How to Survive as the Academy’s Villain

Chapter 10

“That doesn’t matter anymore.”

For the first time, Chelsea opened her mouth. Her voice was flat and devoid of any emotion, but her eyes were still blazing.

‘It sure seems like it still matters a lot,’ I thought.

“R-really? Haha. That’s a relief then.”

“…”

After that, a heavy and cold silence descended. I quietly whispered to the girl who had just laughed awkwardly.

“Hey.”

“…?”

“The magic group exam… did I do something wrong?”

“What?”

She looked at me with a mix of fear and curiosity.

“No, if I did something wrong, I need to know what it was…”

Suddenly, another voice interjected from a different direction.

“Ugh, this is absurd.”

“…?”

“Kamon, you’re really shameless. How can you say that? Did you really forget already? Or are you just messing with us?”

“M-Mellin. C-calm down…”

“Forget it, Elaine. If he’s pretending not to know, we should explain it to him properly! So everyone else can hear too.”

The girl who interrupted spoke in a very firm tone.

“During the last magic exam, Chelsea, Elaine, and you, Kamon, were in the same group. But Kamon suddenly left in the middle of the group exam to teach Kyle a lesson without any warning.”

What? Me?

“Because of that, Chelsea’s group failed the exam, and the entire group got an F.”

“M-Mellin.”

Ah, no wonder. So that’s why I got cut off in the middle of the magic class.

“What? And now you’re asking what happened during the magic class? Seriously, what are you thinking? No matter how shameless you are, that’s…”

“Mellin. I’m over it now. It’s in the past anyway, and Chelsea said she doesn’t care anymore.”

“Elaine! You almost got kicked out of the scholarship list because of that incident.”

“T-that was…”

The atmosphere was growing colder. From Kamon Vade’s perspective, there was no room for excuses. This was clearly his fault, after all. And I couldn’t even say that the Kamon from back then was different from the Kamon now.

Wait a minute.

‘Did he rush out like that and attack the princess?’

Following that, he was suspended and expelled from his family. Normally, this would have led to him leaving without ever facing these people again.

‘No, that’s not what’s important right now.’

In such situations, it’s best to bow my head and lie low.

“Um, so about that incident… it was my…”

“Hoo.”

At that moment, Chelsea, who had been staring at me, sighed deeply.

“Forget it. That’s in the past.”

“Chelsea! Why are you…”

“The groupings are already set. There’s nothing we can do about it. The professor won’t change them.”

“T-that’s true.”

“Kamon Vade.”

“Yeah?”

Chelsea glared at me and spoke.

“You turned in a blank paper during the last pop quiz, right?”

“Y-yeah.”

“…”

Chelsea slightly shook her head at my clean admission and continued in a cold tone.

“I don’t care what you were thinking when you did those things in the past, or why you turned in a blank paper for the written exam, or why you’re shamelessly showing your face here now. I honestly don’t care.”

She continued, her voice chilling.

“But if you cause any more harm to us for incomprehensible reasons, and if our grades suffer even a little because of you…”

“…”

“I will use every means at my disposal to make sure you pay for it.”

Chelsea bit her lips and glared at me.

“Got it?”

“…”

“I asked if you understand!”

“Y-yes, I understand.”

“Good.”

Chelsea looked at me as if she might commit murder at any moment.

“G-good.”

The girl called Elaine awkwardly tried to wrap up the situation.

“You made the right choice, Chelsea. After all, Kamon being in our group can be a huge help! His magic skills are top-notch in our grade. Right, Mellin?”

“Well, yeah. As annoying as it is, his magic skills are undeniably excellent.”

What? Me?

Top-notch magician?

‘What’s this nonsense all of a sudden?’

“Yeah! If we work well with Kamon, we might actually come in first place.”

“…”

Everyone, I think you’re misunderstanding something. The person standing here is a complete newbie with zero magic experience, just pretending to be Kamon Vade.

“Anyway, with Kamon in our group, our formation is more solid. Kamon can handle firepower from the back.”

“The frontline can be more aggressive then.”

“With a strong magician at the back, the front line will be much more comfortable!”

“Y-yeah. I was a bit worried being the only magician, but this is definitely good news.”

“Yeah. The professor is known for favoring dungeons with unnecessarily strong monsters. This way, we’re less likely to get hurt or be in danger…”

“W-wait a minute!”

Unable to bear it any longer, I raised my hand, and everyone’s eyes turned to me.

“Well, um…”

“Yes?”

“Just in case, though I doubt it would ever happen, what if I accidentally mess up a spell or can’t use it in time… what would happen then?”

At my question, Chelsea’s face twisted in frustration.

“Kamon, listen to me clearly!”

Chelsea stood up abruptly.

“Last time it was just a magic class, so the worst that happened was a drop in our grades. But this time, it’s Dungeon Studies! If you screw up, the people relying on your support at the front could get seriously hurt! Do you understand?”

“C-calm down, Chelsea,” Elaine said, trying to lighten the mood with an awkward smile.

“Th-that won’t happen. We haven’t had any casualties in the past three years.”

“Yeah, yeah. The incident that did have casualties happened because one of the party members suddenly fainted. That was a real accident. There’s no way Kamon would cause such an accident on purpose, right?”

“Yeah, no matter how reckless he is…”

“Right, he’s still the same person.”

At that moment, the bell signaling the end of class rang throughout the academy.

“Phew…”

With that sound, everyone started packing up.

“Well, it looks like we’ve sorted things out, so let’s call it a day for today’s group meeting. See you next time.”

Chelsea left the classroom without looking back.

“Okay, next meeting, let’s get our formation sorted!”

The big guy, Lois, also stood up with that statement.

“Hey, Chelsea, why are you going alone! Wait for us!”

“See you next time, Kamon.”

Mellin chased after Chelsea, who had left in a hurry, and Elaine, with a still trembling voice, said goodbye to me before leaving too.

Soon, the others, who had been quietly watching me, gathered their belongings and left the room as well.

Shortly after, the classroom was empty.

I was left alone in the deep shadow of darkness.

“…”

So, if the mage doesn’t do their job properly, people could die?

And that mage is supposed to be me?

“Haha. Right.”

They’re underestimating me.

No matter what, I wouldn’t deliberately cause an accident that would get someone killed. I’m not really Kamon Vade.

That would never happen. It wouldn’t.

I definitely don’t have that intention.

But if an accident did happen…

“It’s not on purpose, okay, guys?”

I really can’t use magic.

* * *

Back in the dorm, I lay on my bed, muttering to myself.

“So I… no, Kamon Vade had incredible talent in magic?”

I tore at my hair, trying to wrap my head around this unexpected revelation.

Why would the writer give such a background to an extra character who exits early in the original story?

“Sigh, really…”

I let out a deep sigh, venting all my complaints, and turned to lie on my back.

The familiar sight of the old ceiling gradually cooled my heated head.

“…Well, actually, this does make sense in a way.”

Considering that he was a major troublemaker at the academy, constantly opposing the protagonist Kyle, and even attacking Princess Francia…

“He couldn’t have been weak.”

He had enough power to bully others and cause all sorts of trouble.

“That’s probably how he built his current reputation. Damn it.”

On further reflection, it made sense that Kamon Vade would have been a magical prodigy or had some innate talent.

The problem was…

“I don’t know the first thing about magic and can’t use it at all right now.”

It wasn’t like I hadn’t tried to learn magic before.

I had grand dreams of reaching the pinnacle of this fantasy world and took an interest in “magic,” which I considered the ultimate goal.

But.

“How am I supposed to understand any of this?”

It felt like math, physics, or a completely new field of study, filled with incomprehensible jargon, so I gave up almost immediately.

What? Shouldn’t I start learning from scratch then?

That would be like asking me to start with “A B C” and “1+1=2” all over again.

“How could I… hmm?”

Wait a minute. No, that’s not it.

Let’s think this through.

‘Kamon Vade is the top magician in his grade.’

That means the character itself already possesses extraordinary talent and potential.

He must have worked tirelessly to reach that level.

And now, I have his body.

“…Oh?”

Suddenly, I felt a ringing sensation in my head.

“So what if I start learning magic from scratch properly?”

It was a simple shift in perspective.

But its implications were profound for me.

Even if I didn’t know much, the body itself would remember magic as a discipline.

So…

“Even if it takes some time, if I start from the basics, I can catch up quickly.”

Yes, that’s the answer.

As my cluttered mind cleared up, I felt like I had unlocked one of the world’s secrets.

So how am I going to study the basics of magic?

“Isn’t that obvious?”

Do you know how many fantasy novels I’ve read?

This is a classic, basic cliché.

The privilege of those who possess the body of a genius.

With Kamon Vade’s brain now in my possession…

‘If Kamon was truly a magical prodigy, his mind would be brilliant too.’

So if I head to the library and start learning the basic magic formulas, wouldn’t my brain just automatically memorize and understand them?

“If I quickly get through the basics… I might really be able to use magic.”

Finally, it felt like I had truly entered the world of a novel.

Isn’t this the essence of an isekai story?

“Alright, let’s do this!”