The Villain Bought the Female Lead - Ch. 23
Crack, crack!
Every time Alicia’s sword moved, a golem slightly smaller than an average adult male was neatly split in two. Even while wielding her massive sword, her movements flowed smoothly and quickly into the next action.
One after another.
She conserved her strength with minimal movements, cutting down her enemies with savage and unrelenting precision. Her once gentle expression vanished, replaced with the killing intent of a predatory raptor.
“What the… she’s not a novice, she’s a formidable fighter…?!”
Watching the scene, Emily’s jaw dropped as she voiced her thoughts.
From a casual glance, one could see the preconceived notions Emily had about Alicia.
Seeing Alicia look delicate and timid likely made her underestimate her. She couldn’t even imagine what Alicia had gone through.
‘To move that massive sword with the ease of a chef wielding a knife. Not to mention the stable aura!’ Emily probably thought.
Currently, Emily could produce an aura, but she was struggling to maintain its precision and shape. By ability standards, Alicia was leagues ahead of her.
Despite Alicia’s delicate appearance, seemingly unable to lift a chopstick, seeing her outmatch her and be adept in combat was surprising.
And when the fighting started, her innocent expression vanished, and she ruthlessly sliced up the golems like a ferocious hound.
Whoever had changed Alicia to be like this was impressive. Whoever it was.
Good job.
A gust of wind rustled by her ears.
Screech!
Even from a distance, the vibrations from the air clearly reached her. The source of the noise quickly reloaded the next arrow and aimed for another shot.
At the front, Alicia’s sword glowed with a concentrated aura, piercing through the golems’ heads.
Serena maintained her stoic expression, methodically aiming and shooting, targeting specific golems that wouldn’t interfere with Alicia’s movements.
Her accuracy was high; most arrows either passed through the golems or embedded themselves within.
For Serena, who rarely showed emotion, her demeanor changed slightly when the golems started closing in.
Her gaze shifted as she calmly carried out difficult orders from her leader without any fuss.
Even with the tricky instructions, Serena agreed with the leader’s perspective and dutifully held her position.
She was a valuable member of the team.
‘Speaking of useless.’
“Useless…” muttered another male teammate from a distance.
Holding a longsword, Finn lacked aura completely and struggled against the golems.
Despite his blade grazing a golem’s body a few times, the damage was minimal, almost negligible.
“Urgh!”
Meanwhile, Finn’s body was accumulating minor cuts and bruises, and his stamina was waning.
‘Compared to Alicia, he is…’
“……”
A myriad of emotions crossed her gaze as she looked at the other teammates, doing nothing but observing.
“Why aren’t you freeing the hostages? The play ends when we release them.”
Seeing Emily in a daze, I prodded her.
I couldn’t overlook the laziness.
After a moment, Emily’s gaze returned from the distant battlefield.
In the current training scenario, Emily’s role was to release the hostages.
This training was aimed at improving the team’s cooperation and camaraderie, as the team members selected their respective weapons.
“Are you not thinking about the consequences? Everyone’s holding the golems’ attention while you slack off.”
“Ha, I was…! It wasn’t about laziness… then why are you still lounging while making such declarations?”
As I sat on a black chair-like structure, it seemed to irk Emily, so she retorted.
Such impudence…
“Do you have any thoughts? If I intervene, the evaluation of your comrades won’t progress any further.”
“So, why do you act like you’re the one who evaluates…?”
“Ha…”
This was amazing.
I made a face as if it was something absurd. This was an expression I rarely made as I had to maintain my dignity.
But it still came out.
“I would never think that you would be so ignorant to consider me as the same level as you.”
“… ugh.”
Emily’s lips tightened, though she refrained from showing it.
But everyone could see. Still, I would be generous and let it pass.
“Very well, it seems that you’re more foolish than I imagined, so I’ll show you how it’s done. If you’ll just follow along smoothly in the future.”
As I stood up from the chair, the black structure melted into my shadow.
“Unlock the prison door while I’m gone. I’ll be back shortly.”
“Then…!”
“It would be better to do it quickly. If I couldn’t even open a door after solving everything else, it means that’s how much you’re worth.”
“… well, just do it.”
Leaving Emily, who was showing a rather defiant attitude, behind, I walked over to the golems.
You shouldn’t talk to a wild animal like Emily; you had to show it instead.
Maybe she wanted me to make a mistake or embarrass myself now. It would be good to give her an excuse to climb on top of me.
…
But, well.
You already knew the result, didn’t you?
***
“Emily, are you okay? You don’t look well…”
The bonding session with Vargan came to a swift end, and the group who had finished their practice quickly changed into their school uniforms in the changing room.
Approaching Emily, who was leaning against the cabinet, despondent, Alicia spoke with concern.
“If you’re overexerted, I can cast healing magic. I can take you to the infirmary if you want.”
“No, it’s okay, Alicia… I was just thinking about my own worth.”
“Huh…? I don’t quite understand, but if you’re feeling tired, let me know. I’ll do my best to help.”
Emily looked into Alicia’s clear eyes.
They seemed like a clean zone without even a speck of foreign substance. She looked completely different from the way she had mercilessly sliced the golems just moments ago.
Emily straightened her swaying body and faced her. Alicia also quickly adjusted her posture and waited for her to speak.
“You said you are Vargan’s servant, right? Is he really that ruthless of a person?”
“Ah… it seems it was related to the Master. Well… regarding magic, or his personality, what do you mean exactly?”
“Both.”
Emily replied quickly, and Alicia hesitated a bit, glancing around.
Even though she looked around and knew no one was around them, she spoke so quietly that only Emily could hear.
“… he’s always been that way.”
“Of course.”
Emily had expected that and chuckled bitterly.
“You must be having a hard time.”
“No, it’s not hardship.”
“You can be honest now since he isn’t around anyway. It was like you had a tough time out there. I mean…”
“I enjoy doing it.”
“Really…?”
Alicia raised her volume slightly and gave a gentle smile.
Emily found Alicia’s statement hard to believe, but her sincerity was evident in her response, making her start to doubt herself.
The context was important, but the person who said it and the attitude was also important.
“How are you able to be so positive even when working for a person like that? If I were his servant, I would not last a day.”
Wrapping her arms around herself, Emily admitted she shivered at just imagining the experience.
At that, Alicia noticed something and excused herself, then started to fix the slightly crooked ribbon on Emily’s hair.
“He’s indeed harsh, but he’s a good person. Because of his stern appearance and speech, people often misunderstand him, but he’s really warm-hearted.”
“That person…?”
Emily responded with a skeptical expression as if doubting Alicia’s words.
“I guess you’ll learn more over time. I used to be scared of him too, but now, not so much.”
“Now?”
“Um… I’m not sure how to describe it.”
Alicia adjusted the ribbon and smiled contentedly before adding.
“Respect, trust, and gratitude… maybe?”
Emily was left speechless by Alicia’s warm smile. Even without conversing for too long, she felt like she knew exactly who Alicia was.
“Alicia, you really are amazing.”
***
Alicia and her group emerged from the changing room and walked toward the waiting room together. The waiting room displayed a live stream of a fight currently in progress, and the other group members were watching.
But two people stood out particularly.
Emily noticed one of them and instinctively smiled to greet him, but as she approached, she felt an unsettling atmosphere.
It was her old friend, Liam, who usually wore a bright smile. Now, though, he wore a different, unfamiliar expression.
And in front of him stood a man.
“What the hell, why are you grabbing me like this?”
Vargan. He seemed displeased at Liam restraining him by placing a hand on his shoulder.
However, Liam, who had always been full of playful banter, was now calm and serious.
His tone sounded tense but confident.
“Vargan, let’s talk somewhere else.”
Vargan responded without hesitation.
Disdainful and indifferent, he gave Liam a look as if he were nothing but a small insect.
“No.”