110: Truth

Truth

Professor Lucius can understand Leonore's reaction. However, this matter isn't as simple as that.1

He looked at everyone with calm eyes before he answered. 

"The Mystical Artifact that was destroyed was a rare Ancient Sword. This sword was spilled with the blood of numerous Evil Creatures, Wandering Spirits, Arcane Arts Practitioners, and even regular humans… The curse that has been spread wasn't visible or tangible to anyone… The curse had culminated inside the affected person's body for at least three days before it showed any reaction."

"Three days?" Neil and the others repeated in a soft voice.

"Yes… Those who passed through the sixth building near the stable were the ones that were first affected. That building is where the Treasure Vault is located and where the Ancient Sword was destroyed."

Professor Lucius paused for a moment before he continued. 

"The place has already been sealed but there is still some remnant energy that has spread out throughout the Academy… The easiest way to defend against this weak curse is the learn the Darkness Manipulation… With this Spell, you will have a higher chance of detecting the energy that will result in a curse…"

The students then accepted this explanation since they really didn't have any other choice.

***

In the meantime, inside the Headmaster's Room, a couple of dark-robed individuals wearing white masks on their faces were talking to Headmaster Jean.

One of them has a huge build with a spear on his back and the other appears to be a female with only a rapier hanging on her waist.

"We've captured two more spies today. A total of thirteen spies have been caught over the past seven days. They clearly don't care about the Treaty of Keslore anymore." The huge masked individual said with obvious hostility showing in his eyes.

It was the same for the female one behind him. 

Headmaster Jean didn't seem surprised with the news as he replied.

"I don't think that's odd. They never cared about the Treaty. They were just waiting for the right opportunity until they replenished their forces. Anyway, aside from the broken sword, are there any other broken artifacts or missing ones? What are they searching for, did they spill it out already?"

He asked calmly as he tapped his desk…

"We extracted one of their spirits and learned that they were looking for a pocketwatch… We still can't tell whether this is a diversion so we can't trust this information yet."

"Pocketwatch?" Headmaster Jean repeated.

There are many Mystical Items in the form of Pocketwatch. However, none of them have impressive capabilities.

Their Treasure Vault should have a few of them but he doubts that they have incredible mystical abilities imbued in them.

This is also why the masked man was skeptical about this information, even if they were from the spirit of the captured spies.

Perhaps, the people who sent them just gave this random information as a diversion.

Well, this is also the tactic of their special forces to feed the enemies wrong information, so they were thinking that the enemy could've done that as well.

"I'll check the vault once more and inspect all those pocketwatches. For now, continue your interrogation with all the spies in case you find more information. Also, tell all the informants outside to find any news about this pocketwatch as well. Any information about a strange pocketwatch would suffice." Headmaster Jean instructed.

"We understand…"

With that said, the two robed individuals disappeared from the room only leaving a few traces of black smoke in their previous position.

As Headmaster Jean was left alone, he couldn't sigh dejectedly as this incident wouldn't look good on him. As a new Headmaster, he actually allowed a group of spies to infiltrate the Academy and even caused some trouble for the students. 

This will certainly alarm the higher-ups of the Dark Arts Faction and he would have to explain the situation to them later on.

Just thinking about it makes his head hurt. 

"We should at least know what they are searching for. If it's really a pocketwatch, we need to know what it does to garner so much attention." Headmaster Jean muttered to himself as he stood up to check the treasure vault. 

Although he had been there already, he hadn't checked the pocketwatches that were kept in that room. He has to ensure that none of them possess some sort of hidden effects that the files have failed to record.

***

"Ashe, I'll notify the informants outside to search for any news regarding a special pocketwatch. You go ahead and continue with your interrogation with the spies." 

The dark-robed man who was previously in Headmaster's Room spoke to his companion. His name is Cleo and Captain of the Sixth Squad of the Order of the Evanescent Vessels.

They were still in the academy but they were already in the underground facility. The place was barely lit up by lamps placed on the walls of the facility. 

"I understand, Captain. However, should we continue with our method of interrogation?" Ashe asked before Cleo could leave.

"Correct… Their lives don't matter anyway… If possible, offer them to the departments who needed some corpses. They don't deserve a cremation."

"Yes, Captain."

With that said, Cleo finally left like a cloud of smoke, leaving Ashe alone in the underground facility of the academy.

She looked at the silent tunnel for a brief moment before turning her gaze to the wooden door next to her. 

Her gentle eyes, when talking to her captain, suddenly changed and it was now filled with hostility.

She opened the wooden door and looked at the damp room that had poor ventilation.

The smell was not good, but she could easily ignore it with a bit of energy manipulation around her.

"Alright… I won't be as lenient as my captain… If you don't spill everything you know, you'll just suffer horribly before your death." 

As she spoke, she looked at the infiltrators who had dared to cause trouble not only in their treasure vault but also in the students within the Academy.

Three of them are no longer breathing but the other ten should still be alive. 

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