webnovel

The Misery of Us

Trigger warnings: Most of them, really. The first outbreak took the lives of scums. The second sent her to the academia, a place full of strife and intrigue where any misstep could lead to her death. The third will happen soon.   The world can be cruel, I can be crueler.

LukeLooksForYou · Fantasy
Not enough ratings
22 Chs

Cecilia's first abuse of power

Before she knew it, they were no longer in a closed building.

Cecilia looked in amazement at her feet rubbing against the sandy soil before she angrily turned to the guy who tricked her. "Was there a more twisted way to do it? Bastard."

"Oh, I'm so sorry; I didn't know Her Highness needed a new wound for every occasion."

"Shut up already."

"what? You're afraid that 'Her Highness' will catch? Too late for that; it's golden."

Somehow, under these unexpected circumstances, Cecilia's first friendship was forged with a simultaneously completely different and strangely similar person.

Their chatter continued as they walked together. The presence of the boy, whom she had only just learned was called Devin, reassuring her not to be so anxious about her surroundings.

It's also one of the reasons she didn't hear the whisper of the blond man behind her, who thought he had hallucinated the circle glowing with a golden light instead of the usual red.

If she had heard that muttering, maybe she would have confirmed his words, maybe there would have been a commotion, and maybe she would have kept this information to herself.

But unfortunately, it was a long time before she learned that the magic circles glowed red, long enough to forget her first little golden circle.

If she had heard that whisper, the story would have ended very quickly.

 

. .      . 

 

"Hey lady, want a tour? I'll take half of whatever you're paying that posh."

Devin's patience was wearing thin as he almost yelled at the bypasser for the who-know-how-many-times-today "I'm not a tour guide!"

Before things would escalated, Cecilia quickly dragged him away as she whispered in his ear teasingly, "Then you have no problem admitting that you're a posh"

"There's no shame in being classy, Cecilia."

Devin straightened his tie, trying to calm his temper.

"Why do they keep mistaking you for a tour guide?"

"You're clearly new, and I'm the only one who seems to understand how trash bins work around here." Cecilia couldn't help but recall the embarrassing incident where her arm was almost swallowed along with the bloodstained cloth she was about to throw away, her thoughts wandered as the man began to griping next to her: "...Yet a tour guide? They mistake Devin Mordius, a scion of the Mordius dynasty that has maintained purity for 17 generations, whose great grandfather basically invented the modern flip flop, the one who was raised from childhood to a nobility that was his by right and inherited in his blood, the one..."

Even though Cecilia really wanted to find out about the thing about the flip-flops, she thought that a man like Devin (who, unfortunately, in the last few minutes she knew him and his lineage too deeply) would never shut up about an achievement of one of his ancestors. She decided to quickly change the subject.

"Don't we need tickets for the ship? How are we supposed to be identified?"

Devin paused for a moment as he tried to explain to the laywoman, "They do a blood test, like we did for you at the dock? Those with too low a magic percentage will not be allowed to enter the ship. By the way, this is why there are so many travel guides here."

"wait, what?" Cecilia said, "What do you mean?"

"Those who do not pass the test are not allowed to board; of course, the outward journey was based on the assumption that they were going to be students of academia. Therefore, it was free.

If they want to return, they must earn the money for the return themselves. Some have been stuck here for years."

"It's that expensive?"

"150 gold coins. I wouldn't bother picking them up if I found them on the sidewalk. But the cost of living on the island, as befits an island of wizards, is quite expensive. Besides, some think they'll make it through the next sorting for some reason; they're all idiots."

Cecilia bowed her head deep in thought, her white hair falling past her eyes. It was obvious to Devin why she was upset, and even though he wanted to tease her, seeing her furrowed brows made him comfort her sooner than he normally would.

"Don't worry, the fact that you teleported here already means you have enough magic power. Besides, if you really don't pass and ask me nicely enough, I'll sneak you onto the ship. What a great person I am!"

"The best!" Cecilia giggled.

 

. .      . 

 

 

"I'm afraid that I'm going to ask you to leave."

"But-"

The stern selector snapped his fingers, and two guards forcefully dragged the chubby boy, who seemed on the verge of tears. Everyone present had enough of a heart to face this scene with indifference, knowing that the selector is currently condemning him to years of humiliating suffering.

"Next!"

"I'll see you on the other side, Hun.".

Devin tried to keep his noble nature as he almost jumped at the selector, who didn't even bother to check his blood and just shouted, "Next!"

"It's not fair; why wasn't he tested?" A girl in her twenties shouted from the end of the line, so far away that Cecilia was surprised she could see so clearly.

Devin turned to her with not well-disguised anger, completely different from the cheerfulness he had shown before: "Are you implying that I, Devin Mordius, a descendant of the Mordius line going back 17 generations, whose great-grandfather invented the modern flip-flops, lack the magic power to pass the most elementary sorting?"

For some reason, the selector seemed to carefully study Devin's expression and then unexpectedly announced to the girl, "I'm afraid that I'm going to ask you to leave."

"What? You didn't even test me!"

"I'm afraid that I'm going to ask you to leave."

"Is that and 'Next' all you can say? Where's the fairness of the"

Before she could complete the sentence, the two guards from earlier grabbed her and forcibly dragged her out of the line.

"Americans!" Devin snorted, then turned to Cecilia. "You coming?"

The selector looked at Devin again, as if he were a marionette checking the movements of his operator, and without even checking, he shouted at Cecilia, "Next!".