The Narrow-Eyed Villain of the Demon Academy

Echo.

An echo.

For a while, I stood where Lever had been and looked around.

The stench of stale blood seemed to permeate the prison cell.

How many years had the children spent in this place?

Lever had appealed to me by letting me smell his scent.

She wanted me to acknowledge them.

To remember her and the other children who died forgotten by everyone.

It was as if she was telling me that she and the other children had been here.

She conveyed that message to me through the pungent smell of blood and herself.

‘I will remember.’

I looked down at the spot where Lever had been.

I will remember.

That you existed.

That the other children existed.

As someone who has experienced the past firsthand, I will never forget.

How could I not know that you existed?

So I will keep you in my heart.

Those who did not appear in my work, but who clearly existed.

As their creator, I felt a lump in my throat.

Why didn't I know about them?

If I were truly God, shouldn't I know about all of my creations?

But I was neither omniscient nor omnipotent, so I could only say this.

I'm sorry I didn't know you before.

So I will remember you from now on.

I smiled at those who were no longer visible.

"I will remember you."

Did anyone hear me?

―…….

I thought I heard a voice from inside the prison cell.

It sounded like a mournful cry, but also like a word of gratitude.

Maybe it was just my imagination.

After saying goodbye to them,

Thump, thump—.

I returned to the cell where Kyle and I had been.

Kyle was looking at me with a sullen expression.

“Don’t you think it’s mean that only you got to play with Lever?”

“You’re sulking over something so trivial now?”

“Hey! I’m not sulking, I’m just feeling a little left out, you punk!”

“That’s what people usually call sulking, but…”

Kyle, who was huffing and puffing, finally seemed to realize that Lever was gone and tilted his head.

“Where’s Lever?”

“I don’t know.”

“Hey, stop messing around. Where’s Lever?”

He sounded so fierce that I thought he was going to hit me.

Oh dear.

I was just messing with him a little, but it seemed like he was actually getting angry, so I decided to explain the truth.

I told him what I had experienced in the cell where Lever had been and what Lever’s true identity was.

“A-Are you serious? So, wait. My head’s too jumbled to understand right now.”

“Feel free to ask if you have any questions.”

“Okay, then. That Lever, so the real Fron…”

“Let’s just call her Lever for now.”

“Alright, so how did Lever reveal herself? You said she was a real ghost, right?”

“Well, yes, but…”

Subtly—.

I glanced at the red dagger in my pocket.

“I think this might have had something to do with it.”

“That’s your weapon.”

“Yes, Instructor Ares gave it to me, and he said it has magical properties. I saw some dead people because of this before.”

Was it during the closing ceremony or the midterm exams? The students who had died appeared before my eyes.

They said they finally understood me.

That they would cheer me on from now on.

With smiles on their faces, they finally left me.

The red dagger had the ability to show the illusions of the dead.

However, it was difficult to say that they were mere illusions.

Considering they told me things even I didn’t know, I had to consider the possibility that they were truly the deceased.

‘…It seems to go beyond magic and border on something transcendental.’

Ares had given me a map and told me to go back to where I had first obtained the red dagger.

He suggested there might be a clue to the truth behind the red dagger there.

I had a feeling he was right, but for now, I had to focus on the matter at hand.

I opened my mouth to speak to Kyle.

“Do you understand the situation now?”

“…It’s confusing, but I get the gist. More importantly.”

Kyle let out a deep sigh.

With a look of pity, he muttered quietly.

“So Fron had something like that happen to her too, huh? Come to think of it, none of these kids have had normal pasts.”

“Everyone has a story they keep hidden in their hearts.”

“Right… You too, you seem to have a secret you can’t tell anyone, don’t you?”

“Well, I do have one.”

I’d already told one person, but still.

“Anyway.”

“I’ve made a plan for what to do next.”

“What is it?”

“We wait here for Ms. Fron for the time being.”

“...What?”

“We wait for Ms. Fron.”

I said confidently to Kyle, who looked visibly perplexed.

Kyle tilted his head, as if he couldn’t understand.

“But what about your lady? Shouldn’t we rescue Lady Rene first?”

“You only see what’s in front of you. Why would the Lust Lord go through the trouble of killing Lady Rene?”

“What are you talking about…?”

Kyle blinked, truly clueless.

Oh dear.

It seemed I had to explain things to this fool.

I said to Kyle,

“To understand what I mean, you need to know a little something about the Lust Lord.”

The Lust Lord.

She was Fron’s mother and the head of the Lust family, Laurel.

She was also a character who was destined to die at the hands of the protagonist’s party in the original story.

As we had seen earlier, she was incredibly beautiful, but there was something unsettling about her.

It was like watching someone seducing men in a red-light district.

At least, that’s how I remembered writing her in the original.

And there was a particular setting I had written to justify how easily the protagonist defeated the Seven Deadly Sins Lords…

『 Lord of Lust, Pria, collapsed with a long gash from Hamel’s sword.

In her final moments, Pria reached out a hand with tear-filled eyes.

“Please…”

Please,

Take my hand.

Her arrogant demeanor vanished, and Pria crumbled before a certain man, becoming a shy woman.

In Pria’s eyes, she saw only the image of a black-haired man.

But she never knew until her death that it was just an illusion. 』

“In short, the Lord of Lust is in love with Lord Crete.”

Adoration.

Pria was in love with Crete.

I didn’t know why or how she fell in love with him.

Maybe I wrote it down, but I couldn’t remember, just like I couldn’t remember the discarded settings.

What was certain was that Pria loved Crete, and therefore, she would never kill Rene.

However, Kyle still looked like he didn’t understand.

“But the Lord’s dead, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then isn’t it already over?”

My expression hardened for a moment.

Huh?

Wait a minute.

Come to think of it, Kyle was right.

Now that Crete was dead, Pria wouldn’t care.

Hmm.

“Should we try to find my lady and run away now?”

“What about helping Fron?”

“Haha, of course, we have to help her. Can’t I even joke around?”

I smiled and said,

“Even so, Pria won’t kill my lady.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Pria won’t accept Crete’s death. To Pria, Crete is an eternal being, and she would never kill the daughter of such a man.”

“...I don’t understand.”

“Just take my word for it. My lady won’t be in danger from Pria.”

Pria wouldn’t acknowledge Crete’s death.

Even in the original, she met her end while refusing to accept Crete’s death.

Kyle wouldn’t know any of this, so his reaction was only natural.

Kyle sighed and rubbed the space between his brows.

“Ha, fine. I’ll take your word for it.”

“You’re quick to agree.”

“Well, you’re not going to listen to me anyway. You’re right about everything. Yeah, you’re the best.”

“Oh, stop it, you’re making me blush.”

“This punk, I’m going to kill you.”

Kyle clenched and unclenched his fists.

Right.

It wouldn’t be good to provoke him any further.

Thud—.

I stopped teasing Kyle and plopped down on the floor.

“I’m going to get some sleep.”

“You’ve really become reckless, haven’t you?”

“Well, there’s nothing we can do right now. It’s better to conserve our energy.”

And when Fron arrived,

A big battle would ensue, so it was best to conserve our strength.

It was uncertain whether Fron would believe me or not.

But more importantly.

‘Can I defeat the Lord of Lust?’

Woong—.

I lay down and circulated my mana, checking my current condition.

Thanks to Fron rummaging through my body, I was in terrible shape.

I was at a pitiful level where it was questionable if I could even use half of my original power.

Moreover, the mana I was using wasn’t even mine, it was Fron’s.

‘…But even this is…’

The restrictions Fron had placed on me were so weak that they would break with the slightest exertion of power.

I could break free right now if I wanted to, but I was keeping them in place so that her Mother wouldn’t notice.

‘I’m not sure if I can defeat Pria with my own strength.’

But I didn’t think there was any way I could lose if Fron helped me.

I needed to know exactly how strong Pria was.

I didn’t think I would lose, but it was always best to be cautious.

.

.

.

.

And before long,

Someone came to the prison, looking for me.

And it was someone I was expected.

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