Chapter 15
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Preparation (3)
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“Somehow...”
Before Luberic could speak, I opened my mouth first.
He was exceptionally talented, but his gift of gab was particularly outstanding.
With that silver tongue, he had mesmerized students and seized power.
So it was best if I took control of the conversation.
“You look full of dissatisfaction.”
At the same time, I adjusted my presence with mana.
By stimulating the mana flowing through my body, converting it, and releasing it outward, I could create a ferocious aura.
A technique I had somehow mastered without any special practice.
Luberic flinched at my presence but stubbornly opened his mouth anyway.
“Dissatisfaction? I’ve never felt that way even once.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. It’s probably just that my face is scrunched up from the sparring, leading to a misunderstanding.”
As expected of Luberic.
I couldn’t help but admire how deftly he deflected the provocation.
I was from a duke’s family, while Luberic was from a count’s.
Though Iliad Academy claimed not to care about rank, it couldn’t interfere with outside matters.
In other words, if I applied pressure, Luberic had no means to resist.
Not that I could actually apply much pressure.
“Then staring at me like that must mean you have some important business?”
“...”
“Don’t try to excuse it as staring for no reason.”
“Of course there’s a reason.”
“What is it?”
He pondered my question.
I deliberately let the silence stretch, giving Luberic plenty of time to think.
The eldest son of the Phillasia family.
However, the only support I could receive from my family was elixirs.
That was the pact I had made with my father, the family head.
So I had to act as nonchalant as possible.
To keep this perceptive guy from realizing the truth.
Making it seem like I had plenty of backing.
As he struggled to respond, I let out a slight chuckle.
“Kek.”
“...?”
“Just kidding. Just kidding. People stare sometimes, right? Isn’t that so, Agnes?”
“Pardon? Yes.”
Agnes flinched when I mentioned her name but managed a reply. Why are you so scared?
“Well, if there’s no business, I suppose we can go our separate ways now?”
I tossed the question casually, but Luberic didn’t answer.
“Oh, and drop the formal speech. We’re all students here—what’s with the honorifics? In Iliad, everyone’s equal. You, Agnes next to me, everyone in this place.”
I pushed through the crowd, subtly provoking him. Iliad Academy treats everyone equally.
Everyone knew that rule didn’t apply in front of me.
Just as I reached the entrance of the training grounds, a voice called from behind.
“There’s something I wanted to ask.”
I turned back to look at him as he shouted. It seemed he had desperately racked his brain to stop me—just what I wanted.
“Speak.”
“Why did you enroll in the academy?”
“Is there some reason I shouldn’t have?”
Luberic shook his head.
“No, I was just curious. You’ve never shown your face once until now, so why suddenly decide to enroll? I’m wondering about the reason.”
“You’re awfully curious about useless things.”
As I shot him a scornful glance, he clamped his mouth shut. That should have scratched his pride plenty.
“It’s because my health wasn’t up to it.”
“...Is that all?”
“Do I need some other reason besides being ill? Is there anything more important than that?”
“Then enrolling in the academy now means...”
“Naturally, because my health has mostly recovered. I still have some lingering symptoms, but they won’t interfere with attending the academy.”
A complete lie.
My body was still imperfect. It was true that it wouldn’t hinder academy life, but only if I steadily consumed elixirs.
My lifespan was currently 264 days.
If it dropped below 200 again, my condition would deteriorate rapidly.
No matter how much my stats increased, the pain wouldn’t lessen.
“That should answer your question.”
Even so, the reason I was bluffing like this.
I wanted him to contract with the demon as quickly as possible.
From the look in his eyes, his inferiority complex and hostility had already shifted to me.
It should have been directed at the original protagonist, but my enrollment had intensified it.
So I needed to provoke him further and make him contract with the demon faster.
In the original story, he made the contract during the spring festival.
While academy students were enjoying the festivities, his inferiority complex drove him berserk.
The damage it caused was immense.
Not just to civilians, but the academy’s reputation suffered too.
Cohesion naturally plummeted.
So if he was going to explode, better to do it within the academy.
It was a foregone conclusion anyway.
Prevent him from becoming the boss? Stop the demon contract?
If that were possible, it would have happened already.
How was I supposed to stop something not even described in the novel?
All I could do was prepare for the story ahead.
I left the training grounds with Agnes, without looking back.
“That damn bastard!”
Luberic returned to his dorm and punched the wall.
Trea Dormitory was solidly built, remaining unscathed even from his mana-infused fist.
Luberic knew that and struck anyway.
“That guy ruined all my plans!”
He ground his teeth. His plans for entering Iliad Academy had gone awry. This was the second time Luberic had faced such a situation.
The first involved Deron too.
He had attended a ball to attract attention in high society and build connections, but Deron’s appearance ruined it.
Deron hadn’t appeared since, so it ultimately succeeded, but Luberic utterly hated any disruption to his plans.
[Whoa, calm down.]
“How can I calm down? It’s Deron again. He ruined my plans twice now!”
[They’re not completely ruined yet, are they? You can salvage it like last time.]
A figure materialized before the frustrated Luberic.
Red, muscular skin, and handsome features that anyone would acknowledge—yet it evoked disgust.
People called it a demon.
He called himself Dante.
“What’s your plan this time, Dante?”
[Nothing much. Just eliminate the source of the problem.]
“Like last time?”
[No, this time, finish him off completely.]
Dante grinned slyly.
Luberic hesitated for a moment. When his first plan fell apart, he had made a deal with the demon.
To win Count Keias’s favor, connections were key, and Deron had completely blocked his path.
Through the deal, Dante melted into his body, further weakening Deron’s condition, and he vanished from high society again.
No one noticed.
Even Dante said he didn’t know the details of Deron’s illness. All he did was subtly aggravate it without getting caught.
Now Deron was back in the spotlight, and Dante suggested killing him outright.
A far cry from just worsening his illness a bit.
Even for Luberic, who had made a pact with a demon, it was worth hesitating over.
No matter how much he despised Deron, he was still the eldest son of the Phillasia ducal family.
The aftermath of killing him worried Luberic.
As if reading his mind, Dante whispered devilishly.
[Think about Deron’s body. He could die any moment without it seeming strange. You just need to do one thing.]
“What?”
[In the upcoming class competition. During the 1-on-1 sparring, just attach this to Deron’s clothes. Then he’s dead.]
A small square object materialized in the air. The fingernail-sized fragment adhered to Luberic’s finger and vanished without a trace.
“Hmm...”
Yet Luberic still hesitated.
Feeling impatient, Dante whispered carefully.
[That girl next to Deron. She was quite beautiful. Without him, she’d come to you easily.]
One of humanity’s primal desires.
Jealousy toward rivals for mates.
The urge to claim a superior partner.
Dante struck that nerve.
“Fine.”
Luberic fell for the whisper.
Erina ran frantically.
It was because Deron was heading this way.
The aura he exuded reached even her outside the training grounds.
“I have to tell Adel.”
The commoner girl who shared a room with her in Trea Dormitory.
One of the people who had taken down Deron and the instructor.
From the entrance exam site, she had shown hostility toward Deron the moment she saw him, and in his absence, she didn’t hesitate to badmouth him.
Ask why? Trash.
Nothing more, nothing less.
Anything else for that man was a luxury.
Agnes had said he was kinder than expected, but to Erina, that was nonsense.
The rumors she had heard so far, combined with Adel’s constant trash-talk, clouded her judgment.
And just now, the scene of him intimidating Luberic in the training grounds.
It was more than enough for her to misunderstand.