The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen - Chapter 411



411 – Fighting is Bad. -2-

A plain, deep within the mountains at an ungodly hour, the moon swelling full.

“Well now…”

Having called the students out, I offered a small smile, watching the young generation puff and fume.

-Keep your eyes peeled.

-You keep *your* eyes peeled. Don’t expect healing if you get hurt.

-That…!

Their youthful exuberance brought a laugh. Meanwhile, Malik, having tasted victory, wore a subtle smile.

-We won.

They kept to the line, at least, no truly wounded cadets among them, so I swallowed my anger. Scanning the students with their minor scrapes, I started to mediate in a low voice.

“Was it fun?”

“…”

“Haha… I wish you’d invited me along. Wouldn’t that have been something?”

Mediation by way of authority, that is.

With my hands clasped behind my back, I glanced down at the bowed heads and continued in a measured tone.

“I seem to have underestimated you all.”

“…”

“I thought I’d pushed you to the point of immediate sleep upon reaching the dorms… But you’re fighting instead of sleeping. Haha…”

“…”

“Looks like you have energy to spare.”

A sheepish laugh echoed across the vast plain, and the students before me swallowed hard, their faces crumpling. Instinct told them things had gone sideways, hadn’t they.

“Aren’t you academy students, the lot of you?”

“…”

“Different departments, sure, but all academy. Causing a ruckus from day one? Think that won’t mess with classes later?”

The only answer to my question was silence, heads bowed. They hadn’t expected it to blow up this big, not even them.

Just thinking about it made me want to laugh.

-Tap. Tap.

-…!!!

-And what might you all be doing this late at night, hmm?

Their faces, staring at me in the wrecked lounge, burned so vividly in my memory.

Barely holding back a laugh, I looked at the student whose fist was trembling. Judging by his expression, he had plenty to say, that one.

“Student Adrian Faulkner.”

“…”

“Something you want to say, Faulkner?”

“…”

The second-year from the Magic Department kept his mouth shut, just clenching his fist tight.

Is puberty hitting him now, or what? The smile faded from Faulkner’s face, like he was about to snap. Even still, a person calls, you answer, right?

“Adrian Faulkner.”

The moment I spat his name without honorifics, Faulkner lifted his head, answering with the petulant voice of a rebellious middle schooler, like a kid spitting fire.

“Yeah?”

“…Oho?”

Couldn’t he grasp the situation?

Or was he genuinely wronged, acting like that?

Following Rohan, the emergence of a new villain seemed to boil my blood. Tormenting those who wouldn’t bend their beliefs was, well, exhilarating.

I wasn’t some pervert who found joy in hurting people, but still, there was a certain amusement in crushing someone with strong convictions. I stepped down from the platform and met his gaze squarely.

“Feeling unpleasant, perhaps?”

“No.”

‘Interesting.’

It was like seeing a second Algae Head. Refusing to back down despite knowing he was in the wrong, he was a carbon copy of Algae.

Instead of yielding, he stared back with an arrogant expression. I smiled at his gaze and asked Flukner again, already mulling over how to break him.

“Student Adrian Flukner.”

“…Yes.”

“Do you have anything you want to say?”

“No, I do not.”

“…Then why are you glaring like that?”

“I’ve always looked this way.”

“Ah…?”

“Are you… criticizing my appearance?”

“Hmm…?”

Thinking he’d found a weak point, Flukner retorted, brazenly. I smiled, silently enduring his defiance.

“I came here to learn.”

“Indeed.”

“To gain the experiences I couldn’t get at the Academy. I invested my ‘vacation’ time to be in this class.”

“I’m aware.”

“While it’s true that we were wrong to cause the disturbance, I believe it’s right to guarantee us sleep now, if only to maintain a good condition for the lesson.”

“Student Adrian. Are you aware you’re being reprimanded right now?”

“Yes. But we’re adults. Trivial squabbles can be solved through conversation.”

Why is he suddenly talking like this?

Does he want to act clever?

Or does he really just want to sleep?

‘…Ah.’

Having seen through Faulkner’s scheme, I nodded, a smile playing on my lips at his brazen eloquence. He was probably trying to incite the students dissatisfied with the high intensity of the class, to pin the blame on ‘me’, forming a chain of reproach.

‘Interesting.’

I said, smiling slightly.

“I see. This is my first time teaching anyone, so I am quite lacking.”

I spoke weakly on purpose, to encourage him to dig his own grave.

“If there are areas that need improvement, would you be willing to tell me?”

Adrian, thinking he had the upper hand, held his head high and spewed out his discontent.

“…Frankly, I…”

As Faulkner’s words dragged on, Malik’s expression began to harden.

-…Histania Hanna.

-Why, Oppa?

-Scary.

-…Me too.

“I cannot fathom Instructor Hans’s high-intensity lessons. It’s not a class that students can handle, at their level. And a person with a criminal record… I believe it demeans the academy’s proud students to have a convicted felon as their teacher.”

“I see.”

“To be frank, I want to report him to the Imperial Army right this instant…”

I cut off Fluckner’s words, words that were already remarkably eloquent, and smiled as I addressed him.

“So, the conclusion is…”

“…”

“Student Adrian’s words mean that the ‘quality of the lessons is subpar’, is that right?”

“That’s not…”

“No. There’s no need to backtrack now. Students have the right to demand their right to learn, properly.”

A contemplative shadow began to deepen on Fluckner’s face. I didn’t know what his original intentions were, but it was clear that things weren’t unfolding as he had hoped.

“Upset to be learning from a capable convict, huh…”

“…”

“I’m truly sorry, but I don’t think I can do anything about that. In my estimation, the teacher who committed the ‘crime’ that Student Fluckner mentioned, is the best person to instruct you all.”

“…”

“I wanted to gently persuade you to attend tomorrow’s lesson with open hearts… Instead of a discord caused by students, it’s a discord aimed *at us*…”

I gazed at Fluckner, whose expression was hardening, and wore a pained expression myself.

“Truly, it is regrettable.”

The air began to turn frigid.

From this place, now shrouded in darkness, rose the sounds of those who felt their ‘god’ insulted, their fury unleashed.

-Thud…

What ‘I’ am to them, I couldn’t say, but my evident discomfort must have grated on their vision.

-Thud.

“Hans, Instructor.”

The moment my name was spoken, Hans emerged from the darkness, bowing low, offering his apology. He kept his head bowed, conveying a deep regret for causing me to hear such things.

“I am sorry, Holy One.”

“Haha. It’s quite alright.”

“But…”

“I anticipated something of this nature would occur. Of course, I do not dislike Instructor Hans. I desire skilled individuals close at hand.”

“Holy One…!”

Fulkner’s pupils were trembling.

The instant his eyes met Hans’s, he knew—he foresaw his own future.

And it wasn’t just Hans.

“Such a charming provocation.”

With a distortion of the air, Elysia appeared as well, a small smile playing on her lips as she observed Fulkner.

I patted Fulkner’s shoulder, offering a small smile. A comfort, to dissuade him from dwelling on the resentment that would soon be his.

“I shall repay you with a fine lesson.”

I offered him a word of encouragement.

Elicia, standing beside me, gave a small smile and said to me,

“Ready, Saint.”

“Haha… shall we begin then?”

“Understood.”

I clapped my hands together, addressing the students with a gentle voice.

“From this moment, day two of lessons shall commence.”

“Huh?!”

“What about sleep…”

“Ah… please no…”

Malik, a sheep towel perched atop his head, wore a complicated expression, his face stiff.

“This is bad.”

“Why?”

“I want to go home now.”

With Malik’s words, the world began to twist around us.

*

Ten hours later.

“Director!!!”

“Shigorr Look. Maintain formation!!!!”

“Ugh… ugh…”

I sat in the rest space Elysia had made, sipping my tea, watching the students throw themselves into the lesson.

– “Keep firing those bombardment spells, damn it!”

– “My mana’s running dry…!”

– “Shut up and shoot!”

A good scene to witness.

The undead horde crashing down, like waves.

“A pleasant sight.”

“Thank you, Saint.”

“It would be good to see the students coordinating better though…”

I looked over at Elysia, controlling the undead army, and asked her where she’d learned necromancer magic.

“Elysia-nim.”

“Yes, Saint.”

“You also possessed necromantic abilities?”

“Ah…”

“Makes me want to learn as well.”

Elysia, smiling shyly at my question, shook her head and blurted out an honest answer.

“In order to prepare for restraint and battle, I simply put the soldiers kept into a sub-space.”

“So those undead are…”

“Yes, they were captured in the dungeon and stored.”

“I see.”

“Now that they’re unnecessary, I suppose it’s alright to use them however, right?”

Watching the unending swarm of undead, I posed the question to Elysia with honest curiosity.

“Roughly how many are there, do you think?”

“Um…”

Elysia gave an awkward laugh, stammering out a reply.

“Would you mind if I kept that a secret? It’s a rather… embarrassing number.”

Likely not a number that could be considered normal.

-REAR GUARD!!! Don’t let them through!!!

-No, the barrier…!

The scene unfolding was a familiar one.

The steadily constricting blue barrier, like a survival game closing in on you – a concept from my past life, and my own idea.

“Hans seems to be doing well, too.”

His blatant efforts were plain to see.

-Ruin-sunbae!! Large undead heading your way…!

-Krrreeeaakkk…!

-Adrian-sunbaenim is being swarmed as well!!

-Shut all of you up! Schwengel…!!!! Mini Meteor!!!

“When do you think they’ll coalesce?”

Watching the students stubbornly fighting dispersed, a small smile touched my lips. No matter which side held the advantage, they’d inevitably be forced together.

Elysia and Hans shook their heads, offering a negative reply.

“If we grind them for another four hours, won’t they crumble? The magic faculty is starting to run dry on mana, anyway.”

“Probably. The Swordsmanship faculty is definitely in the lead, but it must be hard on their stamina.”

“The Healing faculty students…”

-Kha ha ha ha!!!!

-The undead are melting away, Yuriah senior!

-I’ll melt them even MORE!!!

I conserved my words, watching the berserkers who’d lost their minds.