Academy Life (16)

A short while later, Ivan subconsciously rubbed the bridge of his nose as he looked at the group Starlight had pummeled beyond recognition.

Years ago, Po Kong-Mars had only given him a single punch. Compared to these poor souls, he realized he had been incredibly lucky.

“All done. Ivan, don't just stand there. We should get out of here!”

Seeing Ivan and his companion still staring at him in shock, Starlight shrugged nonchalantly and placed a hand on each of their shoulders.

With a faint distortion of space, the three of them vanished into thin air from the depths of the alley.

By the time the academy's Disciplinary Committee arrived, they found only the students from the House of Red sprawled on the ground, their faces so bruised and swollen they were a pitiful sight to behold.

Upon inspection with magic artifacts, they found only traces of magic used by the victims themselves. As for the black-haired youth they spoke of, there was no sign of him.

Faced with a situation where there was neither witness nor physical evidence, the Disciplinary Committee would be helpless even if they managed to track Starlight down.

A normal instant movement spell would inevitably leave behind a spatial ripple, but Starlight had been apprenticed to the Time Archmage Eventador. He had naturally been taught how to conceal the traces of his teleportation.

However, this was his first time actually doing it. To be safe, he decided it was best to put as much distance between them and the scene as possible.

By now, Starlight had already teleported the two across half the academy's distance. Only after confirming no one was following did he release them.

Though the consecutive teleports left Ivan and his companion somewhat dizzy, their excitement quickly pushed the mild discomfort to the back of their minds.

“Mr. Starlight! That was incredible! It felt so good to see them get beaten like that. Those arrogant jerks really needed to be taught a lesson!”

Ivan's companion nodded repeatedly in agreement.

“Those guys from the Crimson City-State are just too much. They rely on their influence to look down on even the royal family. Mr. Starlight really helped us vent our frustrations!”

Starlight shook his head, quickly cutting off their excessive flattery before it could make him blush.

“I just happened to be passing by, and I've met Ivan a few times before. If those guys are going to threaten others, they need to be prepared for a counterattack. That aside, what happened to you two? As members of the royal family, getting cornered in an alley by a bunch of spoiled brats is quite unseemly.”

Hearing Starlight's question, Ivan let out a long sigh. He hadn't expected the people from the Crimson City-State to discover the traces of the Shadow Court's investigation, let alone trace it back to him.

For an intelligence agency, this was a massive blunder. If they didn't figure out where the leak was, the Shadow Court's future operations would be severely hampered.

“I suppose my investigations over the past few days were too frequent, which made them unnecessarily nervous. The House of Red can't openly break ties with the royal family, so they had to send those juniors to pressure me here.” Ivan gritted his teeth in frustration, though he felt powerless.

“Don't be so downcast. This is a school, after all; there's only so much trouble they can cause. You just need to be more careful in the coming days. Perhaps you should start bringing a few more attendants with you, Your Highness!”

Seeing the resentment on Ivan's face, Starlight gave him a firm pat on the back. After offering a few words of comfort, he prepared to take his leave.

However, Ivan called out to him, his expression turning solemn. “Mr. Starlight, please wait! I have something else to tell you.”

“Hmm? What is it?”

Noticing the change in Ivan's expression, Starlight stopped in his tracks, feeling a bit surprised.

“Regarding the matter Po Kong-Mars asked me to investigate, I've made some progress. But I thought it best to speak with you first, since those two elf ladies have a rather... unique status.”

It was just a search for people; was it really necessary to specifically avoid Xia Duo and Moen? Or was there some sensitive information involved?

At this thought, Starlight frowned and nodded for Ivan to continue. Ivan's companion immediately understood and stepped aside, giving the two of them some space.

As it turned out, after Ivan left their temporary lodging yesterday, he had returned to the Shadow Court's local headquarters. He had hoped to dig up some more useful information, but a report that had just arrived left him feeling a chill of dread.

After extensive tracking, the Shadow Court's intelligence officers had narrowed their target down to the city-state's largest merchant group: Crimson Smoke.

This merchant group was directly controlled by the House of Red, the ruling family of the city-state. Not only did it wield immense influence in the surrounding regions, but it was also considered a top-tier power across the entire continent.

According to the intelligence, a porter once spotted elves in the backyard of the Crimson Smoke Merchant Group.

After the porter drunkenly mentioned this to his colleagues, he mysteriously vanished the very next day.

The Shadow Court branch, which hadn't intended to delve too deeply at first, realized something was amiss.

One had to understand that the nobles of the Crimson City-State were notoriously xenophobic. Why would they ever allow elves to enter and exit the backyard of their own merchant group?

The porter seemed to have vanished into thin air. No matter how the Shadow Court searched, they couldn't find a trace of him. He was almost certainly dead, which only proved he had seen something he wasn't supposed to.

At the strong urging of the Fourth Prince, the Shadow Court dispatched several senior assassins to the Crimson Smoke Merchant Group to uncover the truth.

Yet, unexpectedly, those operatives vanished like stones cast into the sea, completely losing all contact after their departure.

The operatives selected by the Shadow Court were the elite of the elite. How could they fail so utterly while investigating a mere merchant group? Even if one person ran into trouble, the others should have been able to send word back.

To eliminate all of them, the enemy must have either anticipated their move and set a trap, or there was someone else helping Crimson Smoke from the shadows.

Combining this with previous intelligence, the Shadow Court reached a terrifying conclusion: the Crimson City-State might be plotting a rebellion.

After all, the Crimson City-State was world-renowned for its wealth. Given its immense power and its tendency to look down on most other city-states, it was hard not to suspect treason under such circumstances.

The presence of elves only deepened the Shadow Court's suspicion of the House of Red. Since humans rarely mastered the power of nature, it was almost impossible to defend against such an unfamiliar element.

Furthermore, elves were natural masters of intelligence. With their sharp senses, it wouldn't be difficult for them to detect intruders.

This was the kind of intelligence Ivan naturally couldn't share in front of Xia Duo and the others.

Now that he had a moment alone with Starlight, he shared the intelligence he had gathered and his own deductions.

“Rebellion, huh... but as far as I know, the kin Xia Duo and the others are looking for aren't exactly masters. They shouldn't have the ability to wipe out senior intelligence operatives.”

After hearing Ivan's analysis, Starlight couldn't help but feel puzzled. After all, this contradicted the information he already had.