I Became the Savior of the Academy’s Villains Chapter 70

"Luu... caaa...!"

"Well, this is a bit unexpected."

The silver-haired, violet-eyed boy, Miros, made a disgruntled face as he looked at Kirius.

Kirius, unable to even speak properly, roamed about with murderous eyes, searching for Luca.

The 'Iron Fist' he prided himself on was exuding a sinister aura.

"Y-Young lord, shouldn't we stop him...?"

"That man—even if he doesn't look it now, he was once the strongest at the martial arts tournament. Could you stop him without transforming?"

"Well..."

Donovan wore an uncomfortable expression.

Miros stroked his chin.

"By the way, is it because I used the magic circle Mr. Martin left behind for the emotional amplification? It seems to have cast a much stronger spell than I expected."

"What if he actually kills Luca Traverse or attacks the other students...?"

Donovan was restless.

Miros paused, deep in thought, then clapped his hands.

"Oh right! We can make Luca Traverse deal with it!"

"... Excuse me?"

Donovan blinked, while Miros smiled brightly.

"Luca Traverse always has someone looking out for him, doesn't he? So if he gets attacked, that someone will handle it."

"B-But..."

"It's fine. It'd be a little disappointing if he dies, but—I mean, we said not to kill, but if he does, it's not like we'll make a big fuss over it!"

Miros spoke lightly as he slowly moved behind Kirius.

Thanks to the square magic circle on Kirius, he couldn't sense Miros approaching.

"Luca Traverse is with the Swordsmanship Department right now."

"Lu... ca...!"

At Miros' words, Kirius opened his eyes wide, ground his teeth, and started marching toward the Swordsmanship Department.

Miros, chuckling, waved his hand at Kirius's back.

"Well then, please go on a rampage, professor Kirius."

His pupils curved like a crescent moon.

"Let's make Luca Traverse feel even greater fear from us!"

Pure malice was flowing from him.

* * *

"Whew... this is exhausting."

Before the explosion could be heard,

Kryphi sat in a chair, looking tired.

Since the festival had started, this was the first time he'd taken a seat.

"My master, really. Giving me a job ill-suited to me."

Kryphi squeezed his eyes shut.

He was currently in charge of the overall Swordsmanship Department festival.

—I need to step out for a bit at the headmaster's request.

—I'm leaving the Swordsmanship Department in your care until then.

—If you don't do it right, I'll track down that disciple of yours or whatever he is, so keep that in mind.

And so, Kryphi became the acting department head of the Swordsmanship Department.

He let out another sigh.

"Haa... Being so stubborn doesn't change with age, I see."

Still, he knew being entrusted with the position meant trust; he couldn't refuse.

"You must have been quite disappointed with me when I was wandering about, but I'm grateful you trust me now... there's no need to trust me this much, though."

Unconsciously, Kryphi reached for the water bottle with alcohol inside, then stopped himself, shaking his head.

He fastened it at his waist and stretched.

"Ugh! Well, since I'm assigned, I'll do my best. Who knows? If the festival goes well, I might get a nice gift to give Luca as a reward."

Muttering to himself, Kryphi stood up from the chair.

The Swordsmanship Department's festival task force was in charge of the games section.

It was a zone prone to safety accidents, so he had to patrol diligently.

"Haa, but no matter how I think about it, it feels like I got this chore because the others didn't want to do the rounds."

He sighed again, then started to confirm whether the other teachers were patrolling properly, but suddenly stopped.

He stared at a spot.

'Such a strong murderous intent inside the academy?'

Someone wasn't even bothering to hide their intent.

He wondered why the other teachers weren't reacting.

'Wait. This energy is...'

He soon realized why the others hadn't stepped in.

They simply couldn't.

The opponent was the former champion of the martial arts tournament, after all.

'This is troubling. Should I step up when my master isn't here?'

Kryphi caressed the sword at his waist.

He felt uneasy about possibly making things worse.

No matter how much killing intent was showing, that person was still a teacher. He doubted anything terrible would happen.

'Still, somehow, I feel like I know what the problem is.'

Kryphi licked his lips.

He instinctively felt he knew what was involved.

At the same time, another emotion lingered.

'I am curious, I suppose. The champion of the martial arts tournament.'

Swordsmanship and martial arts tournaments had a traditional rivalry.

Swordsmen could enter the martial arts tournament, but only swordsmen entered the swordsmanship tournament.

Some said that, since only swordsmen gathered to determine the best, the swordsmanship tournament reigned supreme, while others argued the martial arts tournament—where the strongest of all competitors gathered—was the most prestigious.

Unfortunately, there were almost no cases where the winners of each tournament fought.

Both were soon deployed to the battlefield or royal units.

'Well, it's been a while since he retired, so he's probably not as strong as he was in his prime.'

Kryphi smirked and turned his body.

'Though that's not the main issue.'

Swoosh!

His body vanished, leaving an afterimage.

At the same time, he appeared right in front of Kirius, who was entering the Swordsmanship Department.

"Professor Kirius. Put away your killing intent."

"Lu... ca...!"

"Haha, as expected. Luca's involved, isn't he?"

If something unexplainable happened at the academy, it was almost always related to Luca.

This time was no exception.

Kryphi laughed as he drew the sword just slightly from its scabbard.

"If you don't calm down, I'll restrain you. Understood?"

"Luca...!"

Whoosh!

Kirius's form suddenly appeared right in front of Kryphi.

At the same moment, his fist shot out.

Thunk!

Kryphi calmly deflected his fist with the hilt of his sword.

Kirius lost his balance, and Kryphi didn't miss the gap—he kicked him in the stomach.

Thud!

With the sound of tearing leather, Kirius was sent flying, rolling on the floor.

Kryphi tilted his head.

"He's completely lost his reason. There's definitely a problem..."

Swoosh! Crash!

While rolling, Kirius suddenly launched himself like a cannonball, aiming a punch at Kryphi.

Kryphi instinctively blocked with the scabbard.

He was pushed slightly backward, but thankfully wasn't seriously hurt.

"Even past his prime, to have this kind of strength... I wonder how powerful he was as a champion."

Kryphi gently pushed Kirius away and retreated.

Kirius instinctively widened the gap, one arm guarding, the other ready to strike.

"This is quite a predicament. I don't like fights like this."

For someone like Kryphi who preferred selfish battles, this situation was unpleasant.

He needed to fight carefully, but the opponent could swing recklessly.

"Well, you can't always have good fights in life."

Complaining wouldn't help.

Kryphi drew his sword with a reverse grip and held the scabbard in his other hand.

"Well then, shall I practice teaching Luca how to overcome situations not in his favor?"

"Luca...!"

Bang!

Iron fist and the nightmare of the battlefield clashed.

* * *

"Haha, Luca, you really are beloved by misfortune."

A battered Kryphi laughed as he approached Luca, then suddenly collapsed to the ground.

Luca hurriedly moved to him, checking his condition.

'Luckily, no serious injuries. He just seems completely exhausted.'

The fact that Kryphi, who hardly ever got hurt during fights, was wounded meant something serious had happened.

'What is this? Was it an attack by one of Demons' minions?'

Luca ground his teeth.

If Kryphi was in this state, the opponent was no ordinary foe.

"Well, it really isn't easy trying to save people with hands that once killed."

"Sorry?"

"Professor Kirius Blavon was desperately searching for you, Luca. He seemed a little too excited, so I had to put him to sleep, which took too much strength."

Kryphi chuckled, pulled out the bottle at his waist, and drank deeply before wiping his mouth.

"Iron Fist is certainly iron. I only allowed two attacks, and still ended up this injured."

"Master..."

"Haha, but doesn't this prove it? If I had been the supervising professor, Luca, you wouldn't have gotten hurt like that."

Luca gave him a wry smile at his playful tone.

"And you can say that in this condition?"

At Luca's words, Kryphi laughed again and took another swig.

"Phew... Anyway, Luca, aren't you still in the middle of some trouble? I think I've removed your biggest threat for now."

"... I think so."

"Then hurry up and handle the rest. If the festival is completely ruined, that would be trouble for me, too."

Kryphi leaned against a nearby tree as he spoke.

He sighed, waved his hand, and said,

"I'll rest here for a bit, so go ahead. Don't worry about me."

"... Yes."

Luca gave him a slight bow and turned away.

His face was quite rigid.

"Luca..."

Ottbo, who had been hesitating, gently called out to him.

But Luca didn't answer.

'Those Demons bastards. So that's why they brought Kirius Blavon—to take out my piece.'

There may have been a slight misunderstanding, but the outcome was the same, so it wasn't a wrong assumption.

'I was supposed to save Herote for the final moment; Kryphi was my most crucial piece. Now this is a problem.'

Originally, Kryphi was meant to play a key role in his plan.

Even Whistle had called it a dangerous presence, and Kryphi was his answer to it, but things had gone awry.

'Troublesome as it is... it's an awful feeling.'

Knowing that someone got hurt protecting him was unpleasant.

Especially when it was his master, who tried to look after him and was gravely wounded for the first time.

Crunch.

A harsh sound came from his teeth.

"Lu, Luca."

Nervously, Ottbo called him again, to which Luca replied indifferently,

"Ottbo. As you know, I'm pretty ignorant about magic."

"Uh... yeah."

"So I need your help."

At this, Ottbo scratched his cheek.

"But I don't know that much either..."

"You might not know about magic, but you know a lot about the other mage families, even some pretty secret information that's not public."

"That's... true."

Ottbo showed some anxiety.

"But I'm not supposed to divulge things like that..."

"I'm not asking for classified details."

Luca twisted his lips.

"Do you know any families that study mental-type magic?"

"..."

At that, Ottbo pursed his lips.

He glanced around, then sighed.

"It's not something I know for sure... Just a rumor, really."

"Tell me which family. I won't get you in trouble, don't worry."

"... Haaa. Well, it is an emergency."

Ottbo seemed resigned.

"Actually, it's basically just one family that's doing the research. The rest are all under that main family."

"Which one?"

"This really is top secret, so don't say it anywhere. If you do, you could get caught and tortured."

Ottbo hesitated for a moment, then sighed and spoke.

"The Marquis Kisen family. There are rumors that they're doing research related to the mind."

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

Hmm, is Miros from the Kisen family?

If he is, then his arrogance will be his downfall...

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】