Chapter 106 – Raid

The summit of the Magic Tower Academy.

Below, the panoramic view of the Imperial Capital stretched out, and above, the star-studded sky sparkled.

Whoosh!

Her hair, engulfed in flames, illuminated the dark surroundings.

Veronica recalled him, whom she had met during the day.

‘A Magic Tower professor…’

Why was he targeting his research materials?

Although he had said with his mouth that he would attack him using the Ethics Committee,

she did not seem to believe it at face value.

‘He claims to be an inquisitor, but could he be interested in gold alchemy?’

The rumor about the success of gold alchemy had rapidly emerged as a hot issue all over the world, including the Magic Tower.

Who occupational wouldn’t be interested when they could print expensive gold from cheap materials?

Thus, Veronica also possessed a slight interest in Professor Kane’s research materials.

However, she had not gone to the extreme thought of raiding his laboratory and research office, but since someone was requesting his materials right at this time, perhaps this was inevitable?

‘At any rate, he is sneaky, unlike how he looks.’

Professor Kane.

Inside the Magic Tower, the evaluation of him was as follows:

While he was the highest authority on Source Alchemy and had deep friendships with high-ranking officials of the Magic Tower, he also had no small number of enemies due to his fussy temperament that detested humans themselves.

Though he was someone with few gaps because he pursued perfection, there were also quite a few Magic Tower members who would relentlessly dig in and attack him if even a slight gap was shown.

‘Now then.’

In order to raid the research materials, she first had to find her way to the place where those materials were hidden.

There were two methods here.

One was to raid openly, and the other was to sneak in using pre-recorded coordinates.

‘I should just do it my way. Actually, I have no confidence in not getting caught.’

He was a man famous for being strict.

There was no telling what kind of tricks he had played in his laboratory and research room, and even if she vaguely knew, it would take a considerable amount of time just to disable them.

In that case, it was better to just raid openly.

Her magic library was opened.

Like a knight’s armory.

Numerous magic books mounted on bookshelves showed themselves, and scanning them lightly, she rearranged the magic she would use immediately to the front.

Since they could not go around memorizing all magic, most mages preferred a method similar to Veronica’s, recalling forgotten magic and utilizing it.

Having finished organizing her magic library, she snapped her fingers toward the night sky, and soon a meteor made its appearance.

However, thinking that alone was insufficient, she added a few more meteors, and the meteors falling one after another struck the Magic Tower’s external barrier hard.

Ka-boom!

Though the entire barrier protecting the Magic Tower’s outer wall was not broken, a gap formed in the area subjected to concentrated strikes, and the last meteor she summoned broke through the Magic Tower’s outer wall, creating a large hole.

Inside the holed area lay Kane’s laboratory.

Knowing that the barrier would be rapidly repaired, she instantly moved to the inside of the laboratory via light-speed teleportation.

Due to the sudden meteor impact, the main magic barriers in Kane’s laboratory had lost their functions, and it became extremely noisy as the emergency alarm blared.

Magic barriers were generally implemented through circuits, which had lost their functions as the circuits warped under the strong physical impact.

Of course, there were barriers that still functioned properly, but they could not block an opponent who barged in so ignorantly.

‘I should raid it as quickly as possible and leave, right?’

Everything inside the laboratory began to be swallowed by her subspace.

There was no need to mess with desks or drawers that had detailed barriers on them here.

It was enough to take it all and inspect it slowly with time elsewhere.

Having cleaned out the laboratory in an instant like that, Veronica raided Kane’s other labs based on the information she had obtained in advance.

A few barriers that were still active triggered, but they could not stop her in any meaningful way.

One laboratory and several labs were cleaned out in an instant, and it was at the point where the work was almost finished.

“W-who is it!”

There was someone who had been dozing off in the assistant’s office and rushed over in a hurry at the loud alarm sound.

It was Luna, Kane’s only teaching assistant.

“Oh my, who is this cute kid? Are you a student here?”

To Veronica, Luna, who had rushed over in her sleep, just looked cute.

“Don’t bother big sister while she is working, and go back to sleep.”

She tried to put her to sleep with a snap of her fingers like that,

but she was blocked by the magic barrier Luna had activated in advance.

Veronica, who had tried to handle her lightly, tilted her head.

‘What? Is it a different barrier?’

Mostly, students often defended themselves through widely known public magic barriers.

In the case of this public barrier, it was so well known that it was all too easy for a mage of Veronica’s level to break.

Thus, she had intended to neutralize the public barrier and put her to sleep,

but when Luna blocked it with an independent barrier, it caused a setback in Veronica’s plan.

What Veronica showed here was not bewilderment, but interest.

“You are more talented than you look, aren’t you? That seems like a barrier I’ve never seen before, did you design it?”

A mage equipping an independent magic barrier.

That was a promising sign.

Rather than answering, Luna looked at her with a highly guarded gaze.

“What are you doing here! Surely you aren’t trying to steal someone else’s research?”

“Big sister is busy, you see. I have no time to argue with my little sister.”

Having cleaned out most of it,

Veronica had no intention of seriously fighting her, who was still at a student level.

It was enough to just ignore her and pass by.

Ahhhhh!

At the violently erupting flames, Luna reflexively raised her hand to cover her face.

Meanwhile, Veronica fled, and Luna, who was protected by her magic barrier, searched for her as she disappeared amidst the clearing flames.

‘Where did she go?’

Even looking here and there,

she was nowhere to be seen.

Soon after, guards barged in, and they could not hide their sense of desolation as they looked at the empty interior of the laboratory.

* * *

Raiding it was instantaneous, but

examining the contents inside required a considerable amount of time.

Thus, Veronica, with dark circles deeply settled under her eyes, came to find Rashid later than the promised time.

“I brought it. What you wanted.”

Rashid could not hide his admiration as he looked at the various materials that landed on the table like a bomb.

“Did you clean it out completely? Why is there so much?”

Beside the pile of spilled materials lay today’s newspaper.

[Magic Tower Academy Attacked… Professor Kane’s Experimental Data Stolen -Sky Island Newspaper-]

She plonked down in the seat next to him, snatched his coffee cup, which had not been out for long, and brought it in front of herself.

“That is my way. I don’t do things lamely. When I raid, I raid everything.”

Rashid, along with Varasha sitting across from him, quickly scanned the materials she had raided.

In there were Kane’s various research materials related to human alchemy.

Veronica, who had examined those materials beforehand before bringing them, shared her thoughts:

“I’m reasonably crazy too, but that professor is no joke either. I never knew that humans would be used in gold alchemy.”

The materials were excellent, but the truly important item was not there.

“Was there nothing other than this? If you scraped it to this extent, surely that data must be there too?”

“Other data?”

“There must certainly be something more core than these materials. The Humanity Equivalent Exchange Plan.”

Veronica showed a faint smile.

“You are like a ghost. How did you know about that?”

“It seems you have it.”

She had kept that aside separately.

Because it was an object protected by a triple minor barrier in his desk, which she had taken whole from the laboratory.

It was the main culprit that had brought dark circles under her eyes.

“I went through quite some trouble to get that out. He was indeed a madman. Humanity Equivalent Exchange Plan? Unbelievable.”

“I would like you to give me that as well.”

She shook her head demonstratively.

It meant there was no way.

“No, that won’t do. That is so precious it cannot even be compared to these materials.”

She thought of those who hated Kane.

Nine times out of ten, they would show considerable interest.

“There are quite a lot of people who dislike Professor Kane. If you inform those people, they will probably be quite interested? Or there is also the method of striking a deal with the professor directly. In many ways, its value is substantial, you see. That is why I cannot just give it to you.”

Upon finishing her words, Veronica, drawing close to him, whispered quietly.

In a voice so low that Varasha, sitting in front of them, could not hear.

“You went to the fortune teller’s shop to find me, didn’t you? They told me something interesting there.”

Rashid had a lukewarm expression.

“My darling, you were of the same kind as me, weren’t you?”

Ceasing her whispering, she distanced herself from him and showed a meaningful smile.

“So that’s why I’m saying, aren’t we a match made in heaven? People couple us up well together.”

“You are talking nonsense.”

“Even if no one else does, I can understand you. The only person in the world who can understand you is probably me, you know?”

“You are practically begging to go to Hell.”

Her expression turned cold.

“But is that real? The part about sending to Hell.”

“Shall we test it?”

When a strange tension flowed between the two,

Varasha, who was busy examining the materials, spoke toward Rashid.

“Using people as alchemical materials… ultimately, you were right.”

Varasha looked at the two who were showing a strange tension.

Neither of them was even listening to her words.

“I will give you both magic books.”

She showed a look of slight hesitation.

“Ha, in this case, I have no choice but to give in.”

Sure enough, she was a woman who was serious about that strange magic.

In truth, handing over both magic books that could bind her carried a risk of its own.

Because if there was no longer a means to bind her, she would backstab him like a witch.

Even so, there was a good reason to endure it.

‘I didn’t expect her to raid even that.’

There was a high probability that the Ethics Committee would not make a big deal out of simple materials on gold alchemy.

However, the Humanity Equivalent Exchange Plan was different in the very nature of the crime.

Perhaps the Ethics Committee would resolve it on their own without him even needing to step forward.

Therefore, Rashid absolutely needed that plan she possessed.

“Let’s end it with this. You won’t have to be swayed by me anymore, and as long as I have that, I won’t have any complaints either.”

She, too, was in an accepting mood.

“Fine. If we end it with that, it’s good for me.”

As she said this, she showed a mischievous look.

“But can you handle it?”

She ran her index finger down Rashid’s chest.

“I am not that good of a person, you see. And I don’t really like being used.”

The solution to this was surprisingly simple.

“Yeah, well, you might backstab me. I certainly expect you will. But you see,”

Rashid’s expression sank low.

“Do you think I will just stay still?”

Her hand, which was running down his chest, stopped.

“I expect so. You wouldn’t stay still.”

Her smile vanished without a trace, and returning to a calculating expression, she held the hidden plan in her hand.

“Let’s end it with this. I hope we don’t see each other’s faces for a while.”

After concluding the transaction,

Veronica left, leaving Rashid and Varasha behind in their seats.

Varasha was able to inspect even Kane’s most secret materials handed to her by Rashid.

“That professor planned something like this?”

She had a face of disbelief.

“All the people in the entire world?”

“That is why I targeted him. Because he was a complete madman.”

“Even the Magic Tower people wouldn’t tolerate this, would they?”

It was a matter of course.

Rashid responded in a tone filled with confidence:

“They will absolutely never tolerate it.”