The Ring of Apophis was a miraculous Numen, but no matter how amazing a Numen was, they all had one flaw or another! One such flaw of a Numen like the Ring of Apophis, according to Lambard, was that the illusion didn't work before the Head of Churches because they had their souls bound with the Grimoires!
Gabriel didn't want Elora to see him here as she was definitely going to get suspicious. There was no way she would've forgotten seeing him in the Castle of Lambard with Lira! Moreover, it was also possible that she blamed him for the death of her Head Priestess! Under no situation could he allow her to see him, even by accident!
Moreover, as the carriages got closer, he felt that familiar aura once again! He was sure that Elora was actually inside one of those Carriages! The Head of the Church of Water was here?
He hastily hid behind one of the bushes, taking cover. When he left his room tonight, finding Elora here was the last thing he could've imagined. It was like the destiny was playing tricks on him.
"Out of all the places, she just had to arrive here! Out of all the nights, she just had to select this night!"
For a moment, he even wondered if he needed to abandon the plan tonight. There were too many factors at play here.
"No. I can't give up after coming so far! She hasn't seen him. She can't stop me! As soon as she leaves, I'll continue!"
As Gabriel was talking to himself, lost in his own thoughts, he didn't sense someone approaching him.
"Did you lose something?"
It was only after he heard a voice behind him that he realized that someone was there. Moreover, that voice... He recognized the voice!
"Maya?" He subconsciously exclaimed.
"You know my name?"
The person behind Gabriel was slightly taken aback. Since Gabriel was still using the illusion, his voice felt like Eliana's voice in Maya's ears.
Fortunately, the Carriages had left by now, moving past the vicinity. Gabriel could finally sigh a breath of relief.
He stood up and turned to gaze at Maya. He couldn't show any emotions for now. He had more important things to do. Even before Maya, he needed to play the part of Eliana.
"M-mam?"
Even Maya was shocked to find out that it was Eliana! The acting Dean of the academy. What was even more surprising was that someone so high up knew her name!
"You know my name?" she asked again.
"Of course, I would know. I know all the students of the Academy, you in particular." Gabriel came up with an excuse to control his blunder. "I heard you killed a Dark Mage not too long ago?"
"We need more people like you at our academy! We must kill all those Demons! How dare they exist! Right?"
The more Gabriel talked, the more he realized that he was losing control of his emotions, and at the time, he couldn't afford that! It wasn't the time!
Maya was also taken aback. She didn't know why, but she felt anger behind those words. She thought that it was the anger toward the Dark Mages. Never in her dreams could she have thought that the anger was for her.
There was something even more bewildering for her though. She didn't understand why Eliana knew about it. The Holy Church of Light had asked her to keep it a secret. Then again, she thought that maybe the Church itself told Eliana since she was the head of the academy now. She didn't think too much about it.
Gabriel also realized that if he stayed in Maya's presence for longer, he might do something in anger that he would regret later on. He needed to leave.
"Anyway, I had dropped something. Don't have to worry about it though. I already found what I lost," Gabriel answered. "You should go back to your room and sleep. If you aren't well rested, how will you learn tomorrow? Go back to your Dorms."
"Ah, Y-yes mam."
There was no way Maya could say no to a command that came from Eliana! She agreed and went back to her dorm, giving Gabriel some privacy. Even though she went back, there were still quite a lot of questions in her head. She didn't know what it was about Eliana, but something felt different about her. She just couldn't put a finger on what it was.
Gabriel watched Maya leave. There were so many thoughts in his head as he watched her leave. For some reason, only the bad thoughts came to his head. He remembered the moment he was backstabbed when he was trying to save Maya's mother...
That scene had replayed in his head so many times when he was unconscious after being hurt that he had lost count.
He took a deep breath, shaking his head. He needed to distract himself now! And what better distraction than his goal?
As soon as Maya disappeared from his sight, he came out and observed the surroundings again. There was no one there now. The Carriages had also left by now.
****
Gabriel finally reached the Museum of the Academy, which was also one of the most important places since it was where the Numens were kept under heavy security.
The Museum was still being heavily guarded. Fortunately for him, since he was in the disguise of Eliana, the guards didn't attack him! In case he had arrived here as a Student at such a time, even he would've been in trouble since no student was allowed to get this close to the Museum at a time like this.
Gabriel knew that this was a crucial part of his plan. He needed to play the part, and he needed to make sure the guards didn't see anything amiss.
He walked closer to the guards, using the same tactic as before. He didn't even give them the time to speak or anything before he started speaking.
"Is Rem still not here?"
What better than one teacher? Two teachers from the Head Council! To make it seem like it was an important matter that couldn't be questioned, he tossed another heavy name.
"When Rem and Xinci arrive, tell them I already went inside. They can meet up inside."
As soon as he finished, he didn't even wait for a response before taking a step forward, as if it was his own place. Since Eliana was the acting Dean at the moment, even the guards couldn't technically stop her.
They were curious about why she might be here at this time, but since other Head Council Members were going to be here as well, they reckoned that it must be something important.
Gabriel was allowed to walk past the guards without raising much suspicion. In fact, even he was surprised by how smoothly it went.
He entered his final destination... The Museum of Artifacts!
