A Truly Killer Plan (1)
The villainess, Yuria.
The main antagonist of the early chapters of Academy Genius! — and the woman who would one day return as an even greater catastrophe. The most capable, most brilliant villain in the story, the one who made Rania's life a living hell every time she appeared.
And at the same time—
Along with Rania, she was the only soul in the world of Academy Genius! who was never saved.
That was why I had come.
"What brings you here?"
To save the tragic villainess. To save Yuria.
Not that I didn't already botch the opening move.
If Yuria was the main villain, then Eugene was an extra among extras.
If I go around saving Yuria out in the open, the future I know might twist itself into something I can't predict.
Then again, saving the main antagonist was already a pretty spectacular derailment, if I was being honest. Still — it never hurt to be careful.
At that moment—
"Ahem. Ahem-hem!"
Apparently I'd been thinking too long. Yuria asked again, her expression turning distinctly sulky.
"I asked what you came here for."
Now.
I spoke the answer I'd prepared.
"You told me to come find you if I passed."
"What?"
"Back then. In front of the arena."
"Ah."
The memory seemed to click into place. Yuria nodded.
"Huh? But how did you even know where to find me? I never told anyone where I live."
"Is that really what matters right now?"
"Uh… of course it matters?"
"Wrong."
I huffed a quiet laugh and shook my head.
"What matters is our friendship."
"We're not even that close."
"Is that really what matters right now? What matters is our friendship."
"You just said that."
"Is that really what matters right now? What matters is our friendship."
"What is this even—"
Strange. Wasn't Yuria supposed to be smart?
"Is that really what matters right now? What matters is our friendship."
I decided I would keep repeating the same explanation until she understood it.
Around the forty-second time—
"Haaah… stop. I get it. I'll drop it, so please, I'm begging you, stop."
"Is that really what mat—"
"I said stop."
"Whoa."
Yuria raised the white flag. She clapped both hands over her ears and glared at me, her voice a tiny, watery wobble.
"…I think my ears are going to bleed."
I asked her anyway.
"So. Why did you tell me to come find you?"
"…To protect you."
"Protect me? From whom?"
Yuria hesitated for a beat before answering.
"You, Eugene. Paloma Ramis was watching you."
Paloma Ramis. In Academy Genius!, he was the other piece of garbage who, alongside Yuria, had made Rania's life miserable. In practice, Yuria had been the one with a knife to her throat — which made Paloma the real mastermind behind the curtain.
"Why the hell would a bastard like that be looking at me?"
"Pfft! 'A bastard like that,' he says."
I'd asked because I genuinely couldn't see the reason. Yuria covered her mouth and laughed.
"We're outside the Academy, you know? Sounds like you want to get arrested for insulting a noble."
"You're not going to report me."
"Mm, I wonder?"
Yuria smiled and stepped in close. Beige hair swaying. Golden eyes like cut amber. The faint, clean scent of soap.
"I might let it slide if you become my friend?"
"Ah! And I'll even forgive you for hitting me during the entrance exam. All of it, wiped clean."
"…I didn't hit you."
"Anyway!"
It was a gentle, mischievous look — the kind you couldn't possibly believe belonged to a villainess.
"Well? That's a pretty good deal for you, isn't it?"
I caught myself before I could nod, and peeled her off me.
"No."
"What!?"
I let out a breath and added the rest.
"You already know. I'm in no condition to be anyone's friend right now."
A-Rank — Sword Expert Advanced — all the way down to F-Rank. That was the story everyone believed. It had nothing to do with the truth, but that hardly mattered if the whole world had already bought it.
"I don't know what you're hoping to get out of me, but I can promise you this: you will not be satisfied."
She said she wanted to protect me. Fine. But I knew the Yuria from the original story, and that was not a person you trusted.
"…Please die for me."
"Yes, Lady Yuria."
To the villainess Yuria, a friend was just another consumable. If she found out I'd gotten weaker, there was no world in which she'd take me on as a comrade. The only reason she wanted me as a friend was to grow her own faction. The only reason I wanted to save her was to stop the world from ending.
Simple arithmetic.
Or at least, it should have been — right up until I found myself staring down at a thoroughly unimpressed face looking up at me.
"Hey, Eugene. I asked you to be my friend. Did I ask you to help me with anything?"
"Uh…"
The answer was so far from what I'd expected that my mouth opened and closed on nothing.
"Forget it. We're just going to be friends."
A rustle. Yuria pressed something into my hand.
"What's this?"
"A present. Look at that, a mask."