Chapter 4

Main Heroines Trying to Kill Me - Episode 4 (4/524)

The entrance ceremony ended without much fanfare.

"Then, let's raise a toast!!"

What was interesting was the freshmen welcome party held after the entrance ceremony.

Of course, the welcome party for commoners is modest and simple, but it's not the same for the nobles.

"...This is wine from the Western Continent. It's from 56 years ago."

"This is veal tenderloin steak and foie gras. Enjoy your meal."

While the empire's people are starving, the nobles, who don't even have titles yet, are spending enough money at the freshmen welcome party to feed a village for several months.

And I am the leader of such a group.

"Lord Frey! Please give a toast!"

"Oh, as expected, you are as impressive as the rumors say. Do you have time tonight?"

"Lord Frey, hello! I am the second son of the Ariel family..."

Sitting at the head of the table, surrounded by a crowd of flatterers, I outwardly laugh heartily and drink heavily.

Of course, inwardly, I am worrying about how to survive the heroines and pondering how to eradicate the worms that are eating away at this empire.

"So, what did that commoner kid say earlier?"

"What did he say?"

"Well, he said his dream is to become a student council member. Isn't that funny?"

"He's a nutcase. Should we do something about him?"

I pretend to chat happily with the women who approach me, but I can hear the conversation of the nobles beside me.

That's right. Although Sunlight Academy ostensibly promotes equality for all, it's not the case internally.

Most nobles subtly look down on commoners, and some nobles openly bully them.

And it's the same among the nobles. The more power one has, the more benefits and popularity they receive. The professors turn a blind eye to such injustices.

In short, it's a mess.

"...It's not a guy, but a girl?"

"What? A girl? Then it'll be even more fun?"

The woman they are talking about now is probably the one who will become the empire's Great Mage from a commoner background in the future, commanding the battlefield.

During her academy days, she was targeted by the nobles for injuring three noble students who provoked her while she was drunk, so it's likely to be her.

"...Is that so? It'll be fun?"

"Ah, Lord Frey...?"

"So, when are you going to take care of it?"

"Um... It would be best to do it as quickly as possible... Haha..."

"Is that so? Then do well."

"Ah, yes!"

When I responded indifferently, the noble in the middle bowed 90 degrees and left the room, engaging in heated discussions with his group.

'Anyway, I haven't seen a trustworthy person among these overacting guys...'

I looked at his back, which would soon be destroyed by the future Great Mage, with a pitying gaze and fell into thought.

When I start attending the academy regularly tomorrow, I will naturally meet the heroines.

That's because all of us, including the heroines, are in Class A.

Of course, unlike the five heroines, who have innate talent or are simply geniuses, I got in through connections... but in fact, I used those connections partially.

Honestly, I have the confidence to score a perfect score and tie with my fiancée if I took the exam now... but I must be a completely incompetent, evil, pitiful, and ugly person.

Of course, someone who doesn't know much about the system might ask, "Why not just relax, confide in a few people that I'm a villain, and selectively commit villainous acts?"

That's a situation I desperately want, but the status window in this hopeless world isn't that easy to manipulate.

"...System, Unique Skill Window."

Description: Your life and lifespan decrease every time you are exposed as a 'villain.'

That's right, because of this enormous penalty, I can't selectively act as a villain.

I already share my life force with Kania periodically, and I have so much to do that if my life force decreases due to the system penalty, I'm finished. Therefore, revealing that I am a villain is something I absolutely cannot do.

'...Should I just act as a villain?'

For a moment, my resolve wavered, but I quickly shook my head and steeled my resolve.

As the successor of the hero who will appear after a thousand years, I have been educated by my father since childhood. He says that if I don't step up, the world will perish.

That doesn't mean my father is a cold person who would send his son to his death. If he knew I was destined to die, he would have torn the prophecy to shreds.

My ancestor, aware of this, cast a spell on the last line of the prophecy, "The hero and the demon king will perish," so that only I, the subject of the prophecy, could see it.

However, this makes our ancestor, who came from another world, appear as a heartless person who urges the successor a thousand years later to sacrifice himself.

"...System, Clear Bonus."

Perhaps to avoid such an evaluation, my ancestor negotiated with the Sun God a thousand years ago and left this gift for me, the successor.

After all, the Sun God, who is responsible for the light in this world, can easily grant the wish of a mere mortal like me.

Anyway, my plan is as follows.

First, I will thoroughly act as a villain, gather evidence, and rule as the mastermind while secretly eliminating the empire's bad habits and weakening the forces of evil.

Then, on the day of the final battle, I will use the system to die with the demon king and, after that, pray to the Sun God for resurrection.

By the way, my ancestor wrote a tip in the prophecy, saying that the Sun God is more despicable and cowardly than expected, and if I make a wish stronger than resurrection, I might be punished for being too audacious.

If the Sun God's church and the Holy Maiden see this content, they will immediately label my ancestor as a heretic, but I trust my ancestor, who was a hero of the empire, more than the church that only talks.

After resurrection, I will use the information I have gathered to prove my innocence and spirit of sacrifice and live a life of luxury as a hero of the empire. Of course, I will also see the purified empire.

Honestly, compared to the reward, it's a tough journey, but what can I do? I am the only one who can save the world from destruction.

And if I don't do this, my family and I will also die in the world that will perish. In the end, this crazy act is not only to save the empire but also to save myself and my family.

"Hey, come here!!"

"Let go of this, let go!"

"Please, save me!!"

"Lowborn girl... shut up and follow me."

While I was drinking and organizing my thoughts, the door to the banquet hall suddenly opened, and a commotion broke out.

When I looked closely to see what was happening, I saw that drunk noble students had gone outside and brought in commoner female students, causing chaos.

'In the previous episode, I didn't attend the banquet because I was plotting to destroy the empire... but this happened? Damn.'

Outwardly, I calmly sipped my drink, but inwardly, I was desperately thinking about how to resolve this situation. Suddenly, a familiar curse came from far away.

"Shit!! Shit, you bastards!! Let go of me!! Let go of me!!!"

"Stay still... you sharp-tongued bitch..."

"Lord Frey! We caught her! It's the rude girl I mentioned earlier!"

"......Huh."

When I saw the noble students who had gone out earlier bring in a red-haired girl with a scar on her face and fierce eyes, I was so shocked that I couldn't help but open my mouth wide.

'...Irina Philiard was caught here?'

She, known as the reincarnation of hellfire, turned every battlefield she entered into a hell.

Moreover, she is a genius mage who is proficient in all elemental magic, not just her specialty, fire magic.

Given her talent, she should have been at the top of her class... so why did she let herself be caught?

'...Could she be planning to burn down the entire banquet hall and wipe out me and the nobles?'

The terrifying thought made me quickly manipulate the system window in front of me and enter the shop.

- Information Search Lv1 30pt

Description: Displays important information about the target in the system window.

- Emergency Defense 70pt

Description: Protects the target from a fatal blow once. (One-time use) (Purchase limit 0/3)

- Mind Reading Lv1 150pt

Description: Allows you to read a person's emotions for a short time once a day.

I quickly looked for useful skills for the current situation and urgently purchased 'Information Search Lv1' and 'Emergency Defense.'

"...Information Search."

After completing the purchase, I muttered, and a window summarizing Irina's information appeared in front of me.

'...Mana depletion?'

As I checked her summarized information, which was simple due to the low level, I was speechless when I saw the part about mana depletion.

How can a freshman with a magic talent of 8, which is already incredible, be in a state of mana depletion? Does that even make sense?

"Shit!! I'll kill you all. I'll kill you all!!"

"...She's not polite, but her face is pretty, right?"

"Other girls are the same, right?"

"...Hey, you guys aren't planning to do it with these lowborn girls, are you?"

"As long as they taste good, that's all that matters..."

I tilted my head, wondering what was going on, and the noble male students started whispering to each other, looking at Irina and the other commoner female students with lecherous eyes.

"...I'll take the girl on the far left."

"I'll take the one with brown hair on the right."

"I'll take the rude one over there."

After whispering for a while, the male students grinned and started to get up, heading towards the girls who were kneeling and trembling.

"Ah, ah!!"

"Help me!! Please...!!"

"Let go!! You bastards!!"

When the men's hands reached the girls, they started screaming, and I couldn't help but take action, having watched the situation until then.

"Can't you stay still? Lowborns, where do you think you're going..."

- Clang!!!

"...Phew!!"

I threw the crystal wine glass I was holding at the male student who was leading Irina by the hair.

"...Shit, what? Who the hell..."

The male student, hit by the wine glass, staggered and started cursing, holding his forehead. I glared at him coldly and spoke.

"You bastard, who do you think you are to take her?"

"Lord, Lord Frey!!"

My reputation for causing trouble by throwing wine glasses and making a scene is well-known, so the atmosphere around me instantly turned cold.

"...Bow."

"Y-Yes, sir!"

As soon as I finished speaking, the boy slammed his head into the floor with a thud. However, I continued to glare at him coldly and spoke again.

"Where to?"

"......What?"

"Smash your head into the broken champagne glass, you bastard."

"......!"

The boy, who had been rolling his eyes at my words, quickly smashed his head into the broken wine glass, shouting.

"I'm sorry!! Lord Frey!! Please forgive me!!"

The atmosphere around us became even more ominous, and I sighed, got up from my seat, and quietly said.

"...Get out, all of you, except these girls."

"......What?"

"Didn't you hear me? Get out, all of you."

"But, but..."

"Get the hell out, you bastards, and let me have some fun with them!!!!!"

As my command rang out, the students, who had been hesitating, quickly started to leave.

"Please, save me..."

When only I and the girls were left in the banquet hall, a frail-looking girl on the left opened her trembling mouth.

"...Let's see, how about this."

"Ah, ah...!"

I ignored the girl's plea and started stroking her chin, and at that moment, the other girls began to tremble in fear.

"Run!!!"

"...Ah!"

Irina, using all her strength, pushed me over and shouted at the girls beside her.

"Thank you...!"

"Ah... ah..."

The girls, who had been trembling in fear, started to run without hesitation, and Irina, smiling at the sight, soon collapsed, exhausted.

"...What a reckless girl."

After confirming that the girls had run away, I slowly got up from my seat, picked up a bottle of alcohol from the table, and started drinking from it as I approached Irina.

"...Damn, you're still as disgusting as ever. You're a piece of shit."

"...What did you say?"

"Considering you're about to be a corpse... a lowlife with only your lower body alive. The lowest of humans. If I had known things would turn out like this, I would have given you the ultimate magic instead of the demon king..."

"What the hell are you saying... you bitch..."

As she rambled on about the events of the previous episode, I pretended to be drunk and acted as if I couldn't understand a word, then approached her and started to reach out.

"...Shit, you should have saved some mana for suicide."

While gripping her collar, I listened to her ominous words and, with my eyes closed, fell flat on the floor.

"Kul... kul... kul..."

"......"

Normally, doing such an unprotected act in front of her would be suicidal, but she is currently in a state of 'mana depletion.' In other words, she can't harm me right now.

"......"

After looking at me, who had fallen on the floor and started snoring, for a moment, she staggered out of the banquet hall.

Honestly, I was wondering how I should react if she had attacked me, but fortunately, the smart girl seemed to have remembered that if I died here, not only she but also her family would be wiped out.

"Haa... This is really tough, man."

When the villain points appeared in front of me, I let out a sigh of relief and tried to get up from my seat, but...

"......What?"

I almost fainted when I saw the system window that appeared in front of me.

It seems I have a lot of tough things to deal with in the future.