Chapter 317: Exposed

“That’s hardly a convincing argument. Perhaps you thought you could just bribe the professor with money? That’s the kind of idea nouveau riche like you usually come up with, and an easy misconception to fall into, LF?”

“Nouveau riche…! Are you insulting my family right now?!”

“If not, then what? Were you going to insist that Professor Dyuf ‘Vitnir’ held a grudge against your brother over the past incident and dragged you two into the Demonic Realm by force? That way, when you got hurt, people wouldn’t see it as your own doing, but would condemn Professor Dyuf instead.”

“N-no, that’s not it…!”

The elder Villain Brother quickly denied my words, but he couldn’t fully hide his momentary wavering.

Perhaps it was because he only now realized that the guide was ‘Baron Vitnir’—the very person his brother had insulted.

Or maybe it was because what I said hit the mark, and he was startled to have his plan pointed out.

Either way, this was clearly an opportunity to press him.

“Yes, now that I think about it, it was quite strange. Even setting aside the fact that there was no reason for you to enter the Demonic Realm in the first place, if you’d waited just a little longer, another Awakened professor would have come out… And yet you chose to go with someone you have a bad history with. That’s extremely suspicious.”

The gazes directed at the Villain Brothers were already unfavorable.

Now that this was brought up, it was only natural for distrust to grow and hostility to deepen.

And among those glaring at them, wasn’t Valtraus and Imperial Princess Fjodra present as well?

“I know you, Young Lord Karbaldr, disapprove of my brother! But to slander us like this without clear evidence—don’t you think that’s going too far?”

The elder Villain Brother hastily opened his mouth to claim unfairness.

I knew it too.

The evidence I presented was merely circumstantial.

But his brother had already harbored malice and showed no will to let it go, so persuading him with words was impossible.

If left alone, he would surely nurture his murderous intent and eventually harm someone.

Should I ignore the issue because no actual harm has occurred yet, only to have someone die?

Then it would be irreversible, wouldn’t it?

“Why blame me? If your brother had apologized immediately, I could have chalked it up to him regretting his actions and wanting to seek forgiveness as soon as possible, even at the risk of entering the Demonic Realm. But it was your brother who fueled suspicion by not doing so, wasn’t it?”

“But apologizing in front of commoners would damage our noble dignity…!”

“If your dignity is so fragile that it can be damaged for such a trivial reason, then it was nothing more than a worthless facade. Not even worth preserving, don’t you think?”

After saying that, I suddenly worried—the Imperial Family also disliked apologizing.

But I soon dismissed the concern.

If I were to nitpick everything like that, even stating the obvious proposition that ‘if you do wrong, you must apologize’ would have been taboo.

Moreover, reacting to my words now would imply that the Imperial Family had committed a grave wrong.

‘I don’t know how Fjodra will take what I just said…’

This contradicted the Imperial Family’s attitude of always being flawless and never erring.

Even if, by some chance, my words reached the Emperor’s ears, I figured he would just dismiss it as someone else’s story.

And it actually was something said to someone else.

“By the way, even when things have escalated to this point, your brother still hides behind your back and refuses to come out.”

“Haha…”

For the readers reading this text, let me explain: that laugh was not the elder Villain Brother forcing an awkward chuckle.

His mouth was tightly shut, and he didn’t look embarrassed either.

The laugh came not from him, but from behind his back…

‘I sense madness!’

Laughing like that in this situation was practically a signal before a sudden outburst.

And indeed it was.

“If you truly wish for me to step forward…!!”

The real villain of this chapter popped out from behind his brother and charged straight at me.

Whether it was pent-up anger finally exploding, or he was waiting for the right timing, or he thought he wouldn’t get another chance to harm me, I didn’t need to decide.

I let random thoughts flow, simply to activate the [Character Analysis] skill.

Thanks to the Confession Villain’s laugh serving as an unintentional signal, the Mental Acceleration effect was applied just in time.

Thus, I could observe his movements in detail.

In his hand was a glass bottle, its lid open.

‘He intends to splash its contents on me.’

He wouldn’t come charging like that just to splatter ordinary liquid, so it was likely poison.

Carrying such dangerous liquid was clear evidence that he had planned to harm someone.

‘I do have a Highest-grade Antidote Potion on me, but there’s no need to take a hit on purpose.’

If I did, I’d not only worry Yor, but also invite a scolding.

Reysir and Liolikin would worry about me too.

Come to think of it, Pret said he liked me, so would he worry as well?

I’m not sure about Svein, but the other main characters of the original work would probably worry too.

They all have good hearts, so even someone they’re not close with getting hurt would trouble them.

To maintain the [Character Analysis] skill, I roughly gauged the psychology of those around me while moving Aether.

If the villain had simply swung a sword, I would have hidden behind Reysir.

But I couldn’t ask him to take the hit of what seemed like a toxic liquid instead of me.

‘Actually, this works out fine. I can just deploy an Ether Barrier to block it.’

A third-rate villain couldn’t infuse a liquid with Aether to give it penetrating power.

As I thought that and reached my arm forward…

“!!”

A loud voice burst from beside me, and my body was yanked away.

The one doing it was none other than Reysir.

Due to the Mental Acceleration effect, the sound stretched and I couldn’t hear clearly, but I guessed he shouted something like “Danger!”

Reysir, holding me, turned his back to the villain, so he would be the one to take the dangerous liquid.

I had the Highest-grade Antidote Potion, and unlike his face, his back was covered by clothes, so even if it were a contact poison, it wouldn’t be too dangerous.

‘Let’s play it safe, play it safe!’

Thinking that, I released Aether to create a wide barrier—and it turned out to be a brilliant move.

Because…

‘It wasn’t poison?!’

Over Reysir’s shoulder, I saw the Ether Barrier melting away.

Startled by the sight, my train of thought broke.

Then a sizzling sound—chiiik—!—reached my ears.

Looking down, I saw the liquid splashed on the ground emitting smoke, melting grass and pebbles.

The liquid was undoubtedly a strong acid.

‘If I had just taken the hit thinking it was ordinary poison…’

A chill ran down my spine.

Reysir, who had almost been the one to get splashed, had a similar reaction.

“…Acidic solution?”

Hearing the sizzling, Reysir turned around, realized what the liquid was, and swallowed dryly.

He must have imagined what would have happened if it had hit him.

As Reysir and I stood frozen side by side,

“Dammit… You blocked it..!”

The villain burst out in frustration.

Hearing this, Fjodra snapped back to her senses and shouted,

“Professor Dyuf! Arrest them immediately!!”

“Yes…!”

Dyuf, who had been frozen in shock at the unexpected situation, responded to Fjodra’s voice and bound the Villain Brothers with sturdy tree vines.

“Drembi!! Why the hell did you throw that at the Young Lord?!”

The elder Villain Brother, having finally grasped the situation, cried out in terror.

He too was shocked by the sudden action of the one I should now call the Acid Villain instead of Confession Villain.

But…

“Doesn’t that sound a bit strange? It seems like your brother intended to throw acid at someone else, not me, and you knew about it.”

“N-no! I didn’t know anything! My brother did all this on his own!! No, he’s not even my brother anymore!!!”

“Are you trying to abandon me now?! You’re the one who gave me this and told me to wait until no one was around and throw it on Hailga’s face!”

Well, it seems the Acid Villain has decided to go all out.

No wonder he tried to splash acid on me in front of so many witnesses.

“I’ve been really disappointed in you all day, brother! You always told me to act confidently because our family’s prestige bows to no one! You said the First Prince favors you greatly and that you’re very close with Young Lord Valtraus! And yet you cower even in front of Karbaldr, who’s been called a defective product!”

The Acid Villain trembled with rage and betrayal.

“Young Lord Valtraus, I was just trying to be a cool older brother to my younger sibling—I was just showing off a little! You have a much younger sibling too, so I’m sure you understand how I feel!”

The elder Villain Brother offered that excuse, which Valtraus could never empathize with.

“Brother, let’s stop now. The Austri Ducal House won’t let our family off anyway.”

“That’s because you tried to throw acid at Young Lord Karbaldr!”

“No! Even if I hadn’t done that, Young Lord Karbaldr would have crushed me thoroughly!!”

“You provoked him! You should have taken the blame yourself, without harming me or the family!”

“Are you serious?!”

“Yes, I’m serious!!”

They sure talk a lot for being tied up in tree vines.

“You know, Karbaldr enjoys insulting, belittling, and condemning others just as much as I do… So why is that bastard born into a ducal family, while I’m just a lowly count’s son…”

As if his life was already doomed, the Acid Villain dropped the honorific ‘Young Lord’ when referring to the possession body.

Then he started muttering almost mockingly,

“Power sure is nice. Seeing the victim protect the perpetrator like this…”

“Professor Dyuf! We’ve heard enough confessions. Please silence them.”

As if he couldn’t bear to listen any longer, Reysir cut off the villain’s words.

Dyuf immediately complied, and leaves grew from the vines to cover the Villain Brothers’ mouths.

‘I know that Karbaldr did things in the past, so criticism is inevitable… But hearing it from a piece of human trash born without any history is extremely unpleasant.’

Moreover, because of what the Acid Villain just blurted out, Svein would now learn that Karbaldr had bullied Reysir.

‘I wish I had shut him up sooner…’

A sense of regret set in.