Chapter 144
Chapter 144
The fourth son of the Four Great Noble Families, the Duke Kumar Family.
Evil Shen Kumar Barkus.
That was the name of the man standing before my eyes.
‘……Does he know me?’
If I looked only at that dopey-looking face, he didn’t seem like much…….
But he belonged to a rather dangerous class of villains.
It was still a distant story, but in the main episodes later on, he would become the one who commanded the new villains as their leader.
‘But…… a villain of that caliber is close to me?’
I couldn’t tell whether this was a good sign or a bad one.
On top of that, this was my first time meeting someone who supposedly knew me from long ago.
‘……If we’re close, then how close are we?’
My only friend, he said.
What was his intention? Did he mean it literally? Or was it mockery?
The fact that Villed was Shen’s friend had never once appeared in the game.
Naturally. A villain like Villed, who was abandoned early in the story—there was no reason for a game centered around Ren to ever bother with his backstory.
‘Should I speak casually? Or use honorifics?’
We were both born of high-ranking noble families.
I might be a second son without a title, but at this point in time Shen held the rank of Viscount.
Even if I spoke casually, it wasn’t as if that alone would alter the entire scenario—but considering who he was, I had to be cautious.
‘Come to think of it, Shen was a 2nd year in Finders.’
Though he had been on a leave of absence for a year.
‘……Let’s test the waters first.’
With that thought, I opened my mouth.
“Long time no see, Sir Evil Shen Kumar Barkus.”
“……?”
Shen blinked, as if doubting his ears.
“Why do you look like that? Sir Shen is my senior, so of course I should speak respectfully.”
Hearing my answer, Shen looked slightly flustered.
“Ah, is that so? I mean, what you’re saying isn’t wrong, but you don’t need to do that between us.”
Since there was a way to step back later, using honorifics first had been the correct move.
I lifted the corner of my mouth and spoke.
“Why so serious? I was joking, joking.”
“Ah. Ahaha, a joke! Sorry, I didn’t catch on.”
Shen belatedly laughed and scratched his head.
“Bill, I went to the dorm but you weren’t there. I thought maybe you got expelled, but another first-year told me you were staying in the livestock shed. So I came. I didn’t think you’d actually be living here.”
“Yeah, what else could I do. I happened to drift into a dump like this.”
“You’ve had it tough, Bill. Is this your room? Ah, you converted a storage room. Can I go in?”
“Do as you want.”
“Excuse me then.”
When I replied, Shen stepped into the storage room.
……With a short conversation, I’d gathered quite a bit of information.
Shen and I were friends—close enough that he called me by the nickname ‘Bill’.
Nicknames between high nobles were permitted only among an extremely small number of people.
‘So we’re very, very extremely close.’
It meant we might have been friends since childhood.
“Bill, I can’t believe you’re living in a place like this. Amazing.”
“At first I thought about dropping out, but I somehow got used to it.”
“Mm, you endured well. If you fail to graduate from the Academy, your father will truly explode with anger this time.”
“Yeah. That’s part of why I held on.”
Hearing my answer, Shen snorted.
Then a moment later, he turned his gaze toward the pile of straw.
“Looks like a cat sneaked in?”
“Ah, don’t—!”
At the same moment I urgently spoke, Shen swept aside the straw.
……Crouched like a cat, Lapin revealed herself.
“Ah.”
Seeing Lapin crouched, Shen gently replaced the straw back to its original position.
Then he looked at me.
“Bill, that’s more like you. Up until last year, you always had at least ten girls around you at the estate.”
My head throbbed as I heard that. Just what kind of life had Villed lived?
“I thought you’d mellowed out, but as expected, Bill—you’re the same.”
“What kind of damn misunderstanding is that. She just helps me with my work.”
“You made similar excuses last year. You never change.”
“…….”
Shen laughed, and I shut my mouth.
Well, whatever.
“So what brings you to the Academy?”
I changed the subject.
I was curious why Shen had come all the way here.
Hearing my question, Shen pulled an envelope from his pocket.
“I came to submit my return-from-leave form, and figured I’d stop by. I’m also submitting my younger siblings’ admission forms.”
“Younger siblings?”
“Wanna see? They’re the siblings I cherish most in the world.”
Shen handed me the envelope.
I checked the admission applications inside.
It was an important moment, in a way—confirming the villains who would appear next year.
‘Depending on the difficulty setting, the students who enrolled changed too.’
There were a total of five forms.
I read every name written there.
「Lu Mari, age 14」
「Mari Lu, age 14」
「Mika, age 17」
「Irene, age 16」
「Kaiel, age 15」
‘……Damn.’
The moment I saw the names and photos, my head throbbed.
Back when I’d played the game, these were the very ones who almost sent me to the hospital with sky-high blood pressure.
‘This difficulty is ridiculous.’
Each one of them was a boss-level character for their respective chapters.
And their leader…… was the very ‘Shen’ standing before me.
From this list alone, I could be certain.
‘……They’ve appeared again.’
Lunatic.
After Verdi, they hadn’t shown up until now, but this meant the appearance of Lunatic had been foreshadowed.
‘There’s still more than half a year left, so maybe I can hold out until then.’
……No, that was only if I interpreted it in the best possible way.
Because another Lunatic could appear during that remaining half-year.
‘What an absolutely cursed world.’
A ticking time bomb tightening around my neck day after day.
Including Shen, each one of them was stronger than Verdi.
The problem wasn’t simply that I had to face one.
They were monstrously strong, and whenever they fought, they always attacked as a group.
‘And they were so in sync it was like they shared a single body.’
Because of that, the difficulty skyrocketed into the realm of near-unclearable.
‘Especially Shen’s tactical command skills—completely absurd.’
In the game, clearing this arc took me half a year.
‘And in the game, I only managed to win by abusing bug-like tricks because it was impossible to beat them legitimately.’
But in this world, I couldn’t use bugs.
‘……Well, considering my ability, it is kind of like a bug.’
That was my single sliver of hope.
Even then, it was a sliver facing overwhelming despair.
Even if I maxed out the ‘Fusion Technique’ I used to defeat Verdi, there was no guarantee I’d win.
‘Right, because it’ll be like six Verdis charging me at once.’
Not easy at all.
‘……To prepare for this, mere steady growth won’t be enough. I need to grow massively.’
That winter break, I worried about what kind of ‘training’ I should do…….
High risk, high return.
I decided to grow stronger even if it meant risking my life.
Yeah. If I couldn’t grow, I was sure to die in Shen’s introduction episode.
“……How is it?”
When Shen asked, I put the application documents back into the envelope and handed it to him.
“They all look like good kids.”
When I answered, Shen broke into a goofy grin.
“As expected, Bill. You get it. They’re all good kids. And they’re all younger siblings who’ve suffered so much, so I want them to rest comfortably at the Academy. I won’t make them suffer anymore.”
After saying that, Shen continued with a slightly darker expression.
“But recently, strange incidents have been happening at the Academy…….”
“Well, nothing worth worrying about. I’m doing fine too, aren’t I.”
“Right, there’s also the Black Knight at the Academy. I suppose we can relax.”
I flinched slightly.
I didn’t expect the words ‘Black Knight’ to come out of Shen’s mouth.
“Bill, what do you think of the Black Knight?”
“…….”
Hearing that question, I fell into thought for a moment, then answered in a flat voice.
“Who knows. I’m not very interested.”
Answering definitively—good or bad—carried risks.
Playing dumb was the only answer.
After hearing my reply, Shen gave a faint smile.
“They say he saved Her Highness the Princess from the traitor Verdi. He’s a wonderful hero. Actually, my younger siblings applied to the Academy because they admired the Black Knight.”
“Is that so, though we probably won’t run into him anyway. He doesn’t show up often. Only a few people have seen him directly.”
“Still, being at the same Academy gives you a sense of pride. The younger ones want to become heroes like the Black Knight. I hope they grow into such heroes at the Academy.”
“…….”
Why was it?
Shen’s words didn’t feel like lies.
“Bill, you’re about to become a second-year senior. Next year, I’ll return to school too, and if my siblings pass the entrance exam, I’ll introduce them to you myself.”
“Sure, if they’re people you introduce, I’d like to get along with them.”
Hearing my answer, Shen looked moved, almost on the verge of tears. He didn’t actually cry, but his expression was close.
“I’m really touched, Bill.”
“…….”
I kept my mouth shut.
None of Shen’s words to me were lies.
From the moment he handed me the envelope containing his siblings’ names.
Shen cherished his siblings deeply. Even though they weren’t related to him by blood.
Yet he still handed me their list. And he even said he would introduce them personally.
He had no guard up. He spoke nothing but the truth to me.
……How much time had passed like that?
Shen left shortly after arriving here.
“Bill, it was great seeing you again. I’m glad that the place you’re living in doesn’t seem bad. I think I should get going now. See you next time.”
“…….”
To ‘confirm’ something, I reached out my hand toward Shen as he was about to leave.
If you want to shake hands, it’s polite to remove your glove.
“Hold on.”
Without even a moment’s hesitation, Shen removed his glove and took my hand.
On his palm, ‘a certain pattern’ was drawn.
‘……A brand.’
Just as I expected.
The leader of the ‘Children of the Brand.’
Even before he appeared as a full-fledged villain, he already carried this ‘mark.’
Lahan, the final boss of Part 1, was a fearsome villain, but Shen was every bit as dangerous.
He showed great favor to me, calling me his friend…….
But anyone who stood against him would be killed mercilessly.
Especially Ren.
One year later, Shen and Ren were destined to clash without fail.
“Well then.”
Shen waved to me and walked back toward the Main Building.
After seeing the ‘brand’ with my own eyes, my thoughts grew heavier.
‘Normally, he would never show that brand to anyone.’
Shen never removed his gloves. Yet he showed it to me without hesitation.
‘……Does he trust me that much?’
He showed me infinite trust.
Shen didn’t even entertain the smallest possibility that I could be his enemy.
‘Is there…… any chance I can turn Shen into an ally?’
……I recalled the events to come in the future, but the possibility seemed extremely low.
‘Shen and I had no choice but to become enemies.’
For now we were maintaining a relationship of trust, but if I tried to persuade him, he might grow suspicious and we could become enemies.
‘The Children of the Brand……. I’ll need to think about this in the long term.’
After parting with Shen, I went into the livestock shed.
When I turned my gaze toward the pile of straw in the corner, the pile was trembling.
I approached it, crouched down, and spoke.
“Hey, why are you so scared?”
“…….”
But Lapin didn’t come out of the straw pile.
I immediately understood the reason she was on guard.
‘The brand was also one of the Witch’s inventions.’
Lapin knew that instinctively. Yes. Lapin was terrified of the Witch.
‘Come to think of it, the Witch created a lot of things in this world.’
Among the countless works the Witch created, one of them was also ‘Lapin.’
I spoke toward the straw pile.
“Lapin, you can come out now.”
“No.”
It was the first time I’d seen Lapin this frightened.
Even if she spoke little, even if her expression was always blank, even if she was a girl who was clumsy at expressing emotions—
Lapin also had things she feared.
“You really can come out now.”
“……Then.”
Lapin replied in a small voice.
“Will you protect me?”
“…….”
Hearing those words, my breath stopped for a moment.
The hologram that had appeared since a month ago flickered faintly in front of my eyes even now.
Special Recruitment Quest!
Condition to recruit Lapin: Please liberate the 50 spirits living in Lapin’s heart!
Yeah.
Lapin was someone I absolutely had to—
“I’ll protect you.”
“…….”
In that moment, the trembling of the straw pile stopped.
And then…….
Rustle, rustle—.
Lapin came out from the straw pile, straw fragments stuck on her head.
She looked straight into my eyes.
“You promised.”
“Yeah, I promise.”
I brushed the straw pieces off Lapin’s head.
And just like that.
Time passed quickly before I knew it.
And then…… the Winter Festival approached.