I Became the Savior of the Academy’s Villains

Chapter 171

"I was originally going to fly on the bed, land using flight magic, then switch to the auto-carriage. But if you're here, Luca, I think it'll be better to just take the auto-carriage right away!"

"... The first option sounds a bit more fun."

"That's true, but actually it was a bit vague. How far could I make the bed fly with an explosion that's strong enough that the bed and I both wouldn't get hurt or have my protection spells break? It was a little tricky to calculate that."

Even using only Ottbo's own weight as a baseline, it was already difficult; if you added Luca and Bella, it would be much harder to generate an explosion just strong enough for all three to fly safely without damaging the bed. The gap between romance and reality made Luca click his tongue.

"That's a shame."

"Instead, I'll make a bed for that purpose next time!"

"A bed for that purpose, really...?"

At Ottbo's ridiculous words, Luca first made a sour face, then let out a quick laugh and rolled his wrist.

"Fine. I'll look forward to that day."

"Then wait just a sec!"

Vmm! Vmm! Vmm!

Ottbo quickly used magic to clean up the room.

Luca glanced around Ottbo's room.

He wondered just how Ottbo would pull out an auto-carriage in his room, but if it was Ottbo, it seemed more than possible.

The room was at least twice the size of Luca's bedroom.

He thought about it again when he flew into the mansion not long ago, but it was far larger than the Traverse family's.

Reading Luca's gaze, Bella cleared her throat and spoke up.

"Ahem. Master. I've said this before, but the Traverse family isn't poor—this Gress family is just extremely wealthy."

"... I didn't say anything."

"You basically spoke with your eyes."

At her words, Luca smacked his lips.

Just then, Ottbo finished preparing.

Shoom!

"You can get in now!"

Ottbo's auto-carriage, carivik, appeared in the center of the room.

Luca opened the passenger seat door and glanced at Bella, who looked like she would get in with him.

"..."

"It could be dangerous, so this Bella will..."

"It's sturdier than last time. No need."

Clack!

Luca, speaking nonchalantly, entered the passenger seat and closed the door.

Bella scratched her cheek and got in the back.

With everyone aboard, Ottbo said, a bit excited,

"Everyone, fasten your seatbelts tight! It's going to be a bumpy ride!"

"How far should I keep the road of clouds going?"

"As long as it's outside the mansion fence, anywhere is fine! I'll take care of the rest!"

VROOOOM!

With that, the engine roared to life.

Ottbo raised one hand, forming a magic circle, and shouted,

"Then let's go!"

Boom!

At the same time, the explosion magic planted in the wall was triggered.

The wall exploded, smoke and debris flying everywhere.

The auto-carriage was unaffected, thanks to protection magic engraved on its chassis and Luca's cloud.

Vmmm!

Ottbo's Carivik burst out through the smoke and debris.

It momentarily floated in midair but immediately landed on the newly formed road of clouds, speeding quickly beyond the fence.

'It's faster than I thought.'

Luca broke into a sweat.

Carivik was a lot faster than he expected, and he almost lagged behind in making the road of clouds.

"Wahoo!"

Ottbo, as thrilled as he was racing through the southern regions, cheered with excitement.

Proportionally to his excitement, carivik sped up even more.

Luca, sitting beside him, grinned at the blurry scenery whizzing past.

"This is it."

"What?"

"Nothing."

It only really felt like riding an auto-carriage at this kind of speed.

"But do you know the way?"

"Of course! I've got the whole layout of the Gress territory memorized!"

"Huh. What about the route to the Traverse territory?"

At Luca's words, Ottbo paused momentarily, then yelled,

"Show me the map!"

"Bella. The map."

Bella quickly handed over the map. Luca scanned over it and said,

"We should stop somewhere around here..."

"Show me!"

"?"

Luca glanced at Ottbo as if to say, what do you mean, show you?

He wondered how Ottbo could possibly look at the map while speeding like this.

"Hurry up! Show me, quick!"

Ottbo kept his eyes on Luca, driving at the same time.

Luca, a bit incredulous, said,

"Shouldn't you watch the road while you drive?"

"I have the route memorized! I can look away for a bit—quick!"

"Haaa..."

Luca sighed and handed him the map anyway.

Ottbo's eyes traced the map at lightning speed.

"... Got it!"

"You got it...?"

With those words, Ottbo turned his gaze forward again.

Luca made a sour face.

"Before the break, I checked how to get to your house if I ever needed to return to the Gress territory! I've memorized it, so if I just look at the map once, I can recall it perfectly!"

"Haaa..."

Ottbo started performing literal feats.

Luca could only sigh.

"I'll get us to the Traverse territory before the night is over!"

"Huh. I'm looking forward to it."

Seeing Ottbo all fired up, Luca grinned.

There was no one more reliable than Ottbo when riding in an auto-carriage.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

"?!"

Then, suddenly, bombardment flew toward the auto-carriage.

Screech! Screech! Screeeech!

"Ha! You can't hit me!"

Ottbo dodged every shot with godlike reflexes.

He was shouting with confidence when a giant armored soldier suddenly blocked their path, making him gasp and swerve the wheel.

Whoosh! Thud!

The auto-carriage performed an aerial somersault just as it had shown last time.

They dodged the armored soldier up front, but suddenly they were surrounded by even more.

"Ah... that model..."

Seeing those armored soldiers, Ottbo stiffened.

Luca unbuckled his belt and said,

"Looks like we can't just break through these."

"... Those are really strong models."

"That makes it worth fighting."

With those words, Luca got out of the auto-carriage.

He loosened his shoulders as he looked at the armored soldiers surrounding them.

"Let's see how impressive the Gress family's technology really is."

"... Hmm?"

Just then, someone stepped out from among the armored soldiers.

He had red hair like Ottbo, but wore glasses and seemed more scholarly—a man.

It was Ferka Gress.

"Why... why is the Traverse family's second son here...?"

He looked at Luca with a puzzled expression.

* * *

"Catch that brat! Right now!"

Cronine Gress was raging at Ottbo's great escape.

"D-dear, please calm down..."

"Do I look calm to you? That insolent brat dares to run away? After smashing up the mansion?"

"..."

Cronine Gress was in utter shock from his son's brazen act.

"If we leave that troublemaker alone, he'll stain the honor of the Gress family for sure! I need to place a powerful restriction that will completely seal off his sense of self! Make him live in service to the family!"

"..."

"I'll bring him back."

Then Ferka spoke up.

Ferka, with a slightly tired look in his eyes.

Cronine Gress glared at him.

"I told you to stick to copying mana formulas."

"I think it's a brother's duty to correct his younger brother's mistakes."

"Hmph..."

Cronine Gress gazed at Ferka with interest, then took something out from his spatial bag and handed it to him.

It was an armored controller.

"There are five GX-13 armored soldiers inside this armored controller. Can you handle it?"

"..."

Clack.

Ferka strapped on the armored controller and flicked his finger.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh—Clank!

Five armored soldiers were summoned at once and moved in perfect sync.

Seeing this, Cronine Gress smirked.

"As expected, excellent. Good. Go and correct your brother's mistake."

"Yes, father."

Ferka soared into the sky with the five armored soldiers, heading in the direction Ottbo had fled.

A complex light flashed in Ferka's eyes as he flew.

'Ottbo...'

As fast as Ottbo's auto-carriage was, it couldn't outpace the speed of the GX-13s, the pride of the Gress family's technology.

In an instant, Ferka caught up with him.

Clack.

Ferka flicked the armored controller.

Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The armored soldiers fired bombardments.

The blasts just narrowly missed the auto-carriage, but managed to bring it to a stop.

Screech! Screech! Screeeech!

"?"

Yet Ottbo's Carivik dodged the shots completely with those godlike moves.

Ferka grimaced at Ottbo's antics, then rearranged the armored soldiers to surround Carivik.

Whoosh! Thud!

"?!"

He gawked as the auto-carriage dodged one armored soldier by somersaulting through the air—but it wasn't important right now.

'...'

Ferka stared at the stopped auto-carriage with a complicated expression, then his eyes went wide as he recognized someone climbing out.

'That hair color... and that face...?'

The notorious troublemaker at school, Luca Traverse.

At Hernan Academy, there was no one who didn't know the boy with unique dark green hair, vividly clear lake-colored eyes, and a doll-like face crafted by a master.

Faced with Luca, Ferka looked utterly confused.

"Why... why is the Traverse family's second son here...?"

Because Luca stood out so much, few people ever noticed Ottbo was always with him.

So Ferka had no idea that Ottbo and Luca were close.

'No way...'

Fierce suspicion creased Ferka's eyes.

He thought maybe Ottbo's rebellion had started with Luca.

"Ottbo. Is that your family?"

Luca got the sense the man was related to Ottbo and asked, just in case.

At that, Ottbo also climbed out of Carivik and replied blandly,

"Yeah. He's my big brother."

"Huh."

At the word "big brother", Luca smacked his lips.

He felt a bit awkward prying into family matters.

"Oh my... it really is Ferka Gress."

After Bella got off, Ottbo put Carivik back into his bracelet and spoke.

"Big brother. I guess you can't just let us go?"

"... If you come back now, I'll find a way to keep you from being restricted."

Ferka said it with a bitter expression.

Ottbo smiled brightly at that.

"You know that's impossible. If I go back, I'll end up under even worse restrictions."

"..."

"I'm leaving the Gress family now. I don't care if I'm disowned. Thank you for everything up to now."

Clack.

Ottbo pulled out his own armored controller.

Whoosh!

"!"

Ottbo's Rivik made its appearance.

But it was not the lightweight armored soldier it once was.

"After a lot of improvements from Professor Srettle Magus and the academy engineers, this is my new Rivik. Cool, huh?"

Its body was now more than twice as big as before.

It was more human-shaped, its joints smoothed out so it moved with greater agility.

Its output was incomparable to before.

Ottbo wore an expression of pride.

Ferka, seeing him, looked bitter.

"Even so, do you think you can beat the Gress family's strongest models?"

Clack clack clack.

At those words, the GX-13s all drew their cannons at once.

The magic energy radiating from them was tremendous.

"Tsk. I'd like to leave this to you, but if we drag this out, reinforcements might arrive. I'll help."

"... Alright."

Luca was briefly tempted to pull back from the brothers' confrontation, but the power coming from the GX-13s was unsettling.

He thought he finally understood why armored soldiers had such an impact during the Aldnoa War.

'I may need to synchronize if it comes to it.'

Just as he was about to bring forth the power of lightning, Luca paused.

'This energy...?'

As Luca hesitated, something leaped out from the darkness.

Fwish! Thump!

Someone, with a black cape billowing behind, flipped through the air, then landed elegantly in their midst.

He slowly straightened and swept his gaze over everyone.

"...?"

"?"

Everyone had question marks above their heads.

By the faint moonlight, his appearance was gradually revealed.

"... A mask?"

A man wearing a black fedora, cloak, and a mask.

As the others stood dumbfounded, he drew a sword and assumed a formal stance.

"It's a fine night, gentlemen."

The masked swordsman had arrived.