I Became an Outcast in the Academy

10. Struggling (5)

The headquarters of the warlocks is located in the lowest part of the empire, that is, in the deepest part of the slums, commonly called ‘back alleys’.

It is a place filled with all kinds of people who have been kicked out of the society above, and at the same time, it is a disgusting place where the lowest people in the empire live together like insects.

A place where light and trivial crimes such as theft and highway robbery occur as if breathing, and no one really cares even if someone next to them is murdered.

Also, the ‘back alleys’ are so winding and complicated that a normal person would quickly lose their sense of direction.

Because the roads have to be complicated in this way, it is difficult for outsiders to break in, and it is easy for criminals to hide their tracks, so this terrain was formed over a long period of time.

But Lobelia, as if the winding path reminiscent of a maze could not have any effect on her, she moves her steps without a single hesitation and heads towards her destination.

The reason why Lobelia was able to navigate this maze-like path to her destination without any sign of confusion was entirely due to her excellent memory, but there was another even bigger reason.

‘Because I once lived around here.’

It is a truly humiliating past. And she is also a past that Lobelia wants to forget as much as possible.

Of course, since the geography of this area felt so familiar, she had the advantage of being able to visit the home of the warlocks, whom she had visited only once in the past, without any difficulty, but these advantages were as good as Lobelia’s eyes. It didn’t feel welcoming either.

If Lobelia had been born into the noble birth she had hoped for, or at least had been born and raised in an ordinary family, she would not have needed to have such useless knowledge.

Lobelia, she hated it.

She feels like the label that she was born and raised in this disgusting and mean alley is attached to her somewhere on her body.

She felt as if everyone in the world was laughing at her, no matter how richly she wore clothes, stayed in elegant mansions, and ate sumptuous meals.

That’s why Lobelia wanted to completely erase her miserable past and eventually forget everything about her.

Of course, the ‘past’ that Lobelia wanted to erase also included her vision.

That’s why she betrayed.

Her man, Sian, was a benefactor who gave Lobelia, who had been rolling around in her gutter, a new life, but at the same time, he constantly reminded her that she was once a miserable orphan wandering around her alley. Because it was also a medium.

If that were all, Lobelia might have ended everything for her, to the point of kicking out her Xian from her Lutra.

But her current Cyan was trying to take away what Lobelia valued more than her life and ultimately bring about her downfall.

So Lobelia excludes her vision. Right here, right now, at any cost.

If she does not deal with Xian now, it will be Lobelia who will ultimately face destruction.

‘My brother’s current location is behind me, at 5 o’clock, approximately 50 meters away.’

Lobelia, using her spirit to continuously determine Xian’s location, pretends nothing is wrong and heads to the warlocks’ base.

Eventually, Lobelia stops in front of a house that looks nothing special except that it is old and shabby when viewed from the outside.

It was one of the contact points that Lobelia used not long ago when she contacted the warlocks.

Squeak.

When Lobelia opened her door without any hesitation and went inside, there was sitting there a passenger whom she could never say she was happy to see.

“No matter how much we joined hands out of necessity… “You will be held accountable for your words.”

I feel goosebumps growing all over my body as I face the creepy gaze, as if there is a snake crawling all over my body.

But, without ever showing it outwardly, Lobelia glared at the warlock with a confident expression on her face.

“Hmm, I didn’t expect to receive a thank you from you, but I also never imagined that you would at least give me that look.”

“Don’t think of sneaking around like a snarky snake. Your head hurts when you think about how great a risk your actions will pose to us. “You didn’t think we were just giving you one of our hideouts to do as you please, did you?”

Lobelia’s own body flinched for just a moment at her warlock’s words.

In fact, Lobelia also harbored similar suspicions as the warlock in her heart.

But if she admits that fact here, she would be losing her initiative to the warlock.

In addition, wasn’t he walking into this back alley on his own, saying something regretful to the warlock in order to completely block out any possible variables?

So, Lobelia speaks to the warlock with a confident attitude.

“I admit that there are risks, but if you think about the benefits when the plan is completed successfully, I don’t think it’s a big deal, right?”

If the warlocks can secure the draft and use his abilities as they wish, the game is over at that point.

“I know that much. That’s why I accepted your almost unreasonable request. “Even if you know it’s a trap, you can’t just ignore bait that’s too tempting to pass up.”

“So, are you ready to catch your brother?”

“Get ready… “Is it even necessary to prepare to catch one such brat?”

When the warlock answered in a blunt but at the same time arrogant tone, Lobelia suddenly felt uneasy.

“… I’m not in a position to say this after dragging her brother here, but he’s strong. Since he was very young, he has participated in numerous battlefields as a mercenary and has survived in the end, and among the cadets in Luthra, there is no one who can rival him. So, you must never let down your guard… “

Lobelia gave this advice out of concern, but the warlock who heard it burst into laughter as if it was ridiculous.

“hahahahaha! You decided to make me laugh! Return alive from the battlefield as a mercenary? Is there no one among the cadets to fight against? Do you truly consider me to be on the same level as this guy who only brags about facts like that?”

At that moment, a formidable energy began to pour out of the warlock’s body.

And when Lobelia faced that energy, she took a step back without realizing it. Cold sweat was already dripping down her back.

“It’s not something to be proud of just being one thing among the kids. “I have been fighting against the empire since your brother was bottle-sucking, and I survived in the end.”

The warlock said that in a truly confident tone, and in fact, the warlock had the right to say such a thing.

The energy emanating from the warlock in front of her was infinitely similar to that of Duke Orphega, whom Lobelia had once seen.

Although I couldn’t know for sure, I think it wouldn’t be completely impossible for the warlock in front of me to fight on equal footing with Duke Orphega.

But why? Seeing the warlock showing such confidence makes me feel uneasy.

An ominous feeling, as if if I take even one wrong step, I will fall a thousand miles off a cliff.

Could it be that she made the wrong choice? If she had known that things would turn out like this, wouldn’t it have been wiser to just take a step back and observe the situation rather than giving in to her brother’s provocation?

And, that was the time.

Trug.

I hear someone’s footsteps. The sound of footsteps walking towards this direction.

Soon the door opens. And through the gap in the open door, a man walks inside.

Of course, the man’s identity was Sian.

“As expected. “You are acting just as you thought, Lobelia.”

Unlike the time before when he was provoking Lobelia, the voice had a cool and calm tone.

As Lobelia expected, yesterday’s words were nothing more than bait to induce Lobelia to take action.

“By the way, it was really true. Even after hearing Cartesia’s words, I couldn’t believe it. I never thought you would really join hands with black magicians… “

Cian swallowed her excited voice as she looked at the figure wearing a black hood next to Lobelia.

Xian, who had experienced strange experiences while traveling to various battlefields as a mercenary, was able to quickly realize that he was a warlock.

It was impossible not to notice that it was emitting dark black magic from all over its body, and in addition, it was emitting a deadly force that seemed to embody death itself.

“Hoo, are you that guy named Xian?”

A few days ago, I had observed Sian from a distance so as not to be seen by others, but this was my first time seeing him so close.

And, the Xian I met up close was a very interesting being.

Just as Lobelia said, this guy named Xian was a being with some unique ability that even he couldn’t understand.

‘There… ‘These are not ordinary eyes.’

He thought he was just a childish brat, but the warlock slightly modified his evaluation of Xian in his head.

In his experience, people with eyes like that were never ordinary people. Nor was he foolish enough to throw himself into a battle he had no chance of winning and invite death.

“Hey, warlock. “There is one thing I would like to suggest to you.”

“What is it?”

If Sian had been a person below expectations, he would have captured him right away and ripped his brain out step by step without even saying a word, but since he was a more interesting person than expected, there was nothing that couldn’t have been a conversation with him at least a few words.

“Cartesia will say absolutely no, but I don’t really care what kind of scheme you guys are planning behind the scenes. “I am not some kind of messenger of justice, and I have no intention of incurring your resentment.”

“Oh, so?”

When the warlock asked this question as if it was amusing, Cyan glanced at Lobelia, who was standing quietly next to him.

“Hand that damn b*tch over to me. Lobelia and I already have a pre-existing contract. If you hand over that b*tch to me like this, I promise I won’t touch you here first. “I think this is the perfect proposal that can make us all happy.”

“Then what if I say I can’t listen to that? “Rather than accepting your offer, don’t you think that a more effective solution would be to catch you as you crawled into the place where you will die alone?”

“If you guys come out in such a shameful way… “I can’t help it.”

Boo!

“Kaaak!”

The moment Xian shrugged his shoulders, the black magician’s body was split in two by the path of a sword that suddenly came out of nowhere.

Of course, the person who swung the sword was none other than Cartesia.

And Xian, who was quietly watching the scene, shrugs his shoulders and opens his mouth.

“Then, even if it turns out to be the same on this side, there won’t be anything to say, right? Huh?”