There Is No Hidden Villain in This Novel Chapter 41

The investigation that followed was just, well, ordinary. When I explained the situation to the police, the charges were dropped. The end. In fact, I was awarded a medal of merit, as my achievement of capturing a famous assassin organization was highly praised. They gave me a medal even though it was a capture that sent them to the afterlife, not a normal capture.

‘The sweet nectar of power… is so sweet…’

Most of the bodyguards had died, and the man who was the big boss was hospitalized in a coma. I barely heard that news and then holed up in my room for about three days taking the antidote, and my condition improved.

During that time, Ryuseong nursed me tolerably well. However, he had become more taciturn, but I decided to be considerate since the events must have been quite hardcore for the soft Ryuseeong from the early part of the original story.

At the very least, I didn’t tease him.

‘Since I’ve let him off, I’ll go for a kiss as soon as the detox is over.’

Still, they said toxins still remained in my body, so I decided not to jump him. For reference, the head of the family, who I expected to raise the biggest fuss, surprisingly did not come to see me. He just sent a single letter.

‘I thought he’d be in a rage, asking what the hell I was doing.’

After seeing the first sentence saying he sent a letter because I hadn’t looked at my phone for three days, it was only then that I realized I hadn’t been out of my room ever since we caught the assassin on the day we announced our contractual relationship.

‘…Huh? In that case.’

Does that mean other people think we’re a couple who defeated an assassin threatening our love, like Romeo and Juliet, and then spent three fiery days and nights together?

How can not a single thing be correct?!

‘This is so unfair—!’

It was a relief that public opinion had shifted to a gossip-consuming mode even without my scheming, but there was something even more unfair than that.

‘Wha, what? He wants me to stop by the house with my report card after the midterms are over?’

Unbelievably, the midterm season had already begun while I was recuperating.

‘—Then what about my grades?!’

During midterms, we are tested on what we learned during the theory period, and during finals, we are tested on practical skills. And the midterm season does not visit with consideration for the sick. It is just damn intense…

‘Fuck…’

The midterm season I’m talking about here refers to the four weeks before the midterm exams. Why is it midterm season four weeks before? Because this is when Areia’s “Find the Cheat Sheet” project begins.

This is a time-honored tradition at Areia.

‘Do whatever it takes to unearth the cheat sheets hidden by the upperclassmen!’

What if you find fake dummy information? It means you’re a loser because you couldn’t even build the connections to determine whether the information is real or not, and if you can’t find anything, you become a loser anyway. The exams were never designed to be at a level that a university student could solve in the first place.

Why would the cadets of Areia create a tradition called “Find the Cheat Sheet” and be so obsessed with it?

‘…Because hell is there, that’s why.’

Problems that are worth tackling only at the bachelor’s degree level are constantly thrown at first-year students, and can you believe that the scope of the exam even encompasses all the essential requirements of a Raider?

‘Moreover, if your grades are low, you’re immediately expelled…!’

Even though a cheat sheet is not the answer key itself, the struggle to find one is a desperate attempt to narrow down the scope of what to study.

That’s right. There is a reason why Areia is considered the academy with the highest competition rate. You have to survive this whole ordeal to get the “Areia Academy Graduate” label, which is how it became a prestigious school that has produced the strongest graduates.

‘To think I have to get at least second place here, is this for real or am I dreaming…’

However, there are occasional exceptions. A special person who does not have to live so ferociously.

‘I don’t study. Because I won’t be cut.’

…Is it just my imagination that my blood pressure is suddenly rising as I recall that line from the original story?

That line belongs to Shin Myohan. She is a shaman, and to avoid being expelled even with the lowest score, one must possess an irreplaceable quality like hers. An innate talent, an inspiration.

Come to think of it, to ask Shin Myohan what that white light I saw that day was and what was wrong with my eyes, I had to read the book she foisted on me, but thinking about it now, I haven’t read a single one.

I guess that’s to be expected since I had forgotten about it?

But what’s important right now is not Shin Myohan.

‘I’m screwed without a cheat sheet.’

I’m the guy who had been relying solely on finding a cheat sheet and had only been studying for survival. I had dug damn hard into only the essential elements for saving my life and had postponed the less practical parts for a bit later, but to be three days behind is absurd! But since I realized this at dawn, it was a bad time to run out. If I didn’t want to be caught by Ryuseong or the guardian totems and get my butt spanked, it was best to refrain from going out at dawn.

I decided to attend only the morning lecture and then devote myself to searching for the cheat sheet. I formulated a plan.

‘Let’s draw a floor plan of the academy.’

It’s obvious, but since Areia Academy is a space that can also be used as a fortress during wartime, its internal space is kept confidential from the outside. As such, I didn’t have a floor plan in my hands, but it was stored in my brain.

I roughly drew a floor plan on the pad with my hand, analyzed the structure, and listed the dummy information scattered on Everytime. Assuming everything was false and fake, I ran a simulation, and I started to get a slight idea of where the cheat sheet might be.

And when morning came.

“…Do whatever you want.”

Ryuseong tried to stop me from being active so soon but gave up. Since I was still in a state where I had to keep taking the antidote, I didn’t want to go out either, but it seemed he now knew that once I had made up my mind, I wouldn’t listen no matter what he said.

When I arrived at the lecture hall in such a hurry, my lackeys sidled up to me with meaningful expressions.

“Lord Cassis, you didn’t even have your phone turned on. We had something to deliver to you.”

“Ah.”

Come to think of it, I had forgotten about my phone that died back then, haven’t I? Since I could search and do all sorts of things with my pad, I just didn’t feel like turning it on because it was a hassle to check for missed calls or texts. It was a pain to explain, so I just nodded my head placidly with a nuance that implied that’s what had happened.

After all, if I had been with my minions during those three days, the news of my injury would have been sold off with great success. Even if my absence seemed suspicious, it was better than my injury being revealed.

Then, Dietrich suddenly pressed a USB into my palm and whispered softly in my ear.

“It’s the cheat sheet.”

…?

No, wait a minute.

‘What?’

Ryuseong was glaring at me, but he wasn’t what was important. I quickly brought my mouth to Dietrich’s ear.

“Your acquisition was fast…?”

“Haha, even if they’re second-years, what wouldn’t they give up if it’s an offering for the de Millang?”

“…”

I looked around at them, and all the minions were standing there as if it were the most natural thing in the world. However, Capone seemed frustrated that she couldn’t deliver the cheat sheet to me directly, probably because she lost at rock-paper-scissors again. But my own feelings were similarly frustrated, so I had no time to console her.

‘Fucking hell, for real, wow, for real.’

I found myself wanting to grab a bamboo spear.

I’m not usually like this, but those bastards’ attitude of taking it for granted was hitting me with a critical hit and pissing me off. Normally, if I received something like this, I would have just been like, ‘Fucking thank you. Power is the best. So awesome.’

‘But guys, I put in the effort.’

I made a plan!

‘I used my brain, so why are you making it all for nothing—!’

That’s right. The emphasis was on this point.

However, whether I was having an existential crisis or not, the world went on just fine without me… This meant that the martial arts classes, which had finished their orientation while I was absent for three days, had begun.

“Alright! Have you adapted, you rascals! Pair up! And fight!”

“…?”

For reference, the first-year martial arts class was taught by the principal. Why a great magician was in charge was a mystery, but it was such a principal-like start that I couldn’t find the words and only answered in my head.

‘No, I haven’t adapted, sir.’

While I stood there dumbfounded, the cadets really started to pair up and fight amongst themselves. That meant the individual field control barriers in the martial arts classroom had begun to activate. The scene of the cadets entering the barriers one by one and clashing wooden staffs with shouts of hiyaah was a true culture shock.

Is this really the 21st century, you damn principal!

“Ah, you there, use this and spar with Ryuseong. No qi in your weapons, no magic. It’s basic weapons training, so go all out, understand?”

A wooden staff was thrown at me. I caught it, but it was hard to accept. I was doubly dumbfounded.

‘Why is it a foregone conclusion that I’m fighting Ryuseong?!’

I wanted to throw a fit, but I raised one hand and asked politely.

“…Would it be difficult to pair up with another cadet?”

“It would. Everyone has already paired up.”

“…”

“Besides, the only ones who can handle you two are each other, aren’t you?”

Is it just my imagination, or is his choice of words strangely cheap?

But with him putting it like that, it was also awkward to ask for a weakling to be brought out for an easy victory.

“You all know how to hold a staff, and you know how to swing it, right? Go at it with all you’ve got!”

Still, I was Cassis de Millang, after all, and it hurt my pride.

I swung the staff, which was taller than me, in the air a few times. The feel of it sticking to my palm wasn’t so bad, but I felt uncertain whether I could apply it in a real fight.

Thanks to Cassis de Millang’s crazy talent, I was just starting to think that using mana was manageable. But I was still afraid to actively move my body, as I hadn’t used it in a real fight yet. I knew this body’s performance was better than my previous life’s Jung Ian’s body, but it was as if my cognition and thoughts were drawing a line.

In all the spars so far, hadn’t I, unlike Cassis, just stood there and used magic with a pew? That was all a problem of cognition. The inner voices whispering, ‘You can’t do this kind of movement,’ were restraining my limbs, slowing my movements in real combat.

Knowing I hadn’t broken through that, I thought the principal who had tossed me a single staff was being cruel. Even more so considering that I, who was at a disadvantage, had to stand in a position of superiority over anyone else.

But complaining was a luxurious gold leaf, and right now, I was dressed in rags.

Whether it worked or not, I had to fight back.

“I will be the referee here myself. Ready, begin!”