The Villain Bought the Female Lead - Ch. 67
Even the Academia had weekends.
One day a week was considered a day of rest, so no classes were held.
Most students used this golden holiday to catch up on sleep, hang out with their peers, or devote themselves entirely to studying.
Just like in the real world.
And I was indulging in my own time, having woken up at the crack of dawn and spent the last three hours alone in my room.
It was a rare day when I could use my time without any restrictions. What was the point of such a day if I didn’t use it <properly>?
Bzzz?!
I extracted pure magic power, ensuring no impurities were present, and shaped it into a form. A sphere with a diameter of 1 meter. I adjusted the interior by placing my hand on it.
If left as it was, the sphere would not last long and would dissipate into the air.
I set it so that a special force activated between the particles of magic, reducing the distance to the maximum extent possible without much strain and miniaturizing the sphere.
As the formula changed, the sphere gradually shrank. The intensity and hardness increased, and the surface became smoother.
Thus, a perfectly smooth orb was completed. The 5 cm diameter orb, when placed on the desk, rolled with a distinctive sound, as if it were made of glass.
I carefully move it, so it didn’t roll around uncontrollably.
Four orbs I had previously made stand in a row on the desk. They were not just placed side by side; if you thought of a graph, they formed a line along the y-axis, not the x-axis.
I attempted to place the newly made orb on top of the orb tower. Very cautiously and delicately.
To an onlooker, it might seem like I was just playing and wasting time, but I was currently exerting maximum concentration, effectively training my magic power.
Due to the artifact given to me by Helion, controlling the output and intensity of magic was quite difficult and draining.
Even creating such pure magical crystals with my body was no easy task, and then compressing them into solid forms and maintaining their shape, making orbs so perfect they shone on the surface.
Not to boast, but actually, yes, to boast.
While being controlled by the artifact, creating something to this level could cause dizziness due to overheating of the magic circuits, even for those with significant renown.
However, I did not stop there. I was slowly building up the orb tower, which would collapse immediately if any orb was slightly off or unstable.
The magic orbs I created were pure crystallizations of magic, with no other properties mixed in.
Therefore, if they collided with other magical crystals, unless special measures were taken, the maintaining formulas would conflict, mix, and create a new form or bounce off each other.
Simply put, they would get squashed or collapse.
It was absurd to compare, but it was tens of times… no, considering the manipulation of magic, hundreds of times more difficult than stacking ordinary orbs.
“…!”
Now.
I finally succeeded in placing the fifth orb on top.
A historic moment.
When I first started this training, four 5 cm diameter orbs were my maximum. Now, I’d progressed to five…!
“Oh.”
Roll.
With the sound of an orb rolling away, the painstakingly built tower collapsed. The orbs scattered across the desk, each rolling their own way.
Reflecting on the short-lived history of the collapsed orb tower, I let out a sigh of regret.
“Hoo….”
It was a lament for the brief moment of glory, not a petty anger.
“….”
Holding my forehead, I quickly finished my brief mourning and immediately drew out magic to create a new orb.
Creating the orbs was an essential part of the training, so once an orb was used, it would be discarded.
Currently, the process continues with compressing a 1-meter sphere into a 5 cm orb, but later on, I woukd have to create even smaller orbs from even smaller spheres.
The lower the density, the harder it was to maintain a stable form, making it a more advanced version.
Another pure magic orb was completed.
I spent my golden holiday repeating the same process in the room, maximizing the current state to expand my total mana capacity.
“Ah….”
Roll.
Indeed, it was a very productive time.
***
Knock, knock.
Alicia stood in front of Vargan’s door and knocked.
“Master, it’s Alicia. May I come in?”
There was no response from beyond the door.
Tilting her head, Alicia knocked once more and asked, but still, there was no reply.
“Hmm….”
Unless it was a specifically designated day, she always visited at the same time for her examination, so this was the first time this had happened.
Pondering what to do, she knocked once more and gently turned the handle.
She recalled that in such cases, she was told to check if the door was open and enter if it was or leave if it was locked.
The handle turned.
It meant she could enter.
“Excuse me….”
A dark atmosphere seeped out from the gap. His room was filled with darkness with no lights on.
“Oh…?”
Alicia noticed something round and scattered all over the floor.
The room, which she thought was filled only with darkness, was full of dull orbs.
There were so many that they couldn’t be captured at a glance.
This was Vargan’s room, which was always kept neat and clean.
Sensing something unusual, Alicia navigated through the orbs, searching for Vargan.
He was sitting blankly at his wide desk.
“Master…!”
Upon finding Vargan, Alicia unconsciously smiled and approached him slowly.
Upon closer inspection, something on his desk stood upright, just like the orbs scattered on the floor.
The form was truly perfect.
There was no movement at all.
“Master… what is this…?”
It wasn’t until she came right next to him that Vargan turned his head. His eyes were deeply sunken and more intellectual than usual.
“Oh, has it already gotten that late?”
It felt like time started moving for Vargan only after Alicia arrived. She kept looking at the items on the desk repeatedly, and Vargan explained.
“These are the <5-layer magic sphere towers> I’ve built. I’ve finally managed to mass-produce them stably.”
His desk was filled with 5-layer orb towers. All orbs were consistent in size and color, standing perfectly upright, making one wonder how they could stand like that.
“Master, did you spend the whole day on this…?”
“Alicia, before your examination.”
Vargan, who was lightly stretching, spoke.
“Let’s clean the room first.”
The orbs he created were sturdy and didn’t sublimate easily.
***
Alicia quickly turned on the lights in the room and began cleaning. With her swift hands, the messy room was soon restored to its original state.
I watched Alicia from my seat. Today, I couldn’t squeeze out my maximum magic to impart something to her. My magic circuits were so heated that any further tampering could cause problems.
Hmm… today, let’s just stick to literally inspecting growth and imparting some theoretical knowledge.
Oh, there was something I needed to check first.
“Alicia, have you completed all your assignments?”
“Yes, I’ve completed them all. I’m confident that I’ve done my best in every subject.”
“Oh, good. Then, that’s fine.”
Seeing as how she was talking about it to this extent, it must mean she really poured in a lot of time and effort. And it was Alicia’s work, after all.
Finally, the assignment season was coming to an end.
Most of the events of the first semester were wrapping up.
As I was immersed in the sentiment of the smoothly progressing storyline, I suddenly remembered Louisa’s assignment. The topic was clearly… <Describe what you want to achieve before you die>.
I became curious about how she answered and in what manner.
“What did you write for Louisa’s assignment?”
“……”
Alicia blinked her eyes and repeatedly opened and closed her mouth.
“Since it was about describing… it didn’t only mean arranging letters. You could also use magic to visualize something or use an extraordinary method that others couldn’t imitate.”
It was an assignment with a lot of freedom.
“Oh, right. It was an assignment… that could be expressed in various ways…”
Alicia’s reaction was peculiar.
She tried to avoid my gaze and fidgeted with her gathered fingers. That was a typical sign of Alicia trying to hide something.
Did she just gloss over Louisa’s assignment despite claiming she did her best?
… I didn’t think she would do that.
“Alicia.”
“Ah… yes! Master.”
“I haven’t heard your answer yet.”
Why was she acting like this?
Did she choose an odd topic? Something difficult to talk about to others? Did she write something hard to share even with me?
As I started to furrow my brows, Alicia noticed my growing irritation and became even more flustered, showing a troubled expression.
However, realizing she couldn’t hide it, she opened her mouth.
“Well, it’s…”
“What is it?”
“It’s…”
“……”
“Ah…!”
As Alicia lowered her head to hide her face, I grabbed her hand firmly. No matter how much she lowered her head, she couldn’t hide her expression.
With her face completely red, she finally spat out the truth. It seemed like the surprise of my sudden grip made her spill it out.
So, what was it you wanted to achieve before you die? Alicia, what did you write down?
“A… <family>…!!”
She continued with her eyes tightly shut.
“I depicted the family of my dreams… using illusion magic… and submitted it.”
Ah, family… family, huh.
I let go of her hand and sank into deep thought. Yes, that was definitely an answer she would write. Considering her significant childhood trauma and the lack of family, it made sense.
Alicia, seeing no particular reaction from me, glanced up at me cautiously.
I closed my eyes gently and spoke in a low voice.
“Alicia.”
“Yes, yes, Master…!”
“I won’t check up on you for a while. No need to visit me at night.”
“… pardon?”
I let out a long sigh.
“You don’t need to greet me in the morning. Just focus on your own tasks.”
“… Master? Why… oh, no…! Master, it’s not like that at all…!!”
I shook my head, interrupting her.
“That’s enough for today. You may leave.”
“Master, you really misunderstand…! I just…!!”
“Indeed, it’s a bit troublesome. What should I tell Erica…?”
I spent some time teasing Alicia to relieve the stress accumulated today. Lately, I’d been feeling that this might be a kind of hobby of mine.
At least it helped lighten my mind.
If you had a maid like Alicia, I highly recommended it.
***
Meanwhile, within the training hall inside the Academia.
Late at night, a few students were engrossed in training, seemingly oblivious to the late hour, surrounded by various scarecrows and artificial structures.
“Hahaha! This is great, fantastic! Training without getting tired is the source of strength! Excellent perseverance, Bell!”
“Ow! Seriously, I’m going to get bruises! I mean it! And please lower your voice. You’re disturbing others!”
Leon and Bell, students from Class 3, were among them, with Bell receiving a hammering from Leon’s large hands.
Leon seemed to be enjoying himself immensely.
Bell, exhausted and teary-eyed from fatigue, couldn’t help but feel his situation was pitiful.
“I don’t even want to exhaust myself this late, so why do you always drag me out of my room for forced training? Please let me go back to my room!”
Bell pleaded with genuine emotion.
But it didn’t reach Leon.
“Bell! I already know your true feelings! You’re showing weakness because you’re embarrassed! Let’s overcome that embarrassment through training!”
“Seriously…! Somebody, stop this guy!”
“Hahaha!”
Laughing heartily, Leon then turned his attention to a man visible in the corner of his sight.
There was a man silently swinging his sword.
He was someone who recently arrived at the training hall earliest and left the latest.
Thwack!
Without taking a break, he continued moving his sword.
Like a machine, he targeted the scarecrow with his aura-clad sword.
Thwack!
“Hmm…”
Leon stroked his chin as he watched the man. Though he lived for training, this man’s extent was excessive. He pushed his body to the limit, sustaining himself with healing magic.
Thwack!
A barely visible aura struck the scarecrow.
Bell noticed Leon’s shifted interest and followed his gaze.
The person wrestling with the scarecrow was Finn Troa Toiren, a student from Class 1.
“Hmm!”
Leon finished his contemplation.
“… what are you planning this time?”
Bell, having lost all trust in Leon through the class battle, eyed him suspiciously no matter what he did.
Leon responded heartily.
“Bell! It’s joint training.”
“Oh, my ears are going to burst… wait, what? Joint training all of a sudden? What do you mean…?”
“I found someone to compete with you!”
Leon strode towards Finn with large steps.
Sensing impending trouble, Bell tried to stop him but gave up. Once Leon decided, he would push through no matter what. No amount of stopping could hold him back.
“Haa… please just let me sleep.”
Bell sighed deeply yet followed behind Leon.