Episode-723
Chapter : 1425
He led his team to a large round table in the back. A waitress came over.
"Five ales," Lloyd ordered. "And a plate of the fried cheese things. The big plate."
"I do not drink ale," Jamie sniffed. "Do you have sparkling wine?"
The waitress looked at him like he was an alien. "We have ale. And water. And ale mixed with water."
"Ale is fine," Jamie sighed, looking like a martyr.
They sat down. The atmosphere was awkward. Daniel sat like he was expecting an ambush. Rubaiya was cleaning the table with a handkerchief.
"Okay," Lloyd said, leaning forward. "Listen. The Academy walls have ears. And probably eyes. And maybe cursed wallpaper. We couldn't talk there. Here, it's loud. No one is listening to us because they are too busy trying to impress girls or win money."
"You think the traitor is listening?" Tulip asked. Her eyes were sharp. She wasn't just a pretty face. She was reading the room.
"I think the traitor is everywhere," Lloyd said. "So, let's drop the titles. I'm Lloyd. You are Rubaiya, Tulip, Jamie, and Daniel. We are not professors right now. We are just five people who don't want to get eaten by a shadow monster."
"A shadow monster," Jamie scoffed. "I could defeat any monster with my blade. My technique is flawless. Princess Isabella once watched me practice for five whole minutes."
"She was probably waiting for you to move out of the way," Lloyd muttered.
"What was that?" Jamie asked.
"I said she was mesmerized," Lloyd lied. "Anyway. The curse. It's not just a spell. It's a living thing. It moves. It learns. It corrupts items that have mana."
Rubaiya put down her handkerchief. Her eyes narrowed. "If it adapts, then it follows a logic structure. Like a game. Or a virus."
"Exactly," Lloyd said. He was impressed. She was quick. "It targets infrastructure. Why? To blind us. To make us weak."
"To create chaos," Daniel said. "Order is strength. Chaos is weakness. If the students are scared, they make mistakes."
"And when people make mistakes," Tulip added, swirling her drink, "they reveal their true selves. Fear is a very good spotlight."
Lloyd looked at his team. They were weird. They were annoying. But they were smart. Rubaiya had the brain. Daniel had the discipline. Tulip had the intuition. And Jamie... well, Jamie was a distraction. Every team needed a distraction.
"So," Lloyd said, grabbing a fried cheese ball. "Here is what we know. The curse started in the armory. Then the library. Now it's random. But it's not random. It's testing our defenses."
"We need a pattern," Rubaiya said. She pulled out a map of the Academy from her bag. She pushed the cheese balls aside. "Show me where the incidents happened."
Lloyd pointed. "Here. Here. And here."
Rubaiya connected the dots with her finger. "It is a spiral. Moving inward. Towards the Mana Well."
"The heart of the school," Daniel said grimly. "If the curse reaches the Well..."
"Boom," Lloyd said. "Or worse. The school turns into a giant monster house."
"We must stop it," Jamie said, standing up and drawing his sword slightly. "I will stand guard at the Well! I will slay the darkness!"
"Sit down, Jamie," Lloyd said. "You're scaring the waitress."
Jamie sat down, looking offended.
"We need to be smarter than the curse," Lloyd said. "We need to predict its next move. Rubaiya, you track the pattern. Daniel, you secure the perimeter of the Well. Tulip, you watch the students. If anyone acts weird, I want to know."
"And you?" Tulip asked. "What will you do, Lloyd?"
"Me?" Lloyd smiled. It was a sharp smile. "I'm going to be the bait."
The tavern was getting louder. Someone had started playing a lute badly in the corner. The fried cheese was gone. The ale was half-finished.
"Bait?" Daniel asked, his eyebrows knitting together. "That is against protocol. The commander does not expose himself."
"This isn't a war with lines, Daniel," Lloyd said. "It's a hunt. And to catch a predator, you need to look tasty."
"You do look somewhat... consumable," Tulip mused, looking him up and down. "In a scruffy, underdog sort of way."
"Thanks, I think," Lloyd said.
"So," Jamie said, leaning back and trying to look cool. "You want the traitor to attack you? Because you think you are the biggest threat?"
Chapter : 1426
"I am the biggest threat," Lloyd said simply. "I fixed the Golem Heart. I stopped the plague in Oakhaven. I am the wrench in their gears. The traitor knows this. They will try to take me out."
"And when they do?" Rubaiya asked. "Do you have a contingency plan? A probability of survival?"
"My plan is to not die," Lloyd said. "It's a solid plan. I've used it for eighty years. I mean... twenty years."
He caught himself. He almost slipped up. Being surrounded by smart people was dangerous.
"Eighty years?" Tulip asked, her eyes sparkling. "You have an old soul, Lloyd. Or perhaps you are just very tired."
"Very tired," Lloyd agreed. "Look, the point is, we need to work together. No secrets. No ego. Jamie, that means you too."
Jamie huffed. "I have no ego. I am simply aware of my magnificence."
"Right," Lloyd said. "Rubaiya, I need you to calculate the mana consumption of the curse. If it's eating magic, it has to store it somewhere. Find the battery."
"I can do that," Rubaiya nodded. She was already scribbling notes on a napkin. "If I assume a consumption rate of 3.5 units per incident..."
"Daniel," Lloyd continued. "I need you to check the physical security. Not the magic wards. The doors. The windows. The sewers. If someone is sneaking in items, they are doing it the old-fashioned way."
"I will inspect every brick," Daniel promised. "No mouse will enter without my permission."
"Tulip," Lloyd turned to the elegance teacher. "You are the social radar. The traitor has to be someone who fits in. Someone who can move around without being noticed. Watch the faculty. Watch the staff. Watch the quiet ones."
"I see everything," Tulip said with a smile that was suddenly very sharp. "People think I am just a flower. But flowers have roots. I hear the dirt."
"Good," Lloyd said. "And Jamie..."
Jamie perked up. "Yes? Do I get to duel the traitor? Do I get to save the Princess?"
"You get to stay visible," Lloyd said. "Be loud. Be shiny. Be... you. Draw attention. Make the traitor look at you so they don't look at us."
Jamie looked conflicted. "You want me to be... a distraction?"
"I want you to be the shining beacon of hope," Lloyd spun it. "The symbol of the Academy's strength. While you dazzle them, we work in the shadows."
Jamie’s chest puffed out. "I can do that. I am very dazzling."
"Yes, you are," Lloyd said, suppressing a laugh.
The alliance was formed. It was a weird group. A strategist, a socialite, a brick wall, a peacock, and a sarcastic engineer. But Lloyd felt a glimmer of hope. They were competent. In their own strange ways, they were the best the Academy had.
"Another round?" Lloyd asked.
"I shouldn't," Daniel said. "I have a morning drill."
"One more," Lloyd insisted. "To seal the pact. The 'Broken Wand' Alliance."
"Terrible name," Rubaiya said. "It implies failure."
"It implies resilience," Lloyd countered. "A broken wand can still stab someone in the eye."
"Violent," Tulip noted. "But accurate."
They drank. The tension had broken. They weren't friends yet, not really. But they were colleagues. They had a mission.
As they left the tavern an hour later, the night air felt cooler. The Academy loomed in the distance, dark and silent. It looked like a castle full of secrets.
"Remember," Lloyd said as they walked back to the gates. "Trust no one outside this circle. If a student gives you an apple, check it for curses. If a bird looks at you funny, assume it's a spy."
"You are paranoid," Jamie said.
"I am alive," Lloyd corrected.
They reached the main gate. The guards nodded to them.
"I will go to the Archives," Rubaiya said. "I need to check the mana logs."
"I will patrol the perimeter," Daniel said.
"I have a salon to attend," Tulip said. "Gossip waits for no one."
"I will go practice my poses," Jamie said. "I mean, my forms."
They split up. Lloyd stood alone in the courtyard. He watched them go.
He felt the weight of the leadership settling on his shoulders again. He had built a team. Now he had to keep them alive.
"Okay, Firefly or Devil or Altamirian," Lloyd whispered to the darkness. "You want to play games in my school? You want to hurt my students? Come and get me."