I Became The Academy’s Narrow-Eyes

Chapter 58: The Black Mage Who Hides Her True Identity (1)

“This, If we keep Lady Teln in the back alley, it might cause problems. Should I just kill her too?”

At Lize’s words, one of her subordinates, Fiera, was startled.

Fiera was a sort of ‘safety device’ for Lize by the name of an apprentice at Dalleye.

A safety device that stops the impulsive actions of Lize who had a fierce nature.

As soon as Lize shows signs of impulsive action, the safety device is activated immediately.

“If we kill Lady Teln, it will be a truly unbearable situation.”

“Think about it. Is it better for Lady Teln to go back to her territory as is and complain ‘Daddy, Mommy~ I was almost ripped off a grade 2 artifact at the outskirts of the 2nd district by those bastards~’ Or, is it better for Lady Teln to go missing somewhere in Arienne?

“Do you want to cause a blaze in the Back Alleys just to extinguish a spark that fell on Dalleye?”

As Fiera described, Lize’s words were equivalent to saying that she wanted to start a fire because cleaning is bothersome.

Even if it’s difficult for an external aristocrat to exercise influence within Arienne, the story changes when a princess from a high-born aristocratic family dies.

Using it as a pretext, all the external aristocrats would rise and try to exercise their influence in Arienne.

When that happens, the city council would have to set an example.

The crime organizations in the Back Alleys, thriving on the neglect of the city council, would suffer massive damage.

“That’s right! Our Dalleye must seize the opportunity to take over other Back Alleys; especially now that they’re making a fuss over an empty bag.”

“First of all… I hope you won’t forget that our Dalleye is also a member of the Back Alley…”

“Don’t we have people in the city council who we can use? If we don’t use them now, then when?”

This was a statement Lize made because she somewhat believed in it.

Dalleye would not hesitate in its methods or means to expand its power.

Some of their main clients were officials from the city council.

“If the princess of the Teln family died in our area, to clean up after that, we would need to be a part of the city council, not just have connections there.”

Of course, the connections were not as tenacious as Lize thought.

“Ugh, damn it! Then what’s the use crawling up and down for those noble bastards all the time?”

“Even if our friends wouldn’t cover us if Lady Teln dies in our area, wouldn’t they at least reprimand the gangsters who rudely approached Lady Teln?”

After thinking over Fiera’s words for a while, Lize agreed.

“Well, it seems we both agree that we must kill those fuckers.”

“Yes. It would be troublesome if we handed over Lady Teln to the guards and brought her to the trial. I think now is the time for you to step in and definitively draw the line, Lize.”

“So, we kill those fuckers, clarify that they’re unrelated to our organization, right? I hope that Lady Teln is as an idiot as Goran. She’d have to believe such nonsense.”

“Whether Lady Teln believes it or not isn’t important.”

“Then what is?”

“Lady Teln was nearly robbed by mere gangsters near the Back Alley. Teln can’t raise this as an issue to the city council over such a small matter.”

Arienne was a city where its nobility formed a council and had thorough control over their power.

Inside Arienne, the council’s power was absolute.

A high-ranking noble who wasn’t from a Great Family needed a justifiable reason to pressure the city council.

Fiera’s suggestion was to handle the issue without giving such a reason.

“Damn, it’s freaking annoying. If we chose the right person in the first place, we wouldn’t be dealing with such a mess.”

“Argh…!”

Lize vented her anger on the nearby objects.

“As you may know, Miss Lize, Goran is still a savvy person from the Back Alleys. At the least, he’s not a person without any discernment.”

“If a bastard blinded by greed attacks a Teln woman in our area, isn’t he a person without discernment? A shameless and disrespectful jerk?”

Fiera sighed inwardly.

‘Vulgar woman.’

Fiera was Lize’s attendant. Still, she was also in charge of managing a pub, a business venture of Dalleye, situated here.

Her job was to deal with the nobles, Dalleye’s clients.

Fiera, who began to regard herself as equal to the nobles, showed the unique manners of the nobility in her speech.

She swore silently at Lize’s blunt language.

Had it not been Dalleye’s order, she wouldn’t be dealing with such a vulgar woman.

“The young lady of the Teln family still doesn’t know the exact value of the artifact. Stealing it, he might have assumed he could obtain a second-grade artifact for a reasonable price, hasn’t he?”

“Hah, it’s something an ambiguously stupid punk will think of.”

Lize considered Goran a fool.

However, she somewhat understood Goran’s position.

She mused.

A second-grade artifact.

A substantial treasure that a nobody like Goran could never possess, even if he lived multiple lives.

Did he delude himself into thinking that he could control such a treasure?

It was nothing unusual when greed paralyzed reason.

‘A second-grade artifact…’

Currently, Lize is the same.

She was not immune to the charm exuded by the treasure of a second-grade artifact.

She was now weighing the value of Dalleye’s trust and a second-grade artifact.

For example, she was pondering whether to betray Dalleye and snatch away the artifact.

In Goran’s case, he had abandoned such an option out of fear of Dalleye’s pursuit.

However, Lize was different.

She was confident she could handle Dalleye’s pursuit.

According to what was known in the world, Lize was a fourth-grade magician who had the fifth-star grade in her grasp.

As Dalleye, they would certainly be able to eliminate a fourth-grade magician who betrayed them and stole a second-grade artifact thanks to their organization’s influence.

It would take some effort though.

Still, Lize boasted she could bear Dalleye’s pursuit because she was currently concealing her real power and identity.

A sixth-grade dark magician.

That was the true identity of the fourth-grade magician, Lize.

Several dark magicians have infiltrated the world of daylight while hiding their identities.

However, most of those dark magicians claim to be ordinary people – non-abilities who cannot handle mana.

There were extremely few dark magicians like Lize who publicly operated under the identity of a magician.

The reason is simple.

Achieving success in another field separate from dark magic was both highly inefficient and demanding.

Lize was a unique being who achieved success in both dark magic and magic.

That was the source of Lize’s confidence.

With that confidence, she thought,

that she could steal that second-grade artifact.

A second-grade artifact would be worth betraying Dalleye.

The relationship between Lize and Dalleye was strictly calculated, with no element of trust, honor, or anything.

If Dalleye were forced to choose between the second-grade artifact and Lize, they would undoubtedly choose the second-grade artifact without hesitation.

Thud.

Thud.

The moment Lize made up her mind,

The stem of mana sprouting from her finger pierced the chests of the two organization members who had been acting as objects just moments before.

It was a first-grade mana sword.

They fell instantly, unable to emit even a scream.

“Huh?”

Fiera was startled by the sudden situation.

“Lize, what on earth is…”

“You understand, it’s a second-grade artifact.”

Fiera’s face turned pale when she grasped the situation.

“C-can you survive after doing this!?”

Lize pushed up her red bobbed hair with both hands.

The colorful piercings on both her ears sparkled as they caught the light and she laughed mockingly.

“Yeah, idiot.”

She forced a smile full of scorn.

“Dalleye-…!”

Fiera’s words were cut off.

The mana sword that sprang from Lize’s finger had now pierced Fiera’s chest.

“What’s Dalleye to you, you who have deceived me and made me come to Arienne?”

Lize stepped over the bodies of the fallen members of the Dalleye and moved on.

“Now, shall we go?”

Lize was envisioning the second-grade artifact, which had practically already come into her hands, and wore a satisfied smile.

***

“Why are you here…!”

Goran was astonished when he discovered Lize.

“Why am I here? Goran, you fool. You asked me to come and kill them all.”

Lize extended her palm.

From the center of her palm, mana lines containing chill spread out in all directions.

“What’s that-…!”

Thud!

Goran’s words were cut off.

Lize’s magical circle, which had been completed without him noticing, began to spit out ice spikes.

A fourth-grade magic.

Frost storm.

A one-sided massacre began.

“Arghhh!!!”

“Run!!!”

The reprobates donning black robes discarded their weapons and ran off in unison.

“Arghh- ack!”

“Ugh!”

“You crazy bitc-!”

But when the frost storm ceased.

Those in the black robes were without exception sprawled on the ground.

The only ones still standing were those not dressed in black robes.

Adryn’s group had swung their swords to ward off the ice spikes released by Lize’s magic.

“Huh?”

Lize, who had started the spell, raised her eyebrows as she looked at them.

“You stopped all of that?”

Even if it was a large-scale killing magic and the focused firepower was low, it was an attack Lize, as a 4th-grade wizard, put all her strength into.

But Adryn’s group, although panting and surprised, did not bear a single bruise.

“These babies seem a little strong huh? Despite looking like brats.”

What Lize was first surprised by was Teln’s elegance, Adryn’s reaction.

She was calm, without any emotional fluctuation, just like a death knight who can’t feel fear.

Lize gauged her level based on the mana she perceived from Adryn.

She was a brat anyway, even at her best she couldn’t reach the 3-star grade.

“That’s strange.”

But Adryn’s response wasn’t one of a baby at all.

It was a movement that could only be exhibited by someone who has weathered tens of years in real battle and his emotion of fear has degenerated.

“I don’t see it that way.- Hmh?”

There was one more thing.

The ice spikes flying in the most threatening path had suddenly melted and disappeared.

As if there was ‘direct mana interference’.

Then, Lize’s gaze landed on the necklace adorned by Adryn’s hand.

The orange jewel of the necklace was emitting a faint light.

“Ah, ha.”

Lize snickered as she realized.

She was certain.

It’s that artifact.

The mana interference that melted the ice spikes was definitely due to the power contained in that necklace.