Chapter 8

The Main Heroines Are Trying to Kill Me - Episode 8

“…Frey Laon Starlight, do you even realize how serious the situation is?”

“I don’t really get it? Why are you overreacting just because I used an artifact?”

I am currently in the faculty office, having a private conversation with Isollet.

The reason it’s a private conversation is that the other professors, who were subtly glancing at me, gradually left the office.

Even if I am the first son of a duke who wields significant influence in the empire, it’s still absurd for a professor to be afraid of a student.

However, this corrupt academy in a corrupt empire has managed to achieve this. At this point, I must admit, it’s quite astonishing.

Of course, most of the professors who left are new and in charge of the first-year students, or they are commoners. But even so, this can’t be considered a normal situation.

“…If it were a regular enhancement artifact, this wouldn’t have escalated. While it is a violation, it would have ended with a stern lecture and some demerit points.”

As I was thinking this, Isollet, with a serious expression, asked me a question, to which I responded with a deliberately annoyed look.

“Then, why are you making such a big deal now?”

“The artifact reacted to the ‘Holy Power’ of the Saint. You can’t possibly not know what that means, can you?”

“My gun lost its light when I was young, and you know that well. Why are you bringing this up now?”

With my legs crossed, I answered brazenly. Isollet sighed and then changed her expression to one of concern.

“Frey… you weren’t like this before… why have you changed so much…”

Hearing her soft voice, my heart suddenly ached.

Caught off guard, I inadvertently used the [Mind Reading] skill and stared blankly at the information that appeared before my eyes. Then, I closed my eyes and momentarily lost myself in memories.

When I was young, Professor Isollet, or rather, Big Sister Isollet, was one of the few people who believed in me even when everyone else pointed fingers at me.

Thinking about it, even though she was my childhood friend and fiancée, she tried to reform me until the end. But because Isollet was just a close older sister, her trust in me was even more precious.

Was that why? When I saw her lifeless body after she died fighting the Demon King’s army to save the students, I held her cold body and cried bitterly, even though I knew she would come back to life if I returned to the past.

‘…No, I can’t let myself be swayed by these useless emotions.’

Isollet Arham Baywork is alive right in front of me.

Not only that, the five ‘main heroines’ who hated and cursed me and died are also alive.

So, to prevent them from dying again… I must become a villain.

“…Don’t try to play on my emotions. I haven’t changed; I’ve just adapted to the world.”

“Frey…”

“…And you’ll realize it eventually, won’t you?”

“…Realize what?”

“Even if you live a righteous life, you’ll eventually be broken. You know that, don’t you?”

“……”

For someone who never bends to anyone’s will and uses her beliefs as a weapon, these words must be hard to hear.

“Maybe, but even if I break… the sprouts I’ve nurtured will eventually bloom.”

Despite this, she looks at me without any sign of displeasure and speaks softly. She’s really a good person.

“So, Frey. Stop being stubborn and now…”

“Let’s get to the point. So, what about that artifact?”

To avoid revealing my true feelings, I quickly changed the subject. Isollet looked at me silently, sighed, and then returned to her professional demeanor.

“The artifact reacted to ‘Holy Power.’ That means… it’s an artifact created using black magic, which is prohibited in the empire.”

“…So what?”

“Where did you get that artifact? Frey?”

“…From a back alley.”

“That brooch isn’t something you’d find in a back alley…”

“You know it’s a code word, right?”

“……”

To the nobles, ‘back alley’ is a code word for the largest and most famous black market in the underworld.

Of course, if you get caught by the empire’s laws, you face the death penalty, but no noble abides by those laws.

How else would rumors spread that when important figures and power brokers of the empire need to meet, they don’t send letters but instead have their carriages drive through the back alley?

“…Can you handle the consequences of that statement?”

“Are you going to report the first son of the Starlight Dukedom? It’s an era where even the wife of a baron boasts about buying decorations from the back alley. Do you think a report would even be taken seriously?”

“…Have you forgotten my influence?”

“Compared to you, who severed ties with the Baywork family, the first son of the Starlight Dukedom, who is hated but not abandoned, has more influence.”

“……”

As I answered her point by point, she glared at me and then spoke.

“…I will report this to the royal family.”

“Fine, do as you please.”

“And I will report it to your father.”

“Oh, that’s a bit…”

If this gets to my father after the meeting, it will be problematic. I was planning to write to him for some money when I got back to my dorm.

“Hey, I’ll do anything, just don’t tell my father…”

“……”

“…Huh? Big Sister?”

“Haa…”

Desperately putting on a humble expression and pleading, I made Isollet sigh deeply before she spoke.

“Then, I have one condition.”

“…A condition?”

“…Take me to the place where you bought that item.”

“…What?”

“I can’t just leave a place that sells such dangerous magical tools to students. I need to raid it and gather evidence.”

“…Come on, I’m not living in a different world.”

Impressed by her sense of justice, I stuck out my tongue for a moment but then nodded and said.

“Fine! I’ll take you! If you do that, you won’t report it to my father, right?”

“…Yes.”

“Great! That’s a satisfactory deal! How about we go this weekend? I was planning to visit there anyway!”

“…We’re going to raid it, not buy something.”

“Don’t be like that, why don’t you try it out this time? They have some interesting stuff.”

“…No.”

While I was smiling and speaking slyly, I was actually shedding tears of blood inside.

‘…Damn, that place had the best value for money.’

The idea of leaving the store where the eccentric owner sold illegal artifacts at face value without even haggling, which I needed for my villainous activities, was truly heartbreaking.

But, illegal is illegal. I’ll have to destroy the store and then secretly recruit the skilled owner to work for me.

“Well, if you don’t want to, there’s nothing I can do… Anyway, is this settled? I’m leaving?”

“……”

As I stood up and subtly checked Isollet’s reaction, she was lost in thought without saying a word.

“Then, see you this weekend!”

“…Understood.”

With that, I left the faculty office quickly, leaving her lost in thought.

Incidentally, as soon as I left, the professors who had been standing in the hallway started to return to the office one by one.

I guess I need to think about how to restore the authority of the faculty.

.

Time passed, and it was now the last class of the day.

With Isollet, who had some business, not showing up, the class naturally turned into a self-study session. The noble students, who loved to play, started gathering to chat.

“So, you know! That drunk guy…!”

“Oh, is that true?”

“Haha… that’s funny…”

By the last period, the factions were already clearly visible.

“Lord Frey, so… if you’re not busy, would you like to join us after the academy ends…?”

“…Hey, what did that foolish professor say? Don’t take it to heart… we’re on your side, Lord Frey.”

“To play such a prank with a brooch… it must have been one of those lowly commoners. Should we interrogate them one by one?”

Actually, there’s no choice.

All the nobles had gathered around me, surrounding me and chatting.

While it might seem like I’m being oppressed by the nobles, this is actually a subtle signal that the noble students want to join my faction.

Compared to the quiet commoners sitting at the back, reading books or reviewing, the nobles, who are lining up and practicing politics, make me feel like my blood is boiling, but there’s nothing I can do.

To become a villain, I need to be the leader of these hopeless guys.

– Creak!

Just as I was dealing with the noble students, suppressing my anger, the door opened, and someone entered the classroom.

“……”

At that moment, all the noisy nobles froze.

The person who entered was the Third Princess of the Empire, Clana Solara Sunrise.

With her radiant golden hair and eyes, the symbol of the Solara Imperial Family, and her proud, captivating face, she exuded an aura that could easily control the class.

“…I know a good tavern nearby! I’ll pay for everything, so why don’t we enjoy ourselves and forget about today’s incident?”

“…But, wasn’t that professor in a state of semi-severed ties with the Baywork family? So, maybe she’s not that significant?”

“…I’m not sure. She did seem to have some skills.”

“But from the sparring earlier… Lord Frey is clearly stronger, right? You’re amazing, Lord Frey!”

“Right! He must have lost by chance, and someone must have maliciously mixed the brooch in!”

After looking at her for a moment, the nobles turned their attention back to me and continued their conversation.

“……”

And they didn’t look at her again until she quietly sat in an empty seat, treating her as if she didn’t exist.

That’s right, the nobles have already made their value judgment.

Joining my faction, the first son of the Starlight Dukedom, which has wielded immense power in the empire for a thousand years and even the imperial family can’t treat casually, is more beneficial than joining the Third Princess, who is at the bottom of the succession line and is essentially a figurehead.

“……”

The commoners also don’t approach her.

While the nobles look down on the princess, to the commoner students, who are ordinary citizens of the empire, she is far too high up.

“……”

Kania and Perloche also don’t approach her.

Kania, being a black mage, can’t get too close to Clana, who has the power of the sun, as it could cause her mana to surge. Perloche, having been exhausted by the complex power struggles between the church and the imperial family in the previous cycle, is quite wary of the imperial family.

In other words, she is completely isolated in the class.

“Since I succeeded once…”

However, I clearly heard her mutter with a determined look.

“…I can do it again.”

‘…She’s really something.’

While my fiancée is a born genius, the princess is a prime example of a self-made person, a hard worker.

Called an isolated princess at the bottom of the succession line, she clenched her teeth in the previous cycle, broadened her support base, and trained rigorously to improve her combat skills.

Through her relentless efforts, she managed to rise to the top of the succession line, but the process made her once-cute personality cold and distant.

However, the occasional glimpses of her old, cute personality made her one of the interesting sights in the palace, welcoming the new emperor, until the Demon King destroyed everything.

“……”

As I was reminiscing, the princess started to glare at me fiercely.

Quickly turning my gaze away from her, I began to ponder a difficult question that came to mind.

‘…Should I interfere with the princess’s efforts to expand her influence? Or should I let her be?’

If I let her expand her influence, my life will be in danger, but if I interfere, the future of the empire will be at risk.

Because all the other succession candidates are useless.

‘…This is really a mess.’

Nothing is being resolved, and new problems keep piling up.

“…What a shit game.”

“Pardon? What did you say?”

“Nothing, by the way, did you mention a tavern…?”

I let out a word that my ancestor often used in prophecies and started making plans with the nobles for a drinking session.

Today, I want to drink until dawn and then sleep soundly in bed.

.

“…Have you returned, Master?”

“…Ah, right. You were here.”

I had forgotten that Kania was in my dorm. She was waiting for me with wide eyes, even though I had been drinking until dawn.

“…Then, I’ll prepare your bath.”

“No need. Just get out of here.”

“I will sleep on the foldable bed.”

“No, get out of the room.”

“Then, good night.”

“…Shit.”

After letting out a genuine curse, I realized it would cost me villain points and calmed myself down before lying on the bed.

‘…I’ll wait until Kania falls asleep, then I’ll infuse her with life force and go to sleep myself.’

As I was thinking this and rolling around in bed, I noticed a black cat doll on the desk.

“…Hey, what’s that?”

“That one?”

Pointing at the doll, I asked, and Kania smiled as she answered.

“…It’s a gift from my younger sister. Isn’t it cute?”

“Tsk, a black cat… bad luck.”

Actually, I love cats, but I lied without realizing it. I guess it’s a habit from always acting as a villain.

‘…Sad.’

Feeling melancholic from the alcohol and the early morning, I quietly turned off the lamp by my bed, closed my eyes, and pretended to sleep.

.

A considerable amount of time had passed since Frey and Kania went to bed.

“…Are you asleep?”

“……”

Frey, who had been lying with his eyes closed, quietly got up after confirming that Kania didn’t respond to his question.

“…Good, she’s definitely asleep.”

Since it had become routine to infuse Kania with life force while she slept, Frey could easily tell if she was asleep or not. After judging that Kania was in a deep sleep, he started moving his right hand in a circle and approached the foldable bed.

“Then, let’s start, shall we?”

Finally, reaching the foldable bed, Frey slowly extended his hand toward the sleeping Kania.

“…………”

And his figure was reflected in the eyes of the black cat doll on the desk.