บท 27: The Imperial Archive Infiltration 1
Leonard went back and forth spying on the Palace of the Imperial archives. This time, he had to travel very far since the Imperial archives are located in the capital of the Empire.
If one took a passenger car it would take at least 3 hours to drive from the Marchen territory to the capital, and 20 minutes if one took a private jet.
So how did Leonard travel that distance whilst having no mode of transportation? Simple, he just used Shadow Arts, in shadow form he is not restricted by the flesh and he wouldn't be obstructed by obstacles like rocks and boulders.
Heck, he could even go up a mountain in a breeze without stopping. So he just went in a straight line going towards the capital in a fortnight.
He left no traces as well by not using the highway to his approaching destination, he traversed to the capital by a measly an hour.
He has nothing to worry about as well, with his magic cultivation technique he is gathering more mana he could use so he's using Shadow arts continuously without breaking a sweat.
"Good thing I bought this art."
Leonard couldn't help but praise himself, It was more than its worth when he bought Shadow Arts.
After the trip, Leonard would spy on the Palace of the Imperial Archives; he would circle it and check the workers. He still has two weeks left before the trial and he's going to use this week to fully understand the schedule and routine of the workers in the palace.
The security surely was tight by his observations but he could see that there are gaps that could be exploited. However, he doesn't necessarily need to show his whole body but being a moving shadow could still arouse suspicion after all this world is full of magic.
So Leonard by the end of the week made an observation: The routine of the guards, the schedule of the employees, and the shadows of the palace that he could use to hide.
At the end of the week, it was quite cloudy, but there will be no rain, at this time the moonlight would be dim and the Palace has to rely on the lights they have set up.
By this time Leonard had already calculated the blind spots of the cameras, so he already had a plan for how to creep inside the Palace.
And now, he would be exacting this plan. The rear of the palace was highly guarded so Leonard wouldn't be able to go there.
However, there is a circulation of shifts and people would change posts. In the brief period, a few would be left to guard while some had to fetch the next group.
Leonard had no worries about someone sensing his mana thanks to his layered mana on his body, in his skin, there's a dense amount of nue mana, so the only way to know that his impure and pure mana balance in his body is to directly check them by inserting one's mana to Leonard.
By this, when the shift change happened Leonard dashed while being in shadow form and there he didn't need to be careful anymore.
The rear of the palace is filled with vegetation, of course, like a garden because the maintenance isn't slack in here either.
Leonard would hide in the bushes till he got to the outer edge of the palace, which is filled with pillars. The palace is a rectangular building the size of half a football field.
This pillar which is only of architectural art was the perfect place to hide against the cameras that were set up on the palace.
"Two guards walk here every 5 minutes and they're different every time," Leonard mumbled.
Leonard stood still, blending in with the shadow of a pillar. After a few empty minutes, a guard walked into the long hall in which Leonard was waiting. Currently, he was in the blind spot of the camera and when the Guard walked in, Leonard swiftly took the chance and blended himself in the shadow of the guard.
As the guard walked off it went into the hall before going right inside the building, this led Leonard to a large corridor that housed different facilities solely for containing the archives.
Most of those doors led to a fake library shelf that contained absolutely nothing, and some even recorded your mom's jokes which Leonard found funny if he ever found it.
However, he was aware of the fake libraries, he was aiming for the real library that contained the archives, after all, so he can't be fooled by the baits.
After the guard walked a certain distance Leonard broke off the shadow and went to another shade before being spotted by nearby personnel.
'Almost there…'
Leonard just needs to pass two more halls before being presented with the actual archives. Now Leonard took his time and waited.
After a few minutes, he finally saw his chance. A janitor was walking along the hall pushing a cart full of cleaning materials. In the time Leonard was observing the Palace he noticed a few things.
The Janitors here have a level of authority in which they could go. The surface area which was filled with fake libraries is for level 1 personnel janitors and the deeper they get the higher the personnel level gets.
Now the janitor that he's waiting for is a level 3 personnel janitor, he comes into the inner parts of the Palace for maintenance work and he's doing this alone every three days.
This day is one of his chances, So when the Janitor passes by Leonard immediately latches to his shadow. The Janitor stopped in which Leonard's heart suddenly pounded but he just scratched his back and then continued pushing the cart.
This made Leonard sigh with relief so he just stayed in the janitor's shadow till they reached Leonard's wanted destination.
The door towards the Imperial archives is kind of, Heavily guarded. There were only two guarding the door to the archives however, Leonard couldn't help but sweat at their presence.
One was exuding an incredible amount of danger and the other was exuding an aura of dignity, and a heavy sign of Pure mana.
These two cannot be taken lightly, so Leonard stuck himself in the Janitor's shadow tightly.
"ID please."
The man who stopped the janitor held out his hand and took his job seriously. Leonard used his magic eye to identify this man and what he learned is that he was a Knight in the realm of intermediate Bishop, and the other was a mage in the realm of Advanced Bishop.
Whilst being in a high magical realm himself, Leonard could not be on par with these two individuals, Why? Simply because his body is not that trained yet.
While he has the advantage of affinity in mana the opponents are still people, they could think and outsmart Leonard in battle if it ever happens.
Leonard carefully threaded his actions as he carefully hid in the shadow of the Janitor.
After confirming the id of the janitor the Knight opened the door, however, Leonard was dawned upon by a bad premonition. His instincts are telling him that if he entered with the janitor he would be caught.
With a panicked mind, Leonard tried to come up with a solution, However, something unexpected happened.
"Jones, you have a method to fix the censor?"
The Knight looked at the Janitor.
"They'll be coming by tomorrow, I already said that they have traffic in the X district."
"Can't they just… What airdrop here?"
"Don't ask me, I just work here."
The Knight sighed with a hint of disappointment but he let the janitor go because he was taking much of his time. When the Janitor walked in the well-guarded door Leonard was presented with the smell of paper and wood.
It was strange, but the place is organised like a library so the smell was justified. Leonard took his chance and came out of the shadow once the door was closed behind them.
Leonard didn't dare use any tactics to make the janitor pass out, instead, he decided to play the long game and waited.
For a few hours, the janitor cleaned and wiped off the dust in specific areas, and even fixed some areas like a weak bookshelf that was already empty beforehand.
This was several hours before the Janitor left the archives and Leonard was left alone with his own devices. However, when the Janitor left all lights were turned off.
"Phew… finally."
Leonard was sure that there is a camera in the library, even though he couldn't see it he needs to be careful. So he decided on the most basic option.
With the shapeshifting ring, he emerged from his shadow and took the form of a man that has too many scars. This way if he ever gets caught it wouldn't be traced to him.
"Hmm…"
Leonard carefully looked over the library.
This library of archived edicts, decrees, and laws passed by the previous emperors is held in high regard. If ever one of these records goes missing the secret service might get involved, which is not something everyone would want.
"Hmm… "
Leonard used his mana eyes to locate and discern the records he is trying to find. Today's year is the 1700s of the Imperial calendar. What he's looking for are the records that happened in the 1300s which is exactly 400 years ago.
Before the Imperial Archives, there was the Palace of Law and Trials, where every law and history that was made public and private are stored.
It was burned down so the Imperial Archives were made. However, even the Imperial Archives weren't safe. In the first run, this place was burned down before it got fully digitised.
This made the Royal family angry and a whole search in the Empire was conducted by four of the ten dukedoms. The culprit was caught, however… It was strange.
Since it was never confirmed who was behind it. After all, the culprit of the fire was just a hired man, even with a disclosure contract they will surely confess to that amount of pressure.
—tap tap.
However, The man never confessed. Or rather he did but the Royal family didn't disclose it to the public. The culprit was closer than they thought.
Because… the one who hired the man to burn the library was one of the Royal family as well.
"Who are you?"
Leonard's heart sank, whilst looking for the year the 1300s in the archives he heard a voice.
"Oh… it's you."
Slowly looking behind him while his heart was beating like drums, Leonard's heart was sure to burst out of his chest.
"My name is Yuri."
—Ba-dump badump badump.
Leonard's heartbeat was raging out of his chest, sweat drenched his back and his body was stiff.
"Yuri Pakrovich. Do they call me the Chosen One? Well whatever, it's not that far."
Leonard met someone he could never ever imagine escaping, beating, or drawing a fight in.
"Hey. Cmon speak, I already made a barrier."
Yuri smiled, however, Leonard's lifespan was gradually getting reduced.
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