How to Survive as the Academy’s Villain

Chapter 31

It was vacation time after the end of the second semester, but most students were more focused on planning for the next semester rather than taking a complete rest. Elaine, who had taken the final exam for Dungeon Studies with Chelsea, also moved to set her future plans.

“So, what classes are you taking next semester, Chelsea?”

“Well, I haven’t decided yet…”

As a mage and Chelsea being a swordswoman, their overlapping classes decreased as they advanced in their years. Elaine, who wanted to spend as much time as possible with her close friend, hoped to take the same classes as Chelsea at least during their first year.

“I want to take the same classes as you, Chelsea. Can you let me know as soon as you decide?”

“Oh, then me too! I want to take the same classes too.”

Mellin, who was beside them, suddenly interrupted, shouting enthusiastically at Elaine’s words.

“…Okay. Everyone calm down. I’ll show you my schedule first when I finish it.”
Chelsea replied with a slight smile, and Elaine nodded with a wide smile.

“Okay, make sure to show us.”

“We must take all the same classes with Chelsea next semester!”

Mellin, who seemed to have the same thoughts as Elaine, shouted cheerfully beside her.

“Alright, alright, let’s take them together. I want to take classes with you guys too.”

Chelsea murmured happily, looking at her friends’ reactions.

At that moment.

“Chelsea Artin.”

A familiar voice was heard from somewhere. And there stood a person they did not want to see again.

“Ka, Ka…mon?”

“What is it, Kamon? Why are you here?”

Following Elaine’s reaction, Mellin responded with a nervous voice, showing clear hostility.
However, Kamon, who appeared before them, ignored the two and looked only at one person, opening his mouth again.

“Chelsea, can we talk for a moment?”

“What?”

Mellin shouted in disbelief at Kamon’s sudden request.

“Hah, this is ridiculous. Hey, why should Chelsea talk to you?”

“I’m asking Chelsea right now.”

Kamon’s cold voice towards Mellin made the atmosphere freeze instantly.

“Um…”

Elaine tried to calm the situation urgently, but Mellin’s fiery reaction was much quicker.

“What the hell are you going to do by making the atmosphere so tense? What? Are you going to hit us? But you know, right? Commoners can’t hit nobles…”

“Fine, let’s talk.”

“Huh?”

Mellin, who was firing off her words like a machine gun, turned her head with a dumbfounded expression at Chelsea’s completely unexpected reaction.

“Che, Chelsea?”

And there was Chelsea, looking at Kamon with an unusually deep and serious gaze.

“So, what do you want to talk about, Kamon?”

“It’s a sensitive matter, so I’d like to talk alone. Is that possible?”

At Kamon’s insistence, Elaine spoke up this time.

“Ah, no, but still…”

However.

“Alright.”

Chelsea nodded and approached Kamon quietly, murmuring as she did so.

“I’ll be right back after a short talk.”

Elaine and Mellin could only watch her in a daze, as if they were losing their dearest friend to the worst villain in the world.

Eventually, Kamon and Chelsea arrived at a spot a bit farther away.

“So, what do you want to talk about?”

Chelsea immediately asked, making Kamon’s eyes narrow strangely. His gaze seemed to pierce through everything about her, making Chelsea feel slightly uncomfortable.

At that moment.

“Jamie Hasellion.”

“What?”

Chelsea couldn’t help but react with surprise at the completely unexpected name that came out of Kamon’s mouth.

“You know that person, right? Where is she now? Is she at the academy?”

“….”

Chelsea couldn’t utter a single response to Kamon’s rapid-fire questions. Her mind was in complete chaos, as if a massive bomb had gone off inside her head.

‘What is this? How? Why?’

It wasn’t strange that Kamon Vade knew about Jamie Hasellion. She was an incredibly famous and remarkable person. But.

‘How does Kamon know that she is at the academy?’

Her suspicion towards Kamon and the questions she had been holding onto grew even larger. Yet, Chelsea responded with a calm voice, as if nothing was wrong.

“What are you talking about?”

“I already know everything, so can’t you just tell me? Jamie, she’s here at the academy, isn’t she?”

“….”

But Chelsea did not answer his question. She kept her mouth shut and just stared at Kamon.

At that moment.

“Chelsea, you know it too now.”

“What?”

“I can’t use magic right now. I need her help because of that.”

Kamon straightforwardly revealed his secret and weakness, causing Chelsea’s lips to tremble slightly.

‘Again?’

Naturally, Chelsea couldn’t help but doubt Kamon’s words. But.

‘Is that expression and gaze really just an act?’

Chelsea’s mind grew even more complicated as she looked at Kamon, who was staring at her with desperate eyes.

“….”

After pondering quietly for a while, she finally nodded and spoke.

“Yes, that’s right. She’s staying here.”

“I knew it! So, where is she? Can you tell me?”

Kamon asked again with a slightly excited expression and gaze. Chelsea just looked at him silently.

* * *

I was currently in the library, studying various books related to magic. Whether or not I met Jamie Hasellion later, I had to know what kind of magic I needed to demonstrate.

“In the end, the ‘Ring of Fire’ spell itself isn’t that difficult.”

The ‘Ring of Fire’ described in the magic compendium was a spell that any intermediate-level mage or above could cast. However.

[As the number of rings increases, the difficulty exponentially increases. For example, moving from one to two rings requires more than twice the effort and mana. Moving from two to three rings requires more than four times the previous effort and mana.]

“It increases quadratically? Can I even perform this demonstration?”

The more I read, the more I felt a sense of dread. Without delicate control and an overwhelming amount of mana, it was impossible to even cast the spell.

“Now that the vacation has just started, there’s about two weeks left?”

I had to resolve the issue of being unable to use magic and master the ‘Nine Rings of Fire’ within a very tight deadline. No matter how I thought about it, it seemed absolutely impossible.

‘But I have to do it somehow.’

Even if everything ended in failure, I had to at least try something. At that moment.

“Hmm?”

I felt a strange change in the atmosphere around me. It was like the air had suddenly frozen. When I turned my head to look around, I was shocked.

“What, what is this?”

Everything seemed to be frozen in time. Students reading books, people chatting, friends walking by—all of them were stopped in place as if time itself had halted.

‘Time… has stopped?’

What was happening? Why could I still move?

Just then, I heard a sound in my ears. Footsteps, echoing from somewhere both far and near. And then I saw a man, the only person moving in this frozen scene, walking towards me.

Creak.

He dragged a chair in front of me and sat down, speaking in a low voice.

“Are you Kamon Vade?”

At the same time, I instinctively realized who was standing before me.

‘Je-Jamie?’

But, wait…

‘Why is he a man?’

The Jamie Hasellion I knew was a female mage.

“W-who are you?”

“What’s your relationship with Chelsea?”

“Huh?”

I could only make a stupid expression at Jamie’s sudden question, who appeared in the form of a tall, handsome man.

“Are you her boyfriend?”

“N-no, it’s not like that.”

“Hmm, then why did she ask me for a favor? That’s not like her…”

What was this? How was I supposed to answer this? Meeting Jamie this quickly was something to welcome with open arms, but having him suddenly appear and ask if I was Chelsea’s boyfriend was just confusing.

“This is boring now.”

As Jamie spoke with a bored expression, I started to break out in a cold sweat. But I couldn’t just agree to something that wasn’t true.

I took a slow, deep breath and answered as calmly as I could.

“Are you Jamie Hasellion?”

“Yes, I am Jamie.”

“But why do you look like that?”

The man with a smile on his lips chuckled at my question.

“Oh, this?”

With a snap of his fingers, the man in front of me transformed into a petite girl with green hair.

“That earlier form was of a man named Jace, a professor at this academy.”

Jamie replied, still smiling, looking every bit like a teenage girl. But the situation she displayed was far from her innocent appearance. She had stopped time throughout the entire library, leaving only herself and me able to move. This meant the entire space was under her control.

‘Get a grip, Kang Hyunsoo. Even if you’re bitten by a tiger, you can survive if you stay calm… probably.’

It would be best to use formal language, right? But Kamon Vade would have probably been disrespectful and rude to anyone. No, let’s not gamble with my life.

“Nice to meet you, Miss Jamie Hasellion.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Jamie nodded slightly, acknowledging my greeting, which made me sigh in relief. Using formal language was the right choice.

“But you…”

She trailed off and looked at me sharply.

“How did you know I was here?”

“Huh?”

“Think carefully before you answer. Your life depends on it.”

Her words, openly threatening my life, made my heart race wildly.

‘Wow, the pressure is no joke.’

The presence of someone who was a top contender in the world’s power hierarchy was on a whole different level from just reading about it in a novel. But.

“…”

I bit my lip slightly and shook my head.

‘The die is cast. I knew this would happen, didn’t I?’

I had predicted that such a situation would come once I started looking for Jamie. Although she found me much faster than I expected, this was still a golden opportunity that I couldn’t miss.

So.

“Is that really important right now?”

“What?”

“Rather than that, please examine my… body.”

Damn it, my tongue twisted.

“No, I mean, please check my body. Not my neck, my body.”

I corrected myself as quickly as possible. Jamie tilted her head slightly at my strange request, then scanned my body.

“What are you talking about suddenly? There doesn’t seem to be anything worth bragging about.”

“Please examine the inside of my body. Then you’ll understand why I sought you out.”

As I spoke boldly, without retreating, Jamie stared at me intently, her lips silent.

“…”

“Now this is getting interesting.”

She replied lightly, smiling faintly, then raised her right hand. And with a snap of her fingers.

“…”

Everything went dark.