Chapter 23: The Demon Eye’s Gaze

Lucy, who sensed an unknown magical power, paused her speech for a moment and looked in the direction where the magical power was felt.

The location was a high seat located at the top of the audience.

Among the four demons sitting there, it was the man with long blond hair.

He kept a close eye on her on the stage.

Of course, it was natural for someone sitting in the audience to look at someone on the stage, but the problem here was that he was using the demon eye.

Eyes as blue as glass.

The unknown magical power felt there was definitely proof that it was the demon eye.

Judging from the atmosphere of the direct gaze, it was clearly the demon eye related to ‘insight.’

He had spied on her with that.

Of course, the reading of information would have failed due to the illusionist’s unique ability, ‘information blocking.’

The important thing was who they were and why they were trying to spy on her.

Lucy considered going into battle mode just in case, but stopped after seeing the pattern engraved on their cloaks.

Judging from the symbol of Helathor, he must be one of the royal family members.

Furthermore, if they were enemies, they wouldn’t have been sitting in such a prominent position.

Lucy concluded that.

However, it was still unpleasant.

Trying to spy on someone without their permission was one of the bad manners in ‘Ragnarok.’

She quickly turned on her magic and gave a cold warning to the man who had spied on her.

It was a silent pressure to ‘not spy on others without permission.’

The man smiled awkwardly, as if he had understood the warning.

In the meantime, the auditorium was in an uproar.

This was because Lucy had stopped her speech midway.

Andreyan, who was in charge of the meeting, whispered softly with a slightly embarrassed look on his face.

“What’s going on, Lucy?”

Lucy shook her head as if nothing had happened and continued her speech.

She felt a little uncomfortable, but right now, she wanted to get off the stage as quickly as possible.

Speaking in front of hundreds of people.

She felt like she would get stage fright if she stammered.

“First of all, to everyone who has come here….”

Something about the great wizard.

Something about the unknown spirit of inquiry.

Something about the mysterious law of humanity.

I was finally able to finish reading the damned long oath.

As I made my last statement, applause echoed from all over the auditorium.

The four demons from before had disappeared somewhere.

Soon, Andreyan finished his sermon and the long entrance ceremony came to an end.

At the same time, the students began to be guided.

The children were divided into various classes and followed their teachers.

Lucy was in Andreyan’s class A.

Class A.

The classroom of Class A, located on the second floor, was unlike any other, befitting its name as a prestigious school.

First of all, there was a chandelier, a symbol of wealth, centered around a stepped desk and high-quality leather chairs.

In addition, the decorations placed here and there were all things that looked like they would be sold at a pawn shop for a high price.

In short, it looked like they had spent a lot of money.

The tuition is really cheap.

Edem’s tuition was very cheap, so even commoners could enroll.

However, the reason they were able to build such high-quality facilities was because this was a public institution supported by the royal family.

Soon after the guidance was over, they sat down in their assigned seats according to Andreyan’s instructions.

Luckily, Lucy’s seat was by the window where the sunlight poured in.

“Today is the first day, so let’s have each of you introduce yourself.”

The first class after entering the academy was self-introduction time, just like any other academy.

Then, the classmates sitting in the first row on the right stood up and started introducing themselves.

The classmates gave cool speeches about their ‘origins,’ ‘family,’ and ‘purpose of admission.’

Most of them looked to be in their mid-teens.

With their bright eyes, they all seemed proud to be Edem’s students.

Lucy, who didn’t pay much attention to her classmates, yawned and looked out the window.

Then, at some point, it was her turn.

Feeling awkward about the attention pouring in, she ended her introduction with a short statement, “Lucy Deviluke, please take care of me.”

This was the least sincere of all the self-introductions I’ve ever had.

But the applause at the end was more bizarre than ever.

Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap.

The self-introduction ended suddenly.

Andreyan, who was checking the number of people, left the room for a moment, saying, “I’ll have to contact the absentees separately.”

Then, the classroom that had been quiet suddenly became noisy.

Classmates gathered in small groups and chatted.

It seemed that this was the same as the classroom that became noisy when the homeroom teacher left.

So, there was a time to expand the circle of friends for a while.

Meanwhile, Lucy was looking out the window like an outsider.

With her mental age and her perception of the world, she was unable to fit into that atmosphere.

A group of people approached Lucy.

They were three girls, including a girl with blonde hair in a bun.

The girl with the bun in the middle raised her skirt hem slightly toward Lucy and acted with aristocratic courtesy.

“Hello? I am Angelica Lee Genesis. I am honored to be in the same class as you, Princess.”

Miss Angelica made an elegant gesture to appeal to herself.

Just as she looked elegant, her speech gave off the air of a noble lady.

“. Yes, first of all, since we’re classmates, I don’t think you need to be so polite.”

“Oh, how kind of you. It’s fate that we’re in the same class, so please take care of me from now on, Princess!”

“You don’t even need to use the title of Princess..”

She naturally sat down next to Lucy and started to spout off nice things.

Like how great it was that she got into the top class, how good her looks were, how great Satan was.

She kept spewing out flattering words.

Judging from her desperate attempts to somehow build intimacy, it seemed like she wasn’t approaching her with pure intentions, but rather because she was tempted by Lucy’s background.

Lucy, who was tired of such sweet talk, simply responded dryly.

“Take care of your hair, what kind of shampoo do you use?”

“I don’t know.”

“I heard that Satan this time….”

“Well.”

“What do you usually do on weekends…”

“Sleep.”

No matter what she said, Lucy responded with an attitude of looking at the distant mountains.

Even so, she didn’t give up easily.

Lucy sighed inwardly, looking at the yellow eyes sparkling before her eyes, thinking that she was going to get tired.

Lihiberi’s mansion.

Sir Archibald, who was the head of the family and the ‘Minister of Finance’ of the palace, lined up his guards and slammed the table.

He, who was usually known for being gentle, had an angry expression on his face today.

The development of all the events began this morning.

When his daughter, ‘Abet’, left to attend the academy’s entrance ceremony.

After sending Abet off in the carriage, he left the mansion to go to work at the palace as usual.

Around lunchtime, an urgent letter arrived from his aide.

The content was a notice from the academy that ‘Abet’ had not attended the entrance ceremony.

Feeling something strange, he returned to the mansion right away, but Abet, as well as the servants who were supposed to bring her to the academy, were nowhere to be seen.

Archibald, who sensed that things were not going well, immediately called the guards and ordered them to search the carriage carrying his daughter.

This had been going on for hours.

There was no news of Abet.

Archibald slammed the table again in confusion.

The carriage had disappeared in the middle of the city, so it was clear that this was a kidnapping.

The question was who, for what purpose, and how did they kidnap her?

The distance from the mansion to the academy was at most 30 minutes.

On top of that, the carriage was accompanied by guards.

In such a situation, kidnapping without anyone noticing would have required high-level magic.

‘If it was just a kidnapping for money, that would be great…’

Archibald, getting impatient, asked his aides.

“Have you received any threatening letters demanding money?”

“Have you received any threatening letters demanding money?”

“I’ve constantly checked with the maids, but no documents have been found yet…”

If money wasn’t the goal, then why on earth would they have kidnapped his daughter?

Archibald’s face was turning dark with thought as his various imaginations took over.

It was a natural reaction for him, who was usually known for loving his daughter dearly.

The ‘Captain of the Guard’ who was assessing the situation next to him first calmed him down.

“Don’t worry, Minister of Finance, we’ve sent out wanted notices to other cities and just distributed requests to adventurers. You’ll hear news soon.”

“I hope so, Captain of the Guard…”

“We’ll definitely catch the kidnappers soon.”

Kidnappers.

Archibald clenched his fists at those words.

“I don’t know who they are, but I’ll chase them to the ends of the continent.”

Just as he was about to get off the mountain to speed up the investigation, an unknown voice rang out from somewhere.

-You don’t have to search so hard.

It wasn’t the voice of the ‘Minister of Finance’, ‘Captain of the Guard’, or ‘Guardians’ in the room.

The guards who sensed something strange looked around and tried to draw their swords.

At that moment, blood began to spurt out everywhere.

“Ahhh!”

“Ugh!”

The guards fell down, bleeding all at once.

Judging from the marks of their wounds, they seemed to have been attacked and killed by something invisible.

“Your Majesty, behind me!”

“What the heck..”

At some point, the room was soaked in blood, and only the finance minister and the captain of the guard survived.

And soon, the space distorted, and those who had been hiding their bodies with ‘transparency’ the whole time began to appear one by one.

Men wearing black robes over their heads.

A total of 9 people.

The man in the middle confidently took off his robe and approached the finance minister.

A man with long black hair.

He was wearing a neat suit under his robe, and his face was pale beyond white.

“Stop, you punk!”

The captain of the guard raised his sword to protect the finance minister.

Nevertheless, the man approached without even blinking.

“I told you to stop!”

“I don’t need you.”

“What..?”

“?”

It was just one short word.

After that fleeting moment, the captain of the guard’s neck was torn off by some force.

Just like his subordinates a moment ago, he was cut by something invisible.

In an instant, the captain of the guards’ head, cut in two, rolled on the floor.

The finance minister, left alone, stepped back and stared at him.

“You kidnapped my daughter?”

“Yes.”

The man did not deny it.

“What do you want…? Money?”

“No, it’s more valuable than that.”

“What did you say…?”

The man gave an ambiguous answer and stepped on a puddle of blood and approached the finance minister’s nose.

The finance minister looked straight at him, overcoming his fear.

He was looking down at him with a cold gaze that lacked any trace of humanity.

“My name is Douglas. You… clearly said Archibald.”

“What did you do to my daughter?”

“Do you want to save her? If you grant my request, I will.”

He immediately took out an unidentified magic stone from his bosom.

“Hide this in the center of the palace and come back, and I will not touch your daughter.”

“…”