A Third-Rate Villain’s Sweet Life Exploiting Academy Bugs – Chapter 32

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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“Haaaam…!”

Yeriel, the head resident of Seraphi Black Dormitory, was alone in her room,
engrossed in her research on elemental magic.

Even though she had been hailed as a genius among the second-year students of Clarice Academy elemental magic,

which required mastery over all four elements.

was far more challenging than general magic that focused on specializing in a single attribute.

Since the symbols, artifacts, incantations, and mana flow varied for each element, achieving harmony in elemental magic was no easy feat.

Thankfully, today she had received a lot of guidance from the master of elemental magic, Chief Professor Limentra, and was starting to see a glimmer of hope.

“He said I need to be able to communicate with spirits to succeed…”

Each of the four basic elements had a corresponding spirit.

Although Yeriel wasn’t a spirit summoner who fought using spirits,

she needed to reach the level where she could at least summon and communicate with spirits to reach a higher level of elemental magic.

Therefore, her current goal was to summon a high-ranking spirit, connect with it and gain enlightenment.

“Oh, I should have borrowed that book…”

She slightly regretted not stopping by the library today.

And the reason she was so engrossed in magic research was none other than Lev Denec.

Yeriel genuinely wanted to get along with him.

Although she hadn’t met him personally and, to be precise, only heard negative rumors about him

those things didn’t matter.

What mattered was that he was a member of Seraphi Black Dormitory.

“I was just worried about him…”

Her words to him had been out of pure concern, but he retorted by telling her to mind her own business.

-Instead of worrying about my affairs, Yeriel, I’d appreciate it if you focused on what you need to do.

“He didn’t have to be so harsh…”

But he had a point.

Setting aside the midterms,

leading the Elder’s freshman party…

was an event that all Clarice Academy students were obligated to participate in,
meant to strengthen the bond between seniors and freshmen.

As a senior, she had to lead the party by example,

and Yeriel, with her low self-esteem, had been anxious about this event for a while now.

This practical training took place in an actual dungeon to cultivate the freshmen’s real-world combat sense.

Of course, they would only be tackling dungeons with significantly lowered difficulty, but

nerves could lead to mistakes.

And minimizing those mistakes required immense practice.

Therefore, it was only right for her to start preparing diligently.

“But how did he know my schedule…?”

Yeriel was a second-year student.

Lev was a freshman.

Even though they were the same age, the time they had entered the academy was quite different.

Yet, he spoke as if he knew exactly what Yeriel had to do, specifically pointing it out.

“Was he actually concerned about me…?”

Judging by his tone, his words could have come across as offensive to someone who didn’t know the context

But thinking back now, she couldn’t shake the feeling that he was actually worried about her.

In the end, he was implying that she shouldn’t neglect her important tasks by worrying about him.

She couldn’t help but understand his point.

“If he received penalty points because of this… that’s quite unfair…”

He was an intriguing individual.

He would head straight to training after class, surprisingly disciplined in his self-management.

And even though he seemed to have no close friends,

several female students seemed interested in him…

‘Is it because he’s a bad boy…?’

That cute girl, Aria, from the other day, for example.

“He’s a really fascinating person…”

But based on Yeriel’s judgment, Lev Denec was definitely not a bad person.

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When I arrived at the Black Dormitory,

Yeriel, looking somewhat exhausted from her late-night magical studies, was brewing tea.

Upon seeing me, she smiled as if yesterday’s incident hadn’t bothered her at all.

“You’re here? Were you at the archery range again today?”

“Here.”

I replied briefly and handed her the book.

It was a book on elemental theory that I had borrowed from the library.

In the game, out of numerous books, this was the only one that had an interaction with elemental magic skill proficiency.

It would probably be helpful.

“Oh! This… how…? Thank you! I was planning to borrow it tomorrow…”

She couldn’t hide her surprise and joy, confirming that she really needed it.

“Oh, wait!”

Yeriel set the book aside for a moment and started fiddling with the ends of her hair.

“Do you have something to say?”

At my question, she hesitated before speaking.

“It’s tomorrow… isn’t it?”

“The duel? Since it’s past midnight, it’s today.”

“Then… can I come to cheer for you…?”

“My reputation at school isn’t exactly stellar. You won’t be looked upon favorably if you come.”

“I don’t care about that! I just want to support you, Lev.”

Unlike yesterday, Yeriel’s words today were filled with conviction.

I got straight to the point.

“Then let’s do this.”

“?”

“If you succeed in communicating with a spirit, come see me.”

“Huh…?”

“I have a feeling that if you succeed, I might win too.”

Yeriel appeared confused, uncertain about the link.

But soon, her golden eyes sparkled with a newfound determination.

“Okay! So you’re telling me not to give up either, right? Then… you can’t lose either. I’m asking this of you as your head resident… and as your housemate…”

With a bashful smile, Yeriel picked up the heavy book with a grunt and retreated back to her room.

‘Housemate…’

Leaving aside her choice of words.

Yeriel’s successful summoning of a high-ranking spirit happened during the dungeon practice, after encountering Edwin and facing a giant monster.

So, no matter how hard she tried, it would be impossible for her to achieve it within the remaining 10 hours before the duel.

But for me, this was enough.

I left the dormitory again.

Dawn was approaching, and the atmosphere was slightly brighter than the pitch-black night.

-Rustle…

Perhaps because Yeriel was attempting to connect with a spirit,

lower and mid-ranking wind spirits gradually came into my view.

Although I didn’t have the spirit perception trait, having learned Wind Archery I could identify them.

Sylphids, the lowest-ranking spirits, appeared as ethereal orbs of light,

while Sylphs, the mid-ranking spirits, which were rarely seen, had faint wings and more defined forms.

Both shared the characteristic of being unable to communicate verbally.

-Flutter.

As they flitted around me, status windows began to pop up.

-Ding!

“Oh…”

If I accepted the contract here, I would gain Wind Archery.

It was an essential skill to defeat Gailon.

But I flatly refused.

“No, I won’t.”

The spirits, as if throwing a tantrum, blew wind at me before disappearing.

My reason for refusing was simple.

I needed to find the strongest spirit.

In the game, ‘Wind Archery’ was automatically contracted for all elves.

However, perhaps because I wasn’t an elf, I had to form the contract myself.

The crucial point was that the tooltip only stated contracting with ‘a Wind Spirit’.

It didn’t specifically mention a ‘Sylph’.

According to the lore of ‘Reincarnation Hero’, the spirits were ranked as follows:

In other words, a Sylph was a mid-ranking spirit.

Forming a contract with a mid-ranking spirit for Wind Archery?

Well, it might be fine for elves who were born with it and grew alongside their spirits.

But I had absolutely no skills related to spirit manipulation.

In short,

‘It’s like being born with a silver spoon.’

It wouldn’t be a loss to contract with at least an intermediate-ranking spirit.

That’s why I had used Yeriel.

I started racking my brain, recalling the details of ‘Reincarnation Academy’.

There was definitely a part where wind spirits showed interest in Yeriel, the natural-born elemental mage.

They were probably drawn to her inherent potential, but

by exploiting this, I could also come into contact with a high-ranking spirit.

Therefore, now was the perfect opportunity, as she was on the verge of awakening.

So I had to find a spirit worthy of this once-in-a-lifetime contract.

As I was about to leave the dormitory grounds,

I heard a sound from behind a tree.

-Giggle!

-Heehee!

“!!”

It was the sound of playful voices, their speech relatively clear, suggesting they were at least mid to high-ranking spirits.

I immediately dashed towards the source of the sound.

.

.

.

“Huh…?”

After running for a while,

I arrived at…

Lake Demen, the place where I had defeated Naga and prevented the Water Dragon’s resurrection.

-Chirp…

The sounds of crickets, water,

and the merging of dawn and night created a breathtaking spectacle at the lake.

But I had no time to admire the scenery.

Because in the center of the lake, floating on the surface…

“Jackpot.”

An ethereal sky-blue figure,

a silvery pegasus with multiple horns and wings…

It was Ariel, the King of Wind Spirits.

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