CHAPTER 104— Alchemy City(10)
The chaotic commotion of last night's infiltration had slowly faded into the administrative bureaucracy of the GAA.
Inside his obsidian-tinted office, Alchemist King Stalin Bolievia sat in absolute silence, his expression unreadable as Cale Henius laid the final disaster report on his desk.
"It looks like Salvador stole Epheiral." Cale stated, pausing briefly as if bracing himself for an outburst of royal fury.
When no change in the heavy atmosphere occurred, he continued. "During the breach, every automated alarm and security mechanism on the GAA were completely disabled. The guards on duty reported feeling a sudden, sharp localized pain in their neck pressure points before their memories went dark. Clearly, they were neutralized by a targeted strike."
Cale hesitated, shifting his weight.
"Furthermore, it confirms there was a high-level internal leak. Someone purposefully deactivated the secondary barriers from the inside, which explains why no alarms sounded when Salvador infiltrated the facility."
"Is that all?" Stalin asked quietly.
"Ah... yes, My Lord," Cale replied, perplexed by the sovereign's eerie calm. "Though... I must confess, I don't quite understand why Salvador would take any risk for Epheiral, Epheiral is just—"
"Cale."
"Yes, My Lord?"
"People like him know how to wield even the simplest instruments in ways we cannot begin to fathom."
"Oh..."
"You are dismissed."
"Understood, My Lord." Cale bowed stiffly and withdrew from the room.
Sigh... Stalin exhaled a long, heavy breath, leaning back heavily into his high-backed leather chair. His tired eyes drifted toward a small, framed photograph resting on the corner of his desk.
It depicted a younger alchemist in standard GAA robes standing proudly beside him, though the young man's face was entirely obscured by a bright glare of sunlight streaming through the window.
"Such a tragedy that we never truly got to finish our conversation... my greatest pupil." Stalin murmured to the empty room.
A few days had passed since the abrupt termination of the Alchemy City field trip.
Back at Grand Aetherion, the students barely had time to catch their breath before being plunged straight back into the grueling routine of daily lectures and practicals.
---
Rowan, however, was thoroughly preoccupied elsewhere.
'And after that, the successor of Al Salvador emerged...'
While Instructor Valeria droned on at the front of the lecture hall, detailing theoretical mana convergence formulas, Rowan stared blankly down at his notebook, completely checked out.
Rrrriiiinnngg—!
The sharp ring of the dismissal bell finally snapped Rowan out of his heavy trance.
"Alright, class. Make sure to thoroughly review today's chapters before tomorrow."
Valeria announced, closing her textbook and sweeping out of the room.
Rowan stared down at his desk. His notes were an absolute disaster. For days, his mind had remained trapped in the shadows of Alchemy City.
The rumors about Alokik Sarvanathan, Kaya's cold betrayal, and the terrifying, supernatural display from Al Salvador's platinum-haired successor—all of it felt inextricably linked. Deep down, Rowan knew there were missing pieces to the puzzle, and the underlying truth terrified him.
'Why did Al Salvador assassinate Alokik? And why did Kaya willingly throw herself out of the window to join him?'
The questions echoed relentlessly in his head. 'Alokik. Kaya. Al Salvador. Alchemy City.'
Rowan's mind flashed back to the weathered letters written by his missing older brother. 'The timing of this new 'Al Salvador' rising matches up way too closely with the period when Bhaiya was branded a heretic.'
With a heavy stroke of his pen, Rowan drew a thick, aggressive circle around the words Alchemy City scribbled in the margin of his notebook.
'There definitely is some clue related to Bhaiya in the Alchemy City. I have to go back. I have to find out what really happened.'
He slumped forward, resting his forehead against the wooden desk. 'sigh... But how do I do that.'
"Wow. That page is officially a lost cause," a soft, familiar voice interrupted his spiraling thoughts.
Rowan's head snapped up. Sarina was standing beside his desk, peering down at his violently scribbled notebook with her usual calm gaze. "Are you planning to stay on the class forever?"
"Ah... No." Rowan mumbled, hurriedly closing the book and standing up.
"What on earth were you writing down that required a crime-scene mapping session?" Sarina asked as they stepped out into the bustling hallway.
"I just... I can't stop thinking about it."
"About what?"
They both paused near the corridor archway.
"The Alchemy City. I can't shake the image of Kaya's betrayal and her walking away with that guy out of my mind. I just... Can't understand... Why did she do that?"
"You are strangely taking it personal." Sarina said, turning to face him. She studied his face with sharp, observant eyes.
Rowan froze. He locked eyes with her dark, unreadable gaze.
'Am I... really taking it personal?' Rowan wondered for a bit.
Then, a sudden, piercing memory flashed through his consciousness. He remembered the exact day he had first stared at the wanted article of his older brother crumpled near the tea stall.
'Why did Bhaiya do that?'
And then he remembered Kaya's cold, calculated expression as she abandoned them.
'Why did she do it?'
Rowan's breath hitched. For the first time since returning from the trip, he finally understood why he couldn't let go of Kaya's betrayal.
"Yes," Rowan said quietly, his voice firm. "It is personal."
Sarina narrowed her eyes slightly.
"She was a student you barely knew for more than a few moments. Did you fall for her or something?"
"Wh—what?!" Rowan stammered, his face flushing crimson as he coughed into his fist.
"Of course not! It's just..." he took a deep breath as he state firmly. "I Don't like people betraying me."
Sarina arched a single eyebrow at the defensive outburst.
"I need to go back to Alchemy City," Rowan stated, the decision solidifying in his mind.
"Is that so?" Sarina replied evenly.
Rowan gave a firm nod.
"Alright. Let's go, then."
"Wh—what?"
"I said let's go. Together."
Rowan blinked, completely caught off guard.
"Why would you come with me?"
"Well, it's pretty obvious you wouldn't survive five minutes trying to investigate a sovereign city completely on your own. We already got completely played last time even when everyone was together; so stumbling back in alone is a recipe for a shallow grave."
"Oh..." Rowan stared at her, deeply touched by the quiet, unshakable tone in her voice.
"Besides..." Sarina offered a faint, reassuring smile. "Like you said—I don't like someone betraying me and walking away freely either."
For a second, Rowan completely forgot how to speak, staring at her expression.
"Yeah," he breathed out softly, a genuine smile breaking across his face. "Let's—"
"Are you two out of your minds?!"
Rowan nearly jumped ten feet into the air at the sudden interjection.
"Ritvik?! Where did you even come from?!"
'How am I— I have been literally—"
"Yeah... Even I didn't see you?" Sarina said with a dry voice.
"What?! Seriously? I have been literally walking beside you guys for the past hour and to be honest i just couldn't take this bullshit anymore!" Ritvik threw his hands up in exasperation.
Ritvik spun toward Sarina. "And you, Sarina i thought you were a person of reason but? Did this idiots brain has started affecting you too. I thought I was the only one having any affect in either of you."
"Regardless of how you feel about it," Sarina replied calmly, crossing her arms, "it's painfully obvious something fishy is going in Alchemy City."
"Ah... If something fishy is going then just let the fisherman use his hook."
Rowan and Sarina stared at him in deadpan silence.
"It means leave the jurisdiction to the local authorities! Alchemy City is an independent magitech superpower; their internal security crises are their problem to solve, not a couple of extracurricular field trips for freshmen." Ritvik explained defensively.
"You should really stop making jokes. They never actually hit anyone." Sarina noted flatly.
"That's because you guys have no sense of humour."
"Well, you don't have to tag along," Rowan pointed out. "It's not like we're chaining you to our ankles."
Ritvik rubbed his temples, letting out a dramatic groan.
"Ugh... you two really are impossible. You're actually serious about going back, aren't you?"
He looked between them, realizing from their silent, stubborn expressions that arguing was utterly useless. "Yeah. I had forgotten that no one cares about my opinion." Ritvik sighed deeply.
"Sigh... Let's go."
"Weren't you just throwing a massive tantrum a second ago about not going?" Sarina raised an eyebrow.
"Didn't you two just give a whole speech about hating betrayals? If I'm not there to supervise, you'll probably face another betrayal in every ten minutes!" Ritvik huffed defensively, adjusting his glasses.
Rowan and Sarina exchanged amused glances before bursting into quiet chuckle.
---
An hour later, the trio stood inside the Grand Aetherion administrative bureau, weaving their way toward the academic counter.
Ritvik marched ahead with full confidence, holding a crisp official leave application firmly in his hand.
"Here we go..." Ritvik announced proudly.
"What the? Why does He look excited" Rowan whispered.
"I genuinely worry about his mental state sometimes. His mood swings faster than a super transit car," Sarina muttered.
They reached the clerk's counter just as Ritvik slapped his document onto the wood.
"Here—the official paperwork for extended leave."
"Here—the official paperwork for extended leave."
Two unidentical voices spoke in unison at the counter, accompanied by two identical leave applications sliding across the marble surface side-by-side.
The clerk blinked, slowly raising his head to look at the two students who had just submitted their requests simultaneously.
"Are you two traveling together?" the clerk asked.
Ritvik's eyes bulged behind his glasses. Standing right beside him at the counter, holding an identical leave form for Alchemy City, was Seraphine.
---
CHAPTER ENDS