"What is this bullshit?" murmurs rang out but nobody was stupid enough to say it too loud. Turns out the school did enrol only the brightest.

The campus security wasn't thrilled to play along, but these lesser muscleheads didn't argue either. It was painfully obvious how easily anyone could be disposed of. Elaborate spectacle like this wouldn't even be necessary.

I saw in the grim expressions of these intelligent, sheltered youths that they were promptly reshaping their worldviews. For most of them, this was the very first brush with mortality and the power wielded by the military elites. Average person wouldn't usually be anywhere near them to experience such blatant, drastic double standards. Besides, other overlords ruled their domains with less of a lethal fist.

With newly-minted prisoner unceremoniously carted off, stupefied crowd has begun dispersing as well. The window was empty. That meant I had very limited time. Gripped the strings of the backpack tighter and jogged off.

Having spent a lot of effort trying to avoid all the prospective highborn trouble, I was somewhat aware of their schedule. He'd be attending physics lecture shortly.

In the place of teaching I tried to get somebody to do suspicious things for me. I was really missing the dead girl, whatever her name was. She was so great at errands and asking no questions. A good friend was so hard to find!

"Speak up, I can't hear you," a third person I hassled insisted. He probably wasn't trying to be a jerk. I was speaking softly to minimise my stuttering and the feminine timbre. Also an exited crowd was beginning to mull around.

"Raktk-kalis drop-ped this. C-can you put it on his desk?"

"Oh, hell no. Didn't you hear what happened earlier?"

Word has spread too fast. The others refused quoting that exact reason as well. It was irritating.

"So why not get into his good graces?" I whispered directly into guy's ear. In all likelihood, whoever drops it off will be hauled off for questioning. At the very least.

Unfortunately, the student I chatted up was smarter than he looked.

"Yeah, sure. Why don't you do it then?"

This was taking too long. This guy will end up remembering me. However, that was but a consequent problem in a longer list of things on fire.

I was tracking a suspicious brute in a nondescript attire in my periphery. Ascertaining to whom this badly hidden legion belonged to was next on the list. They could have been admitted here as students, but it was much simpler to enter as a part of entourage. Figuring out that much could provide me with a direction towards my primary enemy.

I sighed in irritation and decided to push on with this interaction. The least I could do was add another layer of confusion for when he's inevitably questioned.

Spoke as loudly as I could without cracking, "Look. Some chick asked me to do this, but I just c-can't. Help me out? I'll give you a fifty." It was all my remaining money – until I got back to my caches, anyway.

"Yea? Where's she?" The guy started looking around intrigued. I picked him because he seemed like he was struggling, but entirely different aspect caught the himbo's attention. "Is she hot?"

I gave him a no shit, as if I'd have agreed otherwise expression. My cheeks probably were too stiff, but at least most of it was in the eyebrows.

"Damn. Really wish I could help ya out," my quarry looked genuinely regretful to be missing out on this. That didn't help me at all.

I bent in to whisper again, "Can you open a window near his seat?"

"Well. I guess I could..."

"Do that and I'll introduce you to her."

"But what...?"

I left the happy fool to do my bidding without further chatter and darted off to the back of the building. That took a while as I was avoiding the cameras – otherwise I'd have simply walked in and delivered the message myself. Did not want to prematurely alert the lordling to the change of my appearance.

Having reached my destination, I saw the window blessedly ajar and felt some tension recede. A little higher than preferable, but it was still the ground floor. I'd make do.

Went some ways off into the trees and chucked the bulky phone case – and a note – in. I heard it land, as well as the exclamations of surprise, but didn't stick around to find out if it reached the desired location. There was absolutely nothing I could do about that now anyhow, and I needed to not be here anymore.

I got myself ready for the long wait. Or very brisk one, if Raktkalis decided to send his goons to surround the meeting area. Coincidentally, I'd see it leagues away and would be gone.

The academy was in a process of constructing an additional lecture hall. Its vicinity was some unholy mess, as the project kept getting terminated and then resumed with some brand new twist. Trenches, bare frames, half of roof, piles upon piles of old construction materials and tarps. It would be hard to locate anyone here, even if I planned to entrench here – which I didn't. Perfect spot for shady meetings.

I had dismantled the trophy phone still in the dorms and removed the trackers along with the connectivity. Had some downtime now, so I played around with the combination to unlock the stolen device. This acquisition was nothing short of golden thread pulling me upwards from the deep ravine of manure. After all, even if I didn't get my computer back, the state-of-art gadget arguably was just as good.

Highly arguably. If I cracked the code. Some highly prized secrets would be mine to sell. However, peddling business of important people was dangerous, and I didn't want to get anywhere near a general's affairs. In fact, I'd have loved to avoid that family as a whole if possible – but my back was to the wall. Likelihood of peeking inside was low in any case. I needed my computer to crack through the lock.

However, even on its own the device was expensive. This was no jagged brick thrown together out of spare parts. No commoner would ever have this. Not when they could trade it in for an apartment, maybe two. A highly skilled engineer lovingly crafted this thing. Several, perhaps. It would definitely make up for some of my losses.

Screen changed.

It unlocked. Just like that. To a combination so basic I didn't even notice it at first and my thumb kept on gliding along the screen. I stared blankly as though missing the joke. Security was very lax over there. This fuck-up can't even be blamed on anyone else.

Didn't anyone prey on the top echelon anymore? My own reluctance aside, there had to be skilled thieves and murderers who'd want to try their luck for the highest returns. Did the projection of power render everyone incapable?

As I was browsing menus, the reason for lack of intricate passcode became apparent. It was brand new. There was no useful information stored on it. Several phone numbers, a very sparse call log, photos of the blackboards that he didn't bother writing down and that was it. Not even any significant internet history. He had connected to the school's network for some administrative business. That was it.

How exceptionally dull. That ruthless lordling didn't appear to have much of interest in anything. Having been groomed to become an outstanding military leader must have come at a cost, and the cost was personality.

All I can say is that I approved of the dedication. Sucks to be him, but this seemed somehow appropriate.

Steps.

A single person was approaching. I glanced around and saw no troopers scurrying to surround the grounds either. He didn't even bring the customary bodyguards.

The fully-armoured man carried a chunky rectangle under an arm. This meet-up couldn't have gone more perfectly even if my love letter had gone into a painful detail.

I stayed absolutely still in my cover. Hardly even breathed. He had noticed me in his rooms somehow and I was still not sure of the means. Did not need this golden opportunity to end with a bullet in my peeping eye.

Raktkalis stopped at an entrance to a clearing, suspiciously looking around and finding nobody to make the promised trade with. The idea was for him to leave what's mine here and I'd figure out how to return his property at a later time. Perhaps the lordling was not of the trusting kind, but apparently he did want his phone back enough to show up. He'd cave, I was sure.

The youth devoid of personality hopped up atop a stack of bricks and kept scanning the construction site.

"Coward," scion grittily called out. It sounded like he's been furiously howling at everybody in his long-winded path today, which probably wasn't far off from the truth. However, an amused tone gave the exact opposite impression, "I know you're here."

How? That was all I wanted to know. This could be a ploy or a mental trick, as well as a missed tracker in the phone. I was not coming out regardless.

"I came to return your obsolete junk," he announced indignantly as if he had actually expected to be greeted, bowed to and thanked. Quite reasonable for a highborn, all in all.

I seethed anyway. First of all, all tech was precious. Secondly, that was far from junk and not nearly as obsolete as he could imagine. Looks like the pompous brat did not get to peek at the contents or the tone would be much different. Or not. This cockiness hinted that perhaps he did not even open the damned thing. Why take it at all then?! None of this would have happened! This entitled, irritating brat.

He then did something worse than hurl infuriating insults. After all, words were just that. Words. Actions, on the other hand, packed the real punch.

Further development is available in ebook format:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DRSX826G