A Villain's Will to Survive

Chapter 12: News (3)

The next day, I arrived at the Mage Tower of the University early in the morning.

"Scorching Flame..."

Sitting in my office chair, I alternated between reading Allen's lecture notes and various grimoires. I was deciding how to structure the lecture on Properties of Element Magic and determine its direction.

"This should be enough to explain about the Pure Elements," I said.

One of the most challenging areas for the mages at the Mage Tower was about the Pure Elements. In modern academic terms, it was like an advanced course in pure mathematics, focusing intensely on calculus and analysis. Scorching Flame was one of the Pure Element magics, renowned for its extreme level of difficulty.

It was definitely beyond the level of Debutant mages. However, I found it surprisingly easy to understand the structure of Scorching Flame. This was because Comprehension worked best in a focused, specialized course that delved deeply into one specific field of study.

Of course, understanding didn't mean immediately mastering the spell, but I planned to refine Scorching Flame as much as possible and use it as a textbook to teach students about the Pure Elements.

"... With this, my preparations for the class are complete."

After writing the script, I closed the lecture notes. Then, I used the crystal orb to call Allen.

"Allen, come here for a moment."

About five seconds later, the door opened, and Allen appeared.

"Yes. Yes, Professor," Allen said as he arrived promptly, though he looked extremely tired. His dark circles made him look like a panda.

"Did you find what I asked for last time?" I asked Allen.

"Yes, I did. Here it is."

Allen rummaged through his robe pocket and pulled out a booklet. It was an auction catalog.

"This weekend, the Luten auction will feature a Snowflower Stone," Allen said.

I had asked Allen to find out if any auctions had rare ores. As I skimmed through the catalog, I found the metal Snowflower Stone listed at the bottom. Even I knew it was one of the world's top ten metals from the game's setting.

Above this were items like dragon bones and horns—mythical and legendary things money couldn't buy. Thus, Snowflower Stone was considered the strongest theoretically obtainable item.

"You've done well. Inform them that I will participate in the auction," I said to Allen.

"Yes. Yes, sir," Allen said, bowing before he left.

For the record, I had already checked the balance of my personal account. This world had invented account and card systems as well.

[205,238,039?]

The account balance was a whopping 200 million elne, more than enough. Since it was a personal account, I could spend it all freely.

Besides, the Yukline family, according to the game’s setting, had vast wealth due to their incredibly profitable territory. Even in sports, teams in big markets, which rely on the quality of their territory, can make a lot of money even if their performance isn't too great.

"... Now that I think of it, Allen is only a postgraduate student."

I suddenly felt guilty. Allen was equivalent to a postgraduate student at a regular university on Earth, and the tasks I had just assigned him were highly personal. To make things worse, Allen's dark circles grew deeper each day because all the mages who had shared the workload with him until last year had quit.

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Due to Deculein's reputation, competent mages at the Mage Tower refused to work under me. In modern terms, Allen was handling all the postgraduate students' work and even the professor's personal errands by himself.

"Putting it that way, it sounds terrible," I muttered.

If this continued, either I would be stabbed to death or Allen would die from overwork. I needed to treat Allen better and hire more help.

"Um, Professor?"

While I was thinking about him, Allen came back in, holding an envelope in both hands.

"A letter just arrived from the Mage Tower," Allen said.

"Alright. Now, go home and take a rest," I replied.

"Y-yes, sir."

I tore open the overly ornate envelope. Inside was an official letter.

A hearing to review the progress of Head Professor Deculein's research on The Invention of Pure Elements and the Four-Categories Magic Founded Upon It will be held in six months. Please prepare the relevant materials by then.

"Ah."

If the hearing went wrong, it could be the end of my professorship at the university. It was an important matter. Had Deculein conducted any magical research during this time? If so, where were the research materials?

... The research lab.

***

Deculein's private research lab was filthy. It seemed like no one had been inside for a long time, even before I became Deculein.

"... I don't think there's going to be anything here, but..."

I decided to search the lab anyway. Using Telekinesis, I scoured from the ceiling to every corner. Dust and various items flew around madly, but no matter how hard I looked, I couldn't find anything. Either he burned everything, or he never conducted the research in the first place. I stopped using Telekinesis and stood still, surveying the interior of the lab.

The unnecessarily spacious room, cobwebs on the ceiling, vials of decomposing unknown liquids, scattered pencils, and mana extractors... In the midst of this mess, I noticed golden bubbles rising from a specific tile on the floor. That was it.

Without moving a finger, I flipped the tile over. Beneath it was a hard, dried piece of feces acting like a lid—the ultimate defense mechanism to stop Deculein from opening it. Though I felt a moment of dizziness from his influence, I used telekinesis to clear away the filth.

Beneath it was an old, worn-out briefcase buried in feces and dust. It certainly didn't belong to Deculein. It was likely from a mage who had done the research for him. I placed the briefcase on the floor and opened it, scattering fragments of feces everywhere.

Though I felt a brief headache, I endured and checked the insides. As expected, there was a bundle of documents. I used Telekinesis to bring them to my hand. The faint smell of filth lingered, but thankfully, I wore gloves this time.

"... A cipher."

The roughly seventy pages of documents contained what appeared to be spells. This indicated the documents were related to magic, but everything was encrypted.

"That won't stop me."

I deciphered the code using my Comprehension attribute. Mana drained rapidly as the meaning of each line on the first page became clear. As the contents of magical documents revealed themselves, I had to close my eyes. The golden light was almost blinding. These documents held a brilliance that could fill the entire lab.

"... It was impressive research."

However, it didn't seem to be completed. There were torn sections, blank paragraphs, and even faulty logic. I carefully organized the documents to avoid damaging them. Then, I noticed a small, jingling accessory in the corner of the briefcase. It was a pendant, worn-out at the edges, holding a single faded photograph.

It was a photo of a father and daughter. The father's face was damaged, but the child was smiling brightly, making a playful V-sign with her fingers. I recognized this child's face. Though much younger, cuter, and more innocent than she is now. Epherene Luna. This must be the reason why the mage Luna harbored a grudge against Deculein.

"... Don't worry."

Feeling a bit bittersweet, I murmured to myself. With my Comprehension, I could organize your entire research, analyze it, gather the scattered pieces, and discover and calculate the parts you couldn't think of, making it even more perfect. If I manage to complete this research paper...

"I will list you as a co-author."

Unfortunately, I can't credit you alone. I need the recognition too. I put the documents and the pendant in my bag and left the lab.

***

At the same time, the new mage students were chatting at the campus coffee shop, Light and Coffee.

"I think we commoners should stick together. We should form a club."

Each of them, dressed in robes, had expensive coffee and desserts in front of them, except for one. Epherene had only plain water, using the excuse that she didn't like sweets or coffee. She watched her classmates eat their cakes.

"There are only thirty commoners in our cohort, right? If we don't stick together, we might face injustice someday," Julia continued, a fellow mage with orange hair, a bourgeois classmate commoner.

"Epherene, you're joining us, right?" Julia continued.

"... Huh?" Epherene, sipping her water, was startled by the sudden invitation.

"No, I—"

"You must join us, Epherene," Julia said, putting down her coffee cup with a thud.

"You stood up to Sylvia, didn't you? I heard about the news and felt so thrilled. She acts like she's some kind of princess," Julia said.

Epherene smiled bitterly. Since their big fight that day, the news had spread, casting Sylvia as the noble representative and herself as the commoner representative. She was also a noble herself, though she was from a pseudo-aristocrat and landless family.

“But—to do that, we need the supervising professor's permission... They won’t like us to group up like this,” Ferit muttered almost to himself, a cute young man with a timid expression.

“That’s true. That’s the biggest problem,” Julia agreed, pouting her lips and nodding.

They wanted to form a club exclusively for commoners. While the intention to support each other was good, getting a professor’s approval was challenging. To start a club, they needed the support of at least one supervising professor, but most professors came from noble families.

Although there were some professors from commoner backgrounds, once they became a professors for the Mage Tower, they became Honorary Nobles and acted like real nobles themselves.

“How about Professor Relin?” Ferit suggested, his eyes lightened up as if it was a good idea.

“Don’t you know the news about that fat professor? He's well-known for favoring only the nobles. I heard from the seniors that if a commoner goes to him with a complaint, he doesn’t even listen,” Julia said, shaking her head.

“Really? I thought he was a kind person...” Ferit said.

“Right? How can he act like that in this day and age?”

They discussed which professor might be suitable. However, finding a professor willing to supervise a commoners’ club, despite the disapproval of other noble professors, was extremely difficult. In fact, there were almost none.

“... Professor Deculein is obviously out of the question,” Rondo muttered under his breath.

Epherene shuddered slightly.

“Oh, right, that professor!” Julia suddenly exclaimed, snapping her fingers.

“At least he treats both nobles and commoners the same—he ignores them equally! Isn't that fair?”

Epherene wanted to leave the conversation, wondering how that was supposed to be fair, but she couldn’t. The table was filled with coffee and desserts, and she needed to eat.

After all, she had joined this group only for those treats. These kids were from wealthy bourgeois families and would likely leave some behind. If she didn’t eat now, she would be hungry for the rest of the day.

“Epherene! You should ask him!”

Then sparks flew. Epherene, who had been quietly eyeing the cake, bit her lip in silence.

“Epherene, I heard the news about you. People were saying that you avoided disciplinary action thanks to Professor Deculein,” Julia said.

“What? No, that’s not true. Do you really think he’s that kind of person? It just ended well for both sides,” Epherene replied.

“Is that so? Well then... Oh, my head hurts. Let’s decide who to ask later and just fill this up for now,” Julia said, waving the Club Formation Proposal as she stood up.

This was the moment Epherene had been waiting for. She smiled bitterly and shook her head.

“Sorry guys, I don’t really have time, you guys can go ahead—”

“I’ll treat everyone to a late-night snack tonight for you guys,” Julia interrupted.

Epherene was silent.

“Sorry? Ephie, what did you say?”

A late-night snack. Knowing these guys, they would order all sorts of things without restraint. This would be much more substantial than just cake. She wasn’t in a position to be picky about the taste. As long as she could fill up her stomach, she could even take leftovers back to the dormitory.

“... I said I’ll help you guys write the proposal,” Epherene said, smacking her lips as slowly stood up.

The group left the coffee shop and headed toward the Mage Tower. Julia kept mumbling to herself while staring at the paper.

“If we make it seem like it’s not a club for commoners... would that be a lie... Oh, this is complicated... Huh?" Julia said, scratching her head as she looked at something and froze with wide eyes.

It wasn’t just Julia. Everyone, except Epherene, who was only thinking about what to eat for the late-night snack, froze. They stood rooted to the spot, barely breathing.

Down the path toward them, someone who stood out anywhere, anytime, was approaching. With a flawless, more aristocratic gait than any noble in the world... he was walking toward them.

“Epherene! Please take this!” Julia urged.

“Huh? Take what? The late-night snack menu?” Epherene replied.

Julia suddenly handed Epherene the proposal.

“What? Why are you giving this to me?”

Then, she pushed the bewildered Epherene forward.

“—Ow!”

Without knowing why, Epherene found herself moving forward and soon standing in front of someone. He was so tall that, at first, she could only see his chest. For a moment, a refreshing breeze blew by, as if they were in a forest.

The clean, crisp scent that followed made her uneasy. Slowly, Epherene lifted her head and swallowed hard. The impeccably tailored suit, the aristocratic tie, the gold insignia denoting his rank, the neat collar, the sharp jawline, and finally... his face.

Deculein. He was looking down at her. His gaze was cold and piercing, like ice. It nearly made Epherene faint from shock.