Chapter 406: Investigation
Luke followed Adrian to the laboratory, where the two would plan how to proceed with their plans. Adrian chose to find out more information about Aoi Wintergift, and it was also necessary to know more about the dueling system, something that Adrian had information about.
When the two arrived at the laboratory, Adrian and Luke sat down in a break room with wooden armchairs and tables. Alice and Megan were not in the building yet, so in a way, that building was looking a little empty. The sun was a little lower now, so that the light hitting the windows was already causing the shadows to cast in a different way.
The sunlight gave an orange tint to the room, and the sea breeze was coming in through the windows, keeping the place cool and comfortable. The smell of the seawater was faint, but also somewhat relaxing.
"Luke, like I said... Now the event system will be a battle royal. I'm a little worried about it..." Adrian said, while holding a mug of tea.
"Why? Are you going to duel?" Luke questioned, while scratching the back of his ears.
"I won't... But even with these mock battles, it's possible that some ill-intentioned participants could end up hurting other students. And since the tournament is now open, many first year students will be participating, I don't like to see other people getting hurt" The blond boy said, while looking at the window, as if his head was remembering an old moment.
"What bothers you about it? Do you have someone you like who is going to participate in the duels?" Luke questioned, confused.
"No... Just... The memories of when my city was taken, since I came to the academy I don't see many people getting hurt. In a way it bothers me, I don't like to see others suffer" Adrian said.
"Well, I don't like to see it either, but I'm not too bothered by it. Well, I have an idea" Luke said.
"What's your suggestion?"
"How about if you guys broadcast the first duels too? That way, I can be one of the first fights and demonstrate my strength, so a lot of the less skilled students will drop out, afraid to face an opponent on the same level as mine" Luke said.
Adrian's eyes widened in surprise at the suggestion. That idea made a lot of sense, after all, if people had the wrong idea about the power level of the academy, the fights would not only be more interesting, they wouldn't attract people with more ambition than power.
Adrian nodded, stood up from his chair excitedly.
"I'll give this suggestion to Aoi! I'm sure she'll find that idea interesting! It will even be better for the event!" Said the blond boy, elated.
[What made you think of that?]
'If I beat Hawk in the first duel, most of the academy will react with surprise. If he really is a skilled warrior, and it's only the first phase of the event, not only will this attract more interesting warriors, it will show my power to the academy'
[Interesting... So you get more supporters and it even makes it harder for Max Willford to avoid the duel]
'Exactly!'
Adrian wrote down the idea and sat back in his chair, in a much more relaxed way. His anxiety had subsided greatly, which made the conversation flow much better again.
"Could you tell me a little more about Aoi Wintergift?" Luke questioned.
"She... She's a scary girl, I can't really explain how, but it's like she always knows everything. Nothing can get away from her... Normally a candidate for the presidency of the council takes almost ten years to prove himself as a capable person in the academy, she got that approval in less than two years.
Not only is this surprising, it's the first time it has ever happened, the worst thing is that there was no other case like this, even Zhanid had a hard time getting into the council, and Zhanid is one of the greatest geniuses that ever came around here." Adrian spoke up, just pausing to take some tea.
"So she is stronger than Zhanid during her youth?" Luke questioned.
"No... Being stronger than Zhanid, even in youth, is almost impossible. She's not that strong, it's more something like, she knows everything" Adrian said.
'So she really has a way of verifying the information, how is she doing that...?'
"Then she must have good connections, does she have any connection with Melki or Broteforge?" The half-wolf said.
"No... To tell you the truth, I don't think anyone in the academy has any concrete information about who the ice princess is. Some say she is a noblewoman, others say she is the daughter of a professor and with that she has access to confidential information. But nothing is clear about her" Adrian said, leaving his cup on the table.
"No... To tell you the truth, I don't think anyone in the academy has concrete information about who the ice princess is. Some say she is a noblewoman, others say she is the daughter of a professor and with that she has access to confidential information. But nothing is clear about her" Adrian said, leaving his cup on the table.
"So there is no way to get information about her" Luke said.
"Actually, it is possible..." The moment he said that, the half-wolf and the blond boy exchanged glances, both were serious about the situation. "The only way to get information about her would be to check the academy's files"
"Where are those files?" Luke questioned.
"One part is inside the student council building, another is inside the registrar's office, where we did her registration that other day" Adrian said.
Luke nodded, and said he would look up Hawk Vermillion and Aoi Wintergift within the academy documents.
"I need to find information on those two, thanks for the tip"
"But, what are you going to do Luke, I told you not to get into a direct confrontation with Hawk"
"Don't worry, everything will be fine. I just need to check these documents, it won't take long. And I don't think it's likely that anyone will find me."
*
Luke then decided to break into both buildings, and for him. It was not such a difficult task, after all, the half-wolf was a thief, a murderer. As night fell on the archipelago, Luke put on a cloak and flew out to the building where the documentation was, the first was the large student council building.
According to Adrian, no students are allowed to enter those rooms after midnight. This reassured Luke that the task would not be as confusing as he had imagined, and that the investigation was actually much simpler than he had imagined.
The first thing Luke did when he arrived at the committee building was to fly up to one of the windows on the third floor; he used wind manipulation magic to open the lock. By controlling the wind from inside the building, he was able to open the window with ease. With that he entered the building.
Using his ears, Luke scanned the entire building. He noticed how there was no one inside the place, no sign of breathing or echoes, with that, he went down to the bottom floor, where the building's archives were.
Luke used his <Vind> skill along with wind magic to muffle his steps, so that he could walk without worrying about noise. Meanwhile, the half-wolf was using the wind flow of the place to check if there were any other people around.
The whole building seemed to be really closed, so, slowly descending the stairs, the half-wolf reached the lower floor, where the archives were.
The room where the archives were located was completely filled with papers and boxes, each organized in a huge number of drawers. On the walls were a few shelves of books, which appeared to be handwritten.
In the aisles of the archive were the drawers, separated by names.
With falicity, Luke found the shelf where the books were with the female students who had enrolled the year Aoi appeared at the academy. With that, he had an interesting idea.
'Balance, I need you to pay attention to this book'
[Sure Luke, but what do you mean?]
'I'll flip through it, please. Pay attention, you have access to my memories, so if I ask you to check my memories. I will be able to read this book at any time without having to read it now.
[Yes, what an interesting idea].
Luke and Balance then took the book with all the data from Aoi Wintergift, so that Balance could save all the information for later. Once this task was completed, they went to Hawk and Ruby Vermillion, the brothers connected with Melki's empire.
After this, Luke took the books from Zhanid, Megan and Adrian.
There was on one of the main shelves a book about the achievements and accomplishments of the wizard Zhanid. Something that in a way, again surprised Luke, after all, that gentleman did not appear to be as amazing a magician as he is. As much as his magical abilities were amazing, it's not as if he showed himself to have all that strength.
Maybe Zhanid was more interesting than Luke imagined, maybe he would follow the same advice that Luke always chose to take as his course. "Never show your strength, after all, being belittled is the best way to surprise the enemy"
Luke continued his search, until he found a metal shelf, with a physical lock in the middle.