Manstein opened the door of the library. The library was silent in the middle of the night. The dust particles on the long table were stirred up by the breeze caused by the door opening, and they were completely visible under the moonlight shining through the French windows.
The camera hidden in the corner was aimed at the uninvited guest. After infrared Face Recognition, Norma's gentle voice sounded in the library."Professor Gerd Rudolf Manstein, it's late. Is there anything I can help you with?”
"Is the school work department off work already? There were so many important documents in the library, but I didn't see anyone keeping watch at night.”Manstein walked into the library and closed the door.
"It has been two hours since the last security guard left work. From 12 o'clock onwards, I will be in charge of the security of the library.”Norma's voice echoed throughout the empty library.""It's 2:03 in the morning. Do you need me to turn on the lights in the library?”
"No, there's no need. My destination isn't here. Norma, use the innermost elevator. I want to go down to the archives.”Manstein said.
"May I know your purpose?"
"Recently, a file that I submitted to the information department for filing had some low-level errors. I need to correct some of the details of the file.”
"The correction of the files belongs to the head of the information department. Unless it's an emergency, I'm afraid you don't have the authority to enter the archives room in the Manstein classroom.”
" This is an urgent matter. It concerns a student's bloodline rating. If his bloodline rating drops because of an error in my file, I will be ashamed and consider resigning.”Manstein said lightly.
Bloodline evaluation was indeed a big deal in Kassel Academy. The student's bloodline evaluation would affect all kinds of complicated matters. Once something went wrong, it would involve a lot of troublesome related institutions.
" Request permission. Professor Manstein, you have 'A' level clearance. The elevator to the archive room is in operation. Your visit and all borrowing and transfer in the archive room will be recorded.”
The elevator lights in the depths of the library lit up. Manstein walked all the way without saying a word, hands behind his back. When he reached the elevator, a pleasant ding sounded.
Kassel Academy wasn't like what it seemed on the surface, which only existed in ancient castles on the mountainside. Few people knew that the academy on the surface was only half of the school, while the other half existed in underground fortifications such as Wart-Alheim, the ice cellar, and the archives.
The archive room was located above the ice cellar. There was a lot of confidential information about slaying dragons stored there, which was managed and summarized by the information department. All the students in Kassel Academy had their own files. From birth to death, if you were lucky enough to survive on this land, everything you did would be recorded in this file. However, due to the principle of the information department, these files were often criticized by the students as black history.
The elevator stopped at a certain depth. Unfortunately, there was no elevator music on the way. Ever since he left the surface, Manstein's environment had been as quiet as stagnant water. He did not hate this environment. On the contrary, he felt a sense of familiarity from a long distance. The place where he grew up was several times more suffocating than this.
The elevator door opened, and the dark red light illuminated Manstein's face. The archives were illuminated by infrared rays, and everything seemed rigorous and dull in the dim red light. In front of him were iron-gray cabinets lined up on both sides. Countless kraft paper bags were placed on them, and each kraft paper bag was sealed with a symbol representing the security level.
Everything in the archive room was made of aluminum alloy that was resistant to moisture and insects. Ultraviolet light was used to disinfect the room every three days. If a rat entered the room by mistake, it would only starve to death. Furthermore, all the aluminum alloy cabinets that were used to store the files had been installed with high-voltage electricity and gravity sensors by Norma. Unauthorized browsing would trigger alarms and defense measures. If the intruder was lucky enough to not die from the high-voltage electricity, then the School Work Department would rush over because of the alarm system and make him want to die.
Manstein didn't step out of the elevator in a hurry. Instead, he waited for the red light in the archives room to go out with a click. When the bright white light lit up again, he walked out. He didn't even look at the things on the shelves on both sides and went straight to the student archives section.
Every student would have two identification numbers when they entered the school. They were the student number and the executive department file number. For example, his student Mandy's student number was al082321b, and the executive department file number was only 082321b.
The first four digits of the file number represented the day and month of birth, followed by the serial number, and the last letter represented the bloodline class. For example, Mandy was born on August 23rd, the 21st mixed-blood that year, and her bloodline class was B.
Manstein clearly remembered that Norma had mentioned that Lin Nian's student number was al052044. In the executive department's file number, he was classified as a Class A bloodline, so his executive department file number should be 052044A.
Without hesitation, Manstein went straight to Area A. The people in the information department were all obsessive-compulsive. Not only did they classify the files according to their bloodlines, but they also deliberately separated the students from the graduates. This saved Manstein a lot of time. It didn't take him much effort to stand in front of the cabinet that stored Lin Nian's files. However, he was surprised to find that the cabinet was empty. The kraft paper bag that should have been placed there had disappeared.
The sound of coughing suddenly rang out in the silent archives. It was very strong, reminiscent of a patient with severe malaria in the hospital. Every cough was so hoarse that it was as if the vocal cords were cracking with the sound of a broken gong.
Manstein was not unfamiliar with this voice. Very few people in the academy would cough so hard, unless this person accidentally entered a fire during a mission. There was only one person in the academy who would cough like this because of his own reasons.
The head of the executive department, Von Schneider.
A mixed-blood who needed to carry a breathing machine with him to survive.
Manstein turned his body to the side. At the corner at the end of the shelf, a tall and thin man was standing there. Under his pure black suit was a scar that looked like a burn. The black mask covered half of his face, revealing one eye that had a cold, knife-like light.
"Professor Van Schneider, I didn't know you were in the archives tonight.”Manstein's face twitched, but he managed to remain calm.
He remembered that someone on the night watcher forum had explained that the executive department head was always a mysterious person. If he suddenly appeared in front of you one day, it was most likely that you violated the party discipline, and the next step would be a cruel and iron-fisted purge.
" It's not a coincidence. I just happened to see someone enter the library late at night and use the elevator to the ice cellar. I thought it was some ignorant student who wanted to steal some alchemical bullets from the ice cellar, but I didn't expect it to be you, Professor Manstein.”"I'm curious," Schneider said,"Why are you in the archives so late at night?”
"A student's file. There are some low-level mistakes that I made. If I don't correct them immediately, it might affect his bloodline rating.”Manstein said.
"Then you should be looking for this." Schneider raised his left hand, which was blocked by the shelf. In his hand was a stack of transparent sealing clips. Inside were files written in black and white. Manstein saw the three-inch photo of Lin Nian printed at the beginning of the first file.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。