Mage? Spell Engineer!.

Chapter 442: Secret Chamber Opened

In the Moncado Fortress, the Imperial Army moved or destroyed a lot of supplies. The National Guard soldiers were very angry when they saw it, and cursed the Imperials, although they would do the same. Of course, it was different, this was the land of the Valois.

But the National Guard officers' expressions changed slightly when they saw it, because the Imperial Army did not destroy everything, and they could still see the signs they hung up and distinguish the traces of the enemy's transformation of the fortress.

Moncado Fortress was built decades ago, but it was built with the old construction concept, and many facilities were outdated. However, the Imperial Army completed the transformation within just one month of occupation. Judging from the signs, it was well organized with complete functional areas, and there was no chaos when destroying materials, as they were burned and crushed together.

Too organized, too calm.

Are the Imperials so rigid that they even retreat in such a methodical manner, or is there something fishy going on?

The officer in charge of logistics led Paul and Pascal to familiarize themselves with the interior of the fortress. He was one of the fortress's defenders at the beginning. However, the fortress has changed a lot now. The explosion caused by the imperial wizard destroyed the internal structure. The wizards accompanying the army also assisted in the repair, making the transformation more thorough.

"Lieutenant Paul." The quartermaster saluted and explained to the two men:
"The artillery baggage needs to be sorted before being placed. General supplies will be collected together with those of other troops in Warehouse No. 1. We will make up for any shortages. Ammunition is stored in Warehouse No. 3. When it is put into the warehouse, an officer from the logistics brigade must be present to confirm that explosion-proof protection is in place."

"It's much more standardized." Paul was very satisfied: "There are clear classifications and necessary measures. When we first set out from the parade ground, receiving supplies was a disaster."

The quartermaster was a little embarrassed: "This classified library was left by the Imperials."

All the doorplates were the work of the Imperial Army. To be more precise, they were hung up by people after "Lieutenant Colonel Turtle" divided them up. The first thing the National Guard did when they took over was to cover up the imperial emblem with three-color paint.

"The enemy also has things we can learn from." Paul gave himself, the quartermaster and the entire National Guard a way out, and the quartermaster said goodbye after completing the guidance mission.

"Let's go, let's store the felt cloth first. When the weather gets hot, the extra cloth can only be used to grow mushrooms." Paul didn't wait for his superior Drouot to make a decision. Pascal was worried about another thing: "That Condi guy only salutes you."

"Brother, we are spellcasters, why should we care about military salutes?" Paul was only concerned about the task at hand.

Pascal followed behind, he was just a warrant officer. Rorschach's senior seemed to have this strange characteristic - he was always one step behind others when climbing the ladder.

He was walking behind and passed a soldier.

"What's wrong?" Paul turned his head and found that his senior brother had stopped, so he asked.

"The soldier who just passed by seemed familiar. Never mind, let's go."

Richard, who was almost discovered, lowered his hat. He now realized that it was a bit reckless for him to return to the fortress. There was no scroll that could be used for disguise in the standard ration, and Schmidt, who could walk through walls, was not around.

Richard only knocked down a Valois soldier who was smoking at the foot of the fortress, changed into a not-so-fitting outfit, and unexpectedly ran into the wizard he had confronted before in the narrow corridor inside the fortress. The only change was that he used a magic trick to change his eye-catching blond hair into the dark brown color common in the southern part of the continent.

There is also a scroll of invisibility, which should only be activated when absolutely necessary.

In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, he quickened his pace. Richard had already made up his mind that if he did not find the escaped Master Schmidt in the secret room, he would leave immediately and not stay any longer.

The last time the two of them sneaked into the "off-the-beaten-path", it was all thanks to Schmidt's ability to move quickly through walls, so they reached the secret room directly. Now he needs to find a passage in the building.

There are two pieces of good news for Richard: the Valois wizards and soldiers who originally knew about the secret room in the fortress are all gone, and the current National Guard is still unaware of the existence of the secret room. The indirect confirmation of this news is that the two spellcasters were not summoned to explore the secret room.

Another good news is that the magic reaction of the secret room is still there. When a mage builds his base, he will of course choose a place with rich environmental magic in the area, or use some means to transform it into a magic hub. So it is not surprising that Richard can still sense its existence now. The secret room has not been exposed, which also proves that the Valois mages in the fortress are all low-level.

However, when he sneaked into Warehouse No. 1 and gradually approached the target, the abnormal magical environment finally made Richard realize that something was wrong. There was no large-scale ceremony, so why was it still so strong?

Could it be that Schmidt was unwilling to retreat and secretly activated the mechanism in the secret room? Or did he encounter some trouble?
The scene during the first infiltration gradually overlaps with the room in front of us. The entrance to the secret room should be in the northwest corner of Warehouse No. 1.

Not wanting to make too much noise, Richard used magic to carefully move the baggage and fenced off the corner where he was, making sure that no one coming in would see him. Then he raised his hand, with the acidic oily liquid covering his entire palm, and he planned to violently break the bricks to get in.

Before the [Corrosive Claw] could go down, the floor tiles and wall tiles moved automatically, opening a dark passage for him.

"Schmidt, is that you?" Richard did not remove the spell, but put his other hand on his pistol and carefully moved down. There was no light on the stairs leading to the secret room, but that was no problem. In the dark vision, the door at the end of the stairs opened, and the gap behind Richard closed.

Sure enough, the man walked out. The two were more than ten meters apart. Richard continued to walk down the stairs until he could clearly see the pale scar on the other's face.

The scar was completely bloodless.

"Don't go any further. Turn back and I'll reopen the door for you. If necessary, I can also help you leave the fortress easily."

Schmidt threw out three crystal balls slowly. Richard guessed that they contained his wall-penetrating magic, the third ring [Gaseous Form].

With his original strength, he should not be able to seal this spell, but now he took out three expensive magic-sealing crystals. Richard was more cautious. He had already lifted the [Corrosion Claw] and was preparing the [Dragon Breath]. But so far, "Schmidt" just asked him to leave and showed no hostility.

"What good stuff did you find, huh?" Richard asked in a nonchalant manner, while complying with the other party's request and stepping back.

"Nothing, just a special mission assigned to me by my superiors. So hurry up and don't let the Valois find you."

"Okay." Richard had already turned around, and the secret door above opened again. Before leaving, he suddenly said, "I wish you all the best. Nina is still waiting for you."

Richard was about to walk out of the stairs and return to the fortress's storeroom, but the secret door closed at the last moment.

"Richard, you are very cautious and you still want to test it at the end. But it is unnecessary today. I was careless just now." Schmidt's voice sounded from behind.

"Schmidt" never mentioned any woman's name to Richard.

At this point, Richard turned around and opened his mouth, and the suspicious man was instantly swallowed up by the dragon's breath.

The scorched surface of "Schmidt" gushed out black air, and the scarred face on his left cheek returned to normal. He spoke lifelessly, "Richard, if you don't want to leave, then come to the secret room and help."

The voice Richard heard changed: "Teacher?"

At some point, two mages originally from Valois appeared behind Richard, and like Schmidt, they were filled with the breath of death.

(End of this chapter)