Encounter with a Villainess

Luid gathered up the Phoenix feathers one by one and tucked them into the pillowcase.

"They said one would be enough, so I only took one."

Needless to say, a single feather didn't even come close. As he pondered what to do, Luid took hold of a Phoenix feather and blew mana into it.

Most problems in this place could be solved with magic, after all.

"Whoa."

Fortunately, that was the right answer. Where there had been one Phoenix feather, there were now two.

Luid kept the replication going. About three minutes later, he had a heaping pile of Phoenix feathers.

"But is this really okay to use as pillow stuffing?"

Phoenix feathers looked strange. They were clearly different from the feathers of an ordinary bird — half blue flame and half golden flame, burning together in equal measure.

Not that they were hot, of course. The pillowcase was made of cloth. His instinctive revulsion won out.

Still, he'd gone to the trouble of taking them, so he decided to test it. Luid gathered the feathers scattered across the floor and stuffed them into the pillowcase.

Thankfully, the pillowcase did not burst into flames.

"It's a little lacking, though."

It seemed like less than he'd expected, so he slipped his hand into the pillowcase and fed it mana.

A blue glow flickered a few times, and before he knew it, the pillowcase had puffed up to just the right size.

Luid began applying several magical treatments to the cloth. Waterproofing magic, a spell for frequent washing, a durability-enhancing spell, and so on.

"Is that about enough?"

With several spells layered over one another, Luid inspected the pillow. The blue and gold mingling beneath the white fabric, giving off a soft glow, made for a rather beautiful pillow.

"Hmm..."

Luid reached out and added one more spell to the mix.

It was a heating spell. An idea borrowed from the burning feathers. Surely it would have something like a massage effect, wouldn't it?

Gulp.

Luid swallowed.

He set the pillow down in the very center, then lay his head upon it with the utmost care.

"——!"

A warm pillow wrapped around his neck. The Phoenix feathers were like cotton candy. Without the slightest resistance, they supported his neck perfectly.

It felt like sleeping on clouds.

Like floating through the sky.

The overall verdict on the Phoenix pillow was...

"Zzz..."

No words were necessary.

Before the Imperial Academy's main notice board, a crowd of students had gathered, murmuring among themselves.

"Isn't that going too far?"

"He's seriously selfish..."

The Phoenix Feather — a critically important magical ingredient. Up until now, thanks to the Headmaster's generosity, anyone qualified could obtain one for free. But that was no longer possible.

It threw countless mages into confusion. Naturally, the arrows of blame all pointed at Luid.

"I never liked that Lazy Young Master from the start."

"Same. All he does is lord his genius over everyone. He's never once shown up to class, you know."

"Ha... I was so close. Just a little more and I would've gotten one. I was actually getting friendly with the Phoenix."

"Maybe the rumors about the Windsor good-for-nothing were true after all."

The angriest among them were, without question, the people who could have gotten their feather with 'just a little more' effort.

After all, the Phoenix's feather was a reward granted as a token of trust to those who befriended the Phoenix.

And here —

One person was angrier than anyone.

"What is this?!"

Hershey Minerva, the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Minerva.

She stared at the notice board, unable to hide her shock.

"Th-this means I can't get a Phoenix feather anymore?"

It felt like the world was going dark before her eyes.

Hershey, too, had been climbing the thousand-and-four stairs up and down, without missing a single day, all to obtain the 'Phoenix Feather' — the finest material for a magic wand.

Just a little more, and she would have had it...

"Aagh!"

Hershey clutched her head. A month of effort had turned to bubbles on the water.

"I won't forgive this."

Hershey's hands trembled with rage.

Unable to contain herself, she set off at a brisk pace.

Toward Lake Delin—

Meanwhile, Luid — who had no way of knowing about any of this commotion — was grinning from ear to ear.

"Wow, this is the real deal. Absolutely the real deal."

He stroked the pillow made of Phoenix feathers with tender affection.

A pillow that put you to sleep the moment your head touched it — truly, a pillow of magic.

Luid was feeling grateful toward the Headmaster, thinking he ought to buy him a gift later, when—

"Luid Christopher! Are you there?!"

A high-pitched voice cut through the forest.

Luid looked toward the source of the voice, wondering who it could be.

Before long, a girl with red hair came stomping toward him, huffing and puffing.

"Who?"

"...Hershey Minerva."

Hershey flinched for a moment at the sight of Luid, who ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠looked newly harmless, but her anger refused to subside — the culprit was simply a bit too handsome for that.

"You. Do you have any idea what you've just done..."

Just as she was about to speak in a furious voice, a pillow shimmering with iridescent light entered Hershey's field of vision.

"D-don't tell me."

With a face that said she couldn't believe her eyes, Hershey strode closer.

Luid discreetly hid the pillow behind his back and thought.

Why is she here?

Hershey Minerva was a familiar name.

One of the main villains of this novel — and the one who would play the largest role in the series of events unfolding in the early stages.

I should get rid of her quickly.

"Th-that thing. Inside that pillow — don't tell me it's not... Phoenix feathers?"

"It is."

Hershey swallowed a ragged breath.

The feather called the Treasure of Magic, and he was using it for that?

"Are. Are."

"Are?"

"Are you insane?!"

Hershey lunged, trembling, for the pillow in Luid's hand.

Luid dodged this way and that.

For a while, a comical tableau unfolded: Hershey trying to grab the pillow, Luid trying to hide it.

Hershey clutched the back of her neck.

Then she asked, with eyes full of disbelief:

"...Do you even know what that is?"

Luid was busy pondering how to repel Hershey.

He wanted to avoid getting entangled with major characters whenever possible.

This was a world inside a novel. If he got tangled up with them, trouble was bound to pile up in no time.

"Why did you come looking for me?"

"The Headmaster recalled the Phoenix! Because you ignored all protocol and stole the Phoenix's feathers!"

So that's what happened. Good thing I was worried over nothing.

The moment Luid realized it was less of a big deal than he'd feared, his interest evaporated.

"My bad, then. See you around."

"Ah — yes, underst... Um, excuse me?"

"Hmm? Was there more?"

Luid, as if to say the conversation was over, immediately settled into a position ready to sleep.

"That's it...?"

"I apologized, didn't I?"

"That's hardly an apology...!"

"Then what more do you want?"

Luid drawled, punctuating his words with an enormous yawn.

"It's already in the past."

"That's — well, yes, but."

Hershey found herself swept along by Luid's pace.

He'd admitted his fault and apologized.

Anything more was a waste of time. It was in the past, after all. His punishment was the Headmaster's call, not something for her to fuss over.

"Anything else?"

"No, it's just — well."

But backing down now felt like losing, and she hated that.

Hershey bit her lip.

Come to think of it, she didn't even know why she had come here.

Blowing off steam wouldn't change anything, would it?

Change...?

In that instant, a thought streaked through Hershey's mind like lightning.

Luid's pillow.

What was inside it was definitely Phoenix feathers.

"Excuse me...!"

"Hmm?"

"I need Phoenix feathers too. For something far more important than stuffing a pillow."

Ordinarily, Luid wanted to shake Hershey off as fast as possible.

But that particular request was a problem.

Luid genuinely, truly loved this warm pillow.

"Do you have any idea how long I've worked for that feather?"

"I put in effort too."

Though the time it had taken him to obtain those feathers was less than ten minutes.

Ever since possessing this world, the original character's personality had settled over him like a second skin, making it an absolute chore to go out and do anything.

These precious feathers were what he'd earned by enduring that chore.

"In that case."

Hershey abandoned the pointless war of attrition and cut straight to what she wanted.

"Name your price. I am, for what it's worth, the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Minerva. I can pay any compensation you—"

She stopped mid-sentence and shut her mouth.

Come to think of it, this man in front of her...

...was the heir of one of only two ducal houses in the Empire.

There was nothing he lacked.

"...Money, then?"

"Why do you need the feathers?"

Luid decided to at least hear her out.

Making enemies was never good. Hershey was an important character, after all. In trying to dodge a momentary nuisance, he could end up with one for life.

"...There's a magic exam in a week. You wouldn't know, since you've never attended a single class."

"A magic exam?"

"The class placement evaluation. A very important assessment that determines your entire year based on your results."

The Imperial Academy was where people from all corners of the realm gathered.

Naturally, individual skill varied wildly, and classes were tailored to each level.

The quality of education differed between classes as much as heaven and earth. Every mage dreamed of being placed in the very top class.

"I was crafting my personal weapon for the exam. The final step — but I lost the Phoenix feather."

"Lost it?"

"...Yes. I believe... it was stolen."

Hershey looked at Luid with desperate eyes.

"I need it. Desperately. To get through the placement exam safely. If only so my father doesn't find out that I lost it. ...Please. Transfer the feather to me."

Hershey bowed her head deeply.

Luid thought, his expression turning awkward.

So that's how it is.

Hershey Minerva was a textbook villainess, practically drawn from a template.

The kind of character who envied the protagonist and his circle, and schemed every which way to steal the adoration meant for herself.

Public humiliation, open insults, using her house's power and influence to sabotage the protagonist's party — her catalog of misdeeds was enormous.

And the rift between Hershey and the protagonist began in this very episode.

Because it was the protagonist who took her feather.

Of course, from the protagonist's perspective, he had merely picked up a strangely beautiful feather off the roadside—

But from Hershey's perspective, she mistakenly believed that the protagonist — a penniless commoner — had stolen it.

Naturally, the two clashed, and from that point on, Hershey harbored a deep, burning grudge against the protagonist.

In other words, this feather was the trigger.

The problem was that right now, the object of Hershey's hatred was shaping up to be him, not the protagonist.

That was close. Good thing I didn't stand out like usual.

This was why you knocked on the stones before crossing the bridge.

Now, if he handed over the feathers, the terrifying villainess named Hershey would have no reason to think of him as an enemy.

But—

"Then I'll help you get placed in the Expert class."

Try as he might, Luid simply could not bring himself to give up the pillow.