There Is No Hidden Villain in This Novel Chapter 20

The day after that precious vacation ended so frustratingly.

To pretend to be someone who was just starting to seriously study blood magic theory, I was looking around the deserted library late after class, but some annoyances latched onto me.

“Since you lose at rock-paper-scissors every time anyway, wouldn’t it be better to just leave it to me comfortably?”

That was Logan Esteban of the Blue Dragon dormitory.

“I will never give up. In the end, the one who wins is me!”

And Capone Jones of the Vermilion Bird dormitory.

“Hey, guys. Do we really have to burn with such fighting spirit just for a coffee errand……?”

Finally, it was Dietrich Winkel of the Black Tortoise dormitory.

Of course, they were a gang I had formed, but they were not a very good combination to hang out with. They fought and bickered among themselves over every little thing.

How on earth did I manage to scrape together and form a gang with only those whose ways of dealing with trauma were all different, and whose usual ways of thinking and living were also in conflict? Including me, from the White Tiger dormitory, it was a combination that gathered all the Four Guardian Gods.

‘Come to think of it, Ryuseong’s gang ended up that way too, didn’t it?’

With Ryuseong coming to the White Tiger dormitory, an exquisite balance was struck with Hae Yuna in the Black Tortoise, Lee Hyang in the Vermilion Bird, and Shin Myohan in the Blue Dragon.

In the early part of the original story, none of the protagonist’s group were included, and Cassis’s residence, the White Tiger dormitory, was depicted as a gathering place for scoundrels.

‘I wonder what will happen now.’

No, more importantly, why did Ryuseong suddenly become a member of the White Tiger dormitory? The more I thought about it, the more my head ached.

So, for a moment, I could not stop my gang’s voices from getting louder.

“You should be quiet in the library.”

A calm voice was heard softly. When I looked up, Shin Myohan with her slender eyes was standing there. The General God who always accompanies her was also floating by her side.

There is nothing to be gained by getting on a shaman’s bad side. I stopped Logan from trying to say something and bowed my head to them.

“I will keep them in check. Well then.”

As I was about to retreat, I suddenly felt a cool energy. Something was about to touch my arm. It was clear that the General God was approaching me.

The chill emanating from it was so thick that I was startled and tried to push him away. But he was not pushed away. Instead, a shiver ran down my spine as if I had plunged right into him. I hastily tried to concentrate qi at my fingertips, but this time, a human presence approached.

It was the presence of a person who did not seem human. It was a step that trod on shadows.

Something that is not human,

“You have good eyes, don’t you?”

It was Myohan’s gaze, which reads shadows.

……Come to think of it, when I first met her, I could not see the General God hovering by her side.

It was natural. Because Cassis de Millang had nothing of what is called spiritual sense. But now I can see him.

‘What on earth is going on?’

Perhaps the light I saw in the training room, the one that maybe only I saw, might be related to the ‘eyes’ she mentioned. It is not that important, but…….

Just then, Dietrich tried to step between her and me. I raised one hand to stop him and spoke to Shin Myohan.

“……I do not know what you are talking about.”

I was about to go ask the principal directly about the light in the training room, but because of his eccentric personality, I was planning to build up the minimum skills for self-protection to avoid revealing my identity before going.

So, finding a hint from an external source right now was precious.

“What’s wrong, you were not aware? Heh, as expected of a de Millang.”

“……I beg of you, could you please explain?”

“Hmm. Let’s see. What should I do?”

Though others did not seem to see it, Shin Myohan, who spoke politely and turned her gaze diagonally upwards, was clearly looking at a target.

The General God seemed to be answering something, but I could not hear his voice. Myohan, watching me focus my attention on the General God’s lips, suddenly said.

“Are your ears not open?”

“As I said, I do not understand what you are saying……”

“I heard you caused quite an accident yesterday.”

“Yes, why do you ask?”

“He’s asking if you came to find a book on blood magic.”

Only then, perhaps sensing some incongruity in her gaze and manner of speaking, did Logan seem to react unconsciously and take a step back.

When I looked back, Capone had actually moved closer to me, and Dietrich had retreated about ten steps and was hiding behind a bookshelf, smiling sheepishly when I gave him a look.

I looked forward again and answered in a gentle tone.

“Yes. That is correct.”

I had put on my most honey-sweet voice, but there was no change in Shin Myohan’s expression.

“Then he says to add a few more books. He says you can probably read them. Follow me.”

After saying that, she turned around. And she handed me a whopping 13 books that looked to be at least 1000 pages each, and then said, ‘Come find me when you’ve read all of these!’

‘……Are you kidding me?’

Is that just a roundabout way of telling me not to come find her?

‘Did I get rejected?’

I, who suddenly had more books to read, had to return to the dormitory with a fucking heavy load, listening to Logan’s continuous—and meaningless—apologies.

Shit…….

*

[There is no god for him to receive. He is too full to receive one. So his eyes have only opened a slit.]

“How strange.”

Myohan muttered. In her vision, ghosts were freely coming and going, even near Cassis de Millang.

“He is different from the de Millang I knew.”

*

A week had passed since I had only thought about reading the books. In other words, about a month had passed since the entrance ceremony.

Which means.

“Alright! You brats!”

The theory period was over.

“Welcome to the real Araea Academy!”

It was a declaration that hell was about to begin.

“From now on, kill each other!”

“……Pardon?”

“Ah, no. You’re supposed to fight, right?”

“……Pardon?!”

“Yes, fight! Fight and kill each other! Destroy! Kuhahahaha!”

It was the prelude to a grand, outrageous statement.

‘Is that something a teacher should say!’

It was a section I had genuinely wanted to protest since reading the original story.

All of Class 1, Year 1 were lined up on the athletic field by dormitory, and while the students of our class were flinching at the nonsense, only the shameless principal was brazenly continuing his speech.

“Now! If you listened faithfully to the theory classes, you should know! Cassis de Millang! What are our enemies!”

I wanted to tell him that if he was going to pass the explanation to me, he should pass the principal’s seat as well, but if I said that, he would probably tell me to take it by force, so I just gave the answer he wanted.

“‘Monsters,’ ‘Yokai,’ and ‘Named’.”

“And their respective characteristics!”

“‘Monsters’ are the basic enemies discharged by the Gates. They have almost no intelligence. ‘Yokai’ are relatively difficult and tricky opponents because they have the intelligence of a newborn baby. Among them, particularly powerful yokai are called ‘Named’. These ‘Named’ have intelligence similar to humans and can only be faced by parties of top-tier Raiders.”

When I answered everything in detail, the principal nodded his head.

I am a real pushover for you, aren’t I?

“Correct. In other words, we have to face enemies who might be smarter than blockheads like you! So how can you not even handle a mere human! Huh? That is why you must fight! Sparring! Practice! Sparring! That is the only thing that will keep you alive! So from now on, kill each other! Do you understand, my troops!”

……I do not understand. You crazy principal.

I suddenly wondered if I should ask the chairman, the Family Head, to replace the principal. Because no matter how I thought about it, those were the words of a madman.

Fortunately, it seemed there were some sane people among the faculty, as a few of them walked out, sorted the students, and gave additional explanations. They were all Named Raiders whom I had deemed worthy enough to memorize their faces.

“Hey kids, we’re the practical skills faculty. Sorry to start off with this without even a proper introduction. For now, pair up one-on-one with anyone and line up. Got it?”

“From now on, you will be sparring. We will be grading the dormitories based on these spars, but we are not just giving points to the winner; we will also give points to the loser if they show a good spar. So, it is not a bad thing to be matched with someone from the same dormitory. In fact, if we, the faculty, judge that you have shown a good spar, your dormitory’s score can go up a lot. Okay?”

Even without them explaining, there was someone I had already decided to face.

A guy who was not too low in class for a de Millang to face, yet easy enough for me to handle. A guy who looked just right, but lacked substance.

The guy I intended to face was exactly that kind of guy. That is why I ignored Ryuseong speaking to my face about three times. I ignored him even when his shadow fell over my face.

Ah, come on. Do not talk to me.

What am I supposed to think if you talk to me at a time like this?

“Cassis de Millang. Answer me.”

“……”

“Scared?”

But I could not not respond to this.

“You have been running around like a child hiding from the monster under the bed, what brings you to speak to me now? I simply did not answer because it was not even amusing. How vulgar.”

In short, it means, ‘You think I am scared?’

“Then let’s fight.”

“……”

But in truth, I was scared as hell, so I was at a loss for words for a moment. Just then.

Salvation appeared.

“Wouldn’t it be unfair for the Young Lord of de Millang and the second-top student to be together!”

I did not even know who he was, some squid from the Vermilion Bird dormitory, but I was so grateful I could have cried.

As I was cheering for him in my heart, the students affiliated with the sects suddenly rose up.

“What are you talking about! The only one who can face de Millang is Ryuseong! Ryuseong! Do your best! Win! Defeat him!”

……The reason the sect-affiliated students were acting like that was simple.

They were inwardly thinking, ‘It makes no sense that our Ryuseong is the second-top student,’ and ‘If they really fought, Ryuseong would win,’ and because of that, they had been causing disputes with the students from the prominent families off and on for the past month.

So the friends from the prestigious noble families are also making a fuss and trying to refute their words.

“What nonsense! No one can face de Millang!”

“De Millang will win unconditionally!”

Then the Koreans also shouted.

“Are you guys sycophants?!”

“Long live the Republic of Korea!”

In the midst of such chaos, the heat intensified. In an atmosphere where it seemed like a protest would break out if the two of us did not fight, the principal giggled and asked me.

“What will you do?”

……If I were in a position to run away saying I would not fight in a situation like this, I would not have even tried to become stronger in the first place.

“Ah, yes. I accept……”

And so, I suddenly found myself in a fight with the super-strong, overpowered protagonist of the original story.

Shit.