The Villain Reborn as Game's Final Boss

Chapter 257: Return [3]

Walking to the class, I could feel several gazes on me, though I chose not to return them.

Arthur had humiliated the Frosts in the most unique way possible, making people curious about the reaction that I would have.

Though the defeat wasn’t a major one, it was there.

One of the powerhouses in the world had their troops subdued, without the soldiers being able to resist in the slightest.

Coupled with that was the fact of the authorities accompanying the troops being defeated in a similar manner.

Two Diamond cores... and all that they could achieve was to sleep peacefully in the middle of the street after being defeated.

No injuries were sustained by either force, and even the infrastructure of the street was intact.

Haa...

Though Arthur had said that he wouldn’t kill anyone... maybe killing them would have been a mercy for those poor souls, instead of letting them live with such humiliation tied to their name.

My thoughts were soon interrupted as I noticed the signboard of the class.

Loosening my neck once, I stepped in, and—

Silence.

All heads turned in my direction, as if they were directed by some strings attached to their bodies.

Though I managed to keep a neutral expression... such attention was now becoming a little hassle for me.

As I began walking towards the desks at the back of the class, my eyes involuntarily moved to scan for all the people that were currently present in the room, and—

As expected, Diana wasn’t present at her usual seat.

Just as I moved my gaze a little, I had to stop for a moment, as Alicia’s eyes met mine.

Though her expression looked like she wanted to say something, I chose not to continue the staring contest.

If she wanted to say something, she could directly approach me.

And—

Maybe I should have maintained my eye contact with Alicia, as the moment I turned my head a little, a very unpleasant face appeared in my view.

Noah had been staring at me from the start, but maybe the moment I returned his gaze, the guy had narrowed his eyes... like I was the one who had initiated the act.

Now, I really didn’t want anything to do with these fools, but—

Maybe all the slaughter in the recent days had taken away a part of my sanity.

I changed my direction midway, heading towards where Noah sat along with the Frost siblings.

My actions seemed to have surprised them, and even the rest of the class, who had now grown to understand the conflict between us up to some extent.

And everything could be credited to my fight with Victoria, which had made it clear to everyone that the rumours around me leaving the house weren’t unfounded.

John, seeing my change in direction, got the message as he distanced himself from me, before walking towards where his friends usually sat.

Standing before the long desk, I looked at Alicia, who sat at the end of the desk which was closer to me, while Kevin was in the middle with Noah being on the extreme right of the desk, sitting just near the window.

Though Alicia was surprised at first, she didn’t shy away from meeting my gaze.

The silence extended for a while before—

"Move."

I uttered the words that relayed my intentions.

"Huh?"

But it wasn’t Alicia that replied, but her not-so-pleasant brother Kevin, who looked ready to have a fight with me.

"Don’t you have another place to sit? Diana isn’t here, and no one had invited you—"

"Diana used to sit here."

At my words, Kevin appeared a little confused, though he managed a small nod.

"Then I see no need to take your permission."

"..."

Kevin’s face had blanked out, and he was not the only one.

Noah too was confused by my sudden change in attitude.

Normally, I would avoid mingling with them at all costs, but here I was, demanding my... rightful place.

"He’s right."

Hm?

Alicia shifted to the right, making enough space for me to sit down.

Though I found the sudden acceptance a little out of character for her, I didn’t dwell on the matter for long.

Without thinking much, I removed my backpack before placing it at the side of the desk, and then—made myself comfortable at a place, which was not too enjoyable for me.

As for why I did it?

Well... after all my talks with the headmaster, Antra, and the events that I had been engaged in during the recent days had made me realise something important.

There was no need to be strict in my plans.

I had to keep everything flexible so as to be able to accommodate all variables.

"Where is Diana?"

Though I had an idea of the situation, making myself look ignorant of it would suit the current scenario in a better way.

"Why do you even care about her?"

I had asked the question to Alicia, but someone else beat her to the answer.

"I don’t remember asking you to speak."

"What—"

"She is at the royal palace."

Alicia interrupted Kevin, making him silent within a second.

"Why?"

I had to be natural in my approach.

Tilting my head slightly, I looked in Alicia’s direction, only to see her looking back at me.

There was a long silence as none of us spoke.

Kevin and Noah too had gone silent, letting Alicia take the spotlight without any reservations.

Good for them... after all there was a limit to how much I could tolerate their... stupidity, without having to break a bone or two.

"Her cousin... he was killed in the recent attacks."

Alicia’s voice trembled at the end, as if it was her own cousin.

But maybe... Alicia too had been close to him.

For the facts, the boy wasn’t Diana’s real cousin.

He was just the son of the so-called blood brother of the emperor... some merchant named Innail Belgreth.

Though killing his son wasn’t one of the motives of the attack, Julien had later informed me of all the people that had ultimately been killed, and that was when we discovered that the eldest child of House Belgreth was killed in the attack.

Though the kid’s death wasn’t intentional on my part... lady luck seemed to be happy with me, as a perfect opportunity came at my doorstep.

"Diana had a cousin?"

I asked with a slightly raised voice.

After all, I should have been surprised by the unexpected piece of news.

Alicia, expecting such a reply, simply shook her head.

"Allan wasn’t Diana’s real cousin. Diana’s father had declared Innail Belgreth as his blood brother, so that made the kid Diana’s cousin."

Alicia, uttering the words, raised her head to meet my eyes, but I had already shifted my gaze to the front in the natural flow of events.

After all, Kael shouldn’t be concerned about the death of some random kid. Still...

"Allan, huh. Never heard the name."

I spoke the sentence in a voice that was closer to a whisper but clear enough for Alicia to hear.

"Diana had visited him when the kid had turned two years old. I too had accompanied her at that time."

Though Alicia spoke the sentence in a calm voice, I could easily notice the slight clenching of her fists underneath the desk.

As for what she had said—

"Is that so? I don’t exactly remember visiting him."

The words left my mouth in a soft voice, which took Alicia by surprise, though she was quick to hide her reaction.

Heh.

"You... it was when you had turned ten, a-and—"

"That’s enough information for him, Alicia."

Kevin interrupted Alicia, while leaning on the desk and looking at me.

"And why are you even interested in the story? Is this some new trick on your part to—"

"Do you always bark in the same way?"

Silence.

My question was genuine.

My memories about this guy were still incomplete, so I couldn’t say anything about how the relationship between us had been in the past.

And even the game hadn’t described much of the backstory.

"This fucker—"

Just as Kevin stood up from his seat with a sudden impulsive movement, making the entire class look in our direction—

"Kevin."

Alicia, seeing the situation escalate again, softly muttered the words without saying anything else.

And Kevin... obediently sat down like a dog that he always had been.

Though seeing him right now, I was beginning to have doubts over Castor’s ability as the current duke of the Frost Duchy.

How could he designate such a person as the heir to the duchy?

Haa...

Maybe that should have been expected, as Kael was the previous heir to the duchy, and knowing the original Kael— there was only so much that I could say.

Though Kael’s behaviour was childish for an heir, I wouldn’t say that it was unreasonable.

He might have had his own reasons, that weren’t described in the game.

After all, every villain had his own story... one which was never known until the very end.