There Is No Hidden Villain in This Novel Chapter 15

‘I am crazy.’

Ryuseong was confused whether that description applied to himself or to Cassis.

‘He must be crazy.’

No matter how much cold water he doused himself with, his senses would not return.

Ryuseong had choked Cassis. Up to this point, it could have been understandable. Because Cassis was the one who had destroyed his world. Because he was the hateful being who had made everything meaningless.

No, actually, it was not understandable, and he should not have done it, but at the very least, he could argue that it might have been possible. But Cassis was different.

Does he lack a sense of self-preservation? Why did he accept the sensation of being choked with such an uncharacteristically gentle face……?

With such a beautiful and noble countenance.

“……”

Acting as if you could die at any moment, why.

Suddenly, he recalled the Cassis from the trauma confrontation. It was only a hallucination, a mere outer shell, but why did the you of that moment come to mind?

You, who were so calm and noble even at the moment of death.

The you I knew was not like that.

You seemed a little less composed, sharper.

For some reason, the you I found in the trauma was meek, as if you had endlessly wished for death. You fought back as if you were designed to do so, and you held yourself stubbornly within the trauma, but.

What am I to do if the moment of your death itself is so serene? And what am I to do if that image overlaps with a living person?

If I were to say I was aroused by such a you, would you despise me?

He poured water over his head. But the heat did not subside. Ryuseong stood there, getting drenched in cold water, for several dozen minutes.

In all honesty, he was afraid. What if Cassis said something similar after he finished his shower, and what if he used that as an excuse to do something to you? There was that kind of fear.

If he were to commit some act of coercion, demanding an answer for a sin that he could not ask the current you about, he felt he would curse his already unforgivable self for all eternity.

Fortunately, however, Cassis de Millang did not say anything else after that. There were no provocative words at all, just a simple, “Good night.” A plain greeting was all. It was followed by the soft, rhythmic sound of breathing, as if he had fallen asleep.

Ryuseong listened to the proof that Cassis de Millang was alive and watched the sky beyond as dawn broke.

*

I slept like a log, but it seems he did not. He has dark circles under his eyes. Tsk, tsk. He must have stayed up all night. The poor thing. If we had gone all the way, he would have slept well.

I genuinely pitied him. Because…….

“The basic policy of Araea Academy is to improve skills through sparring and practical combat! However, we cannot push around newly hatched chicks! For one month, there will only be theory classes! Fill your heads with knowledge, you brats!”

……in accordance with the principal’s arbitrary directive, from the very next day, theory classes began to rage with fierce intensity.

“It is not absolute, but it is common to call someone an Awakened when they awaken an ability, and a Raider only when they awaken a True Name. A True Name is a name and a role given to an individual by the dormant World Tree. Perhaps a True Name is a concept that functions similarly to the Fool, the Empress, or the Hierophant symbolized by tarot cards. This is even more so in that it varies greatly depending on interpretation and can even change depending on one’s mindset in life. Therefore, receiving a True Name means you are a being who can influence the world. Thus, there is some credibility to the statement that one must receive a True Name to be a Raider, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Yes, yes, teacher……”

“When such a True Name blossoms ‘uniquely’ within an individual, we call it a ‘Proper Name,’ but that is a topic unsuited for your level, so we will leave it for a later discussion. In our class, there is one cadet who has awakened a True Name. Mr. Ryuseong, could you please stand up?”

……During this period, there was no room for the competitive structure between the four dormitories to emerge. It was because it was just a whirlwind of memorization, memorization, and more memorization.

They brought out full-body anatomical charts, saying we had to know the enemy’s circuits and qi meridians, and told us to memorize all the twelve main meridians and eight extra meridians in the body. And to memorize the mana circuits. And to memorize 99 magic circles. And to memorize 108 formations. They were even teaching the grips for holding a sword, a saber, and a spear, albeit only through paper.

For me, it was truly a paradise. I had to absorb all the theories like a sponge during this opportunity. Because that is what it would take to be ‘Cassis de Millang-like.’

“Lord Cassis, you are truly outstanding.”

A handful of non-family, non-sect cadets were panting and struggling to catch up with the pace, wondering what all this nonsense was, but the cadets from prominent families and sects were different. They would often put on airs, saying they had already learned this material, or just enjoy a nap.

Perhaps that is why the teachers praised me for sitting upright and listening to the class, unlike a typical scion of a noble family.

‘The truth is, the ones not listening to the lecture are the idiots.’

Among the teachers who taught theory, it seemed many were under the influence of the de Millang family, as they all seemed incapable of anything but stereotypical praise. To answer the question of whether this was out of character, in the original story, Cassis was said to have listened attentively in class as well. The only difference is whether one has knowledge in their head or is completely ignorant.

However, my desperate efforts to save my own life seemed to appear godlike to others.

“You are working hard again today.”

One day, Logan Esteban brought me coffee and said this while I was lost in my studies. Around that time, I had heard the news that Jorge Bong-tang’s Bong-tang family had become a kite with its string cut, and that Jorge had barely managed to remain at the academy since he had already enrolled.

Dietrich Winkel, who had only followed me to the study hall, was sitting askew, flipping through a book, and would just grin at me, but Capone Jones was stone-faced because he had lost at rock-paper-scissors and was deprived of the right to deliver coffee to me. He was clearly sulking.

I expressed my happiness at having such obedient and good friends with a smile. At that, Dietrich shivered as if he had the chills.

Oh my, I think my smile is pretty, but it seems you guys do not think so?

“Being faithful to the basics is the foundation of learning, after all.”

“Indeed, de Millang is truly different, it seems.”

I do not know. Who gives a damn about de Millang. I am just replaying the study secrets of K-high school students.

Even now, if you looked, there were almost no scions of prestigious families in the library. Rather, it was full of Koreans. Yet they were praising me for being a de Millang, what a joke.

“I am merely facing properly what should not be neglected.”

I just muttered some words I did not even understand myself. But from the next day, the study hall was flooded with cadets from prestigious families who had been slacking off with the excuse that they had already learned everything. What, what is this? Go away. Do not ruin the academic atmosphere.

But they were smiling brightly at me.

“Truly, we respect you!”

“As expected of de Millang! Your very attitude toward learning is different!”

“We will follow your example and commit ourselves faithfully to reviewing!”

……My head is throbbing. I pressed my fingers to my forehead and spoke softly.

“You do not even know the basic rule of being quiet in the study hall, so what kind of foundation are you trying to build?”

At those words, everyone fell silent. It was a pleasant thing.

Of course, not everything was pleasant. Perhaps because of pressure from Winkel, Esteban, and Jones’s side, they approached me individually, and every one of them claimed they were on my side, not the Family Head’s. I nodded my head in front of each of them, and then, when everyone was gathered, I said one thing.

“Your true intentions must be proven by your actions, not your words.”

“……”

When I patted their shoulders, everyone pressed their lips together and nodded.

Right. Even you think you would side with the Family Head, don’t you? You are scared because I said I would not fall for your lip service.

It seemed I would have to be prepared for the fact that virtually all news about me would be reported to the Family Head. It was not pleasant news to hear when I was busy studying.

However, the most unpleasant thing was something else.

“Mr. Ryuseong?”

“……”

Unbelievably, Ryuseong was avoiding me!

And quite openly at that!

“Excuse me, but did you two break up? If so, perhaps we should prepare a media response accordingly……”

“……”

“……My apologies.”

He avoided me so openly that Logan, who is a gentleman but slightly clueless, would say something like this. He was not some kind of plague, but seeing Ryuseong make a U-turn and run away even while walking down the hallway whenever he ran into me was starting to piss me off.

For the first week, it was nice because I could review the theories in my room to my heart’s content without worrying about being caught.

‘If this was going to happen, why did he even ask to be roommates?’

Once this question began to arise, it became uncontrollable. On top of that, he would always come in at the crack of dawn and leave before the sun rose, so I had no way of knowing if the guy was even coming into the room at all.

So one day, I pretended to be asleep and stayed awake by pinching my thigh, and when he came in late, our eyes met, and he immediately turned around and left. At this point, I was beyond angry; I was fucking pissed.

‘He’s clearly got the hots for me, so why is he acting like that?’

That bastard! Ugh!

Still, I did not want to get entangled with the protagonist in a bad way and end up with a swift execution ending. It seemed I had to at least build up my skills to the point where I could stand against him before trying to seduce him again.

‘Just enough, to the point where it looks plausible to others.’

Once I had a goal, my passion for studying, which I was already doing intensely, grew even stronger.

‘For a delightful first night!’