Peace is often more terrifying than war. In war, you know where the enemy is. In peace, the enemy is smiling at you from across the room.
Three days had passed since the Practical Exam. Three days of absolute silence from Professor Vex. No detentions. No sudden inspections. No assassins in dark alleys. The Academy was buzzing with the story of the "Commoner Duo" who slew a C-Rank Chimera. Students who used to bump into me in the halls now gave me a wide berth. They looked at Zane with a mixture of awe and primal fear.
"They're afraid," Zane noted as we walked to our morning class. He was carrying his books in one hand, the Iron-Breaker left back in the dorm. "I like it. It's quiet."
"It's too quiet," I muttered, scanning the corridor. [Passive Skill: Observation] was active, tracking every gaze, every whisper. "Vex is a petty man. Petty men don't forgive public humiliation. They stew in it until it boils over."
We arrived at the lecture hall for Magical Ethics & History. Ironically, the professor for this course was Vex himself.
The hall was a steep amphitheater. Rows of curved wooden desks looked down upon a central podium. As we entered, the chatter died down. Vex was already there, organizing papers on his desk. He looked up. His face was blank. No sneer. No glare. "Take your seats," he said softly. "Front row, Mr. Aren. Mr. Zane."
The front row. Right under his nose. We sat down. I checked under the desk. Nothing. I checked the chair. Nothing. 'What is he planning?'
The lecture began. "Today," Vex began, pacing back and forth, his robes swishing, "we discuss the burden of power. An artifact is not merely a tool. It is a responsibility."
He walked past my desk. He paused for a fraction of a second. I felt a tiny disturbance in the air. A fluctuation of mana. He didn't touch me. He didn't touch my bag. But my Ring of Whispers hummed. A warning.
Vex continued walking, moving to the other side of the room. "Many mages," he preached, "fall into the trap of greed. They believe power belongs to those who can take it."
I slowly lowered my hand into my open bag, which was hanging on the back of my chair. My fingers brushed against something cold and smooth. Something that wasn't there before.
I didn't pull it out. I just felt the shape. A small, rectangular box. Wrapped in velvet. Inside, I could feel the thrum of a high-grade enchantment. The Headmaster's Seal.
My blood ran cold. This wasn't just a planted item. This was a death sentence. The Headmaster's Seal was a Level 5 Restricted Artifact. It allowed access to the Academy's central mana core. Stealing it was treason against the Crown. If this was found in my bag, expulsion would be the least of my worries. I would be executed.
I looked at the door. Through the glass panel, I saw a familiar figure waiting in the hallway. Cassius Ironwood. Head of the Discipline Committee. He was checking his pocket watch. He was waiting for a signal.
The trap was perfect. Vex had used Teleportation Magic—a high-level sleight of hand—to blink the object into my bag as he walked past. In five minutes, Cassius would burst in for a "random inspection." They would find the Seal. Game over.
"Zane," I whispered without moving my lips.
"Yeah?"
"Don't react. There is a bomb in my bag."
Zane's pen snapped in his hand. "What?"
"Metaphorical bomb. Vex framed us. Cassius is outside." I looked at Vex. He was lecturing about 'Moral Integrity' with a sickeningly self-righteous expression. He was standing about five meters away, near the blackboard.
"I need a distraction," I whispered. "I need thirty seconds of chaos. But you can't hit anyone. If you hit someone, we get expelled for violence."
"Then what?"
"Have an accident. A big one."
Zane looked at the heavy oak desk in front of us. Then at the inkwell. Then at his own massive feet. He understood.
I prepared myself. I gripped the velvet box inside my bag. I had one chance. I needed to get this box out of my bag and into... where? Vex was too far. I couldn't throw it. But Vex had a habit. When he lectured, he put his Lesson Plan Book on the corner of the student desks as he walked up the stairs. He was walking toward us again.
"Greed," Vex said, looking directly at me, "is the downfall of the ambitious."
He was coming closer. Two meters. He was going to gloat. He wanted to be close when Cassius kicked the door down.
"NOW," I hissed.
Zane stood up. Or rather, he tried to. He slammed his knees upward into the heavy oak desk. [Ability: Ogre Strength] He didn't just bump it. He launched the entire desk into the air. CRASH! The desk flipped over. Books, papers, and inkwells went flying. Zane fell backward, knocking over his chair and taking down the two students behind him in a domino effect of limbs and furniture.
"ARGH! MY LEG!" Zane bellowed. It was terrible acting, but the noise was convincing enough.
"Mr. Zane!" Vex shouted, startled. He rushed forward. "What is the meaning of this?!"
Chaos. Students were standing up. Ink was splashing everywhere. Vex stepped into the mess, distracted, looking at the overturned desk. "You clumsy oaf!" Vex spat, leaning over to inspect the damage.
This was it. The Blind Spot. Everyone was looking at Zane. Vex was looking at Zane. I was the shadow.
I moved. I didn't use magic. Magic leaves a trace. I used [Skill: Pickpocketing - Rank C]. I had the velvet box palmed in my right hand. As Vex leaned forward to yell at Zane, his wide wizard sleeves hung down, open and loose. I stood up, pretending to be shocked, stumbling slightly toward the Professor. "Professor! Are you okay?" I cried out, grabbing his arm as if to steady myself.
"Get off me!" Vex shook his arm violently.
That shake was all I needed. In the moment of contact, I didn't pull anything out. I dropped something in. The small velvet box slid effortlessly from my palm into the deep, inner pocket of Vex's wide sleeve. It was a "Reverse Pickpocket."
I pulled back instantly, raising my hands. "Sorry! I tripped!"
Vex glared at me, brushing off his robe. He didn't feel the weight. The box was light, and his robes were heavy velvet. "Sit down!" Vex screamed. "Both of you! Incompetent savages!"
Zane groaned, untangling himself from the chair. "Sorry. Cramp."
The door slammed open. Cassius Ironwood marched in, followed by two enforcers. Perfect timing.
"What is going on here?" Cassius barked, looking at the mess.
Vex straightened up. A smug, cruel smile touched his lips. He thought the chaos was just us panicking. He thought the Seal was still in my bag. "Perfect timing, Cassius," Vex said smoothly. "These two were just causing a disturbance. And... I have reason to believe they are in possession of stolen property."
The class went silent. "Stolen property?" Cassius frowned. "We received a signal from the Headmaster's office that the Seal was moved. It tracked to this room."
"Indeed," Vex nodded, pointing a long, bony finger at my bag, which was now lying on the floor amidst the wreckage. "Search his bag."
Cassius looked at me. "Aren. Step away from the bag."
I stepped back, looking terrified. "I... I don't know what you're talking about."
"Save the acting," Vex sneered. "Open it, Cassius."
Cassius picked up my bag. He dumped the contents onto the floor. Textbooks. A spare robe. A half-eaten apple. A quill. Nothing else.
Vex's smile faltered. "Check the lining!" Vex ordered. "He has a hidden pocket!"
Cassius ripped the lining. Empty. He checked Zane's bag. Empty. He checked the overturned desk. Empty.
"It's not here," Cassius said, his voice flat. He looked at Vex. "The tracker says it's in this room, Professor. Within a three-meter radius."
Vex started to sweat. "Impossible. I put... I mean, I saw him putting it in!" Vex stammered, catching himself. "Check his pockets! Strip search him!"
"Professor," Cassius said, his eyes narrowing. "The tracker is beeping faster." Cassius held up a small crystal detector. He walked toward me. The beeping got louder. Beep... Beep...
Vex grinned. "See?"
Cassius walked past me. He stepped toward Vex. BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP! The detector was screaming. Not at me. At Vex.
Vex froze. "What?"
Cassius looked at the Professor's right sleeve. "Professor Vex," Cassius said, his tone turning icy. "Please empty your pockets."
"Don't be ridiculous, Cassius! I am a faculty member! I am the victim here!"
"Empty. Your. Pockets." Cassius's hand drifted to his wand. The two enforcers stepped forward.
Vex looked around the room. Fifty students were watching. He couldn't refuse. With a trembling hand, he reached into his sleeve. He felt it. His face went pale. Ashen white. He pulled out the small velvet box.
The room gasped. " The Headmaster's Seal," Cassius stated. He looked at Vex with pure disgust. "You stole the Seal... and tried to frame a first-year student? Or were you planning to sell it yourself and panicked?"
"No!" Vex shrieked. "He planted it! The boy! He touched me! He's a thief!"
"He is a Commoner with no mana," Cassius retorted. "You are a Rank-B Mage. Are you telling me a student slipped a Level 5 Artifact into your pocket without you noticing? You, a Master of Detection?"
It was the perfect trap. If Vex admitted I planted it, he admitted to being incompetent enough to be pickpocketed by a child. If he denied it, he was a thief. Both roads led to ruin.
Vex looked at me. His eyes were wide, bloodshot, filled with a hatred so pure it felt like heat. I looked back at him. And I winked. Just a tiny, almost imperceptible wink.
"Professor Vex," Cassius said, grabbing Vex's arm. "You are coming with us. The Headmaster will want to hear this."
"UNHAND ME!" Vex screamed as they dragged him out of his own classroom. "IT'S A LIE! IT'S ALL A LIE! HE'S THE DEVIL!"
The door slammed shut. The class was dead silent. Everyone looked at the empty podium. Then they looked at me.
I picked up my bag and dusted it off. "Well," I said to the room at large. "That was unexpected. Class dismissed, I guess?"