Lucan was having tea at his room when soone knocked at his door. He got up and opened the door.
It was the dormitory manager, with a respectful bow, her hands holding a small, neatly sealed envelope.
"Oh, Lucan-sama. You have so mail."
"Eh? For ?" Lucan replied, taking the envelope with a slight frown. Who could it be from? he wondered, turning the envelope over in his hands.
Lucan broke the seal and unfolded the letter. As his eyes scanned the sender's na, his frown deepened. The letter was from Terra, an old friend from his academy days.
"Really... what could this be about now? Summoning out of the blue," Lucan muttered under his breath, shaking his head in disbelief.
mories of Terra flooded his mind—handso, popular, and always the center of attention. Terra had been one of those people who effortlessly drew others in. But that charm had turned dark when he was expelled from the academy and disowned by his family for raping a female noble. After that disgraceful incident, Terra had vanished from Lucan's life. Until now.
After a long day at the academy, Lucan decided to humor Terra's request, more out of curiosity than any real desire to reconnect. The letter had ntioned a pub in a seedy part of town. As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting long shadows across the cobblestone streets, he made his way to the designated location.
"This must be the place," Lucan murmured as he arrived at the pub's entrance. The establishnt was tucked away in a narrow alley, its wooden sign creaking in the evening breeze.
Pushing open the heavy wooden door, Lucan was greeted by the dim glow of flickering candles and the low murmur of voices. The interior was modest, with a long counter lined with stools and several round tables scattered about. Most of the patrons kept to themselves, nursing their drinks in the shadowy corners.
"Lucan! Over here, over here!" A familiar voice called out from one of the tables near the back. Terra waved him over with a grin that didn't quite reach his eyes.
Lucan approached the table cautiously, his eyes scanning the room out of habit. Terra looked much the sa as he had ten years ago.
"It's been a while. Is there sothing you need?" Lucan asked, taking a seat opposite Terra.
"Hey, hey, already jumping into the main topic without even a proper greeting? It's been ten years since we last t, don't you have anything else to say? Co on, let's have a drink," Terra replied, his tone light.
"I was called out without knowing the purpose. It's not just to rekindle old friendships, is it?"
"Well, yeah," Terra admitted with a shrug, pouring them both a drink. He handed Lucan a glass, but Lucan only stared at it, not making any move to take it.
Lucan and Terra had been friends, but theirs had never been a deep friendship. Terra's sudden reappearance and the cryptic nature of his letter only made Lucan more suspicious.
After taking a sip from his own glass, Terra leaned back in his chair, a troubled expression crossing his face. "After I left ho, I took up a job in the underworld, dealing with illegal slaves,"
"...?" Lucan's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Of all the things he had expected to hear, this wasn't one of them.
"I know it's wrong—it's a cri—but what can I do? This was the only thing I could do. So I decided to continue with the job, and it was going great. I got a lot of money, won, and there wasn't much danger. But... one day, I heard that you're recognized as a Holy Priest and had a large bounty placed on your head by the underworld."
"A large bounty," Lucan repeated, nodding slightly. It made sense now—recently, he and Maris had been attacked by nine outlaws, likely due to this bounty. It seed the news of those outlaws' deaths at their hands hadn't spread far.
"Let clarify... this isn't my decision. It's the people who were supporting , using my na to do this. I sincerely apologize in advance," Terra said, raising both hands in a gesture of surrender, looking genuinely troubled and apologetic.
Lucan nodded, "I see... I've been set up."
At that very mont, the n at the surrounding tables stood up all at once, their chairs scraping loudly against the wooden floor. From a door behind the counter, more n erged, ard with knives and ropes.
It was clear now that all the custors in the pub were Terra's accomplices.
"You've done it now," Lucan said calmly, his gaze shifting back to Terra.
"No, I genuinely feel sorry. It's Kerry who suggested this, and I don't have much choice if I want to continue living," Terra replied.
"Kerry? She's still alive?" Lucan's voice was laced with surprise. He hadn't thought of her in years.
Kerry had been a notorious figure at the academy, known for her love of bullying others. Her cruelty had driven one girl to suicide, and Lucan distinctly rembered hearing that the girl's boyfriend had killed Kerry in a fit of rage. Apparently, she had survived.
"Yeah, she's alive but... let's say not in good shape. But it's better to surrender quietly. I'd rather not see you getting beaten," Terra advised.
"Yeah. That's probably true..." Lucan said.
Ard with knives and ropes, they moved with the confidence of those who believed they had the upper hand.
"Well... I guess it can't be helped," Lucan said with a resigned sigh, his expression unreadable.
"If it's unavoidable... I might as well fight back," he added, his tone casual, almost as if he were discussing the weather.
"Ugh..." Terra's face paled as he realized what Lucan intended to do.
Without warning, Lucan reached for a bottle of liquor on the table and, in one swift motion, brought it crashing down on Terra's head. The glass shattered with a loud crack, and Terra slumped forward, unconscious.
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