There Is No Hidden Villain in This Novel Chapter 127

Therefore, this is the right thing to do. Yes, indeed. There’s just one condition: I can’t get caught.

‘The saying goes, don’t let your right hand know the murder your left hand commits.’

Something seems wrong about that, but let’s move on for now.

Instead, I should smile for the one I love.

‘What do I care about some proverb.’

When I smiled, crinkling my straight eyebrows slightly, Ryuseong’s expression finally seemed to relax as he raised just one corner of his mouth in a crooked line.

Even when I consciously tried to criticize him by thinking he looked like he had a nasty personality, it didn’t really work.

And for good reason. Ryuseong was incredibly handsome when he smiled. Manly and sexy. Unlike Logan or Dietrich, he wasn’t the type to meticulously style his hair every morning, so now, in the evening, his black hair, which had been swept back like he’d used pomade, was falling and tickling his forehead. Even that disheveled look was heart-fluttering. He was on a completely different level from the male monkeys reeking of sweat that were swarming all around.

He is a cold-looking handsome man. His sharp jaw and deep-set eyes give him a piercing aura. And yet, he has the incredible, contrasting charm of a man whose virility seethes within him.

‘Although it’s a shame I can only see that seething virility in bed.’

Considering Cassis de Millang is full of yin energy, I thought the two of them were a great match.

He is the person I love. We are lovers who are thrilled just to look at each other and smile. For this relationship to continue smoothly, it was right for me to kill the Head of House.

Before I get myself killed.

“…”

This isn’t something I should be thinking in front of you, a pacifist.

I’m going to have to get some blood on my hands, baby.

‘Don’t be scared.’

But of course, Ryuseong isn’t the type to be scared by a bit of bloody murder. The reason he’s a pacifist—that is, the reason he resolved not to kill people—is not weakness.

Ryuseong resolved not to kill people simply because he wants to save them.

So the words I uttered, pretending to be concerned for you…

‘Maybe they were for my own sake.’

As the speech concluded, I listened to the professors’ explanations. Fortunately, it seemed the cadets would not be entering the <Black Wilderness> directly.

Following the mountain range near the <Black Wilderness> down, there is a strangely deserted village with a cluster of abandoned houses.

The professors in charge of the test of courage said they would join forces to drop us there. I was truly curious where they got the nerve to throw us into a dense area of abandoned houses by combining magic, curses, thaumaturgy, and so on.

Anyway, they said that if we search each house there, find mission cards, and complete the missions, a way to call a helicopter would appear. In other words, to perform the same mission as Ryuseong, it seemed we had to search the same house.

Ryuseong and I looked at each other as if on cue and grinned. The collaboration of the first and second-ranked students in the school; it felt like we could take on any mission that came our way.

But hold on a second. A remark was made that created a flaw in our strategy.

“It’s a random landing system, so planning ahead is useless. Now, then! Let’s gooo!”

“Where do you get off saying something like…!”

Poof!

When he opened his eyes, Ryuseong was trapped in a narrow space where he could see nothing, and Cassis de Millang was not by his side. However, it seemed that the test of courage operated on a similar principle to how someone who has experienced something once does it better.

Ryuseong naturally spread his senses in all directions.

Feeling a person nearby, he concealed his mana to the extreme and hid, but strangely, the other person’s movements were minimal. They seemed to be only nodding their head a few times and panting for breath, like someone who was bound; it didn’t seem threatening. Ryuseong fumbled around the ceiling of the rectangular structure that had confined him a few times before lifting it. Clunk!

“…!”

Perhaps hearing the sound of the hinge moving, or perhaps because they were gagged, someone’s scream was muffled damply inside a piece of cloth. However, unless the person was Cassis de Millang, they were a low priority for Ryuseong, so he first saw to his own safety.

What if the person had been Cassis de Millang, you ask?

Well.

‘There’s no way Cassis de Millang would get caught in a trap like that.’

Ryuseong had that kind of faith. In any case, after jumping out of the square confinement, he found that the place he had been trapped in was none other than a rice chest.

“…”

Ryuseong let out a sigh, a strange gloom suddenly settling over him.

He had no idea where the idea of putting a cadet in a rice chest—the very kind King Yeongjo had locked Crown Prince Sado in to die—had come from.

In any case, since he had succeeded in escaping the rice chest, while the father of King Jeongjo had unfortunately met his end that way, Ryuseong had survived just fine.

Ryuseong snatched the mission paper that was stuck on the lid of the rice chest.

「Found a rice chest? —This is terrible! A disaster! Please rescue the person trapped inside before they become Crown Prince Sado!

Escaped from a rice chest? —There might be someone else imprisoned elsewhere! Begin searching the vicinity!

Common Condition: To earn mission fees, you must rescue the imprisoned cadet before someone else does!」

“…”

Ryuseong remained silent. The students might find it fun and giggle, but Ryuseong was not amused. What would have happened if a student with claustrophobia had been chosen? Of course, Araea Academy was like a survival manual. It was a training center that had to ‘correct’ students’ traumas by exposing them in any way possible so they wouldn’t be swayed by yokai, and there were clear limits to that. Nevertheless, Araea Academy was a place that saved Clearers.

So, Ryuseong thought that the fact that he himself, who found being in confined spaces suffocating, had been trapped in a rice chest was likely a signal of some kind. He guessed that the mission was designed to stimulate the participant’s trauma.

Thinking this, he felt he had to hurry. Because he didn’t know where Cassis de Millang might be. If Cassis de Millang were to suffer something truly painful, the abandoned houses might all collapse, and the cadets inside might be blown to bits.

It was an unlikely event, but it was best to prevent it in advance. Having made his resolve, Ryuseong gripped the sword on his back, drew it out sheath and all, and began to walk silently like a feline.

At the entrance to the next room, a veil was swaying and shimmering. The translucent veil obstructed the view of the situation inside. Ryuseong silently drew his sword and sliced the veil in half. And he looked inside.

“…”

Absurdly, there was another layer of veil. A mission paper was hanging there, and its contents were as follows.

「The criminal with the most heinous crimes is imprisoned here. Will you still enter?」

What nonsense was this, when they were the ones who told him to go in? The mission game that had been enjoyable during his first year as a newly-minted adult was no longer fun for the prematurely-aged Ryuseong due to his regression experience. He scowled at the mission paper before cutting it down, veil and all.

He continued on his way, but after only a few steps, another veil fluttered, obstructing his vision.

「The criminal’s charges are as follows.

First, the crime of wandering here and there where he should not have gone.

Second, the crime of having no intention to cooperate.

Third, the crime of having seen the truth.

The criminal has been imprisoned for these three charges in total.」

…Don’t tell me?

Ryuseong realized something. Then, he no longer wanted to go inside. But the mission fee… knowing he had to earn the damn mission fee to call the helicopter, Ryuseong had no other choice.

Ryuseong pushed aside the veil, and…

“…What are you doing here…”

He discovered the pitifully imprisoned Logan Esteban.

“…”

“…”

Logan Esteban was gagged, and his arms and legs were tied together, making for a truly pathetic sight. The workmanship of the bindings was quite impressive. It seemed someone had put in a great deal of effort to ensure he could never get free.

‘This kind of development didn’t happen before the regression.’

Ryuseong picked up the mission paper to assess the situation.

「Logan Esteban wandered here and there, threatening the very existence of the test of courage. If the gag is removed, 999,999,999,999,999,999,999 won will be deducted from the mission fee of the person who removed it. Absolutely do not remove it. No gesture hints. Absolutely forbidden! But do untie his arms and legs. He’s pitiful.」

“…”

“…”

Logan Esteban and Ryuseong exchanged a long look.

But that didn’t mean he had any intention of removing the gag.

Ryuseong didn’t even untie Logan Esteban’s arms and legs before casually hoisting him onto his shoulder.

“Mph! Mmmph!”

‘If it were Cassis de Millang, maybe. But why should I help a guy who just sells information.’

Although Ryuseong had grown soft for Cassis lately, he was originally just a pacifist, ruthless to others.

Ryuseong’s pacifism was due to the following line of thought.

‘It just means I shouldn’t kill them, right?’

Ryuseong was no proper human being either. As he always thought.

Meanwhile, Cassis de Millang received this mission paper.

「All who enter this room become fragments of Scheherazade. The door will only open after all ten people have told the scariest story they can think of!

The entry door is open freely! Lure people in through the window to gather ten fragments of Scheherazade and earn the mission fee!

Special feature: The first person to enter earns the most mission fees! Whisper, whisper!

Maybe you’ll be number one…?!」

Cassis de Millang thought.

‘What a load of…’

Let’s omit the rest. After all, a first-year = fledgling chick shouldn’t be saying things lamenting this damn life where bastards called professors screw over students for their own amusement.