Chapter 38: Backworld (2)

After the introduction, Fluver led me to his office.

As expected, having a private office like this suggested he held a considerably high position within the organization.

Pandemonium.

It had all sorts of grandiose titles attached to it, but simply put, it was a network of demons hidden within the human world.

“You know why I’m here, right?”

“Of course.”

In other words, this was the perfect place to obtain the information I needed.

“Did you plant a spy in the Academy? You’re faster than I expected.”

I expected them to be quick, but I didn’t think they’d hear about it in half a day.

“It was a coincidence.”

“A coincidence?”

“It happened to overlap with the information we were tracking.”

“Tracking… Who?”

I assumed Stella’s attacker was an assassin.

A high-ranking one at that. It wasn’t something you could anticipate and track in advance.

Normal – Elite – Expert – Master – Grand Master.

The strength of each class was divided into five levels.

Normals and Elites were relatively easy to find.

But from Expert and above, the difficulty increased exponentially, making them hard to track.

Master assassins numbered less than ten in the entire continent.

That’s why I was puzzled by Fluver’s words.

“There’s been recent activity from the Black Market and White Blood.”

“What?”

Those two organizations were active at this point in time?

I didn’t remember this happening.

But why?

“The Black Market and White Blood…”

“They’re two of the three major organizations in the Underworld, along with us.”

“Why are they active?”

“I’ve prepared the information.”

Fluver handed me a document.

I took it, opened the thick cover, and found organized documents inside.

===============

Name: (Unknown), Codename: F

Age: (Unknown)

Gender: Female (Presumed)

Hometown: (Unknown)

Residence: (Unknown)

Affiliation: White Blood

Occupation: Master Assassin

Weapon: (Unknown)

Remarks: An assassin belonging to White Blood, a major organization in the Underworld.

Known as F within the organization.

Presumed to have a connection with the organization’s leader. Recently dispatched somewhere, according to intel.

Known for her disguise skills.

===============

“F…”

Everything except her codename, affiliation, and occupation was unknown.

Even her gender was just a guess.

“You’ve done a lot of research.”

“It’s essential.”

It might have sounded sarcastic, but it really was a lot of information.

Unlike other classes, where higher ranks were more well-known, assassins became more secretive as they climbed the ranks.

Considering that knowing the existence of a Master assassin or above was considered an accomplishment, this showed just how extensive Pandemonium’s information network was.

“So, why are they active?”

“The Black Market has been lying low recently.”

“…Lying low?”

“They’ve reduced their external activities.”

There were usually two reasons for this.

“Either there’s been an internal change, or… they’re hiding from a predator.”

“A predator…”

Could it be…

‘Don’t bother me again.’

‘Is that… all?’

‘Yes, that’s all.’

…Me?

‘If you send anyone else, I won’t just give a warning like today. I’ll bury the Black Market.’

“Sigh…”

“Is something wrong?”

“No. Continue.”

I thought I had ended things quietly, but it seemed to have backfired.

If I had let it go, they probably would have continued to pursue me.

It was something that was bound to happen sooner or later. But I still couldn’t help but feel a headache coming on.

“Anyway, we believe she’s the one behind the recent incident at the Academy.”

“…This is troublesome.”

F, the Master Assassin.

She was known as Face among the players.

However, she wasn’t supposed to appear until much later in the story.

I could handle her in terms of combat ability, but the real problem was…

“Disguise… Do you have any idea who she might be impersonating?”

“I apologize. We haven’t been able to determine that yet.”

Her specialty, disguise.

She could perfectly replicate the appearance of anyone she chose.

“Tsk… That’s all you have for now?”

“If you give us a little more time, we’ll look into it…”

“I wish I could, but I don’t have time.”

Two of the three days Professor Lian gave me had already passed.

I had until tomorrow evening, at most.

After that, the noble faction would likely make their move, restricting my actions.

“If you’d like, we can prepare a new identity for you…”

“Let’s save that for later.”

“Understood.”

Even with a new identity, the entrance ceremony was already over.

I would have to wait until next year to enter the Academy.

By then, the Hero’s party would be second-years, significantly reducing my options for approaching them.

“I need information on the professors at the Academy.”

“How much information?”

“Their background, acquaintances… and their approximate combat abilities.”

“Understood.”

The first step in any investigation was to narrow down the suspects.

“You can exclude those with a significant difference in combat ability, like Lian and Glesia.”

“I understand. You’re looking for someone whose appearance would be easy to replicate, right?”

Disguise only changed the outward appearance.

It couldn’t replicate someone’s combat abilities or skills.

“That’s right. And limit the weapon to swords or daggers.”

“Yes.”

“How long will it take?”

“Since the scope has been narrowed down considerably, it should take about three hours.”

“Please.”

So I had about three hours to kill.

I didn’t have anything specific to do, but I was bored.

“If you’re bored, would you like a tour of the organization?”

“Hmm… That sounds good.”

Fluver seemed to have read my mind.

I accepted his offer, thinking it was better than just sitting around.

“So, what does Pandemonium mainly do?”

It was one of the largest organizations in the Underworld.

They probably weren’t running a legitimate business.

“As I mentioned before, we do almost anything that makes money.”

“For example?”

“Trafficking rare materials and weapons, illegal magic tool trade, and so on.”

“And?”

“And the s*ave trade… Ah, there they are.”

Fluver pointed in one direction.

Several people were chained there, restraints on their necks, hands, and feet.

Most of the slaves sat with resigned expressions.

But most meant there were exceptions.

“Do you know who I am?!”

A woman stood up and shouted.

Judging by her luxurious clothes, she seemed to be from a wealthy or noble family.

“She’s resisting again! Take her away!”

“Let go of me! Let me go!”

It didn’t seem to make much of a difference, though.

“Is it alright to sell a woman from a wealthy family as a s*ave?”

“This is the Underworld. As long as we don’t touch anyone from a Duke’s family or higher, even the Empire can’t easily interfere.”

“What about her?”

“If I remember correctly, she’s the daughter of a Count.”

A Count wasn’t a low rank, but it seemed manageable for them.

“What usually happens in these cases?”

“Sometimes we return them to their families for a high price, but in most cases…”

“You sell them. And make sure they can’t be traced.”

“…No comment.”

Fluver didn’t deny it.

“Where are they sold?”

“Probably to auction houses in the Underworld. Or to demons.”

“Demons?”

“Succubi, usually.”

Succubi…

Come to think of it, Lilith had said something similar before.

‘Aria, have you ever thought about joining our Seventh Legion?’

‘As I said before, I refuse.’

‘But we have a lot of kids your age in the Seventh Legion.’

I wondered what she meant by “kids my age” at first, but I learned the truth from Bathory later.

‘More accurately, kids who were human.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘The Seventh Legion is the home of the succubi. Do you really think there are ordinary humans there?’

‘Ah…’

I never brought up that topic again after that.

“Anyway, the reason is…”

“It’s okay.”

“…What?”

“I think I understand.”

I didn’t really want to know.