Vivillian wished that he could just incapacitate the maid in front of him, who suspiciously fiddled around in a secluded corner of the library somewhat obviously in his eyes.
Spying on her discreetly from the second floor of the library, Viv practically knew the building from inside out, thus making it the first on his defusal list.
If he knocked her out now, then her accomplices might falter and reschedule the bombing to another day. Something like that happening would throw away all his hard work, so that was a big no.
The time is 5:45pm.
The bombs were scheduled to set off at 6:30pm, sunset was 6:22pm. During that time the pathways of Einsvul would be the busiest, with kids having fun on campus right after evening classes.
It's a short time frame, but it can be done.
The Professors would be busy grading the onslaught of spring break work submitted not too long ago, leaving no one would be suspicious if many people traversed around campus, hurrying to do tasks.
In actuality, whoever was the true mastermind of the terrorists seemed to have a perfect grasp of Einsvul's campus life and schedule, leading to such a favorable opportunity.
Too bad for them, it was also the prime chance Viv had to undo all their work.
His somewhat notorious recognizable face was an annoyance that prevented him from wandering around without being noticed. He had to seriously take into consideration how to move about without being seen too often.
If all went well, he wouldn't have to deal with much worry and none of the bombs would detonate. After defusing them, he planned to send them anonymously to Einsvul authorities to handle themselves along with a printed letter explaining the cause.
However if even one bomb went off...
A slight change occurred in his expression, closing the book he feigned reading and turning back to the maid, who had now finished her task.
One bomb down.
—-
Tucking away a now defused and strange contraption into his backpack, Viv nonchalantly exited the library, leaving no trace that something wrong had happened.
After reading the dumbed down explanation on the paper, the emergency stop could be easily triggered after completing all the opposite things that were needed to set up the bomb in the first place.
Finding a bomb tucked away in an empty classroom of one of the main buildings, Viv grinned as he expertly unplugged the wires, twisted a few things apart, and entered a code to the strange safe-like dial on it.
The mechanism itself wasn't really impressive, looking like someone had taped together canisters and wires, with a dial in the center. In a way it was a makeshift bomb, something rather unexpected knowing there were expensive magic cores within.
There was no passcode provided on Sid's paper, but it mentioned just entering the same code into that was used to activate the bomb would trigger the emergency stop. This wasn't too hard to find it out, thankfully.
000
A series of three simple numbers inputted by the maid's finger. Whoever made the bombs didn't seem to concerned with complexity as it was built for commoners in mind, so all of the bombs used this code.
What sort of terrorist group does such a high profile attack with such lowly advanced technology?
Thinking about it, Viv almost thought it was actually shameful how Einsvul had suffered much in the past because of it. It truly must have been the timing that had put together the whole operation, much to the good fortune of the terrorist group.
Viv held back a gulp as he undid the second bomb, and stuffed it into his bag.
There is definitely a rat inside Einsvul.
However Vivillian had just went through a lot for this solo operation, and decided to throw the responsibilities of the future to the Crown Prince and his goons.
Walking towards the entrance of the main building, Viv felt a suspicious presence pass by, and turned to take a glance.
"?"
Unexpectedly, the met eyes with Darvillion, and Viv could see a hint of confusion in his dark eyes. Stiffening, he awkwardly stood there, even though he was just about to turn towards a corridor.
"Oh."
Seeing how it was Viv who had initiated the interaction and the contract hadn't forced blood out of every orifice, Darvillion composed himself and tried to open his mouth to speak.
...Though it was for naught as Viv disinterestedly turned his head away and left, sparing him no more thought.
"...Great, and now my good mood has soured. Just where does that prude think he's going with such a strong stench of mana."
Scratching the back of his head, Darvillion resumed his usual scowl and walked away.
..
Looking at the time on his pocket watch, Viv felt a sigh escape him.
6:05pm, but at least the bomb in the main building and library are gone.
[Main buildings, the old clock tower, the stadium, and the library.]
These words were like a mantra within his head, as Viv constantly chanted this to himself, searching all three main buildings and their extra unused classrooms.
Obviously Sid wouldn't have been able to tell which main building from what, so he only left a vague description of how it was in an unused area.
Luckily there weren't a lot of unused spaces to check, and in the third main building, Viv found it in the first backroom he checked.
Though it took him slightly longer time to find the bomb then anticipated, the rest of the areas on the list were self explanatory and relatively easy to find.
He decided to head to the stadium next as it was closer to his current location, and ranked higher in terms of importance.
Not only that, Viv knew there would be some training happening in the stadium. The last place on the list, the old clock tower, was a area that students barely visited. It was more a tourist attraction for the families of parents for when they visited.
The only good purpose of the clock tower was for students who wanted to star gaze or cause mischief.
"Hm.."
Slowly scoping out the stadium, and avoiding curious gazes, Viv found a bomb strapped underneath bench near the announcer's booth.
It was the same ominous looking device, but it was poorly taped underneath the seat, and more obvious compared to the others.
Looking around to make sure no one was looking, Viv easily repeated the steps he had done before and tucked the bomb into his bag.
After double checking once again that no one indeed saw him, Viv walked out of the stadium, and feeling his paranoia kick in.
People are going to notice if I act too..-
"Oh, you're here Viv?"
Elva looked slightly startled, as he paused his trip to the changing rooms.
He wondered briefly as to why such a physically incapable guy was doing hanging around the training stadium, especially today. With exams coming up, the students doing physical related education were all preparing for extensive tests.
"Can I not be here?"
Thinking this was a dig towards him, Viv crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes. He also made sure to look especially defensive, just in case Elva noticed something suspicious about his unusual appearance and bulging bag.
Attracting Elva's attention of his getup, he quickly recoiled.
"N-No, it's not..."
Elva trailed off. "I was just thinking since you're friends with that guy you..... Agh, never mind."
Eyeing Elva suspiciously, Viv eventually let it go as one of Elva's classmates saw him and motioned him to hurry over.
"See you later, Viv." Smiling, Elv's peaceful black eyes curled, waving goodbye as he trotted away.
I wonder who gave that brat permission to call me that.
It was now 6:12pm, 18 minutes from detonation, and 10 minutes from sunset.
Hurrying down the long path over to the clock tower, he unexpectedly once again ran into a person he least expected to be an obstacle.
"Vivillian."
Suddenly, a presence approached him with eerie speed.
"?!..."
Turning around, Viv politely nodded his head habitually as he saw who it was. "Yes, Ms Lilia?"
"Are you perhaps heading towards the old clock tower?"
Ms Lilia asked quickly, with a strange expression on her pleasant features.
"Why yes, I am. Is there any reason why?" Viv hid his suspicions and asked harmlessly, holding his hands behind his back, tilting his head.
"...It's not safe."
She muttered softly.
"Pardon?"
Catching Ms Lilia's mutter, Viv felt a chill run down his back as he wondered if Ms Lilia knew about what was about to go down.
And if so, how much does she know...?!
"You can't go to old clock tower, just stay here for me after I check the stadium's for just a moment."
Ms Lilia firmly commanded, her voice having no patience for negotiation.
"..What? I apologize, but I have a matter-."
"My apologies, but I can't let yet another student unknowingly go into the grasp of danger."
With a steadfast determination in her eyes, Ms Lilia hurriedly whisked him away back towards the stadium, much to Viv's horror.
The wind flapped harshly in his ears, as he felt himself cut through air with the help of Ms Lilia's magic. It almost gave him a light headed feeling, as he struggled to breath calmly and speak.
"Ms-..!"
"[Silence]."
Ms Lilia muttered an incantation under her breath, as the air in Viv's vocal cords seemed to stiffen, unwilling to flor normally. As if it had suddenly locked, much to his dismay.
This...!? If I can't get free, then there's not gonna be enough time to stop the last bomb...!
Cursing internally, Viv tried to struggle and protest even without his words, but this only seemed to ignite something deeper within her honey eyes.
"You'll understand one day, Vivillian."
Ms Lilia muttered softly, dragging him along quickly away.
Even though her finger was hooked slightly into the collar of his cloak, it was mainly wind magic doing the work of pulling.
A guilty conscience had been gnawing on her after seeing students unknowingly head towards an unchecked danger. And there was mostly absolutely nothing she could do except wait and check.
The day of the bombing was here, and even after consulting Emile and Julian Strong, they were helpless without solid proof.
All the commoner cleaners had passed the safety inspection just as usual, and nothing ever seemed out of the ordinary. So while Emile and Julian were forced to attend a sudden meeting, it was up to Lilia to scan the campus all day, looking out for things.
This obviously put her on more edge than usual, even the slightest things making her patience falter.
Her last straw of reason snapping after seeing an especially beloved student of hers unknowingly walk towards a potential jaw of death before her.
If she had let him off and he never returned, Lilia would never forgive herself again.
'The paper I stole shouldn't be a fake...'
She thought to herself quietly, trying to switch brain power back to more important things, trapping herself in her own world.
She had an eye for counterfeits, and she was sure she had gotten a legitimate paper...
'Even if it is a fake, it's better to be careful around those Black Hydra snakes.'
—-
"Ah, as expected...it's gone."
Sid led out an amused mutter as he stared blankly at the empty notebook inside the drawer.
His hands stroked the strange, empty space that didn't seem to hold its original content anymore.
Inside was supposed to be the original set of plans he had made, the one he had given to Viv being just a short, simplified copy of it. It seems while he was gone though, a raccoon had come to steal what was his.
Alamis seemed unamused by the blatant theft, bowing his head meekly. The tense feeling of tension however, could be felt emanating from him.
"Would you like me to investigate further into Phantoma?"
"Just let it be for now. I'm actually somewhat grateful she stopped at that."
A deep hearty laugh emerged from his mouth, as Sid gently touched the blank notebook, before burning it into ashes with a single tap of his finger.
Right now, they were in Sid's office in the Eternal Night, a place that was supposed to be fully protected from outside forces. Sensitive documents lined the area, but thankfully Phantoma only seemed interested in something non important.
He had thought the magic sensors would be enough, but...
"How scary, I can see where she gets her name."
Brushing away the ashes into the trash, Sid lazily took a seat onto his study's chair, the pressure creaking a slight creaking sound on the adjustable cushion.
If one looked closely at his desk, you could see it had been entirely replaced with a newer duplicate of the same model. Probably the aftermath of Phantoma's 'pleasant' visit not too long ago.
"Seeing how much trouble she went through to get my research, it's safe to conclude that Phantoma the Great Thief has deep connections to the prestigious noble academy, Einsvul."
Throwing back his head, Sid laughed at the irony before him.
"It's like a goldmine of interesting things after meeting him."
His head tilted slightly to the side in thought.
"What do you think Alamis, you think LM will bring more fun things to the table?"
Alamis clicked his tongue.
"I decline to comment."
"Haha!"
——
Meanwhile, while Viv was getting whisked away, he frantically checked the time as the minutes slowly ticked away.
6:14
6:15
6:16
The clock tower was already a long walk away, and the time he had to properly defuse the bomb was dropping by the second.
This...! I need to break free!..
Their speed sharply increased as Viv was forced to wince his eyes at the cutting wind blowing past him. It didn't help the cold early spring air was still chilly and felt like icicles digging into his reddened skin.
Struggling to look at Lilia, he noticed a silver pendant entering his view, blown back by the harsh wind.
...huh, that looks like...