“What do you mean? Can’t you let us pass, even for a moment?”

  Saya’s desperate voice echoed through the empty library.

  The librarian remained at the front desk, eyes fixed on her papers. The knight shifted his weight, gncing at the empty hall as if searching for backup.

  With a reluctant sigh, he faced Saya again, expression firm yet apologetic.

  “Sorry, miss, but we have no choice. We’re following orders.”

  Disappointment welled up within the young mage. She’d gone to bed anticipating this moment, even skipping her nightly outing in hopes the night would pass faster. To be fair, she wouldn’t have been able to leave the premises regardless due to the sudden increase in security, but it was the thought that mattered in her eyes.

  Hector stepped forward, adjusting his gsses. “Please. All we need is a few minutes. I’ll personally supervise her, we’ll be out of your way before you know it.”

  The knight shook his head. “I apologize, sir, but no one is permitted entry. Until we determine what the terrorists are after, all information that could be targeted is being secured.”

  “Wait,” Hector said, furrowing his brow. “You’re not just restricting access to the library, but you’re also removing its contents?”

  “Yes, sir. Those were the Sword Saint’s commands.”

  Hector exhaled slowly, “is there an estimated timeframe on when we could expect them back?”

  The knight shook his head once more, “unfortunately, we don’t know the answer to that. It could be held at a secure location until this situation passes over, and the terrorists are caught.”

  As much as he wanted to raise his voice, Hector understood that deep down, there was no convincing the knight before him. His eyes drifted to Saya. Her fist was clenched tightly at her side.

  “Please,” Hector said again, as his voice cracked. “Just one text.”

  The knight’s answer did not change. He shook his head once more. “I’m sorry, sir.”

  An awkward silence loomed over the three of them.

  Before Saya could plead one st time, another knight called out from across the hall, pulling the guard’s attention away. As he stepped aside, Saya let out a quiet sigh. Forcing a smile, she turned back to her ally that had been trying to aid her for nearly twenty minutes.

  “It’s okay, Professor,” she said softly. “Maybe I can find another way to access those books.”

  However, Hector saw through her masked smile immediately.

  Whatever hope she had been holding onto had fractured, and he felt the weight of his unfulfilled promise settle heavily in his chest. Rather than disappointment, it was guilt that gnawed at him.

  “Perhaps… in the future,” he said carefully, “I can show you materials reted to arcane magic. But today, it seems, won’t be that day.”

  Later, in the academy’s central park, Saya stomped across the already trampled grass, her frustration finally spilling over.

  “Are you kidding me?!” she shouted.

  Saya paced in front of the tall tree at the center of the park, teeth clenched, fists tightening at her sides.

  Behind her sat a lone wooden bench where students would usually gather to eat and chat, but with the day nearly over, everyone had already retreated to their dormitories or migrated to livelier spots like the cafeteria.

  “After so many hours searching yesterday, I finally thought I hit it big with professor Hector wanting to show me stuff reted to arcane magic, but now this all has to go down?!”

  “I don’t understand what the threat even is. What kind of terrorist searches for books?”

  “We should have stayed a bit longer the other night, maybe the two of us might have been able to take down whoever is kidnapping people.”

  From the bench behind her, all Albo could do was watch, wide-eyed, caught between interrupting and letting her vent.

  He had been listening to her scream into the void for a good fifteen minutes at this point, but with the state of her frustration, he held off on accidentally blowing up the bomb that was welling up within Saya Idnsil.

  “Okay, let’s say these guys are some book thieves, that’s fine. But if what they’re looking for is so valuable, tell me why…”

  She spun toward him, fist still clenched, an old childhood scowl resurfacing, one he hadn’t seen in years. To a stranger, she might’ve looked like she hated the world itself.

  “Tell me why they’d even keep it at some random magic academy!”

  “I-i’m not sure,” Albo stuttered, a bead of sweat sliding down his temple.

  Saya sank onto the bench beside him, gaze fixed ahead, her foot tapping restlessly against the ground. A gentle hand settled on her back, and slowly, her breathing eased.

  “It’s fine, I’m sure we’ll figure it out.”

  A long, shaky sigh slipped free, her shoulders loosening beneath his touch.

  “What should I do now?” Saya asked, her voice no longer sharp but now weighed down by uncertainty.

  As she lowered her head in disappointment, the sound of an angry mob caught their attention.

  Unable to contain their curiosity, the two students followed the sound, eventually arriving at a cssroom already ringed with other curious onlookers. Though there weren’t many, there were enough that Saya and Albo had to squeeze past shoulders and backpacks just to catch a glimpse of what was happening outside.

  What greeted them was a mob of friends, families, and merchants, who had gathered in front of the academy’s grounds, protesting the presence of the knights. The protesters stood retively far, but their shouts carried easily through the thick stone walls.

  “I didn’t expect people to be this upset.” Saya commented as she lifted her head, curiosity overtaking her frustration.

  “Yeah,” Albo replied. “The city’s apparently on full lockdown. I guess the government is being super cautious.”

  Saya folded her arms, her eyes drifting toward the distant noise.

  “But what’s getting them all angry to begin with? Shouldn’t they be happy we’re being kept safe?”

  A student standing beside her, someone she had never spoken to, overheard her comment and chimed in. From the look of his uniform, he was a first year student. “The nation prides itself on freedom, and by having military presence here, they’re taking away our freedom.”

  Saya couldn’t help but feel slightly annoyed at the first year’s remark. She wasn’t sure if it was the way he phrased it or the fact that people were so upset over something she believed benefited everyone.

  Even so, it wasn’t like she was completely unreted to the situation either, as the knights’ presence had stopped her from getting her hands on any books reted to the arcane arts.

  Satisfied with what she had seen, she stepped back out of the crowd, walking backwards and nudging Albo, who had been standing right behind her, to come along with her.

  “I shouldn’t be this annoyed,” Saya stated as she softly bit her lower lip, “I feel like I’m being super selfish by being upset over books, when people’s lives are on the line.”

  “That’s true,” Albo said after a moment, “It’s a bit annoying that they didn’t let you take at least one. It’s not like whoever’s hunting books has a tracker on every single one.”

  “Their lives are lives and your books are books.”

  Saya stared at Albo, blinking in confusion at what he had just said. By now, she was used to his random attempts at sounding deep or comforting.

  Every now and then he’d even say something surprisingly thoughtful. But sometimes… sometimes his words shot so far past wisdom that they looped back around into complete nonsense.

  She couldn’t stop her face from scrunching up, brows knitting together as she searched for a “nice” way to tell him he had just made absolutely zero sense.

  The crowd in the cssroom had gotten louder for Saya’s liking. She grabbed onto Albo’s wrist, pulling him toward her and outside the cssroom. Down the hall, she searched for a quieter cssroom. The only one open belonged to the renovation-in-progress room, the same pce Veronica had tormented her just days ago.

  Despite being under construction, the room’s location was no different from the others. If anything, the view was better than the one they’d been in before, as it sat closer to the center of the academy.

  With a clearer view, the two of them finally saw just how far the military had gone to tighten the city’s security. Beyond the academy grounds, hundreds of soldiers lined the walls and surrounded the campus itself.

  Overnight, Ka had transformed from a quiet community of student parents and small merchants into something closer to a fortified outpost.

  Saya wondered whether the books in the library truly held information valuable enough to justify this level of caution, or if the knights simply treated every potential threat with the same severity, no matter how small the city.

  From the academy’s west exits, wooden crates were hauled out in steady lines and loaded onto waiting wagons under heavy guard. They were the same crates Saya had glimpsed earlier in the library, making it easy to deduce that the confiscated books now y sealed inside, carried away like contraband.

  The crowd’s voices blurred together into a single roar, individual words lost beneath the weight of collective anger.

  “I wonder what they’re saying,” Saya murmured.

  Albo leaned closer to the gss, then pointed past the mob.

  “Look.”

  More groups of soldiers were stationed throughout the streets, blocking major roads, shutting down markets, and forcing pces of business to close under armed watch.

  What had once been lively avenues filled with te-night vendors and wandering townsfolk were now repced by the heavy thud of boots and the ctter of armor. Even the air felt tense, like the city itself was holding its breath.

  Even still, It wasn’t the crowd or the blockades that unsettled Saya, but the crates that were being hauled out from one of the various exits to the courtyard. One by one, wooden containers were handled with deliberate care and set down before a rge canvas tent. They were unmarked, meticulously pin, made to draw no attention at all.

  Saya narrowed her eyes, studying the process. Instead of the boxes being unloaded, the carts were simply left where they stood.

  No one pried them open or checked their contents. The soldiers only adjusted their positions around the wagons, forming a quiet perimeter as if guarding something fragile. The stillness felt intentional, like whatever rested inside wasn’t meant to see the light just yet.

  “Why are they just leaving those there?” Saya mumbled to herself.

  “They probably can’t move much with the crowd around,” Albo replied. “If I had to guess, they’ll probably wait until nightfall, when everyone’s forced to go home.”

  Thinking she spoke extremely quietly, she was surprised that Albo heard her, but that was the least of her concerns at the moment. What he had just said rang in her mind. If she were the one organizing an extraction, she wouldn’t risk daylight, crowds, or curious students wandering too close.

  For her pn to work, she’d have to wait until everything was quiet, when doors were locked, and the lights were out. If the city was asleep, unexpected guests wouldn’t be able to blend in with the crowd and sabotage their mission.

  A faint chill crawled up Saya’s spine as her gaze drifted back to the crates. A single thought crossed her mind, her stomach dropping with a sharp twist of anxiety.

  Tonight. I have to do something tonight.

  Restlessness continued to seize her, her fingers fidgeting without rhythm as her gaze remained locked on the scene beyond the gss.

  One crate in particur drew her attention, it was being handled with much more care compared to the others. When a junior knight nearly dropped the box, a sharp bark from a superior snapped through the air like a whip, forcing him back into line.

  The wooden container was lifted carefully and carried into the tent, disappearing behind its canvas walls.

  Why hide that one?

  Saya thought, her gaze fixed on the spot where the tent fp had closed.

  The moment the crates were hauled away from the library, the potential loss had already sunk in.

  With each passing second, the weight only grew heavier, like something once-in-a-lifetime slipping through her fingers.

  What was said by Albo earlier resurfaced in her mind. Whoever was collecting the books couldn’t possibly keep track of every single volume. In a pile of hundreds, maybe thousands, no one would ever notice if one or two quietly went missing.

  There was no other chance. If she let this moment pass, she knew she would never forgive herself, and whatever she hoped to accomplish might be deyed for years.

  “Hey…” she murmured softly.

  Albo turned toward her.

  An awkward smile tugged at her lips, followed by a small, nervous chuckle. She wasn’t exactly scared, but she wore the expression of a child too anxious to admit to a mischievous deed.

  “Can you do me a favor? A big, big, biiiig one!”

  “Huh? A favor?” Albo replied, then hesitated. “You’re kinda scaring me.”

  Saya pressed a finger against the dusty window, her hand trembling slightly. She smiled through it, gathering every ounce of courage for the once-in-a-lifetime question she was about to ask.

  “W-will you help me take a book from that tent?”

  She did not know whether Albo would agree to such a mission. She had always been the one to urge him to be cautious, to avoid ruining his chances of a promising career. But with her ck of magic and limited agility, she would never be able to get past the guards in one piece.

  Silence fell between them.

  The empty cssroom felt unbearably quiet for them.

  Albo didn’t move.

  Saya continued to fidget, her expression tight with restrained anxiety.

  Contrasting her, Albo simply bnkly stared at her.

  To Saya, seconds felt like minutes, as she couldn’t bear the silence between them.

  Then, at st, his voice broke the silence.

  “You’ve gone crazy, haven’t you.”

  “I’m serious!” Saya excimed, pressing a hand to her chest.

  “This could be my st chance to get access to this rare knowledge!”

  Albo raised his brow, “and what happened to ‘stay low Albo, or else you might miss your chance at being a Mage Tower Candidate’.”

  Saya flinched as her own words came back to bite her. Deep down, she knew the right thing to do was to simply leave the topic, and the thought, entirely alone. But something about seeking out the forbidden was irresistibly enticing to her.

  Despite the countless knights, the material in the forbidden archives had never been so defenseless before. Typically, she would have needed several yers of clearance from the academy just to gain supervised access.

  “Y-you think I should just give it up then?” Saya asked quietly, doubt creeping into her voice.

  Albo gnced back out the window, as the world around him faded away and only his memory remained.

  He had always been called an airhead, and somewhat of a fool by those around him. But after losing his parents to a spreading disease, he had begun acting even sillier, putting on a show of bravery for others.

  When he first met Saya during their childhood, she treated him no differently than everyone else. But as time slowly crawled forward, she had begun to tolerate his random outbursts of energy. While others distanced themselves from him, she stayed by his side.

  That didn’t mean he was free from her temper. Whenever she grew annoyed, books would fly in his general direction. Her hotheaded nature was a complete contrast to his entire sense of self, but somehow, their friendship still endured.

  It turned out she wasn’t well-liked by other children either. She often shed out, insisting she preferred to be alone so she could devote herself entirely to reading or immersing herself in worlds that didn’t exist.

  And yet, she stayed by his side. At some point, he convinced himself that she was only tolerating his presence because he annoyed her. He began to believe she would be much happier if there were fewer nuisances around her.

  But even so, she sought him out. They spent time together, and gradually, her hotheadedness began to soften.

  He didn’t realize it, but his presence had calmed her. Her emotional outbursts stemmed from an inability to communicate with others and from constantly being on edge over other people’s moods.

  People around her would often tease her or call her out for simply existing, something that she had despised to her core.

  Eventually, the teasing and bullying stopped completely. With people directing their frustrations toward Albo, leaving Saya seen as the unfortunate girl stuck with him. But in reality, she admired Albo for being able to endure so much from all directions.

  With Albo’s own rambunctious energy, all eyes were drawn to him rather than her. She never knew if he did this on purpose or was simply being himself.

  Without either of them realizing it, they had helped each other. At first, they were like water and oil, two beings never meant to mix, but somehow, defying the social norms of the world, their friendship grew into something more.

  To Albo, she was more than someone who merely tolerated his behavior. She had always been there, no matter how dire the situation. During his darkest moments, her arms would wrap around him like a comforting scarf.

  He couldn’t recall a single defining moment, but he remembered every instance she had been the light in his darkness. She had pulled him back when he no longer had the strength to stand.

  Saya’s soothing voice and presence brought new meaning to his life. No matter how small or trivial his concerns, he always turned to her for guidance, and never once did she turn him away. There were times when she scolded him, but there was never a hint of malice; she accepted his shortcomings without judgment.

  Even when his world had shattered, her embrace kept him tethered to it.

  In many ways, the blonde boy saw her as a savior, a person who helped him process his grief again and again by simply allowing him to be himself. Not once did she tell him to leave her alone. Whenever he masked his sorrowful words with a hint of humor, she listened attentively.

  And now the girl that had done so much for him, sought out his help. Unlike sneaking out at night, this action would be something that could get both him and Saya expelled from the academy.

  Saya always cimed she had no interest in the Mage Tower, but having known her for so long, he knew that was far from the truth. She had never shared her personal reasons for so desperately seeking the arcane, or even the tower itself, but he knew.

  Because he had been there that fateful day.

  At least, if she were to be caught, then she wouldn’t be alone.

  He knew the academy’s blind spots well. He’d slipped through its halls more times than he could count.

  With the books still being kept at a familiar location, her request wasn’t impossible.

  “It’s fine, you’re right,” Saya said suddenly, her voice smaller now. “I think I just got too excited. It’s okay, let’s go get a snack before the school closes.”

  She turned away from the window, quietly sulking towards the exit.

  Something clenched painfully in Albo’s chest. Unease forced his body to squirm, his breath growing heavier with each passing thought. He bit down on his jaw, feeling like his body was about to infte and explode.

  He wanted to reach out, to stop her, but his limbs refused to heed his commands.

  No matter how much he wanted to stand beside her, his consciousness fought back, as it did not permit for such an action. Even his own mind knew what he desired was something that was extremely foolish, even for his standards.

  His heart, however, had the power to override such restraint. With a single skipped heartbeat weakening his mind, he took advantage of the moment.

  “If we meet at nine.” Albo called out.

  Saya froze for a second, then turned so quickly that her robe fred with the motion, eyes wide in disbelief. Albo swallowed, then forced the words out. “If we meet at nine and leave by ten, everyone should be asleep. Security might be looser by then.”

  For a split second, she only stared.

  Then her face lit up, glowing brighter than the sun.

  A vivid smile spread across her lips, stealing his breath. The light in her eyes poured into his chest, filling him with warmth he hadn’t expected. Before he could even brace himself, Saya leapt forward, her slender arms wrapping around him.

  The sudden impact sent him stumbling back until his back pressed against the window.

  All he could see was the top of her head, her face buried against his chest.

  “Thank you,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “You’re the best.”

  A quiet heat spread across his face. His heartbeat thumped loudly, not from anxiety, but from captivation.

  He pced his hands on Saya’s shoulders, gently pulling her back just enough to meet her eyes. Their eyes met passionately, harboring deep appreciation for the other. Her lips glistened in the sunlight, but Albo turned his gaze away ever so slightly, careful not to make a mistake he would regret.

  “Get some rest for now,” he said, offering a small reassuring smile. “We’ll meet up ter tonight.”

  Saya pulled away at once, hopping back as she spun in a tiny, clumsy dance, unable to contain her excitement.

  Albo smiled back at her, as a quiet ripple of relief settled in his chest.

  “I’ll see you ter!” Saya called, already turning toward the door as she waved.

  “Ah! Wait!” Albo snapped back to reality. “Where are we meeting?!”

  He hurried after her, but by the time he reached the doorway, she was already turning the corner at the end of the hall.

  Her innocent, yet sweet giggles drifted back to him like a trail of smoke, slowly grazing his ears, eventually seeping into his heart. He couldn’t quite expin it, but all his tension had seemingly vanished, her ugh carrying it all away.

  “I’ll just meet you in the cssroom in a few hours!”

  And just like that, she was gone.

  Albo let out a slow sigh, “if only she ran like that a few days ago, we wouldn’t have gotten caught by Hector.”