There Is No Hidden Villain in This Novel – Chapter 69

Author: nicotine

What is withdrawal? It is when a student quits school of their own accord. In other words, the student’s intention is the most important. Whether the headmaster opposes it or puts up a fight, he can’t stop a student who is determined to do it.

Thinking of it that way, there was nothing to be burdened about. I followed the guidance of a totem pole that was bounding along and crossed an aerial bridge with a forest of flying sky lanterns in the background. It was the path to the headmaster’s office, and the sky lanterns were red, the forest was blue, and the sky, where the sun was beginning to set, was purple, so it was nice that I didn’t have to fuss about keeping up my cool despite my acrophobia.

Just looking at the horizon naturally captures your gaze, so you can tremble less even in the high air, shall I say?

‘It’s pretty.’

The clouds seen from the aerial bridge were more majestic than fluffy. The grand texture swirling around the sunset seemed to be hiding an island in the sky. Below it, on the school grounds that spread out, there were plains, rivers, and even mountains. I was about to use Cheonseogong to magnify and look at the students flickering like ants on the ground, but I quit. My stomach started to churn. I quickly raised my head and stared at the sky.

I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned it, but the scale of Area Academy is comparable to a small city, and securing such a plot of land in Seoul is something that could never happen in the Republic of Korea.

So how did Area Academy come to possess such a size?

‘Ancient Mysteries.’

Area Academy is layered with tens of thousands of ancient magics that I have yet to understand.

Take the totem pole right in front of me for example. I, for one, can’t understand what kind of mystery is imbued in it for a totem pole to be bounding around like a Chinese hopping vampire instead of being fixed to the ground. Magic beyond the realm of human understanding, an incomprehensible mystery. We call it a trace of the ancients.

The space expansion magic spread throughout Area Academy is also part of the Ancient Mysteries. Area Academy is a real domain accessible from the outside up to the area where outsiders are allowed, but the inside is different. If an unpermitted person forces their way in, they will be left isolated in the middle of a distorted space. They become a forever-lost child who cannot even go back outside without the academy’s permission.

Among the Ancient Mysteries shown in the original work, there is also something called the floating island where the Headmaster resides.

‘The floating island.’

That place, reminiscent of a certain animated film’s castle in the sky, is a brutal place that seems ready to slaughter all intruders, completely opposite to the dreamy and beautiful atmosphere its name suggests. Should I call it a steampunk-style artificial island where you can hear the sound of blades moving with a swish swish and gears constantly crushing something? The pinnacle of magi-tech where steam engines, magic, and mysteries are intertwined, that is Area’s floating island and the Headmaster’s residence.

There is one reason why the Headmaster lives on a mechanical contraption, leaving behind a perfectly good piece of land, and it is in line with the reason why the Headmaster should not leave Area. Teacher Damyeon, the reason he can appear before the students despite being known to the outside world as deceased, is because the Headmaster is sustaining his life with Area’s Ancient Mysteries.

‘In short, it’s a sunfish-like life where he dies immediately if he leaves Area….’

Anyway, the floating island is the culmination of the advanced technology that Area Academy has achieved and its command center. Not just anyone can approach it.

Because the mysteries do not open the way.

If I hadn’t been invited by the headmaster, I wouldn’t have even been allowed to set foot on the aerial bridge.

But now, perhaps to somehow persuade Cassis de Millang, who had announced his withdrawal, the headmaster had summoned me. Thus, I am strolling through the sky, crossing the melancholic sunset and shadows.

The higher I climbed the stairs, the redder the sunset became. It was as red as a scene from a dream I had once seen. And the island that looked like a chunk of iron, which began to appear in the distance, was shining darkly in black.

When I quickened my pace and got closer, the components of the island were simple, just as described in the original work. One large mansion, and the suspicious blades, saw blades, and gears protruding jaggedly outside the mansion….

…It wasn’t a visual that I wanted to approach, but for the sake of withdrawing, there was nowhere I couldn’t go.

I decided to brainwash myself as such.

[ THIS FAR ]

The totem pole, which had guided me across the iron bridge to the main gate on the island, said while bouncing lightly on the spot. That totem pole wore an official’s hat on its head and had glaring eyes, and the characters engraved on its front were ‘Great General Under Heaven,’ so I could tell that he was a high-ranking gentleman even among totem poles.

Was it the headmaster’s will that such a person was in charge of guiding me? But whatever the headmaster said, withdrawal was up to the student! Mwahaha. Whether he tries to stop me or not, I’ll just ignore everything and do as I please.

“Thank you for the guidance. You may now return to where you were.”

[ I WAIT UNTIL YOUR BUSINESS IS DONE ]

“Aha, in that case, I shall do my best to finish quickly for you….”

As I laid the groundwork for my quick exit, ignoring the headmaster’s persuasion, the totem pole made a strange sound as if it were holding back a mischievous laugh. But I wasn’t the type to cultivate a habit of talking to trees, so I cheerfully ignored it and promptly rang the doorbell. A moment later, the door opened with a creaking sound, and the inside looked more like a normal house than I expected. As I went inside, I wondered if this place was really safe and turned around to look….

“Watch where you’re going.”

As soon as he said that, my heart almost dropped. Because there was a skull right in front of my nose.

“Ah, yes. I will. Master.”

I spoke calmly, but honestly, I was scared shitless. Since I’d become reasonably strong, I’d been able to read the presence of people other than Ryuseong quite well. But as expected, the named Raider, Teacher Damyeon, seemed to be different in some way.

Even when I focused to the maximum, his movements were blurry.

‘Would it be different if I turned on Cheonseogong?’

But there was no need to openly show a hostile attitude in front of the headmaster. Unless the headmaster intended to imprison me to prevent me from withdrawing….

“So skinny… tsk! Follow me! I have to feed you something…!”

What is this old man saying when he’s just a zombie with nothing but a skeleton left.

“I have already eaten, so please just process my withdrawal application.”

“…”

When I said that, the headmaster stared at me quietly.

With his eyes that flowed with a golden light, profoundly.

“You, are you trying to become the family head?”

‘Ah, how the hell did this bastard know?’

Headmaster, you’re quite old, so I apologize for speaking informally. But you seem to have asked a very sharp question. How on earth did you figure out my great ambition to become the family head from just the words that I’m withdrawing?

“Why are you acting surprised when you weren’t even surprised. What would you do if you left school? You’d enter society. You basically declared war on the family head by announcing your withdrawal.”

Ah, is that what it was?

“Others might not know, but I do. Of course, I’ve rolled with you for years, how could I not know that?”

Hmm. Unexpectedly, the headmaster seemed to possess a sharp intellect. How can he perform rational thinking when he doesn’t even have a brain inside his skull?

But for a mean-spirited, isekai’d bitch like me, it was also a question that was convenient to brush off smoothly.

“Well now, are you curious about the internal affairs of the de Millang family? That would be an overreach of your authority….”

“Cut the crap. You’re not unaware of what it means for me to have called you here.”

I didn’t understand what he meant, but I smiled nonchalantly as if I understood everything.

‘Anyway, you can’t spit on a smiling face, right?’

But the next words that followed wiped the smile from my lips.

“No one can eavesdrop on our conversation here, so rest assured. You know that you were both oppressed and protected by entering Area, right? Word must have spread that you declared you were leaving Area, because your family’s head apparently commissioned an assassination on you from Ryuseong. To kill you and bring you back.”

“Aha, is that so…?”

In my opinion, that was a truly amazing thing.

‘To make even me lose my smile!’

I try to trace my lips, but a smile won’t form. Is that why? Without realizing it, a chilling voice leaked out.

“I’m not familiar with geomancy, so I must ask, where would be a good burial site to lay the family head to rest…?”

“…Hey, calm down first. Are you crazy?”

“My, my, I have been calm for a long time. It seems a dog collar would suit Mr. Ryuseong better than chains….”

“He refused, you punk!”

“Pardon?”

As I paused my serious contemplation and turned to look, the headmaster shouted with his reddened bones.

“He didn’t just refuse, he flipped him the double bird!”

“Why would he? That can’t be.”