The Villain Bought the Female Lead - Ch. 59
“Ugh…”
Alicia headed to the lab after finishing her morning classes.
She clutched her swollen forehead, tears welling up in her eyes. Usually, she’d be fine the next day, but this time the severity was worse. The throbbing didn’t stop.
Every time the pain hit her, memories of last night resurfaced.
Alicia had to affirm herself until he was satisfied. Any sign of sadness or hesitation would result in a merciless flick on the forehead as punishment.
… she had never been hit this many times in a row before.
Someone gently tapped her on the back.
Startled, Alicia reacted instinctively.
“I, I am great…! Superior and beautiful more than anyone in the world!!”
“Alicia…?”
“… Miss Emily?”
Realizing it was Emily who touched her, Alicia sighed deeply in relief and then blushed deeply. Her mouth opened and closed repeatedly, not knowing what to say.
While this was a familiar sight to Vargan, it was the first time Emily had seen Alicia like this.
Sensing something was off, Emily lifted Alicia’s bangs.
“What, what is this…?! Did a giant hornet sting you?!”
Emily expressed her concern, adding, “How big of a hornet must it be to cause this much sting?”
“I, I’m fine…! Really, it’s nothing, Miss Emily.”
“Nothing?! You’re bruised! … did Vargan do this? Is it true?! Is he crazy?! How could he let it get this bad?!”
As Emily began to speak loudly, Alicia quickly looked around and covered Emily’s mouth.
“Really, I’m fine…! It’s all my fault! Please, keep it down… we’re near the lab!”
Alicia shook her head like a frightened child. This was another side of Alicia that Emily had never seen.
Emily, whose mouth was blocked, struggled to breathe, and Alicia quickly realized this and removed her hand.
Emily coughed and rubbed her neck.
“I-I’m sorry, Miss Emily…! I didn’t mean to… oh, what should I do…”
Panicking, Alicia cast a healing spell on Emily. Alicia was desperate, but since Emily wasn’t actually hurt, the spell had no effect.
Emily’s body trembled, holding back laughter.
Alicia, more surprised, intensified the healing spell.
“Ahahahaha?! Stop, you can stop now, Alicia!”
“Eh? But…!”
“No one casts a healing spell for something like this. There’s a limit to being overprotective.”
Finally, Alicia stopped the healing spell. Emily wiped away tears of laughter.
“Oh, really… so even you can get flustered and clumsy. Whoa, I saw something amazing.”
“What do you mean…?”
“I always thought you were perfect and flawless, like some superhuman. Well, I guess you often got embarrassed around Vargan.”
“Ugh…”
Alicia lowered her head, her ears turning red, trying to hide her embarrassment. Emily found Alicia’s reaction both surprising and endearing.
“How did you manage to hide such cuteness all this time?”
“… please don’t tease me, Miss Emily.”
Covering her face with her hands, Alicia didn’t know what to do. Seeing this, Emily stopped teasing and continued to marvel.
“Whoa… a beautiful person with charm is really something scary. I think I understand why Vargan treated you the way he did… but he went too far this time. Do you need a healing spell?”
Alicia shook her head, trying to stay composed.
As a servant of the prestigious Schugenhartz family, she must not show such vulnerability.
Alicia calmed her breathing and managed to regain her composure.
“… so, you’ve been hiding it like this all along.”
“……”
“Are you sure you don’t need a healing spell? It seems like it’ll last long.”
“… I’m fine. I’m leaving it as a punishment for making the Master worry.”
“It seems more than just a simple punishment… anyway, if you insist, Alicia.”
Emily pondered for a moment, then changed the subject to something more suitable.
“Oh, right, how do you plan to handle the assignment?”
At Academia, there was season in each semester when an avalanche of assignments came.
Each professor gave unique assignments and evaluated them. Of course, depending on the grades, one could receive a Cattia.
“Which assignment do you mean?”
“Our professor’s assignment. It’s so simple that it’s actually troublesome.”
Professor Louisa’s assignment for Class 1 was as follows.
“<Specify what you want to accomplish before you die>.”
“Right, that! The length, format, even the subject isn’t related to heroes… each student will have a different answer, but I wonder how she plans to evaluate them.”
“There’s still time. I think it’s okay to think about it slowly.”
“That’s true, but it’s so vague… hm?”
The two, on their way to the lab, stopped. They were in front of a newly assigned spacious room, not the narrow one they used to have, but hesitated to enter.
There was a large number of students.
Were they new members of the research group? Alicia wondered, but there were too many, and none of the faces were familiar. They didn’t seem to be new members.
The murmuring could be heard.
“A first-year student defeated a Class 3 danger?!”
“I heard he took it down with his fiancée!”
“No, the fiancée was knocked out, and the first-year top student defeated it alone!”
“Does that matter? It was an intelligent creature! A first year defeating an intelligent creature is unheard of!”
…….
“Sure, I was surprised too, and I thought it would become an issue… but it’s us.”
“Yes…”
“How do we get in?”
***
Rumors spread fast.
Today, Academia was abuzz with two major incidents.
One was the <Bishop Caliculea Subjugation> centered around me.
From the moment I entered Academia in the morning, I struggled to shake off the persistent crowd. Erica was in the same situation. Both of us were questioned instead of attending morning classes.
Questions like what kind of creature Caliculea was, how we knew it was hiding there, and why we went there, etc.
It was quite a nuisance, but I didn’t reveal that it was planned. They had no solid evidence, and it wasn’t the main reason for the investigation. We managed to get through it.
Well, not completely unscathed.
Being bombarded with questions all day was exhausting.
For reference, Erica and I were prohibited from leaving Academia for the rest of the first semester.
Another one involved an incident related to Liam.
Remarkably, Liam followed the original story without Emily. After the class battle, he joined the research group at the request of a summoner and learned its secrets.
The society claimed to support illiterate commoners but was actually exploiting them. They would draft contracts, infuse them with magic, and seal them with mutual consent.
Of course, these were unequal contracts, tricking the illiterate fools into being collateralized.
Liam discovered this, escaped the trap, and successfully made it public. He must have grown considerably from this experience.
Although Liam’s public disclosure was somewhat overshadowed by the timing coinciding with mine, he did resolve the issue.
Now, more importantly…
“Keep your mouth shut and move aside.”
The noise and students filling the hallway fell silent and parted in the middle.
From this scene alone, you could tell.
These fools, who were always interested in rumors and easily swayed, were too stupid to break even a simple curse.
I walked through the open path, opened the door to the research group room, and entered. I added extra magic to ensure thorough soundproofing and sealing when I closed the door.
Before the door shut, I could see the eyes of the fools. I wanted to sweep them away like trash.
Creak.
As the door closed, silence ensued.
I felt the gaze of sixty-four eyes on me from behind. Thankfully, these selected individuals knew how to be patient. They waited for me to speak first.
I moved forward.
With each step, my footsteps echoed in the room, resonating with a steady rhythm.
Then.
I arrived at the central table.
“It’s a pleasure to see you again. As you know, I am Vargan Troa Schugenhartz, the head of Arbol Frutal. First, let me congratulate you.”
I smiled at the selected talents sitting before me.
“You have been chosen.”
***
After a brief speech and explanation of Arbol Frutal’s ideals, we sat in our respective groups.
Normally, the core members, the roots, would gather, but today, being the first day, the heads of each group joined to provide explanations.
I was currently with the <trunk> members.
“… so, as I mentioned, now that you are part of Arbol Frutal, you must regularly meet the allotted time and tasks. There are no exceptions for seniors. Any other questions?”
“Whoa… you really look alike. Especially the eyes.”
“Can I get a closer look?” Alexeria, leaning in with bold words, was pulled back and seated by her fiancé, Brachium.
Alexeria, her cheeks puffed out in protest, said.
“Why? I just wanted to see up close because you look like Rine.”
“Sit still. That was rude.”
“But I’m a senior.”
“He is the head of the research group.”
Alexeria turned her head sharply and sat down, emphasizing her pouting expression.
Believe it or not, Alexeria was a fourth-year student who served as the student council president two years ago and was back from a leave of absence.
By the way, <Rine> seemed to refer to the current student council president, Rheincarven. At least it was better than calling him <Lime>.
Alexeria quickly recovered and asked, her brightness almost blinding.
“You spoke informally when we first came in, but here you use honorifics. Is there a special reason?”
“……”
She was one of the types I disliked.
Why were the useful ones always missing a screw?
“… if there are no more questions, we will end the meeting here.”
“Ah, I’ve been ignored~!”
“……”
As I was about to leave the trunk group, a second-year student named Francesca, who had been listening quietly, spoke up. Her sunken eyes turned to me.
“…. Vargan Troa Schugenhartz, you were praised as an unparalleled genius whose name spread even to the kingdom since childhood.”
“You seem to have questions about me.”
Francesca nodded slowly.
She was someone I could have a reasonable conversation with, so I sat down to face her.
“What would you like to know?”
“After the age of thirteen, your deeds stopped spreading. Occasionally, very rarely, the words were closer to bad reviews than praises.”
“I didn’t realize I garnered this much interest. It’s an honor.”
Clink.
She picked up her teacup. After sipping the still-warm tea, she asked.
“What made you start moving actively again after being quiet for so long?”
Vargan’s personality changed drastically at thirteen. He lived quietly, avoiding the social scene and public eye.
Living quietly here meant he engaged in nefarious activities without spreading rumors.
Rumors that he killed a servant of the Portlet family and nearly stopped his magical research didn’t spread widely.
Then suddenly, he appeared at the Academia, stirring up rumors again. Even though it was a different country, Francesca, having lived her whole life among the nobility, had a lot of information about Vargan.
“Or… did a reason arise for you to do so?”
Her words, spoken absentmindedly as if mumbling to herself while sipping tea, carried a hint of certainty.
She turned her calm gaze back to me.
“… it’s hard to say, but to put it simply.”
I smiled with what I could confidently say were the eyes of a good person.
“For the peace and stability of the world.”