Upon entering the inner room, she found that its layout had undergone significant changes. The formerly empty space now had a Humanoid Target placed at the far end, one side was filled with opaque cabinets, and along that same wall, three small cubicles had been set up, each containing a full-length mirror and a gramophone. Furthermore, the small cubicles were equipped with soundproofing charms. Aseria walked into one of them and felt the surroundings become instantly quieter.
"It seems the owner has become much smarter at doing business. This is quite innovative," Aseria murmured, as if a light bulb had gone off in her head. She actually stood in the cubicle and listened to music for a full ten minutes. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought she was a legitimate customer.
After a moment of relaxation, she remembered her mission. She emerged from the cubicle and walked straight to the row of storage cabinets, carefully opening each door one by one and diligently searching through them. She found that these cabinets contained several sets of tactical vests and protective gloves, but most of the stock consisted of civilian-grade alchemy tools.
She did not lay a finger on these items, taking care not to move them. Even if the internal arrangement was slightly disturbed by her search, she meticulously restored everything to its original state. Finally, after opening a vertical, locked cabinet, she found a metal safe hidden inside. It was more than half her height, featuring no combination lock, only a single small handle.
"It should be in here," Aseria whispered, breathing a sigh of relief. Although the operation had been bumpy, she had finally located her target. She tentatively used Alohomora on the safe, but there was no reaction. This was expected; if the main door was so difficult to bypass, the safe would hardly be a simple task. If it had opened easily, she would have suspected a trap.
Aseria tried several offensive spells and multiple deciphering curses, but they had no effect. Each time a spell struck, a dense layer of magical runes flared across the surface. Unlike the front door, there was no counterattack; instead, the spells seemed to be absorbed by the metal. No matter how many times she cast, she couldn't detect any weakening in the runes.
"It's like this again. Why is he so obsessed with security? The owner should consider selling safes instead of doing alchemy. These are so high-quality I almost want one myself," Aseria grumbled to herself before trying a new approach.
She pressed her wand against the safe's handle and silently chanted a spell. Immediately, a reaction occurred. Where the wand touched the metal, a stream of turbid smoke began to sizzle outward. A noticeable gap appeared as clear corrosion marks ate through the surface, as if the metal had encountered aqua regia. Metallic liquid flowed slowly from the opening.
The process lasted only a short time, but Aseria felt the strain. A hole the size of a ping-pong ball had been corroded into the safe. With its structural integrity destroyed, the magical runes dimmed and vanished.
"Alohomora!" The corroded door opened with a click, revealing a stash of jammers.
"Excellent. Five Anti-Apparition Jammers and five Shielding Jammers. The stock is better than I imagined. With these, our subsequent operations won't be so easily compromised." Aseria was secretly delighted. She neatly packed the items and closed the safe door.
"Unfortunately, metal damaged by a Corrosion Curse cannot be fixed with a Mending Charm. This means the theft might be exposed soon. It would have been better to open it normally; that way, I could have hidden my tracks for longer. But perhaps I can manage. I'll use Transfiguration to restore the safe's appearance. These items are restricted to Aurors, and the Ministry won't be purchasing more in the short term, so it might go unnoticed for a while."
Aseria waved her wand, and the hole rapidly disappeared, the metal appearing whole once more. To ensure the Transfiguration held, she pushed a significant amount of magic into the spell. She then cleaned up the smoke residue and the metallic stains left by the corrosion.
Feeling successful, she actually walked back into the front shop and leisurely wandered around. She played the part of a shopper, admiring her favorite accessories and even listening to a few more records. However, she stole nothing else, returning every item to its proper place. When she had seen enough, she cleaned up any traces of her infiltration and slowly exited the shop. After closing the door, she injected magic into the lock to restore its defenses.
Once she confirmed everything looked exactly as it had been, Aseria vanished with a crack of Apparition. When she reappeared in her own residence, she felt completely relaxed and reached up to take off her mask. However, her magical senses suddenly detected a faint danger approaching from behind.
Aseria took a nimble sidestep, drawing her wand from her waist in a fluid motion. She assumed a fighting stance and pointed her wand at the shadows in the living room.
"Too slow, Unicorn..." a deep male voice drifted from the darkness.
A wizard draped in a cloak slowly emerged. He also held a snow-white aspen wand in his right hand. Aseria breathed a sigh of relief when she saw him, but she did not lower her wand.
"I've told you many times, don't just barge into my house," she retorted fiercely. "Has your memory gotten that bad... Thunderbird?"