Chapter 15: Chapter 15: The Queen of Shadow Street
The guy leading the group was the same blond boy who had just stabbed his silver fork into the roast meat.
Bang...!
He slammed his tray down hard on the table next to Arthur, making a heavy noise.
The students around them all stopped what they were doing and looked over, clearly ready for a show.
"Hey, new kid."
Looking down at Arthur, the blond boy curled his lips into a mocking sneer.
"This place is where the elites of Inner Academy eat."
"The air here is filled with noble Magic Power."
"A piece of trash with a double-F rank like you sitting here will dirty the air we breathe."
He rudely pointed at the cafeteria doors.
"Get back to the place where commoners like you belong. Stop sitting here and getting in the way."
His arrogant taunting made the noble students nearby let out a wave of low laughter.
Arthur slowly lifted his eyes.
As he looked at the guy standing there like a proud rooster, he did not even feel like getting angry.
"So noisy."
Arthur spat out those two words and was just about to shut this guy up with an instant 1st-Level Silence Spell.
But before he could move his Mental Power—
Lilian, who was sitting across from him, suddenly slammed her hand on the table and shot to her feet with a bang!!
That apple-cheeked face that always wore a sweet smile was now cold as ice.
A powerful wave of Magic Power, belonging to an A-rank Magic Power affinity user, burst out of Lilian’s small body in an instant!!
Light green wind elements gathered wildly around her, even flipping over trays on several nearby tables.
"And what are you supposed to be, talking to Arthur like that?!!"
Lilian’s voice was no longer light and sweet. Instead, it carried the authority of royalty, firm and unquestionable.
Startled by the sudden burst of Magic Power, the blond boy instinctively stumbled back two steps.
The moment he saw clearly that it was Lilian who was angry, his face turned pale at once.
"Princess Lilian..."
The blond boy’s arrogant attitude vanished in an instant, and even his voice began to shake.
"I-I was just teaching a clueless commoner a lesson. He... he doesn’t deserve to sit with you..."
"Shut up!!"
Lilian cut him off without mercy. A dangerous light flashed in her emerald eyes.
"You fools who only know how to hide under your families’ wings—what do you know about real magic?!!"
Lilian raised a pale finger and pointed at the people around them who had just been laughing at Arthur.
"Just half an hour ago, in the Dawn Class arena!!"
"With no chant and no wand, Arthur shattered five invisible targets in one move!!"
"And right in front of everyone, he used magic to change the shape of Obsidian and turned a stone into a sword!!"
"Even Elena, the granddaughter of the Grand Archmagus, and Professor Harris both admitted it themselves—Arthur created a miracle of magic!!"
Lilian’s voice echoed through the wide cafeteria, making everyone’s ears ring.
"None of you can compare to even one of his fingers!!"
"If anyone dares call him trash again, then you’re making an enemy of the Oran Royal Family!!"
"I will never forgive them!!"
Silence.
The whole cafeteria once again fell into dead silence.
Everyone’s eyes went wide, their mouths slightly open, like they had just heard some insane fairy tale.
No chant needed??
He shattered an invisible target in one hit??
He changed the shape of Obsidian??
How was that even possible!!
This went against everything they had learned about magic since they were kids!!
But those words had come from Princess Lilian herself, so they had no choice but to believe it.
The blond boy who had been acting all cocky suddenly had his legs give out and dropped straight to the floor.
He stared at Arthur, drenched in sweat, and for the first time, there was fear in his eyes that he couldn’t hide.
If what Lilian said was true, then what kind of monster was this boy standing in front of them??
Arthur sat in his chair and quietly looked at Lilian, who was standing in front of him like a little lioness protecting her cub.
All of a sudden, he felt like maybe this world was not completely full of painfully stupid fools after all.
"That’s enough, Lilian."
Arthur finally spoke, his voice gentle, carrying a strange calming power.
He stood up, walked to her side, and lightly patted her stiff shoulder.
"Getting mad at a bunch of oversized babies who haven’t even been weaned yet will ruin your appetite."
The moment Arthur touched her, the violent wind element around Lilian calmed down at once.
She turned to stare at Arthur, her eyes a little red.
"But they were insulting you..."
"Would an elephant care about an ant trying to provoke it??"
Arthur asked with a smile, then glanced at the blond boy on the floor.
"Still not leaving??"
Those two plain words carried a pressure so heavy it was hard to breathe.
The blond boy scrambled out of the dining hall as fast as he could, as if he had just been pardoned, not even daring to look back.
The other students around them, who had been watching the show, all lowered their heads too, afraid of drawing Arthur’s attention.
Just like that, the farce ended in a dramatic way.
Arthur took Lilian’s hand and sat back down with her.
"I’ll go get the food. You sit here and behave," Arthur said, like he was coaxing a child.
Lilian nodded obediently and watched his back as he walked toward the serving area, her eyes full of pride.
This was the man she had chosen.
A true genius, someone destined to shake this world to its core.
But neither Arthur, who had just stolen the spotlight, nor Lilian, who had fiercely stood up for her man, noticed—
in the darkest, farthest corner of the dining hall,
a black mouse no bigger than a fingernail was lying silently beneath a table leg, its whole body blended into the shadows.
There was not a trace of life coming from it.
In its eyes flickered a strange dark purple glow.
That was the unique pulse of Shadow Magic.
At the same time, deep beneath the royal capital, in the depths of Shadow Street, where sunlight never reached all year round,
inside an intelligence house filled with the scent of rosemary,
Isabella Moore, with her short dark purple hair and a pair of amber elf-like eyes, was lazily leaning against a velvet sofa.
She gently swirled a glass of crimson wine in her hand, her gaze passing through a floating magic water mirror in front of her, taking in everything that had just happened in the dining hall.
Click...
The crystal wine glass was lightly set down on the dark red walnut table.
The crimson wine inside swayed slightly, reflecting Isabella’s amber eyes, glowing with danger.
The magic water mirror floating in midair shattered like broken glass, turning into tiny blue specks of Magic Power that faded into the air.
The dramatic mess in the dining hall had finally come to an end.
But the fire of curiosity in Isabella’s heart only burned hotter, like someone had thrown a bucket of fuel onto it.
She gave a lazy stretch.
Her tight black leather armor curved into an exaggerated line, showing off her stunning figure to the fullest.
As a half-blood with elven blood in her veins, she had inherited not only the elves’ pale flawless skin and pointed ears,
but also the full, blazing, deadly charm of a human woman.
This was Shadow Street beneath the royal capital, the filthiest place in the entire Kingdom of Oran, and also the fastest place for information to spread.
And she, Isabella Moore, was the true uncrowned queen of this street.
"As long as the price is right, there’s no secret you can’t buy."
That was the rule carved onto the obsidian sign at the entrance of her information house.
But today, she had come across a secret that could not be measured with money at all.
Arthur Voss.
Lightly tapping the desk with her slender fingers, Isabella curled her lips into a playful smile.
"No chant. No wand."
"Just using his mind to build a magic model, and even hiding the flow of Magic Power perfectly."
"The old fossils in the Kingdom of Oran could never teach something like that."
She crossed her long legs, and her dark purple short hair flashed with a tempting glow under the dim magic lights.
"Interesting."
Isabella suddenly snapped her fingers.
"Snap!"
The crisp sound echoed through the quiet information house.
From the shadows in the corner of the room came a faint twist.
Then a figure wrapped in a black cloak peeled away from the darkness like a ghost.
He dropped to one knee, his head lowered deep against his chest.
"Boss, Shadow Assassin ’Night Owl,’ awaiting your orders."
Night Owl’s voice was hoarse and low, like two pieces of dry bark rubbing against each other.
He was Isabella’s best stalker, with high-level shadow talent, and he had once successfully slipped into a count’s castle to steal secret files.
"I’ve got a job for you."
Isabella picked up a rolled parchment from the desk and casually tossed it in front of Night Owl.
"Target: Lancelot Royal Academy of Magic."
"Go find out everything about a new student named Arthur Voss."
"I want to know which dorm he lives in, what books he’s reading, and who he has been in contact with."
"And most importantly..."
Isabella’s eyes suddenly turned sharp.
"I want to know what his weakness is."
Catching the rolled parchment, Night Owl nodded without the slightest hesitation.
"Yes, Boss."
"He’s just a freshman who just enrolled. By tonight, I can even find out the color of his underwear."
Night Owl’s tone carried the arrogance and confidence of a top assassin.
