“Here I am!”
“…Why are you, the closest one, the last to arrive?”
“It just happened that way.”
Sigh.
I glanced at Irina, who was awkwardly avoiding eye contact, then shifted my gaze to Alice.
Alice, who looked a bit tired as she petted Momo, seemed to notice my gaze and looked up at me, offering an excuse.
“My heart was racing…”
She’s like a kid doing something naughty behind the adults’ backs.
Wait, is that accurate?
“I’m a little nervous too. It’s my first time doing something like this…”
Come to think of it, she’s a proper, well-behaved girl, isn’t she?
I subtly ignored Orca, who was casually stroking my head, and finally looked up at Kazein.
…Hmm, I can’t see his face.
“Nine, can I hug you before we go?”
“Why all of a sudden?”
“I think hugging you will make me feel more at ease.”
“Do as you please.”
As soon as I gave permission, Kazein pulled me into a hug and nuzzled his face against me.
No matter how I look at it, it seems like he’s just satisfying his own desires, but if he needs some mental comfort, I guess it’s fine.
“Me too.”
“Me too, me too!”
Sigh… fine.
I stood still like a doll, waiting for the three of them to let me go.
Yeah, just wait…
“…Aren’t you going to let go?”
It’s been over 10 minutes, you guys!
“Just 5 more minutes…”
“I’ll take 10 more minutes…”
“We’re in the middle of something important, you know? If you don’t snap out of it, I’ll hit you.”
“With your front paw?”
“Then should I use my back paw?”
“That might be okay…”
Should I really hit them?
I raised my front paw but then put it back down.
“Anyway, we need to get started, so gather over there and sit down.”
Fortunately, this time everyone obediently sat where I pointed.
“Alright, let’s start the briefing.
Today, we’re going to infiltrate the secret archives.
And the first thing we need to do to get into the secret archives is…?
Right, infiltrate the library.”
The first hurdle to entering the secret archives is infiltrating the library.
If I were infiltrating the secret archives alone, it would be easy to hide in the library and wait for the doors to close before sneaking in.
But with a group, it’s a different story.
How are we all supposed to hide in the library?
Sure, I can shrink and hide in a corner without being noticed, but the others can’t.
So, we need a way for the group to get in.
“But aren’t there security spells all over the library?”
“Exactly. That’s our first obstacle.”
“Then how do we get in…?”
“You know what? Usually, security spells are designed to stop people from getting in from the outside.”
What is security, after all?
It’s meant to protect what’s inside from outsiders.
But if you block both the inside and the outside, it would be a hassle for people who need to come and go, right?
So, typically, there are spells to stop people from entering from the outside, but not spells to stop people from leaving from the inside… That’s the general rule.
Actually, the maintenance cost for security spells is ridiculously high, equivalent to half a year’s living expenses for a high-ranking noble.
And if they’re triggered, you have to reinstall them, which is insanely expensive.
For such an expensive spell, it’s a one-time use.
Whoever created it must have been really inefficient.
“So, if we can just get inside and open it from within…”
“That means we can just walk right into the library, right?”
“Easy!”
Easy, my foot.
I can’t even be bothered to argue.
I ignored Irina’s reaction and continued.
“To be precise, we’ll enter through the staff room, not the main entrance.”
If we walk in through the main entrance, the security spells will activate.
“The staff room?”
“Yeah, where the librarians rest. It’s safer than the main entrance.”
“It’s in a corner, so it’s less noticeable.”
“That’s our entry point.”
“And one more important thing: the librarian on duty today is someone named Olivia. Do any of you know her?”
“She was in the same department as me.”
The answer came, unsurprisingly, from Kazein, who had the most experience using the library among us.
I was actually asking him, even though I didn’t explicitly point him out.
“Are you close?”
“Not close enough to help us infiltrate.”
Too bad.
If Kazein could use his connections to get us in, that would’ve been the easiest way.
If she’s someone who craves forbidden knowledge, we could’ve buttered her up and convinced her to let us in.
“Ugh, my head’s starting to hurt. So, what do we need to do?”
“We’ll split into three groups.
First, me, sneaking into the library.
Then, once I open the library doors, the rest of you come in.
And finally… Momo.”
“Momo? Why is Momo involved…?”
Alice asked me in a confused voice.
It seemed my sudden mention of Momo had caught her off guard.
“There’s something only Momo can do. Kazein, does Olivia dislike cats?”
“She’d probably like them.”
“Then it’s settled. Alright, listen up, standby team. There’s an empty classroom near the library, right? Hide there for now. It’s not protected by security spells, so as long as you stay quiet, the guards won’t bother coming in.”
“How will we know when you’ve opened the doors?”
“Alice, you know how to use alarm magic, right?”
“Yes, yes…”
Alice came over and cast a spell on my necklace.
It wasn’t a complicated spell—just a basic alarm magic that triggers a sound in the user’s head when a specific action is taken.
It’s a spell that magic users, who deal with expensive items, learn as a basic skill.
“Alright, be careful not to get caught by the guards. Alice, if something goes wrong… you know sleep magic, right? Use that and just run. We can try again later.”
“Shouldn’t we also use memory-erasing magic?”
“That could turn someone into an idiot if it fails.”
Alice would probably succeed, but there’s always a chance of failure, so it’s better not to risk it.
By the way, my throat is getting sore from all this explaining.
I don’t need to go into more detail, do I?
“Alright, let’s start the operation.”
—————
It’s a good thing it’s not raining today.
If it were raining, it would’ve made infiltration much harder.
I climbed up the building’s pipes, my body shrunk to be slightly smaller than an average cat.
Climbing wasn’t too difficult.
If a cat couldn’t climb a wall like this, it’d be a disgrace.
I climbed up the wall with ease…
Ah, crap, that scared me.
I almost slipped and fell.
I wouldn’t have been seriously hurt if I’d fallen, but it would’ve been embarrassing.
After that little hiccup, I made it to the roof.
True to its reputation as the wealthiest academy in the world, the roof was a magnificent dome, scattering moonlight everywhere.
Ugh, it’s blinding.
I need to get down quickly.
Carefully, I squeezed into a vent on the roof.
It was a bit winding and narrow, but who do you think I am?
I’m a cat who’s practically half mollusk.
I should be able to get through this without losing face.
“…Ugh, the smell.”
The thick layer of dust, which no one had bothered to clean, and the musty smell it gave off were enough to give me a headache.
I wanted to run out immediately, but for the sake of the mission, I had to endure.
I moved through the narrow passage, trying not to breathe too much.
After a while, I started to feel fresher air.
And finally!
At last!
The exit!
I jumped out of the vent and took a deep breath… cough.
The air here isn’t great either.
The old books were giving off a musty paper smell.
After taking a moment to collect myself, I looked around the library, which was quiet at midnight.
Not a single sign of life in the silent library.
It seemed the librarian wasn’t doing rounds right now.
Well, Momo’s probably keeping her busy.
I gracefully jumped down from the bookshelf and crept toward the staff room behind the counter.
When I reached the door, I quietly pressed my ear against it.
“…Nii?”
…Huh?
Something’s off.
Wasn’t Olivia a woman?
Did Momo seduce a guard instead of the librarian?
If that’s the case, I’ll have to go in and check the situation myself.
As a mix of emotions swirled inside me, I regained my composure, enlarged my body slightly, and gently opened the staff room door to peek inside.
Inside the staff room—
“Here, I want to give you something to eat, but all I have is half a loaf of bread. Here, eat this.”
“Meow~”
Why is Monster Bag here?
The unexpected appearance of the boy made me realize that things had taken a serious turn.