Chapter 81 : Chapter 81
Volume 2
Chapter 5 : Impossible. Absolutely Impossible!
“Hiss—”
Seeing that Professor Prang was taking things this far, Professor Gran could not help sucking in a sharp breath.
“Isn’t this a bit much? What if he really means it this time?”
“He really means it? Heh…”
Professor Prang sneered. “I have been a teacher for a full fifty years. I can tell what kind of student someone is with a single glance. Let me put it this way: unless Muen Campbell has been possessed by an evil god, he will be a worthless piece of trash for the rest of his life.”
“Well, I do agree it sounds hard to believe, but… huh? Huh huh huh? Look there—doesn’t Muen Campbell look like he’s apologizing to Ariel?” Professor Gran suddenly cried out in alarm.
“Apologizing?”
Professor Prang froze for a moment and instinctively turned his head to look.
Then he saw it, right there at the academy gates, in the middle of a tightly packed crowd of gawkers: Muen Campbell had actually lowered his noble head to Ariel.
“What kind of joke is this…”
Professor Prang thought he was hallucinating.
He had actually seen that Muen Campbell—that Muen Campbell, whose arrogance was so notorious that even the professors had all heard of it, who ran wild in the academy under the protection of his status as the Duke’s son—lower his head, admit his fault, and apologize to Ariel, the illegitimate daughter he had always looked down on and deliberately ostracized?
What had happened?
Could the world be ending any minute now?
“No, this must be an act. He must be plotting some new trick again! Hmph. If you think you can fool these fiery eyes of mine, sharpened by fifty years of experience, you are still far too green, Muen Campbell!”
Professor Prang braced both hands on the windowsill and leaned his body out the window, craning his neck as far as it would go.
A keen light of wisdom burst from his somewhat aged eyes.
You may put on an act in front of everyone, but once you reach a place where no one is watching, your true nature will naturally reveal itself!
Just wait. I will not take my eyes off you for even an instant, until I tear off that ridiculous mask of hypocrisy!
“Ah, he’s entered the school,” Professor Gran narrated helpfully.
“Oh? He picked up the trash on the ground and even set the overturned bin upright.”
“He put a fallen bird’s nest back in the tree. Those birds seem pretty close to him too.”
“He handed a handkerchief to a heartbroken girl, though she got so scared that she ran off immediately.”
“He took out a book and is reading while he walks. He’s reading incredibly fast!”
“And also…”
“He actually bowed to the statue of the founding headmaster!”
Even Professor Gran, who lived for amusement, was stunned.
“What kind of ultimate model student behavior is this? I have never seen a student bow to the statue of the founding headmaster!”
“…”
“Hm? Professor Prang?”
Noticing that the person beside him had suddenly gone silent, Professor Gran turned his head in confusion.
Only to find Professor Prang staring fixedly in Muen’s direction, petrified like a statue himself.
After a long while, he finally spoke in a dry voice.
“Forget a student. Even I have never bowed to the statue of the founding headmaster.”
“…”
Silence.
Silence was Cambridge tonight.
Muen Campbell’s behavior today was so bizarre that even the two professors, who prided themselves on having seen it all, could not recover for quite some time.
Only after Muen had entered the dormitory district and vanished from their sight did Professor Gran finally break the silence.
He looked at Professor Prang and said faintly:
“So, are you going to eat the whole desk in one bite, or tear it apart and eat it bit by bit?”
“…”
Professor Prang’s cheek twitched. He looked at his precious antique redwood desk, then at Professor Gran, whose lips were curled in that distinctive smile of someone relishing the spectacle.
After a long silence, he finally forced a sentence out through clenched teeth:
“It has only been one day. That proves nothing. I will keep a close watch on Muen Campbell, and I will prove to you that I am right.”
With that, he turned and left without looking back.
“Oho~”
Watching Professor Prang’s retreating figure gradually disappear, Professor Gran let out a whistle and muttered to himself:
“As stubborn as ever. But…”
Professor Gran turned his head toward the dormitory district, and the smile at the corner of his lips grew more and more delighted.
“I have a feeling this year is going to be very interesting indeed.”
…
“I think I accidentally kicked this statue’s head off once before, didn’t I?”
Muen looked at the statue of the white-bearded old man in front of him, tilted his head, and immediately spotted the obvious line of adhesion on its neck.
“They still haven’t noticed?”
The corner of Muen’s mouth twitched.
He truly had no idea who this statue was meant to depict.
Was it really so unloved within the academy that no one ever came to pay their respects?
As for the name on the pedestal of the statue… it had long since been covered by vines, making it impossible to read.
“No matter what, I should apologize first.”
Muen respectfully bowed to the statue before him.
“I’ll take it as a farewell to the old Muen Campbell.”
From this day on—
Read books.
Study.
Train and grow stronger.
Be a good student.
Completely cast off the fate of the blond villain.
After making that wish as well, Muen strode lightly toward the dormitory district.
…
“Dormitory 526. Muen Campbell.”
Muen first went to the dorm matron to collect his room key.
“Muen Campbell?”
The dorm matron looked at Muen with a face full of shock.
“You came this early? And you came alone?”
She still remembered Muen’s first day at the academy.
He had descended straight from the sky in a carriage pulled by a griffin, with dozens of maids trailing behind him in a vast black mass to help him tidy his room.
That sight… tsk, tsk. Even now, she still has not forgotten it.
“Everything has already been prepared, so of course I came alone.”
Muen smiled. “I’m not a child.”
“Oh, oh.”
The dorm matron was momentarily dazed by Muen’s handsome smile and hurriedly handed him the key.
“Here is your key.”
“Thank you.”
Muen dipped his head in thanks, turned around, and went upstairs.
After Muen left, the dorm matron pressed a hand to her chest, her plump cheeks slightly flushed.
“Good heavens, how is it that after just one holiday, Muen Campbell has suddenly become so charming?”
…
“I never thought I would still end up coming to the academy.”
After opening the door to his single room and looking at that familiar yet strangely unfamiliar space, Muen could not help sighing with emotion.
Originally, he had not planned to come to the academy at all. After all, not only was the protagonist Ariel here—someone who was fundamentally at odds with him—but so was Selicia, whom he had no idea how to face. The academy was also the stage where several dangerous events would unfold in the future.
For a blond villain like him, it was simply far too dangerous.
But…
Fate toyed with people—and especially with a blond villain like him.
He had no choice but to come.
Muen shut the dormitory door behind him, walked to a mirror, and took off his shirt.
His muscles were now beginning to show in clear lines.
Compared with when he had first transmigrated here, he was obviously much stronger.
But on his somewhat pale skin, strange faint lines could still be seen.
They looked like fingerprints.
Those were the marks left on him by the evil god, the King of Withering.
“So there really is no way for them to fade naturally?”
Muen raised a hand, and a wisp of crimson flame ignited in his palm.
Compared to the boundless, terrifying power he had wielded when he faced another evil god head-on earlier, however, the flame in his hand now looked far weaker.
It was probably about the same as the flame that the assassin had previously gained through sacrifice.
“It is practically like one of those shameless games that give you an amazing first-purchase trial bonus.”
Come, come, come. Just spend six yuan on your first purchase and experience a completely different kind of power.
Well? Is this power—the kind that lets you feel as if the whole world is in your grasp—impressive? Does it feel good?
What? You want more?
Then pay more!
No money?
That is fine too. You can pay with something else.
For example… your soul.
—Without even needing to think about it, Muen knew that the reason the King of Withering had not fully taken back this power was precisely because he had that intention in mind.
“How could I possibly give you what you want?”
Muen let the flame dissipate and murmured softly.
That was exactly why he had come to Saint Maria Academy.
With two evil gods watching him at once, he had no choice but to grow stronger with even greater urgency.
And perhaps, somewhere within the academy, he might find a way to completely sever his connection to the evil gods.
…
“But Muen Campbell, you really were too useless!”
Having only just resolved himself, Muen could not help clutching his head and wailing.
Of course, he was not cursing himself. He was cursing the original owner of this body.
Because all he had to do was review that empty brain a little, and he could already sense just how wildly undisciplined the original Muen’s first year had been.
On the warrior side, there was no real need to worry.
With the foundation his Duke father had already laid for him, plus the black book, even if he had wasted an entire year, Muen was confident he could catch up quickly.
But the problem was magic.
Muen Campbell, at this point, knew only one pitiful Light spell!
What kind of magic was a Light spell?
It was the ultimate simplified version of Holy Light, a spell so useless that aside from turning someone into a human-shaped lightbulb, it served no real purpose at all.
Its principle was roughly this: gather the Mana of the light element into the palm, then release it.
Simple to an absurd degree.
Yet Muen Campbell had somehow spent an entire year learning only this one spell!
His mind also contained next to no theoretical knowledge about magic.
One could easily imagine that in every magic class, this idiot was either sleeping or daydreaming.
The fact that his magic teacher had not beaten him to death was practically a miracle!
Worse still, the black book could not help Muen learn magic, because magic was not something one could master through real combat or by imitating other people’s movements.
But he could not simply choose not to learn magic.
If he wanted to sever his connection to the evil gods, then magic was probably the only path available.
As for taking the road of faith instead… Given how deeply those zealots hated evil gods, he would probably be branded a cultist, tied to a cross, and burned alive before he even made it through the doors of the Life Church.
“So in other words, the situation right now is…”
Muen looked at the magic textbooks on his desk, books that were practically as new as the day they had been bought.
He flipped through them, found that they were indeed as incomprehensible as a heavenly tome, and could not help giving a bitter smile.
“A brute with only nine intelligence has to start from scratch and learn magic?”
That was a little difficult.
But…
It was also rather interesting, was it not?
Since he had already decided not to keep rotting away, then he might as well bring out the tenacity he had honed as an office worker.
He had survived 996. Why should he fear mere magic?
Charge!
…
Once Muen had settled on the direction in which he needed to work hard, he stopped wasting time.
He spent a little effort tidying the room again.
Then he went to the dining hall and ate something simple.
On the way, he happened to run into the new students arriving to register.
Since they still did not know the name of Muen Campbell, quite a few young girls looked at him with sparkling, excited eyes.
If their parents had not been standing beside them, they probably would have rushed over to strike up a conversation.
“It seems my charm is even greater than I imagined.”
That was, of course, assuming those foul rumors stinking like a sewer were not getting in the way.
Muen stroked his chin and felt more and more certain that improving the image others had of him was an urgent necessity.
That afternoon, he returned to the dormitory once more.
After taking a bath, Muen lay down on the bed earlier than anyone else.
He closed his eyes.
He opened them again.
The familiar black space came into view.
He looked ahead, not far in front of him.
A naked man stood there, his invisible aura spreading outward like that of a beast starved for far too long.
“Have you been waiting long?”
Muen tightened his grip on the short blade, and a savage smile appeared at the corner of his lips.
“For the one hundred and ninety-seventh time, I am going to make you teach me that strange lightning move.”
The man grinned.
As if he were laughing soundlessly.
…
…
“Hey, hey, Ariel, I heard Muen Campbell apologized to you. Is it true?”
Inside Ariel’s dormitory, Lia sprawled over the edge of her bed and asked curiously.
She had just come back from outside, and it was obvious she had hurried all the way here. A fine layer of fragrant sweat still covered her forehead.
Yet she paid no attention to any of that. She only stared at Ariel, eager to get an answer as quickly as possible.
“Mhm, yes.”
Ariel kept her attention on the ancient book in her hands and nodded perfunctorily. “Muen Campbell did apologize to me.”
“So it is actually true?”
Lia cried out in surprise and could not help slapping her forehead, causing the impressive swell of her chest to bounce as well.
“I thought it was just another baseless rumor someone made up.”
“So many people saw it today. How could it just be a rumor?”
Ariel rolled her eyes.
“Really? Then is it also not a rumor that Muen Campbell tricked you into getting an abortion?”
“Of course not… wait? What did you just say?”
Ariel shot upright from the bed and stared at Lia in shock.
“Why do I feel like I just heard something utterly outrageous about an abortion?”
“Because that is what everyone outside is saying.”
Lia began counting on her fingers as she explained:
“They are saying that Muen Campbell hates you because you are his ex-girlfriend, and because you could not get over him, you chased him all the way to the academy, so he has always wanted to drive you out. The two of you supposedly had a child together, but for the sake of the Campbell family’s reputation, Muen Campbell forced you to get an abortion. They say that the reason he apologized to you is because his conscience was tormenting him over that. And while Muen Campbell was dating you, he was supposedly juggling thirteen other girls at the same time, and among them you were the strongest ship of all, so in private he called you—”
“Stop stop stop stop! That is enough! Stop right there!”
Ariel hurriedly gestured for Lia to stop, then said in disbelief:
“Where on earth did you hear all this nonsense so outrageous it has gone past outrageous?”
“Outside.”
“Outside where?”
“Among the students. Mostly the girls are spreading it.”
“How dare they spread gossip like that?”
Ariel slammed the table in fury.
“Do they really think I will not tear their mouths apart?”