Chapter 37: Backworld (1)

After the investigation ended.

We returned the way we came and found the purple-haired professor waiting for us.

“Did you find anything new?”

“Unfortunately, no.”

“That’s too bad.”

As I told her, I continued investigating after the conversation with Lucia, but…

Despite searching for even the smallest trace, I found nothing.

“Same here. It must be true then.”

“Thank you for your help.”

“Well, curiosity can get the better of you when you’re young.”

She shrugged, as if telling me not to worry about it.

“…Situation clear. You can reactivate the barrier.”

{Did you find anything?}

“Nothing. It seems I was mistaken.”

She rummaged through her pocket again and made a call. The barrier reappeared behind us.

“Then you should go now. Don’t wander off and get caught by another professor.”

“Alright.”

With those words, she left. We turned and headed back to the dormitory.

“So, Aria, what are you going to do now?”

“I’m not sure…”

I had a few ideas, like investigating people around the Academy or tailing other professors.

But…

“Nothing concrete yet.”

They were all based on suspicion or carried significant risks.

“Then…”

“Since tomorrow is the weekend, I think I’ll have to investigate outside the Academy.”

“What?”

The Academy, being a boarding school, allowed students to leave on weekends with permission.

They were especially lenient with high-achieving students, so I should be able to get permission easily.

“Aren’t you a suspect, Aria?”

“It’s to prove my innocence, so they won’t stop me.”

The three-day grace period meant I had three days to prove my innocence.

I had to use every method possible.

“Then we’ll go with…”

“No. I have to do this alone.”

The place I was going to visit was practically a den of demons.

Furthermore, being seen with the Hero’s party would only draw unnecessary attention.

“…Alright. Be careful, Aria.”

With those words, Lucia returned to her room.

As soon as morning came, I headed to Professor Glesia’s room.

“So you want a leave permit?”

“As I said.”

Glesia looked at the document in front of her.

It was a leave permit application.

“As you know, you are currently…”

“A prime suspect. I know.”

“Then wouldn’t leaving only make you look more suspicious?”

I expected this.

But I couldn’t back down now, with a chance to find a clue right in front of me.

“Didn’t you say you trusted me?”

“…”

“I’ll make sure to resolve this. So please, trust me.”

Our gazes met in the air.

Her blue eyes stared at me for a long time before…

“…Sigh, alright.”

“Thank you.”

She finally relented with a sigh.

She reached for the document and signed her name.

“Aria, you’re my student now that I’ve taken responsibility for you.”

“I know.”

I knew what kind of person she was in the original story, her thoughts, and her values.

“So I’ll trust you.”

I even knew she would eventually give me permission.

After meeting with Glesia, I finally arrived in the city.

It was best to conceal my identity, so I kept my robe pulled low over my face.

“I didn’t expect to come here like this.”

A long alley stretched out before me.

It looked like an ordinary alley, but it was actually the entrance to one of the most dangerous places in the Empire.

The so-called ‘Underworld.’

Also known as the Empire’s shadow, it was a place where shady businesses thrived.

There was no law enforcement, and might made right.

It was a nation within a nation, home to major organizations like the Black Market and illegal auction houses, as well as countless other criminal organizations.

‘Even the Empire can’t touch this place so easily.’

Interfering with the Underworld, which was sensitive to government intervention, could easily destabilize the entire nation.

Unless it involved royalty or one of the Five Great Families, the Empire wouldn’t readily intervene, even if nobles went missing there.

“This way.”

A man approached me.

I was wary at first, but I lowered my weapon after recognizing his face.

“It’s been a while, Aria-nim.”

“Fluver… was it? It hasn’t been that long.”

The man called Fluver smiled and replied.

“Haha, well, the flow of time is relative.”

What, was he a philosopher now?

“If you’re done with the nonsense, please lead the way.”

“Understood. This way.”

He stopped smiling and entered the alley.

As I followed him, he stopped as if he’d remembered something.

“Oh, by the way, you should be careful here.”

“Me?”

“I’m not worried about your combat abilities, but…”

Before he could finish, several men approached us.

Armed with weapons, they quickly surrounded us.

“Hey, you. New here?”

The others who recognized Fluver earlier remained silent.

Were these guys clueless? Or were they new recruits?

“What should we do?”

“Meaning?”

“If you allow it, I’ll take care of them.”

“…Get rid of them.”

Fluver nodded at my words and gestured somewhere.

“Are you ignoring us? Get them, men…!”

The man turned to his side…

Thud Thud Thud

…only to see heads falling to the ground, detached from their bodies.

By the time he realized what had happened, he was the only one left.

“Assassins?”

“Yes. They’re called Shadows, an assassination team we trained.”

‘Quite useful.’

As we were talking, someone approached us.

He bowed his head before speaking.

“How should we deal with him? He seems to be the leader, so we kept him alive.”

“What do you think, Aria-nim?”

“Hmm…”

The man looked like a common thug.

Even if I interrogated him, I wouldn’t get any useful information.

“Get rid of him.”

“Take care of him.”

“P-please, spare me…”

The man’s head fell to the ground. The Shadows carried away the bodies.

In an instant, nothing but faint bloodstains remained on the street.

“Then, shall we continue?”

Fluver continued leading the way, as if nothing had happened, despite having just witnessed the deaths of fifteen people.

Well, I wasn’t much different from them at this point.

After walking for a while, Fluver entered a building.

The woman at the desk tried to greet him, but…

“Welcome. We…”

“Skip the greetings and lead the way.”

“Understood.”

She immediately led us inside.

She operated something, and a doorway that looked like a wall opened, revealing an elevator leading down.

“That woman. She’s human?”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t this a demon branch?”

“Well, some humans are worse than demons.”

I couldn’t sense any demonic energy from her.

She wasn’t an ordinary person, then.

“What is this place?”

“Officially, it’s just another illegal organization.”

“And what about the lower levels?”

“Many things. Weapon and magic tool trafficking, capital transfer to demon branches across the continent, s*ave trade, and so on…”

The elevator reached the bottom before he could finish.

The doors opened, revealing a vast space like a hangar.

Unlike the upper levels, most of the people here were demons.

Ignoring the surrounding noise, Fluver turned to me.

He took off his hat like a gentleman and bowed deeply.

“Welcome, Zeroth Legion Commander Lucifer-nim.”

“To the largest human-world branch of the demons…”

…Pandemonium.