A Third-Rate Villain’s Sweet Life Exploiting Academy Bugs – Chapter 65

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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Temporary office during the Academy’s Ranking Match Week.

War heroes Scarlet and Dustin’s work seemed endless.

“Umberto…”

“Calm down, Scarlet.”

It was an incredibly embarrassing situation.

Despite them, seasoned veterans who had spent their entire lives battling demons, being stationed at the academy,

a demon had infiltrated Seraphi Black Dormitory, exploiting a vulnerability.

And to make matters worse, the demon, disguised as Umberto, had lured away a second-year student. It was a blow to their reputation as war heroes.

Adding to their frustration, they hadn’t even been able to visit the victims due to their busy schedule.

Scarlet pressed her hand to her forehead, her bangs obscuring her expression.

She had a splitting headache.

“To think we’d be indebted to that delinquent brat…”

Fortunately, Lev Denec, also a resident of Black Dormitory, had discovered the situation early on,

and with the help of a student named Edwin Gwendeth, they had managed to stop the demon.

“War hero or not… I want to quit. I’m not qualified…”

“You’re just overworked.”

“One would think I never do any work, wouldn’t they?”

“Haha…”

The Clarice Guardians reported finding only traces of magic when they arrived at the scene.

It was clear that a demon had infiltrated the dormitory and that the student named Yeriel had been afflicted by the Curse of the Six Senses.

However, the perpetrator had vanished without a trace, leaving them with an unresolved case.

They were racking their brains, trying to figure out how to report this to their superiors.

-Click.

“There you are.”

“…?”

Regillus, the former commander of the Imperial Knights, now the guild master of [Crow’s Fey], approached them.

“Congratulations.”

“?”

Scarlet frowned at the unexpected congratulations.

‘What is this old geezer talking about…?’

“I heard you defeated the target of your long-awaited revenge… the Black Armor.”

“…”

The Black Armor subjugation was supposed to be a secret shared only between Lev, Scarlet, and Dustin.

Scarlet glared at Dustin.

‘You just had to blab, didn’t you…’

“Ahem… ahem.”

She had entrusted the mission to a reliable team, yet somehow, the information had leaked.

‘This old fart must have investigated…’

Lev wouldn’t have bragged about it; this was definitely Regillus’s doing.

Her intuition told her so.

Dustin, oblivious to her thoughts, simply chuckled and replied,

“As expected of Commander Regillus. Well-connected as always.”

“Haha, you flatter me.”

“Um… is there something else you need, besides offering congratulations? As you can see, we’re rather busy.”

“Ah… then, I’ll get straight to the point.”

Glancing at their messy desk, Regillus asked,

“I was wondering… how you plan to handle the Black Armor’s orb, the reward for defeating the Scale Dragon.”

-Shiver…

Scarlet tightened her grip on the feather pen.

‘Knew it.’

There was no way this greedy old man wouldn’t covet the reward.

Dragons were rare, and their orbs, unique to each individual, were incredibly valuable due to the difficulty of encountering and defeating them.

If they were to auction it off, people would be lining up to participate.

Scarlet replied curtly, feigning regret,

“Unfortunately, it’s already been claimed.”

“Oh?”

.

.

.

As Regillus left the temporary office, he stroked his chin thoughtfully, a habit from his days as commander.

‘Already claimed… is it?’

He knew that Scarlet and Dustin weren’t particularly money-driven.

They didn’t even belong to a guild, so they wouldn’t need a large sum of money.

Therefore, it was unlikely that the orb would end up in the auction house.

“Hmm…”

How had they managed to locate the Black Armor, which had been missing for years?

Regillus himself had attempted to subjugate this Scale Dragon numerous times.

In the past, when the elven archer Adrin, not the master archer Diena, was a war hero,

it was Regillus who had provided them with the Black Armor’s location.

His Inheritance ability, [Insight], had revealed that the Black Armor possessed an extremely dangerous skill.

Black Dragon’s Trajectory, a dark magic that guaranteed the sacrifice of at least one person.

It was due to this risk that Regillus had chosen not to confront the dragon personally.

“How did they manage to overcome it…?”

Unless they were demons themselves, there was no escaping the curse…

And the fact that they were trying to keep this subjugation a secret was also suspicious.

But it was fine.

He would see the seller’s face at the second-quarter auction in the capital, where the Black Armor’s essence would undoubtedly be up for sale.

“And… I hope there are other… desirable items at the auction…”

Regillus licked his lips in anticipation.

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.

.

.

-Pant… pant…

-Ha… haaa…

The red-haired man’s ragged breaths filled the training room.

-Toss!

Suddenly, he threw the water bottle across the room.

-Clatter…

It wasn’t working. Nothing was going his way.

“Damn it! What’s going on? Why…!”

Losing something you once had was far more painful than never having it in the first place.

Kaelan had possessed a natural talent for swordsmanship since childhood.

He would imagine the trajectory of his blade, and his body would flawlessly execute his vision.

It had always been that simple.

But now, his body was betraying him.

If this continued,

he feared he would become dull and mediocre, like the countless other swordsmen he had always dismissed and looked down upon.

Even during his sparring session with Aveline this morning,

-Kaelan… are you alright…?

-What?

She had actually expressed concern.

Aveline, who had always showered him with praise for his perfect swordsmanship…

The day before yesterday was better than yesterday,

yesterday was better than today.

His ‘genius’ was rapidly deteriorating.

-Thump!

-Gasp…!

Overwhelmed by a despair he had never experienced before, a wave of fear washed over him.

‘N-no… this can’t be…’

But he quickly reassured himself.

It was fine; he could just steal other people’s abilities and become even stronger.

‘I can’t possibly be getting weaker, right?’

He consoled himself, thinking that his senses were probably just dulled from playing around with a third-rate talent like Lev Denec.

-Buzz!

Suddenly, the magic lights inside his private training room flickered, indicating an urgent summons.

“What…?”

-Click.

He opened the door, and there she stood,

“Hellooo~”

The upperclassman with sky-blue hair.

Melody Latasia.

It was her advice that had led Kaelan to create the Royal Class circle.

He wasn’t in the mood for visitors, but considering who it was, he composed himself and asked,

“…What brings you here?”

“Hmm… you haven’t been looking well lately.”

“Ha, you too? I can’t focus. But maybe by tomorrow, or rather, by tonight…”

“No, I think it’s… an external factor.”

“…?”

He disliked her languid tone and drawn-out words; they felt condescending.

But her advice had been surprisingly helpful in the past.

She had provided him with information about the academy’s black market, allowing him to amass a considerable amount of gems, and using that information, he had obtained exam information from Lilith, securing excellent grades in the written exam.

Of course, he had been a step behind in securing the Mermaid’s Scream and discovering the Alchemy Club’s connection to the black market.

“What do you mean?”

“Hmm…”

Melody scanned Kaelan from head to toe and declared,

“It’s a curse.”

“What?”

“An uncurable curse… I’ve never seen anything like it…”

Curses belonged to the realm of black magic,

techniques used by demons.

If a human were to use a curse, there would be obvious signs of black magic.

“That’s impossible. I haven’t even encountered a demon since being at the academy.”

“There’s a way…”

“I need to train. Please leave.”

Kaelan slammed the door shut, feeling like he had wasted his time.

.

.

.

Melody, shut out at the door,

murmured to herself, “There’s a way, though…”

Time was running out for her to implement her backup plan, even with her ‘Telepathy’ Inheritance ability.

She counted on her fingers.

“One, two… four! I’ve definitely helped him four times.”

‘Kaelan is… finished!’

She disappeared with a mysterious… skip in her step.

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The ranking matches flew by.

I had only participated in one duel; there was no need for a second or third.

I hadn’t gained much from my duel with Kaelan, but I hadn’t lost any points either.

And perhaps because of the impact of me smashing Kaelan’s head,

no other student dared to challenge me.

“The written exams are the real problem.”

The first semester concluded with written exams right after the ranking matches.

I didn’t understand why that fanfic author had placed them after the practical exams,

but it was a minor event, barely mentioned, which made it even more frustrating.

All I could remember was that Edwin had scored somewhere in the middle,

and that S-rank students like Melissa, Kaelan, and Selena had achieved excellent results.

It was a part of the story I had skimmed over,

but here, in this reality I was experiencing, there was no skipping.

Because of the 30 penalty points I had yet to clear, I had no choice but to study.

‘Even this… is reality.’

What the author had hastily written had been fleshed out into a complete world.

I couldn’t rely solely on the fanfic for information.

I also learned that students who didn’t participate in the ranking matches were required to attend special lectures.

Today,

I fought off sleep to attend [Internal Mana Control] and [Mana Circuit Theory], mandatory courses for magic users.

I also attended [Light Magic Engineering] and [Basic Magic Inscription].

“Science courses… ugh…”

The lectures were practically on par with university-level engineering, and my brain already felt fried, like a grad student’s.

But I had a secret weapon…

“Lilith.”

As mentioned in the fanfic, she had consistently topped the written exams during her first year.

And she had created a cheat sheet, a compilation of exam questions and answers, to make some extra cash.

For a ruthless woman who even sold supplies on the black market, this was to be expected.

Even Kaelan had benefited from it. And since Lilith was eager to please me, she would gladly hand it over, practically offering it on a silver platter.

“Even if I don’t get first place, I can clear most of my penalty points.”

I had faced countless disadvantages due to my penalty points.

Restricted access to lockers, limited dining hall hours, dormitory restrictions, reserved seats on the express train, course registration priority, limited gym hours, even restrictions on leaving the academy.

But this was a meritocratic school; high grades would solve all those problems.

Until the main event of Chapter 3, the [Beast Descent – Gates of the Underworld], where monsters would invade during the break,

I would focus on steady growth.

“Not bad…”

With a promising plan in mind,

I headed to the cafeteria for a sugar rush.

-Tinkle.

“Uh… what can I get for you?”

The cashier, momentarily stunned by my appearance, smiled shyly.

I was the one who felt embarrassed.

Now that the ‘Villain’ trait was gone, and I was interacting with people who didn’t know my past, I wouldn’t be met with scowls and disgust.

“Coffee. With maple syrup.”

“Okay… will you be dining in?”

If I took it to go and ran into Yeriel…

-Lev! Too much coffee is bad for you…! If you need something to drink, I can make you tea or fruit juice. Just let me know, okay?

Her cute nagging was endearing, but I didn’t want her to neglect her own studies by worrying about me.

Yeriel was a crucial character in the later chapters; her growth couldn’t be hindered.

I ordered my coffee to stay and settled into a sofa by the window, overlooking the academy grounds.

There were a few more things to consider.

To make a fortune, I needed to figure out how to accelerate Edwin’s growth.

And I needed to find out when the [Memorize: Ring of Inscription] would be auctioned off.

Also, I had to decide how to utilize the Black Armor’s orb, which I would receive as a reward for the subjugation.

Given my limited funds for betting, should I sell it? Or… should I have Edwin absorb it to boost his growth?

-Knock, knock.

Someone tapped on the window beside me.

“?”

A woman with short black hair stood outside, a slim cigar dangling from her lips, her gaze fixed on me.

My mind raced with possibilities.

‘Who is she?’

And then…

-Tap.

She pressed her business card against the glass, her expression stoic, almost a glare.

As if to make sure I saw it.

‘Crow’s Fey… Se… ra.’

[Crow’s Fey], the guild I would eventually have to crush.

And the woman known as their viper, the guild manager.

In charge of recruiting new members,

It was the business card of ‘Sera Cervantes’.

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