The Villains I Taught Became Heroes

I worked so hard to find her, and now you want to leech off my efforts? I tightened my embrace around Lena.

Plus, she’s the kind of girl who gets super nervous around strangers.

If you want to get close to her, start with some letters first.

After pulling the completely stiff Lena even closer, I let out a snort towards Bella.

“Wow, that’s pretty low. Can’t we teach her together?”

“Nope.”

Until she becomes a high-ranking magician, no one’s laying a finger on her.

Bella is the head of the Red Tower in the Ivory Tower. Naturally, she’s better at magic than I am.

That means she can teach better than me.

With her help, getting Lena to that high-ranking magician level might be a piece of cake.

But if you ask me whether that would help with my sage qualifications? I could only respond with a “Who knows?”

So, there’s no need to choose a dangerous path, right?

“Hmm. Then what about after she becomes a high-ranking magician? Can you teach her then?”

“Well, let’s ask Lena what she wants then.”

“Ahhhhh… T-t-teacher…”

That’s when I heard Lena’s melting voice in my arms.

I looked down, and her face was so red it looked ready to explode.

“Anyway, she’s pretty shy, so if you want to teach her, start by getting friendly.”

“Ugh. So bothersome.”

“How about you focus on teaching those under you? You already have two, right?”

From what I know, Bella’s students are pretty talented.

Having two of those? I can’t even express how envious I was last time.

“Anyway, got it. Let’s meet again later.”

Waving casually, Bella left.

Only after watching her leave did I finally loosen my hold on Lena.

Huff…!

I flopped down onto the floor.

Did I just lose my strength?

Maybe I couldn’t handle Bella’s overwhelming mana.

“Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah…”

This is serious.

She’s completely out of it.

I gently lifted Lena up.

“EEEK?!”

“We shouldn’t be just sitting here.”

“Ugh, oh. I-I’m fine. Uhh…”

“Huh? Are you okay? Want down?”

Looks like she’s got a bit of strength back?

I looked at Lena, who was in a princess carry.

Her dazed expression momentarily regained some sparkle.

“…Actually, you know what… I don’t feel so good after all…”

Then just stay still.

Carrying Lena in my arms, I headed towards the gates of Greenhild.

Since it was the place where people without any special baggage pass through, the security wasn’t too strict.

“Are you sick?”

“I’m just a little tired.”

“Oh? There’s a healing room inside, so if you want, you can check it out. Next!”

Since I wasn’t carrying anything suspicious, the security check was wrapped up quickly.

“Are you really tired? If you can’t handle it, how about visiting the healing room?”

“I-I’m fine now!”

Just as I was about to head toward the healing room, Lena shouted in a panic.

Well, if that’s the case, then down you go.

“If there aren’t any special problems, let’s head straight to the ruins.”

“Y-yeah.”

—

With a revived Lena, we headed for the ruins marked on the map.

Finding the ruins deep within the underground waterways of Greenhild wasn’t exactly easy.

“Ugh. A rat.”

“Well, it is an underground waterway.”

The good thing was, Lena didn’t seem scared of bugs or rats.

In games, you have characters with phobias of rodents and insects, but not her.

Guess it comes from living in the forest?

“Aren’t you scared of ghosts?”

“Hehehe. G-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-ghosts? Where could they be in this world~?”

“There are ghost-like monsters, you know.”

“Oh, really? That’s… s-s-surprising.”

But she didn’t seem particularly frightened.

I guess it’s true what they say—living people are the scariest?

As we chatted and navigated the underground waterways, we stumbled upon a strangely shaped door.

According to the map, this seems to be the spot.

So, where’s the key…?

Clink! Clink!

I took out the necklace and fitted it into a small slot, and the door opened.

A deep darkness loomed beyond. As Lena stared into the pitch-black void, she raised her hand.

“Light.”

When she cast the beginner spell that created light, the darkness began to lift.

“Exploring ruins is better with a party of four or more.”

“But… we’re just two…”

“I’ve got several qualifications, so…”

Having skills gained from bugs means it doesn’t count against me.

However, I might not run into someone with multiple skills again, so I need to teach her bit by bit now.

“The essential class to take when exploring ruins is a rogue. The lock-picking and trap-finding skills they have are super useful. Look over there. The floor seems a bit off, right? That’s a trap.”

“Oh. Oooooh. I see…”

“So, what do you do when you can’t bring an experienced rogue to your party?”

The world doesn’t always flow according to the textbook.

You’ve got to know some alternatives if you want to call yourself my disciple.

“…D-doesn’t it involve casting something like Magic Arrow?”

“Bingo! First, set off the trap. Go ahead.”

Lena conjured a Magic Arrow and aimed it at the trap.

With a shock, countless blades sprang up rapidly.

If someone had walked over, they’d have become skewered.

Swish…

The blades that only pierced the air slid back into the wall.

Watching this, Lena closed her eyes and thought for a moment before stretching out her hand.

“Create Water.”

A powerful current began to drench the trap.

And then came the next spell.

“Freeze.”

Shhhhhhllkk!!!

She completely froze the trap.

With the holes where the blades came out sealed tight, the trap couldn’t activate.

But she didn’t stop there. Lena cast another Magic Arrow just to double-check if the trap was still functional.

“I-I did it!!”

“Well done.”

I patted Lena’s head.

She seemed pleased, smiling widely while wriggling her body.

“Alright. Let’s keep moving!”

—

Lena was doing an unexpectedly great job exploring the ruins.

Using basic magic to disable traps was a given, and summoning Sylph to find our way with the wind was going smoothly too.

And combat was no small feat either.

Her Shadow Spear and multi-magic combo could easily blow through even simple Magic Arrows.

I can’t wait to see how formidable she’ll become when she’s a high-ranking magician.

“We’re nearing the end it seems. Thanks to you two doing better than expected, we can conquer the ruins quicker.”

“Hehehe.”

E-ehhehe.

Lena and Sylphid were scratching their heads and looking pleased.

I smiled at them before opening the door to the final chamber.

At the end of the ruins was a vast cavern.

In the center lay a long staff.

And standing as if to guard it was a golem, slowly rising.

“That’s the guardian of the ruins.”

“W-what do we do?”

“What do you mean, what? We fight it.”

“Y-yes!!”

As the golem moved, Lena readied her Magic Arrow.

She launched it, and over a hundred Magic Arrows shot toward the guardian, but…

“Eh?!”

The Magic Arrows vanished as if they were a joke.

Seeing this, Lena panicked and looked at me, and I chuckled while grabbing the hilt of my sword.

“Some guardians of the ruins have skills that nullify magic. Some of them can even nullify physical attacks.”

“O-Oh wow…”

I-I’ll try… trying!

“Uh-huh!!”

Oh, so she’s going to use her spirit power here?

A green aura began to swirl around Sylphid.

As it grew stronger, Sylphid extended her hand and powerful winds started to envelop the golem.

The winds began to gnaw away at the guardian’s structure.

Trying to escape the fierce whirlpool, but Sylphid’s winds stubbornly gnawed at various parts of the golem. Soon, cracks began to show on its legs.

“W-Wowww…!”

Just as Lena expressed her awe, the golem’s legs finally shattered.

With its mobility gone, the golem flailed, prompting Sylphid to halt the winds.

“How… how was that?”

“It was… incredible!!”

E-ehhehe…

As I watched the two holding hands and giggling, I couldn’t help but clap.

Wow, Sylphid really is a powerful spirit.

I’ve never seen anyone capture a ruin guardian like that before.

Just how strong is her spirit power, I wonder?
With that level, she might even reach the Great Spirit level!

“Is it… over now?”

“For the moment, yes. We need to shatter the core of the immobilized guardian, but that should be a simple task.”

I tossed a dagger to Lena.

Receiving it, she hesitated but then pierced the glowing core of the golem.

With that single thrust, the golem’s body collapsed. Our conquest of the ruins was complete.

“You conquered the ruins from start to finish on your own. I’m proud of you.”

“Th-thanks to you, Teacher, and Sylphid’s help, I managed!!”

“Exactly. Now that we’ve conquered the ruins, shall we go collect our reward?”

The reward from the ruins should be that staff over there.

I walked over and examined it before handing it to Lena.

“Can I… can I take this?”

“Of course.”

You’re a magician, after all. You should at least keep a staff.

“It seems… rare…”

If we talk about rarity, then of course it’s rare. It came from the ruins, after all.

I gently patted Lena’s head.

“Soon enough, you’ll be a high-ranking magician too. You need to have proper gear by then.”

“Do you… really think I can?”

I nodded at her worried question.

Within a year, I’ll make sure of it!

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