How to Survive as the Academy’s Villain

Chapter 20

“Wow, that was a close call.”

I sighed in relief, calming my momentarily panicked mind.

Why did it have to react so suddenly there?

When it flinched at my kick, I almost felt like my heart would leap out of my chest.

I was just trying to act like Kamon Vade…

“I absolutely can’t do that again.”

No matter how important acting is, it’s not worth risking my life for.

Still, this was almost exactly as described in the book.

Werewolves’ favorite thing is white mandrake, and wild ones especially enjoy eating it.

It’s like a drug to them.

“Consuming white mandrake powder usually knocks them out for at least half a day, right?”

Unless it’s a rare breed or a werewolf under the light of a full moon, the white mandrake powder should work.

“Ugh, yawn.”

Thinking that, I yawned and stretched widely, lifting my head.

Soon, through a small hole in the cave ceiling, I saw the bright, round moon shining down on me.

Feeling the warm moonlight, a smile naturally spread across my lips.

“Maybe because things are going well, the moonlight seems even more beautiful… wait, moonlight?”

Feeling a sudden sense of unease, I turned my head.

Flash!

A werewolf, eyes glowing yellow, opened its tightly shut eyes and glared menacingly.

“Shit…”

An unexpected situation made me curse involuntarily.

Grrrrr.

The werewolf trembled all over and started to stand up.

Then…

Awoooooo!

It threw its head back and let out a powerful howl.

“What’s that noise?”

“Look over there, it’s a werewolf…”

“It really woke up?”

The teammates following me turned their heads at the howling and confirmed the werewolf’s revival.

It was then.

Thud! Thud!

“Run quickly!”

“Chelsea?”

Without hesitation, Chelsea sprinted ahead of me.

Grrrrr! Thud! Thud!

The werewolf ran towards the bridge we were on at an incredible speed.

“Damn it, I knew this would happen!”

“Shut up and run faster!”

The other team members, realizing the seriousness of the situation, started running with clenched teeth.

I too…

Thud! Thud!

I pushed my legs to their limit, running towards the opposite cliff.

But…

Whoosh! Whoosh!

“What? It’s already catching up?”

Teammates with superior physical abilities quickly overtook me.

“Damn it, you’ve got to be kidding me!”

Mages are physically weak by nature.

That means I and Elaine, who handle magic in Chelsea’s team, were naturally falling behind…

Thud! Whoosh!

“Huh?”

I was stunned to see Elaine passing me by.

Because…

“Aaaaah, Haste! Haste! Haste!”

Elaine was casting haste spells on her legs like crazy, speeding up.

“Can you even use magic like that so recklessly?”

If you can do that, cast it on me toooo!

All the teammates had overtaken me before I knew it.

Then…

“Kamon, what are you doing! Run faster, you’ll get caught!”

Chelsea’s voice echoed from the opposite cliff, having already crossed the bridge.

“…”

When did you get there?

Didn’t you just pass me by?

It wasn’t a long distance, but it didn’t seem like a distance you could cross in an instant…

Grrrr!

The werewolf’s fierce roar echoed from behind.

“Damn it!”

Now wasn’t the time for other thoughts.

I had to get to the opposite cliff as quickly as possible.

Luckily, the distance wasn’t much… huh?

“Why is there still so far to go? I thought I was almost there?”

Strangely, the distance to the opposite cliff seemed unnervingly far.

Grrrr!

The werewolf’s howl echoed from right behind.

“Damn it, damn it! Why! Why! Shiiiit!”

Every curse I could think of came out, but there was nothing I could do.

“No, how can such a thing happen even if there’s a variable?”

I should’ve known something was off when it reacted weirdly to my touch…

Whoosh!

I felt hot breath on the back of my neck.

“Damn it!”

…I’m really going to die at this rate.

No matter how I think about it, this is too much.

Why is there a hole letting in the full moon’s light right there?

“There was no mention of that in the original story!”

Even if I’m usually unlucky, this is too extreme.

Cursing my luck internally, I reached into the bag on my back.

Clatter!

“Damn it, I brought this just in case of emergencies…”

Grrrr, snap!

Hearing the werewolf’s jaws snapping behind me, I…

“Whatever, aaaaah!”

Rip!

Tearfully, I ripped the scroll in my hand.

* * *

Fortunately, thanks to tearing the emergency escape magic scroll, I narrowly escaped the werewolf’s jaws and reached the opposite cliff.

Of course, as soon as I arrived, my teammates quickly destroyed the bridge, and the werewolf fell down the cliff.

“When we fought the werewolf, I thought we were doomed, but we managed to resolve it somehow.”

“Thanks to Kamon…”

“Thanks to Kamon? We could have done it ourselves without him.”

I could hear my teammates talking behind me, but I couldn’t focus on their conversation.

“That scroll was worth five gold. Five gold!”

Thanks to the shitty pickpocket I encountered in the city, I ended up spending all my remaining money to buy those items.

‘…My entire fortune is gone in one go.’

Of course, that fortune was money I extorted from my teammates, but it was still painfully regretful.

Sigh.

Well, it’s much better than getting eliminated.

I can always earn money again.

If I had been eliminated here so foolishly, I would have been expelled from the academy on the spot.

‘Still, it wasn’t easy.’

In the original story, the werewolf part ends with Kyle taking it down with a single strike.

So how was I supposed to know if it was under the full moonlight or not?

“Hoo.”

I shook my head and let out a short sigh, then steeled my wavering resolve.

‘No, I was too complacent. I got cocky because things were going well.’

I had been unintentionally riding high after defeating several boss monsters and seeing my prepared items work properly.

Although the werewolf situation this time was an unexpected variable.

‘If I had approached it more cautiously, there wouldn’t have been such a crisis.’

Maybe I could have noticed the hole in advance and found another direction.

‘What’s done is done; regretting it now won’t change anything. I just need to do better in the future.’

After self-reflecting on my previous behavior, I nodded to myself.

And not long after I resumed walking through the dungeon.

“…What’s that?”

Lois’s puzzled voice made the other team members tilt their heads in confusion.

What they saw was a series of seven roads resembling stepping stones, as if artificially constructed by someone.

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and purple.

Each of the seven colors was made of marble, and at the end of each layer stood a giant statue.

It was a scene that screamed trap or hidden secret to anyone who saw it.

“It’s too obvious to be a trap.”

“Isn’t it just a puzzle? Something we can solve to get through.”

As the cynical Mellin muttered, Claire reached out.

“Look over there.”

She pointed to the first statue.

And there.

[To those who wish to pass this place, understand the flow of mana and find its meaning.]

The statue held a plaque with an inscrutable, scholarly phrase.

“Wh-what does that mean? Elaine, did you understand?”

“Th-the flow of mana? Finding its meaning?”

At that moment.

“The statues are all different. There must be some significance.”

At Lois’s words, all the other team members turned their eyes to the statues.

At that moment, Chelsea murmured quietly.

“The seven pillars of the magical world, the Magic Towers!”

“Chels…ea?”

Naturally, the other team members focused on Chelsea, who seemed to have found a clue.
Then, Chelsea continued.

“There are seven magic schools in total. And those colors…”

“Huh? Seven magic schools? Oh, right. I remember learning about them in magic class. The Ignite school is usually red, and the Seledion school is green…”

With Chelsea’s words, Elaine nodded, shouting as if she was agreeing.

“What, so those marble colors represent the magic schools? Then those statues?”

“They’re magic seals! Special magic seals for each school!”

Thanks to Chelsea, the wizard Elaine unraveled all remaining doubts.

At that moment.

Thunk!

“Huh?”

With a dying groan, Lois fell forward.

His body was directed toward the first yellow marble.

“Lois!”

“No, no!”

“Damn it, that idiot!”

The urgent cries of the team members.

Thud!

In the end, Lois collapsed onto the yellow marble.

“Ugh! Who pushed me!”

Shouting indignantly, Chelsea hurriedly drew her sword and shouted.

Shiiing!

“Everyone, stay alert!”

In the midst of their tense expressions, not knowing what might happen next.

Clatter!

The familiar sound of metal echoed.

“Turns out yellow was the right one to start with.”

Muttering that, I stepped onto the yellow marble where Lois had fallen.

‘I checked just in case…’

I had secretly nudged Lois from behind, making sure he landed on the yellow marble. I then recalled what I had memorized earlier.

‘Yellow-yellow-red-blue-purple-orange-orange-yellow-yellow-blue-purple.’

So the next one is also a yellow marble, right?

Clatter!

Fortunately, nothing happened on the second yellow marble either.

‘Thank goodness. The answer is the same.’

I had worried that the answer might change each time, but it was the same as when Kyle’s team passed through.

But then.

“K-Kamon?”

“Hey, what are you doing!”

I heard the bewildered voices of my teammates behind me.

But I…

Thunk!

Stepped onto the third red marble, turned my head, and spoke.

“Shut up and just follow me.”

Speaking in a cold voice, I then moved towards the fourth blue marble.

“…”

Of course, I didn’t hear any more voices from behind, but I didn’t have time to worry about that now.

‘Wasting time here is stupid.’

And finally.

Clatter, tap!

After stepping on the twelfth purple marble, I turned my head to look back.

And there.

“…”

I saw my teammates standing far away, staring at me blankly.

“What are you doing, hurry up and come!”

As I shouted, Chelsea suddenly threw something.

A rather heavy-looking pouch landed on the second purple marble.

At the same time.

Fwoosh!

Flames erupted from all directions, burning everything on the first marble.

“…”

Having confirmed that making a mistake triggered a trap, they shifted their gaze back to me.

“Huh? There was a trap?”

“Did he really solve it?”

As the bewildered reactions of the other teammates continued, Chelsea gave a short, calm command.

“…Follow me, stick close behind.”

Then they started moving, following the path I had taken.