A Third-Rate Villain’s Sweet Life Exploiting Academy Bugs – Chapter 127

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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“Because I… killed him.”

-Murmur…

Only the sound of the stream flowing could be heard. Silence followed. At Lev Denec’s confession, Aria stared at him as if she couldn’t comprehend, then finally spoke.

“I’m sorry. I don’t understand… what… are you saying? How could you… why Andras?”

“Because I killed him, I inherited his abilities. That’s why I can wield black magic…”

“…Wait, wait a moment.”

Aria also understood the concept of inherited abilities. When a war hero died, their abilities were passed on to someone.

In fact, Clarice Academy had many students who had inherited the abilities of war heroes or successors.

But to inherit the power of a demon, not a hero or warrior?

‘No, that’s not possible.’

It was unheard of. Aria had never read about such a thing in any book. Rubbing her forehead, she considered it one last time.

Lev Denec… had killed the object of her hatred, the source of her long-standing resentment, and inherited his power.

“…Ha.”

A small, disbelieving laugh escaped her lips. Aria knew better than anyone how strong Andras was.

He had completely destroyed her village in a single night, before dawn even broke. It had been a truly horrific sight.

To begin with, now that the war between demons had subsided, encountering a great demon within the Empire wasn’t easy.

The appearance of the Great Demon Bune at the academy during the festival was an unprecedented and shocking event.

And Lev Denec… she wasn’t sure about him now, but hadn’t he just been a noble’s son?

He had only recently started to stand out as an archer. A great demon was someone even the four war heroes couldn’t guarantee victory against.

It didn’t make sense. It couldn’t be true. Aria desperately denied it. Or perhaps, she didn’t want to doubt him.

The fact that Lev Denec could wield black magic… that he had changed from a third-rate delinquent… she had buried those thoughts deep down and decided not to dwell on them.

Ultimately, Aria didn’t think Lev Denec was a bad person.

‘You’re…’

Therefore, Aria could only reach one conclusion about this situation.

‘You’re trying to push me away.’

Lev had promised Aria revenge against Andras. It was perhaps the last string connecting them, the final link.

‘Are you… trying to sever even this?’

At the cruel reality of having no further connection with him, Aria’s vision blurred.

“Mr. Lev… aren’t you… taking this joke a bit too far?”

“Aria.”

“Andras is the demon who took away my loved ones… and you know that…!”

“…”

“And even though you know that! You’re pushing me away… by even mentioning him…”

“…”

“You’re really mean…! So mean!”

-Tap… Tap.

Aria weakly hit his chest. Of course, there was no force behind her fists.

-Slide.

As Lev approached the crumbling Aria, she remembered asking him if he was a good person before the dungeon investigation practicum.

-Mr. Lev, are you a good person?

And his answer had been…

-Well. I just act according to what I’m drawn to.

That’s what he had said. If his kindness until now hadn’t been genuine… if she had been mistaken…

‘…You’re too cruel.’

The first truth: She had come to like him.

The second truth: He wielded black magic.

The third truth: He had been acting coldly towards her recently.

The fourth truth: He was connected to Andras.

These four truths clashed chaotically, forcing Aria’s mouth open.

“Mr. Lev… you, the one I like…!”

“Aria, I know this is hard to believe, but…”

“It’s… chilling. The you I believed in… was a worse person than I thought. That night too, surely…”

“…Wait.”

“…?”

What came out of his mouth wasn’t an apology, nor a denial. Just a plea to wait… a plea to trust him once more. His hand grasped Aria’s wrist.

“Wait, Aria.”

“!”

For some reason, Lev’s touch felt repulsive. She regretted having been toyed with, and regretted having believed in him so readily.

“It’s fine. Please let go of me!”

“!”

Aria roughly shook off his hand as if it were covered in filth.

“…You don’t need to help me with my revenge anymore. I’ll take care of it myself… so don’t pretend to be friendly anymore…”

Just then,

“Are you two… fighting?”

Edwin, the jade-eyed boy, appeared from between the bushes. As Lev released Aria’s sleeve, she stood up and straightened her clothes.

“We just had a slight disagreement about setting up the tent.”

“Oh, really? How is it different…”

“That’s all.”

As Aria cut him off, Edwin spoke in surprise,

“That’s unusual. There are times when you and Lev disagree.”

“…”

“Well, yeah. Everyone agrees with Lev’s opinions, and I do too. Like during the selection test, just listening to Lev…”

“…Excuse me for a moment.”

With that, Aria walked away.

“Huh? Did I say something wrong?”

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Group 6, Kaelan’s party, reached the center of the reed field, the 2nd area. Unlike other parties, they had only three members, so they were able to advance here quickly.

Amidst the golden hues of the setting sun, Kaelan unfolded a note delivered by a carrier pigeon.

There was more than just a note. There was also an unfamiliar magic tool, about the size of his palm.

“What an arbitrary woman.”

Kaelan crumpled the note and put it in his pocket. There was no sender, but he had a good idea who it was from.

Probably an order from Yellody Latasia. Judging by the neat handwriting and tone, it seemed like someone else had written it for her.

That woman was a demon. Crow Fey was cooperating with her, pretending not to know. He didn’t know why a demon would help a mere human like him.

But it was thanks to Crow Fey and Yellody Latasia that Kaelan was able to accept demonic power and remove the mysterious curse.

‘It’s annoying, but I have to follow her like a dog for now.’

When he fully recovered his power and obtained the power of a great demon, no, a Demon Lord… then it wouldn’t be too late to betray her.

-Huff… huff!

He heard rough breathing behind him.

“Kaelan, you’re too fast… can’t you slow down a bit?”

“Well. It seems like Melissa is too slow.”

“That’s right…! Physical training is a basic requirement for a student…!”

“…!”

Seeing Abelline’s smugness, Melissa sighed deeply.

‘Sigh…’

Who was to blame for this? This muscle-brained knight wouldn’t understand how difficult it was for her to act nonchalant, knowing that Edwin was participating in this selection test.

When Melissa, who had been glaring at Abelline, turned her head back towards Kaelan, he was wearing a rather frightening expression.

“Ka…elan?”

“Indeed. You couldn’t get the Elixir of Immortality, you couldn’t clear Trial 3, you were demoted to Rank A… you can’t even keep up… Abelline, did we even have a single battle on our way here?”

“I swear on my honor as a knight, not a single one.”

“!”

It was true that no monsters had attacked them. The reason was simple. Generally, demons didn’t attack each other.

‘Oh no!’

Melissa, unaware of this fact, felt a great sense of threat. At this rate… she would be abandoned. Abandoned once again.

She approached Kaelan and grabbed his sleeve.

“S, sorry! Kaelan, I won’t pretend to be tired anymore. Let’s go faster?!”

Kaelan grinned and patted Melissa’s buttocks.

“Oof!”

Who would dare treat a princess like this? But Melissa only blushed momentarily and remained silent. Kaelan was the party leader.

If he expelled her, Melissa would be immediately disqualified from the selection test. Public opinion of her was already unfavorable.

If she didn’t perform well in the selection test on top of all this, there would be no bright future for her, having defied opposition to participate with Kaelan.

“It’s fine. Melissa is a mage.”

“…”

“But I clearly told you, didn’t I? That you would do as I say.”

“Huh? Yes. I’ll listen to whatever you say, Kaelan.”

Kaelan handed a high-grade scroll inscribed with a magic formula to the hesitant Melissa.

“Huh?”

“Activate it.”

“But you can do this too, Kae…”

“Sigh. You do it.”

“Okay! Got it!”

As Melissa touched the scroll, the entire paper flashed as if the letters were igniting.

‘This must be hard to find and expensive…’

While the activation seemed simple, she couldn’t decipher the runic script at all, probably because it was written in an ancient style.

Melissa’s curiosity didn’t last long.

“Wait…! Ugh…!”

She felt incredibly dizzy. She felt like she was going to collapse.

‘If I collapse here!’

.

.

.

When she came to her senses, she was fine.

“Huh…?”

In front of her was Abelline, looking sullen, and Kaelan, still smiling.

“Melissa, we’re connected now.”

“Connected?”

“Yes.”

“Connected to Kaelan…”

Those words reassured Melissa. The lingering dizziness didn’t matter. She wouldn’t be abandoned. Not until this connection was broken.

“M, me too…!”

“Abelline, next time.”

“…Ah, alright.”

“Good. Then let’s make this our base camp for today.”

“Okay!”

“Understood!”

-……

Abelline and Melissa, who had answered enthusiastically, stared blankly at Kaelan.

‘These sheltered bitches.’

Kaelan rubbed his brow bone with his palm and said,

“What are you two doing?”

“Huh?”

“Sir Kaelan…?”

“We’re staying here tonight.”

As Melissa and Abelline looked at each other, 10 seconds of silence passed. Melissa made the first move.

“Ah, I’ll… I’ll cook! Abelline, you prepare the sleeping arrangements.”

“I was going to do that even if you didn’t ask…!”

With that, the two began busily unpacking.

-Grind.

‘They’re like dogs.’

If only he hadn’t lost to Edwin, he might have lured Selena, Lily, and perhaps even Aria Bluebell into his party.

‘Well, it’s fine if I think of them as pets, right?’

Those two idiots wouldn’t even dream that the spell from earlier had the effect of offering their life force to him.

‘Well, when I become a Hero, Selena, Aria, or any other bitch will follow me anyway.’

All that remained was to fulfill Great Demon Marcosias’s demands. Ultimately, he would be the only one from this test to become a Hero candidate.

Wasn’t the one who laughed last the true victor?

Looking at the two bustling about, Kaelan smirked.

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