The Villainess in the Romance Fantasy Is Strange

23. Accidents always happen unexpectedly (2)

Same time. A different place from the inside of the cave where Cain and Leah Pair are.

A cool-looking blond haired handsome man, the second prince who hid his identity and entered the academy. He glanced at his side as he grabbed the sword Bern had drawn.

The person next to him, in the same group as Vern, is none other than Cha Cha-seok, a freshman in the first year. It was Stella, and for some reason she was looking around the outdoor training ground with a worried face.

“The same group pair are fighting, but if you keep looking around, you won’t get points deducted for attitude. Miss Stella?”

“…… Don’t you care We do this for a reason.”

“It’s merciless to pay attention to comrades who have to leave each other’s backs and move forward.”

Muttering in a tone that closely resembled someone from the student council, Vern twisted his wrists and stretched them.

Stella didn’t like Bern like that, so she narrowed her eyes and stared at it.

“By the way. Miss Stella, isn’t the weather nice today? On a day like this, I shouldn’t swing my sword dully, but I should go out with a friend.”

“Since I’m not interested in that, why don’t you invite your friends?”

“Ah, that’s right. After this class, I’m going to recommend it to my friend Cain Reinhardt. Since the weather is cool and nice, he will gladly agree, right?”

A name I don’t like to hear, Cain Reinhardt, that pops out of that groovy-looking man’s mouth every 5 minutes.

Thinking over his name that I think I’ve already heard 15 times today. Stella asked in a nervous tone.

“It seems like you’ve been talking about Cain Reinhardt ever since. Isn’t it boring?”

“It’s boring. Could it be? Talking about my best friend, it’s always new and exciting.”

“What is a close friend….”

If it wasn’t for Cain Reinhardt, whom he considers a close friend, I would have been second, and I would have been second. Are you not aware of it, or are you doing it knowingly?

The former is stupid, and the latter is a good fool. And either way, it didn’t change that Stella was the type of person she didn’t like, so she shook her head, not even looking at her Vern.

“By the way, Ms. Stella. Don’t you think it’s a very happy thing to have someone to share friendship with?”

“… ….”

“We make trivial small talk and laugh at each other even at trivial jokes. Such a friendly friendship that sometimes shares delicious food! Ah, I am truly blessed to have such close friends.”

‘Ah, what an idiot, really… ….’

When I listen to it, I keep saying nonsense. Is this man really stupid? What kind of friendship do you share when you are competing with each other? This is not the back garden of Kkottongnae, where only idiots gather.

Kain Reinhardt treats the two of us as potential threats, even officially declaring at the freshman entrance ceremony that he will check all groups other than the student council he belongs to. Are you trying to get involved with

Ignoring Bern, who kept preaching the theory of friendship that never came to pass, Stella walked forward.

However, as Stella had just taken three steps, a thought flashed through her mind.

‘Wait a minute, this… ?’

Isn’t it possible to keep Cain Reinhardt in check using Bern?

So, how do you make good use of Bern, who keeps flirting with you? Cain Reinhardt’s weaknesses, or interfering with his training…… ?

Stella, having reached that point, glanced at Bern.

This greasy-looking human, the reason why I kept referring to Cain Reinhardt from earlier. He probably knew Cain Reinhardt even before he entered the academy.

Maybe, maybe…… ?

“Hey, did you say your name was Bern?”

“Verne von Ed, to be exact. Since we’re the same pair, I’ll give you the special right to call me Bern. Miss Stella.”

‘…… Ah-oh.’

“Yes, Bern. You said you were friends with Cain Reinhardt?”

“Um, isn’t it?”

“Then, do you know more about Cain Reinhardt?”

Berne hesitated at Stella’s question. This is because Berne was a blank slate, knowing nothing about Cain.

Vern was just glad that Stella had talked to him first, so he nodded his head to continue the conversation.

“Everyone knows. Cain and I are close friends, knowing nothing about each other.”

“…… What? Really? Cain Reinhardt and you are so close?”

“Mmm, sure.”

Stella’s head tightened and spun quickly at Bern’s immediate reply.

I thought this man was just a fool, but he seems to have a useful corner.

Stella, feeling impatient, grabbed Vern’s sleeve and said,

“Well then. Be friends with me too, Bern.”

“…… Friend? Miss Stella and me?”

“Uh, buddy. Chat with me too, uh…. Also, talk nonsense. Anyway, be that kind of friend. …… How is it?”

Of course, Stella didn’t say this because she wanted to be friends with Vern in the true sense of the word.

She just wanted to be her friend, hoping that she could use Cain and Vern, who she claims to be close friends with, for her own plans.

Because of his status as the second prince of the empire, Vern, who had no friends of his own age, was happy that Stella suggested that they become friends first.

“Ah, of course! Of course good. So, we’re friends from today. Miss Stella?”

“Uh, uh. Friend, friend….”

After accepting without a moment’s thought, she stretched out her right hand and shook Stella’s hand.

* * *

“…… Whoa.”

She let out the breath she had been holding in and drew the sword. At the same time, the huge body of the rock golem, which could easily exceed 5m, slowly collapsed. Eventually, it turned into blue mana and flew away.

I thought it was a real golem because I could feel the touch of her cutting vividly at her fingertips, but it turned out that she was also made with illusion magic.

She looked around her with a new appreciation. Because the rock golem’s body was so huge, there are huge holes in the cave in the aftermath of the battle.

No matter how much I was, it would have been difficult for me to stand upright like this if I had been hit head-on by a rock golem. Thinking like that makes me very suspicious of the mental state of the instructors who brought such ignorant monsters to the cave.

What would have happened if the other pair, not ours, had entered the cave first and faced the rock golem? Fortunately, I knew the original, so it’s a shame.

“Cain, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

The moment I muttered to myself, fearing that my voice might flow into the nearby magic tools for surveillance. Leah came closer and asked me.

“Yes, it’s okay…… Ah. Lia is not hurt, right?”

Oh, magic tools. She belatedly realized and changed her words, and Leah smiles.

“Yeah, but you can talk comfortably. The magic tools built into the wall were all destroyed and eaten by the rock golem. The floating thing just went out of the cave.”

“Oh, is that so?”

That’s good for you. I brushed the dirt off Leah’s shoulder and looked at the cave wall that the rock golem had torn apart.

A ray of light is leaking from inside the wall, which should have been dark. The reason is simple. Because that is the secret space of the cave that Stella and Edwin should have discovered.

“Hmm.”

Looking at it like this, the development of the original comes to mind.

In her original story, perhaps, Stella, the heroine, was abandoned by her darling, her mate, her female student? The reason for her abandonment was because of the instructions given by a female student, the head of her aristocratic group, who was jealous of Stella because she was pretty and did well in her studies.

Stella, left alone because of the tricks of an extra aristocrat whose name she doesn’t remember, struggles to earn points and then walks into a cave. As she moves forward while slaying her monsters, she encounters a rock golem, and the moment Stella feels the fear of her death at the threat of a rock golem that far exceeds her own expectations-.

[──Stella, bow your head!]

Edwin, who had been watching her from afar, came out of nowhere and struck her rock golem with her fists. Edwin’s psychological description of having a fight with a giant rock golem is so vivid that it is one of the best scenes from the original that I still remember.

Oh, I had a good feeling until then. Somehow some strange woman came out and got pregnant with Edwin’s child.

The tip of her tongue became bitter for some reason and she licked her lips, but Leah pointed at the wall the rock golem had ripped apart and tugged at my sleeve.

“Cain, look over there. Isn’t there something strange in the back where the rock golem messed up?”

“Hmm, is that so? I’m not sure.”

From the original development, this place is a place that Stella and Edwin must discover together. She pretended not to see it and tried to move on, but Leah muttered in a confident tone.

“No, that’s strange. From the inside, I can feel the strange flow of mana.”

“Strange manara. If so, could it be a trap?”

“Yeah, no. It’s not that weird feeling. I must say I feel pious about something…… ?”

The reason you feel that way is probably because there is an altar beyond where Stella will be tested for her qualifications as a ‘saint’.

I know because I’ve seen the original, but I couldn’t explain it hastily, and I couldn’t move. That’s what it’s like to win the first place in training by defeating the rock golem. Because it’s a whole different matter when we touch the link that will connect Stella and Edwin.

It is true that I do not like the development of the second half of the original work. But doesn’t that mean you can’t break the coupling from the beginning?

Well, from the beginning, when Lia and I took the first and second seats, the development would have already been twisted. Still, I think it would be better to leave the big flow undisturbed.

“Cain, let’s go inside. I wonder what’s in there.”

Lia, who had no way of knowing what I was thinking, tugged at her sleeves. The magician’s unique passion for learning seems to be boiling, and the two eyes looking at me are full of curiosity.

“…… Yes, I understand. Then let’s go together. I will take the lead.”

There’s no justification to stop it, and more than anything, it’s useless. Lia has a strong character, and when her curiosity arises, she digs to the end and finds a solution.

I’m one step ahead of Lia. I went inside, picking through the dust.

Leah, who held her hand with me, moved her steps cautiously, keeping her eyes on the panoramic view of her inner world.

“Wow…. It is very narrow.”

“We are almost there.”

As I passed through a narrow aisle wide enough for only two people, my field of vision widened. The space inside the wall was open on all sides, and a light source of unknown identity was hanging from the ceiling. The halo is a place other than where we are standing.

In other words, only the altar made of pure white marble was illuminated.

“Cain, that one in the middle. Isn’t it like an altar?”

“Yes, I think so.”

A pure white altar that makes you feel reverent just by looking at it. As described in the original.

I felt a strange sensation, like my heart was overflowing. I moved closer to the altar with Lia.

“This, it seems like something is just written. Can you read it, Cain?”

I knelt down on one knee next to Leah, who was squatting cutely.

Leah pointed with her hand to a huge tombstone with strange writing on it, but I know what it is. It’s probably a warning message from the original.

This tombstone with ancient characters, now more than half lost, was interpreted by Stella as [This altar can only be used by a man and a woman.]

According to the information described in the original work, it is actually [This front can only go forward with a pair of men and women who will only love each other.].

…… The saintess is no different from a priestess who follows God’s will with a more pious mindset than anyone else. I don’t know why the condition for her awakening as a saint is ‘love’.

Anyway, this kind of thing can only be interpreted by Stella, the archeologist’s hobby. If a swordsman like me knew about it, it would surely look strange.

“Okay. It seems to be written in old characters, but I am not sure.”

I knew everything, but I pretended not to know.

Go ahead, Leah pulled my sleeve and took a step forward.

“Ugh…. Okay? Then there is nothing you can do.”

“…… Wait a minute. Where are you going?”

“Where are you, of course, inside?”

“Wouldn’t it be a little dangerous to go inside? We don’t know what’s inside.”

“It’s okay. Doesn’t look too dangerous. What? It won’t be a big deal. So let’s go, okay?”

[From now on, only a man and a woman who will only love each other can move forward.] In other words, a man and a woman who are not planning to love cannot move forward.

So, Leah and I won’t be able to pass this way. I thought that even if we tried, the flow of the original would not be broken.

“Yes, what. Let’s go.”

Without thinking, I nodded her head and took a step. As a result.

──Tok.

It was so easy to pass in front of the tombstone.

“…… What?”