Chapter 205: The Imperial Response [3]

Professor Antoine Chastellain had received another letter from his daughter.

Unfortunately, it had been written before the occupation.

The letter was among several personal belongings recovered from Lucile’s school records, which the administration had forwarded to families unable to collect their children’s possessions.

It contained a drawing of the communication device she intended to build with her father, accompanied by a list of materials he was supposed to purchase.

At the bottom, Lucile had written a reminder.

’Papa, don’t forget this time. I already told you three times’

Ilya found the situation rather unfair.

Antoine had spent the previous several days trying to save his daughter, yet the poor man was still being scolded for forgetting something.

Ordinarily, the professor would have laughed.

Today, he simply placed the letter beside his documents and continued working.

The failed experiment at Saint Aurelia had delayed the rescue effort, and the Imperial Guard had temporarily suspended further attempts to interfere with the barrier. The hostage-takers were threatening to abandon negotiations, while the authorities remained unwilling to gamble with the children’s lives.

Fortunately, the Imperial investigators had made progress elsewhere.

One of the six prisoners demanded by the perpetrators had agreed to cooperate.

His name was Viktor Arendt, a former merchant involved in trafficking restricted magical equipment. Although he had no known connection to the school, several devices recovered during previous investigations resembled those being used by the hostage-takers.

The Imperial Guard wanted Antoine to attend his questioning.

As someone familiar with SkyRune’s research and the equipment surrounding Saint Aurelia, the professor could help determine whether Arendt’s testimony was useful.

Ilya was surprised when Antoine asked him to accompany him.

"Are you certain, Professor? I doubt an Imperial prisoner will be particularly impressed by a first-year student."

"You’re familiar with the equipment we’ve examined. Besides, I would appreciate another person who knows what questions need answering."

That was reasonable.

Ilya had no intention of conducting the interrogation himself, but the investigation had progressed far enough that examining the source of the equipment might prove more useful than another afternoon of calculations.

The Imperial official supervising the visit confirmed that Ilya was permitted to attend as a technical assistant, provided he remained outside the interrogation room.

By the time they arrived, Arendt had already spent nearly two hours speaking with investigators.

The man appeared to be in his forties, with thinning hair and the weary expression of someone who had discovered that prison was a poor environment for conducting business.

He had apparently been promised consideration for his cooperation, although no guarantee of release had been offered.

An investigator began by presenting several photographs of the equipment surrounding Saint Aurelia.

Arendt recognized two immediately.

"Those are old industrial designs. They were supposed to be used for private research facilities, although I suppose someone found a more interesting application."

"Who purchased them?"

"I never met the buyers. Everything went through intermediaries."

The investigator requested names.

Arendt provided several, along with information concerning a warehouse where similar components had previously been stored.

That was already enough to justify further investigation.

However, Antoine was interested in something else.

"Who installed the equipment?"

Arendt examined the photographs again.

"I couldn’t tell you. But whoever did it had access to the original plans. You don’t assemble something like that from a few stolen instructions."

"Could an ordinary criminal organization obtain those plans?"

"With enough money? Certainly. Finding people capable of understanding them would be harder."

Antoine asked whether Arendt knew any researchers involved in developing similar equipment.

The prisoner mentioned several names.

Most were unfamiliar.

However, one belonged to a former Imperial engineer who had disappeared after being questioned about unauthorized experiments more than a decade earlier.

The investigator immediately requested that the name be checked against existing records.

Ilya listened from the adjoining observation room, where the interrogation was transmitted through a secured communication device.

The prisoner had provided useful information, but there was something peculiar about his answers.

Whenever the investigators asked about equipment, he spoke freely. Questions concerning the researchers themselves produced noticeably shorter responses.

Perhaps he genuinely knew little about them.

Or perhaps he was protecting someone.

Ilya mentioned the discrepancy to the official supervising the observation room.

The investigator considered it before forwarding the suggestion to his colleague.

The next question concerned the purpose of the equipment.

Arendt initially claimed ignorance.

However, when presented with details concerning the machinery beneath Saint Aurelia, he became less cooperative.

"I sold components," he said. "What people did with them afterward wasn’t my concern."

"Children are being held hostage inside a building using those components," the investigator replied. "One has already died. We need to know what the machinery was intended to accomplish."

Arendt was silent for several moments.

Then he requested an additional guarantee concerning his cooperation.

The investigator refused to promise anything beyond what had already been authorized, but explained that withholding information would hardly improve his circumstances.

Eventually, the prisoner relented.

"Years ago, some researchers were purchasing equipment for experiments that ordinary institutions wouldn’t approve. They wanted isolated facilities, private funding, and people who wouldn’t ask questions."

"What kind of experiments?"

"I never participated. But I remember one of them talking about improving human magical ability. He claimed that modern education had made everyone too cautious."

Ilya found that explanation remarkably convenient.

Apparently, the easiest way to justify dangerous experiments was to accuse everyone else of lacking ambition.

Arendt continued speaking.

The researchers had believed that certain extraordinary magical phenomena could be reproduced under controlled conditions. They were particularly interested in individuals who displayed unusual reactions to magical pressure.

However, the prisoner claimed that their early experiments had failed.

Several investors withdrew their support, and the research group eventually disappeared.

He had assumed the project was abandoned.

The Imperial investigators requested every name, location, and document he could remember.

Arendt cooperated, although he continued insisting that he had never been directly involved in the experiments.

By the end of the interrogation, the authorities had obtained enough information to begin searching several former research properties.

Antoine thanked the investigators before returning to SkyRune with Ilya.

The professor was quieter than usual during the journey.

Eventually, he spoke.

"Do you know what bothers me most about that man?"

"His profession offers several possibilities."

"He knew people were conducting dangerous experiments, but he never cared enough to find out what happened to them."

Ilya understood the frustration.

Arendt had probably spent years convincing himself that selling equipment was harmless because he wasn’t personally responsible for how it was used.

That distinction might have helped him sleep at night.

It did very little for the people harmed by his customers.

"At least he’s cooperating now," Ilya said. "If the investigators can identify the people involved, we might learn what they’re planning."

"Yes. And I intend to make sure they receive every piece of information we have."

The professor’s determination was understandable.

Lucile remained inside Saint Aurelia, and the recent reports concerning the children’s health had given him little reason to feel optimistic.

Nevertheless, Arendt’s testimony provided another avenue of investigation.

Rather than relying entirely on the school’s defenses, the Imperial authorities could begin identifying the individuals responsible for preparing the occupation.

By the time they returned to SkyRune, the investigators had already contacted several former employees of the research facilities mentioned during the interrogation.

One remembered that a group of unfamiliar contractors had rented an abandoned warehouse several months earlier.

The warehouse was located in the eastern district.

More importantly, it stood within walking distance of Saint Aurelia.

The Imperial Guard immediately dispatched investigators.

The property was empty when they arrived, but evidence suggested that it had recently been used to store large quantities of magical equipment.

Several delivery records had been abandoned in an office.

The names listed on them were false, but the dates corresponded to a series of maintenance deliveries made to Saint Aurelia before the occupation.

That discovery changed the investigation.

The perpetrators had apparently used ordinary construction and maintenance arrangements to transport equipment into the school.

Someone had been preparing the operation long before the children were taken hostage.

The authorities began questioning the contractors involved, while the rescue command reviewed whether any of the deliveries could reveal access routes that had been overlooked.

Ilya found that considerably more promising than another attempt to force the barrier open.

If the perpetrators had entered the school repeatedly before the occupation, they might have left behind a route the Imperial Guard could eventually exploit.

Antoine agreed.

Unfortunately, before the investigators could finish examining the delivery records, another message arrived from the hostage-takers.

They were willing to resume negotiations.

However, the Imperial Guard had to suspend all further attempts to interfere with the barrier for twenty-four hours.

In exchange, the perpetrators promised to permit another supervised communication session between selected children and their families.

The Imperial negotiators considered the offer carefully.

A temporary suspension would delay their technical investigations, but it wouldn’t prevent the authorities from questioning suspects, reviewing records, or preparing alternative rescue plans.

After consultation with the rescue commander, the government accepted the limited arrangement.

The hostage-takers then provided a list of children who would be permitted to speak with their families.

Lucile Chastellain was among them.

Antoine learned the news shortly before evening.

"She’s on the list," the Imperial official confirmed. "The session is scheduled for tomorrow, provided the perpetrators honor the agreement."

The professor immediately requested permission to attend.

The official assured him that arrangements would be made.

For a while, Antoine seemed uncertain whether to continue working or return home.

Eventually, he gathered his documents and announced that he would leave the remaining research to his colleagues.

Ilya considered that an excellent decision.

The professor had barely rested since the occupation began, and the prospect of speaking with Lucile deserved his full attention.

Before departing, Antoine collected the letter his daughter had written.

He examined the drawing of the communication device before placing it carefully inside his coat.

"She’s going to ask whether I’ve purchased the materials."

"Have you?"

"Not yet."

"Then you have a problem, Professor."

Antoine laughed.

"I suppose I do."

Ilya was glad to hear it.

For several days, the professor had been surrounded by reports of frightened children, dangerous experiments, and negotiations that seemed to accomplish very little.

The possibility of hearing Lucile’s voice again had given him something more immediate to think about.

Nevertheless, the situation remained dangerous.

After Antoine departed, Ilya received another update from the Imperial investigators.

The warehouse search had uncovered evidence that several individuals involved in preparing the occupation had entered Saint Aurelia under false identities.

The authorities were now comparing those names with the school’s employment and maintenance records.

Among the recovered documents was a delivery schedule bearing an unusual annotation.

Several shipments had been marked for transfer to a storage area beneath the western wing.

The investigators had already identified that location as the probable source of the machinery operating inside the school.

Ilya forwarded the information to SkyRune’s senior researchers before preparing to return to Holy Trinity.

The Imperial Guard finally had a clearer picture of how the perpetrators had prepared their occupation.

And if the maintenance records proved accurate, the authorities might soon discover something far more useful than another weakness in the barrier.