I Became the Savior of the Academy’s Villains

Chapter 188

"Isella. Will you be okay?"

"... What do you mean?"

Having just told Herote they wouldn't be attending afternoon classes, Milia and Isella exited together.

On the way to the dormitory, Milia looked at Isella with a worried expression.

Isella asked back with a puzzled look, and Milia stuck out her lips.

"What do you mean? Obviously, it's about Luca."

"W-Why are you suddenly bringing up that guy's name...?"

"You said you wanted to conquer the guy! Was it a lie?"

At the word 'conquer,' Isella's face turned bright red.

"T-that, well... I mean..."

"You said you had made up your mind about him! That you wanted to fully conquer Luca and make him a reliable subordinate! Was all that passionate talk to me a lie?!"

"It wasn't... It wasn't a lie..."

As Milia pressed her, Isella took a step back and lowered her head.

"Now that I think about it again, it's a little embarrassing..."

"I think it's an embarrassing story without even having to rethink it."

Milia replied, shaking her body slightly.

Seeing Isella so embarrassed made a chill run down her spine in an odd, exhilarating way.

'I just can't wait to see Luca's reaction when he sees Isella like this—and then what Isella will do in response to that. I'm so curious!'

Her bad tastes were coming out.

Milia decided to tease Isella even more.

"Being embarrassed is one thing, but if things stay like this, you'll lose Luca."

"L-lose him? What do you mean..."

"Pasmo Thier! Luca is totally into that lady right now!"

At the mention of 'Pasmo Thier', Isella's eyes suddenly became sharp.

Milia flinched for a moment, but quickly spoke as if nothing had happened.

"It's already well-known that Luca brought her back from the Lamata Empire. And Pasmo Thier practically shows her liking for Luca in public!"

"..."

Isella's eyes were growing ever fiercer.

In turn, Milia's whispers became even more blatant.

"The two haven't gotten engaged, though."

"Then it's not too late!"

"Even if Luca chooses someone else now, you can just pass it off as a childish whim of youth."

"And that person could be you."

"You, Isella, won't ever lose out to someone like Pasmo Thier!"

The more Milia whispered, the more Isella's pupils wavered.

A few seconds of silence.

In the end, nothing came out.

"That's... well..."

Isella couldn't give a proper answer, stammering.

Seeing her acting out of character, Milia bit her lip.

'Maybe I pushed her too far?'

Isella's full name was Lysel Pandriga.

She was a member of the imperial secret weapon unit, "Night".

'Night' refers to those who inherited the power of the higher god, the God of Night.

Inheriting a god's power is generally impossible.

Therefore, those qualified by lineage are found using the divine relic 'Compass of the God of Night' and receive special training from childhood.

Of ten children who undergo training, seven die.

Of the remaining three, only one survives after competing.

The last one gains part of Night's power and takes on the name passed down for generations.

In the process, most human emotions are erased, leaving only loyalty to the royal family.

The Knight of Moonlight, Lysel Pandriga, was thus born.

Milia wanted to help such a person feel human emotions.

Sure, part of it was for her own entertainment, but more than that, she found Isella's emotions toward Luca fascinating.

Milia, who was never swayed by anything, found it amusing that Luca, for some reason, could unsettle her.

'But I guess it's still a bit difficult right now.'

Seeing Isella's reaction, it didn't seem like she would make a move any time soon.

'But it's fine. There's plenty of time.'

She said it would be fine as long as it was before an engagement, but honestly, it would be fine even after an engagement.

An engagement is just an engagement, not a marriage.

'As long as I can change her mind while at the academy, it's enough.'

It was rare for people to get married while attending the academy, and some even broke off engagements.

People's hearts change, and there was no guarantee Luca would like Pasmo forever.

'For now, I'll comfort Isella and move on to the next thing...'

While Milia was considering this and about to speak, Isella spoke first.

"What would you do, milady?"

"What? Me?"

Milia paused at Isella's unexpected question.

"If it were you, milady... Imagine seeing Ottbo Gress get along well with another lady—how would you try to change his mind?"

"I'd probably just leave him alone...?"

Milia made a reluctant expression.

But Isella's eyes were serious.

"Even if, by one in a thousand, or one in ten thousand, something like that happened and you felt jealous, what would you do?"

"..."

Milia closed her eyes at that question and imagined the situation.

Then, she groaned and made a pained expression.

"It's hard to imagine, though..."

"Milady!"

"Ah, got it. Just give me a moment."

As Isella pestered her, Milia broke out in a sweat, then took a deep breath and imagined the situation.

She stuck out her lips.

"Hmph. I see how it is."

"..."

With a strange expression, Milia opened her eyes and spoke.

"Well, the Harvest Festival is coming up soon. I'd probably ask to dance together then."

"Ask to dance together...?"

"The Harvest Festival, unlike the Founding Festival, is really for eating and drinking—it's a festival. More important than announcing achievements are the performances and the party dances. The meaning of the dance at the Founding Festival's Founding Festival is totally different."

Milia said this and flashed a sly smile.

"Stealing the spot as his first partner at his first Harvest Festival—it goes without saying what kind of effect that would have on him and on that lady."

At her words, Isella swallowed hard.

"O-oh... You really are amazing, milady. But how do I steal such an important position...?"

"Any excuse will do. If you want it, you'll do whatever it takes. If your opponent were Ottbo, you could use some work-related excuse, but for Luca, there's an even simpler way."

"A simpler way...?"

Looking at the puzzled Isella, Milia smiled brightly.

"A duel."

* * *

Squelch, squelch.

Milia puckered her lips while observing the situation.

Luca glared at her.

'So that woman is the instigator.'

There was no need to question or deduce who had incited Isella—it was obvious.

'What an annoying lady.'

Of course, Luca knew the meaning of a Harvest Festival dance partner.

And naturally, he had already decided Pasmo would be his partner.

Suddenly, something this annoying had come up.

'But still, even if she was incited, why is she acting like this all of a sudden? That's not like her.'

She seemed a bit embarrassed, so she must have known what being a dance partner at the festival meant.

But he had no idea why she was going so far.

'No matter how crazy that woman is, no way would she order something like this. She must have just nudged Isella a bit, but what's gotten into...!'

Luca flinched for a moment.

Isella – likability (10/10), lust, likability MAX mission pending.

"..."

Something... something felt off.

Luca twisted his lips as he looked at Isella.

Her eyes burned with an emotion he couldn't identify.

She seemed to have surpassed mere embarrassment and reached some new stage.

Luca felt his lips going dry.

"... Let me think about it for a moment."

"Why? Are you afraid of losing?"

Isella actually provoking him for the first time.

Luca was momentarily afraid his inner Luca Traverse would emerge, but, strangely, it was quiet.

'What... the...?'

He was confused only for a moment.

Luca promptly opened his mouth.

"I already have another appointment."

"Is it Pasmo Thier?"

"... I'm not obligated to answer that."

At Luca's words, Isella stiffened and spoke firmly.

"In that case, I've challenged the wrong person. I will go to Pasmo Thier and request a duel over your partner spot."

"?!"

Her words made Luca's gaze tremble as he stared at Milia.

Milia also looked a bit flustered.

"..."

"..."

Their eyes met.

With his eyes, Luca was saying:

'Stop her.'

Milia hadn't expected Isella would actually go directly to Pasmo, so she swallowed and whispered to Isella.

"I-Isella. Even so, that might be a bit..."

"It's fine, milady! A knight's legitimate duel won't cause you any trouble!"

"Well... Thing is, she's technically not a knight..."

Milia was about to say something Ottbo had once said to Luca.

But Isella cut in with eyes full of determination.

"Now that I've spoken, I can't take it back. As you said, milady—I'll do whatever it takes to succeed!"

"No, uh, I mean..."

– Any excuse will do. If you want it, you'll do whatever it takes.

Because she had said this, Milia couldn't bring herself to stop Isella.

She glanced at Luca.

'I can't stop her!'

Seeing her gaze, Luca sighed.

He spoke stoically.

"In the end, the one you must defeat is me. Even if you beat Pasmo, if I don't participate in the Harvest Festival, that's the end of it."

"That's..."

"And I never said I refused. If I accept your offer without saying anything to Pasmo, even though I already have an appointment, wouldn't that be rude to her? I don't know what you're thinking, but show at least some manners."

Looking directly at Isella, Luca locked eyes with her.

She faltered for a moment and then blushed.

She then bowed her head slightly.

"I-I apologize. I admit my discourtesy."

"Tsk. I'll give you an answer within a week. If you don't like the answer, do whatever you want."

Luca said this and turned away.

At that moment—

[Isella's likability MAX mission has been triggered.]

* * *

'What... What kind of nonsense is this...'

A likability MAX mission triggered at such an absurd moment.

Luca was appalled as he read the mission contents.

[Isella – likability MAX mission]

–A member of the royal secret weapon "Night": the Knight of Moonlight, Lysel Pandriga.

–Once a cruel monster without will or emotion, she is changing into a girl after meeting Brid Hernan and Milia Fille.

–Now, her life is about to change in a major way.

–At the center of it is you, Luca Melborne Traverse.

–Whatever your decision—whether you accept or refuse her offer—it will bring great change to her life.

'What does it want me to do...?'

Normally, missions would have clear objectives, but this likability MAX mission simply stated that Luca's choice would greatly affect Isella.

'I can't stand this...'

Luca immediately opened Chat-GOD.

Luca: What am I supposed to do for Isella's likability MAX mission?

GOD: Isella's likability MAX mission does not have a special achievement condition. Whether you ignore her offer, duel her, or whatever the outcome of the duel, the mission will be completed. However, your choice will greatly change Isella's life.

"What the..."

At Chat-GOD's answer, Luca closed his eyes tightly.

He could accept there was no set objective, but hearing that his actions might drastically alter Isella's future was quite a shock.

'This... This is way too much.'

He felt a huge sense of responsibility.

Did this mean, depending on his choice, she could become a villain again?

'If I ask about the outcome on Chat-GOD... Probably won't work.'

Most likely, it would reply with something like 'You don't have enough tokens' or 'That's too big an influence on the story to answer.'

No point in wasting tokens.

'So, the choice I have left is... just one.'

After some deliberation, Luca came to a conclusion.

First, he wrote a letter.

Piiik!

He whistled.

Whistle came flying.

"What is it, master?"

"Take this to her."

Luca said, tying the letter to Whistle's leg.

It was the trendiest way for young people in the Lamata Empire to send letters.

Whistle spoke in a sulky voice.

"I am not a messenger pigeon, you know..."

"... Please?"

He still hadn't gotten Pasmo's communication code, so there was no other way.

Whistle let out a sigh and flew out the window, and Luca smacked his lips as he watched her fly away.

'No matter the result, all I can do is my best so I have no regrets.'

That was the only choice he had left.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

Will Luca ask Luca for help in the duel?

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】