About a week later, Lowell arrived at Annwood Academy.
‘Already sunset? Tch, this is going to be a hassle.’
Annwood Academy, filled with gifted students and nobles’ children, wasn’t a place just anyone could walk into.
Even the Lucid family wasn’t an exception—even if one of their own was enrolled as a student.
“What brings you here?”
As expected, the instructors blocked her path.
Perhaps they’d only just noticed the lion-emblazoned cloak flapping behind her. A few swallowed hard.
But they didn’t back down. A refusal to bend to authority—that was what made them worthy of being called the Empire’s top elites.
‘Well, if I were in their shoes, I’d have done the same.’
Lowell was glad the academy didn’t have garbage like Calix among their ranks.
There was, however, a small piece of backstory she didn’t know.
After Duke Luke destroyed the Aster family, the imperial palace began auditing instructor appointments.
Even the already-strict selection process had become several times more demanding.
Thanks to that, the current instructors at Annwood Academy were made up of talents referred to as the “Golden Class.”
Ironically, this was not working in Lowell’s favor right now.
“I came to see my sister.”
“Do you have a permit?”
“No. I came in a hurry.”
“In that case, you won’t be allowed in while the term is active. We’ll file a report—please wait a few days.”
A few days—not even by tomorrow morning.
Lowell sighed. That was more than enough time for the people Pleche had sent from the family to show up.
‘I came to take Delin anyway. Should I just force my way in?’
Instructors, professors, magic circles… and on top of that, Elester and Caron.
Getting past them all to see Rodelin was practically impossible. But if she was going to abduct her, she’d have to fight them eventually anyway.
Lowell was deep in serious thought when—
“…Lady Lowell?”
A man called out to her.
He looked like an ordinary merchant.
But Lowell instantly saw through him.
“You’re one of the rats. Nice to see you.”
“Yes, ma’am. You might not remember, but… we did a few missions together.”
“Is that so? Judging by where you are now, seems like you’ve done well for yourself.”
“Hahaha! Even so, a rat’s still a rat.”
Lowell often dealt with the rats while chasing information on demons.
She’d even solved a few issues they were struggling with—low combat power being a common problem.
Since she never threw her weight around, she had a pretty good reputation among them.
“What brings you here?”
“I’ve got some information for Caron. I’d rate it… about Class 1 Plus.”
Lowell whispered into the rat’s ear.
A lie, of course. One meant to bait him using the rats’ notorious obsession with information.
It worked like a charm.
“That’s too high for me to handle. I’ll pass it on to Lord Caron. He’s busy at the moment, so you may need to wait until tomorrow morning.”
“That’s fine. I might as well see my sister while I wait. Just let him know there’s no rush.”
“Understood. Please wait here a moment.”
The rat approached the instructors guarding the gate.
Rumble…
The massive front gate, which seemed impenetrable even to a mouse, opened shockingly easily.
She’d heard he was promoted, but it looked like he’d climbed pretty high.
“Oh, and one more thing. Can you find out where my sister is right now?”
“I’ll find out immediately.”
The rat bowed and slipped away.
Lowell had just made it past the entrance when a janitor wearing a cap brushed past her and mumbled.
“Plaza Four, walking path.”
There was no need to ask what that meant.
‘The rats really do have amazing intel.’
To track a Legion Commander, information was essential. Lowell had even tried forming an intel group of her own once.
She gave up in under half a year. Or rather, she had no choice.
‘It bled money like a slit throat.’
Money wasn’t the only issue—there was also a shortage of capable people.
Hard-earned intel—gathered with cash, time, and physical strain—would leak the moment she let her guard down.
She’d fallen for fake information more times than she could count.
“In that sense, I have to admit… Caron’s good.”
To be honest, she wanted to flat-out ask for info on the Second Legion Commander.
But she couldn’t.
If anyone figured out the Lucid family had formed a contract with a Legion Commander, it would be over.
‘We’d end up being puppets under the emperor’s thumb.’
The Lucid family might serve the Empire and emperor loyally, but there was a difference between loyalty born of belief and loyalty born of blackmail.
Besides, Lowell personally distrusted the emperor.
“Ever since that incident, I’ve had a bad feeling. No matter how I look at it, something’s off… huh?”
She was wandering around Plaza Four when she saw it—by the bench beneath a statue.
A girl with very familiar hair.
That dark-night sky hue unique to the Lucid family. It was Rodelin.
But the strange part was—
“…Who the hell is that?”
A boy was sitting next to her.
No way… a boyfriend?
Someone had just beaten a guy to a pulp, and meanwhile this girl was out here dating?
Lowell crept in quietly, fast and silent. She hugged the base of the statue, practically glued to it, to eavesdrop.
“Mmph!”
“Quiet! Be quiet!”
What she saw was beyond shocking. Rodelin had thrown herself onto the boy and was covering his mouth.
‘Should I just… snap his limbs right now?’
Of course, she meant the boy. Not Rodelin.
It looked for all the world like Rodelin was the one attacking, but all of Lowell’s fury was directed at him.
‘He’s obviously seduced sweet little Delin. He’s playing with her heart. I’ll make sure he regrets it.’
She moved even closer.
She couldn’t hold back any longer. From atop the statue, her lion cloak flared dramatically as she revealed herself.
Any sleazy boy like that would take one look at the cloak and bolt.
“What’s this? Playing romance now?”
“Uh, Big Sis…?”
Startled, Rodelin jumped up and distanced herself from the boy.
Only then could Lowell take a good look at her.
She had come here determined to take Rodelin away and lock her up somewhere safe.
The plan had been to break her arms and legs on sight and drag her out by the hair.
‘Ugh… she’s so cute. That’s cheating!’
She’d probably cry her eyes out over the tiniest scratch.
There was no way Lowell could bring herself to hurt someone this adorable.
She decided to change tactics.
“At least you haven’t forgotten my face. Should I be grateful for that?”
“…”
Rodelin didn’t say a word. She looked thoroughly flustered.
Well, of course she’d be flustered—she’d just been caught in a secret meeting with her boyfriend.
Lowell’s gaze shifted straight to the boy.
‘…Slit eyes?’
Wasn’t that basically a universal symbol for trouble?
Add the hair, the smiling face, and the way he looked completely unbothered even after seeing her lion cloak…
There wasn’t a single thing about him she liked.
The fact that he might be Delin’s boyfriend? That alone was enough—no, the biggest reason for her dislike.
“What, you lookin’ down on me ‘cause I’m short?”
She was just about ready to slap him—twice… no, ten times over.
Shlak!
Suddenly, the boy spread both feet wide apart.
“Keke, nice to meet you. Name’s Zero. First year.”
Hmph… well, at least he was polite. Looked up at her with respect in his eyes and everything.
Lowell stared him down.
Crack!!
Her intuition kicked in—stronger than ever before.
That unique instinct of hers.
Sometimes it was simple, like sensing the position of objects or sniffing out pickpockets.
Other times it was more extreme—detecting danger, dodging attacks, pinpointing weaknesses. Things logic couldn’t explain.
And every now and then… it gave her clear, undeniable answers.
Just like now.
‘He’ll… be a huge help to Delin?’
She wanted to find out more about this Zero kid, but she didn’t have time.
As always, she tried to derail Rodelin from her path as a soldier. A fight broke out, an argument ensued.
Just when she was about to beat some sense into Rodelin to change her mind—
“Hoooh, I came because I sensed an old, familiar energy…”
Archmage Elester showed up, and Lowell took the bait and fought him.
It was a good opportunity to see just how much stronger she’d become.
…If only she hadn’t gotten hit by that chain of lightning spells at the end.
“You damn old geezer!”
When Lowell opened her eyes, it was already morning.
Caron sat next to her, reading a report.
Squinting, struggling to read the tiny print—
“…So, not an informant. A thief.”
Tch. The guy really was like a bloodhound.
Stretching as if she’d just woken up, Lowell yawned.
“Hey now, come on. Obviously I’m a kind-hearted informant.”
“The moment you said that, you became a thief.”
“There’s a saying: thieves and merchants are only one coin apart. Y’know? That kind of thing.”
“…That’s the first I’ve heard of it.”
Caron closed the report. The cover page read: Demon in Trash Village.
“What are you even doing, passing out if you’re supposed to be the one giving information?”
“Well, it’s fine if you just pretend the thief passed out, right?”
“…If you want to keep spouting nonsense, I’ll assign you a different rat to talk to.”
Cold as always.
The truth was, Lowell was buying time to think.
She’d only made up the intel excuse to get in. Now it had spiraled into something too big to walk back.
She didn’t even have low-grade intel, let alone Class 1.
After a moment of silence, Lowell spoke.
“It’s not information, exactly… more like a talent recommendation.”
“Talent?”
“Yeah. For her age, she’s damn good. Why not try her out as a temporary instructor or something?”
Caron liked good information—but he welcomed talent even more.
The rats were critically underpowered, after all.
And this was the first time Lowell had ever recommended someone. It piqued Caron’s interest.
“Who is it?”
Lowell pointed her thumb at herself.
“Me.”
“…So you weren’t a thief—you’re just unemployed. Get up. We’re done here.”
Caron stood like the conversation wasn’t worth another word. But he couldn’t leave.
Lowell had snatched the front page of the report.
Demon in Trash Village.
She waved the paper with a bright grin.
“You need people, right?”
“We have to make sure the other students are protected, too.”
“Relax. Don’t you know me? I’m the Mad Lion.”
“…Sigh.”
It took a little(?) work to convince Caron, but Lowell managed to secure a spot as a temporary instructor.
Her family must’ve heard the news, because they didn’t bother sending anyone.
‘This is my best shot at convincing Rodelin.’
If she kept nitpicking her choices, maybe Delin would finally give up the idea of being a soldier. Maybe she’d put down the burden the family had dumped on her.
And if things didn’t go as planned? There was always kidnapping.
‘I will convince her!’
But Lowell wasn’t the only one seeing this as a golden opportunity. Rodelin felt the same.
‘I’m going to prove myself with this! I’ll earn recognition for sure!’
And so began the strange cohabitation of Lowell and Rodelin.
–TL Notes–
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Hmmm so that why Lowel seem so soft on Zero
And the current instructors being Golden generation? How did that bum Lerang got beaten by first party members then? I guess he better at teaching that at combat
And the suspicious Emperor… for the time being I have him as one of the two candidates for being the last boss along with Luna father
The last boss have the following characteristic
1. Have S-rank One flash
2.Have enough political power that 3 out of eight pillars are necessary to oppose him