Chapter 222: Kidnapped
"Kh..." Auric struggled to break free as his body was slammed against the wall. He tried to use his power to escape, but Professor Schad suddenly released a burst of energy.
The wind burst against his body. It was such a controlled burst that it only targeted and crushed his body without causing too much fluctuation that would be felt by others.
"Gah!" Auric spat a mouthful of blood.
Lindwurm panicked. He looked at the situation and thought, ’There is no killing intent. The protection won’t work... What should I do?’
"You’re truly an excellent student. To be honest, you’re the most talented person I’ve encountered. I thought the director was the greatest genius until I met you.
"Compared to you, the director could be considered a normal genius. I guess the director has seen through that. That’s why he wants me to bring you to him alive."
Auric gritted his teeth. He didn’t know what to do. He could use teleportation, but the professor could react quickly enough to knock him down after that.
He truly didn’t know how to escape this time. There was only one way. ’Lindwurm. Can you use your power to inform others?’
Auric remembered how Lindwurm could change the store. However, the biggest problem was that no one was paying attention to his store. Last time, Mr. Popo was waiting in front of the store. This time, he was completely out of options.
Lindwurm couldn’t do anything else except move around.
"I can’t. Let me think." Lindwurm looked around. Because the defense mechanism didn’t get activated, his options were also limited. There was no killing intent, so it was clear Professor Schad was telling the truth. He didn’t intend to kill Auric, but they didn’t know about this director or his affiliation.
Lindwurm flew through the wall to see if there was any way to get help, but Lindwurm was quite surprised to find someone outside.
Ellia was actually outside. She was standing as if waiting for him to be done.
Auric didn’t spend too much time in this room, so Ellia might have arrived right after he entered.
However, Ellia crossed her arms while staring at the office. Although the professor released a controlled power, there was still a weak fluctuation.
It wouldn’t be noticeable unless they were standing outside his office.
Ellia was wondering whether Professor Schad and Auric were doing an experiment. Considering their relationship, it was possible.
However, this was enough for Lindwurm. Lindwurm hurried back and shouted, "Ellia is outside!"
Auric received this information. He didn’t know why Ellia was outside, but this was his chance.
Auric released his energy as if he were making one final struggle.
Without hesitation, Professor Schad released another burst of energy.
Auric’s eyes rolled back as his consciousness faded. His body felt like it was falling apart.
Still, Auric did this for one reason. He used that energy release as camouflage. His true intention was the weak, gray-colored energy on his fingertip. With the sudden burst of energy, there was no way Professor Schad would notice that weak energy.
That gray energy was used to activate ’Imagine.’ He used that battle technique to write two words outside.
This was the only option after Lindwurm informed him that Ellia was outside.
"!!!" Ellia widened her eyes when she saw two words appearing on the wall of the office.
"Call Help."
These two words were more than enough for Auric and Ellia to understand each other’s intentions.
Auric would only give her one word, such as ’Help,’ if he thought Ellia was more than enough to make the difference. But this time, Auric believed Ellia alone wouldn’t be enough. That was why Auric asked her to get help.
Just these two words were more than enough for her to realize that something had happened to Auric. And with only Professor Schad inside, that meant Professor Schad had somehow become Auric’s enemy.
Ellia took a deep breath, ready to scream for help. However, she might have underestimated the professor’s abilities.
The professor might not notice Auric’s gray energy, but his element was wind. When she inhaled that much air, even if it was outside the room, the professor would realize it.
"He—!" When Ellia was about to scream, the wall suddenly blasted open from the inside.
Rumble!
"!!!" Ellia used her teleportation ability to get away. However, Professor Schad was simply one step faster than her.
Professor Schad grabbed her neck and released the same energy to break her body, knocking her unconscious.
Ellia wanted to struggle, but the gap in their power was simply too big for her to do anything, at least not in such a confined space.
Lindwurm panicked. ’What am I supposed to do in this situation? Without his intent to kill, the mechanism won’t work. Is he going to kidnap him? What about Ellia?’
Professor Schad immediately returned to the room.
The building was already quite empty, considering it had been three hours since classes had ended.
Still, there were some students and teachers who still remained. They heard the commotion and couldn’t help but take a look.
One student saw the big hole in the office.
"This... Isn’t this Professor Schad’s office? What is going on?"
The student took a look inside, but Professor Schad wasn’t inside. "Did a thief come for the professor’s research or something? But usually, Professor Schad would be in his office for another two to three hours... Was the professor kidnapped?"
The student was confused. More and more people were coming to figure out what had happened.
...
Outside, the butler was waiting for Auric as usual.
"This is the last day for the young master to go to this place. He will return to Thunderer City to bond with the young miss in two days." The butler nodded, satisfied. "Master has told me to remain nearby for the next two days, considering people will be flocking to his store to invite him.
"After all, they can’t make their move inside the school." The butler crossed his arms while leaning on the car. "Well, the young master should be coming out soon. I don’t think he has any more work."
The butler looked at the clock before he suddenly heard a loud rumble.
Boom!
"!!!" The butler raised his head. "An explosion? From school? In that direction, it should be the school building. Is it someone else? Or is it..."
The butler panicked. He hurriedly called Mathias. "Master, I need your permission to enter the school grounds. I just heard an explosion coming from the school building. According to Lady Katarina and Lady Milinda, the young master wanted to thank Professor Schad first before going back, so..."
Mathias immediately shouted, "Go! I’ll take full responsibility!"
"Understood." The butler immediately rushed into the school building. He was following the commotion.
Obviously, his presence was instantly picked up by several teachers.
"Who are you?!" One teacher rushed to the butler, trying to stop him.
"I am the butler of the Relesha family. I have been calling my young master, but I can’t reach him until that boom!" The butler pointed to the building. He was lying a bit, but he did it in a way that the teacher had no choice but to be understanding.
"..." The teacher fell silent for a moment before saying, "Follow me! If it’s unrelated, I will have to ask you to leave."
"Much obliged." The butler nodded, following the teacher to find the source of the explosion.
It was then that they found the source of the explosion. They saw the crumbling wall of Professor Schad’s office.
"This is..."
"What is this place?" The butler asked. "A classroom?"
"No. This is an office for Professor Schad."
"Professor Schad? That person was working with my young master for the past two weeks." The butler frowned.
"Auric Elfe?!" The teacher immediately recognized the person. After all, Auric had given them a headache.
However, the butler immediately called Auric’s phone. He hadn’t tried calling him yet, so he wanted to make sure that Auric was safe.
Unfortunately for him, he heard the ring coming from the inside.
"!!!" The teacher and the butler rushed into the room and saw a phone lying on the floor.
The butler immediately looked at the phone and said, "It’s the young master’s."
The teacher gritted his teeth. He didn’t know what was going on.
"How could someone be kidnapped in this place?" The butler gritted his teeth. The teacher was fast enough to notice him when he came close to the school building, so there should be no intruder that could pass their detection. "Don’t tell me... it’s the inside work."
"Inside work? Are you kidding?!" The teacher glared at the butler. "You can’t throw such an accusation so easily."
"It doesn’t matter right now. What matters is that my young master is gone. The fact that the teachers didn’t notice anything until he was gone meant whoever did this hadn’t been considered a threat before and became a threat after the explosion."
The butler looked at the smartphone. He didn’t know what was going on. ’Was it the young master who threw his phone away? No, he didn’t have a reason to do it. After all, we could track his phone. Then, the kidnapper? Was it really Professor Schad? But he’d been working with him for the past two weeks.
’Was it someone else? Was this a kidnapping? Was this a hit?’ The butler didn’t want to think about the possibility, but he hoped that Auric was still alive.
The butler called, "Master. The young master is gone. I have his phone, but I can’t determine whether he’s alive or not. Still, he has a high chance of being alive. I don’t see much blood here and I don’t think the culprit used anything to hide it."
"These motherfuckers. I’m going to find them and kill them as painfully as possible! Go find anything you can for me. I’m on my way!"
"Understood." The butler hung up and looked around. He was rushing, but he needed to be as calm as possible, trying to scan the entire room. "We need the blood to be tested. However, something is wrong."
The butler looked at the two blood marks—one inside the room and the other outside. The outside mark was slightly separated.
’Hmm? The young master should have been inside. He was dragged here...’ The butler looked at the trail before shifting his gaze to the separated blood mark. "This... Another person was attacked!"
"Both of them?" The teacher raised his eyebrows. "Professor Schad and Auric Elfe were attacked? But Professor Schad was supposed to be quite strong..."
That was what confused him. Professor Schad should be strong enough to make a fuss. Yet, he didn’t.
The butler looked at the room again and noticed the trace that indicated the professor had been inside.
Even though he was inside, he didn’t seem to be able to do anything.
There was a possibility that someone very strong came, but Professor Schad should be able to last one move or create another trace.
Yet, the fact that there was a blood trace inside the room showed that a fight broke out inside the room first before the victim was dragged outside.
The butler could only come to one conclusion from all this evidence.
’Professor Schad was the culprit.’ The butler was confident in his assessment. The problem would be the second person. The butler asked, "Is there anyone else who is close to Professor Schad?"
"I believe you’re talking about Katarina."
"Katarina? The student council’s vice president?"
"Yes. That’s her. Both Katarina and Auric have been visiting this room from time to time."
’Lady Katarina left the school, so it wasn’t someone related to Professor Schad. In that case, that person should be related to the young master. Who?’ The butler called again. "Master, there might be a second victim. Someone who is close to the young master. However, I met Lady Katarina and Lady Milinda exiting the campus."
"Let me contact them." Mathias called two minutes later. "Ellia Stroph Astler. According to her childhood friend, she was supposed to meet Auric to thank him for whatever reason."
"Then, there’s a high chance the situation is like this. Both of them have been kidnapped by Professor Schad, but I don’t know the reason."
"All right. I’m almost there."
