The Villain Bought the Heroine - The Villain Bought the Heroine chapter 74

Chapter 74

“I will now explain the first semester final exams that will take place in a while.”

Just like during class discussions, Louisa projected a large image in the classroom and captivated everyone under her charisma.

Her voice resounded throughout the classroom.

“As you all expected, this semester’s final exam, just like in the past, aims to destroy the core of the ‘nest.’ It’s a very simple and straightforward practical exam.”

The scene where Alicia first encountered Altif in Academia, screaming in shock. The incident where she firmly established her reputation.

First-semester final exams for first-year students.

Removal of the ‘Core’ in the Altif Nest for Practice.

Originally, this place was the nest of Altif bishops, but it was repurposed as a place of learning for the cultivation of heroes by removing the owner and not destroying the nest.

Every year, aspiring heroes who enter anew realize through this exam at the end of the first semester what kind of beings Altif are, who their enemies are, and what the nest is all about.

“There are various traps and priest-grade Altifs roaming in the nest. The walls and ceilings are not ordinary and attack intruders like the organs of a living being. You just need to destroy the core in the simulated ‘altar’ prepared after breaking through all of this.”

The original altar room was enchanted with bewitching magic to hide the entrance and was managed by placing personnel inside.

This was to prevent students from mistakenly entering and destroying the actual core, as well as to prevent the risk of other bishop-grade Altifs taking over the nest.

“There has never been a case of a bishop or higher rank occupying someone else’s nest. Reports say that even the offspring of monsters are so strong-willed that they hesitate to enter others’ nests.”

Especially if it’s a nest created by individuals of lower rank. Saying so, Louisa changed the floating image.

In the image, all first-year students were divided into groups, with the order of the exam’s start written down.

“This exam is a team battle. Whether you like it or not, defeat this exam with the teammates you’ve been with for a semester. Individual scores won’t be given this time like in the class battles. Move not independently but in balance with your team. That’s the idea.”

In the classroom where only the floating image was shining.

Liam’s eyes held Bargan and Alicia.

“This exam. Alicia’s trauma being exposed in front of everyone leading to a disaster.”

According to what he knew, Alicia would receive all sorts of insults and deep wounds due to this incident. Although she didn’t show it on the outside, it was undoubtedly eating her up inside.

If Alicia already struggled due to childhood nightmares, would she be able to laugh it off when faced with gossip from others because of this?

“…And one more person.”

A female student from the same group Liam had been getting close to recently.

Elementalist Nicola.

She would suffer greatly in this exam, gaining extreme fear of Altifs and becoming a supporting character who applies for withdrawal from the academy.

However, being a supporting character didn’t mean she had a different personality compared to others. She was shy, considerate of others, and a kind-hearted child.

For Liam, who was engaging in conversations and building relationships with her, he didn’t want things to proceed as they were, considering that Alicia and Nicola would be hurt in this exam.

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Hence, recently, he subtly mentioned this matter to Bargan again.

Although Bargan repeatedly asked to end the conversation quickly, he seemed somewhat interested when the story of the end-of-semester exam came up.

Liam expressed a bit of hope.

Even if Nicola could convince herself, Alicia was under Bargan’s control, so his permission was essential.

“Help Alicia avoid taking this exam.”

Liam revealed his honest feelings.

Alicia was deeply entrenched in trauma. Maybe if the wounds of these emotions healed, it would be different, but it was too early now.

Even if Bargan was an antagonist and acting recklessly, if he, like her, was a possessor, and if he knew the contents of the novel, he wouldn’t just leave Alicia like this in front of everyone.

Although it was for the conclusion, she belonged to Shugenharz. Even for her own honor, he couldn’t just stand by and watch her collapse in front of everyone, especially someone like Bargan, who could be considered her immediate superior.

But.

“There’s no benefit.”

Bargan lightly refused.

He questioned why he should do something that would not only yield him little benefit but also only bring him losses.

Liam was taken aback but calmly explained. He judged that it was better not to reveal that Bargan was a possessor and thus approached the topic indirectly.

He spoke with the thought of adjusting to his temperament.

“Alicia is in a state of severe phobia towards Altifs. I can’t tell you how I know this… but please understand that there are no malicious intentions. This is for her, but it’s also for you. We can’t tarnish the name of Shugenharz, right…?”

It wasn’t convincing, but he didn’t contain any lies. If he could read and analyze people well, as Emily said, he believed that the message would have surely gotten through.

…The memories were still vivid.

After hearing those words, Vargan, who chuckled as if in disdain, and his mocking tone towards the fool.

“You still haven’t come to your senses, have you?”

“……”

Liam withdrew his gaze from Vargan and Alicia.

He sharpened his watery eyes, turning firmly to the densely written characters on the screen, seeking his team.

????

Departure Order

＜First. Class 1 Team 3＞

Liam

Harryana

Lucayel

Lavan Carol Ophelia

Nicola

＜Second. Class 1 Team 2＞

Haiyod Troa Felix

……

????

Luck is on his side.

Liam, from Class 1, who was chosen to take the test first among all classes. Even within that, he was the first to depart in the randomly selected team order.

Liam had reason to be pleased with this.

The team including Alicia started from the rear of Class 1. Alicia had time until she met Altef. It was possible because she knew where the ‘Altar’ was and the shortest route to it.

Liam changed his strategy.

Vargan would not listen to him at all.

Rather, judging from his previous reaction, it was conjectured that he would push Alicia in as she is.

The reason is unknown. His thinking does not fall within the realm he can understand. Therefore, Liam came up with another plan.

It might be an extreme and terrible method.

He would be cursed at, pointed fingers at.

But, besides this, he couldn’t think of a way for Alicia and Nicola not to get hurt.

He thinks.

Vargan… If you intend to push Alicia into the nest until the end, then I will….

He vows to destroy that nest, uprooting the very idea of them being sad.

Liam pledges to head to the actual ‘Altar’ with the real core of the nest, not the mock altar prepared at the Academy. It was a decision to break the nest by simulating accidents and mistakes, thus ending the test.

Even if he receives curses, Liam is the kind of person who cannot ignore others’ suffering.

***

“Long time no see! Young master! Did you miss me?”

Nias, running towards me, reached out a hand towards her.

It was an action to stop her movement.

“Don’t come any closer, Nias. Stand still over there. You smell like fish.”

“Lies?! That’s a lie…?! Sniff sniff. What fish… I don’t smell like anything… Oh! Right. Spirits don’t have a scent! You tricked me. Anyway, you’re mean.”

With surprised eyes, Nias, hastily sniffing her own scent, laughs cheerfully like a child and tries to embrace me once again.

Alicia, who had been watching my every move, grasped my arms from behind and lifted them, preventing me from moving.

Naias, in the guise of a child, dangled like a bunch of grapes from the tree.

Naias struggled to break free, but couldn’t escape Alicia’s restraint.

“Alicia, why are you blocking the affectionate acts between me and the young master? Are you jealous?”

“Je, jealous…! It’s not that, but rather, I sensed the young master’s annoyance, so I prevented it in advance.”

“Tsk. Boring. Alicia, you’re more jealous than I thought, huh? I don’t even have a gender.”

“……”

Naias, with a look of resignation like seaweed soaked in water, pouted.

In my dorm room, there was Alicia, Naias, and an old spirit pretending to be young, all together.

Alicia, who usually conducted inspections, had today brought Naias along.

“Enough nonsense. Naias, how much have you recovered your strength at the moment?”

“Um… If I were to say in the young master’s preferred measure… about 60%?”

“The recent recovery rate is slow. Why is that?”

“I’m not exactly sure. Maybe it’s because my strength has been drained for too many years. It was faster at the beginning, but as time went on, my strength dwindled. It’s not like pouring water on a fully soaked cloth where everything seeps in instantly.”

“So, you mean the maximum strength you can regain has decreased. That’s a big problem… It might need to be disposed of.”

“Probably… Huh?! Wait, dispose of me! Young master, that’s really not right! Will you regret it later? I can’t forever strengthen myself as I am now. At least, I can quickly regain the level I had achieved before!”

“Please don’t discard me!” Naias wailed, refusing to spend lonely times alone anymore.

Thinking that this noisy creature was once a noble spirit, my head throbbed. Spirits weren’t usually like this.

“By disposing, I don’t mean discarding but destroying to such an extent that you can’t be contained, returning to the spirit realm.”

“The spirit realm is full of boring beings. If you find something slightly amusing, most are like getting hit hard on the head, making conversation impossible. That’s discarding, isn’t it?”

Seeing Naias wail loudly, I resolved never to bring up this topic of conversation again. I can’t endure such dreadful noise twice.

Alicia covered Naias’s mouth lightly. The addition of a filter made it somewhat better.

Nevertheless… Is it true?

Can Naias only unleash about 60% of his power?

I need to plan accordingly.

“Naias.”

“Uh?”

Naias, whose mouth was sealed by Alicia, stopped crying and responded. The lock was released.

“For the time being, you should be on my side, not Alicia’s.”

“Oh, really? Yes! I’ll get to see something fun again! But suddenly, is there some special reason?”

“There is.”

I poked my finger and formed a summoning circle. From within it, a clean white handkerchief emerged, so pure white that it could purify the heart, fluttering in the air.

It’s the attractive angel of duty, ‘White.’

“Why all of a sudden… the angel of duty… wait, could it be…”

Naias laughed awkwardly. Tucking his head down, he said he would just stay quietly by Alicia’s side.

Unfortunately, that won’t do.

“Naias, return to your sword by the contract.”

“N-no…! I hate being corporeal…!!”

By the power of the contract, Naias, having lost his physical form, returned to the blue sword held by Alicia.

The quickest way for Nias to recover in the current situation is to not come out of the sword.

However, it was clear that if left like this, it would definitely come out after a certain period of time, so Hayani was called.

Hayani understood my intentions, expanded his body, and enveloped Nias, the artifact Alicia was holding. The sight was elegant, like a butterfly landing.

*Gulp.*

Perhaps due to the high grade of the artifact, a unique sound came from Hayani, who had swallowed Nias.

Normally, Hayani would store objects quietly in their designated space without any such noise, but Nias, a first-class artifact with a spirit inside, required a lot of information to be processed.

The appearance of Nias vanished, and Hayani fluttered back into the sky. Then, like folding paper, he transformed into a baby bird shape and perched on my shoulder.

“Alicia.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“There might come a time soon when you have to capture Nias in front of others.”

“Are you saying that…?”

“About 50%. Based on the information currently available, there is about a 50% chance that you will need to capture Nias.”

Alicia pondered quietly with a deep gaze, then soon spoke.

“Don’t we only use practice weapons provided by the Academy in the final exam?”

“Then, it means we are stepping out of the usual situation.”

Nothing could be confirmed yet.

It might be a needless concern.

However, thorough preparation was necessary to be able to respond to any situation that arose.

Even if the danger disrupted the structure of this final exam, even if it meant taking a few lives, we had to be able to withstand it firmly.

“….”

I looked out the window.

The wind was strong.

Though the winter wind had long departed, an angry wind pounded the window as if it couldn’t allow their intrusion. The window resisted with all its might.

Creak, creak.

The night wind couldn’t pass through the window.

Only the thin latch rattled.