How to Redeem a Trashy Side Villain

Chapter 110: Run Run Run

[Headmistress Catherine]

"Did you really give that boy the demon core?"

"Yeah," I answered.

"Why? Shouldn't it be destroyed? Although there's no known danger other than consuming the core, don't you think that anything that comes from a demon should be destroyed?"

"It was his request. He asked if he could have it and as the person who slayed the demon and is now carrying the burden of the curse on their chest, who am I to tell him no?"

I was currently in a council meeting with some power figures.

To say that these people were the strongest in the city wouldn't be inaccurate.

Bell's father, Barry Agnus, was one of the members present in the room.

This council was formed after the day the demon attacked. It was an idea proposed by myself and Barry Agnus who had funded everything the academy needed to repair, which included compensating the families who lost people in the attack.

No amount of money could make up for their loss, but it was a gesture that I felt we needed to do regardless.

He was seated at the very top of the table.

Back when I still misunderstood Bell's actions after he committed a heinous crime against another student, one of my teachers asked me, if it came down to it, would I be able to defeat Barry, the Duke?

I had answered yes.

But now that I'm sitting here in front of him, I'm not sure.

I had been on the battlefield with him once, around twenty years ago. That was back when he was still a youthful, prideful young man who just recently had a son.

He was already powerful then and was a prodigy, but I didn't expect him to grow this fast.

He finally spoke, "Enough. If my son wants the demon core, it's for a good reason. After all, hasn't he already killed two demons and freed a city from the reins of a crazy Count?"

Everyone went silent.

"We're not here to discuss my son or pressure the Headmistress about her decision. We're here to discuss the future of mankind."

"That's right," the captain of the First Order said.

Those two men seemed to have a close relationship, which I could only assume was because the oldest Agnus son was a member of the First Order.

"The demon king is returning and he chose the academy of all places to announce it."

"That must mean that the academy, and this city… will be one of the first places that he attacks."

❖ ❖ ❖

[Bell]

Quentin said to the four of us, "We're heading to a dungeon. Follow me."

We exchange a quick glance before following him outside.

Then once we were out, he stopped and with an evil grin, he said, "And we'll be reaching our destination by running."

"...R-Running?" Sarakit repeated.

Before we could process what he said, he had already taken a single step and was dozens of meters away from us.

"Come on, slowpokes. Catch up," he said, taking another step. "And I better not catch any of you using mana! Just run as fast as you can naturally! No potions either!"

"...What?" Merlin muttered.

That was everything Quentin had to say as he took off.

He wasn't sprinting. He wasn't jogging. He wasn't even speedwalking. He was simply walking but with each strike, it forced us to move as fast as we could or else we would be left behind.

We ran.

The moment my feet hit the pavement, I knew what he was doing.

He was trying to work out our raw stamina and muscle, forcing them to strain so that once we were tossed into the dungeon, beating the monsters would be even harder.

How is it that he manages to pick up so many girls? His personality is terrible.

Sarakit struggled almost instantly.

Her breathing grew uneven and the potion bottles in her bag were clinking. I was worried that some of them might spill and mix, creating an explosion, but seeing as she wasn't worried, I chose to do the same.

It made sense why she was having a hard time. 90 percent of her day was spent making potions and trying to solve equations that no one had solved in alchemy before.

Merlin wasn't much better.

In fact, he was in even worse shape than Sarakit.

His limbs were so thin that it felt like one strong breeze could snap them. Within a few minutes of running, his stride had already become awkward and unbalanced.

"W-What…!" Merlin gasped.

Turning around, Quentin took a step backward and was a dozen more meters away than before. "Waiting can get you killed out there. You don't wait. You do."

Arthurr, on the other hand, looked fine.

Running smoothly, taking efficient steps that used as little energy as possible, he looked like someone who had spent the first sixteen years of his life chasing prey through forests and uneven terrain.

He had total control of his breathing, and his eyes remained forward.

He looked focused.

As for me, well, I matched Quentin's pace quite easily.

I'd already been put through hell by him once before. This was nothing in comparison to some of the things he made me do.

Out of the academy campus, as we entered the city streets, people began staring.

Heads turned, even those who were inside their cars.

Conversations stopped halfway and shopkeepers leaned out of their windows.

Those who were in the way stepped elsewhere instinctively.

"Are those the students of the academy?"

"Why are they running so fast?"

"What do you think they're doing?"

At one point, Merlin stumbled, nearly face-planting into the stone road.

Arthurr had reached forward, but I was the one who caught him as I was a step faster than him. Without slowing down, I shoved him upright.

After thinking it over for a second, I said something that you'd only hear from a true noble hero who is selfless, aka everything I am not, "Drop your bag."

"I… No. I can't—"

Even though he didn't want to burden me, I pulled it off him anyway and slung it over my shoulder.

A minute later, Sarakit nearly tripped over a raised stone but caught herself at the last second.

I ended up taking her bag as well.

"Bell," she protested weakly.

"It's okay. I got it. Just focus on running you two," I said, already adjusting the weight of all three bags I was carrying.

Arthurr offered to take one, but I declined.

Whenever we came across a crossroad that was at a red light, we didn't stop. We just jumped over traffic and landed on the other side.

Behind us, Merlin's breathing was still ragged but without the burden of the extra weight, he was able to keep moving.

Sarakit also had an easier time. Her knees still shook with every step but she was determined to keep up.

Quentin glanced back at us and said, "It's good to see you four still aren't dead."

That was his version of what a genuine compliment was.

We kept running and running regardless of how narrow the streets were or how large the crowd was.

The team was starting to fatigue, some more than ever, but Quentin never slowed down.

.

.

.

It must've been an hour later. I wasn't exactly sure.

But that's how roughly long we had been running.

Sarakit was at her limit.

Her steps had lost rhythm and each breath was followed by a sharp and broken gasp. Sweat had soaked through her uniform, which was stripped down to only the shirt and her skirt. Her jacket was in her hands.

Her hands were trembling so badly that if she were to brew a potion right then and there, she might create an explosion so large that the entire city would be affected.

Merlin was worse. Much… much worse.

Every few strides, his legs wobbled like jelly.

His knees were threatening to buckle and Arthurr had to run behind him, pushing him gently on the back just to keep him from collapsing.

His face had gone so pale that he was basically a ghost.

His arms hung unnaturally stiff at his sides as if his body had forgotten how to swing them properly while running.

"Teacher… Q-Quentin," he wheezed, "...I… I think—"

"Stop thinking," Quentin responded flatly, cutting him off. "Stop thinking and keep running. Your legs should be the only ones with any thought at this moment."

Even Arthurr was starting to feel the effects.

Although his breathing was still controlled, lines of sweat were streaking down his temples.

Every step had been perfectly efficient before, but now, there was a mistake every other one.

As for me, well, I could also feel it.

There was this burn that had spread through my calves and thighs, the kind that didn't go away easily even after you stopped running, unless you used healing magic or a potion to recover.

My lungs felt heavier; they hadn't fallen off yet, they were just complaining.

That's when Quentin came to a stop without any warning. I nearly ran into his body and Sarakit ran into mine.

I could feel her body press against mine with a clash before she fell backwards.

Merlin stumbled but was caught by Arthurr.

Where were we? We were in the middle of the city and were standing in a narrow street that was boxed in by a bunch of tall buildings. It was much quieter here compared to the main roads.

Are we at the dungeon?

Dungeons weren't some sort of portal as you would see in modern hunting novels and manhwas.

It also wasn't the older kind of dungeon where they were always set up in a place like a cave.

Dungeons could be anywhere in this world. Which included a giant building that you wouldn't suspect was home to a dungeon until you went inside.

As I took a few breaths to regulate my heartbeats, I began doing the math inside my head.

All the turns, the path that we ran in. It was a lot of detours. Many loops.

The trip he made us take was five times longer than it had to be.

Slowly, I turned my head to Quentin, who seemed proud of what he just made us do.

I wasn't the only one who realized this "fun fact".

Sarakit realized it too and her eyes narrowed, exhaustion barely able to mask the glare that she shot in his direction.

Merlin, even as he was hunched over with his hands grasped firmly onto his knees, lifted his head just enough to look at Quentin like a monster.

Only Arthurr looked confused.

"Are we here?" he asked, not realizing what Quentin had just done. "This doesn't look like a dungeon."

Stretching his neck lazily, Quentin replied, "Yep. Here we are team. Tadah!"

I said, "You made us take the long way."

Quentin didn't answer me. He didn't even look at us and pretended not to notice the two people glaring at him with death lasers burning into the side of his head.

"That's… cruel," Sarakit muttered between her breaths.

Merlin didn't speak. He didn't have the energy to speak and looked too tired to express how betrayed he felt.

Quentin told us, "Dungeon is inside here," and walked toward the building.

We followed him in a daze. Two of us dragging their feet.

The interior looked nothing like a dungeon entrance. Just a quiet lobby, a white-tiled floor, and a counter at the front.

A middle-aged man sat behind the counter, reading something.

Quentin walked up and placed a slip of paper in front of him.

The man picked it up and glanced at it once. Then twice.

His posture straightened immediately.

"…Understood," he said, standing up and opening a reinforced door behind the counter.

Beyond it was darkness. The dungeon that we would be hunting in.

Quentin turned to us and said, "Alright."

Then, without warning, he grabbed us all at once.

Sarakit tried to resist but was unable to escape, even though he only had one arm.

"Wait—!" she yelped.

Merlin screamed.

Arthurr didn't say anything.

I had already expected the unexpected, so this didn't surprise me.

And with one single motion, Quentin threw the four of us into the dungeon.