The Villain Bought the Female Lead - Ch. 20
Alicia, one of the biggest obstacles in Vargan’s future. As she took a step forward, I bound her with chains one by one.
So she couldn’t escape, so she couldn’t betray me.
It had been a little over six months since I possessed this body, and I had invested a lot of time and resources in her.
I didn’t regret it. The sharp sword that once glared at me was now in my grasp, ready to be wielded at my will. That alone was worth the investment.
However, no matter how good the sword was, if the owner couldn’t match it, it was no better than a twig.
I acknowledged Vargan’s talent and initial specifications, but that only made him outstand in the current situation. It was obvious that this alone wouldn’t be enough to overcome every challenge that came my way.
Therefore, apart from the time I invested in Alicia, I focused most of my time on myself. Diligently, meticulously.
I wouldn’t bother mentioning the details one by one. I didn’t want to tediously explain my growth process when I could clearly show the results right in front of me.
[I am Vargan Troa Schugenhartz, honored to speak as this year’s valedictorian.]
I would briefly explain the background of how I got to make this speech. Among those who met the admission criteria, a select few were chosen, and I ranked first in the additional test among them.
That was all.
[I won’t talk for long. I’ll cut to the chase and tell you the most important thing first.]
I scanned the audience, emphasizing the key words. They still didn’t know what humiliation awaited them.
[You are maggots.]
My voice, amplified by the magical device, filled the auditorium and spread far and wide. The annoying small noises ceased as if mesmerized. I captured their reactions one by one.
Some stuck their fingers in their ears, frowning.
Others blinked with dazed expressions.
Another glared at me, gritting his teeth.
[Small and weak, living in filth in droves. You grow up eating filth and, even as adults, continue to live in and excrete filth.]
What pathetic lives. How utterly insignificant.
Jiing-
Something transparent and violet spread wide and fast. A pulse of mana radiated from me. It wasn’t thick. If it were, the involved parties might take it more seriously.
[Maggots that don’t think properly, that can’t even open their eyes on their own, only opening their filthy mouths to consume the excrement that comes in.]
Their only redeeming feature was that they served as food to some extent, aiding the growth of the main characters.
[That’s what you are.]
Among the freshmen were high-ranking nobles from other countries. They might not tolerate such provocative remarks and could rush forward to hurl insults or challenge me, but no one reacted significantly. They just vibrated slightly. Not at all.
I sneered at their pathetic state.
[You’re wriggling like maggots. It’s like looking inside the peeled skin of a corpse that’s been dead for days. If you have any complaints, come forward. You can protest directly.]
Not everyone was unable to move. Those with exceptional skills, those who knew how to break the spell, and a few lesser nobles.
But they didn’t try to stop me. They knew that the term <maggot> didn’t refer to them. They felt it, even without me stating it.
Nonetheless, speaking out was my goodwill and consideration for the ignorant.
[You who cannot move right now. Yes, you. The word <maggot> refers to you. Do you understand now? You, foolish ones who are paralyzed by such a low-level curse.}
As I seriously delivered my speech, I inadvertently infused a bit of emotion. I looked at the foolish maggots with a natural smile on my face.
Around those whose movements were restricted, a bright violet crystal floated above their heads as if advertising their presence. It was like a cursor indicating NPCs in a game.
[The descendants of nobles. Such a beautiful phrase. However, that word does not suit you.]
Those who were now realizing the situation had been children from well-off families or those who had ample opportunities to learn magic from a young age.
There were quite a few familiar faces. They exchanged looks of frustration. Besides their ranks, another common factor tied them together.
[You are of low quality.]
Academia was a place that produced so-called heroes who protected people from external threats. An institution derived from the church, the largest force.
This meant.
Wealth, connections, honor.
A place where you could obtain all three coveted treasures. That was what Academia was.
Wasn’t it too alluring?
Wouldn’t anyone want to enter?
Just passing through the gate, which boasted a competition rate of over 1,000 to 1, was a feat worthy of praise. However.
[You should not be praised. Instead, you should be ashamed that you passed and reflect on your laziness and wasted lives by burying your faces in the trash.]
Some among those lined up knew my family’s name and had already given up any thoughts of defiance, but most of them twitched their facial muscles, trying to express anger. The saying that even worms squirmed when stepped on fit perfectly.
Oh, one person’s reaction was particularly intense. He opened and closed his mouth, glaring at me. Seeing his sincerity, it seemed necessary to reduce the restraint.
“… no matter if you’re Schugenhartz, isn’t this going too far! Do you even know what you’re doing right now⎯⎯!”
The man, barely able to speak, exploded with anger.
A feeble threat against me.
Were there even grades among these trashes? How laughable. They wouldn’t even notice the difference without forceful attention.
[Judging by the peculiar embroidery on your glove, you’re from the Count Lampit family of Ossell. And you seem to be a direct descendant.]
I revealed his identity based on the information I could gather from his appearance. He enjoyed flaunting his family’s mark. He must have a lot of pride in his family.
[The Lampit family is responsible for a significant amount of the raw materials for magical tools produced in the Ossell Kingdom. Therefore, their position is far from narrow.]
I continued to spit out information about his family.
At first, he didn’t grasp my intention and stood there dumbfounded. But soon, realizing my intent, he poured out his uncontrollable rage.
“Are you insulting me and my family right now?!”
He pointed at me with a reddened face, a sign of his rising anger. It looked like he was about to launch into a heated argument, but from a distance, it just seemed like…
[A pig is squealing.]
“What, what…? What nonsense are you… saying….”
He entered Academia thanks to his family. He barely managed to pass because of his family. If Academia hadn’t lowered the passing criteria to not miss out on those with potential, he wouldn’t have made it.
Lack of talent was an excuse.
Don’t even mention lacking family support. You were just…
[A pig wrapped in high-quality cloth called <Lampit family>.]
“…!!”
[The gifted education you received from a young age, the well-established environment for honing your magic, the expensive wands, and even relics. Despite all these benefits, you have only grown this much, which is not a family pride but a disgrace.]
The slightly outstanding noble children who barely passed through Academia. Their goal wasn’t to become heroes who saved people.
They used it as a social stage to live well or enroll based on instilled ideologies without any independent drive.
Of course, I didn’t intend to criticize the desire to live well. What I questioned was the passion for the goal. They lacked both sincerity and a destination. They merely followed their implanted desires.
Among the types I despised, these foolish ones made my blood boil.
Those who hadn’t grasped their given conditions, inclinations, or talents. Those who didn’t even try to understand themselves.
“Schugenhartz, you bastard⎯!! Uh, uh…?”
The Lampit family’s pet pig screamed like livestock before slaughter, then suddenly fell silent as if sedated.
I had placed a spell to silence such noises, and it worked perfectly. Don’t worry. It was a kind of curse used for healing, making the body comfortable and inducing a pleasant sleep.
The student behind him ended up supporting him as he collapsed.
Now, let’s leave that fool alone and continue the speech. There was still more to say.
Hoo⎯⎯
I sighed and refocused.
[If you’re going to flaunt your desires, at least have the skills. If you’re a noble, show that you deserve it. To enjoy the benefits of the hierarchy you love so much, it’s only natural to prove that you’re better than those you look down on.]
It wasn’t enough to be at the top of the pyramid to be respected. You must possess something that made those you step on willingly support you to truly enjoy the benefits of your rank.
Those who enjoyed privileges without any qualifications were utterly worthless.
[We’ll have a long relationship ahead. Whatever it is, you’re all freshmen who passed Academia. If you have any complaints, like that pig earlier, express your anger to me anytime. I’ll personally accept any challenges.]
I snapped my fingers, releasing the restrictions on them. The mix of noise from the freed and the unfettered filled the auditorium.
But those who regained their freedom didn’t confront me. More accurately, they couldn’t.
They didn’t have aspirations to be heroes and valued family honor above all. Even if I angered them, they wouldn’t dare to challenge me.
Why?
Because I was Schugenhartz.
Moreover, they had already witnessed the humiliation of the student from Lampit family. Seeing the clear gap between us, they deemed it foolish to confront me.
[Don’t mistake yourselves as special. Currently, your value is no more than that of food.]
I shifted my gaze and looked around. Among the chaos, there was one person who stood out for being particularly quiet.
In an auditorium where countless spectators were noisily chattering their thoughts, a man was standing as if he had turned to stone.
Though the purple orb was not floating, he seemed stifled as if he was under some sort of control. A red-haired female student nearby shook him, but he didn’t budge.
It was only natural since a particularly strong curse was placed on him alone.
I dismissed the sight that caught my eye and used a magical phrase to subdue the chaos into silence.
***
‘What is happening?’
Despite the unforgettable speech of the valedictorian having ended and the entrance ceremony proceeding, nothing could enter Liam’s mind.
He tried to calm himself with now cold expression, but his body didn’t easily follow his thoughts.
‘Vargan has recognized my existence. Moreover, he gave the speech that the protagonist was originally supposed to deliver. The development has changed from the original. Why? And that’s not all.’
Think carefully.
In his speech, he harshly criticized those who didn’t show remarkable achievements compared to their background, calling them maggots. While the speech itself was aggressive enough to be nonsensical, what mattered now was not the surface but the content.
He left curses and marked on those he pointed out, and upon assessing the situation, it was clear that this was done only to the nobles, excluding commoners, as Emily wasn’t affected either.
However, despite being a commoner, he was cursed to the point of being immobilized. While the purple something did not float, he could be certain.
A mistake? Could it be that he cursed him by mistake? No, definitely not. At the last moment, he looked at him. He sneered at seeing him unable to move due to the curse.
Yes.
This was as if….
‘He already knows about my ability and is mocking me for not handling it properly.’
What could his actions mean?
Was it related to the change in the story?
Numerous possibilities flashed by. Since his possession, he had been moving cautiously to avoid triggering any significant butterfly effects, so could it be that he had heard something about him?
If not, was the development of this novel world originally set to flow in a different direction?
Or could it be… though unlikely, that Vargan was also a possessor like him?
It was too early to conclude anything. To think the story would deviate so much from the smooth track. Worry started to creep in about whether he could proceed with the story stably from here on out.
“… Liam, Liam! Are you listening, Liam?!”
Emily’s voice, which had been ringing in his ears like tinnitus, suddenly became clear and brought Liam’s senses back from the daze.
Looking at Emily with widened pupils, Liam realized that he had been deep in thought and slowly took a breath, showing a slight smile. But the one who was in urgent right now was not Liam but Emily, her.
“Liam! What should I do! Look at this!”
“Why…? Because of what….”
Before Liam could finish his question, Emily thrusted a fluttering piece of paper at him, her voice slightly trembling as if she was about to cry. This was the first time she had been this frantic.
“What were you doing dazing off, the class and group assignments are out! Seriously, it’s a big deal…!”
The class and group assignments were based on the entrance scores, except for the top ten students who could each select a group member.
Since individuals couldn’t adjust to this, Liam also considered the possibility of being in a different group or even a different class from Emily.
She must know that fact too, so why was she reacting like this….
“What?”
Liam’s gaze shifted to what Emily was holding. What he saw was a reality hard for him to accept.
Emily being in a different group from him was something he had naturally considered. However.
“Emily… you….”
“Liam… what do I… I….”
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
Class 1 Assignment Result
Group 1
Vargan Troa Schugenhartz
Alicia
Serena
Emily
Finn Troa Toylen
….
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
“I… ended up in the same group as the top student… that person called Vargan….”