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Sorcerer of Forbidden Arts – Part 02

Hikaru sprinted along the narrow alleys between buildings, choosing his path carefully to remain concealed from the watchtowers. With Mana Detection constantly active to avoid knight patrols, his head was at full throttle.

After about thirty minutes of running, the outer wall of the Advanced Research Compound came into view. This area was enclosed by a wall, likely to obscure the research conducted within.

“They said they managed to infiltrate this area.”

He recalled what the Empire’s spies told him. They had unlocked a side gate in the middle and successfully infiltrated, only to trigger a trap once inside.

Hikaru had initially aimed for the side entrance, but two knights were currently posted there. There were an excessive number of Knights Templar guarding the Tower, an indication of the Pope’s high degree of caution.

Even with Hikaru’s exceptional Stealth abilities, passing through the door while someone stood guard there was impossible.

“Hmm.”

Raising his gaze, he estimated the wall that separated the section from its surroundings to be about three meters high. It was smooth, with nothing to grab on to. The nearby buildings were all single-story structures.

The reason behind these single-story buildings might be to prevent anyone from glimpsing beyond the wall from the second or third floor. A fortunate circumstance for him.

Anticipating this, Hikaru had come prepared with a white rope that matched the color of the wall and a short spear used for atlatls. Unlike regular spears, this one featured a metal ring at its base. He threaded the rope through the ring and drove the short spear deep into the ground beside the wall, ensuring it wouldn’t be easily dislodged.

Tugging on the rope threaded through the spear, Hikaru shifted to the side of one of the buildings, climbed up to a window, grabbed the edge of the roof, and vaulted onto the rooftop.

There was plenty of distance to the watchtower from here. Hikaru sprinted across the rooftop, leaped over an alleyway, and managed to grab the top of the outer wall that separated the sections. He then climbed up, lowered the rope to the other side and descended.

As he touched the ground, he pulled one end of the rope, and it slipped through the metal ring of the short spear, allowing him to recover it. The short spear he’d implanted in the ground wouldn’t be easily noticed.

“From here, it’s the Advanced Research Compound. I need to proceed with utmost caution.”

Quiet lay on the surroundings, broken only by the occasional chirping of insects. A chilly, late-night wind swept through.

Using Mana Detection, Hikaru confirmed the presence of numerous magical traps scattered throughout the area, ranging from barely visible wires to those that emitted noise when you stepped on a tile. However, most of them were useless in the face of Mana Detection.

There didn’t appear to be any knights patrolling the vicinity. Hikaru advanced with his Stealth on. The buildings were lined along the wall, forming a simple layout with only a central courtyard. As for the location of the cure, Hikaru already knew where it was.

It has to be this one.

Before Hikaru stood an immense storehouse. Since the cure was imbued with sorcery to counteract the poison, it contained trace amounts of mana. Hikaru had observed the actual cure in Ponsonia’s capital and was familiar with its mana patterns.

Like the other structures, the storehouse had white walls and no windows, resembling an enormous block of tofu. The only entrance was a metal door. Hikaru surveyed the vicinity just in case, but there was no sign of any movement.

So this is the lock…

The metal door had a keyhole.

The Empire’s spies said that they got busted when they unlocked it.

Facing the courtyard, the door was visible from everywhere within the Advanced Research Compound. Did someone spot them while they were unlocking the door?

“I swear no one saw me. But the knights came with utmost confidence. There’s a trap in that keyhole.”

“Hmm.” Hikaru scrutinized the keyhole, but he couldn’t find any signs of magic on it.

Some of the Empire’s spies had a point on Mana Detection, which would have made them cautious when dealing with the lock.

In that case…

Hikaru shifted his attention to the roof, where he detected a faint mana signature.

Climbing up to the flat roof, Hikaru noticed a slight protrusion in the building’s structure, directly above the keyhole.

It looks designed to detect any attempts to open the lock, or vibrations resulting from such actions. Once vibrations are detected, a magic alarm is triggered. This is a physical trap. You’d miss it if you focused solely on possible mana around the keyhole. It’s almost as if they’re expecting someone with Mana Detection to attempt to sneak in.

People often became overly confident when they possessed skills like Mana Detection or Life Detection, leading them to overlook physical traps. And the Empire’s spies had fallen into that very trap.

But it’s quite rare to come across such a precise countermeasure against Mana Detection.

Hikaru recalled the peculiar conversation he had with the Empire’s spies.

“They must’ve known we were coming.”

“What? You know someone from the enemy?”

“It’s nothing. Forget what I said.”

Well, no matter. First, let’s disarm this trap.

Upon closer examination, there appeared to be a detachable cover on the trap. Disarming it was as straightforward as turning a handle.

I wonder if they turn the traps off at night.

Hikaru descended nimbly from the roof and returned to the storehouse entrance. The keyhole itself was not particularly complex, and with a little bit of tinkering, he managed to unlock it. He pulled the door open and slipped inside. It was dark and dusty.

He retrieved a magic lamp from his backpack and turned it on. Wooden crates emerged from the darkness, more than ten of them.

“Oh, that’s a lot. All filled with the cure, it seems like. The question is how to transport them.”

Hikaru planned to just take whatever he could carry, which the Empire’s spies assured him would be enough. Their plan was to take these back home, analyze the composition, and then reproduce it.

But how long would it take to recreate the cure? He wanted to steal all the cure stored here if he could, but he had miscalculated. The cure was kept in a secluded compound deep within the Tower.

“It’s impossible to carry all of this.”

With no apparent traps in place, Hikaru approached the crates.

Upon inspecting one of the open crates, he found rows of sealed ceramic vials, along with a paper detailing usage instructions.

“Hmm… This medicine is highly concentrated and should be diluted 100 times with purified water before use. Each bottle can serve 100 people. A hundred times concentrate?!”

How many people were they expecting to cure?

The open wooden crate held around a hundred bottles. This meant it could cater to ten thousand people.

More than ten thousand individuals had been infected in the Empire, and the number might have surged since then. Any shortage could be offset by the cure sent from Ponsonia. Even if a few people missed out on the cure, Sophie and Paula should be able to heal them.

Hikaru felt a surge of good fortune.

“They probably concentrated it for easier transportation abroad, but they went overboard. I shouldn’t need any help for this.”

Opening another wooden crate, he began stacking as many vials as possible into a single crate, filling it to its brim.

“Phew…”

Planting his feet firmly, Hikaru lifted the crate and carried it outside.

---

A clatter came from inside the Advanced Research Compound. The knights stationed at the entrance exchanged looks.

“Did you hear that?”

“Yeah. There’s not supposed to be anyone inside the compound at this hour, right? Entry beyond regular hours requires prior authorization.”

“No one is scheduled to be there tonight.”

“An intruder, maybe?”

“No way. It might just be the wind or something.”

“But remember the commotion a couple of days ago?”

“That happened during daytime, and there were no guards here.”

Following the failed infiltration by spies from the Quinbrand Empire, guards had been posted at this entrance.

“If you ask me, they’re overreacting. I mean, we’ve got a moat, nighttime patrols, countless watchtowers. How could anyone even get this far? This compound has alarms too, doesn’t it?”

“You have a point, I guess.”

“They’re just making a mountain out of a molehill. As for the open door, someone just probably forgot to lock it.”

“It wasn’t the open door that was the problem. It was the alarm.”

“It could’ve just malfunctioned,” the knight said indifferently, stifling a yawn.

His companion, however, looked unconvinced.

“If it’s bothering you that much, we can go check. It should help us stay awake anyway.”

“All right. Let’s go check it out.”

They unlocked the door and pushed it open. The hinges creaked.

Neither had ventured beyond this point before. They had no knowledge of the traps’ locations or the nature and the layout of the buildings inside.

“Here goes nothing.”

Swallowing, the knights entered the quiet compound.

“It’s a pain not having a map. We don’t know where to find the most efficient patrol route. At least we have magic items to avoid traps.”

“You’ve done nothing but grumble for a while now. Be careful not to sound like you’re criticizing His Holiness.”

“Oh, crap. I sure don’t want that. But it’s not just me complaining. Not about His Holiness, no. It’s that demi-human—”

There was another clatter. Closer, this time.

They tensed up. One knight raised the magic lamp forward, while the other gripped the hilt of his sword from behind.

The noise originated from behind a building. Slowly, they made their way towards it.

“…Huh.”

“That’s it?”

Two ladders lay on the ground, side by side.

“Is this what made the noise? But why are there ladders here?”

“Take a look.”

A portion of the roof was peeling off.

“Repairmen probably left them here, and they tipped over.”

“How did they tip over?”

“How should I know? Maybe they weren’t set up properly, and the wind knocked them down.”

“I don’t recall any strong winds.”

“Then how do you think they toppled over?”

“I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking.”

“I have absolutely no clue. Let’s head back. We can just put it in the report that some ladders tipped over and let the guys in this compound look into it. It’s not our job.”

“I guess you’re right.”

One of the knights had already started walking away, stifling another yawn. The other knight, though still somewhat curious, followed suit, leaving the scene behind.