Chapter 132

─────────── 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Episode 30 - Black City [3]

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"It is an honor to receive a special guest. Please stand in the center of the circle."

A girl with long golden hair that resembled the radiance of the sun wore a mask over her face, and behind the mask’s eyeholes was a pair of golden eyes so deep they seemed as though they were gazing directly at the sun itself.

She wore a simple long dress that reached her knees, accompanied by a blouse. Her clothes were a bright yellow color.

Although the outfit was simple, it was also extremely elegant.

Clana stood in the center of the circle beneath her feet. Shortly afterward, the Teleportation Array activated, and her figure disappeared.

Clana looked into the darkness for a second before opening her eyes again.

She was inside a vast hall. On both sides of where she stood were dozens of Teleportation Arrays, where people wearing elegant clothing and masks occasionally appeared.

At that moment, a man wearing a mask and a black tuxedo approached her.

Clana showed her Special Card, and the man bowed as he received it.

"It is an honor to receive a special guest. I will explain some of the Auction’s rules while I guide you outside."

Clana said nothing. She merely nodded and silently listened to the explanations regarding the Auction’s rules.

They were fairly simple rules, such as avoiding any fights and being careful not to purchase items without possessing enough money.

Among other simple regulations.

Finally, after stepping outside, the first thing Clana looked at was the red sky and the crimson moon, from whose edges a kind of liquid red veil flowed downward.

’So this is the Infernal Plane, and this is Black City.’

Since it was her first time coming to this place, her surprise was genuine and obvious.

But it did not take long before her expression calmed down.

She had been invited to the Auction, and because it was her first time, she had researched everything about Black City.

Because yes, she had neither stolen nor impersonated the identity of any special guest.

No one would believe that the princess of the Ordeal Empire...

An Empire that worshipped the God Ordeal, that followed righteousness and kindness, and that felt disgust toward villains, seeing them as parasites that had to be eradicated.

Its princess had connections with those same villains and even held a high position among them.

"Heh, I like this place."

Clana let out a sigh as the corners of her lips rose slightly.

’I don’t know exactly what the item will be, but it seems to be something important. Perhaps it will help me conquer the Ordeal Empire.’

Because one of her goals was to become the next empress.

The competition to become the successor to the emperor or empress was extremely delicate, just as it was in any empire.

Clana had almost no support. She already knew she did not have many chances of becoming empress.

And the already rotten Empire would become even more corrupt if one of her brothers or sisters became emperor or empress.

Furthermore, she would end up being murdered by those very same siblings.

"I would like a tour. Is that possible?"

"Yes, it is, my lady. Please come this way. I will introduce you to several guides who will do whatever you ask and provide you with protection."

Nodding, Clana followed the perfectly dressed and masked man.

’Mhm, the Auction will begin in about three hours. For now, I should take a look around this place, right?’

***

"Ehm, so the first thing on the list..."

Julian looked at the list Alessia had handed to him and Charlotte.

Both of them were inside a shop that sold various items, and with some luck, they might find something from the list.

The list was not that long. They only had to buy five things in total.

Charlotte turned toward Julian.

"There doesn’t seem to be anything from the list..., uh, no, wait..."

Charlotte picked something up from a shelf and examined it more closely.

At first glance, it looked like a small box meant for storing tiny jewelry, rings, or any other small object.

’Yeah, this should be it, right?’

Charlotte took the list from Julian and reread it.

Then Charlotte nodded.

’Yeah, this is the item. Mystery Box. It’s probably something the second-years will use during the final semester exams.’

All the items they needed to buy were for the second-year cadets’ exams.

Shortly afterward, Charlotte handed the Mystery Box to Julian.

"Here, you carry the stuff while I handle the shopping."

Julian took the Mystery Box and nodded.

"Of course. Then, the other items..."

"There should be at least one more here. Next are Scrolls."

Charlotte walked toward a section filled with various scrolls.

These were not ordinary scrolls. They were extremely difficult to obtain through legal means.

’Why do they need these things for an exam?’

Every exam was a complete mystery. Every semester exam, regardless of the year, was entirely new.

No cadet, regardless of rank, could obtain information about the final semester exams.

The Holy Academy had a certain reputation because of its final semester exams, especially due to all the mysteries surrounding them.

Moreover, the exams were held on different Continents.

They were not held at the academy, nor even on their own Continent.

Instead, the cadets were literally sent to other continents.

First- through third-year students would be randomly sent to three different continents.

So there was no way to know which continent the first-years would be sent to for the exams either.

’Ugh, the next few weeks are going to be a mess.’

The exams usually lasted a week or less.

So they had less than three weeks left before the exams.

"Wow, what kind of scroll is this?"

Julian pointed toward a black-colored scroll.

"Slave Scroll."

"And this one?"

"Creation Scroll."

"Ah, I see. Then what about this one?"

"..."

"6-Star Dark Attribute Magic Scroll."

"Oh, amazing. And that one over there?"

"Scroll... ah, seriously."

A vein appeared on Charlotte’s forehead as Charlotte stared intensely at Julian.

Smiling, Julian tilted his head innocently, as if he did not understand Charlotte’s irritation.

Charlotte rubbed her temples while thinking.

’Ugh, why is the protagonist such an idiot? Seriously, author, it’s fine to give him a childish side and all that, but please don’t overdo it.’

While Charlotte was trying to calm down, the shop door opened and two people walked in.

Aside from the owner, who was nowhere to be seen, Charlotte and Julian had been the only ones inside the shop.

Now, with the two people who had just entered, there were four people in total.

Charlotte ignored them at first, but then the negative emotions became clearly visible to her.

’Greed... and concern?’

Charlotte kept pretending while reading and interpreting the negative emotions of the two people.

At first glance, both of them were looking at a few items, but their negative emotions changed every second.

’They’re having a conversation through some kind of telepathic means.’

It was difficult to decipher the negative emotions of those two mysterious people.

But Charlotte, who could barely read Adel’s negative emotions since she could somehow only see a few of them, did not take long to decipher even more emotions and interpret their conversation.

’We have around two hours.’

’The others should already be surrounding the dome.’

’From the looks of it, everything seems to be going well. All that’s left is to act at the right moment.’

’In any case, we should be careful. If they discover the plan, everything will go to shit.’

’Well, the item those guys found is really important. We need to make sure we get it.’

’Ugh, it’ll really be difficult to escape with the target. According to the reports, the Sorcerer King is the only one here. The other four don’t seem to be coming.’

’At least there’ll only be one Class 10. Our boss should be able to keep him occupied.’

’Anyway, I heard rumors about some special guests.’

’Ah, yeah? And what about it?’

’They say the princess of the Ordeal Empire was invited to the Auction.’

’Ah, really? Well, it’s no secret that she has connections with the Five Greats. After all, she wants to become empress.’

’Tsk, tsk, she’s not even a villain and she still dares to contact villains. Does she look down on us or something?’

"....?!"

Charlotte’s expression turned pale after deciphering the emotions of the two men.

’What the hell did I just hear?’

Her breathing quickened, as did her heartbeat. What those two were talking about was far too shocking.

She felt the urge to interrogate them, but after using Mana Sense, Charlotte noticed that both of them were Class 7 villains.

So she decided to stay still, and her expression did not change behind the mask.

However, her thoughts became chaotic after deciphering their conversation.

’Does Clana really work with villains? And not just any villains, but the Five Greats no less. On top of that, it sounds like she’s a special guest, which means she’ll enter the Auction... Holy shit, what have I just discovered...?’

Of course, she obviously could not report that. She did not know why Clana was working with villains.

But in any case, according to those two guys, Clana was not a villain. And even so, Director Bernice might have already realized it, or perhaps even the imperial family itself.

’If she wants to become empress, then I understand a lot of things... In the novel, she dies because of her brothers, and the one who became emperor only allowed the villains to take control of the entire Ordeal Empire.’

Charlotte knew there were certain things she could not reveal.

Mentioning that Clana was working with villains... Charlotte could not imagine how the entire empire, or even the other continents, would react.

It was better to stay silent.

’Yeah, it’s better not to reveal this. And since Clana is here, then I should identify her.’

Charlotte thought it would be a good idea to keep an eye on Clana, not because she had any particular goal in mind, but rather to obtain definitive confirmation.