‘There’s still a long time before the match begins!’
I clicked my tongue inwardly as I checked the time indicated by my wristwatch.
As I briefly mentioned in the previous chapter, seats weren’t assigned for Academy students.
It’s a system where you can sit freely within a designated area, and the intuitive word that sums it up is ‘first-come, first-served.’
If you’re just here to enjoy the excitement and heat of the Stadium, then seat location probably doesn’t matter much.
But Vigdis and I came here to observe others fighting, hoping to make up for our lack of experience.
Personal training can be done anytime, but opportunities to broaden your perspective are rare.
In other words, we needed to sit somewhere with a good view.
That meant arriving at the Stadium early was necessary, and waiting for a long time was inevitable.
Last night at the Academy Library, I borrowed two books—one for myself and one for Yor. I also told Vigdis in advance to bring something to read while waiting.
‘We’re not close enough to just lounge around and chat cheerfully, are we?’
Yor shook his jade orb and took out the two books he’d borrowed from the library.
Seeing this, Vigdis also took a book from her shoulder bag, but it looked like a textbook, not something for leisure reading.
Judging by the fact that she even took out writing utensils, it seemed she planned to use this time to study for the finals.
‘Can you really study in such a noisy and chaotic place…?’
Finding the answer to that question was left for later.
Because just as she was about to open her textbook, an interrupter appeared.
“Hello? Vigdis, Karbaldr. Good morning.”
He didn’t use any honorifics, addressing both Vigdis and the name of my current self in plain speech. If you were reading the lines, you might think, ‘Is Reysir Daudabina here?’ and be mistaken. But since he had breakfast with us, he had no reason to greet us like that.
“We’re in the same grade, so it’s fine to speak casually, right?”
With a fresh-looking smile plastered on his face, this brazen presence is—
The one destined to become the runner-up of this martial tournament, and the villain fated for corruption in the original story.
‘Nidhr Gramod.’
“…And if it’s not fine?”
“Hahaha! Come on, don’t be like that. I just want to get closer to you guys, that’s all.”
“‘You guys’…?”
I responded, making sure my expression showed wariness, not displeasure.
This original villain is a man steeped in superiority, and if he realizes he’s not superior, he turns dark—that’s his setting.
Treating him like an extra with arrogant disdain would be dangerous.
‘He can’t harm me now, but… He’ll be extremely dangerous later…
According to the original story, Nidhr becomes a monster.
That’s not a metaphor. I mean it literally.
It all began with his inferiority complex, becoming obsessed with proving he was stronger than the Awakened.
So, after graduating from the Academy, Nidhr went around killing only Awakened as a serial killer.
One day, a mysterious group researching ‘artificial awakening’ approached him. Nidhr, who wanted to become Awakened more than anyone, immediately accepted their experiment proposal.
‘The result… as the description “Nidhr became a monster” shows, was a spectacular failure.’
If I look down on Nidhr now, he’ll just sneer inwardly rather than get angry.
He’ll think I’m a fool who believes his father’s power is his own.
That I just don’t have the eyes to recognize his excellence.
‘He’s absolutely convinced that he’s superior to this vessel right now. That belief is what’s protecting his self-esteem!’
But this only lasts until the graduation ceremony.
By then, I’ll awaken, but Nidhr, according to the original setting, is someone who can never awaken.
He’ll no longer be able to consider himself special.
He’ll stew in the memory of being ignored by me, nurture resentment, and attempt to kill me out of malice.
‘That’s why, in the original, he tried to kill Reysir Daudabina as well, because of that belated grudge.’
After the Demonic Realm and awakening were revealed,
and after realizing that Reysir Daudabina, the survivor of the first Demonic Realm long ago, had awakened back then—
Nidhr became furious, as if Reysir Daudabina had pulled off a massive cheat in the martial tournament.
He couldn’t hide his sense of injustice, feeling that his brightest moment was stolen by an Awakened.
‘He thought Reysir Daudabina only beat him because of awakening!
Though Nidhr tried to project a laid-back, cool image, he was soaked in a sense of superiority.
Once gripped by inferiority, however, his grudges were beyond what words could describe.
He’d even harbor murderous intent over things he would have let go in the past.
‘How could I not be careful?’
As I lamented that, my Mental Acceleration skill automatically deactivated, and the future murderer opened his mouth again.
“You heard me right. I’m interested in both of you.”
“Huh?! D-does that mean you want to date both me and Karbaldr at the same time?”
・Seriously.
Nidhr looked bewildered by Vigdis’s ridiculous comment, and for some reason, I felt a bit embarrassed.
‘Well… fine. I get why she’d come to that conclusion!
Yesterday, Nidhr made comments like he regretted I was already engaged, as if he was hitting on her. She must’ve thought he made a bold decision to try to wedge himself between us. Still, most people wouldn’t come to that conclusion, so I can’t quite sympathize. But Vigdis is quirky enough that I can believe it.
“Ah… hahaha… That was a fun joke.”
“A joke?”
“There’s been a misunderstanding? And a pretty wild one at that. I just meant I wanted to be friends with you guys…”
Rather than that, he probably judged that we were good enough to be his friends and decided to ‘give us the honor’ of his company.
In the original, he would have surely looked down on Karbaldr.
Yet, for some reason, not just Vigdis but even I seem to have passed his standards. So I asked,
“Why?”
“Well, for starters, Vigdis, you’ve barely been learning swordsmanship for a year, right? And yet you’re already that skilled—it’s truly dazzling talent. I’m sure you’ll become a famous swordsman in the future.”
What Nidhr said wasn’t praise. It was a critique.
Whether Vigdis failed to notice the subtle difference, she smiled brightly and thanked him.
Simple-minded or just naive?
“And Karbaldr… To be honest, until recently, I didn’t have a good impression of you. But lately, you seem different.”
I didn’t bother to ask how I seemed different.
Villains in fiction always itch to share their thoughts and plans.
Even if I stay silent, Nidhr will keep explaining.
“You could have relied on your family’s power and lived easily without effort. But instead, you train yourself and participate in this evaluation stage, where victories and defeats are public—no easy decision.”
Again, not praise.
He thought I was a brat relying on my family’s power, but now it seemed I was more than that.
He’s saying my effort is admirable.
All from a strictly condescending viewpoint.
“And it looks like you’ve stopped bullying others, too.”
“……”
“Oh, and I heard from rumors that you discovered the Second Ether, and that its power is to make it rain? If you polish that power, you’ll be able to greatly reduce disaster damage and be praised by many.”
I see. Since Vigdis and I are likely to make names for ourselves in the future, he figured we’re worth befriending.
His standards for friendship sure are high.
Hard to tell just how highly he overestimates himself.
“How rude. You say you want to get close, but all you do is appraise our value to our faces.”
“Appraise? I’m just praising you.”
“Yeah, right.”
I can’t just press Nidhr down by status, looking down on him indiscriminately.
But since he’s the one who said something offensive first, I’m at least allowed to show my discomfort, so I furrowed my brow slightly. In response, he flashed a smile that, to the uninitiated, could be mistaken for that of a nice person.
“Still, isn’t it better than those who approach you for your family, hiding their true intentions and buttering you up?”
I wonder.
If both sides are looking down on me, isn’t it better if at least one tries to hide it and watch their words?
He seems desperate to assert he’s different from such people, but he’s got the wrong idea.
“By the way, Liolikin and Reysir Daudabina, right? I’d like to greet those two as well, but they didn’t come with you?”
It seems that I and Vigdis aren’t the only ones this villain has shortlisted as friend candidates.
Liolikin, who overcame his fears and showed promise in yesterday’s match.
Reysir Daudabina, who escaped Karbaldr’s bullying and demonstrated powerful lightning abilities, unlike the original.
Looks like he’s arbitrarily added those two to his friend candidate pool as well.
‘Since we always hang around together, maybe he thinks we’re like a lunchbox prepared just for him.
If only I could be taken out of that lunchbox side dish…
But he’s not the kind of person who’d listen if I said that.
If I let this drag on, we’ll probably end up stuck together all day once the matches begin, and that’s something I have to avoid.
Fortunately, Nidhr himself gave me an excuse to work with.
“Are you seriously asking because you don’t know?”
“Huh…? Ah! Liolikin’s scheduled to face me tomorrow, so he went to train? Well, from what I saw yesterday, his defense is decent, but his attack movements are unstable.”
I brushed my hair back and challenged him, and Nidhr gave an extremely self-centered answer.
Unfortunately, he was right.
But since I needed to achieve my goal, I had to deny it, so I let out a frustrated sigh.
“Wrong. He left to avoid interrupting our date.”
As I spoke, I tightly grabbed Vigdis’s hand.
To let her know not to carelessly deny my words and complicate things further.
She exclaimed, “Ah!” in brief surprise, but soon nodded, agreeing with me.
Apparently, Nidhr made her uncomfortable as well.
“So, don’t go ruining someone’s date out of cluelessness. Why don’t you look for friends elsewhere?”
“Ah… I see… I picked the wrong time to come, didn’t I?”
“If you get it, go already. Before my fiancée starts misunderstanding you again.”
“Eek! Well, see you later, then.”
Was he that shocked by the idea of trying to woo two engaged people at once?
Instead of making excuses and sticking around, Nidhr hurriedly got up and left.
I watched the original villain’s retreating figure until he found a seat far away.
Only then did I finally let go of my soon-to-be-ex fiancée’s hand.