When I entered the cake shop, the sweet aroma of the countless pastries immediately flooded my nose, leading me to inadvertently glance at the variety of cakes contained in the display cases.
Turning to Astrid, I said.
"Distract the owner."
Still somewhat dazed by the rapid succession of events, Astrid nodded her head and headed to the counter to speak to the owner once again.
Surveying the room with my eyes, the first oddity I noticed was that there were barely 5 people in the entire bakery.
How was this place making a profit?
The 5 people seemed to be regular civilians as they simply ate their cakes while reading the newspaper.
Seeing Astrid completely distracting the owner and the others not caring about me, I stood in the center of the room, slowly turning in a circle while scrutinizing every corner.
Finding an odd-looking painting on the right wall, I immediately attempted to insert my hand into it, but unfortunately, it was not a subspace.
"Just as I thought..."
If there was a villain headquarters in this bakery, it would definitely be hidden behind the counter, where no normal civilians could go.
This was the only lead we had in our entire week of searching, so I wasn't just about to let it go, even if it meant breaking some rules.
Walking next to Astrid, who was pretending to buy some pastries, I whispered into her ear.
"It's probably behind the counter."
"Well... what should we do?"
"Don't ask questions you already know the answer to."
Sighing, Astrid pulled out her Celestial Academy Student Council badge, immediately attracting the attention of the shop owner, while I slipped past him and the counter.
Wasting no time, I used my awakened strength to deliver an especially powerful karate chop to the shopowner's neck, causing him to slump down to the floor slowly.
There was a high possibility that he would be involved with the organization if their headquarters really was here.
Jumping over the counter, Astrid glanced at the shopowner's body for a second before turning her attention to me.
"We better not have done this to an innocent man."
Examining the various cupboards and storage units and finding nothing, I shifted my attention to the floor, where, after a minute, I spotted an area of the floor that was slightly more elevated than the rest.
Leaning down, I made a night-black cover for my fist using Corruption before punching the elevated area of the floor.
Shattering into pieces, the elevated floor dispersed, revealing a small ladder leading downwards for as far as the eye could see.
Peering downwards, I ensured that the bottom of the ladder wasn't booby-trapped before gesturing to Astrid.
After seeing the ladder, Astrid quickly regained her composure, pulled out her wand, and cast a small current of wind that surrounded both her and me.
Squishing together, the two of us jumped down the hole at the same time as we slowly glided to the bottom.
Why are ladders even things in a world of magic?
As my shoes touched the soft dirt of the floor, the first thing that entered my sight was a long tunnel that went straight before curving to the right.
Holding a finger over my closed mouth, I turned to Astrid; however, she just stared at me in confusion.
"What the hell are you doing?"
... is that really not a sign to be quiet in this world?
"...it means to be quiet."
"Why didn't you just s-"
"Let's just go, alright?"
Taking the lead, I manifested my two corrupted daggers, which were invisible to Astrid as there was no light in the cave, before heading straight.
As we went further and further into the tunnel, I noticed the quality of the path significantly deteriorating as there was water leaking from the roof, and using my eyes, I could spot more and more unstable areas.
A fight here could cause parts of the tunnel to collapse... leaving mid-fight would be difficult, to say the least.
Seeing a large clearing in the distance, I raised my hand out, stopping Astrid, and once again put a finger over my closed mouth.
Clinging to the wall, the two of us peered out of the tunnel into the large clearing, which was rather quiet considering how big it was.
On the back wall of the vast room, there was a large board with countless pictures, various items, and, finally, red strings that connected all the different things.
Was this a detective movie?
Using my eyes, I examined the pictures, looking for similarities... before realizing it was all useless.
On the center of the large board, there was a large picture with a gigantic red cross drawn over it.
Their target was Bertus... the imperial prince and the next emperor of the kingdom.
Astrid, who had seen the picture of Bertus way before me as I had wasted time examining everything, turned to me.
Variable after variable, isn't it?
The target didn't really matter to me, as my goal was to prevent their attack throughout the festival.
Looking at the 5 djinns dressed up in lab coats who were pacing back and forth under the board, Astrid asked.
"Is that all of them..?"
"Seems like it."
Considering the organization had to be small, our destroying their base and ending five of their scientists would definitely be enough to put a halt to their plans.
With the festival starting in less than 12 hours and us 2 having done nothing, there was also no time to do anything else.
Stepping into the darkness, I manifested my bow and arrow while watching Astrid pull out her wand, which lit up a light green.
As a tree suddenly appeared in the center of the clearing, alarming all the scientists, I shot my arrow, immediately eliminating one of the 5.
As roots expanded from the tree and surged toward the scientist, I dispersed the arrow that was on the other side of the clearing before manifesting another one in my arms.
Since the scientists were all grouped together in an attempt to fight against the tree's roots, I was able to take out 2 this time as my arrow pierced right through their group.
Casting another spell, Astrid conjured an energy ball, colored dark green, and sent it hurling toward the two remaining scientists.
Cornered by the roots, scared of my arrows, and surprised by the sudden attack, the two scientists were oblivious to the energy ball, ultimately resulting in their deaths.
Walking out of the tunnel and into the clearing, Astrid and I stared at the board for a moment before Astrid broke the silence.
"Is this enough?"
"Probably... but you can never be too safe."
Gesturing for Astrid to step back into the tunnel, I manifested a new arrow and used my eyes to determine the weakest spot in the clearing.
"GET READY!"
As my shout echoed through the empty tunnel and clearing, I released my arrow, which hurled right at the weak spot, before activating dash and dashing into the tunnel.
*RUMBLE*
With Astrid trailing behind me, I sprinted back towards the ladder, using my eyes to avoid the countless rocks that began falling from the roof.
Having her wand ready, Astrid cast another wind current around us, causing the two of us to slowly levitate up.
Reaching the floor of the cake shop again, I peered down the ladder, which now had rocks all over it, before mourning the loss of my arrow.
It was inevitable but my arrow had been destroyed in the process, causing me to lose even more corruption.
I was actually net-negative in corruption gain over the last week!
After leaving the cake shop, the two of us headed back to the Academy instead of my headquarters.
As we got onto the bridge, I thought for a moment before warning Astrid.
"There might be more; we should still be cautious during the festival."
"I'll send extra guards to protect the prince. Contact me if you notice anything."
Astrid's main goal wasn't to prevent the attack as a whole but rather determine the target of the attack, so we had been somewhat successful
Nodding my head, the two of us parted ways at the Academy gates as I headed towards my dorm with the loss of the arrow still on my mind.
...
...
...
When I woke up the next day, trumpets were blaring even through my closed windows, and upon further inspection, I saw the Celestial Academy band playing right outside my window.
Really, this damn early?
Checking my smartwatch, I realized that it was actually almost the afternoon, so I showered and got ready before immediately heading out.
[Ren: Anything happened?]
[Astrid: Everything seems good with the prince.]
Putting down my smartwatch, I headed to the Coliseum to view the upcoming events, which would actually be interesting, considering that Celestial Academy would almost lose this year.
Walking through the park and towards the towering coliseum, I stopped dead in my tracks as I heard a frail female voice scream out.
'WEN! WEN! WEN!"
Is she talking to me?
Turning around, I saw a little kid, at most 5 years old, running up to me while continuing to scream, "WEN!"
As the kid approached me, I leaned downwards and asked.
"Hey kid, are you lo-"
"BIG BROTHER, WEN! YOU'RE HERE!"
Clutching my head, I felt a sudden surge of memories flash through my head as I recalled the appearance of this small child.
My younger sister and the youngest child of the Montclair family... Audrey
Wait, does that mean..?
Immediately glancing around, ignoring the searing pain in my head, I ensured that my "father" was nowhere in sight before calming down a bit.
Shifting my attention back to the little girl with cascading blonde hair and dark blue eyes in front of me, I was about to ask her a question when she suddenly stretched out her hands, revealing a small black kitten.
The slick, black kitten, previously sleeping peacefully in Audrey's arms, immediately woke up as it stretched its paws out before turning to face me.
"Big bwotha, I brought your cat!"
Ren had a cat?
Staring at the cat in Audrey's hands, I lifted it up and placed it on the floor; however, the cat immediately ran forward, clinging to my pants.
...is it fate that my clothes are ALWAYS going to be torn?
Not wanting my last pair of pants to be torn even more, I lifted the cat back up and placed it in my arms.
*RUMBLE*
*BOOM*
*RUMBLE*
As the ground suddenly shook, I immediately stood up, holding the cat in my hands, and looked around before immediately identifying the source.
In the distance, the towering coliseum was somehow falling...
The rightmost suite of the coliseum was now visible to everyone as the walls surrounding it were shattered into pieces, and inside the suite, a large fire was burning.
Using my eyes, I peered into the broken-down suite, immediately seeing the crest of the Royal family plastered on one of the walls. Beside the crest were the battered bodies of Astrid and Bertus.
"w-what was there another attack."
Trying to calm myself down and reassess the situation, I closed my eyes.
What had happened? Did we get the wrong organization? Was there another attacker?
Feeling a sense of serenity washing over me as the noises of people screaming disappeared, I reopened my eyes... only to be met with the scenery of the cake shop in front of me.