The forest encasing the academy's main area acted as a pseudo-border for the students. Although there weren't strict rules about preventing them from entering the forest – Other than some particular areas –, it was still frowned upon. Yet, if you wanted to do a shady deal with a shady person, why not go there?

Obviously, Alec questioned in his head how the authorities could let this be. There were some pretty handful of spells that could help track students around. Then still, there were many weird antics of the authorities that Alec couldn't exactly wrap his mind around.

As Alec and Evan applied the spell on their faces, they first went to the library. Then, they jumped out of a window facing the back side of the building.

"Huh. You know your way around this, don't you?" Evan couldn't help but ask with a raised brow. Why was Alec so proficient at sneaking around and being inconspicuous? Alec pursed his lips in answer and looked away. An awkward silence later, they refocused on the matter at hand.

They went into the forest, past many trees under the moonlight. Even though the relatively thick forest ceiling mostly cut them off, it was still possible to see the thin pillars of light overflow and penetrate the barrier.

Then, Alec shook off the amazement. They had arrived at their destination, a small clearing, enough to be called a natural coincidence rather than an intentional design. What did look like intentional design was the layout, however. Surrounding the clearing were eight trees, perfectly distanced from each other into an octagon. It made the place look more like a ritual site than a clearing. In fact, Alec felt like he could summon something if he tried really hard. Though, why this place was designed like that was a mystery. Perhaps a spell had landed here during the fight against the demons? Or the dealer had intentionally cleared the place to make it easier to find?

Nevertheless, Alec and Evan stood side by side in the middle of the clearing. They surveyed their surroundings with utmost care. Then finally, they looked at each other and nodded. They both turned slightly to the side and leaned against each other, back to back, giving them near 360-degree vision. This way, the dealer wouldn't be able to approach them unnoticed.

The late night was eerily quiet on the academy grounds. It was sterile, like a silent room. No buzzing insects, no owls, and seemingly no wildlife. Even the leaves didn't seem to rustle that much. Alec hadn't noticed it before, maybe because he had always been so busy, but now...

Then, he felt a gentle gust of wind. It was akin to someone brushing past him in a crowd. Firm enough to notice, but not enough to physically disorient him. 'Strange...' he thought. Although he immediately turned his head, he didn't see anyone else but Evan, looking around carefully. 'Was I the only one to notice?'

Confused, Alec patted his clothes. Then, he noticed a weird bump in his left pocket. Something was in there, and it wasn't something he had on himself already.

"What the fuck..?" he muttered in confusion. His hand went into his pocket and grabbed onto a paper bag.

"Hm?" Evan turned around slightly, his eyes still paying attention to their surroundings but trying to gauge what Alec was doing at the same time. "What's that?"

"It's... I don't know. This thing just appeared in my pocket."

Alec inspected the paper bag from every direction before finally reaching his other hand out to open it. However, before he could, Evan stopped him.

"Uhh... Try checking your credit wallet. I have a bad feeling."

"Sure..?" Alec muttered with a raised brow. However, his confusion quickly gave way to understanding, then worry. He scrambled for his pocket. Taking out his student ID card, he injected a bit of mana and checked his credits. "Holy shit... The dealer took the money! And not even all of it. He just took enough to complete the transaction"

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"What!? How? We were paying attention."

"I don't know. Was the dealer invisible or something? I would have noticed if he used anti-memetic magic. I would have definitely noticed..."

Just as Alec was about to open the bag, Evan stopped him once more. There was an eerie decisiveness in his eyes.

"Don't. It's dangerous."

"What do you mean?"

"We don't know what's in it. It's better to hand it over to Edward and tell him about the situation. Our approach was wrong."

"Oh, right. Sorry," Alec said. Without further ado, the two went back to the dorms...

***

"Interesting. So not only is this damned heretic capable of producing incredibly potent super-potions full of demonic substances, but they can also steal stuff right under your noses and place the potions in your pocket? Without you two noticing..."

"It was incredibly weird," Alec said, shaking his head. He was pretty sure Edward wasn't trying to blame them, just really confused about the situation.

"Well then. It seems that our search will have to continue," Edward said before taking the paper bag from Alec's hand. "You did a good thing not opening the bag. The heretic might have known and placed a trap inside. I will have it opened by the academy committee and get it inspected. You two did a good job at least securing a sample."

Alec and Evan nodded. They turned around to leave, thinking that the conversation was over, however, Edward still seemed to have something to say.

"On another note, I have been checking the alchemy lab logs for some time."

Hearing him, the duo turned around and faced him again. A small cough escaped Evan, probably clearing his throat. Alec, on the other hand, was unperturbed. He caressed his chin.

"Although I doubt the dealer is producing the potions inside the academy, it might be smart to check those," he said.

"Mm. What I found interesting is, you were visiting the labs quite frequently Alec, starting from two weeks ago," Edward continued, an enigmatic smile on his face. Alec couldn't help but frown at where he was leading the conversation.

'Not good. It's not like I can explain The Author's Pen. At this rate, he might think I am the culprit!' Alec thought. He threw a brief glance in Evan's direction and noticed him to be unbothered, which caused his tightened fists to relax for some reason.

"Still, you stopped going there a week ago and the heretic is still dealing," Edward said with his hands clasped, supporting his chin. The lights coming from the windows behind him caused his face to be underlit, giving him a menacing aura. "You made a couple of health potions, mana potions... Nothing out of the ordinary. Still, please pay attention to your image, Alec. I don't want us on opposing sides."

"Mm. I was just training," Alec said. He thanked himself for writing the decoy potions, or he might have been in big trouble. 'It's good that he didn't-'

"Also, I just checked the Alchemy supply store records to see if your purchases matched," Edward suddenly added, causing Alec to mentally facepalm.

'Am I caught? Will I have to expose The Author's Pen to avoid suspicion?'

"And they matched perfectly. Which is the main reason I am trusting you. After all, no matter what potion this heretic brews, they need the ingredients to do so."

"Oh... Yeah," Alec answered, making sure his voice didn't shake. 'How? Who would play with the records? Evan?' he thought, looking at Evan for a moment. Although his brows were slightly raised, he didn't seem to be too surprised. 'No... He doesn't know I went to the alchemy labs, how would he change the records?'

"By the way, why are you telling me this?" he couldn't help but ask. Whatever Edward was trying to do, his only achievement was making Alec unnecessarily nervous.

"It's so you can take it as an example and implement it yourself. I can't run searches on every single student in the academy. As I have said, you have heightened authority and can demand to access records you normally can't," Edward said before leaning on the backrest of his chair. The lights finally managed to reach his face, lighting it up. The menacing aura around him dissipated quickly. "If there are any suspects, run detailed searches on them."

"I see. Thank you for the advice," Alec said, tugging on his necktie. Finally, they turned around and left the student council room. Both he and Evan exhaled sighs of relief.

"That was..."

"...Stressful?" Evan finished his sentence.

"That would be an understatement. I almost thought I was going to get wrongfully executed for a second there."

"Uh-huh."

"Again, we have no lead. And especially if the bag is trapped, there is a good chance the dealer will stop dealing. He might feel too threatened to continue."

"If that happens, how would we even catch him?" Evan asked.

"I don't know Evan. I don't know..."