Chapter 61: A discreet entry plan.

Chapter 61: Chapter 61: A discreet entry plan.

"Draven."

"..."

"Draven."

"..."

"Draven!"

"What is it!?"

Draven startled when Taliah slammed both hands on his desk, at which she watched him with a frown, while several students directed their gazes toward them.

"I’m talking to you."

"Sorry... I was thinking about something..."

"I already noticed that."

Taliah crossed her arms.

"It’s the third time I’ve called you."

"Really?"

"That’s right!"

Draven briefly observed the classroom.

Class had ended several minutes ago and some students were beginning to gather their belongings, but he still remained seated in front of his desk.

’I got too distracted.’

Ever since his conversation with Ari, he had devoted a good part of his time to investigating the academy’s administrative facilities.

He already knew where the belongings of the mercenaries who had tried to assassinate him were stored.

The problem was reaching them and, to make things even more complicated, he had to do it while Taliah was practically watching his every move.

"Does something hurt?"

Draven looked back at his friend.

"What?"

"Does your shoulder hurt?"

"No, I’m fine."

"And your leg?"

"Neither."

"Then why are you so distracted?"

Draven smiled.

"I was thinking about what the professor explained."

Taliah looked at the blackboard and then back at him.

"Draven."

"What is it?"

"Class ended ten minutes ago."

"..."

"And you were staring out the window through almost the entire explanation."

Draven remained silent.

’I definitely need to improve my excuses.’

Taliah sighed.

"Did you sleep well last night?"

"Of course."

"Are you taking the medicine?"

"Yes."

"All of it?"

"Absolutely all of it."

"And you haven’t tried training in secret, right?"

Draven raised an eyebrow.

"Why would I do that?"

Taliah narrowed her eyes.

"I know you, and you’re capable of something like that."

The young man let out a small sigh.

"I’m perfectly fine."

"That’s what you say when you’re not fine."

"..."

Draven decided not to answer, since they had already had that argument several times over the last few days.

’If she finds out what I’m preparing, she’ll probably lock me up in the residence.’

"Let’s go."

Taliah said as she took her books.

"I’ll walk you to the next class."

Draven raised his gaze.

"Actually, I wanted to stop by the library first."

"Then we’ll go to the library."

"..."

"What’s wrong?"

"Nothing."

Taliah smiled.

"Perfect, then let’s go."

Draven stood up slowly.

’This is going to be complicated.’

Over the last two days, Draven had managed to gather information about the annex administrative building which, unlike the buildings intended for classes, had restricted access to authorized professors and employees.

During the day there was quite a bit of movement, since the staff transferred boxes, documents, and various materials between the administrative building and the laboratories.

At night, however, activity decreased considerably, so Draven needed to find out three things.

How many entrances the building had, what security measures protected the storeroom, and at what time the employees stopped working.

The problem was obtaining that information without raising suspicion and that was why he had begun observing the facilities during his usual walks around the academy.

He couldn’t stay too long near the building, but he didn’t need to either, since it was enough to pay attention every time he passed by.

’The main entrance always has two guards.’

Draven walked alongside Taliah through one of the inner courtyards and from that position he could partially observe the administrative building.

Two uniformed men remained by the main entrance and one of them checked the documents of an employee who was carrying a small box.

’The materials are registered before entering.’

Draven continued walking and, a few meters further ahead, another employee exited through a side door, who was pushing a cart with several metal containers.

’That’s the second entrance.’

He had discovered that door during his previous visit, but he still didn’t know if it connected directly to the storeroom.

"Draven."

"Yes?"

"What are you looking at?"

The young man immediately turned toward Taliah.

"Nothing special."

"You seemed very interested in that building."

"I was observing its architecture."

"..."

Taliah raised an eyebrow.

"Its architecture?"

"Yes..."

"Since when are you interested in architecture?"

Draven smiled.

"For a few years now."

"..."

Taliah sighed.

"You really are strange."

"Thanks."

"I wasn’t saying it as a compliment."

"I’ll take it as one."

Taliah shook her head and continued walking, at which Draven took the opportunity to observe the side door one last time.

’I need to get closer from that side.’

The opportunity appeared during the midday break, since Draven and Taliah were eating in one of the courtyards when several female students approached them.

"Taliah!"

The young woman raised her gaze.

"Yes?"

"Can we ask you a question?"

"Of course."

The students began talking about the combat training and the techniques Taliah had used during the forest evaluation.

Some wanted to know how she had managed to defeat so many creatures, while others were interested in her relationship with Torvellan Ari, at which Taliah began answering patiently.

Draven observed the situation.

’This is my moment.’

He stood up slowly.

"I’m going to buy something to drink."

Taliah turned immediately.

"Want me to come with you?"

"No need."

"Are you sure?"

"The stall is a few meters away."

Taliah observed the distance and then looked at Draven again.

"All right, but don’t take long."

"Of course."

Draven began walking and, when he was far enough away, changed direction.

’I’ve got a few minutes.’

He headed toward the annex administrative building.

During his route he observed several employees transferring materials and one of them was pushing a cart loaded with wooden boxes, so Draven slowed his pace slightly.

The employee reached the side door, where another worker checked a small metal plate, then placed it on a device installed next to the entrance, which made a magical inscription glow for a few seconds and the door opened.

’An authorization key.’

Draven watched as the employee entered and, after a few seconds, the door closed again.

’Interesting.’

It didn’t seem to be a conventional lock.

It probably used some kind of magical recognition system, but there was something that caught his attention and that was that the device only reacted when the employee brought the plate close.

’So it doesn’t need to check the user’s mana directly.’

That could make things easier.

Draven continued walking as if he were simply strolling through the courtyard and shortly afterward discovered a third entrance located at the rear of the building.

It was considerably smaller and seemed to be used for maintenance tasks.

There were no guards watching it, but above the doorframe he distinguished several magical inscriptions.

’A detection barrier.’

He stopped briefly in front of a nearby informational sign, so, while pretending to read it, he examined the inscriptions and recognized some symbols used to detect mana fluctuations.

’If I try to force it, I’ll trigger an alarm.’

That entrance wouldn’t be easy either, but he already had an idea of how the security worked.

Draven smiled slightly.

’Now I need to find out when they do the guard changes.’

"DRAVEN!"

The young man startled and turned slowly, seeing that several meters away, Taliah was walking toward him with a rather annoyed expression.

’Ah, I’m out of time.’

The young woman stopped in front of him.

"What are you doing here?"

Draven remained silent for a moment.

"I was looking for a drink."

Taliah observed the surroundings and then looked back at him.

"Draven."

"Yes?"

"The drinks stall is in the opposite direction."

"..."

"Completely opposite."

Draven raised a finger to say something, but Taliah grabbed him by the uninjured arm.

"Let’s go."

"Where?"

"To buy your drink."

"But..."

"And then we’ll head back to class."

Draven sighed.

’It’s definitely impossible to escape from her.’

That night, Draven finally received the package he had been waiting for, at which Ena entered his room carrying a small box.

"Young Sir Draven."

"Yes?"

"Another shipment has arrived from Fernus."

Draven immediately raised his gaze.

"Perfect."

Ena placed the box on the desk and then observed the seal.

"Your fiancée seems to send you quite a few gifts."

"She’s quite generous."

"I see."

The maid remained silent for a few seconds.

"Does this one contain alcohol too?"

"No, it’s nothing like that."

"What a disappointment."

Draven looked at her and Ena kept her expressionless face.

"It was a joke."

"Really?"

"Probably."

"..."

Draven decided to ignore that comment.

"Thank you, Ena."

"Do you need help opening it?"

"No need."

"Then remember to take your medicine before sleeping."

"I will."

Ena nodded and left the room, at which, when the door closed, Draven carefully removed the seals from the box.

Inside he found three small magical instruments.

The first was a circular device with a crystal surface, while the second looked like a small compass, though it had several needles next to unknown symbols and the third consisted of a set of thin plates that could be connected to one another.

There was also a note, which Draven opened.

[My dear Draven:]

[I sent you the instruments you requested. The first is for examining magical inscriptions, the second allows identifying the origin and destination of certain signals, and the third records the results. They are instruments used by our researchers, so try not to break them. And remember that you owe me an entire day together. With much love, your future wife, Zenash.]

Draven finished reading.

’She definitely won’t forget about the date.’

He left the letter on the desk and examined the instruments.

Although the devices were different from the ones he remembered from the video game, their functioning seemed fairly intuitive.

’This should be enough.’