Chapter 178: ~Chapter 63~ Part 3

"Quick, clear the way! Put those away already!"

"Yes sir!"

Following the bellows of the senior magi, a dozen or so men and women of various ages immediately redoubled their efforts to move the various odds and ends out of the room. The School under Blue Cherry High was as busy as an anthill, and while the middle-aged man giving instructions was dressed from head to toe like a ye olde wizard (sans the pointy hat, of course), the younger generation doing the busywork around him were mostly wearing business casual, no doubt due to being called in due to the emergency.

The School, chiefly a research institute, was apparently not only suffering from a distinct lack of combat-capable magic users, but also of spaces for holding 'involuntary guests' for an indefinite period of time, and by the looks of it, they were currently busy freeing up one of the lesser-used storage rooms for that purpose. As for its prospective inhabitants, they were already on their way, just exiting the main elevator.

The small procession was headed by Lord Amadeus himself, flanked by two of his generic men-in-black agent types. His left eye was no longer bloodshot, but instead he had enormous dark bags under his eyes, which slightly spoiled the 'dapper elderly gentleman' look he was going for with his khaki suit and Panama hat. Behind those three walked Labcoat Guy and Galatea, with two more men built like wardrobes in black keeping an eye on them from behind. The harbinger of sentai shenanigans was still dressed in the same outfit he wore during the fight in front of the warehouse, including the plastic clogs, but with a magically glowing yoke around his neck, his hair even more frizzled than usual, yet his eyes still boring holes in the back of the Arch-Mage walking in front of him. Besides him, his android assistant had an indifferent expression on her face, apparently only mildly inconvenienced by the bondage gear restraining her.

Finally, a couple of steps behind the first group, there was Josh, Snowy, Angie, and the princess, with Armband Guy closing the procession. Unlike the people at the front, the second group appeared considerably more relaxed, even if they were just as silent. It was also worth noting that, although they no longer wore their protective gear, their Magiformers weren't confiscated. But then again, considering everyone present could transform and use their abilities without one, their captors might simply not have cared much about them.

As Lord Grandpa entered the room, one of the junior magi, a young woman wearing a knit sweater, almost bumped into him while carrying some kind of metallic instrument with a couple of glowing runes on it. One quick apology later she scampered away like a mouse that just ran into a cat, allowing the elderly magi to walk in and direct a critical look at his surroundings.

"Paul?" he called out in a raspy, tired voice, and the moment he did so, the middle-aged magi immediately rushed to his side.

"Please excuse us, Milord. We tried our best, but there just wasn't enough time. I've already asked for help from the maintenance division, and Mikhail said they would bring over some furniture from the second-floor lounge, but they haven't arrived yet."

By the looks of it, the head of the School already expected that something like this would happen, and after a few short seconds, he pointed towards the corner of the room and said," For the time being, I reckon you should leave those boxes behind. Our guests must be tired; we should at least provide some amenities so they may not be forced to sit on the ground."

"Yes, Milord," the magi equivalent of a middle-manager nodded at once and began barking new orders to his hapless subordinates.

In the meantime, Lord Grandpa turned around with a weary expression and observed the 'guests' behind him.

"Please do excuse the spartan conditions, but as you could already hear, this is the best our School could provide on such short notice. I am afraid I must insist that you stay in this room for the time being."

"How long are we talking about?" Josh asked back without reservations, probably still too high on adrenaline from the battle and his prior argument with the man to care much about etiquette.

"Until the investigation concludes," the old man responded with a thin smile that didn't touch his eyes." It should not take more than a few days."

"Are... Are we in trouble?" came the next, unusually timid question from Angie, partially hidden behind Joshua's back.

"It all depends on the results of our investigation," Lord Grandpa responded in a diplomatic tone, but a few moments later he casually added, "Take solace in the fact that no matter what, you are nowhere near as much trouble as the young man over there."

Sensing that the comment was aimed at him, Labcoat Guy let out an angry huff, but otherwise didn't say anything in his own defense. After that, the Arch-mage turned to Armband Guy.

"Pascal, please look after the needs of our guests. That, of course, includes her as well." He indicated the silently glaring fembot, and then looked at the resident mad scientist in turn. "As for you, I am afraid we need to have a serious talk. In private."

Labcoat Guy didn't object (not that he had much of a choice in the matter), and after a few more short instructions, Josh and company, along with Armband Guy, the fembot, and two burly guys in black got settled down in the room while Lord Grandpa and the rest left in a hurry. Labcoat Guy was escorted to the elevator and they rode it to the bottom level of the underground complex. Then, once the automatic doors opened, the rebellious sentai scientist spoke up for the first time.

"Uncle?"

On the other side of the doors, the portly old man let out a familiar yet still just as annoying 'O-ho-ho.' By the looks of it, he was completely unfettered, let alone yoked like his nephew,

"Hello, Friedrich. I'm happy to see that you're relatively unharmed considering the..." Peabody paused at this point to direct a conspicuous glance at the Arch-mage and finished with a heavy, "... circumstances."

"What are you doing here?"

The words leaving Labcoat Guy's mouth were much less spoken than hissed out, and the implicit sense of betrayal made the old man's customary smile falter for a second.

"My old friend came to me to advocate in your stead, young man," Lord Grandpa noted on the side with a voice so dry it would make most deserts hang their heads in shame.

"O-ho-ho, that's right," the nurse responded with a jovial, if slightly stiff, chuckle, but then he heaved a shallow sigh and continued in a somber voice. "Friedrich, you know that I'll support you no matter what, but there are some lines that should never, ever be crossed. Once you do that... the best I can do is to try and mitigate some of the damage."

The yoked man looked upon his uncle with an odd mixture of defiance and trepidation, but ultimately remained silent. Sensing the mood, the Arch-mage shook his head and strode forwards with heavy steps.

"Come, gentlemen. Let us continue our 'discussion' in private; such things should not be uttered in the open, for there may be privy eyes even within these walls."

Peabody nodded in agreement and fell in line with him, while Labcoat Guy followed along, lacking any choice in the matter. They all made their way into the heavily warded office of the head of the School, leaving the pair of sunglasses-wearing agent types outside. Oddly enough, the entire room was completely cleaned out, save for the large mahogany desk, the padded chair behind it, and a couple of cabinets on the side. It was most likely the result of the internal investigation conducted during the day. Either way, this meant that the two guests had nowhere to sit once Lord Grandpa planted his butt onto the only available seat. As such, Labcoat Guy stood in front of the desk, while Peabody came to a stop by the side of the same desk, slightly closer to the seated old man than his nephew; a clear reflection of the current dynamic between the three if there ever was one.

"I have to confess, this was arguably one of the longest days of my life," the Arch-mage broke the developing silence with a casual comment that still managed to raise the tension in the room. "As such, I will refrain from mincing my words. Friedrich. Did you break into this office last night?"

The man in the middle stared at the elder behind the desk in disbelief for a moment before his face twisted into an expression of disgust, followed by a barely stifled, derisive chuckle.

"Ki-hi-hi... You say you won't pussyfoot around, yet you still ask something you already know. Hypocrite."

"A simple yes or no would have sufficed," the old magi noted with a disapproving scowl. "Considering your words were an indirect admission of guilt, I have only one question left for you: where are the contents of my safe?"

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"Ki-hi-hi. Well, wouldn't you like to know?"

The provocative reply very nearly blew Lord Granpa's fuse, but then the school nurse quickly inserted himself into the conversation.

"This isn't a joking matter, Friedrick. I know that there was some friction between you and Amadeus, but going as far as taking his Grimoire Key? What on earth were you thinking?"

The youngest man in the room was just about to give another flippant response, but then he finally registered his uncle's words, and his words immediately got trapped in his throat.

"Wait, hold on! Hold on for a moment!" he exclaimed while waving his yoked hands in a desperate (and simultaneously a little comical) display. "I don't know anything about that!"

Lord Grandpa raised a critical brow at the flailing man's expense and reiterated in a low, level voice.

"You broke into my office."

"Yes, I did, but I don't know anything about the Key! I wouldn't even know where to look for it!"

"It was in the safe," the Arch-mage stated dryly. "The safe which you incidentally emptied."

"I didn't! I only came for the contract! I didn't take anything else, let alone one of the freaking Grimoire Keys! Do I look suicidal to you!? I'm not insane!"

"Let me be honest with you young Friedrich; breaking in here is already something I would hardly consider sane," the old mage noted with some exasperation, following it up with, "I still can not understand why. Why would you go so far to annul our contract? What was your plan?"

"Me!? You were the one who broke the terms first! If there's anyone here who'd have some kind of plan, it's you!" Labcoat Guy shouted back, his normally pale face red with rage.

"What are you talking about, young man? I have held myself both to the letter and the spirit of our contract."

"Bullshit!" the yoked man spat back with his arms straining against his bindings. "You set me up from the very beginning! You…!" All of a sudden, his face slackened, only for his expression to morph into a chilling death-glare a moment later. "I get it now. This is still part of your setup! You must have lost the Grimoire Key, and you're using me as a scapegoat!"

"I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about," the Arch-mage responded while his fingers drummed on the desk. "Your baseless accusations are both ungainly and becoming quite aggravating."

"Baseless, huh?" Labcoat Guy scoffed back, his glare just as severe as before.

"Precisely," the old man stated with emphasis before subtly glancing at the school nurse silently standing nearby. "I have contacted you for the task as a favor for an old friend. I had no ulterior motives, let alone anything regarding the Grimoire Key."

"And you really expect me to believe that just because you say so?"

"Allow me to pose the same question to you as well," Amadeus responded as his fingers began to drum on the wooden desktop again. "You have admittedly broken into my office, entered my archives, pilfered the contents of my strongbox, and yet you expect me to believe that you have not taken the Key that had gone missing at the same time, all based on your word alone?"

"But I didn't take it!" came the indignant answer, and if he didn't have his hands restrained, Labcoat Guy would have probably slammed his palm on the desk in fury. "I broke in to get the goddamn contract so that I could get away from you and whatever twisted scheme you had for us! Do you seriously think I would take the Grimoire Key with me when my whole goal was to have nothing to do with you anymore?!"

"If so, then can you explain where one of our most valuable artifacts, one which I was entrusted with, disappeared into thin air?" Lord Grandpa asked back, his polite veneer slowly peeling off the reveal the rising impatience beneath it.

"How should I know?! I didn't even know it was in that damned safe! I thought it would be kept in a more secure location!"

"I assure you, until your break-in, the archives were definitely the most secure chamber on this entire island."

"Secure my ass! You didn't even lock the door!"

"Friedrich," Peabody spoke up, his bushy brows already in a disapproving frown. "Please keep things civil. If you really don't have the Grimoire Key, there is no need to antagonize Amadeus."

"If you truly do not have it in your possession," the man behind the desk stressed, though for the first time he sounded a little doubtful.

"I tell you, I never even saw it!"

"But then if you do not possess it, can you explain how it could disappear on the very same day you one-sidedly broke our contract and retrieved its proof?"

"How should I know? Maybe someone else took it," Labcoat Guy responded with a shrug, much to the old mage's annoyance.

"Young man, I am aware that you might not think highly of the enchantments guarding this room after your successful foray, but the main archives of the School is not a place where someone could enter at their own leisure."

To accentuate the point, Lord Grandpa vaguely gestured towards the direction of the door leading to said archives, which was a beautiful example of tempting fate and asking the world to prove you wrong in dramatic irony. That said, even if the rules of narrative timing weren't paying attention, there was at least one dashing rogue element ready to pick up their slack, as before the old man could let his hand down to resume his incessant tapping on the desk, the indicated door casually opened up.

The silence in the room was deafening as the three men present all turned disbelieving looks towards the entrance, which turned into alarmed ones when they noticed there was someone standing under the frame.

"Good evening, gentlemen," the newcomer, namely I, greeted the shocked trio with a harmless smile, before adding, "Do you mind if I join in? I believe we need to talk…"

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