I Became the Savior of the Academy’s Villains

Chapter 158

As the main discussion began, there was nothing more for Luca to intervene in.

It was all talk he couldn't understand anyway, and the food that kept coming out between conversations was so delicious that he didn't even feel like paying attention elsewhere.

'At this point, they should manage on their own.'

Luca thought that his job was done, just by helping to persuade Robentus.

He leisurely enjoyed the gourmet cuisine of Havok's finest restaurant.

About 1 hour and 50 minutes after Robentus had arrived, when the last dessert of the course meal was being served, the negotiations between the two also came to an end.

Robentus glanced at his wristwatch, then closed the notebook he had been writing in.

"I believe today's conversation was sufficiently worthwhile."

"As expected of the leader of the Partigel trading company. Your discernment is truly impressive."

"Miss Milia Fille is called 'Immortal' not simply because of the guard by her side. Your planning was meticulous."

The two exchanged compliments and shook hands with satisfied smiles. Robentus then stood up first.

"I apologize, but I'll be leaving now. I've created a good alibi so that my father won't find out for two hours, but one can never be too careful."

"Yes. Thank you for your hard work today!"

"Miss Milia Fille, you've worked hard as well."

And with that, Robentus left. As soon as he was gone, Milia let out a held breath.

"Phew... That was tough."

"You've worked hard, young Miss."

"Hehe. Isella, you've worked hard too."

Milia said this and then looked over at Luca, who was putting dessert into his mouth.

"Mmm... mmm..."

Luca, with an expressionless face, kept eating.

'As always, for someone who looks like that, he eats an incredible amount.'

With a doll-like face, he ate an astonishing quantity, which was somehow cute.

Milia chuckled quietly.

"Does the food suit your taste?"

"It's good enough. Though the portions are rather small."

"Th-this is small in your eyes?"

The signature of 'Ten Nights' was that it served generous portions—enough that most adult women would leave some on their plates, and even adult men would struggle to finish it all.

Yet Luca claimed the portions were a bit small. His appetite was simply astonishing.

At her reaction, Luca only wiped his lips with a napkin.

"I stopped paying attention halfway through because I couldn't understand, but the negotiations ended well, right?"

"Of course. You paved the way so well, I couldn't let things end up half-heartedly."

Looking at her confidence, Luca chuckled.

"Well, as long as things ended well. Soon you'll be able to form the force you wanted."

"Hehe. I still have a long way to go, but this is a good start."

Satisfied, Milia nodded and then bowed her head slightly toward him.

"Thank you, Luca. Thanks to you, I was able to persuade Robentus. I don't like being helped by others... but it always feels like I'm receiving help from you."

At her unfamiliar, sincere gratitude, Luca replied flatly.

"Just pay me back with interest later."

"Right. I promise."

Milia smiled as she said this. At that moment, a notification appeared.

[The 'Undying Princess' hint has been updated.]

***

[Undying Princess]

― Use Brid Seteg Hernan's fake identity, get close to Milia Fille. (○)

― Save Milia Fille and Isella from danger. (○)

― Find the root of darkness surrounding Milia Fille and Isella. (○)

― Help Milia Fille and Isella establish a force to fight against crises. (○)

― Survive until the end of the battle for the throne, after Milia Fille and Isella establish a complete force. (X)

-???

'What a shameless system.'

Looking at the updated 'Undying Princess' hint, Luca clicked his tongue.

'How much more do they want from me? Am I supposed to make her Empress at the end?'

Not only was it not finished after helping her establish a force, but he had to keep them alive until the battle for the throne was over.

The hint was absurd.

'Just what are they planning to give as a reward for all this?'

The hint was even more difficult than Albino's.

Luca was frustrated, but just sighed without voicing his discontent.

'Well, it'll end someday. Considering her personality, she's not an ordinary woman, after all.'

Now he wondered what it would take to truly remove the possibility of her becoming a villain.

'But more importantly, soon...'

Luca checked the time and realized someone would be coming soon.

Knock knock!

"Luca! Are you inside?"

"Come in."

Sure enough, a knock was immediately followed by Ottbo's voice. Luca called to him with a calm tone. Ottbo entered, looking slightly excited.

"Luca! My Rivik got a huge upgrade!"

"Is it that much?"

"Yeah! Originally—"

Just as Ottbo started to explain, he paused and tilted his head.

"Should I explain the easy version, or the hard version?"

"The first. Please."

Unlike before, when he eagerly spewed out what he knew, Ottbo was now considerate enough to ask about the difficulty of the explanation.

Luca was pleased at his growth.

"Using a technique our family couldn't use, they not only doubled the stability, but also increased the output by an average of 1.3 times across all fields!"

"A technique your family couldn't use?"

Luca gave him a puzzled look. Ottbo nodded.

"Yeah! They said they incorporated one of the yet-to-be-shared, original sorcery-type techniques."

"Hou."

"And... um..."

Clearly, there was more. Ottbo looked a little embarrassed. Luca asked in a subtle tone.

"Is there something else?"

"Well... hehe..."

With an awkward expression, Ottbo spoke.

"The thing you asked for—I succeeded."

"Hou."

Luca's eyebrow twitched. There was only one thing he could mean by 'the thing I asked you for.'

"Did you get close to Professor Srettle Magus?"

"Yeah. To be exact..."

Ottbo drew it out and then smiled brightly.

"I got accepted into Professor Srettle's project."

"Project?"

With a curious look, Luca tilted his head, and Ottbo scratched his cheek and explained.

"Yeah! It's called a training project for researchers in drive magic and aerodynamics for developing next-generation armored soldiers. I got accepted."

"Oh? So if it's a researcher training project, you're becoming a researcher?"

"Yep!"

At the phrase 'next-generation armored soldier', Luca secretly clicked his tongue.

'As expected, they're already developing it.'

Luca already knew what Srettle Magus was truly trying to make.

'Next-generation armored soldier, they say. She's actually planning to make artificial humans, not soldiers.'

Artificial humans. More precisely, artificial bodies.

She was trying to create a perfect human body.

"But, it's not a fully established project yet, so if the results aren't good, it might be cancelled."

"If it's you, you'll do well. At least in drive magic, your results are never bad."

"Hehe. Thanks."

Ottbo beamed.

"In the past, I wouldn't even have thought about joining a project like this. But thanks to you, my restriction was lifted, and after becoming first place in the Magic Department, I feel more confident."

"Lifting your restriction was just luck, but ranking first in the Magic Department wasn't. You've never given up and worked so hard until now."

Luca spoke in a flat tone, but his voice held sincerity. Ottbo responded with a sheepish grin.

"Hehe... No, seriously. If you weren't here, I probably would've given up."

"......"

"You've helped me so much, so I'll do my best to help you now! Count on me!"

Ottbo, who no longer said weak things like 'I wonder if I can help now,' showed his growth, and Luca felt a strange tickle in his gut.

"... Then you'll need more training."

"H-huh, training?"

Without realizing it, Luca spoke a bit curtly. The word 'training' startled Ottbo, but Luca continued unbothered.

"If you want to help me, you should know just how terrifying the things you'll face are. Now's not the time to be complacent just because you ranked first in the Magic Department. You need even more training."

"Th-that's..."

Ottbo knew just how terrifying the things he'd faced so far were.

And, as he'd said before, there was no one left in his year who made him think he might lose in a fight, so it was time to set his sights higher.

"... All right! I'll train!"

With a determined look, Ottbo vowed. Luca smirked.

"Good. I'll make you regret it."

"?!"

It was impossible to tell whether he wanted Ottbo to train or not.

***

"Uuugh... just kill me..."

"Now that was proper training."

Ottbo crawled back to his dorm.

Watching him, Luca grinned in satisfaction.

According to Luca Traverse's theory, anyone who cried 'save me' during training still hadn't trained enough, so Ottbo had trained to the very brink of death.

'Now he's become a decent match for battle.'

Operating an armored soldier, Ottbo now made for a worthy opponent.

Especially since Ottbo had watched Luca fight so often he understood his fighting style.

In other words, Ottbo was an ideal opponent to test new sword techniques, thanks to his experience controlling the armored soldier and understanding Luca's combat style.

'Once he gets a bit more used to this, I'll have to train him against enemies that target the pilot directly.'

With that thought, Luca went to his own bedroom—only to find Whistle sitting in the middle of the bed, looking puzzled.

"What is it, Whistle?"

Whistle, sitting on the bed bathed in moonlight, spread his faintly glowing wings and spoke.

"Master. The absorption of the demonic eye is complete."

"......!"

Whoosh!

At that instant, Whistle's body swelled in size, growing from about the size of a pigeon to almost as big as an eagle.

From her blue feathers, which resembled the sky, an unprecedented power could be felt.

'She awakened!'

Luca immediately took out his phone and opened the Skybird Growth Diary.

[Skybird Growth Diary]

[Whistle]

Species: Skybird

Growth Stage: Level 3

Usable Sky Powers: Lightning, Cloud, rain, ???, ???, ???, Space

Overall: After absorbing the demonic eye, Whistle has awakened new power!

'Rain power!'

A new sky power had been added: Rain. Luca grew excited at that.

Swish!

"?"

At that moment, Whistle's body returned to pigeon size. Stretching her wings and loosening up, she spoke wearily.

"The evolved form can unleash greater power, but it's not complete yet. I get tired."

"Hah."

After Luca expressed his awe, he put his phone away and asked:

"So what is the power of rain?"

"Rain governs destruction, regeneration, and circulation."

"Don't make me ask twice. Be clear and simple."

Luca narrowed his eyes. Sensing his anger, Whistle flinched.

"S-so... in terms of differences from the other powers, rain can heal!"

"Oh. That's not bad."

"It can heal not only the body, but even the mind. You could say it holds the power of life and renewal."

Luca didn't fully get it, but was relieved to have acquired a healing ability.

'I can restore my own body with Super Regeneration, but I was never able to help others heal.'

Now he could support his allies in emergencies, which was great.

Then Whistle spoke.

"But, master. This isn't as easy as it sounds. Like clouds, rain isn't a straightforward power."

"I don't care. Just as I've mastered clouds, I'll master rain eventually too."

He had barely grasped clouds at first, but now he wielded them almost freely.

Luca brimmed with confidence. Watching him, Whistle spoke hesitantly.

"And Master, I think you should start learning advanced techniques for the powers of sky."

"Advanced techniques?"

Intrigued, Luca tilted his head, and Whistle nodded.

"Yep. With a bit of training, you should soon be able to manifest 'celestial wings' without synchronizing with me."