The Villain Bought the Female Lead - Ch. 74
[I will now explain about the upcoming first semester final exam.]
Just like when discussing the class competition, Louisa captivated everyone with her charisma, displaying a large projection in the lecture hall.
Her voice echoed throughout the room.
[As you all might have expected, the first semester final exam will also involve destroying the <core> of the <Nest>, just like in the past. It’s a simple and straightforward practical test.]
This was the same spot where Alicia, upon entering Academia, first encountered an Altife and screamed—a humiliating incident that smeared her reputation with thick mud.
The first-year first semester final exam.
Eliminating the <core> of a practical Altife nest.
This place was originally a real Altife bishop-level nest, but after its master was eliminated, the Nest was left intact and repurposed as a training ground for nurturing heroes.
Every year, new recruits got to experience firsthand what Altife was, who their enemies were, and what a nest was through this final exam.
[The nest is crawling with all sorts of traps and priest-level Altifes. The walls and ceiling are not ordinary; they look like the organs of a living creature and will attack intruders. You must break through all of this and destroy the core located at the designated <altar>.]
The original altar room was concealed by illusion magic, hiding the entrance, and was managed by internal staff.
This was to prevent students from accidentally destroying the real core and to avoid the risk of another bishop-level Altife taking over the nest.
[There has never been a case where a bishop or higher-level Altife has occupied someone else’s nest. Despite being monsters, they have a strong sense of self and are reported to be highly reluctant to enter someone else’s nest.]
Especially if it was a nest built by a lower-ranking entity. After saying this, Louisa switched the projection in the air.
The video now showed all the first-year students divided into groups, with the order of the exam indicated.
[This test is a team competition. Whether you like it or not, you’ll have to tackle this exam with the teammates you’ve been with for the past semester. Unlike the class competition, there won’t be any individual scores this time. Don’t act independently; move in sync with your team. That’s my advice.]
In the darkened lecture hall, where only the floating projection shone, Liam’s eyes were fixed on Vargan and Alicia.
‘This exam… Alicia’s trauma will be exposed to everyone, and she’ll suffer humiliation.’
According to the plot he knew, this incident would lead to Alicia being subjected to all kinds of insults and deep emotional wounds. Though she wouldn’t show it outwardly, he was sure that she would be rotting inside.
Alicia was already struggling with the nightmarish memories of her childhood. Given her tender heart, there was no way she’d be able to laugh off the slander that would follow.
‘… and one more person.’
A girl in Liam’s group who he’d grown close to recently.
The Spirit Summoner Nikela.
She would suffer serious injuries in this exam, develop an extreme fear of Altifes, and eventually drop out of Academia—a minor character in the story.
But even though she was a minor character, she wasn’t any less kind-hearted or considerate than the main ones. She was a shy, caring girl who always thought of others.
Liam, who had built a relationship with her, didn’t want to let things unfold as they were supposed to.
He couldn’t just stand by knowing that Alicia and Nikela would be hurt by this exam.
So, he approached Vargan again and subtly brought up the upcoming event.
Though Vargan kept urging him to end the conversation quickly, he seemed somewhat interested when the topic of the first semester final exam came up.
With a glimmer of hope, Liam spoke.
Even if he could persuade Nikela, Alicia was under Vargan’s control, so his approval was essential.
“Help me prevent Alicia from taking this exam.”
Liam expressed his sincere feelings.
Alicia’s trauma was still deeply rooted. Unless this emotional wound was healed, it was far too soon for her to face this trial.
No matter how villainous or reckless Vargan might be, if he was another person who had taken over a character, if he knew the story, he wouldn’t want to leave Alicia to face this.
After all, she was now under Schugenhartz’s care. Even for the sake of his own honor, Vargan, as her direct superior, wouldn’t let her fall apart in front of everyone.
But.
“There’s no benefit.”
Vargan rejected this lightly.
He asked why he should do something that would bring him nothing but loss, not even the slightest benefit.
Liam was taken aback but calmly tried to explain, not wanting to reveal that Vargan was another possessor.
He decided to speak in a way that played along with Vargan’s whims.
“Alicia has an extreme phobia of Altifes. I can’t tell you how I know this… but please understand that I mean no harm. This is for her, but it’s also for you. You can’t let the Schugenhartz name be tarnished…”
Though his argument lacked persuasiveness, there wasn’t a single lie in it. He believed that Vargan, who was good at seeing through and analyzing people, would understand.
… he still vividly remembered it.
The way Vargan had sneered as if mocking his foolishness after hearing those words.
“You still haven’t come to your senses.”
“……”
Liam withdrew his gaze from Vargan and Alicia.
Hardening his once soft eyes, he turned them to the densely packed letters on the screen, searching for his group.
????
Starting Order
<First. Class 1, Group 3>
Liam
Haliana
Lucaiel
Ophelia Carol Laban
Nikela
<Second. Class 1, Group 2>
Felix Troa Hiod
…….
????
Lucky.
Liam was in Class 1, which was set to take the exam first, and even within that, his group was the first to start.
There was a reason why Liam was relieved to see this.
Alicia’s group, Group 1, would start last in Class 1. This gave him some time before Alicia would encounter Altife. Since he knew where the <altar> was and the shortest route to it, he had a chance.
Liam changed his plan.
Vargan wasn’t going to listen to him at all.
Judging from Vargan’s reaction last time, he might even have intended to push Alicia into the nest.
Liam didn’t know why. Vargan’s reasoning was beyond his comprehension. So, Liam came up with another plan.
It might be an extreme and worst-case scenario.
He would be criticized and ridiculed.
But he couldn’t think of any other way to prevent Alicia and Nikela from being hurt.
He thought to himself.
Vargan… if you’re going to push Alicia into the nest until the end, then I…
I’ll destroy that nest myself, ripping out the very root of what would cause them pain.
Liam resolved to head to the real <altar> where the actual core of the nest was, rather than the mock altar prepared by Academia. He planned to pretend it was an accident and destroy the nest, ending the exam itself.
Even if he got criticized, he couldn’t just ignore others’ suffering—that was who Liam was.
***
“It’s been a while! Master! Didn’t you miss me?”
Naias rushed toward me, and I reached out my hand toward it.
It was an act to stop its movement.
“Don’t come any closer and just stay there, Naias. You smell like fish.”
“Lie?! You’re lying, right…?! Sniff, sniff. Fish, what fish… I don’t smell anything… oh! Right. There’s no way a spirit could have a smell! You tricked me. Geez, you’re so mischievous.”
Naias, who had hastily sniffed itself in surprise, laughed like a child and tried to hug me again.
Noticing my discomfort, Alicia quickly understood and grabbed both of its arms from behind, lifting it so it couldn’t move.
Naias, in the form of a child, dangled like grapes hanging from a tree.
It struggled to break free, but it couldn’t escape Alicia’s grasp.
“Alicia. Why are you interrupting my affectionate moment with the Master? Are you jealous?”
“J-Jealous…! No, that’s not it. It’s just that the Master seemed annoyed, so I stopped you in advance.”
“Tch. Boring. Alicia, you’re more jealous than I thought. And I don’t even have a gender.”
“…….”
Naias drooped like seaweed soaked in water, pouting.
In my dorm room, there was currently me, Alicia, and an old spirit pretending to be young.
As usual, Alicia was conducting her inspection, but today I had also instructed her to bring Naias.
“Enough with the nonsense. Naias, how much has your power recovered?”
“Hmm… if I were to put it in numbers, like you prefer, about 60%?”
“Your recovery speed has been slow lately. Why?”
“I’m not exactly sure, but maybe it’s because I’ve been drained of power for too long. It was fast at first, but now it feels like I’m gathering less and less power. It’s like pouring water onto a sponge that’s already soaked.”
“So, you’re saying the maximum amount of power you can absorb has decreased. That’s serious… should I dispose of you?”
“That might be… huh?! Wait, dispose of me?! Master, you can’t do that! You’ll regret it later! I may not be able to get stronger quickly, but at least I can regain the strength I had before!”
Naias wailed, pleading not to be abandoned, saying it didn’t want to be left alone again.
Thinking that this whining creature was once the Spirit King of the Spirit Realm gave me a headache. Not all spirits were like this, I recalled.
“By <dispose>, I mean to destroy you so thoroughly that you can no longer inhabit this world. Wouldn’t you then return to the Spirit Realm?”
“The Spirit Realm is full of boring beings. Most of them are so dull it’s like they’ve been hit on the head, so I can’t even have a conversation with them. That’s the same as being abandoned!”
Seeing Naias cry noisily, I resolved never to bring up this topic again.
Once was bad enough; I couldn’t stand hearing this noise twice.
With a light gesture, Alicia covered Naias’s mouth. The filter made it somewhat more bearable.
Still… was that so?
Naias could only muster about 60% of its power.
I would need to consider this in my plans.
“Naias.”
“Mmph?”
Naias, whose mouth was sealed by Alicia, stopped crying and responded. The seal was lifted.
“For the time being, you’ll need to stay with me, not Alicia.”
“Really? Yay! I’ll get to see something fun again! But why? Is there a special reason?”
“There is.”
I snapped my fingers, forming a summoning circle. From within it emerged a pristine white handkerchief, so clean it seemed to purify the mind just by looking at it.
It was <Whitie>, a familiar with an alluring pure white color.
“Why did you suddenly summon that familiar… d-don’t tell me….”
Naias forced a smile, shaking its head side to side, saying it would just quietly stay by Alicia’s side.
Unfortunately, that wouldn’t be possible.
[Naias, return to the sword.]
“N-No…! I don’t want to go back to spirit form…!!”
Compelled by the contract’s power, Naias lost its physical form and returned to the blue sword that Alicia held.
The fastest way for Naias to recover right now was to stay within the sword.
However, since it was clear it would emerge again after a certain period, I summoned Whitie.
Understanding my intentions, Whitie expanded its form, enveloping the relic, Naias, which Alicia was holding. It did so with an elegance reminiscent of a butterfly landing.
Gulp.
A peculiar sound emanated from Whitie, likely because Naias, as a first-class relic and a spirit-inhabited one, held a vast amount of data to process.
Naias’s form disappeared, and Whitie, fluttering again, transformed into a small bird-like figure and perched on my shoulder.
“Alicia.”
“Yes, Master.”
“You may soon have to wield Naias in front of others.”
“By that, you mean…?”
“About a 20% chance. Based on the information I have now, there’s a 20% chance you’ll need to wield Naias.”
Alicia contemplated quietly with a thoughtful expression, then asked.
“During the final exams, aren’t we only allowed to use practice weapons provided by the Academia?”
“If that’s the case, it would mean we’re in an unusual situation.”
Nothing was certain yet.
It could be just a baseless worry.
But I must be thoroughly prepared to handle any situation that might arise.
Even if that danger disrupted the entire framework of the final exams, even if it threatened to take a few lives, we must be able to withstand it.
“…….”
I looked out the window.
The wind was fierce.
Though the winter winds had long since passed, an angry wind battered the window, as if demanding entry. The window stood firm, as if refusing to allow their intrusion.
Rattle, rattle.
The night wind couldn’t breach the window.
Only the thin hinges trembled slightly.