There Is No Hidden Villain in This Novel Chapter 74

As Jung Ian had predicted, the impact of Cassis de Millang’s absence was immense.

Especially on the three villains.

‘Does “watch and see” mean we should ride on his coattails?’

Capone blew out cigar smoke, his dark eyes glinting.

Riding on coattails, or hogahowi, means a fox borrowing the might of a tiger to act big, a metaphor for a situation where one acts powerful by borrowing another’s authority.

And tearing it all apart means…

‘Literally, that we should take it for ourselves.’

Aletheia is a crucible that forges the foundation of the future. If we can rule this place, we can control the flow of the times with our own two hands. It’s a risky bet, but one worth taking.

Moreover, this was surely not Capone’s thought alone. From what Capone could see, the direction Dietrich, and Logan, wanted was clearly…

‘Without a doubt…!’

It was then. Creeak, with the sound of a sliding door opening, someone entered the dark classroom they were occupying. Capone and Logan immediately shot up from their seats, but Dietrich remained composed. It was because he wasn’t smoking a cigarette.

However, the intruder was silhouetted by the backlight and hard to see, and for some reason, they remained suspiciously silent. The chilling thought that the intruder might have overheard their conversation took precedence over the anger toward the lackey they had posted at the door.

Click, the intruder switched on the fluorescent lights and began to speak curtly.

“Hey, why do you guys live with the lights off like this? Are you children of the darkness? Huh? I asked if you’re children of the darkness.”

Goodness, you’ve even thoroughly stubbed out your cigarettes. The one who grumbled and closed the door was none other than the principal. Logan felt the tension unwittingly leave his body, the reason being that the principal had opened with such an absurdly trivial remark. But Capone did not relax his taut nerves. He knew that a barb delivered in such a casual tone was the most effective attack.

And Capone’s prediction was not wrong. The old zombie, leaning against the doorway to prevent their escape, slowly moved his jawbone. Though his vocal organs should have completely decayed, there was a resonance in Damyeon’s voice.

“Are you trying to keep that Cassis fellow in check?”

Flinch, a chill ran down the spines of the three students. Among them, Dietrich knows. Only he, the sole heir of the Winkel family, knows Damyeon’s secret. Why de Millang keeps Damyeon alive, and why everyone hushes up about Damyeon’s existence.

Once, Damyeon was an experimental subject for eternal life.

An experiment conducted by de Millang.

‘—A failure.’

You ask if it wasn’t a success, considering Damyeon is still alive? Look at his clearly exposed skull. Is this truly a state that can be called living? It is only because he is a man of Damyeon’s caliber that he can maintain his sanity even after becoming a zombie. It is only because it is him that he can use magic to replace his vocal organs and speak, and use a mana heart to substitute the functions of his heart and brain, clattering his decaying body, his bony frame with little flesh left. If he hadn’t been such a powerful mage, he would have lost his sanity and gone mad. After being captured while dedicating everything to liberation, he was sold and ended up on de Millang’s laboratory table.

How could he possibly remain sane?

But Damyeon managed it, and that is why he continues to suffer even now. He was forced to take on a disciple named Cassis de Millang, taught him, and even came to accept him as a human being. The descendant of de Millang, who had shown him that the pain of a heart being torn apart could be real, seemed to have no intention of letting Damyeon go.

Judging by what he had declared.

“You still have a role to play.”

Cassis de Millang had prepared for this. As if he was certain his subordinates would mess up in his absence.

He had dared to command Damyeon.

“If you pity me in your pathetic way, then tell them instead. That you are my…”

“…It seems you don’t know, you bastards.”

And Damyeon could not bring himself to refuse Cassis’s command.

“I am Cassis de Millang’s ‘eye’! Watch your behavior. Or else I’ll tattle on all of you!”

It was because his vision, which had been dizzy from the tangle of his own circumstances of having to be cruel to that little six-year-old and the hatred he felt, knowing that thing before him was a de Millang sprout, was finally, decisively pierced.

“Don’t lie, Principal. There’s no way you could have good feelings toward de Millang, right?”

Dietrich’s sharp words. He certainly would have agreed with those words until yesterday. But.

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

Damyeon, who remembered Cassis de Millang’s younger days, could not do so.

To the point of saying such miserable things himself, he…

“Do you think those devil-like bastards would have implanted a function that allows me to hold a grudge against de Millang?”

“!”

Because… you were six years old then, so that means even before that, you… ah, just until when must you live like this?

‘Why only you…’

He wanted to ask, but he couldn’t. He hated himself for not even being able to say sorry to the coldly retreating back, but he couldn’t. He felt he didn’t have the right. Just because he was threatened, not everything could be excused.

Still, the fact that there is one person by that child’s side, to whom he can show even this side of himself.

‘…Ryuseong.’

Even the fact that something so trivial could be a comfort made Damyeon feel unbearably sad.

‘Can you… become that child’s family?’

What Damyeon failed to do. What he lost.

The one who mercilessly crushed those young, soft purple eyes that had been sparkling with expectation.

Can I dare to place all my unfulfilled wishes upon you…

I think the principal will take good care of the matter concerning the three little bastard villains. Huh? Shouldn’t it be villainous little bastards instead of little bastard villains? Isn’t that a bit too harsh? They’re still young kids.

Everyone can go astray when they’re young. Of course, once you reach a certain age, you have to take responsibility for the consequences of your wandering. In other words, you have to be thrown in jail. But realistically, how can I bring about the downfall of those children from prestigious families? It’s not that I couldn’t do it if I tried, but wouldn’t it be more beneficial for my brilliant future to pour the effort and labor that would go into that into becoming the family head?

“How long are you planning to just run? Are you trying to run all the way to Russia?”

“Of course not. Do you think I’m crazy?”

I didn’t think something would just happen by recklessly running out of the school. I’m saying that I, too, had my own preparations.

After running at a speed that made it difficult for others to perceive our forms, I pulled Ryuseong into a secluded alley and stopped. I then tapped the ring on my middle finger. As I murmured an incantation in my mouth, a dark green bag popped out in an instant.

I grabbed the handle in mid-air before it hit the ground. How could I place an item on the bare floor of a dirty back alley, not knowing what might be on it? Just then, Ryuseong quickly came over and held the bag for me. I pulled the zipper all the way down and took out a few items made of cloth.

“Change into this.”

“…You had a plan?”

That’s right. Though I have no intention of explaining it to you properly.

“It’s just that your adorable little brain can’t keep up, but I always have a plan.”

“…”

“Unlike you.”

I provoked him while pretending to be modest, and a vein bulged near Ryuseong’s jaw. Afraid I’d get hit if I pushed him further, I chuckled and threw the pile of clothes into his arms. Then I took off my coat and began to remove the familiar accessories one by one.

“Why are you taking off the earring?”

“It’s a subspace device, so always wearing an item that can identify me is no different from a suicide attempt.”

“You don’t wish to be identified?”

“Wouldn’t that be obvious?”

And thump, thump, as I undid the buttons of my vest, Ryuseong stood in front of me with a flustered look. He seemed to be trying to block anyone from seeing me with his own body, and I felt like giving him bonus points for that reflexive action.

Chuckling, I pushed his chest.

“I’m only taking off the vest. I won’t do anything naughty.”

“…Even though everything you do is suggestive?”

“Oh my, have I done something terrible to my virile young lover? It wasn’t my intention, but if you’ve gotten aroused because of me, well, I can certainly relieve you…”

“Stop that vulgar hand gesture.”

Tsk. I pushed aside my disappointment, shoved the vest into the bag, and put on a robe with a hidden magical function. The hidden function was to change the face visible to the outside. The robe, which had a strange lived-in feel, was a second-hand product bought from a carrot-themed online marketplace and was irritating enough for someone like me who had only ever been treated with luxury, but I had to refrain from high-end goods to carry out the stunt I had planned.

I pointed a finger at Ryuseong’s face, who was looking at me with a strange expression.

“Do you have a penchant for voyeurism? You should hurry up and change too.”

As I sneered at him provocatively, Ryuseong’s expression hardened as if he had realized something.

“…The butler is waiting at the airport with a private jet, you said. Are you planning to move separately?”

“Did you only just notice that?”

I burst out laughing.

“We are going to be traveling incognito from now on. Since this will be our first and last trip alone together…”

Isn’t that no different from a honeymoon?

“Smile. To my liking.”