, and just like that, he barreled on and proposed, "Just in case you were to somehow discern the location of the stronghold belonging to the Research Society, I would like to advise you not to be reckless and inform me first."

"And then we all go there right away and get rid of them, right?"

"Well, maybe not right away. Such operations require careful planning, and assembling the required experts could take at least a day, if not more."

"But then we all go there and smash them down, right?"

The Arch-Mage let out a shallow sigh and ultimately said, "Yes, we do that."

"Why didn't you say that in the first place?" I muttered aloud, followed by an exaggerated roll of the eyes. "If that's the case, I'll focus on finding their hideout first. In fact, I think I should start right now, so if you don't mind, I would take my leave."

"Is that so? Very well then. I also happen to be a busy man, and I have a meeting to attend soon, so I believe ending this discussion here is entirely reasonable."

"So we're in agreement for once. That's nice."

Saying so, I stepped even closer to the desk and offered my hand once more. At this point it wasn't exactly surprising, but the old man still didn't take it. Not only that, he didn't even move from his seat. Reaching over the desk would have been too forceful, and I couldn't 'accidentally' brush up against him either, which left me in a pickle as far as my original plan was concerned.

I was hoping that by keeping my arm outstretched, social anxiety would sooner or later make him take my hand, but instead he magnificently ignored me and commented, "It is fine to be enthusiastic, yet you must not lose sight of other matters. Such as the unknown swordswoman."

I had absolutely no idea about why Lord Grandpa was so fixated on Rinne, and I was already getting pretty annoyed by his staunch refusal to allow me to mark him, so after boring a hole into his forehead with my eyes, I let my hand down with a huff and uttered, "Annoying."

"Are you referring to me or her?"

My host was a little baffled by my outburst, but I couldn't say I cared, so I pocketed my hands and simply told him, "Yes," before I turned on my heel and took a step towards the entrance.

That was all I needed to do, as the Arch-Mage hurriedly tapped his fingertips on his desk, following which the door immediately swung open. He was most likely afraid there would be a repeat of what happened the last time or something; I didn't really care enough to speculate.

Once I was outside, I noticed that the friendly artificer was still around. He quickly stepped up to me and commented, "You finished sooner than I expected."

"It was only a courtesy call," I responded just a smidge dryly, then added, "You didn't need to wait for me, I know the way out."

As it turned out, I didn't even need to say the last bit. Before he could even offer to lead me outside, Lord Grandpa called out to the guy from his office.

"Gowan? May I have a moment of your time?"

"Sure, my Lord," the man responded before showing me an apologetic smile, then he whispered, "So, about the symposium…"

"I'll attend. Let's iron out the details through Amelia." I tilted my head towards the office and added, "Go ahead, don't make the old man wait too long."

The artificer gave me a tight-lipped smile and followed my advice without much further ado. In the meantime, I quickly walked over to the elevator and pushed the 'up' button. Luckily I didn't have to wait at all, as the car was still on this floor, so I dashed inside and pushed the button corresponding with the ground floor before I quickly entered into Far Sight. While I was tempted to use my newest mark right away, instead I focused on one of the few dots that still remained in the school building and I immediately Phased over.

"Oh," my dear assistant let out a small sound when I materialized in front of her desk, but she quickly collected herself. "Hi, Chief. I presume you're finished with your business?"

"Not yet, I'm afraid," I answered and then hurriedly walked over to my own desk. I reached inside, and I retrieved a small bag. It was slightly larger than the one for my gym clothes, and inside there was a set of a baggy, neon green tracksuit, a pair of black gloves, and a stereotypical yet effective ski mask. I stashed all of these away a while back, and now they were about to serve their purpose.

"Are you planning to infiltrate somewhere?" Judy inquired with a false façade of indifference.

"Yes. There might be an opportunity to sneak into Lord Grandpa's office now, and I don't want to miss it."

"Danger level?"

"I just had an opportunity to inspect his security system, so close to zero."

"What are the chances of something going wrong?"

I wanted to respond with a nonchalant 'one in a million', but I decided I really shouldn't temp fate, so instead I told her, "Don't worry, I'll be super-careful."

"You know what will happen if there is even a single scratch on you when you return?" she threatened me in the guise of a question, and I couldn't help but smile at her in return. Why was that when the class rep was nagging me to be cautious, I found that annoying, but when Judy did it… well, I still found it annoying, but also kind of nice and heartwarming? It was probably those pesky hormones again.

Anyhow, I pulled the tracksuit over my school uniform (there was a reason why it needed to be baggy), and at the same time I also engaged in a bit of multi-tasking by simultaneously keeping the eye on the situation inside the Arch-Mage's study through Far Sight.

"… perceptive." I caught the end of whatever the friendly artificer was saying.

"Both of them?" Lord Grandpa asked back just a touch incredulously.

"Yes, my Lord. Both the one by the elevator and the one above the entrance to your office."

With that, I had enough context to figure out that they were most likely talking about the surveillance spells in the hallway.

"Are you entirely certain he looked at them?"

"Artificer's eye, sir," the man responded by pointing at his face… which was apparently enough to convince the old man. Maybe it was a code, or possibly an inside joke? Who knows?

"That would certainly explain how he could always find my observer orbs… What about the hand-shake? Have you noticed anything unusual?"

"I can't say I did, my Lord."

"I am afraid that does not preclude the chance that he might have done something all the same." While he said that, Lord Grandpa walked over to his liqueur cabinet and grabbed one of the bottles without bothering to get a glass with it. "There had to be a reason why he was so insistent. Maybe some kind of mystic art, or a hidden artifact. Something that requires physical contact to operate?" The old man paused for a moment, but only to take a hard swing from his bottle, then he placed it onto his desk and let out a pent-up breath. "I could not even stand up until he left. Throughout our discussion, I always felt as if he was waiting for me to show an opening. I have yet to feel such a sinister pressure from a man so young."

"With all due respect, sir," the artificer interjected with a voice that was walking on hummingbird eggshells. "In my humble opinion, the young man felt anything but sinister. I could even say he was surprisingly cordial and forthcoming."

The owner of the room gave his guest a look-over, from head to toe, and then muttered something along the lines of, "Could it be that it is a form of mental interference designed to grant the user some influence over the target…?"

"My Lord… why are you looking at me like that?"

Before answering, Lord Grandpa took another swing from his bottle before he pointed at the artificer and declared, "Gowan, follow me."

"Yes, my Lord… but where?"

"To the isolation chamber," the Arch-Mage stated as he headed towards the entrance. "We must ascertain whether or not you are under the influence."

"Err… Sir, with all due respect, you're the one who was drinking, not me."

"Not that kind of influence, you…" he began, but then his words trailed into half-spoken murmurs of '…surrounded by…' and '…every day…' and '…good help nowadays…'.

I didn't have time to pay closer attention to what he was saying, as I haven't finished changing yet. I frantically tugged on the zipper on the tracksuit, and once it was up, I hastily pulled the ski mask over my head before I gave a thumbs up to my still wary girlfriend.

"Stay safe," she ordered me, and I only nodded as I checked the artificer's location one last time, and once I locked on, I immediately Phased over.

It was a close call. If I was just a second or two late, they would've been out of range. Granted, I could've still Phased over, theoretically, but the last thing I needed during a clandestine infiltration operation into the most secure chamber on the island was an extra dose of vertigo.

Speaking of which, I took account of the situation one more time before moving, just to be sure. Disguise, just in case I would be noticed? Check. Gloves, to hide my fingerprints? Check. An entire treasure-trove, full of documents and possibly incriminating information all around me? Check, check, and check.

Now there was only one question left to answer: was this how a fox felt when it was locked inside a chicken coop? In case anyone wondered, yes. The answer was definitely yes. Insert happy fox noises here.

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