Chapter 3: Freshmen Welcome Party |
The entrance ceremony ended without a hitch.
“Everyone, cheers!!”
What’s noteworthy is the welcoming freshman party held after the entrance ceremony.
Of course, the reception of commoners is modest and straightforward, but that wasn’t the case for the nobles.
“…This is a wine from the western continent. It’s 56 years old.”
“Here, veal filet steak and foie gras. I wish you a pleasant meal.”
The people of the Empire are starving, yet these esteemed daughters and sons, who didn’t even receive a title, are spending enough money to feed a village for a few months at a welcoming party for freshmen.
Then again, I’m the leader of such a group.
“Lord Frey! Let’s have a toast!”
“Greetings, Lord Frey! I’m the second son of Viscount Ariel.”
Surrounded by countless flattering people seated at the place of honor, I gave a strained smile and sipped my drink.
Of course, internally I’m worried about how to survive from the heroines while trying to figure out how to eradicate the parasites that corrode this Empire.
“So, do you know what that commoner bastard said earlier?”
“What did he say?”
“Well, he said his dream is to become a student council member! Don’t you think that’s funny?”
“He’s definitely got a screw loose. Should we knock some sense into him?”
As I pretended to have fun chatting with the women who approached me, I overheard the conversation of the nobles sitting next to me.
Yes, on the surface, Sunrise Academy strives for equality for all, but it’s not the case at all on the inside.
Most aristocrats implicitly ignore the commoners, and some even blatantly bully them.
This stands true for aristocratic students as well. The greater their power, the more benefits and fame they receive, so the professors turn a blind eye to these absurdities.
In other words, it’s bullshit.
“It’s not a guy, but a girl?”
“What? A girl? That would be more fun, right?”
The woman they are talking about now is probably ‘her’, who will become the Archmage of the Empire in the future from a commoner and dominate the battlefield.
When she was at the academy, she became a bullying target for the aristocrats after injuring three inebriated noble students who picked a fight with her.
“Right? I suppose that sounds interesting.”
“Ah, Lord Frey?”
“So, when are you going to do it, George?”
“Uh…well…wouldn’t it be better to go as soon as possible…haha…”
“Really? Then do a good job.”
“Oh, yes!”
As I spoke indifferently, the nobleman in the middle bowed 90 degrees and went out of the banquet hall while having a heated discussion with the people he was talking to.
‘Anyway, I have seen no trustworthy person among this extravagant bunch’
I stared at the student’s back pitifully, as he would soon become a sacrifice to the woman destined to be an Archmage, and got lost in thought.
Tomorrow, when I officially start attending the academy, obviously I will cross paths with the heroines.
This is because all of us are assigned to Class A.
Of course, unlike the five heroines who are naturally talented or just geniuses, I had to pull some strings to get in. In fact, I used the backdoor on purpose.
Honestly, even if I take the exam now, I’m confident I’ll be tied for first place with my fiancée and get a perfect score. But alas, I can’t because I must be an incompetent, evil, pathetic and vile person.
Of course, someone who is not familiar with the system might ask, instead of stressing too much, why not just selectively commit the evil deeds after confiding to a few people at random that I’m a False Evil.
In fact, that’s a situation I’m desperately hoping for, but there’s no way the system can easily present a happy ending to this doomed world.
“System, inherent skill window.”
[Inherent Skills Window]
-Permanent Debuff: The Fate of False Evil
Description: Every time you are discovered to be a ‘False Evil’, your vitality and lifespan will decrease.
This daunting penalty is the reason I can’t reveal my identity and abandon selective evil.
I’m still periodically giving my life force to Kania, and I have a lot of work to do, so if my life span further decreases because of the system’s penalty, I’ll be done for. So, I should never let people find out that I’m a False Evil.
‘…Should I just give up on being a villain?’
For a moment, I felt my resolve weakening, but then I shook my head and hardened my heart.
As the successor to the hero who appeared in the world 1000 years ago, my father trained me for a long time. If I don’t step up here, the world will perish.
However, my father is not a cold-hearted person who drives his son into a desperate situation, knowing he would die. Father would have torn the prophetic book to shreds if he’d known that I was doomed to die.
Perhaps my ancestor had foreseen this, and put a spell on the phrase ‘The Hero will perish in vain alongside the Demon King’ so that only I could see it.
But if this happens, then my ancestor from another world would have been a person without blood or tears, who forced his heir to sacrifice himself 1000 years later.
“System, show clear privilege.”
[Clear privilege: When everything is over, you can make a single wish to the Sun God.]
Perhaps my ancestor negotiated with the Sun God 1000 years ago in order to avoid such a reputation, and left me, his successor, this gift.
After all, he is the Sun God who is the Overseer of Light in this world, and can easily grant the wish of a mere mortal like me.
In short, this is my plan:
First, I’ll become infamous as I keep on committing evil deeds while gathering evidence one after another and reigning as the secret mastermind. Simultaneously, I’ll weaken the axis power of evil while eradicating the despicable customs and abominations of the empire.
Then, on the day of the decisive battle, I’ll use the system to die along with the Demon King. After that, I’ll wish for my revival to the Sun God.
For reference, my ancestor wrote a tip in the prophetic book. He said that the Sun God is more pompous and cheapskate than expected, so if one wishes for something more difficult than resurrection, they are likely to be punished for a damnable sin.
If the Church of the Sun God and Saintess saw the book’s content, they would denounce my ancestor as a heretic right away, but I believe my ancestor who was the Empire’s Hero over a cult that only knows how to preach nonsense.
Anyway, after resurrecting, I will reveal the information I have gathered so far to prove my innocence and self-sacrifice. Then I will spend the rest of my life in luxury as the Hero. Of course, as a bonus, I’ll get to see the cleansed Empire.
Frankly, it’s going to be a pretty tough journey to get the rewards, but what can I do? I am the only one who can save the world from destruction.
And if I don’t do this, eventually my family and I will die in this doomed world. After all, this madness is something that must be done to save not only the Empire but also myself and the people I care about.
“Hey, come here!!”
“Hey, let me go!”
“Sa-save me!!”
“You filthy bitches. Can’t you just shut your trap and follow me?”
While I was drinking and organizing my thoughts, suddenly the door of the banquet hall banged open and there was a commotion.
When I looked closely at what was going on, I saw that the drunken nobles who went outside caused a ruckus by dragging commoner girls into the banquet hall.
‘I didn’t attend the banquet hall in the previous timeline as I was trying to devise a plan on how to destroy the empire… Damn it, I can’t believe this is happening.’
While sipping wine casually on the surface, in my mind I was contemplating how to solve this problem, when suddenly I heard a familiar swear word from afar.
“Fuck!! Fuck you bastards!! Let me go! Let me go!!!”
“Be quiet… Angry bitch…”
“Lord Frey! I’ve got her! The sleazy bitch I mentioned earlier!”
“…..Ugh.”
Eventually, when I found out that the noble student who went outside earlier was holding a red-haired girl with ferocious eyes and a scarred face, I was so startled that I had no choice but to open my mouth.
‘…Irina Philliard was captured here?’
She was called the Second Coming of Hellfire, and her nickname wasn’t just for show, as she turned the area to a pit of hell every time she stepped onto the battlefield.
Besides her primary field of expertise ‘flame magic’, she is a genius magician proficient in all elemental magic and is literally born to wield magic.
Since she is such a genius, she should have top-notch skills even during her school days.Why did she meekly get captured then?
‘…Don’t tell me she is planning to burn down the entire banquet hall to wipe out all the nobles along with me!?’
After a moment of terrifying imagination, I quickly operated the system window floating in front of me and entered the store.
[Store / Beginner Assistant Skills]
– Inspect Lv1 (30 points)
Description: Displays important information about the target you are inspecting in the system window.
– Emergency Protection (70 points)
Description: Protects the target once from a fatal blow. (Disposable) (Purchase limit 0/3)
– Mind Reading Lv1 (150 points)
Description: Allows you to read a person’s emotions once per day.
.
.
.
.
.
I quickly looked at the skills that could be useful in the current situation, and I urgently purchased ‘Inspect Lv1’ and ‘Emergency Protection’.
“Status Window.”
After completing the purchase, I muttered in a low voice, and a window summarizing Irina’s information appeared in front of my eyes.
[Stats]
Name: Irina Philliard
Strength: 8
Mana: 8
Intelligence: 7
Mental Strength: 5
Passive Status: Mana Exhaustion / Sickly / Weakened
‘Mana Exhaustion?’
Perhaps it was because she was still at a low level, but I was checking her briefly summarized information. I was dumbfounded when I saw the part about Mana Exhaustion.
As a freshman at the academy, she already boasts an incredible magical talent of 8 mana, and now she’s mana exhausted? Does this even make sense?
“Fuck!! I’m going to kill everyone. I’m going to kill you all!!”
“She’s rude, but doesn’t she have a pretty face?”
“What about the other bitches?”
“Hey, don’t tell me you guys are going to play with these lowly bitches?”
“As long as they taste good, that’s all that matters.”
I tilted my head to see what the hell was going on, but the aristocratic male students started whispering as they looked at Irina and the commoner girls who had been dragged in with sinister eyes.
“I choose the girl on the far left.”
“I’m getting the brunette on the right.”
“Then I’ll choose that rude bitch.”
The male students, who had been whispering for a while, raised the corners of their lips, and one by one, they soon stood up from their seats and started walking towards the girls who were trembling on their knees.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!”
“Help!! Please…!!”
“Hey, let me go!! You bastards!!”
Eventually, the women started screaming as the men grabbed their hands, and finally I, who had been quietly observing the situation until then, had no choice but to take action.
“Can’t you stay still? This lowly bitch dares…”
– Clank!!!
“…Puhak!!”
I threw the crystal wine glass in my hands at the boy who was walking while holding Irina’s head.
“…What the hell? What kind of fucker …”
The male student, who was staggering after being hit by the wine glass, grabbed his forehead and started swearing, while I glared coldly at him and opened my mouth.
“You bastard! What are you calling me?”
“Lord F-Frey!!”
Since my drunken behavior of throwing glasses and violent nature is widely known, the surrounding atmosphere became chilly in an instant.
“Lower your head.”
“Yes, yes!”
As soon as I finished my words, he banged his head so hard that a dull sound resounded in the banquet hall. However, I looked at him coldly and opened my mouth again.
“Where are you putting your head?”
“…Yeah?”
“Place your head on the shards of the broken glass, you punk.”
“……!”
The guy rolled his eyes for a moment at my words, but he was quick to notice, as he banged his head on the shards of the broken wine glass with all his might and shouted.
“Sorry, I’m sorry!! Lord Frey!! Please forgive me!!”
At that shocking scene, the surrounding atmosphere became uncontrollably grim. As I sighed amidst it all and got up from my seat, I calmly said.
“Everyone except for these girls get out.”
“…Yes?”
“Didn’t you hear me? I told everyone to leave, didn’t I?”
“Ha, but…”
“Get out so I can have fun with them, you bastards!!!”
As soon as I rebuked them, the students, who had been wary for a while, soon rushed out.
“Please, someone s-save me…”
Soon after, a slender-looking female student, who was dragged to the banquet hall and the only woman on the left side of the male student, opened her mouth while trembling.
“…Let’s see how you taste.”
“Uhhhhhhh…!”
I ignored her plea and started stroking her chin, and at that moment, the rest of the girls who witnessed the scene started trembling in fear.
“Hey, run away!!!”
“…Aughhh!”
Irina pushed me down with all her strength and screamed at the children next to her.
“T-Thank you…!”
“Uhhhhhhhh…”
Then the girls, who were terrified, fled all at once, and Irina, who was smiling at them, soon keeled over as she ran out of strength.
“… You’re one crazy bitch, aren’t you?”
After confirming that the girls had escaped, I slowly got up, picked up a bottle of wine from the desk and chugged it down my throat as I approached Irina.
“Haa… it turns out you’re disgusting until the end. You bastard.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re a bastard who will soon become a corpse, a filthy piece of shit who only thinks with his lower half. An utter trash. If I had known that things would turn out this way, I would have used my ultimate magic on you instead of the Demon King.”
“What kind of bullshit are you spouting, you bitch?”
I desperately pretended to be drunk as she kept shooting the events of the previous timeline like a rapid-fire gun, and after conveying that I had no clue what she was talking about, I arrived in front of her and reached out to her.
“Damn it, I should have saved some mana for committing suicide.”
I felt a hit to my heart from her words as soon as I grabbed her collar. I soon closed my eyes and slumped to the floor.
“Zzzz…Zzzz…Zzzz…”
“………”
Normally, doing such a defenseless thing in front of her would be suicidal, but she is currently in a ‘Mana Exhaustion’ state. In other words, she can’t harm me right now.
“……..”
After I collapsed on the floor and pretended to snore, I felt her looking down on me for a moment, then she staggered quickly out of the banquet hall.
Honestly, I don’t know how I would react if she actually tried to kill me. Fortunately, it seems that she was smart enough to recall the possibility that the men I had chased off earlier might return and if they find me dead, not only herself but also her family will be annihilated.
[Acquired False Evil Points: 200 pts! (The Savior of Female Students)]
“Ha…it’s really tough.”
After a while, when the False Evil points appeared in front of me, my tension was relieved at once, then I sighed and tried to get up…
Notice!
[Emergency Protection skill is automatically used!]
“…What?”
Target: Irina Philliard’s 12 o’clock Curse
[Details: The 12 o’clock curse sentences the target to inevitable death at 12 o’clock midnight the day after the spell is cast. This devastating curse can only be used once a year, and the person who activated the curse suffers from mana exhaustion for 1 year.]
I almost passed out when I saw the system window that popped up in front of me.
Apparently, I have a lot of work left to do in the future.
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