As the days went on, the girl made sure to be aware of what was going on outside the Academy of Magic.
She needed to be daily updated to know when to initiate the alignment with the plot.
It was funny that she was trying to align herself with the plot of a book that hadn't even started yet.
But, well, she was about to do something that would much later in the book be explained.
Specifically, it would be explained in the scene when the Male Lead's friend killed her.
Finally, while going through the news of what was going on in the Capital, the girl found what she was looking for.
A Power of Death and Extinction user had attacked His Majesty, the Emperor.
Luckily, Archmage Anastasia Julians was present and subdued the traitor.
After interrogation, the traitor revealed (that was definitely a lie) that all the wielders of the Power of Death and Extinction were in cahoots with the Varil kingdom and planning to go against the Empire once the Varil kingdom invaded.
To prevent that, all possessing the Power of Death and Extinction were to be caught and executed.
If they resisted capture, they could be killed on the spot.
Once the girl got the news, she knew she had very limited time to get out of the Academy.
She went back to her room, changed from her uniform into her old clothes, hoping not to meet Josephine.
She really didn't feel like explaining why she was suddenly leaving.
When she had her things gathered, she went to the old training grounds again, avoiding places where teachers gathered.
They would soon receive the news too and turn to capture her.
But they wouldn't look for her in the old training grounds.
Once there, the girl turned to the old wall.
If she used the Limit Killer again, she could easily jump over it or scale it, but she had no way of knowing whether someone was on the other side.
She had to be careful.
Just as she was about to jump, she heard something falling behind her, followed by coughing from all the dust that rose in the old place.
Instantly, the girl twisted, her eyes narrowing sharply.
"It's dead in here..." Albert Hilberg was standing there amongst the debris, making his way over to the girl.
"That's your work, isn't it?" he looked over at the girl.
The girl looked over at him, considering what to do.
She didn't want the Academy to yet find out that she was already on the run.
She wanted a bit of a head start.
She opened her mouth to speak, but Albert beat her to it.
"Don't try to pretend this isn't your work. Before you came to the Academy, this place wasn't as dead as it is now."
His analysis was spot on.
Because of the girl's frequent training in the area, what was left alive wilted and died, making it look like an area barren for centuries.
When in reality it wasn't even five years since the place was left alone.
Albert continued.
"The teachers are in turmoil, searching for a traitor. And the Capital is searching for anyone with the Power of Death and Extinction. And just around that time, you appear and a whole area dies out. You are one of the so‑called traitors. That's why you didn't tell me your name. You don't have one."
The girl frowned a bit.
"This clearly isn't something you just found out. When did you realize?" she asked finally.
There was no point in lying since the truth was already out.
Albert shrugged.
"It was easy to notice once I started observing you more closely."
The girl didn't really believe those words.
"You were observing me?" she raised a brow.
She had portrayed herself to not be all that interesting, so she saw no reason for Albert to observe her.
What was it that piqued his interest?
Albert was keeping the truth hidden.
And he was doing so obviously; very much so.
On purpose was he telling lies that were easy to see through, so the girl knew he had no plans of telling her the truth.
The girl had two options.
Press him for an answer, or just hope the truth wasn't some kind of vital information for her and leave it be.
But the decision between the options would be made based on Albert's next intentions.
At the moment, it didn't seem like he had bad intentions, but that could as well be an act.
"Since you now know that I belong to the traitors, what will you do next?" the girl decided to be upfront about it.
Albert was clearly surprised by the question.
So it seemed he had been expecting the girl to avoid the question while trying to get him on her side.
"If you want, I could take you back to my family. There, no one could touch you."
The girl stared at him, her eyes slowly narrowing in thought.
"You are from the Hilberg family, are you not?" her voice revealed (on purpose, but that was unknown to Albert) that she probably didn't have a good view of the Hilberg family.
Albert was taken aback by her stance.
"That's right. I'm the only son of the Hilberg family."
The girl finally made a decision.
"I would appreciate your help, but I can't. The best you can do for me is wait with reporting me to the Academy."
Before Albert could react, the girl activated the Limit Killer and appeared by the wall.
Then, with inhuman movement efficiency, she scaled the wall, stopping atop it.
"Well, farewell my friend. Do make sure for me that Josephine isn't saddened by my departure."
With those words, she disappeared from the wall.
Albert was unable to follow her, even though he would very much like to, so he could ask the questions he had in his heart.
What did she know about his family that he didn't that made her have a clearly negative view of them?
And, since they had met in the classroom, she had to know he was from the Hilberg family, so why did she ask if he was from the family when he offered her help?
It was like she needed confirmation, but she clearly already knew before she asked.
Once outside the Academy, the girl didn't wait for someone to notice her.
She sped through the city, going towards the lawless part.
According to the plot of the book, that area would be taken control of with the help of the Female Lead, and after that, the Male Lead's friend would find the girl there and kill her; for having the Power of Death and Extinction.
But there was still a long time before that happened, so the girl was safe.
She would disappear from the place just before it got taken under control.
Until then, she would obediently blend into the plot and live there.
It was just a few months.
After that, she could flee and return to the town she had been living in before.
The lawless area was dominated by thugs and criminals, but the girl wasn't scared there.
She had been training her power just so she could survive in the area.
Once she entered the area, she deactivated the Limit Killer and started walking around calmly.
She wanted to take a good look around before settling down somewhere.
While scouting the area, she wanted to find the locations mentioned in the book.
Some places she knew she would have to avoid, and others were quite the opposite and she would spend most of her time there.
One place where she knew she would stay a lot was a tavern.
In the book, that was where the girl worked before the Male Lead's friend found her and started following her to capture her.
But because she resisted being captured and her power went out of control, the friend killed her so the people around wouldn't die to the rampage of her power.
It was mentioned in the book that he had some kind of power that let him kill the girl when she was out of control (thus her defenses weakened), but as the author, the girl tended to leave details out.
So it had never been stated what power the friend had.
Or what he looked like.
She had purposely not mentioned the details about him throughout the book.
Just his name was known to the readers.
He was a quite important character, but comically, barely anything was known about him.
So, even as the author, the girl didn't know who to watch out for.
Not the appearance, not the power.
Just a name and that he would kill her.
She had set up quite the trap for herself.
But, while she was in the lawless zone before it got taken under control, even if the friend found her, he couldn't touch her.
The lawless zone was untouchable, out of the reach of the protagonists and important characters.
After looking through the lawless area, the girl finally went to the tavern and entered.
Her gaze swept over the place, and she couldn't help but see the similarities the lawless tavern had to the tavern where she had been working back in the town where she had been living.
But she didn't have enough time to think about it because she spotted a familiar figure.
Dressed in black like he had been spit out by darkness, with black hair and piercing black eyes that locked on her the moment she stepped into the building.