In My Second Life, I Rule from the Shadows

Chapter 13: Flick (1)

A little later.

Reinforcements arrived from the surface.

Instructors from the Bayern Academy and knights of the Empire broke through the previously sealed Underground Labyrinth and reached the plaza where the candidate students were gathered.

"……What is this."

"What on earth happened……?"

But all of them could only groan.

With demonic beasts piled like mountains and wounded scattered everywhere.

Reports from the knights on search duty confirmed a considerable number of corpses.

"Move the critical ones to the surface first! Bring the stretchers!"

"Have the potions not arrived yet? Tell them up there to move faster!"

The top priority was emergency treatment for the candidate students.

Since the fierce battle had gone on for hours, there were many injured.

Those already dead couldn’t be helped.

But to prevent any more casualties, they struggled desperately.

"Search every corner. Don’t miss even a single piece of evidence!"

The Empire’s knights thoroughly searched the Underground Labyrinth.

The sealing of the Underground Labyrinth was clearly an act of terrorism.

They had to pursue the forces behind the terror to restore the Empire’s damaged honor.

"Alright, your arm is done now. If you feel any other pain, please let me know immediately."

"Thank you."

Carl bowed his head in gratitude to the healer who had treated his arm.

After sweeping away the demonic beasts including the Drake, he had quietly slipped among the candidate students.

Fortunately, the students were too preoccupied with the Heaven‑Flow Twilight Flash to notice him.

To make it look natural, he had even intentionally wounded his arm and blended in with the others to receive treatment.

"I’d like to get a potion."

"Ah, here you go."

At the familiar voice next to him, Carl turned his head.

And there he saw Nerian receiving a potion from the healer.

"Hmm?"

Feeling someone’s gaze, Nerian also turned his body.

As soon as he spotted Carl, his eyes widened.

"So you’re alive. I thought you were dead since you weren’t around."

"……I was being chased by demonic beasts and joined up halfway through."

When Carl showed the bandage on his arm, Nerian gave a brief nod.

"Good, that’s a relief."

With a simple answer, he turned and walked away.

Carl looked at his retreating back with a wry smile.

‘He’s definitely going to be top of the class.’

He had ranked at the top in both written and practical exams and made overwhelming achievements during the field exercise.

Not only was he set to be the top scorer in the entrance exam, but he might even receive a commendation from the imperial family if things went well.

"Oh? Carl?"

Just then, Laysis, who was carrying a box full of potions, spotted Carl and widened her eyes.

"So here you were. I was worried since I didn’t see you."

"I was running around like crazy and barely made it here. I really almost died."

"That’s a relief. Are your injuries okay?"

"I’ve been treated. They say it’s nothing serious."

"That’s good. What on earth is going on……?"

Laysis smiled with genuine relief.

"What? Who are you talking to……?"

Yuria, who seemed to be looking for Laysis, approached and stopped in her tracks when she saw Carl.

"……So you’re alive."

"Yes. Fortunately."

"Then that’s fine. I thought you were dead since I didn’t see you."

With that, she sharply turned around and quickly walked away.

Laysis chuckled at her retreating figure and whispered softly.

"Actually, I deliberately left her behind in the marsh. I wanted to mess with her at least once."

"Deliberately?"

Carl gave a bitter smile.

No wonder she had rushed ahead—it was all to tease Yuria.

Despite her gentle demeanor, she seemed to have quite the mischievous side.

"I wanted to fix her attitude a bit before we entered the Academy. Yuria’s, well, her personality is a bit much, right? She was the same with me and Nerian when we first met, so it’s obvious how she’d be with others."

"So you wanted to give her a taste of her own medicine?"

"Yes. Now that I say it, I feel like I used you for that, Carl. Sorry about that."

Laysis scratched her cheek with an apologetic look.

"……It’s alright."

"Still, she unexpectedly got help from you this time, so she’s probably feeling shy. I think that’s good enough."

"That was her being shy?"

"Yes, extremely. Yuria’s never cared about anyone else in her life, after all."

Still gazing in the direction her friend had gone, Laysis suddenly remembered something and looked at the box of potions in her arms.

"Oh, I almost forgot. They asked me to move this. I’ll be going now."

Without waiting for Carl’s response, Laysis quickly left.

But after only a few steps, she paused again, looked back at him, and gave a playful wink.

"I almost forgot to say this. I’m counting on you from now on."

"……"

Carl gave a faint smile and nodded.

To say something like that in a place filled with corpses of demonic beasts and candidate students.

Laysis didn’t seem quite normal either.

"……Whew."

Carl leaned his back against the wall and closed his eyes.

He had expended a considerable amount of Primal Unity Qi using the Heaven-Flow Twilight Flash.

Through steady breathing, he began gathering the surrounding mana to refill the void in his dantian.

How much time had passed?

As a shadow fell over his face, he slowly opened his eyes.

"Looks like we need to replace the bandages. Let me take care of it."

It was a woman with braided hair.

She wore a white coat and round glasses—clearly a healer.

"Yes, please."

Carl obediently extended his arm.

Thanks to the potion smeared on it, the bandage was soaked, so changing it wasn’t a bad idea.

As she untied the bandage, the healer glanced at Carl.

"Master."

"……Queen?"

It was an unexpected appearance at an unexpected time.

Given the chaos, he hadn’t expected her to sneak in.

Her appearance was more modest than usual, but the purple tint in her eyes exuded a vivid presence.

"I won’t stay long since this identity will soon be exposed."

"……You were going to see me outside anyway."

"I was worried. It was a terror attack even NOX didn’t detect. I heard a man in a black mask wiped out the Drake and the demonic beasts all at once."

At her sharp remark, Carl lifted one corner of his mouth.

"It was a good chance to raise NOX’s profile. Though there will be some side effects."

"I’ll tell the kids to be careful for a while. The Empire will be digging through everything to find the culprits."

"What have you found?"

"The reason for the terror hasn’t been identified yet. But we did detect traces of at least three groups."

‘Red Lotus’

‘Tinight’

‘Melken’

At those names, Carl tilted his head with a puzzled look.

"……All of them are underworld organizations?"

While Tinight and Melken were understandable, Red Lotus had been a mid-sized group with some influence.

For them to be involved in terrorism—were they acting like they had multiple lives?

"The fact that their names have surfaced means they were used as scapegoats. The core is still hidden."

"Of course."

They had been capable enough to meddle in Bayern’s entrance exam.

That level of thoroughness must be expected.

"I suspect the Black Mage Cult."

"Black Mages?"

"Yes. Controlling demonic beasts is their specialty. I’d say the odds are high. ……The bandage change is done. Please don’t use your arm for now."

Queen smiled and stood up.

A nearby healer had passed close by.

She rolled the blood-stained bandage and tucked it into her pocket, then offered Carl a gentle smile before walking away.

In the midst of the chaos, not a single soul noticed one apprentice healer quietly disappearing.

The entrance exam was declared over.

The Empire officially labeled the incident as a terror attack and stated they would thoroughly investigate and punish all those involved.

Some proctors were even dragged away under suspicion of having colluded with the attackers.

The underworld organizations that surfaced fared no better.

The three groups Queen had named—‘Red Lotus’, ‘Tinight’, and ‘Melken’—were completely destroyed overnight.

Leaders, members, ledgers, properties, and all resources included.

Originally, some had likely intended to use the power vacuum to expand their own forces.

But the Empire’s fury was immense.

Noble families who had lost children joined hands with other forces to scour the underworld.

To avoid being caught in the fire, other underworld groups kept their heads down and loudly proclaimed they had no ties.

"I heard the Imperial Family even released Sword Masters. It’s to suppress any noise with overwhelming force."

"That makes sense."

Back at NOX’s headquarters after the entrance exam, Carl nodded at Queen’s report.

Monsters who had reached the realm of mastery.

Carl, who was himself on the brink of becoming a Master, knew that truth well.

"Still, I’m glad you passed safely. You wanted to avoid a retest, after all."

"Being top in the written exam is impressive. It’s one of the few records even in Bayern, they say."

At Nine and Queen’s remarks, Carl smiled faintly.

Even they didn’t know he was living a second life.

That was his secret, something he had never told anyone.

"Master. It seems the Empire has noticed our presence. They probably gathered information based on the candidate students’ testimonies."

"Good. It worked."

Carl nodded slightly.

If the Empire had taken notice, it meant NOX’s name had reached the ears of every organization in the capital.

NOX had made the suspect list, but because they had helped wipe out the demonic beasts alongside the students, the level of suspicion was lower.

Of course, that didn’t mean they could afford to be careless.

"Well, yeah. Who would think a noble from a Count’s Household is leading an underworld group?"

Other organizations were likely beginning to pay attention to NOX as well.

The most reasonable assumption was that someone from NOX had infiltrated among the candidate students.

It was certain that an investigation would target those whose identities were unclear—excluding nobles like Carl.

"They’ll never find out."

"Still, we must not get complacent. Since NOX started in Leipzig territory, they might trace connections back there."

"True."

Nine agreed with the opposing view without resistance.

It was related to their Master’s safety.

It was only right to prepare for all possibilities with utmost caution.

In the midst of this, Queen leaned closer to Carl, as if uninterested in their conversation.

"This is about external operations. We’re planning to launch it around the time your academy life begins. We’ve finalized review schedules for the promising ventures in the Empire, especially those you previously showed interest in."

Carl accepted the documents from Queen.

NOX had started in Leipzig and amassed wealth by dominating the underworld of surrounding territories.

NOX’s ultimate goal was the balance of yin and yang.

To exert absolute influence in the shadows while establishing a public front as well.

That was the reason they had come to Polfoardel, the capital.

"I plan to visit ‘Flick’ this weekend for preliminary research. They say the item you mentioned will appear at the auction there."

‘Flick’

Commonly referred to as the back alley.

It was a den of illegal dealings dominated by underworld organizations, its form varying depending on the size of the region.

In the capital Polfoardel, Flick had developed into a near-city scale, the very flower of the underground.

"The elixir, you mean."

"Yes. And they said it’s quite high grade."

"Hmm."

Carl stroked his chin for a moment.

The Primordial Unity Divine Art required more internal energy than typical martial arts.

So he had consistently acquired and consumed elixirs, but even that had not been quite enough.

‘Most groups will be too scared to act right now.’

It might be the perfect time to quietly procure the elixir.