Since a majority of the students were absent today, the usual bustling and loud noises you would hear outside at this time was nowhere to be heard. As such, the only sound in the SDC office was the clicking of a pen.
There were three people inside this room, despite the SDC having 12 members in total. Perhaps Morwenne thought it'd be better to split up their manpower to get things done faster. Or she decided some of them aren't suited for her plan to dismantle the drug operation in the academy. Or the third reason: she suspects most of them and decided to keep them out of this discussion today.
Arnold was sitting on one of the couches, Maylim sitting opposite him (she came in ten minutes after him) while Morwenne was sitting at her desk, reading through some documents and signing some stuff. Neither of them struck up a conversation and just sat there, Maylim reading the stray articles nearby.
Arnold, on the other hand, was looking at his status window, at the incomplete quests.
There were two active quests right now that he had to focus on completing within the next two months at least as he wants to move on to other things.
Of course, Ladiath would be the first one. The second is Lyra's quest. But it's hard to say if he can do that second one within his chosen timeframe given the complexity.
Something interesting he noticed was that the rewards had changed somewhat.
Both of the quests used to offer skill unlocks but perhaps the system deemed it too low of a reward for the current him since he's so strong that he doesn't need those skills. The rewards were just some artifacts he knew of but had no need for now, even with their value and uses.
Thinking about it now, isn't he insanely overpowered, not just because of his individual strength but also his current arsenal of skills? While they are nowhere near being level cap skills, his signature attack skills could obliterate SS-rank monsters in just a few hits. With his current form, his martial skill [Storm of the Water Dragon] is even upgraded to [Leviathan Storm].
He's not in any hurry or in any dire need of skill rewards while in his Equilibrium form. Maybe he will care once he defeats Oriel and is put back in his real body—thereby becoming weaker. Then again, maybe his new martial art can carry him once he masters it.
Morwenne closed the ledger and stood up, interrupting Arnold's thoughts.
Almost as if rehearsed beforehand, a knock came from the door and she casually walked over, revealing two students who wore the SDC ribbon, and a man (a janitor judging by his uniform). He looked very pale, and didn't make eye contact with Morwenne.
Just as Arnold and Maylim were about to ask after glancing at each other, Morwenne began to speak.
"Thank you for your hard work, Tristan and Keila." The boy-girl duo puffed out their chests proudly. Morwenne then gestured them to come inside before speaking again, "One of our own infiltrated into the ranks of the drug syndicate and delivered news to me last night. It seems that our targets choose irregular times to meet up so I didn't get to sleep and waited on them to deliver results to me."
As Tristan and Keila sat down on the couches as well, Morwenne looked at janitor, "Of the information they've secured for me, there was evidence that this man was working with them, using his position in this school to help our targets transport and hide the drugs."
She looked at the man with a raised eyebrow, "What do you have to say for yourself—Mr. Felk, was it?"
"…"
She muttered "such a shame that you turned out to betray the image I had of you, Mr. Felk as I tend not to judge people by their looks" before she continued speaking:
"Our informant confirmed that he is also one of the deliverymen they've hired on top of what I mentioned before. He's apparently being paid extremely well as he is one of the masterminds keeping this business afloat and out of the public eye. That said, he isn't given any important information like base locations, only drop and pickup points, which is about the closest we can get to any of them. Even then, third parties may be sent to collect the drugs so the gap between us and the leaders of the operations widens greatly regardless."
"If he's already been found out, whatever plans they've conducted until now would change if they found out about this." Maylim interjected, "He'll be the only one to go down while we continue to search for them."
"That's a good point. But so long as our spy isn't found out, we can be one step ahead at all times."
"How did you even get the spy to infiltrate their ranks?" asked Tristan.
"We were lucky enough to arrange the infiltration before they could move their operation and drugs around. I made them go into their ranks the moment the informant Arnold brought us revealed some hotspots we could find them at—clubs, taverns, inns and such. That's where the junkies get their drugs. Their main base of operations is in the academy, in several of the empty rooms on this campus. They're using one of the unused labs to cook up the product but I've been informed they've moved everything down to the basement floor labs. As you all know, the basement area is larger than what's aboveground, stretching even several city blocks so it will take a while to find where they're hiding. On top of this, they blindfold every single one of their customers during a meet up so not only are we already two steps behind, we don't know any of them."
"Who is your informant?" asked Arnold, "If we can meet up with them, I can trace them down when they're being taken to the base."
"Your warrior sense would be handy for a time like this but… there is actually an easier way to do this than getting my spy possibly found out." Morwenne shook her head, "There are apparently transfer students coming next week, each a different grade. This would normally not be that strange, right? Well, they are considered new toys."
The meaning of those two words needn't be explained.
"They give us a window of opportunity. As such, Arnold," she looked at him, "You will need to make contact with the girls before the first lunch break on the day they arrive. Our targets will play it safe and avoid making contact right away so they will also choose lunchbreak. They wouldn't find it strange that you're interested in the girls—you're you, after all. This gives you more than enough time to woo one of them."
"What's so important about them?" he asked.
"They are also mules which means they can lead us straight to the base of operations. The purpose of their transfer is to establish a sort of alliance with another group at a different academy. It's no different than two gangs sharing territory and moving product from one place to the next."
"What do I need to do?" he didn't hesitate to ask. To maintain order in this institution, it's important that this matter is dealt with within the next week or so.
"Though I find this method very inhumane, I think it's our best plan of action which will avoid getting anyone else involved. I need you to use your Halo to place on of them under mind control and listen in on their conversations. Simply finding their base isn't enough. We need to take this tower down by breaking its pillars first."
"The issue with using the Halo is that I'll be found out right away. It will also be suspicious if she goes in without opening her eyes—"
Morwenne took something out of her pocket—a little black box, and opened it, revealing several eye contacts.
"I've thought of using eye contacts as well for these types of things but the intensity of the energy coming out of her eyes to maintain the control will fry them over time." He examined one of them after picking it up with his finger, "We would only have a few minutes before the contacts melt."
"It's a good thing these aren't regular contacts," she said with a light chuckle, "I have a friend in the Tower who prepared these for me last night. It's enhanced with magic so they are technically magic items. It's a prototype but she's confident they will work. Remember, all you need to do is make her comfortable enough to be alone with you then put her under the mind control. Even with your reputation on the school, you are still an independent noble who now rules two cities—one officially—so a girl like them, who have to resort to this line of work to make money, will be easy prey."
She then warned, knowing what kind of person Arnold is, or rather used to be, "And stick to the plan, don't do unnecessary things that will delay the success of the plan. I want all of this to be over by next week and the entire operation documented by the school newspaper and the imperial press."
"…"
"Why don't the three of us investigate the alchemy guild?" Maylim interjected, referring to herself, Keila and Tristan, "We can find out who else they're connected to and that can serve as a contingency in case your part of the plan fails."
"Good idea. It's always good to have a backup. If we somehow fail Plan A, we can investigate the source, which would be the foundation of the building if Plan A is the top floor." Morwenne agreed, "Now that all of you know your tasks, it's best for you to prepare yourselves. Starting Sundral, the plan will commence. While I would like to tell all of you to be careful to avoid any mishaps, we must make haste before this situation grows too big for us to control."
No one objected, understanding that time is of the essence.
"Uhm, where are the others?" asked Tristan, "It can't be that the five of us are the only ones working on this, right?"
"They are going to be working separately—with our dear janitor here." As he was referred, the man broke into a cold sweat, "The rest will be made into junior deliverymen. It wouldn't be strange for students in need of some pocket money to take a side job, no matter what kind of work is involved. We're going to study their trade routes, which will be presented to the relevant officials once this investigation goes public."
They accepted her explanation.
"You are all dismissed for the day. I'll handle the paperwork we've received and stay a bit longer to watch if they make a move."
While Guinevere was fighting a literal world-ending threat on the other side of the country, Arnold was busy with his duties in the SDC. He knows he's not needed for the fight once Sylphiala is ready to head out. Speaking of her, the time for that other plan is drawing nearer. Sylphiala and Rosaline were already traveling together so everything might be ready by tonight or early morning tomorrow and he'll receive a radio transmission from Rosaline.
Guinevere, Lancelot, Myrena, Ceru, Tyrgavion and the other dragons will have to deal with whatever threats come out of that portal alone while he helps humanity's savior (Sylphiala).
Hopefully nothing too impossible to stop comes out of that portal…