How to Survive as the Academy’s Villain

Chapter 133

Shing, swish!

Thud, whoosh!

Like a cold northern wind, Chelsea swung her sword swiftly, cutting down the bandits surrounding us.

“W-what the hell?”

“Damn, she’s really strong!”

“Did the drug not work?”

The unexpected strength of Chelsea threw the bandits into disarray. However, it didn’t last long.

“Idiots!”

Shane Barton, their leader, shouted and continued.

“We have the numbers advantage! Form ranks and close in slowly!”

He gave orders, clicking his fingers.

“Fireball!”

Fwoosh!

A small ball of fire floated into the air.

“I’ll cover you from the rear, so move in!”

Shane Barton yelled confidently.

However,

‘Huh? Why is it so small?’

It was the smallest fireball I’d ever seen.

But contrary to my reaction, the bandits’ morale seemed to rise.

“As expected of our boss.”

“Having a mage in the rear is reassuring.”

Seeing the bandits, who were previously in chaos, reignite their fighting spirit, I couldn’t help but shake my head.

Then,

“Hoo, Kamon.”

Chelsea, having moved intensely, lowered her blood-stained sword and called my name, trying to catch her breath.

Understanding her call, I frowned slightly and stroked the ‘Orb’ on my finger.

‘Damn it. I just wanted to ride along comfortably…’

“Screw it. Fireball!”

Fwoosh!

With my incantation, a massive fireball formed in the air.

“……!”

“That guy’s a mage too?”

“B-but why is his fireball so big?”

The enormous fireball, about four times the size of a basketball, made their eyes widen in shock.

At that moment,

“Hey, you guys. Have you never dealt with a mage before? Once he uses that, he won’t be able to do anything for a while. Move in and take him down!”

“But the size of that thing…”

“Come on, it’s just one. Whoever takes him down first or gets hit by the spell will get the highest share.”

“Really? You serious?”

“Have I ever lied?”

“Alright, fine. One big hit, that’s all.”

*Clap clap!*

They slapped their faces and prepared to charge at me, ready to take the hit.

I shook my head at them.

“Um.”

You guys seem to be misunderstanding something…

“Fireball, fireball, fireball… fireball!”

Rapidly chanting, several—or rather, dozens of large fireballs formed around me.

“……?!”

“What the hell is that?!”

Whether it was the suddenness of the situation or the appearance of more than ten fireballs, the bandits who were about to attack me froze in shock.

“What’s with those faces? Weren’t you going to attack me?”

I laughed at them and asked lightly.

“Crazy!”

“Is that even possible? I’ve never seen anything like this.”

“B-boss, what do we do?”

They were rooted to the spot, unable to move, shouting in fear. I shrugged and burst into laughter.

“Have you never seen a mage casting multiple spells simultaneously? What? You thought I’d be useless after one spell? Ha!”

The bandit leader, Shane Barton, was frozen, unable to speak.

At that moment,

“Kamon, stop fooling around and finish it.”

“Alright, got it.”

Responding to Chelsea’s cold voice, I nodded and moved my fingers.

Then,

Whoosh, boom!

“Ahhhh!”

“No, please, no! Argh!”

The fireballs rained down on the bandits, and combined with Chelsea’s swift sword strikes,

“Ugh!”

“Screaaaam!”

They fell one by one, either burning or collapsing from her attacks.

Finally,

Fwoosh!

Shane Barton, holding a tiny, pathetic fireball, was all that remained.

“S-shit!”

Suddenly, he rushed to the unconscious Princess Francia and pulled out a small dagger.

“You bastards, don’t move! If anyone makes a move, I’ll slit her throat!”

He screamed threats, holding the dagger to her neck. I flinched slightly, not out of fear, but to stifle a laugh.

‘Oh, man. Does he even know who he’s threatening?’

“……”

Chelsea stopped her sword and stared at him.

“Hehe, yeah. Stay still if you don’t want to see your friend die.”

With a dagger to Princess Francia’s pale neck, Shane Barton laughed sinisterly. I shook my head.

“Ugh, this is annoying.”

While some of us were fighting here, she was peacefully sleeping after being drugged?

Who do you think this is all because of…?

Fine.

‘Being stupid isn’t a crime.’

But being stupid and causing trouble for others is…

“Yeah, that’s a crime.”

“What?”

“Never mind. Time for some punishment.”

I moved my hand nonchalantly.

At the same time,

Whoosh, fwoosh!

A massive fireball rapidly shot towards Shane Barton.

“W-what? Stop… Aaaah!”

Before he could shout or swing his dagger, Shane was engulfed in flames, dropping his weapon and rolling on the ground.

“Arghhh, it’s hot!”

Along with him, another person was caught in the fire.

“Princess? Kamon, what are you doing?”

“Can’t you see? I’m rescuing the hostage.”

“But the princess is on fire too…”

“She’ll be fine. She won’t die.”

“What?”

Look at the armor she’s wearing. Do you really think she’d get hurt by a fire like this? It’s sturdy enough to withstand a dragon’s breath at least once.

“Finish off the rest quickly. It’s over now.”

“……”

Chelsea sighed, seemingly accepting my words, and moved swiftly again. In the meantime, I noticed another scene.

“Oh, they’re on fire too…”

Kyle and Fabian were also unconscious, engulfed in flames amidst the bandits.

‘Let’s pretend I didn’t see that.’

* * *

“……”

“……”

In the dead silence, only the crackling of the remaining flames could be heard, burning the surroundings.

“You just burned everything down?”

“Yes.”

Princess Francia, with a voice lowered by the soot, asked in a deep, calm tone. I nodded.

“And even me?”

“Well, as you can see… luckily, it doesn’t seem like you got hurt.”

“Hey, Kamon!”

She tried to shout at me, something boiling inside her, but then she shook her head and composed herself.

“Hoo, that’s not what I’m saying.”

Speaking in a calm tone, she continued to scold me.

“Someone could have been seriously injured or killed. To take such a risk…”

Technically, what the princess was saying wasn’t wrong. But…

‘Sigh, even saving them from a crisis gets me scolded.’

It was just a bit frustrating. So, I responded quickly in a lower voice.

“I didn’t think anyone would get hurt that easily.”

“What, what?”

“Considering the equipment you and the others are wearing and their skills, I judged that there was sufficient magic resistance. But I’ll be more careful next time if that’s your order.”

“No, I…”

At that moment,

“That’s bullshit. He did it on purpose.”

Fabian, with some of his hair singed and curled, spoke in an irritated voice.

“What kind of mage burns his own teammates? And with your skills, that level of control should be easy!”

“Is it in the textbook to accept food from strangers and lose consciousness?”

“What? You bastard…”

“Fabian, stop. Kamon’s right. It was our mistake to be deceived by the enemies. And there’s no way Kamon intended to burn us to death. Right, Chelsea?”

“……”

Kyle, with a cheerful smile, asked Chelsea, who responded with silent indifference.

“Haa, fine. Let’s end this here. Kamon, you’re right.”

“……”

“Princess!”

Fabian shouted in frustration, but Princess Francia remained firm and spoke clearly.

“It was our fault for falling into the enemies’ trap. Right now, we should be grateful for being saved and thank those who helped us.”

Then she turned to Chelsea and me and bowed respectfully.

“Thank you for saving us.”

It was a sudden gesture of gratitude, but,

‘Finally, some common sense.’

I thought and responded nonchalantly.

“It was only natural to do as teammates.”

“Yes, exactly.”

Chelsea also nodded and agreed. Kyle, scratching the back of his head with his usual smile, murmured,

“Thanks.”

“Tsk.”

Only Fabian made a strange noise and turned away.

“Then, what about them…”

Princess Francia glanced at the bandits tied up nearby.

“We’ll leave them to the next town. This isn’t their first time doing this, it seems.”

Biting her lower lip slightly, I wondered if I was the only one who noticed the murderous glint in her eyes.

‘You guys won’t die easily, it seems.’

Fortunately, neither our ‘Novice Challenge’ team nor the bandits, including Shane, had died in the fire.

‘I didn’t intend to kill them anyway.’

But perhaps my mercy led them to a fate of severe and painful suffering.

“Alright, everyone, stay alert. This is all part of the experience. We need to learn from this and avoid repeating the same mistake.”

After settling the situation, we started moving again. Eventually, we left the forest and reached a nearby town where we handed over the bandits to the authorities.

“Damn it. I’ll kill you all!”

Shane, with a scarred face, shouted menacingly.

Smack!

“Kill who? You’ll be spending the rest of your life in prison. Thank you, we’ve taken them in.”

“Please take care of them.”

The knight, who came to take the criminals, seemed to recognize Princess Francia and treated her with utmost respect.

Finally, we took a brief rest in the city, finding the most luxurious place we could as our accommodation and enjoyed a plentiful dinner.

“Enjoy your meal, everyone.”

“Thank you for the meal.”

“Enjoy your meal too, Princess.”

At that moment, a cry for help came from outside the window of our dining room.

“Help, please!”

Gasp!

Kyle, about to lift his utensils, stopped in his tracks.

“……”
“……”

An awkward silence filled the room.

Then,

“No, ignore it.”

Chelsea’s firm voice caused Kyle, who had turned to Princess Francia, to freeze.

“Yes, this time, Chelsea is right. This is a city, and the city guards will handle it.”

“That’s right. For once, I agree with the princess and Chelsea.”

Even Fabian agreed, and Kyle bowed his head with a dark expression, looking like he had lost the world.

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