The Strongest Gun Magus: I Cast Bullet!-Chapter 45: The Night of the Escape

That night, Reynard snuck out of his dormitory and into the private garden. There, all the things he planned to take on a journey were already waiting for him.

Ordinary traveling clothes and a cloak, a travel bag with travel supplies, and a fireproof cage for Chili. Everything else would either be left behind or carried by Marien and her Scroll of Holding.

The piglet snorted, waking up, when Reynard moved him into the cage. Inside, it began puffing flames and huffing angrily, until Reynard pacified it with an apple.

The piglet began slowly and noisily munching on it, spreading scents of smoke and cooked apple. Reynard rubbed the bridge of his nose and wished the Blue Bismuth School had some stealth spells.

Lacking those, he covered the cage in a tarp and began making his way out of the Blue Bismuth School.

Most people in it were asleep at night, or at least pretending to be. Some houses belonging to teachers or dormitories of older students had lights on, and voices could be heard from the inside. But Reynard didn’t worry about those, since people inside were definitely too busy with their night dates.

A few guards were keeping watch over the workshops, the gates, and several other key places, but the rest were entirely unwatched. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

The main gates were closed and enchanted, but the four-meter-tall wall around the school wasn’t magical. It would’ve taken too much effort to build an enchanted defense of this size.

Reynard simply walked to a secluded section of it, crouched, and jumped.

In a single jump, he easily reached the top of the wooden wall and grabbed it with his free hand.

"Oink! Oiiiii!"

"Hush, Chili!" Reynard whispered. "Just a little more..."

He swung himself over the wall and landed heavily on the other side.

This obstacle was over.

Ahead of Reynard was only a stretch of tall grass, lit by the light of the half-moon.

He walked toward it at a brisk pace for twenty minutes, then stopped near a lone tree and put down his travel bag and Chili’s cage.

"Well, I sure hope nothing bad happens now," Reynard muttered. "Wait for me here, Chili. I will come for you soon... And if not, someone will definitely find you in the morning."

Then, Reynard went back to the Blue Bismuth School.

***

Marien was waiting for him on the other side of the school’s wall. Like Reynard, she was dressed in traveling clothing covered by a dark cloak, but in her ear was glinting the earring gifted by Reynard.

"I got it!" she said excitedly. "We can do it. If YOU are ready, of course. I’m not doing this without you."

"I’m ready when you are, my lady." Reynard made an inviting gesture. "Lead the way."

Marien nodded, smiling. She looked positively excited about this adventure.

They walked the quiet roads down to the central part of the school and its main building—a large mansion hall which hosted not only the living space of the Magister and his office, but also the treasury of the entire school.

A pair of guards was standing near the entrance, under the light of a magical lantern. They were ordinary people. The lamp made it easy to see them, while they couldn’t see the magi in the dark.

Reynard shivered as he looked at this place.

’Maybe we should just leave and not risk it...’ he thought.

Then he remembered how much money it cost to refine as a Pure Earth Magus.

"Grandpa is sound asleep, I checked. Everybody else is quiet, too," Marien whispered. "We can just go in. And they didn’t notice that I have the treasury key!"

Reynard smiled at Marien brightly.

"Wonderful! You are wonderful. This should be simple, then."

She nodded and led the way again—away from the entrance and around the building.

They didn’t have to deal with the guards when Marien’s room was also in the mansion, and her window was already open! It was on the second floor, but Marien left a rope for herself and Reynard.

’Things are REALLY easy when you have someone helping from the inside!’ Reynard thought.

He spared Marien’s room a curious look on his way. It was painted blue and pink, and strangely barren of things besides furniture... Until Reynard remembered that Marien had a Scroll of Holding.

Judging from the look of her bed, she even took pillows with her. The only things left were two large bags.

They each took one and went out of the room. The magi’s footsteps became slower and more cautious. Each time one of them stepped on a particularly creaky floorboard, both twitched and paused for a second.

But the mansion’s wide and dark hallways were quiet.

Nobody impeded them as they went downstairs, and then deeper in, to where the school’s treasury was hiding underground. This part of the building was so dark that Reynard had to take out a small magic ball-lantern for light.

It was the most protected part of the school, hiding behind a thick door of enchanted steel and a magical lock very much like the one on Reynard’s private garden.

Since these locks couldn’t be quietly broken even by an Albedo magus, the guard for this door was deemed unnecessary.

Of course, it meant that Marien could just approach and insert the key she stole from her grandfather’s office.

The runes on the door flashed with light. With a quiet hiss of air, the door opened, and the other defensive spells on the treasury dimmed. No alarms were going to sound.

In the ball-lantern dim blue light, Reynard and Marien saw rows of magical ingredients, various treasures, and simply boxes with money.

Although the Blue Bismuth School was small, this was still more money and treasures than either of them had seen in one place.

"So much money... And treasures... Just gathering dust there, instead of being of use to the people!" Reynard whispered, pulling out his bag. "Let’s fix that, Mari."

She pulled out her bag, too.

Bags were vital. The Scroll of Holding could only carry things with very weak mana in them. Actual magic items, or even more powerful crafting ingredients, simply won’t go inside.

Reynard stepped into the treasury first.