Reincarnated as an Apocalyptic Catalyst
Chapter 68: Vault Heists & Other Totally Normal School Activities

Chapter 68: Vault Heists & Other Totally Normal School Activities

After classes, we reconvened in my room, because apparently, that was just our designated conspiracy headquarters now. Not that I minded, but at this rate, I was going to have to start charging rent.

Mara had practically steamrolled her way inside the moment classes ended. Ronan, as usual, just appeared—I had stopped questioning how he always managed to show up at exactly the right time. It was like he had some kind of Caidan proximity detector installed in his brain.

"So," I said, dropping into my chair with my arms behind my head. "How was everyone’s day? Learn anything fun? Maybe a lighthearted discussion on ethics in summoning? Oh, wait—ethics don’t seem to exist in summoning."

Mara pinched the bridge of her nose. "Caidan, can you please just focus?"

"Wow, you almost let me get through my very funny opening banter." I placed a hand over my chest, feigning love–though it wasn’t a real feint–. "Are you—dare I say—starting to accept me?"

She leveled a look at me. "No."

Damn. Almost got her.

I cleared my throat and leaned forward. "Alright, fine. We’re going to go talk to that one professor you mentioned and see what he knows. You seem to think he’s our best lead."

Mara crossed her arms. "He’s the only professor willing to talk about forbidden magic without immediately arresting us."

"Willing or actively engaged in?" I asked. "Because, no offense, but anyone interested in dark magic probably has skeletons in their closet. Possibly literal ones."

She frowned. "He’s... complicated."

"Ah. A morally gray professor. Haven’t had one of those before."

Mara gave me the I will set you on fire stare. I chose to interpret that as progress.

Ronan, who had been standing completely still–as always–, finally spoke. "What is my directive?"

I sighed, rubbing my temples. "First of all, stop calling it a directive, you aren’t a freaking robot. Second, you’re coming with us."

He nodded. "Understood."

"I’m going to kill you one of these days..."

"I don’t understand," he responded.

"Best if you don’t I suppose..."

Mara muttered something under her breath, probably about how weird this entire situation was, but she didn’t argue.

With that, we made our way across the Academy grounds, keeping an eye out for anyone who might be watching. After all, we were not exactly low-profile students at this point. If someone wanted to sabotage us, now would be a great time to do it.

Veldrin’s study was located in the older part of the Academy, in a tower that wasn’t officially off-limits but was the kind of place most students avoided. The walls were lined with old tomes, various scrolls, and just enough ominous artifacts to scream I am definitely doing illegal research, please don’t ask questions.

We knocked but no answer. I glanced at Mara. "So, do we just break-in, or—"

The door swung open on its own. Ronan stepped forward, looking far too ready to attack something. Mara held up a hand, stopping him before he could make this whole situation even weirder.

I grinned. "Ah, excellent. The sinister automatic door opening is always a good sign."

Mara rolled her eyes and stepped inside. "Just behave."

"Me? I am a beacon of professionalism."

She shot me a glare but didn’t push it.

Inside, Professor Veldrin was exactly how I imagined him—tall, thin, and wearing robes that screamed "I have definitely dabbled in things I shouldn’t." He looked up from his desk, where he had been meticulously writing in some ancient-looking tome, and smiled. It wasn’t friendly.

"Ah," he said, setting his quill down. "I was wondering when you’d come knocking."

Mara stiffened. "You knew we were coming?"

Veldrin tilted his head slightly. "Word travels fast when students are asking the wrong questions."

Great. Fantastic. Love that.

I leaned casually against the wall. "So, that means you already know why we’re here, yeah? Saves us the trouble of explaining."

Veldrin chuckled. "Oh, I have a very good idea. You want to know about the Duskwatch Covenant, don’t you?"

Mara nodded. "You studied them. You know more than the books allow."

Veldrin’s eyes gleamed. "Oh, I know plenty. But knowledge isn’t free."

I sighed dramatically. "There it is."

Mara frowned. "You’re saying you want something?"

Veldrin smiled, folding his hands together. "I always want something."

I exchanged a glance with Mara before turning back to him. "Okay, let’s get this over with. What’s the price?"

He leaned back in his chair, looking far too pleased with himself. "There is an artifact within the Academy’s underground vaults. Something that would greatly assist my research."

I narrowed my eyes. "And I assume that artifact is not something you technically have access to."

Veldrin smirked. "Oh, I definitely do not have access to it."

Mara crossed her arms. "And you expect us to steal it for you?"

Veldrin raised a brow. "Steal? No, no, my dear students, that would be against Academy rules. I’m simply asking you to... relocate it."

I turned to Mara, whispering, "I’m like, 80% sure that’s just fancy talk for stealing."

She whispered back, "It absolutely is."

I sighed, rubbing my forehead. "And if we do this little relocation project, you’ll tell us everything you know about the Duskwatch?"

Veldrin’s smirk widened. "Every. Last. Detail."

Mara clenched her jaw, clearly torn. She hated this, I could tell. She didn’t want to break Academy rules –or at least not get caught breaking them–, but she also knew this was the only way to get real information.

I, personally, hated dealing with people like Veldrin. He reeked of the kind of guy who thought he was the smartest person in the room. However, these types of people were predictable. They were the customers I dealt with all the time, the types of people I could handle, despite my dislike.

I sighed. "Alright, let’s say we agree. What’s this artifact?"

Veldrin steepled his fingers. "A small obsidian relic—a fragment of an old summoning tablet. It’s stored in Vault A2 beneath the Academy. You’ll know it when you see it."

Mara groaned. "The vaults? Seriously? Do you know how heavily warded those are?"

Veldrin’s smirk remained. "I do. Which is why I’m not getting it myself."

I turned to Mara. "So, are we doing this, or are we admitting that Professor Shady Over Here has won?"

Mara sighed. "I hate everything about this."

"Same." I clapped my hands together. "Alright. Looks like we’re breaking into a vault."

Mara muttered something under her breath about how I was going to get her expelled, but she didn’t argue.

Veldrin, looking very pleased with himself, simply waved us off. "Best of luck, students. Try not to get caught."

I shot him a finger gun. "Oh, don’t worry, professor. I never get caught."

Mara gave me a deadpan look. "You got caught last week."

I winced. "Yeah, but no one identified me until you said something just now."

As we exited his office, I let out a heavy sigh. "So, let’s recap: We either pull off a vault heist for Professor Smug, or we stay completely in the dark."

Mara gritted her teeth. "Let’s just get this over with."

I grinned, turning to Ronan. "Well, buddy, you’re about to get one hell of a training exercise."

Ronan nodded. "Under—I comre—I look forward to the chance to learn."

"Holy shit, yes! YES, Ronan! You will get your chance!"

And, just like that, our night got significantly more complicated.

Earlier while Mara and I had finished our conversation with Veldrin and made morally questionable life choices, I had sent Ronan into the hallway to keep watch. Ronan had technically been following orders. Technically.

I had told him to "keep an eye out" while we handled things with the professor. And, in classic Ronan fashion, he had taken that very, very literally.

Now, a normal person might have eavesdropped discreetly, maybe blended into the background and quietly listened in on hushed conversations. You know, subtlety.

Ronan?

Ronan stood in the middle of a hallway and just stared at people.

No leaning against a wall. No casual posture. Just standing perfectly still in the center of the corridor, eyes locked onto anyone who walked past, like an ominous, enchanted statue.

Apparently, this went on for thirty full minutes while we fine-tuned the details of our heist... And it worked.

Because after being subjected to a half-hour of silent, unwavering Ronan judgment, some poor student broke.

I mean, he really broke.

The guy, Felix Dorne, a junior who had absolutely zero spine—completely cracked under the pressure. He practically started sobbing, hands shaking as he blurted out, "I—I didn’t mean to get involved! I swear, it wasn’t supposed to go this far!"

Ronan didn’t say anything. He just kept staring, which somehow made it worse.

Felix, desperate to make it stop, spilled everything. Something about a secret meeting happening tonight in an abandoned lecture hall, east wing. A bunch of students involved in something shady—he didn’t know the full details, something about two torches by the door, only one of them being lit, he mostly just knew he wasn’t supposed to be talking about it.

Then, just as Felix was about to have a full breakdown, Ronan... turned and left.

No follow-up questions. No confirming the details.

Just nodded and walked away.

Mission complete.

By the time Mara and I made it back, I was exhausted, and Mara looked one minor inconvenience away from burning something down. Ronan, however, looked exactly the same—completely unfazed.

I collapsed onto my bed and gestured lazily. "Alright, Ronan, report. Did you actually do anything useful, or did you spend the last hour scaring birds again, you fucking scarecrow of a man?"

Ronan blinked. "I acquired intelligence."

Mara crossed her arms, skeptical. "You what?"

Ronan, ever the robotic weirdo, just stood there, staring. When it became clear he wasn’t just going to offer the information like a normal person, I sighed and rubbed my temples. "Okay, Ronan, would you like to share this intelligence with the class?"

He nodded. "There is a meeting. A secret one. Tonight."

I sat up. "...Go on."

"A student admitted to involvement."

Mara frowned. "Who?"

"Felix Dorne."

I blinked. "The kid who always forgets his potions kit and nearly set himself on fire?"

"Yes."

Mara and I exchanged looks. This just kept getting better.

I sighed. "Alright, where is this meeting?"

Ronan took a moment. "An abandoned lecture hall."

Mara raised a brow. "Which one?"

A long silence.

"East Wing."

I groaned, dragging my hands down my face. "Ronan."

"I was not given specifics."

Mara pinched the bridge of her nose. "So let me get this straight—you stared a guy into a full-blown confession, he told you there was a secret meeting, but you didn’t think to ask where?"

Ronan looked vaguely contemplative. "I deemed the mission complete."

I gestured at him wildly. "Complete?! That’s like catching a fish and throwing it back before you even see what it is!"

Ronan blinked. "...That is inefficient."

"Yes, thank you for realizing that now," I muttered.

Mara groaned. "Great. So we know something is happening, but we have no idea where."

I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck. "Okay. Not ideal, but we can work with this." I turned to Ronan. "Did Felix say anything else? Something about who was involved?"

Ronan, once again, took way too long to answer.

"...No."

I inhaled sharply through my nose. "Ronan."

"He said something about two torches, one being lit while the other remained unlit. They will be outside the door."

Mara muttered something about how "next time" better not involve us breaking into another restricted area.

I exhaled, rolling my shoulders. "Alright, no use dwelling on it. We’ve got a lead, even if it’s incomplete. How hard could it be to find this place?"

Mara frowned. "And how exactly do we find the right lecture hall? We can’t just knock on every abandoned classroom and ask if they’re hosting an evil book club."

I smirked. "Well... we could."

Mara glared. "We won’t."

"Boring."

She ignored me. "You know, I might actually have an idea as to where they are having this meeting." Her eyes lit up as she contemplated the layout of the East wing.

Meanwhile, Ronan, who had been standing stiffly through this entire conversation, finally spoke.

"...Do you require another interrogation?"

I almost said yes. But Mara was already glowering at me.

I waved a dismissive hand. "Not yet, buddy. Let’s try subtlety this time."

Ronan nodded. "Understood."

Mara groaned again. "This is a disaster waiting to happen."

"Yeah," I grinned. "But at least it’ll be entertaining."