Chapter 209: The First Casualty

The Imperial Guard had decided to act.

Following the emergency meeting, the rescue command approved a limited reconnaissance operation against the underground machinery beneath Saint Aurelia’s western wing.

The objective was to determine whether the equipment could be disabled without affecting the hostages.

A full assault remained too dangerous. The containment field’s automated safeguards were still active, and the additional apparatus beneath the school had been operating at increasingly abnormal levels.

However, the authorities possessed one advantage.

They now knew approximately where the machinery was located.

The Imperial Technical Bureau had identified a narrow section of the western wing where the barrier’s energy circulation was weaker than elsewhere. Although the difference was insufficient to permit entry, it offered a suitable location for deploying specialized observation equipment.

Professor Antoine had recommended the approach during the previous evening’s meeting.

By morning, the operation was underway.

Ilya learned about it when he arrived at SkyRune’s workshop.

Several Imperial specialists had gathered around a communication terminal displaying updated measurements from the perimeter. Antoine was already present, looking as though he had slept even less than usual.

"The operation began twenty minutes ago," the professor explained. "They’re attempting to establish a clearer picture of the equipment beneath the western wing."

"Without crossing the barrier?"

"For now. They have instruments capable of examining magical structures through several layers of interference."

The technology was unfamiliar to Ilya, but its purpose was straightforward.

Rather than attempting to manipulate the containment field directly, the Imperial specialists would observe how its internal mana responded to carefully calibrated detection pulses.

The method offered limited resolution, but it was considerably safer than forcing an opening.

Their first results arrived shortly afterward.

The underground chamber contained at least three large magical apparatuses connected through a common distribution network.

One appeared to regulate the containment field.

Another maintained the environmental circuit.

The third was responsible for most of the unexplained energy consumption.

Unfortunately, its internal structure remained obscured.

The Imperial specialist supervising the readings examined the results before addressing Antoine.

"Whatever they’ve installed down there, it’s drawing enough mana to power a small industrial facility."

"Can you determine what it’s producing?"

"Not yet. But the output isn’t returning to the main circulation."

That meant the energy was being consumed or stored somewhere the instruments couldn’t detect.

Ilya examined the measurements.

The third apparatus appeared to operate independently of the containment field’s ordinary functions. Its consumption increased at irregular intervals, followed by brief periods of reduced activity.

The pattern resembled a machine undergoing repeated operating cycles.

He wondered whether the perpetrators were testing something.

That would explain the repeated fluctuations, although the idea of conducting experiments inside a school full of children was unpleasant enough that he hoped another explanation existed.

Unfortunately, the available evidence was becoming increasingly difficult to interpret innocently.

The operation continued for another half hour before the Imperial specialists identified a possible access route.

An abandoned maintenance corridor connected the western wing’s underground chamber to an older section of the school’s infrastructure.

The passage had been sealed during renovations, but its original entrance remained accessible from a neighboring utility building.

According to the architectural plans, the corridor extended beneath the western courtyard before connecting to the chamber.

The difficulty was that part of the passage lay within the containment field.

Nevertheless, the route offered a potential alternative to entering through the main school buildings.

The rescue command immediately dispatched personnel to inspect the external entrance.

The team consisted of experienced Imperial combat wizards and technical specialists trained to operate around unstable magical equipment.

Ilya was relieved that the authorities had assigned professionals.

There were circumstances in which an ambitious first-year student could accomplish something extraordinary.

Crawling into an unfamiliar magical containment system while hundreds of children depended on the outcome did not strike him as an appropriate occasion to test that theory.

Unfortunately, the reconnaissance team encountered an unexpected obstacle.

The maintenance corridor was blocked by a reinforced partition that did not appear in the original architectural plans.

The structure contained several Rune Tech inscriptions, suggesting that the perpetrators had deliberately sealed the passage.

More importantly, the inscriptions were connected to the same distribution network maintaining the containment field.

Any attempt to destroy the partition might trigger the barrier’s safeguards.

The rescue command ordered the team to withdraw.

The decision was disappointing, but sensible.

The authorities had confirmed that the passage existed and that the perpetrators had taken steps to prevent it from being used.

That information would be useful when planning another operation.

However, the reconnaissance had also revealed something more concerning.

The reinforced partition appeared to have been installed recently.

Someone had prepared the school for occupation well before the hostage crisis began.

The Imperial investigators immediately began examining construction records and maintenance schedules, searching for evidence of unauthorized work.

Meanwhile, negotiations continued.

The perpetrators had agreed to another communication session with several children, but they continued refusing medical access.

The government had responded by demanding that the machinery beneath the western wing be shut down.

No agreement had been reached.

Around noon, another message arrived from the school.

This time, the captors claimed that one of the hostages had fallen seriously ill.

They requested additional medical supplies but refused to identify the child.

The announcement immediately alarmed the Imperial negotiators.

The authorities offered to send physicians under supervised conditions and insisted that the child be transferred outside if the captors couldn’t provide appropriate treatment.

The perpetrators rejected both proposals.

Instead, they demanded that the supplies be delivered through the usual access point.

When the report reached SkyRune, Antoine became visibly agitated.

"How can they expect us to provide treatment when they won’t even tell us what’s wrong?"

The Imperial official delivering the message explained that the negotiators were attempting to obtain more information.

However, the captors had provided no details concerning the child’s symptoms.

Ilya considered the situation.

The environmental circuit had been increasing the school’s internal mana density for several days, and several children had already reported feeling unwell.

The possibility that one of them had developed a serious condition was entirely plausible.

Unfortunately, the perpetrators were preventing the authorities from determining whether the illness was related to the machinery.

Antoine immediately offered to assist with the medical consultation.

The Imperial Guard accepted his technical expertise but refused his request to enter the school personally.

The professor protested.

The official remained firm.

"Professor Chastellain, we understand your concern. But allowing an untrained civilian into an occupied building would endanger both you and the hostages."

Antoine eventually conceded.

He understood the reasoning, even if accepting it was painful.

The Imperial Guard prepared the requested supplies while continuing to demand direct medical access.

The delivery was completed without incident.

However, the captors refused to provide further information afterward.

For several hours, the situation remained unchanged.

Then, shortly before evening, the Imperial negotiators received another communication.

The child had died.

The message contained no name, no medical explanation, and no information concerning the circumstances.

It simply stated that one hostage had succumbed to an illness despite receiving treatment.

The Imperial Guard immediately demanded independent confirmation.

The captors refused.

Within minutes, the information reached the rescue command, where it prompted an emergency meeting.

Antoine received the report while examining the underground chamber’s measurements.

For several seconds, he appeared unable to comprehend what he was reading.

"Which child?"

The Imperial official couldn’t answer.

"The perpetrators haven’t provided a name."

"Then make them tell us."

"We’ve already demanded identification and access to the body, Professor."

Antoine gripped the edge of the table.

Ilya could understand what the professor was thinking.

Lucile was inside that building.

Until the authorities identified the child, every parent whose son or daughter remained trapped would be forced to confront the same terrible possibility.

The Imperial Guard immediately suspended discussions concerning the prisoner transfer.

Its negotiators informed the captors that no further concessions would be considered until the authorities received independent confirmation of the child’s death and medical access to the surviving hostages.

The perpetrators responded by threatening to terminate negotiations entirely.

The government refused to withdraw its demands.

For the first time since the occupation began, communication between the two sides broke down completely.

The rescue command consequently accelerated preparations for intervention.

Technical specialists were instructed to prioritize the underground machinery, while combat units began reviewing contingency plans for entering the school through multiple locations.

SkyRune received an urgent request to determine whether the environmental circuit could be disabled without causing an uncontrolled discharge.

Antoine immediately returned to work.

Ilya joined the researchers as they examined the latest measurements.

The internal energy consumption had continued increasing throughout the afternoon.

Whatever the perpetrators were doing, the machinery remained active.

And now one of the children was reportedly dead.

There was no longer any reason to assume that the captors would preserve the hostages’ lives simply because they needed them for negotiations.

Ilya studied the diagrams while the senior researchers calculated possible methods of interrupting the environmental circuit.

The situation had changed.

The authorities still needed to avoid provoking a catastrophe, but continuing to wait carried risks of its own.

As evening approached, another communication arrived from the Imperial Guard.

The captors had finally identified the deceased hostage.

It was a twelve-year-old boy whose family had been among the first to request medical assistance.

The authorities were attempting to verify the claim.

Antoine listened without speaking.

Lucile’s name had not appeared in the report.

For the moment, that was a relief.

But somewhere inside Saint Aurelia, a family had apparently lost its child.

And the machinery beneath the western wing continued operating.