There Is No Hidden Villain in This Novel Chapter 72

“You did well. Shall I give you a reward?”

“…You crazy bastard. The best reward would be for you to hurry up and get the hell out of my sight.”

When I honestly expressed my desire to give him a double thumbs-up, the principal, for reasons I didn’t know, shuddered and said this.

Well, whatever. If he insists on kicking away the reward himself, then I won’t owe him anything, which is fine by me.

“The best supplies the school can offer are only A-rank anyway. Nothing’s going to satisfy de Millang, who can gather S-rank items by the truckload. You know that too, don’t you?”

“That is true. However, one never knows if poison might be detected.”

I smiled charmingly, concealing the implied meaning that the items sent from de Millang were worth suspecting. Damyeon’s jaw seemed to clatter subtly, and soon, with a ‘Tsk, tsk,’ he clicked his tongue and began to assist in the poison detection work with his skeletal hand, which had a bit of skin still attached.

This is why people with too much affection make their own lives tiring. But from my perspective, a laborer to handle tedious tasks had appeared on his own, so there was absolutely no reason to chase him away. What’s more, the principal had lived in this world for a long time. Unlike a certain brat who had lived poorly like Ryuseong—actually, that’s not true, the Hanla clan isn’t poor, just frugal. Of course, compared to de Millang, they could be called dirt poor—his eye for things was so excellent that it couldn’t even be compared.

‘He could work as a professional appraiser.’

This was information that had never appeared in the original story. Then again, who would ask the principal to do something like appraisal work?

“There’s poison here. Don’t touch it.”

“Oh. As expected.”

The principal’s eye was superb! I clapped my hands and smiled brightly, and Ryuseong glared at me with an expression that said he wanted to spit on my smiling face. What’s his problem? I have no intention of letting him spit on me in normal situations, unlike in bed.

But seeing that the principal was making a similar expression, it seemed my inner thoughts had been exposed.

“Do not look at me like that. I will drop the offer of a side job.”

The principal stared at me intently with a profound golden glint in his eyes before turning his head to look at Ryuseong.

“Ryuseong. What is this crazy thing saying? A side job?”

“If you could occasionally help with appraisals, I would pay you a handsome sum…”

“…Why did I even start talking to this bastard.”

The principal seemed to be genuinely lamenting, which made me feel a little wronged. He was the one who started the conversation, so why is he acting like this? But Ryuseong committed the outrageous act of patting the principal’s shoulder, and I had no choice but to feel wronged all by myself.

“Your lover is here. Why are you touching something else?”

“…”

“…”

Somehow, it feels like the principal is looking at Ryuseong with an expression of pity. It must be my imagination, right?

In any case, with the extra hands, we finished packing faster than expected.

After stuffing a considerable pile into the subspace, there were almost no bundles left to carry physically. But I heard that ordinary people can’t carry multiple subspace artifacts like I do. Because they don’t have the money. I once again expressed my admiration for Cassis de Millang’s wealth and rechecked the locations of the subspace artifacts. The ring on my left middle finger, the earring on my earlobe, the bracelet on my right wrist, the anklet on my left ankle, and the dagger attached to my garter belt. It was not a bad combination.

At least if one of my arms gets sliced off, I won’t lose all my belongings, I said calmly, which was a relief. For some reason, the silence in the room stretched on, but I don’t know what the problem is this time. Is it hard for everyone to talk? Do they have vocal cord nodules or something?

“It’s a field trip, you punk.”

Then the principal spoke in a strangely subdued voice.

“…This is a field trip.”

“Are you repeating what everyone already knows as proof that you’ve grown old… The passage of time.”

“Don’t you forget that you are still students.”

“Who would forget that? Unlike you, Teacher, I am an intelligent…”

“Students!”

What, why is he yelling?

Taken aback, I was at a loss for words and could only stare at him. The principal glared at me with eyes that looked like they could kill a person or two.

“Don’t worry about things like getting your arms and legs cut off!”

“…Ah.”

I didn’t know that. No, but please consider Cassis’s position as well. If I don’t become the family head, I’m going to be assassinated. Getting an arm or leg blown off in battle and regenerating it, as long as it regenerates…

Then, my forearm was grabbed. As I was thinking about getting my limbs sliced off, I was suddenly grabbed forcefully by skeletal bones, and my shoulders flinched. I tried to push him away, but the principal wouldn’t let me go.

No, to be precise, I couldn’t push him away with my full strength.

Because his fingertips were trembling.

“If it’s dangerous, run away.”

“…”

“Please, just…”

That is not a rational statement. Just imagine if a rumor spread that Cassis de Millang turned tail and ran from the battlefield. Do you think only I would be screwed? Ryuseong, who followed me, would be screwed along with me. You think the family doesn’t know Cassis de Millang’s original personality? For a bastard who would rather die than retreat to have backed down must mean he suffered a fatal injury. Based on that analysis, assassins would come swarming.

I am a transmigrator, but in this moment where I cannot let my identity be known, I cannot retreat even if it means death. I must face the battlefield with the mindset that I am Cassis de Millang.

But there is no way I could say any of this. Obviously. I don’t even know why the principal is being so kind to Cassis de Millang in the first place. Teacher Damyeon was described in the original story as having a fundamentally affectionate personality, but that affection was never particularly directed at Cassis de Millang. The only affection given to the disciple he was forced to take on due to coercion was merely overlooking his arrogant nature. To scold means to demand change. The principal in the original story did not demand change from Cassis de Millang. Was it because he recognized him as someone who would not change? Maybe not, but.

Anyway, Teacher Damyeon was not the type of person to stop Cassis de Millang, no matter what crazy things he did.

That is, when judged solely by his depiction in the original story.

But the principal before my eyes was completely different.

“Who bets their life on something like a field trip? Huh?”

He looked at me with anguished eyes. He seemed to be desperately wishing that I wouldn’t get hurt. What could have changed? The fact that he learned Cassis de Millang frequently experiences assassination attempts? Could his attitude change so completely just from that?

If that’s the case, am I being pitied right now? Suddenly, a baseless anger flared up inside me. Maybe it’s because I have a nasty personality, but whenever someone pities me, I just get furious. But even I knew how to distinguish between what’s appropriate and what’s not. He was worrying about me, after all, so I couldn’t just curse him to his face.

“It’s just a figure of speech. I have no intention of dying. Above all, on the battlefield, isn’t it a luxury to survive even if you lose a limb?”

“…Why does a student have to go to a battlefield?”

But when the principal uttered such a softhearted thing, I felt that I could no longer hold back.

How should I put it? It’s like I wanted to become a legendary textbook example of being an asshole for my pitiful friend Ryuseong.

“Yes, I know. This is just a field trip, and I am a student… but Damyeon.”

For the first time, I called him by his other name. When the young disciple who had always called you by the worthless title of Teacher, sneering, had at some point become an adult and uttered the forgotten name, Damyeon, the corners of the principal’s eyes seemed to distort subtly, but I no longer had the will to tolerate it.

I smiled at you as sweetly as if my words were coated in honey and whispered affectionately, and in the next moment, despair shadowed the principal’s face.

“That’s not for you to say, is it? At what age did I begin to receive your teachings? To conquer a dungeon at thirteen, I believe I met you before my bones had even grown properly. You didn’t feel sorry for me then, so do you feel sorry for me now? Is it truly so pathetic, the sight of me crawling into hell on my own, even without you pushing me?”

“Cassis…”

“How pathetic.”

I spat out the words and laughed. The bewitching smile, feeding on your contorting face like sadistic nourishment, shines even more brilliantly.

“Teacher, can you say that there was no vengeful motive toward de Millang when you pushed a young me in front of monsters under the guise of education?”

Actually, I am not the Cassis de Millang who was educated by Damyeon. Since I don’t know the proper details of Damyeon’s educational process, I’m speaking in broad terms.

Before he turned thirteen, I don’t know at what age they formed their master-disciple relationship, so I say “before my bones had even grown properly” and gloss over it by saying things like he “pushed me in front of monsters.”

But even this clumsy attack is enough to inflict a fatal wound on Damyeon, as he was frozen in a convulsive manner, like someone being hacked to pieces somewhere.

‘Well, it’s not like it’s your fault.’

I understand Damyeon. He was threatened with his life. Damyeon was oppressed by de Millang and forced to take Cassis as his disciple. And he was coerced into training Cassis to achieve certain results. He is a victim too. However.

“After pushing me onto that kind of path, why are you telling me to choose a different one now?”

As long as I occupy Cassis de Millang’s body, this much had to be said.

“If you cast me away, you should have just abandoned me.”

He needs to at least know that caring half-heartedly is even more infuriating, so that I won’t get pissed off when I have to use him in the future. I’d rather he grovel at my feet, on the verge of suffocating from guilt. That might be infuriating in its own way, but… in any case, I had no intention of accepting an apology. For one, I’m not Cassis de Millang. I don’t know what Cassis de Millang would have done, but at least I, with my personality, can’t stand injustice.

“Cassis…”

“But don’t worry.”

With these words, I smiled brightly.

“My life was already a battlefield even before you chose to be a bystander.”

Because that’s how it would have been for Cassis de Millang.