Kneel, Judith!
"Kneel, Judith."
"Heh heh... Mortal. Do you desire power...?"
"I don't."
I flicked the black pebble away with the tip of my toe. It clattered across the ground, slammed into the wall, and the cringey chuuni voice echoing through my head cut off mid-sentence.
"Ugh, so annoying."
My clothes were already soaked, and now they were caked in sticky mud from rolling around on the floor. My underwear felt disgusting. And as if that wasn't enough, this random dark artifact had to pop out of nowhere.
Isn't this a bit too much bad luck stacked against me?
The resentment just bubbled up. This episode was supposed to be a breather, damn it! What happened to the original plot? It was already exhausting enough trying to keep up with everyone's emotional arcs, and now the world's difficulty level was suddenly cranking up on top of that.
Then from here on out, I won't be able to play nice either.
…But let's be real. What could a third-rate villain like me actually do? I was just grumbling to myself.
"This romance fantasy world is so filthy I don't know how anyone survives it."
That aside, I stared down at the pebble again. I'd kicked it in a fit of anger, but it was clearly a significant object in the storyline.
Ian Ash.
A character who becomes a major villain in the later episodes of the original novel, Golden Chains. The "major" here doesn't mean anything cool like the true final boss. No, he'd show up with some over-the-top declaration like, "This rotten campus! A campus life only you bastards get to enjoy! I want to date too! Die, couples! Die, all of you! Just die!" before getting spectacularly introduced, only to go "kik" and drop dead from a single slash by Crown Prince Leonhardt Bell.
A truly pathetic exit, the kind of miserable end that perfectly suited a third-rate villain.
Yet after that hollow death, the original work always followed up with this exact narration.
"If the crown prince had not stopped him, a truly cataclysmic disaster would have struck the empire. His darkness had already slipped beyond the control of any mortal."
From a reader's perspective, it was the kind of line that made you snort and think, Ah, they're hyping up the crown prince again. But now that I'd possessed this body, it hit different. What the hell had happened to turn the shut-in Ian Ash into that? How did some third-rate extra obtain the power to become a boss-level threat?
…Perhaps.
I looked down at the faintly pulsing, ominous black pebble.
"You might be the culprit."
I wasn't sure whether Ian Ash had ever come to this particular cave. But there was no guarantee this thing only existed here, and someone could have easily picked it up and scattered more inside the academy. He'd probably fallen for the devil's whisper in his ear, corrupted himself, and ended up as an experience vending machine with his throat cut by the crown prince.
So what should I do with it?
I'd briefly considered playing dumb and letting Kano Ameri handle it in meta fashion, but—
→ Kano wouldn't come here because she's too busy protecting herself, and some other lunatic would pick it up and cause a terrorist incident at the academy. My peaceful creative environment would be destroyed. My printing press would get smashed.
The conclusion came fast.
…Just pick it up and stash it somewhere. That's the answer.
I pulled out the leftover scrap paper from my pocket and wrapped the unpleasant pebble like I was cleaning up dog shit, then tucked it away. Later I'd toss it into a furnace or casually drop it in front of the Magic Tower Master's room. I didn't need some corruption item ruining my peaceful erotic manga life.
"Ian? Aren't you coming?"
Lena's voice drifted over, her usual nagging softened into something almost gentle. I had no idea what was up with her lately.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming."
I picked up my pace by about one and a half times.
Dusik narrowed his eyes, watching Ian's back as he walked ahead. The guy had been drenched in mucus from that tentacle monster pit earlier. He'd washed it off, but then immediately rolled around on the floor, so his current state was beyond words.
If I try to think of it as a glorious stain from saving the young lady…
No, it was just plain filthy. This guy really had a sensibility too far removed from any romance protagonist.
Dusik shook his head. He'd already half given up on the Ian-Lena pairing.
Of course, setting romance aside, he was genuinely impressed with Ian Ash in other areas.
Especially that movement just now.
Even I couldn't have matched that.
The instant the pebble flew. The way he'd snatched Lena's waist and rolled across the floor had been completely efficient, without a single wasted motion. His reflexes were so sharp it was as if he'd known the trajectory in advance. Reacting at that speed without any prior tension was simply impossible.
Though he was technically here as a hostage exiled to the academy, Dusik's standing among the demon race was by no means low. He knew everything worth knowing.
The filthy schemes swirling around the empire. The elaborate conspiracies secretly unfolding inside the academy. As someone aware of all that, he stayed constantly on edge, moving with caution at all times.
But this guy was different. He walked around like he was on a casual stroll, tension thrown to the dogs, yet he crushed every threat with overwhelming raw physical ability.
No way.
A chill ran down Dusik's spine.
Is he… hiding his power?
If so, why? What possible reason would he have to play third-rate trash and hide his strength in a remote place like the Art Department?
Could he be connected to the Demon Salvation Sect that's been giving the demon race such headaches lately…!
The pieces were starting to fit together. When his thoughts reached that point, Dusik swallowed hard.
"Dusik sunbae."
"Hiek! W-what?! Why are you calling me?!"
At Ian's sudden chilling voice, Dusik jumped in surprise and hunched his shoulders. Unable to hide his flustered state, he answered, and Ian turned to stare at him. Those narrowed gray eyes pinned him in place.
Shit. Shit. Did he notice?
As Dusik broke out in a cold sweat, desperately searching for an excuse, Ian simply jerked his chin toward the path ahead and spoke indifferently.
"What are you spacing out for? Get ready. Looks like we've found the group that went ahead."
"…Huh?"
Ian pointed forward.
Judith La Roche's group was moving faster than anyone else.
Though she'd laughed elegantly and acted like a noble lady on a picnic when the practice first began, Judith had every intention of showing her true worth this time.
Ten million crowns? Pocket change like that meant nothing to the eldest daughter of House La Roche, one of the empire's three great ducal families. What mattered was winning this fierce competition with an overwhelming margin. That was true honor.
Regardless of the scale, Judith moved to seize whatever would bring her the greatest benefit and sense of superiority in this moment.
"My lady! Look over there!"
At the center of the cave. In the middle of a vast underground lake, a magically glowing orb floated elegantly in the air.
I did it. I'm in first place after all.
Judith's lips curved upward as she stepped forward. Once she claimed that orb and exited at her leisure, that annoying young lady from House Valenti would finally lose her composure.
She was certain of her perfect victory—right up until that exact moment.
Rumble rumble rumble!
The entire cave suddenly began to shake violently.
"W-what is that?!"
A massive pillar of water erupted from the center of the lake.
Boom!
When the spray cleared, what appeared was a rock golem so enormous its head scraped the cave ceiling. A monster formed from sticky moss and massive boulders.
"Run!"
Judith shouted, spinning around, but—
Crash!
With a single punch, the golem completely destroyed the cave entrance they'd come through. A massive pile of boulders sealed the passage shut.
They were completely trapped.
Judith's eyes grew ice-cold.
This isn't a golem the Magic Tower Master prepared for the lesson.
It was far beyond the level appropriate for a basic magic theory practice. This was a monster that would require a full team of experts to even have a chance against. Why was something like this lurking in a cave inside the academy forest?
Clang!
Without the slightest hesitation, Judith drew the slender sword at her waist.
The moment the golem's enormous fist came crashing down again, she nimbly dodged and poured red mana into her blade, swinging with all her strength.
Clang!
Slash!
But the overwhelming difference in mass was undeniable. Her sword only managed to scratch the golem's rock-hard surface, while its fist slammed into the ground right beside her.
Booom!
The tremendous shockwave sent her team members flying through the air like dry leaves.
"Cough!"
They collapsed, groaning. Judith bit her lip until it nearly bled.
Those useless fools.
Especially Vinicius Adam from the knight department, whom she'd brought expecting him to serve as a tank. His condition was the worst. Whether from the lingering effects of his earlier injury or this new blow, he'd been slammed into a corner and was now muttering like a madman while staring into empty space.
"Power… Yes, it seems I need power."
Whoosh!
The golem swung its fist again. The strike was so massive it seemed to blot out the space above her head in darkness.
Her mana was depleted. She couldn't block with her sword, and there was no room left to dodge. The giant shadow of rock descended over Judith's head.
…Is this the end?
The moment she sensed death, bit down on her red lips, and squeezed her eyes shut—
A strangely languid yet irritated voice, one that felt like salvation in this exact instant, rang out through the cave.
"Kneel! Judith!"
It was Ian Ash's voice.