Chapter 14: New Technology—Magira-Aera
HENRIK’S bet that Felix lived close by was spot on. Mathias led them on foot off campus and down the bustling King’s Street until it gave way to, of all things, the royal palace. Intimidated by the black ominous spire jutting out from the center of the palace, Mia found herself suspicious of why Felix would be at the palace.
Mathias approached the guards in front of the black wrought-iron gates with giant revolving gears. “Please deliver this to Prince Emil,” he said, and handed over the envelope containing their Grand Plan, a letter affixed to it.
“Prince Emil?” Mia repeated.
Wasn’t Prince Emil Isea’s Third Prince? Her eyes went wide.
Mathias rushed to explain, “His family’s a bit complicated, so President Strickler has taken responsibility for him and entrusted him to the palace here. Relax, he’s friends with the prince, so it’ll be sure to reach him.” His explanation was persuasive and questionable at the same time.
“He’s friends with the prince?”
Their worlds were too far apart.
Henrik was skeptical. “Friends, eh?”
They waited in front of the intimidating gates for ten minutes until a messenger from the palace returned with the signed Grand Plan in hand. When Mia asked if Felix would come see them, the messenger curtly told her he wasn’t permitted outside while under house arrest.
✦ ✦ ✦
WITH the Grand Plan in hand, they left the palace and returned to the library study room, where Henrik commenced detailing the trap they were going to set. Once they finished preparing everything, they went to Pharmacology Hall. They passed right by Professor Rueger’s office, where a tag hung informing visitors that he was out of the office, and took a deep breath before entering the prep room next door.
“Mia?” Surprise flickered in Professor Einz’s eyes past the thick glass of her spectacles.
“How are you feeling, Professor Einz?”
“My fever went down right away. Thank you for asking. I am so sorry about what happened the other day. You put so much work into it too. I suddenly fell ill… Before I knew it, it was already night. I panicked so bad…” Wariness crossed her face. She was bent over a desk with student submitted reports spread out in front of her—apparently, she was healthy enough to return to normal work.
“Your illness was so bad that you needed to be hospitalized in the middle of the night, so I don’t blame you for what was out of your control. Do you feel better now?” Remembering the taste of her absolute despair yesterday brought the anger Mia had shoved down rushing back to the surface. She mustered up her self-control and forced a half-smile.
Professor Einz looked thoroughly relieved to see Mia’s ever-so-slightly twitching smile. “Please take this,” she held out a beautifully wrapped box of cookies. “I felt like I had to do something to apologize. I was planning to deliver it to your study room later. Do enjoy the cookies with your teammates.”
Mia reached a hand out for the box, but it slipped from her fingers. The box slammed against the ground, the cookies cracking loudly inside.
“I’m so sorry! I should’ve made sure you had a hold on it first…!” Professor Einz rushed to pick up the broken box and directly placed it in Mia’s hands, wrapping them around the container with her own hands so it was secure this time.
Mia lowered her head and apologized, “I’m sorry as well.”
Awkwardness filled the space between them. Then Henrik broke through the uncomfortable mood to get right to the point of their visit. “We’ve retrieved Felix’s signature from his house arrest. Professor Rueger appears to be out of his office right now, so would you mind holding on to our Grand Plan for us?”
“Huh? …Yes, of course! I will definitely ensure it gets turned in this time!” Professor Einz smiled broadly and accepted their Grand Plan. She took it out from the envelope to read it over. “Yes, this is it. What a relief it’s here in time…” She stroked the paper, looking absolutely pleased.
After Mia, Henrik, and Mathias ascertained they had passed it to her, they left the prep room. They stomped loudly out of the hallway, then immediately walked around to the back quad sprawling to the north of Pharmacology Hall. Purposely softening their footsteps, they approached Professor Rueger’s office, where they looked up at his window set several feet over their heads.
“We’ve cast the bait. Will they make a move?”
Mia removed a cookie from the box in her hand while they patiently laid in wait for the culprit to appear. The cookies appeared to be homemade. Though cracked and crumbled, they remained looking perfectly scrumptious. Buttery sweet smells tempted Mia, but she simply lacked the urge to eat anything at the moment.
“What will they do next? Rip it? Burn it?” Mia whispered.
“No problem for us if they do, we’ve got plenty of copies!” Mathias triumphantly pulled three envelopes from his jacket pocket. They’d made multiple copies so that no matter how many times the enemy ripped, discarded, and destroyed a copy of their Grand Plan, Mia knew they could easily reproduce it.
“Yeah,” Henrik agreed. “That’s why…if it were me, though, I would use the most effective method. I really hope they won’t go for that though.”
SLAM! A loud sound rang from the other side of the window. Professor Rueger’s angry voice erupted next, “What are you doing there, Einz?”
“Professor…you are here today…? Mia and her team just told me you were away and left this in my care.”
In a single second, even Mia could tell the temperature in the office had dropped to freezing. Her knees buckled at the next thing that was said.
“EINZ?! Why are you tearing that?!”
“…This Grand Plan is dangerous. We can’t allow it to reach the public. So we mustn’t let it pass through the competition.”
“I don’t believe it… You were the one interfering with them? …Why?”
“Please don’t think badly of me, Professor. We will be ruined if even a little doubt creeps in.”
Henrik grimly stood and looked to Mathias. “My thought was that if we didn’t have a contact—someone who’s on our side—our Grand Plan would never get through, no matter how many spare copies we made. So I asked Professor Rueger and him for help.”
Someone leapt down from the tree just as Henrik put his hand on the window frame. Somehow, the person was able to jump to the window to swiftly enter the prep room next door. Mathias began chanting a spell. Wind rushed to him, and his body weightlessly lifted into the air.
Falling behind, Mia grabbed on to the window frame and hoisted herself up. She looked into the office just as Professor Einz’s spectacles fell off in her struggle to keep the Grand Plan away from Professor Rueger.
No way.
Without her spectacles to conceal them anymore, the true color of her eyes was exposed. Her impression changed dramatically; with sharp red eyes, she seemed like a different person. Mia’s eyes locked on hers and her memories came flooding back, the red color reconstructing the irreversibly shattered memory.
That…face…those…eyes! What she had remembered hadn’t been the red of a tie at all, but the eyes of the culprit who had frozen her in the greenhouse.
“This is the end!” Professor Einz yelled sharply.
At the same time—
“Now! Felix!” Henrik shouted from outside. The prep room door flung open. For a split-second, Professor Einz stopped chanting her spell as Felix charged into the room.
He threw himself on her and declared, “The greatest weakness of magic is how long it takes to cast a spell!” He shoved a handkerchief in her mouth. “And not being able to cast once your mouth’s been sealed is the other weakness!”
Mia rubbed her eyes at how unbelievably fast everything had played out. But it was too soon to relax. Professor Einz kicked Felix off her and spun around, freeing one of her hands. She punched him in the gut and spat the handkerchief out.
“Are you sure about that?” she sneered. She yanked an army knife out of her pocket and swung its drawn blade right through Felix’s uniform above his chest. Then she drew the blade back to get a better angle for her next strike. Her agility and skill was beyond what a mere professor should’ve been able to pull off.
“WATCH OUT! Felix!” Mia dropped down from the window, dashing frantically to push Felix out of the way.
“Mia! Don’t!” He dodged her and spun around so that he hid her behind his back instead.
“O Wind Elementals who surround me, protect my master! Vocale Sulfatio Ventos Furume! Protect Emil Felix Leonard Lohenstein!” Mathias chanted, casting his spell.
“GAH! Mathias, don’t use that name!” Felix yelled hysterically.
A thick wall of wind formed in front of Mia and Felix.
“Stop complainin’, it’s a crisis! The elementals won’t understand without your true name!” Mathias shouted back.
Professor Einz’s knife bounced off of Mathias’ whirlwind and was flung into the wall.