Henry tossed and turned, but, anxiety never gave in and let him fall asleep, and after almost one entire hour staring at the ceiling he finally got up and decided to return to the spectator room.
Henry was surprised as he found Thomas waiting by his door, it was still early when the boy had gone to his room, which was right by Henry's.
-" Already awake?" Henry looked at the boy and smiled, at least he wouldn't pass the night without company.
-" This much sleep is enough." Thomas had a serious expression that he used every time he accompanied Henry outside. " Are you nervous?" Thomas looked at the man he now called master, his anxiety could be clearly seen even through his mask.
-" So, So." Henry tried his best to hide his worries away, and continued to walk towards the spectator room. " This is my first time watching something like this. I'm just getting used to it" Henry knew that he would likely be more at ease as time passed.
The two of them didn't take long to return to the spectator room, and they frowned as they saw the open door and no light coming out of it.
-" Did they switch off the mirror screens?" Henry halted his steps as he realized the strange situation, but, he didn't think of anything suspicious, after all, they were in one of the facilities of the Royal Academy.
Henry threw his curiosity away and entered the room, only to find Alden standing in the middle of the room. Alden and Henry quickly exchanged glances, and the two of them immediately became suspicious of one another.
-" Comming to watch the tournament so late?" Alden gripped the stone and looked at the mysterious man, he wasn't sure of what was happening, but, it was clear that something strange was going on.
-" It seems that I won't be able." Henry looked around and noticed that even the Illuminating Stones on the walls were turned off. " Are they saving energy or something?"
-Alden looked at the mysterious man and showed the small stone to him. " I don't think that's what happened, only the artifacts of this aren't powered." Alden was hesitant on putting his suspicions on the man, after all, he was someone that even Mister Hugh showed great respect to.
-" That's true." Henry laughed nervously as he finally noticed the strangeness of the situation, and walked closer to Alden as he was interested in the stone he showed. " Can I see this thing?"
-" This stone?" Alden threw the stone to the man and waited for him to get his conclusion. " It was lying in the middle of the room when I arrived, I don't know who put it there."
-' Disrupting Stone - Fourth Level Treasure of the Human Realm - A stone that can disrupt the mana waves of a small area, it may cause a spell to backfire or artifacts to malfunction.' Henry's eyes widened in shock as he held the stone, and his system identified it.
-" Did you say that you found this in the middle of the room?" Henry's breathing grew rough as he finally learned what the stone did.
-" Huh? Yeah? Right in the middle of the room." Alden didn't understand why the man suddenly got so worked up. " Do you recognize this thing?"
-" This is a DIsrupting Stone..." Henry thought back to when he left the room, he was the last person on it, and the only other person who entered it was the tournament staffer. " Thomas... Please go call Mister Hugh. I will go look for the man responsible for the participant's security."
Thomas quickly ran out of the room, he wasn't sure of what was happening, but, it was clear that something serious had occurred.
-" D-D-D-Disrupting Stone?" Alden froze as he realized what turned the mirror screens off. " Who put it here? What is happening?"
-" That's what I'm trying to figure out." Henry didn't want to suspect the man who he saw entering the room, as Hugh himself had picked the man to be responsible for the tournament, but, he found that this happening just after he left was too much coincidence. " I was the last one in the room, but, before I left all of the screens were working."
-" So this happened after you left?" Alden was still frozen from shock. " What time did you leave the room?"
-" It wasn't that long ago." Henry stopped at the door and looked back to Alden. " Come, we need to find the security chief, he was waiting outside the room when I left." Henry didn't remember the man's name, but, he was pretty sure that he was one of the higher-ups in the tournament.
-" Security chief? Who is talking about? Dennis or Jonas?" Alden finally jolted out of his stupor and followed the man.
-" Jonas! That was his name! Do you know the location of the control room?" Henry didn't know how to move around this place, and could only count on Alden to guide him.
-" The control room? Of course!" Alden quickly ran out of the room and began to walk toward the staffer's center, he knew Jonas personally and thought that there was no way that the man was the one responsible.
The two of them quickly arrived in the control room and were baffled to learn that the same thing had happened there.
-" Where are all the people?" Henry's face was dark as he looked at the empty room. " This doesn't seem right..." He walked to the center of the room and grabbed another small stone.
-" Did the transmitting towers malfunction?" Alden walked closer to the control panel, but, they were too complex for him to operate. " We should look for Dennis."
-" I already know what is happening." Dennis entered the room with an anxious face, walking side by side with Thomas and Hugh. " Where the fuck is Jonas?!" He looked around and frowned.
-" We have no clue, but, we did find another Disrupting Stone here." Henry walked to the group and passed the stone to Dennis. " Can't you communicate with Jonas?"
-" I tried it, but, it failed." Dennis walked to the control center and quickly began to fix the receptors so that they could restore the transmission.
-" Dennis! Get these things working right away!" Hugh had a furious expression on his face, he wanted to make quite the grandiose tournament, so he had hoped that everything would go smoothly. " I want everyone here! We can't let this situation go out of control!" One of the medals in Hugh's chest began to shine as he finished speaking.
Before long, the control room was swarmed with tournament staffers, they were all confused as to what was happening.
-" Where are the squadrons leaders?" A group of twenty people walked forward as Hugh's shouted. " Get every squadron ready to depart! I Want every student left in the desert gathered here in two hours!"
The twenty staffers quickly gathered their squadrons and left the room in direction of the main gate, finally leaving a bit of space for the people there to breathe.
-" Dennis! You will be responsible for things here! Send some groups to search the entire building for the responsible!" Hugh's face was red from rage, nothing like this had ever happened in the history of the Royal Academy. " Jonas better have a good excuse!" Hugh was about to storm out of the room when he remembered about Venerable H's presence. "Oh? It pains me to request this... but, could you help me in this matter?" Hugh's eyes were full of expectation as he gazed at Venerable H.
Henry gasped as he heard the man, he was hesitant that Hugh would discover that he was a fraud if he had gone with him, but, he knew that Makayla was in danger so he wanted to be there. -" Going with you?" Henry sighed as he looked around, and an idea flashed into his mind as he saw Thomas's father and sister coming to the control room. " I will help you, but, I won't be accompanying you."
-" Won't accompany me?" Hugh was instantly let down, but, he didn't dwell much as the man had said that he would help. " Do you perhaps have something in mind?"
-" I do have a few thoughts that I want to investigate." Henry felt relieved as it looked like he had fooled Hugh. " I was the last person in the room, and just after I left I saw Jonas entering it."
-" Jonas?" Hugh was shocked to learn about this matter. " Are you suspicious of him? This is impossible! He worked for the Royal Academy for years!" Hugh found the man's suspicions laughable.
-" That's why I'm going to investigate on my." Henry tried his best to showcase a serious demeanor. " I fear that your relationship with him may affect our conclusion."
Hugh was in shock, Venerable H's words had made him fall in contemplation, it was clear that something had happened here, and it was likely that he was an inside job, as no one had noticed anything. " His absence is truly damming." Hugh thought more about the matter and sighed in defeat. " Your wisdom is truly unparalleled, my relationship with Jonas is affecting my judgment... Until he proves that he didn't have anything to do with this, he is likely the most suspect person."