I Become a Secret Police Officer of The Imperial Academy

Chapter 46

“Sis, isn’t it about time to head to school? Are you planning to be late again?”

The person shaking me turned out to be Alicia.

“You said we’d go hang out downtown tonight, remember? Don’t get scolded for being late and come home late because of it. Get up and get dressed!”

“Ah, yeah.”

I had to go to school.

Today, I needed to observe the protagonist and the people around them closely again.

It had been quite entertaining lately to watch what they were up to.

“If it’s to hang out with that guy, I might let it slide!”

“Are you talking about Theo? It’s nothing like that.”

“Besides him, you don’t even hang out with any other guys! At the academy, shouldn’t there be tons of handsome and capable people walking around everywhere?”

Had she fried her brain from reading too many romance novels lately?

It was too tiresome to respond properly, so I just brushed it off.

“Yeah, sure.”

I reached for the table beside my bed, grabbed the cigar I had half-smoked last night, and lit it again.

I couldn’t stomach coffee on an empty stomach, but smoke went down just fine.

“If you’re going to smoke, at least open the window. The walls turned yellow already, and it’s barely been any time since we had them redone!”

“Yeah, I will.”

Alicia kept going on about something, but the drowsy feeling washing over me made it hard to get up.

This feeling was oddly familiar.

It was like looking at a scene I thought I’d never see again after a long time.

Even though it was a cigar I smoked daily, something about smoking it now felt unfamiliar.

“I’m off to the academy.”

“Okay, have a good day!”

As I stepped out of the main gate, my personal carriage was waiting.

It was only a 30-minute walk, so why the fuss with the carriage?

Were they trying to flaunt wealth? Or was it a veiled threat, reminding the young masters with family crests strutting about that I was ready for a chat anytime?

“You look a little unwell today for just one night, Miss.”

“Marco? Slacking off instead of working again?”

“Not slacking off, Miss. Who would be available for a chat in such peaceful times? When there’s no work, I might as well drive the carriage.”

I chuckled and climbed into the carriage.

Inside, there was a large sofa, a fitting novel, and on the right door, rows of cigars, cigarettes, and bottles of alcohol.

On the left, however, there was an arsenal of firearms and blades that were far too intimidating for a girl like me.

It had only been a day, yet it felt like a long time.

Was my brain malfunctioning? I put the cigar back in my mouth.

Tears were streaming down my face.

Had my tear glands broken?

It wasn’t like I was overcome with emotion or anything.

After all, this morning had been entirely normal.

I guess some days are just like this.

The carriage came to a stop.

I roughly wiped away the tears with a handkerchief, stepped out of the carriage, and walked through the main gate into the academy.

There weren’t many students heading in.

Well, around this time, classes might not have started yet, but the teachers were probably out chatting with the students.

Fortunately, my class teacher didn’t seem particularly eager to discipline me or provide me with any sort of special education.

On the contrary, they were pretty accommodating.

After all, I was objectively excellent.

I was beautiful, smart, polite—basically, I played the ideal girl from my own mind flawlessly.

Well, aside from the faint smell of tobacco.

But even that could be masked with some nameless perfume, so it wasn’t a big deal.

As always, I just pretended to pay attention during class.

I had learned so much from my parents growing up that there wasn’t much for me to gain here.

The real reason I came was to keep an eye on Theo and the people around him.

If it weren’t for that, I might have quit already.

There was no real need for me to be a student.

When lunchtime arrived, Ethel and I went to a decent restaurant by ourselves for the first time in a while.

“Ellen, why don’t you come to my house tonight?”

“Your house?”

“Yeah, my parents said they wanted to see you again when we were having dinner last night.”

“They were interesting people. Didn’t they say they sometimes worked alongside farmers?”

Although they lived on the outskirts, it was remarkable for nobility to work shoulder-to-shoulder with demons, who were despised by almost everyone.

“Lady Hanton said she’d give you some apples she harvested if she sees you again!”

“I don’t think I quite get it when you say it like that.”

Even hearing their name didn’t ring a bell. I don’t think I had ever exchanged names with any demons.

I responded while scooping up the rich risotto that tasted overwhelmingly of mushrooms.

This was the best dish on the menu here, but it was a shame the chef had passed away….

“You know, the family we met under the fruit tree last time.”

Something felt off just now.

“Ah.”

Maybe it was just my imagination.

Anyway, that kid had a strangely cute look.

Their little horns poking out didn’t feel all that out of place either.

“But I’m spending tonight with my family.”

“Well, then, it can’t be helped. Let’s hang out another time!”

“Yeah. By the way, what about Theo?”

Ethel popped a tiny piece of cake into her mouth as dessert.

“Who knows? He said he was off to deal with some evil count or something.

He told me not to come because it’s dangerous.”

I bet he took Isabel and Diana with him.

After finishing our meal, we went to a café and started drinking.

The staff there were well-dressed, and the coffee they brewed was impeccable.

Even when they mixed milk or sugar, or blended it with tea, the proportions were spot on.

Half of the second floor was just rubble now, wasn’t it?

“Ellen, what’s on your mind? You seem deep in thought.”

“Just some random things.”

“Are you worried about Theo?”

“Ha, that’s quite a funny joke.

Even if you threw him into hell, he’d probably come back after chopping off all the demons’ heads.”

Whether hell actually existed, I didn’t know, but he was the kind of person who could pull that off.

The second floor had curtains, but it was lined with large windows, offering a clear view of the bustling street below.

A couple sitting on a horse-drawn carriage, students in the square eating snacks by the fountain and exchanging trivial jokes, and children running energetically ahead of a man and woman holding hands—perhaps out for a family outing.

There was also a student wandering around alone, eating candy, while another strolled hand in hand with a girl wearing dog-like ears, who shared the same academy uniform as me.

It wasn’t that I particularly liked these scenes; they were just novel to me. They hadn’t existed before, after all.

It’s only in recent years that demons and humans have started getting along so well. Not long ago, such a thing would have been unthinkable.

Apparently, even among demons, there are distinctions like beastfolk and devils, but that wasn’t my concern.

To me, they were all just people anyway.

The upper world was truly beautiful.

After all, below was nothing but the conversation room and the discipline room.

Here, you could hear leisurely music wafting from the café, but the sounds down there were nothing but screams, pleas, and cries.

If even half the people emerged alive, that would be considered fortunate.

Sometimes, I wondered if I was the one who had risen from hell.

Given how my oh-so-great parents lamented me being confined to the conversation room and sent me to the academy instead, I supposed I should feel grateful.

“This is nice. I didn’t like it at first, but seeing things like this makes me realize it’s not bad.”

“What are you rambling about all of a sudden?”

“There are some things you little kids wouldn’t understand.”

“Heh, you’re the same age as me anyway.”

“Whatever, I’m off. I need to head back now.”

“Okay, see you tomorrow, Ellen.”

Waving her off, I left my coffee on the table and stood up.

I looked up at the sky.

I liked the way the sun looked before it fully set, much more than when it was blazing high above.

It felt warm, yet the colors seemed sharper and more vivid.

Even though the sun hadn’t yet set, drunkards were stumbling out of pubs, throwing chairs, and starting brawls in the streets.

An old man, dressed in tattered and worn-out clothing, begged a tax collector to let him pass without paying, clearly unable to afford it.

A burly man, likely someone’s pimp or husband, was beating up another man who clung to a half-naked woman.

A hooded woman—her face obscured—hurriedly placed a child who looked about three years old into a large basket before abandoning them on the ground and fleeing.

A skeletal-looking little girl was selling flowers, but not in a metaphorical sense—those who bought her flowers likely spent a night with her in a warm home.

The so-called law enforcement officers, dressed in blue, looked more like thugs as they carried batons and cleared anyone they deemed an eyesore from the streets and buildings.

This was one of the better scenes to behold. The slums were truly beyond bearing.

This area was supposedly where people could scrape by and keep food in their mouths, but that was hard to believe.

Still, compared to places where mutilated corpses lay out in the open, it was a relatively beautiful world.

I needed my cigar.

After all, without smoke, a human couldn’t stay optimistic.

The trip home didn’t take long.

“You’re late, Sis!”

I checked my watch upon hearing that but found that I wasn’t late.

It was just a small pocket watch with a leather strap.

“I’m not late.”

“But you need to wash up, dress nicely, and wear something pretty! At this rate, you’ll just have to wash up quickly and head out.”

“I planned on doing just that.”

At my response, Alicia pouted, looking a bit sulky.

“You’re so pretty, Sis. You should put in a little effort to dress up.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“That’s your way of saying you won’t. Ugh.”

I washed up quickly, threw on some clothes, and got into the carriage.

Our parents handed us a pouch of money, saying they were going to see a play together for the first time in ages.

For some reason, I felt like I shouldn’t go.

Especially not to the bustling downtown area.