The Eccentric Scholar pulled up the Royal Army's standard patrol schedules and guard deployment rosters for the territories immediately surrounding the Capital of Luminis. He overlaid this data onto a massive, detailed map of the capital's noble estates.

"Applying pattern recognition... Searching for systemic voids in the security grid."

His finger traced the map at lightning speed, stopping suddenly on a specific sector of the affluent eastern hills.

"Got you. A massive, deliberate anomaly. A specific, two-square-mile 'blind spot' where absolutely no royal guards are scheduled to patrol. The patrol routes actively bend to avoid this sector. It is a manufactured dead zone."

In the Ambient Presence of Ray’s mind, the Gritty Detective leaned over watching at the map that's being shown through the point of view of Ray’s vision.

Detective: "A dead zone in an affluent district just outside the capital? That doesn't make sense. If it's a high-profile noble estate, it should have standard patrols to maintain security and order. Scholar, bring up the archived data from Titus Thorne's ledger. Cross reference the location of this dead zone to the ledger.

Ray’s eyes glazed over for a fraction of a second as the Eccentric Scholar instantly retrieved the information from the black ledger.

"Cross-referencing."

The Eccentric Scholar murmured.

"Anomaly detected. There are two-hundred-forty total entries marked as 'miscellaneous delivery’ in the ledger routed to the exact location of this blind spot. It is done every two weeks."

Detective: "Look at the frequency, deliveries every two weeks. Is there any mention of what items are in this miscellaneous delivery?"

The Gritty Detective pointed out.

“No, none. It is tagged just like that, I do see a note on it in one of the entries that says ‘SCRD.’ I am checking the ledger data again to find out what this means.”

The Eccentric Scholar said as Ray’s eyes glazed over again.

“Found it! There is one other entry at the end of the ledger, it has a list of acronyms in it. One of them says SCRD (Secret Road).”

Detective: “Hmmm… It looks like there is a ‘Secret Road’ going to that blindspot? Why use the secret road for miscellaneous delivery, unless it's not a delivery but more of a reporting schedule, but what are they reporting and to who?”

The Gritty Detective said grimly.

"Not enough information to formulate a hypothesis."

The Eccentric Scholar said as he pulled up a secondary set of military blueprints.

"Look at the perimeter of this dead zone. It is anchored by four heavy Royal Army fortresses. North, South, East, and West."

In the Ambient presence the Grizzled Commander eyes darted across the blueprints of the four fortresses. The Commander didn't just see fortresses; he saw the tactical intent behind its setup.

Commander: "This fortresses architecture...It's inverted."

The Grizzled Commander whispered aloud.

Scribe:"I concur!"

The Arcane Scribe said.

Scribe: "The reinforced bracing on the iron gates, the overlapping fields of fire for the ballistae, the directional thermal wards... none of them are facing outward to protect the estate from outside threats."

Commander: "They are facing inward! That isn't a defensive perimeter. It's a permanent siege ring. Those fortresses aren't designed to keep something out but to keep something in."

The Grizzled Commander rumbled, his tactical mind instantly grasping the reality.

The Eccentric Scholar frantically cross-referenced this gilded cage with property deeds and land grants. He flipped through a heavy ledger, his eyes scanning thousands of names in seconds.

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"There is an estate located precisely in the center of this containment ring... called ‘The Blackwood Manor.’ However unlike other estates records, there is no additional info about this one.”

Detective: “It's as if it has been scrubbed, but why?”

The Gritty Detective asked.

“This is as far as we go but it's a good start. We have a possible location for the Patron!”

The Eccentric Scholar responded positively.

[DATA ACQUIRED: LUMINIS BLIND SPOT & POSSIBLE PATRON ESTATE LOCATION.]

Sweat was beginning to bead on Ray's forehead, the mental strain of holding so much raw data starting to build, but the Eccentric Scholar was relentless.

"Third objective: The Greywood Domain Anomaly. Why did the Argent Hand target House Croft?"

The Eccentric Scholar pulled down heavy, dust-covered tomes one of them was on ancient Leylines and continental magic flows, slamming them open on a reading table. He overlaid these maps with the topographical surveys of the Whispering Hills, the provincial backwater where Ray's home, Greywood Keep, was located.

"Overlaying magical topography... Fascinating! Utterly fascinating! The maps aligned perfectly!"

The Eccentric Scholar's finger traced a thick, pulsing blue line on the ancient map representing a major continental Leyline. It intersected in the center of the Whispering Hills.

"Greywood Domain sits directly on top of a massive, ancient Leyline Node! A Class-A wellspring of ambient energy!"

He dove into the geological footnotes regarding the Whispering Hills' ancient ruins. He found records of a material called "Whisper Stone", blocks of ancient masonry from a ruined, forgotten civilization, still holding faint enchantments that made them lighter than normal stone but twice as strong.

"Synthesis complete! This perfectly reinforces the information we got that Argent Hand agent Jonas. The Argent Hand didn't want House Croft for its timber or to collect a simple financial debt. They wanted the land. They theorized that the Whispering Hills hid an ancient, pre-calamity civilization powered by Old Magic. They are trying to dig up whatever secrets are buried beneath the Whispering Hills!"

[DATA ACQUIRED: GREYWOOD DOMAIN LEYLINE NODE & WHISPER STONE ORIGINS.]

With his primary objectives met, the Eccentric Scholar paused, his chest heaving. He looked at the ornate clock ticking on the wall. He still had one-hour and forty-five minutes left.

In the Ambient Presence, the Scheming Courtier spoke up.

Courtier: "Primary objectives achieved. We have actionable intelligence on all fronts. I suggest we prepare to disengage before the cognitive load causes a catastrophic backlash."

The Eccentric Scholar, currently driving the physical body, scoffed aloud, adjusting his imaginary spectacles.

"Disengage? Illogical! We still have a lot of time for unrestricted access to a Tier-3 Royal Backup facility! To leave early would be an insult to the pursuit of knowledge! Commencing mass-acquisition protocol!"

Driven by his obsessive, unyielding need to acquire knowledge, the Eccentric Scholar abandoned targeted research and went on a complete scanning spree. He sprinted through the aisles, his hands a blur as he forcibly crammed everything he could get his hands on into his eidetic memory.

Meanwhile, in the monitoring room of the College of Statecraft, Master Cedric Varkas arrived and sat back in a plush leather chair. He pulled out his Department Head slate and inputted a highly classified runic sequence. The slate chimed, linking to the hidden scrying wards embedded inside the Royal Archives.

Eldorian scrying wards were powerful, but they had strict limitations. The wards operated on a pulse system: they could only record five minutes of visual footage before shutting down to passively recharge on ambient mana for thirty minutes. Cedric tapped the screen to view the first five-minute pulse.

On the screen, he saw Ray Croft standing frozen near the entrance just after the vault door had closed. The boy was just standing there, looking around the cavernous room.

Cedric smirked, taking a sip from a crystal goblet of wine.

"Look at him, completely overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the Royal Archives. He doesn't even know where to begin."

Cedric mused smugly.

But moments later, Cedric's smirk vanished.

On the slate, Ray's posture suddenly shifted. He stopped looking like a thirteen-year-old boy and had almost blurred into motion. Cedric watched, his mouth falling open in horror, as Ray began rampaging through the restricted aisles.

The boy was moving very fast, grabbing heavy, priceless tomes, scanning the pages in just a short time, and then tossing them over his shoulder to grab the next one. The recording abruptly cut out as the five-minute limit hit, leaving Cedric staring at a black screen in a cold sweat.

"What in the Founders' names is he doing in there?!"

Cedric hissed.

Cedric hurriedly played the next recording. The horror deepened. The pristine Royal Archive was an absolute disaster zone. Piles of ancient maps, scrolls, and books were scattered everywhere. Ray was still scouring the materials at terrifying speed.

At one point, Cedric watched Ray pick up the ‘Compendium of the Second Kingdom’, a massive, iron-bound tome that Cedric himself struggled to carry to a reading desk. Ray scanned it briefly and then casually tossed it through the air like a piece of garbage. It hit the floor with a heavy thud.

Cedric gripped the edge of his desk, his heart hammering.

He threw that heavy Compendium?!

Cedric thought but as he squinted at the screen, he noticed something bizarre. Despite the rough handling, the binding hadn't cracked. The ancient, brittle pages hadn't torn. Ray's movements were fast, but impossibly precise.

“Have I been too careful handling these things for the last twenty years?”

Cedric murmured, thoroughly bewildered.

Then he shook his head, his panic rising.

“It doesn't matter! He's destroying the archives!”

Cedric checked the time. Ray still had thirty minutes left on his access clock, but Cedric couldn't wait any longer. He bolted from the monitoring room, his robes billowing as he practically sprinted down to the subterranean vaults.