Editing Sorcery Hacker:Volume3 Phase03 (section)

===Part 1===

“Hm?”

Ayato expressed his confusion after opening the steam control room’s metal door, poking his head out into the curved hallway, and crouching.

There was no one there.

The security level rose as you went up the tower, so there would naturally be fewer people using the higher floors. This was the top floor, a special area past Grade S that only the most privileged could use. Very few students or teachers had access to Floor 101. It would usually be empty at any time of day.

However.

Mamilis stuck her head out of the door just above Ayato’s.

She asked a question with their heads stacked like dumplings on a skewer.

“No sign of life. But, coach, didn’t you say at least one of them would remain in their office?”

“…”

Ayato didn’t answer as he entered the hallway by slipping through the cracked door like a cat.

He drew his Linkage Plug sword.

The Student Council Office was on the gem tower’s top floor past the Grade S zone. Its existence wasn’t hidden on the diagrams, so Ayato walked past the doors and found the nameplate he was looking for, the girls hurrying after him.

“Won’t it be locked?”

Teleria’s question was answered by a dull thunk.

Ayato had stabbed his sword into the door, hacked it, and swiftly unlocked it. To reach this point, he had even dressed Henrietta up as a grim reaper in glossy black bondage gear to gather attention in the Sorcery Library. He had to reward that girl for her lewd sacrifice. That was one of his rules.

He sensed no presence or warmth in that silent space.

Unlike the ordinary classrooms, the interior decoration was better suited for a large mansion’s office. There was a leather sofa and an ebony bookcase and cabinet. In the back where a heavy desk and chair with matching colors. That would be the President’s desk.

There was another door in the back, which led to a shower room and nap room. It might as well have been a luxury hotel room located in the school.

“Are they really all away?” muttered Ayato after checking in every hiding spot.

“The place isn’t rigged to explode, is it?” asked Henrietta, keeping her voice low.

The enemy had known they would come here and they found the place unnaturally deserted. Her mind immediately went to the possibility of a booby trap.

But Ayato shook his head.

He flicked his floating crystal tarot card.

“I would detect any toys of that nature. It looks like the place really is deserted and with no traps.”

“So did they just run away?” innocently asked Mamilis.

That didn’t sit right with him.

The Student Council had no real reason to run away. Plus, their office remained intact, along with any evidence of serious crimes that could lead to their downfall.

(Did they remove any incriminating documents and go into hiding? I doubt it. It would be too risky.)

Each member of the Council was the master of their highly specialized field. The extent of their power could be seen in the Bouncer who had used brute strength to smash a rocket capable of leaving the atmosphere.

Each of them was that absurdly powerful. They could hold their own politically or in direct combat, so they had no reason to attempt a risky getaway.

With their strength, they should have left someone behind to defend their office. Or if that wasn’t an option, they should have set up a trap just like Henrietta had suggested. They couldn’t be 100% certain Ayato would fall for their trap, but it still didn’t make sense for them to not even try. If it had even a 1% chance of success, it was worth doing even if it only served to annoy him.

President Umihiko Darkavenue was a true Sorcery Hacker, so it was unthinkable for him to not reach that same conclusion.

“Does that mean we’ve already fallen for some trick? But what could it be?”

“…”

Teleria’s face clouded over.

Ayato failed to notice as he looked around the fancy room.

“Anyway, we need evidence. I want some records related to the devil revolver incident.”

“Coach, could it be in here?”

Mamilis slapped her hand against something: the back of the leather sofa.

“It’s really heavy for a simple sofa. I can push with both hands and it won’t budge. I don’t think it has stuffing or springs inside.”

Ayato lifted the cushions to find it was basically a coffin made of thick mana-conducting silver. Needless to say, the lid wouldn’t open.

The silver-haired, brown-skinned girl tilted her head.

“Is this like hiding your secrets below your bed?”

“Basically, but I doubt whatever’s in here will be very entertaining.”

Henrietta held a hand to her chin, so she may have been mentally calculating if she could smash through it with her strength. But she must have arrived at the conclusion that it would require quite a bit of strength – so much strength that she could easily smash the contents along with the metal box.

Ayato’s focus was drawn to the fact that it had four keyholes. A complex set of dials or a series of buttons would have been preferable here.

Henrietta looked puzzled.

“What’s wrong, dangerous individual? You aren’t going to brag about your criminal talents this time?”

“This one…poses a problem.”

Everyone turned to him in surprise.

It was unusual for ''the'' Ayato Criminaltrophy to say he couldn’t do something without even trying first.

While he struggled to find a starting point, he heard a monotone buzzing. He looked over to see the small spherical Media Summoner on the edge of the President’s desk was receiving a call.

He stabbed his sword into it and hacked it to not show his face before answering.

“Are the four locks your next trap?”

“Do not get ahead of yourself. It only causes confusion. But you are correct, Ayato. You can’t open that door, can you? Because those locks are pure craftsmanship – no Sorcery Hacking technology involved. They are the pinnacle of the four continents’ cultures. You won’t find any details with a Media Summoner search and a high-precision 3D printer cannot reproduce the keys.”

Umihiko’s voice carried a thin smile.

“We only need to surround that office while you work in vain at those four keyholes. But you have a bad habit of jumping out the window when you feel cornered. I have a lot of work piling up, so I would prefer you did not keep escaping and trying again. Let’s end this now. If you want the four keys, then defeat each of us. You will battle the President, the Vice President, the Treasurer, and the Secretary atop the gem, mana, security, and control towers respectively. We both have the same number of people, so how about making it four one-on-one battles?”

Henrietta was about to say something, but Ayato held out a hand to stop her.

Only he would stand in harm’s way.

“Do you really expect me to follow your rules? Why should I?”

“You can refuse of course, but I know your weakness.”

Had he expected this, or was he quick to adapt?

The President’s response was smooth and unfaltering.

“You want all four keys right away. You can’t afford to lose a single key to reach the evidence you seek. But the same isn’t true of us.”

“…”

“Do you see your worst-case scenario now? We can protect our secrets by breaking just one of the keys. We need nothing more to stop a Sorcery Hacker. So you have no choice but to follow our rules. Let me be clear: you will only send one challenger to each tower. If you win all four battles, you can open the sofa locks, but that door will remain forever closed if even one of your people loses. Do you grasp the rules now? Then let the game begin.”