Chapter 268: Escape
Leonel wasn't a fool. He had already expected much of this to happen the moment he heard King Arthur's words. Everything he had done until now was just an act.
In truth, Leonel really was enraged. But, he wasn't the kind of person to blow up when he felt such a way. It was far more likely for him to grow calmer in such a situation, like a volcano waiting to erupt.
His interaction with James during their final meeting was a perfect representation of this. Back then, Leonel had been feeling all sorts of emotions swirling in his mind. Yet, the outward persona had been calm and placid, even while he was losing a friend of a lifetime. This was just the kind of person Leonel was.
In his brief interaction with Lamorak, he had accomplished two things.
First, he made Lamorak underestimate him. A person who can't control their emotions isn't a very dangerous person at all. By painting himself out to be an immature teenage boy, much of his threat had been lessened by several degrees.
However, this was just a secondary matter to Leonel. It would at most give him a small advantage. His true plan lied within the shattering of the detection Arts.
Leonel had no doubt that Lamorak would have a meeting with the mage who drew these Arts very soon. In fact, that meeting might be occurring at this very moment.
After that meeting, Lamorak would find out that of the arrays Leonel destroyed, there were still about 5% of them remaining. This would make Lamorak lower his guard even more. But, they would have no idea that Leonel had already caused a flaw to occur within the arrays.
Leonel walked to the center of his room and sat in meditation as though trying to calm himself. An hour later, he stood up and calmly left his room without a word.
Leonel continued to walk as though nothing had happened. There was hardly anyone to find within the hallways of the Mage Academy and the few that did see him only sent various glances Leonel ignored.
Just minutes later, Leonel had already left the ground of the Mage Academy and out the gates of Camelot's walls toward the outer city.
At that moment, within the Mage Academy, a familiar mage was sitting in a room adjacent to Leonel's, diligently monitoring the arrays he had cast. Though he didn't really know what was going on, what he did know was that he wasn't in any position to reject. This was an order that came from King Arthur himself and was even being overseen by a Knight of the Round Table.
He might have been a Two Star Magus, but his standing was far beneath that of others. What he was the very best at where auxiliary type Arts. He was a great addition to any special team unit. Whether it was detection, deciphering, or obstruction, he was good at them all.
Even still, this Magus didn't dare to be casual with his actions. Leonel was a person who had killed two Demon Lords. The number of individuals who had such a feat in Camelot didn't exceed a hundred by much. And, considering a population of tens of millions, it was clear that these individuals were elites amongst elites.
However, even after many hours, the Magus didn't find anything wrong.
'… This is going to be a long year…' The magus sighed.
Detection Arts didn't exactly work like the cameras of earth. Rather, they locked onto an energy signature and fed back information about its location. By using many of them at once, it was possible to lock down a subject's position to the smallest detail.
Visual Detection Arts were too easy to fool since they relied on an input of photons. Aura detection and locking Arts were far better for high level applications. They were much more difficult to fool and manipulate. Even if he as a Two Star Magus was given ample time to do so, his success would be uncertain.
Like this, time continued to tick by.
Leonel's aura didn't budge a single inch. After raging, it seemed that he had resigned himself to his fate and hadn't made any other movements.
Every so often, the magus would send another report to Lamorak, informing him that the situation was the same.
In truth, Lamorak was also personally monitoring Leonel, it was just that his approach was a bit different. He stalked the walkways of the Mage Academy, scanning through any potential escape routes periodically.
At that moment, he was in a state of meditation on the roof of the Mage Academy. To him, everything was within his grasp and everything was going well.
He didn't think there was anything wrong with Leonel's lack of movement. Helplessness was an expected emotion at this point.
Still, something felt off about all of this to Lamorak. He just couldn't put his finger on it.
He thought back to everything he knew about Leonel.
In truth, it wasn't much. His interactions with Leonel had been few and far between. That said… With the exception of when Aliard cast a mental Art on Leonel, he had always been calm.
But this wasn't enough for Lamorak to be suspicious. He hardly knew Leonel. For all he knew, Leonel's calm disposition was nothing but a facade he put up.
'Forget it, I will just go an check myself.'
Lamorak didn't feel that there was anything wrong. However, the unease in his heart wouldn't leave. He couldn't fathom how Leonel could ever leave with him monitoring the whole Academy, but as long as he laid eyes on Leonel, everything would be fine.
Lamorak appeared in the very same hallway, his expression darkening when he saw the cracks along the wall. The damage Leonel had caused was truly too much.
Without so much as knocking, he tried to swing Leonel's door open. Unfortunately, the door fell over, exposing… an empty room within.
Lamorak's expression twitched.
At that moment, blaring noises sounded from within Camelot. They were so loud that the earth seemed to shake beneath its pressure.
Leonel, who had long left the range of Camelot looked back with an expressionless visage. Then, he turned around and continued to walk away as though none of it had anything to do with him.