Chapter 27: Academy is discontinuing service(5)

It was an unfamiliar ceiling. What the hell? Had I been reincarnated into another world again?

“Oh, you’re awake?”

A woman I’d never seen before smiled at me. Was I really reincarnated?

“Ah, you haven’t seen me before? I’m the new healer. I’m also in charge of the academy’s infirmary.”

A few bits of information about the academy surfaced in my mind. Many new personnel had been added after the terrorist attack. Some were agents sent by the Empire. And Violet had said that a few of them were actually spies from hostile factions.

“I see.”

Suspicious. The information automatically came to mind as soon as I saw her. And at the same time, I realized I was still in the ropan world.

Too bad. As long as it wasn’t some grimdark apocalypse, almost anything would be better than this.

“The Sword Emperor said you need to rest for a while.”

“Ah.”

The suspicious woman, who’d identified herself as the school nurse, brought me back to reality.

“I see.”

I’d been wondering why I was here. It was all the Sword Emperor’s fault. That old man…

I’d thought it would be light training, but just before I collapsed, he was practically going all out, only holding back his aura. Was this the true power of the Sword Emperor? It felt like he knew I was a natural-born sparring partner and was enjoying beating me up. Scary. I hoped he wouldn’t develop a taste for it and summon me again.

“Still, it’s a relief you woke up quickly. There’s a faculty meeting soon. I was wondering if I should attend. Since you both seem fine, I guess I can go?”

First time I’d heard the infirmary manager was also a professor. I nodded at the smiling nurse-professor who asked if I was hurt anywhere, and then lay back down.

Judging by the light from the window, it wasn’t evening yet. And it wasn’t a scheduled meeting day, so I could legally slack off. But that turned out to be a bad decision.

“Adam Smith.”

A cold voice pierced my ears. It wasn’t a voice filled with resentment, but rather… inherently cold.

“I’d been meaning to meet you. Lucky me.”

A whirlwind of thoughts flashed through my mind. Who was this? A villain from the ropan?

It wouldn’t be surprising if someone sent an assassin to eliminate me, the one who’d helped defeat Silence. So, I opened my eyes and looked at the person who’d spoken to me.

“…”

Three thoughts came to mind. First, thankfully, it was someone I knew, or rather, someone whose face I recognized. Second, in a way, she was a villain from the ropan. And third, even if she genuinely wanted to kill me, which was unlikely, I wouldn’t die. Because…

“…Are you okay?”

“A bit… sore.”

“You look more than a bit sore.”

“Honestly… I’m in a lot of pain.”

The person who’d spoken to me was so severely injured that she looked like she needed the bed more than I did.

****

What was a main villain in a ropan?

Revolutionaries or dark mages who frequently attacked the academy? Or villains like Silence, with tragic backstories, who constantly threatened the male leads? Or perhaps the demon king, the final boss from Violet’s version of the story?

None of them.

The revolutionaries and dark mages were just plot devices to raise the affection levels of the heroine and the male leads. Main villains with tragic backstories, like Silence, were sacrifices to elevate the status of the male lead connected to their storyline. And the demon king, who appeared like a final boss, was just another potential male lead.

That’s right. Even if it was a fantasy with apocalyptic undertones, the core of a ropan was romance, not fantasy. In that sense, the true main villain of a ropan wasn’t an enemy of the male leads, who would eventually disappear anyway, but an enemy of the heroine! In short, the villainess.

And the severely injured patient before me was the true main villain of the academy arc. None other than Lorelei Jeyka, the fiancée of Prince Esid Elleras, the main male lead of the academy arc.

Normally, I would be wary of her. She was the eldest daughter of Duke Jeyka, the most prestigious noble family in the Empire, and she herself wielded considerable influence in Imperial society.

However, despite being hidden by her uniform, I could see bandages peeking out from various places. And there were minor cuts and bruises on the areas not covered by bandages. And despite her sharp, intelligent eyes, the dark circles under them, unbefitting a ducal lady, evoked a sense of protectiveness, even with her cold demeanor and voice.

And hadn’t Violet said that, despite her high noble status, she was inherently a good person? After some research, I found out that she used her immense social influence to… teach other noble ladies the joy of volunteering. The more I learned, the more I wondered if this was right.

Some useless male leads, despite their royal status, were busy learning flower arranging, infatuated with a girl. But Lorelei, the supposed villainess, had gathered her followers in her first year and established a volunteer club. She’d even negotiated with the Church officials stationed at the academy and, in collaboration with the Church, built an orphanage near the academy. And she wasn’t just funding it; she was actively involved in its operation. Given her character, she wouldn’t abandon it after graduation.

The more I saw, the less I understood. This was a villainess? Even if she turned evil later, hadn’t Violet confirmed that she remained good until the very end?

“Were you in an accident?”

Knowing all this, I couldn’t help but treat Lorelei with respect. My own charge was one of the despicable men trying to steal the fiancée of this admirable woman!

“I was experimenting with magic. Made a mistake.”

I almost teared up. Anyone else would assume it was a simple accident during a magic experiment. But hadn’t Violet said…

She was practically abandoned by her fiancé, Prince Esid, but she’s trying to win him back through honest competition, not underhanded tactics.

A ducal lady, losing her fiancé to a baroness’s daughter she’d never even heard of. And instead of sending assassins, she was trying to win him back with her own abilities. And despite being severely injured in the process, she was quietly receiving treatment in a corner of the infirmary, without any rumors spreading through the academy.

“It seems like it was a pretty serious accident. I had no idea.”

“Well, I asked them to keep it quiet. The academy is already in turmoil. I wouldn’t want to cause further anxiety among the students.”

Her awkward smile seemed to radiate light. If Daisy’s light was an active skill, then Senior Lorelei’s aura was a passive skill. Was this what it meant for a person to shine from within? I was experiencing so many new things in this ropan world.

“By the way, you said you wanted to see me earlier.”

“Ah, yes. I had a few questions for you.”

Perhaps because I’d just witnessed a truly good person, I felt like I could answer any question, as long as it wasn’t a royal secret. Honestly, I felt more favorable towards her than towards Violet, a fellow transmigrator. And personally, I liked her more than Prince Ellen.

Was this why they said it was important to live a good life? Perhaps because I myself lived like a scoundrel, I was instinctively weak to this type of person, like an evil spirit being exorcised by a priest.

“Hmm…”

However… Senior Lorelei closed her eyes for a moment, considering her question, and then asked something that completely exceeded my expectations.

“Would you be my spy?”

A truly villainess-like question.

****

“…That’s what happened.”

“I’ve seen this before. It’s a typical development when an extra gets a heroine in an extra story.”

“Stop reading so much ropan.”

Senior Lorelei accepted my request for time to consider, as if it were perfectly natural. So, I urgently summoned Violet, the original reader and ropan expert, and told her what happened in the infirmary. And her immediate response was nonsense.

“No, seriously, I have a good feeling about this.”

“I’m trying to stop an international romance, and you think I’m going to start one myself?”

If I were to have a relationship, it would be after returning to the kingdom. That was my life plan.

“Life rarely goes according to plan.”

“If you keep spouting nonsense during meetings, I’ll cut your salary.”

“No, don’t! I just bought a new staff on installment from the Magic Tower!”

This kid, she’d only been working for a short time and was already overspending.

“No, I really needed this! It’s a planned expense!”

“That’s what all car poor people say.”

“No, I used up all my curses last time! The restrictions on my curses are time and accumulation, so I need at least a year to use them properly again. The academy won’t wait that long.”

She sounded like the academy was the enemy, not the villains. But then again, the academy was constantly being breached, and the students had to resolve the situations, so in a way, it was the academy’s fault.

“So?”

“I’m still one of the top first-year mages. With some decent equipment, I can pull my weight.”

So, this expense was necessary to resolve future incidents, she argued.

“Hmm, approved.”

Since Violet would be suffering in my stead during summer break, I decided to let the salary cut slide this once.

“So, back to the main topic. Why would she ask me to be her spy?”

Such a kind young lady, suddenly taking a villainess step. Was this another consequence of the derailed original plot?

“Oh, that’s in the original story.”

Violet replied nonchalantly.

“Oh.”

I casually placed my hand on Violet’s head.

“Oh, are you going to praise me?”

“Die.”

“Owowowow!”

“That’s what you get, you little…!”

I gave her an iron claw.

“Ugh… I thought my head was going to split open.”

Violet rolled on the floor, clutching her head and wincing, but I felt no remorse.

“You should have told me this earlier.”

This kid, withholding such crucial information.

“No!”

I was about to threaten her with a real salary cut, but Violet jumped up, looking utterly indignant, and shouted.

“I said it was in the original story, not that it would happen exactly like in the original!”

“What the hell does that mean?”

To summarize: In the original story, Senior Lorelei does indeed ask someone to be her spy.

“But it’s you?”

“Of course! A character like you didn’t exist in the original!”

Come to think of it, that was true. She’d said that in the original, Prince Ellen didn’t have a supporting character by his side.

“Lorelei asking someone to be her spy was originally my role.”

The protagonist of that scene was supposed to be Violet, the ropan heroine’s friend. In other words, the ropan villainess was supposed to seduce the ropan heroine’s childhood friend!

“Why?”

“It was probably a narrative trick by the author to make Lorelei look bad.”

It gave the impression that she was trying to endanger the heroine by bribing her closest confidante. But…

“It’s nothing much. She just wants to know what Daisy is good at, what she’s confident in, and what her weaknesses are.”

She was just trying to understand her rival.

“Then why ask me to be a spy, causing misunderstandings, instead of just asking directly?”

“She probably thinks it’s a very bad thing to do.”

Since the expert judged it to be harmless, I told Senior Lorelei the next day that I would be her spy.

“Thank you. I was counting on you.”

At her smile, filled with trust, I replied awkwardly.

“We just met yesterday. What exactly were you counting on?”

“I know a lot about you.”

“Really?”

“Yes. For example…”

It was just a casual remark, but the things she started saying were completely unexpected.

“…”

After about three minutes, cold sweat started trickling down my back.

What the…? I hadn’t even used SKII in my past life. Like a SIM card being hacked, all my information had somehow been leaked.