Chapter 79: Discipline

We found the Vault as the Dean had instructed, right around lunchtime on Tuesday.

Since our classes from first to third period were the same first-year lecture, we headed to the Vault as soon as the lecture ended and met the librarian, Bails.

“The Dean mentioned you two. I’ve heard enough. Follow me.”

Bails.

He was a man with remarkably little emotional fluctuation.

Perhaps he was naturally cold, as he guided us inside with an extremely business like tone.

For the record, he didn’t look frail.

On the contrary, he seemed very healthy.

His straight posture and confident stride were as disciplined as any knight, and his physique, visible outside his clothes, was sturdy and robust.

It was as if he worked out with books.

‘Is he really a librarian? Not a trainer?’

While I was sizing him up, we had already passed through a short corridor and reached a storage room lined with bookshelves like dominoes.

I had been here a few times before, but Yuria, despite it being her first time, was surprisingly calm.

……No, wait.

She was pretending to be calm, but her eyes were scanning the surroundings at an incredible speed.

When our eyes met, her body stiffened as if she were a thief caught in the act.

“I. Ah, I didn’t see anything.”

I barely suppressed a laugh.

Since the Vault was only accessible during special periods, she probably thought even looking at the bookshelves was forbidden.

“It’s fine. We’re cleaning this place anyway, so what’s the harm? Are you going to clean with your eyes closed?”

“Ah, no?”

“As long as you don’t open the Secret Tomes, it doesn’t matter.”

I said this while glancing at Bails, who was walking ahead.

He showed no particular reaction.

As the librarian managing the Vault, he should have mentioned the rules or precautions by now.

‘He didn’t?’

Even on the way here, it was the same.

He didn’t say a word about rules or prohibited actions.

Volunteer work for a week.

It might sound like a punishment, but when the word ‘Vault’ was attached, it stopped being a punishment.

‘It could even be a privilege.’

Volunteering ‘in the Vault’ for a week.

That meant I could enter the Vault for a week without anyone batting an eye.

The Vault held a vast amount of Vision information.

And for cadets like us, that information was a treasure beyond measure.

So, I was curious about the Dean’s intentions in giving us this strange punishment.

Did he believe we wouldn’t look at the Secret Tomes?

Or was he tacitly allowing us to read them, hoping we’d grow stronger?

Only the Dean would know the answer.

No, one other person.

‘The librarian, Bails.’

By now, we had reached the end of the storage room.

There was a door leading to the central passage.

Beyond the central passage were the librarians’ personal space and an inspection room for checking copies sent from the Vision Star Coffin in the Royal palace.

Bails didn’t guide us further inside.

He thrust his hand into the wall beside the central door.

The wall slid open, revealing a hidden space.

It was a cleaning supply closet.

The smell of chemicals stung my nose.

The closet was filled with cleaning tools and preservatives.

“From the main entrance to the end of this storage room is the area you’ll manage in my place. Cleaning tools are here, so use them as needed. Closing time is nine in the evening. Finish your tasks and leave.”

Bails said this and handed me a key.

“This is the key to the main entrance. Don’t lose it.”

I asked with a hint of doubt.

“Is it okay to just hand this to me? You know what I could do with it.”

“You won’t use it like Ged did.”

Why did that name come up?

Reading my expression, Bails answered.

“That was the key Ged used.”

“…….”

“Ged used it in a very bad way, but I trust you won’t do the same.”

With that, Bails opened the central door and went inside.

I stood there for a moment.

I couldn’t figure out his intentions.

I wished he’d just say something clearly, but that was my—our—greed, and Bails gave no hint whatsoever, as cold as ever.

……Yuria was engrossed in looking at the bookshelves.

“Yuria.”

“……Yes. Yes?”

“Let’s start cleaning.”

So, we grabbed brooms and oil-soaked rags from the cleaning supply closet and started cleaning the Vault.

To finish quickly, we divided the area.

I took the left.

Yuria took the right.

Occasionally, our paths crossed, and I glanced at Yuria, but she was silently wiping down the bookshelves.

Her focus on cleaning was intense.

Thanks to that, the cleaning seemed like it would finish quickly, and soon I had only one bookshelf left.

‘The floor is for tomorrow, so.’

At this rate, there was less to do than I thought.

‘Or maybe there’s something else he’ll have us do after cleaning?’

By now, thoughts of the Dean’s intentions or the Secret Tomes had completely vanished from my mind.

After all, I could come to the Vault anytime I wanted if I set my mind to it.

I just wanted to finish cleaning quickly.

‘But Bails left earlier.’

About thirty minutes ago, Bails had left the Vault.

I didn’t know when he’d be back, but at this pace, we’d finish cleaning before he returned.

‘So what? We have to wait until he comes back?’

What a waste of time.

As I wiped down the bookshelf, hoping he’d return soon, something felt off.

“……?”

The cleaning wasn’t getting done.

‘What’s going on?’

I climbed the ladder, tilting my head.

By my calculations, this bookshelf was supposed to have been cleaned by Yuria.

I turned to look for Yuria.

It wasn’t hard to find her.

Swipe. Swipe.

Yuria was right next to me.

She was wiping down the area I had already cleaned, moving toward me.

‘……What is she doing? Why is she doing the same work twice?’

No wonder the cleaning wasn’t finished.

“Yuria. I already cleaned there.”

“I know.”

“You know?”

“Yes.”

Yuria gave an evasive answer.

“Did you know? The librarian left earlier.”

“Yeah.”

“So, that means we’re the only two people in the Vault right now.”

My eyes drew a question mark as I looked at her.

“So?”

By now, Yuria had come right up to me and asked, staring into my eyes.

“……Doesn’t it feel similar? To that time?”

My heart tickled like crazy.

That time.

She didn’t need to say more—I knew exactly what she meant.

My body remembered instantly.

The lingering warmth and pounding sensation in my empty hand.

“……So?”

My voice had somehow shifted to match hers.

Secretive, low, clear, and filled with intense anticipation.

“You know what I’ve been thinking about since earlier? When we climbed over the wall at the Training Ground, I said we were like thieves.”

“Yeah, you did.”

“……So, here’s the thing.”

There was a playful tone in her subtle question.

“Shall we climb over one more time? Us?”

Yuria’s eyes, looking at me, were now sparkling like a thieving cat’s.

Seeing her like that, a smile crept onto my lips.

“……Shall we?”

The tickling in my chest had turned into a pounding.

“Then hurry and look, Senior! Before the librarian comes back!”

As soon as I agreed, Yuria grabbed my sleeve in a rush.

The smile blooming on her face was as bright and fresh as sunlight breaking through the morning.

We roamed the Vault.

Of course, we finished cleaning first.

There was nothing to do until Bails returned, and waiting idly was a waste of time.

The Dean’s intentions?

I didn’t know, and I didn’t care anymore.

‘If we don’t get caught, that’s all that matters.’

Yeah. If we didn’t get caught, that was enough.

We could secretly look at the Secret Tomes here or not.

But unless someone walked into the Vault and saw us, no one would know.

We were thieves, cats, inside a box called the Vault.

“What are you going to look at?”

“Swordsmanship.”

So, we split up and browsed the Secret Tomes.

As I said, I could look at the Secret Tomes anytime if I wanted.

So, I wasn’t that eager.

‘I’ll find a Vision for Yuria.’

That was when it happened.

Bails, who had gone out, returned.

Creak…….

The sound of the door opening startled me.

My senses hadn’t picked up any sound or presence.

‘What the hell?’

This guy was definitely not an ordinary librarian.

Anyway, there was no time to stand around in shock.

I quickly signaled Yuria.

A prearranged signal.

Yuria hurriedly put back the Secret Tome she was looking at and picked up a rag, pretending to clean.

Bails appeared almost simultaneously.

‘Phew.’

It seemed we hadn’t been caught.

Bails glanced at us and passed by, and it looked like the situation was resolved.

Until he stopped in his tracks.

“…….”

I saw it.

An earthquake trembled in Yuria’s pupils as she wiped the bookshelf.

What’s wrong? I looked up.

Oh, damn. The book Yuria had been looking at was put back upside down.

“…….”

Bails, far from ordinary, didn’t just pass by.

He walked to the bookshelf, pulled out the book.

“It would be nice if you put back the books you looked at properly.”

He fixed it correctly and looked at me.

“I’m not so cold as to treat those helping me with my work harshly.”

Bails said this with a smirk.

……His actions were kind of cute, but when a stiff guy suddenly smiled, it was also kind of creepy.

‘What a killer twist of charm.’

* * *

Permission was granted.

‘You can look at the Secret Tomes!’

From now on, this wasn’t a punishment.

It was a reward, a privilege.

I quickly did the math.

‘The Dean gave us a week. Closing time is nine, and excluding lecture hours, we can spend at most five hours a day in the Vault…….’

That was thirty-five hours in a week.

Barely enough time to properly learn one Vision.

This called for focus and selection.

There were two options.

Learn a Vision or study Visions.

The former would let me use a Vision, the latter would broaden my insight into them.

“What are you going to do, Senior?”

I already had my answer.

“I’m going to learn a Vision.”

I had been feeling my limits lately.

I currently had two identities.

One was a thief, and the other was a cadet.

As a thief, I, Gerard, was strong even in my own eyes.

I could fully utilize the abilities of artifacts like Raven, the techniques I stole from the Vault, and the support of Shadow and my summons, leveraging all my abilities to one hundred percent.

In that case, I calculated I could hold my own even against someone from the Central Knights, known as the knights among knights.

‘But as a cadet, Gerard was different.’

I couldn’t even use half of the thief’s abilities properly.

I couldn’t use Visions or artifacts.

All I could fully rely on were my swordsmanship and the stats from my status window.

That alone would make it honestly tough to overcome future crises.

In this situation, volunteering at the Vault was an opportunity.

A chance to grow legitimately and publicly.

Visions I stole had to be used discreetly, but the Visions I learned now could be used freely.

And this would elevate the cadet Gerard to the next level.

‘With [Versatile], I should be able to learn about two.’

Having made my plan, I looked at Yuria and asked.

“Yuria, what about you?”

“Hmm. I’m going to study.”

“Why? Learning a Vision now wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

“I want to fully make the realization I had this time my own.”

Ah.

She was talking about the ice slash she showed underground.

“You said it was the result of imbuing aura with an attribute, right?”

“At least, based on my knowledge?”

“I want to try it again.”

Elemental attributes were a unique property of mana, but Yuria was a mutant, so that system didn’t apply to her.

Her constitution was breaking down the boundaries between aura and mana.

And the result was the ice slash we saw last time.

Of course, it was all just my speculation.

“Honestly, I don’t recommend it. It’s not certain, and it’s all just my guesses. On the other hand, an opportunity like this doesn’t come often, so I think it’s better to invest in something certain rather than uncertain.”

“No way. If I don’t do it now, I feel like I’ll forget that sensation.”

Yuria was resolute.

“And you said back then, didn’t you? That I’m a pioneer challenging the unknown realm of a Magic Swordsman. That even if there’s only a one percent chance, a pioneer’s spirit is to challenge it without fear.”

Did I say something cool?

I didn’t remember.

Anyway, it seemed I couldn’t sway Yuria’s stubbornness.

Well, rather than forcing my way on her, sometimes respecting and observing her decisions might be a good approach.

There would be more opportunities to choose Visions in the future.

While we were each focused on our tasks, Yuria called out.

“Senior!”

Yeah?

“Just a sec. Help.”

I headed toward Yuria.

She was leaning against a bookshelf, with two Secret Tomes spread out on the floor.

“I don’t quite understand this part.”

“Hmm.”

I examined the Secret Tomes.

One was [Cynaria’s Breath], a Qi Gong Technique.

The other was [Northern Swordsmanship].

It was said that refining aura with [Cynaria’s Breath] imbued it with frost.

If one then mastered [Northern Swordsmanship] to the Expert level, that swordsman could use a technique called Ice Sword.

Similar to the ice slash Yuria showed.

But…….

“The reference material is wrong to begin with.”

“Huh? Why?”

“The mechanisms are completely different.”

I sat down next to Yuria.

I carefully explained the differences between her unique qualities and the two Secret Tomes.

Yuria listened intently to my explanation.

Occasionally adding ‘Yes’, ‘Right’ as interjections.

As we focused, I didn’t notice that the distance between us was gradually closing.

“Yuria. You said back then that you just thought about it, and it worked. What did you think about it?”

“…….”

“Did you picture it in your head? Like imagining it vividly?”

Using such a technique through imagination alone was a new possibility.

So, I urged Yuria to answer.

“Yeah? Can you tell me in detail?”

Yuria’s pale face was flushed red up to her ears.

“It’s not like that. Just…….”

Yuria hesitated before answering.

“I thought about you.”

……Huh?

I blinked dumbly.

“I thought about you, Senior.”

Her voice was firm now.

Her eyes, which had been wandering aimlessly moments ago, were now fixed entirely on me.

“Uh…….”

Only then did I realize how close we had gotten.

I belatedly felt her shoulder pressing against my arm, her rough breathing, and the warm breath escaping between her slightly parted lips.

Her flushed cheeks and trembling eyelashes.

Beneath them, those jet-black eyes clearly fixed on me.

Like a frozen painting. Yuria’s image struck my eyes, resembling someone who was shy but had mustered great courage.

Now that I thought about it, it was strange.

The difference between Mana Circuit and aura was the first thing Academy cadets learned.

Moreover, she was taking the special Magic Swordsman course, so she must have heard it from Chaser and Ronica until her ears bled.

‘But Yuria told me she didn’t know…….’

……How should I interpret this?

My mind was filled with confusion.

But my pounding heart, beating like it would burst, already knew what this situation meant.

One thing was certain.

This situation was insanely dangerous.

“I read in a book a long time ago. That…… there are forces in this world that can’t be fully explained by magic or laws.”

“W-Wait. Hold on, Yuria.”

“So, I thought about it, and it seems like…….”

I looked at Yuria’s lips with trembling eyes.

Gulp, my dry throat swallowed.

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