There Is No Hidden Villain in This Novel Chapter 12

There are two possible outcomes to my wide-area provocation taunt.

The first is that I provoke the principal so damn much that a professor from the board, who is monitoring this first-period class, steps in to stop the principal’s rampage. Even if he’s treated poorly within his family, a de Millang is still a de Millang. Those outside the de Millang family cannot dare to scorn one of them.

That is the de Millang’s unspoken rule.

‘It would be best if it ended with the first option.’

When you think about it, it’s an almost foolproof plan, but the reason I can only use it once is because if I did this all the time, people might start to question, “Is this bastard’s skill and everything else a sham?” and I would lose my reputation. I have to maintain my reputation if I don’t want to be purged by the family.

So, just as I, despite having almost died, was about to act all relaxed and taunt him by asking if he was done yet.

“That is unfair.”

“……?”

No, I can accept the principal challenging a cadet to a duel.

But why are you butting in, Ryuseong……?

“How could a cadet possibly graze even the collar of the great archmage of the resistance.”

At the mention of the title, “the great archmage of the resistance,” the cadets began to murmur once again.

Teacher Damyeon is our principal? That independence activist… That’s right. This once again reveals why this novel is a work with a lethal dose of nationalism.

In the story, the independence activists who gained special abilities that didn’t exist in our original history colorfully changed the history of the anti-Japanese struggle within the novel, and one of them was our very own principal.

Teacher Damyeon, who used magic from his experience studying abroad but was called a great archmage for creating a new realm by fusing it with Korean Taoist magic.

The problem is, Teacher Damyeon was ‘publicly’ known to have died from an attack at the time. No matter how much longer the lifespan of a ‘hunter’ is compared to a civilian, it made no sense for someone from that era to still be alive.

The cadets, with expressions that asked why someone who should have long passed away was awake, barely managed to swallow their questions. It seemed they realized that they might accidentally blurt out a deeply disrespectful remark like, “Sir, why are you still alive?”

“Ha! My goal is to make you brats capable of grazing my collar by the time you graduate. That is why I intend to gauge the top entrant’s level first. Just you wait if you don’t meet my expectations! I’ll just…!”

“In that case, allow me to join that test as well.”

I wanted to tell him to go die alone if he wanted to die so badly.

“If there are two of us, it will be a fight worth having. We can at least graze his collar. Wouldn’t you agree, Cassis de Millang?”

……In a situation like this, I couldn’t exactly say, “That’s fucking impossible, though?” I swallowed my bloody tears and smiled brightly.

“I was going to grant you three moves. What a shame, it seems?”

That part was sincere. I was damn, fucking disappointed. Because of Ryuseong’s intervention, I was forced to choose the second path.

And that would be a much tougher, and slightly more gambling-heavy move.

“This year’s freshmen are all outrageously arrogant! Fine! Excellent, try ganging up on me. I, too, shall grant you whelps three moves!”

“Three moves is about what I would grant you, Master. Isn’t that too harsh on the cadets? It would be better to just say you won’t hold back at all……”

“……Shut up! What’s too harsh is that mouth of yours!”

Strictly speaking, the first option was also a gamble. If no one intervened in time, I’d be fucked.

However, the reason it was a decent option was that even if it didn’t succeed in time, I could seamlessly switch to the second path. But I never expected to have to commit to the second option so actively.

‘That crazy bastard of a protagonist.’

Thinking that, I shot a glare at Ryuseong, but he was also staring at me as if I were a madman.

“What are you looking at?”

“……”

What’s his problem? He’s the real crazy one here.

“……Let’s form a strategy.”

Just then, Ryuseong lowered his voice. Damn. That voice is insane. The way his Adam’s apple moves is so fucking sexy. I nodded my head as if listening intently to his words, then said in a loud voice.

“Ryuseong is aiming for the principal’s hat.”

The principal’s bones clattered. He looked so dumbfounded by my brazen announcement of their strategy that his joints seemed to rattle loosely. Meanwhile, Ryuseong urgently reached out to grab my shoulder, but then pulled his hand back without touching me. Was he being considerate of my mysophobia? I watched his action, my eyes fixed on his fingertips for a moment, before smiling brightly.

“It’s easy for a hat to fall from one’s head. He’s also keeping the hem of your robe in mind. Since it flutters and waves so well. How about you take both off before we begin……?”

“Are you insane? Why are you doing this?”

“Oh, don’t say that. It’s not as if he can’t hear us just because we cover our mouths and whisper like sewer rats, is it? So I’m trying to be open and honest. So that you don’t have to eavesdrop like a rat and can listen comfortably.”

When I added that with a low laugh, the old, yellowish-white bones began to glow with a golden light. To be precise, he was no longer suppressing the golden aura bursting from within, letting it shine brilliantly.

Uh oh, it seems he got super pissed, just as intended. A shiver ran down my spine from the increased pressure, which was even stronger than before, and at the same time, a laugh trickled out.

It was because I was suffocating, but it seems Teacher Damyeon misunderstood.

“You find this amusing? Good, it seems you are not yet at a level to understand your place. I could defeat the likes of you even if I wore twenty layers of clothing. I will make sure you learn your place today.”

Still, I couldn’t lose the battle of wills. Because I was going to lose the actual fight no matter what.

“Learn my place? You will teach me?”

Ha.

“How absurd. I am at a loss for words, so just come. I will grant you the first attack.”

The only cadet who could stand up to the principal was, in fact, a child of the de Millang family, but by this point, even the observing professors must have thought my provocations were going too far. In other words, the excuse to restrain the principal had vanished.

The principal, who was furious to the tips of his hair, created a magic circle with the sole intention of knocking a cadet down a peg. Then he began to cast magic on himself.

It looked like he realized that if he just shot magic from a distance, the kids wouldn’t even have a chance, so he was enchanting his own body to engage in close-quarters combat. Hmm. As expected, he’s a kind teacher, just like the original novel described.

To think that even after being provoked like this, he was kind enough to only consider beating us with his bare fists.

Although he loses a ton of points for his personality and conduct.

‘Wait, then does that mean he’s not a kind teacher?’

While I was having such stray thoughts, the principal finished enchanting his fists and charged. To be precise, I saw the motion of him about to charge, and the in-between process was deleted. At least, that’s how it looked to me. It just felt like the principal had disappeared and then reappeared right in front of my eyes playing peek-a-boo; I couldn’t see his path of movement at all. All I saw was Ryuseong barely managing to follow, parrying the punch with palm force and grinding his teeth from behind.

“What is the matter, Cassis de Millang! Why aren’t you fighting properly!”

I could never in a million years reply, “Because I fucking can’t see your movements……,” so I decided to be more defiant.

“I will step forward when there is a need to step forward, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Cassis……!”

Ryuseong called my name but couldn’t continue his sentence. It was because the principal’s assault, which he had to block, had intensified.

Ryuseong, who seemed to be struggling just to hold on, clenched his teeth and couldn’t say another word.

While I stood there looking like a punk with my hands in my pockets, Teacher Damyeon seemed to have gotten serious, as he kept creating magic circles mid-fight to enhance his own body. It was also possible that Ryuseong was the one who made Teacher Damyeon get serious.

Surely he wasn’t doing that because of my petty provocations, right?

But in the next moment, Ryuseong’s body flew up into the air and was pushed back.

It was because a magic missile had burst out of the magic circle, which I thought was for enhancing his body, and had shot towards Ryuseong. FWOOSH! BOOM! Right, he never said he would fight with only his bare fists. An excellent deception.

Ryuseong barely managed to stop himself, scraping the floor, but by the time he regained his senses, a magic missile was flying towards me.

Seeing Ryuseong’s wide-open, blue eyes, I realized something, but I decided to put that realization aside for a moment.

Instead, I moved directly into the path of the magic missile that was about to graze me.

My own neck.

“You……!”

Let’s review. The principal is a kind man. Due to his social position, he can never kill a de Millang, but even before that, his personal belief is that killing a student is not something a teacher should do.

So, what will the principal do? Huh? What are you going to do?

“You crazy thing!”

As expected, the principal, using some Taoist magic I couldn’t identify as either teleportation or the earth-shrinking technique, moved right in front of me and destroyed the magic missile by punching it in the side. He was about to yell at me in anger, but my hand was faster.

I adjusted the principal’s crooked hat and smiled brightly.

“Your collar has been grazed. This is my victory.”

“……”

“What do you say?”