Embracing Magic - E.M Chapter 50 (Part 1)
Rodin watched Hedler and Lant playing with their bracelets, then stood up.
“It’s today.”
Rodin’s voice was a quiet murmur, but Hedler and Lant, who had been moving excitedly, reacted simultaneously.
“Is it Habinon’s duty from today?”
“The central building’s basement?”
“Yeah. We’re wrapping it up today. If we swap it out today, it’s done.”
As expected, Habinon would be guarding the central building at night. It was the perfect opportunity to swap the fake slave rods they had prepared with the real ones.
“Has Habinon arrived yet?”
“Not yet. He’s always late.”
“You’ve been in there before, right?”
“Yeah. Four times. With Habinon, there’s nothing to worry about. The problem is Elrov and kser.”
“Is there anything we need to help with?”
“Nope. Just pray for me.”
Rodin immediately used invisibility to make his body transparent. Then he left the dormitory and took a position on the roof, where he had a clear view of the central building and the main gate.
After waiting for about an hour outside, he saw the silhouette of a carriage approaching. The silhouette grew larger and passed through the main gate without stopping.
‘He’s here.’
For some urgent reason, Kser came running out before Habinon could enter the central building. After a heated argument with Habinon at the stable, Kser took the carriage and left.
‘He’s always late. It’s a habit. But is something urgent today?’
Kser was not someone who pretended to be busy, but today he seemed unusually hurried.
The carriage carrying Kser sped through the main gate and quickly disappeared.
‘Time to move.’
Rodin first went to the deep storage by the lakeside and grabbed the fake slave rods he had prepared. There were quite a few, so he had to pack them in a large bag he had brought along.
He then returned to the central building. The method of entry was the same as before.
In his invisible state, he went to the entrance of the basement storage.
He quickly dismantled the three magical locks using his mana. The physical lock was opened with a key he had made previously.
He opened the box containing the slave rods and took them all out. Then he placed the fake slave rods, prearranged by number, into the box.
He made sure to scatter them around a bit to make it look natural.
‘It’s done.’
As he was about to leave the basement storage, he glanced at a stack of documents.
His own information had been removed and discarded, but his comrades’ information remained.
‘Okay, let’s get rid of two more.’
He took out the documents containing the information of Hedler and Lant. Including his own, three documents were now missing.
He replaced them with a single document from another stack. The thickness of the stack matched up closely.
‘This should do.’
Although it didn’t stand out much, he felt uneasy. He briefly considered putting the documents back.
‘I don’t care. If I get caught, I get caught.’
Having swapped out all the slave rods, he had prevented the worst-case scenario. If problems arose and he was suspected, he would just fight. If overwhelmed, he could escape.
Even though a significant event that would determine the fate of the trainees was happening underground, Habinon remained completely unaware.
Rodin exited the central building and headed to the lakeside. A few instructors were patrolling and chatting nearby.
Rodin quietly entered the lake. He placed the real slave rods he had stolen today into a deep pit at the bottom of the lake and covered it with a large rock.
‘This is it.’
The real slave rods he had previously swapped were buried elsewhere. They were hidden in a crevice halfway up the mountain Cory often climbed for wind training.
The real slave rods he buried today ranged from batches 5 to 12. The ones hidden halfway up the mountain were from batches 1 to 4.
He hadn’t originally intended to bury them separately. The initial plan was to hide them all in the crevice halfway up the mountain.
However, the crevice was smaller than it appeared from the outside. After placing batches 1 to 4, there was no more room. Forcing it open would have been too obvious.
He had no choice but to find a new location and ultimately chose the lake’s bottom after much consideration.
‘It’s done.’
He emerged from the lake, water dripping from his wet clothes.
Jito, seemingly displeased with the dampness, squirmed slightly to shake off the moisture.
Rodin used Undine to perfectly dry off the water from his clothes and body.
‘I feel refreshed.’
He returned to the dormitory and deactivated his invisibility. As his transparency faded, Hedler and Lant hurried over.
“Is everything settled?”
“Yeah. It’s over. The committee can’t decide our fate anymore.”
“You’re not going to tell us where you buried them, are you?”
“If you want, I can retrieve yours. But I can’t tell you the location.”
Hedler didn’t really expect an answer. He just wanted to understand how Rodin handled the slave rods.
“That’s fine. I feel more comfortable leaving it to you.”
“Me too.”
Carrying the slave rods was dangerous. They could be lost if carried around, or someone else might see them if left in the dormitory.
Ultimately, hiding them somewhere was the best option, and Rodin was more trustworthy in such matters.
As a wizard, he could go to places that knights couldn’t easily reach. He would have hidden them in a much harder-to-find spot.
“Did you check all the artifacts? Do you like them?”
“Yeah. Using them in practice gave me a good sense of how to use them in real situations.”
“Me too. They’re great.”
“But Rodin, don’t you have any artifacts? Did you only make them for us?”
“Of course I have. Here it is.”
Rodin rolled up his sleeve to show his left wrist. He wore a bracelet similar to the ones he had given Hedler and Lant.
“But you still wear those long clothes.”
“Long clothes? Oh, the sleeves?”
“Yeah. Don’t they feel uncomfortable? I couldn’t wear something like that.”
Rodin wore clothes with sleeves long enough to cover his fingers. Hedler always found it intriguing.
He used to think Rodin wore oversized clothes because there weren’t any that fit his small frame. Back then, Rodin was only five years old, while the other trainees, including himself, were nine or ten.
But even as Rodin grew older and bigger, he continued to prefer long sleeves. He even custom-ordered his clothes to have extra-long sleeves.
“I’m not a knight. Long sleeves are fine. And I’m used to them since I’ve worn them from a young age.”
“Really? Well, as long as you’re comfortable.”
“Yeah, I find them comfortable.”