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«The skill…»
«No, this is really a feature there. We here have been learning this skill for a long time, but the inhabitants of that world have this innate property.»
«So, the demon…»
«I think so.»
«And why would a demon do that? Theft.»
«How do I know?! They’re demons.»
«No assumptions?»
I sighed loudly.
«Well, to hurt Azuin, university, I mean: we don’t have the best neighborly relations with them. To get the power of the serpent… Damn them.»
«Okay, I get it. That’s all for today. If I need clarifications, you will be called additionally. Try not to leave town unless absolutely necessary,» he stared at the documents in front of him again, abruptly ceasing to pay any attention to me.
Silently rising, I took one last look at the card still facing me, with a small, shiny lacquered emerald-colored figure taken against a plain white wall. The dragon seemed to wink at me with its round yellow eye. I nodded goodbye and left the room.
Chapter 5
Mixing the substrate in the experimental greenhouse the next morning, I went back to the thoughts about stealing. It’s the main news of the semester, or even the year, especially if Azuin will not found.
A chill ran down my spine. If the dragon will not be returned, even more so if he’ll manage to release it from this insignificant shell… devil, what will happen then? How will the force react to such tremendous disturbances in its field? And what if the prisoner himself will be «out of sorts», to put it mildly?
We all take it for granted that the dragon closed itself in the sculpture voluntarily. But what if it’s not? What if it was locked up, forcibly imprisoned? Too many years have passed for the available information to be indisputable. In fact, I have always doubted the explanations offered. Why would a monster shut himself up, limit himself, if he was satisfied with everything then? We are told that we have «agreed» or «come to an agreement», but these are all just words. No paperwork for you. For example, there is no stone stele with runes of the treaty and claw marks (or whatever dragons sign).
On the other hand, I wasn’t so interested in the symbols of the university to study all the sources. Maybe there’s something somewhere.
And what if, after all, it was imprisoned?
Oh!
He is able to destroy half the country if anger freezes his eyes.
Stop! Stop. Dragons are wise, aren’t they? Wise. Even the drakens are said to be very pleasant conversationalists, thoughtful and thorough if they deign to condescend to ordinary mortals. So, dragons even more so. But did Azuin keep that wisdom in prison? Maybe he has dragon Alzheimer’s.
I giggled and shook my head:stupid thoughts. Wiping the sweat dripping from my forehead with my hand – agmarates grew only in a real steam room – I stepped away from the mixer. Then the substrate will go along the distribution conveyor without my control.
I looked around the greenhouse. It was a small space – well, compared to the industrial greenhouses that grow raw materials for sale. However, it contained everything that was needed for primary research: tabletop and hanging containers, mixers, pumps, conveyors, a complex irrigation system, fans and heaters, a brand new control panel, a bunch of sensors and racks with countless flasks, jars, test tubes, and so on, with which I conjured up new nutritional mixtures. In a separate cool room behind the wall there are several microscopes, a file cabinet, a refrigerator with samples, a computer (though without a holographic monitor, as in my office) and, most valuable, journals with all descriptions of experiments.
The results of the work were pleasing. We have been trying to get agmarates to increase the juiciness of their foliage for a year now. It’s simple: more juice – more essence. More essence means easier and cheaper teleporter operation, i.e. the journey itself. More travel, more connections. Development, the economy, and all that, yes.
In principle, there has been progress: we have raised the thickness of the sap-forming layer by thirty percent on average. However, this is only the first or second generation of plants. For breeding, it’s not much. Stable fixation of the trait is what we wanted. And the new greenhouses that will appear if my plan for the botanical garden works will contribute to this.
From the garden, thoughts strangely switched to Erchin. Ugh!
Should he have pinned me down there under the stairs like that?! At night I dreamed of all sorts of things…
Oh no, my professor, I’m going to put you out of my mind today.
The girls and I decided to go to the Dark World and have fun. There is no shortage of attractive and always ready men at Saul’s bar. Not that I’m planning anything far-reaching, but it doesn’t hurt to snuggle up with some handsome guy in a dark corner, huh?
***
After lunch in the cafeteria – my favorite meatballs, as always – I got back to paperwork. The disadvantage of a managerial position is a bunch of reports that are not directly related to my practical activities. And it all takes so long! However, I was helped a lot by Olischka, my deputy, my right hand and in general an irreplaceable person. The methodologists didn’t mess around either, though all four of them were a long way off her. But for a week now, I have more work to do, because she went to the capital, have been improving her skills, comprehending the science of managing complex social systems (it seems so). And then there’s all these limitations… so bad luck to him, a thief, I mean.
The display on the selector lit up, the red light flashed briefly, and the connection automatically turned on.
«Zulina, come to me, please,» the rector’s voice seemed to me somewhat slow. «In ten or fifteen minutes. I’m waiting.»
The machine shut down before I could answer. Tahoni didn’t wait for an answer, though. Would I object?
With the last changes in the report saved, I got up, took a quick look in the mirror by the door, making sure I didn’t look like a mess, and walked out of the office.
Exactly at the appointed time, I stood in front of a tall, narrow door, old and shabby, but still beautiful because of the carvings that covered it. An extremely delicate work, seemingly very fragile – all these leaves, twigs, feathers – but somehow preserved from the very foundation of the university.
After knocking and hearing a short invitation, I entered.
«Close the door, girl. The conversation is not for prying ears.»
Sir Archibald Tahoni, a sturdy man of about sixty, in his usual gray checkered suit, a crisp white shirt buttoned at the neck, and a brown sweater for a waistcoat, was seated, contrary to his custom, not at a huge oak table, but in an armchair by the fireplace. His hunched back and reddened eyes betrayed fatigue.
With a short gesture he invited me to join him for tea, immediately poured a cup from a clay teapot on the table and pushed it in my direction.
Sitting down in the chair across from him, I took a sip of a fragrant drink that smelled of the woods – Tahoni loved herbs – and leaned back on the high back. It’s both comfortable and impossible to relax at all.
He had been Azuin’s rector for nineteen years, and it was hard to imagine what could be otherwise. And today, for the first time, his sunken face made me think that one day someone would replace him. I even put down my tea, suddenly feeling an unusual uneasiness. Tahoni was always dear to me.
Well, not a relative, in the literal sense, it’s just that he had been friends with my parents for a long time, or rather, first of all, with my paternal aunt. He has been to family gatherings and stuff like that. In general, I have known him since I was a child.
In fact, it was Sir Archibald who first noticed my serious interest in horticulture and recommended my parents to pay attention to it. And then, somehow, everything went well: he monitored my progress, helped me with my teachers, convinced me to enter Azuin, supported me in choosing a direction of research (as it turned out, not in vain: I more than met his expectations by taking up the agmarates), and got me a job. No, not the current one, don’t think about it. A simple assistant in the department. And I was elected to the position of dean much later, like everyone else, by a teacher’s vote (well, I do not rule out that the old man had an influence, but he did not drag me up the ladder, that’s for sure). In short, Tahoni wasn’t just a boss, but rather a beloved uncle, so I was worried.
He looked at me for a long time with his warm brown eyes, twirled an empty cup in his hands, sighed, but still did not start a conversation. I was the first to make up my mind:
«Archibald, are you well? You look haggard and…»
He interrupted me, raising his eyebrows in surprise.
«Me? Come on, girl. I’m as healthy as an ox,» he puffed out his chest and flashed his eye, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly in a smile, «no, don’t worry. A little tired, that’s right. And how not to get tired here… Just… you’re in serious trouble, Zulina.»
My eyes bulged out and I muttered awkwardly, too surprised by this turn.
«Oh, dear, and how did we get into this?»
Shaking my head, I finally froze, recovering from the first shock, and clarified:
«Am I in trouble? Really? But what happened? I swear to you, I don’t…»
«Oh, it’s not about you,» he waved vaguely, rubbed the bridge of his nose, then looked at me more intently. «It’s just that the decisions we made weren’t very successful.»
I didn’t interrupt, letting him finish telling what was going on, even though my fingers tingled and my palms suddenly got wet.
«That’s it, girl… You know about the theft. How not to know, eh? Christophe also talked to you – he’s an old acquaintance of mine, by the way, a very meticulous guy – and to everyone at the university. Inspected everything… In general, there are different versions, so far there are few specifics: this crook did not leave any evidence. Clean work. But here’s the thing,» he hesitated, «you had high hopes for this new professor of yours… Mavinus…»
I flinched, but I could only say nothing, nodding.
«Yes… I see it. He is a star… prospects… Your garden… But he played a dirty trick on us, of course.»
A scene in a dusty closet stood before my eyes. «Help…’, «Do not take it on faith…’. Huh, that’s an asshole.
«What?» I could only exhale, already seething with indignation.
«He was searched. His home. Like many. I’ve got it, you’ve got it.»
«Azuin?»
«No, unfortunately. On the other hand, Wolfrock’s men found a collection of books and manuscripts, reports and studies on dragons in general, on artifacts and the Emerald Azuin in particular.»
«Oh, he’s a bastard!» I couldn’t contain my emotions.
«Of course, he said that it was a coincidence, that he explored various aspects of monsterology in these collections, and not at all our symbol. But damn it, it’s a strange coincidence,» the rector snorted loudly.
«Oh, yes. But I…»
«Yes – yes, you have nothing to do with it… directly. But this will affect the entire university, your faculty, and your plans. Trust and finances are always difficult to deal with, you know.»
«Jinx!» I jumped up and down the room. «He’s going to ruin my project! My project! I shouldn’t have relied so much on his ranks. I’ll fire him today…»
«Don’t do that!»
I stared at Archibald, pausing for a moment.
«But at least to mitigate the consequences…»
«That’s the thing, girl,» he chewed his lip as he chose his words, «that’s why our situation is so difficult. No charges have yet been filed against Dr. Mavinus. All evidence is circumstantial. He had, indeed, the right to study all these treatises. Their mere presence in his home does not prove that he was involved in the theft. Although, as I said, it’s still a coincidence.»
«But how…»
«If he is fired now, he himself can accuse us of the illegality of our actions, of bias, of deprivation of the right to work… And then, there’s a chance that he’s really not involved.»
«Yeah,» I snorted. «Got closer… earned his trust…»
«Don’t jump to conclusions, Zulina. Just be on your guard, here. I just wanted to warn you, to prepare you. Also, I think, after a bit of reflection here, that if he’s involved in any way, it’s not directly. That is, he did not steal the artifact. There has to be someone else, it just has to be, I feel. So be careful for that as well. Who knows what kind of thugs the professor might have messed with?» He shook his head and sighed again. «I’d like to believe he’s out of business…»
«What if he escapes?» My brains started working in a practical direction. «How will this affect the university?»
«Don’t worry about that, by the way,» Tahoni smiled broadly for the first time in the meeting. «Wolfrock had it in mind and took care of it. Mavinus was given a tracking seal.»
I opened my mouth in amazement.
«He was indignant, of course, but he didn’t resist. But he can be not in the mood, don’t be afraid. That’s all right. That’s the way the world wags. I wanted you to know, honey. It’s about your faculty.»
«Thank you, Archibald. I appreciate your concern. Don’t worry, I’m sure everything will clear up and Azuin will be found.»
«If only we could do it before it was opened,» he said, looking up at me, and in them I read the real reason for his worries.
«Yes, if only we could make it in time.»
Chapter 6
The «dragonbone» flared up like a mesh in the texture of the universe, revealing a passageway.
The «bone» is not part of the skeleton of magical reptiles at all, as you might think, it is another plant that I am seriously engaged in cultivating.
Visually, it and agmarat are complete opposites: «bone» is a low tree, thin-skinned and snow-white after drying, agmarat is an herbaceous shrub with dark green fleshy stems and leaves. But, by a strange whim of nature, they are very close in purpose. Both are used for locomotion – agmarat essence to stabilize the body during teleportation, «dragonbone» powder to enter the Dark World.
Well, I also need to explain what the Dark World is.
To put it simply, it is a world parallel to the Core World, that is the world we are accustomed to, where we live our lives. Parallel, not in the sense of a «distorted copy», but existing alongside, behind an invisible veil, touching it, but never merging with it. Oh, well, it’s hard to imagine, really. It’s just that when you grow up with this knowledge, this whole structure is perceived naturally.
And yes, it’s not Hell. Neither it nor Paradise exists. Although, it can be said that the Dark World is their inseparable unity.
The Core World is inhabited by humans and mages… predominantly.
The Dark World is filled with demons and angels, ghouls and witches, fairies and unicorns, dwarves, dracomen, chimeras, water elves, flower elves, and the like.
By the way, in reality it is no darker than ours, you don’t have to imagine eternal twilight and lava rivers or whatever. It’s just that at the dawn of the development of magic by the people of the world behind the veil, they were very afraid of its inhabitants, their powers, they invented different things for themselves. And everything frightening is always painted in gloomy colors, and then it has become customary… All those goat horns, boiling cauldrons, sucking blood, and so on, are just from those times. The eyes of fear see danger everywhere, that can I say.
And so, here we are today.
The runes drawn with «dragonbone» sawdust brought us right to the entrance of «Elysium». A fitting name for a demon’s bar, huh? Saul always had a sense of humor… hmm… peculiar sense of humor.
The sign glowed a dull reddish-pink, not hurting the eyes, but somehow unsettling. Specks danced on the light gray stone walls, drawing strange patterns. I could have sworn they’re alive: one day after a party, I saw tiny dancing creatures with grinning faces among the reflections. Adiree insisted that it was just a hoax.
There were no queues at the entrance: after all, it was a bar, not a club. Although there were dances there.
With a nod to the bull-necked muzzle who stood at the door, keeping a watchful eye on everything around, we didn’t hesitate to go inside.
Immediately there was whistling and hooting.
Three girls from the Core World at a time… Pretties, what to be ashamed of. So, the shouts of the regulars can be understood.
I looked at my friends again.
Sunny, with her blonde curls, delicate shoulders, and pretty face, dressed in pale pink trousers and a white top, looked a complete stranger in this dark, brandy-and-tobacco-scented room.
