I Raised the Villain's Daughter Too Well-Chapter 30: Didn’t Know! -

The lives of nobles are exhausting.

From the age of ten until the day they die, they must attend countless social gatherings, engage in conversations, earn favor, and fight off enemies.

But, as with everything, there are exceptions.

If one becomes a noble on the side of those who host such social gatherings, they don't really need to exert effort to gain favor from others.

Even if they just stand still and make no effort to get close—

People will come to them on their own.

"..."

"..."

6:30 AM.

Standing in front of the girls' dormitory, I gazed at the group of dozens of cadets with a cold, uninterested expression.

Naturally, my eyes met with Firnea’s, who stood at the forefront of the group.

Firnea lightly tapped her cheek with her fan. It was a gesture only the two of us understood—a piece of body language that meant:

[It's not my fault.]

"Sigh..."

Well, it was to be expected.

The Seriratus family—an immense and prestigious noble house.

A woman with a beauty so radiant that any other lady standing beside her was reduced to a mere maid.

A true head of the house, in a different league than other nobles who hadn’t yet secured their positions due to ongoing internal strife.

...Most of all, a talent that those who have seen her unanimously acknowledge.

When it comes to magic, she is unrivaled.

A once-in-a-century genius, the future Great Mage... Sweet, flattering words like that.

Naturally, power would gather around her.

But to have formed such a following in just one night?

It seemed Firnea's reputation was even better than I had expected.

"Good morning, my lady."

"And who might this gentleman be?"

"Ah, he’s the butler from the Serbus family. The one you mentioned yesterday..."

The moment I spoke to Firnea, a wave of attention turned to me as well.

For some reason, the young ladies of various backgrounds suddenly surrounded me, all throwing curious, intrigued glances as they spoke to me.

"Yes. This is Virdem. As I mentioned last night, he's my butler."

"I see, hmm..."

The young ladies seemed to be struggling to decide how to treat me.

Should they treat me as a mere, insignificant butler? Or should they treat me as Firnea’s closest aide?

Normally, it would be the former. But a butler capable of securing a place for his master as a special cadet might be worthy of consideration.

They didn’t want to risk treating me poorly, only to end up on the bad side of Firnea.

There needed to be some kind of clarification on my position within this newly formed faction of Firnea’s.

"My lady, you’ve dropped your earring."

I naturally approached Firnea. Given the height difference, she ended up looking up at me.

Her elegant silver hair and lake-like eyes looked at me as if she found the situation amusing.

I reached out, placing both hands near her ears.

A faint scent of lavender wafted up.

"Thank you, Virdem."

"You’re welcome."

A single action was more effective than a hundred words.

Reaching out without permission and touching her skin without being rebuked.

It was a performance that adequately conveyed the 9 years of history between us, a relationship that could not simply be explained as master and servant.

That should be enough, I thought as I glanced at the young ladies.

"...Hiccup."

"Hiiiek..."

...?

That was not the reaction I was expecting.

The young ladies blushed fiercely, using their fans or hands to cover their faces, muttering strange things under their breath.

"It was... true..."

"I didn’t doubt Lady Firnea, but, huhu..."

"My lady."

I hurriedly called out to Firnea.

But Firnea was already walking away as if she had no interest in the situation.

"We can’t be late for the first class, can we? Let’s go quickly."

"Ah, yes...!"

"..."

They weren’t staring at me because they were trying to figure out how to treat me.

It was because Firnea must have said something to them last night.

...What on earth did she tell them?

Feeling a sense of unease, I followed Firnea.

The lecture hall was a grand, tiered structure capable of holding at least a few hundred people, befitting the Academy.

What stood out was—

"...Candles?"

At every seat, there was a single candle.

A simple white candle made of beeswax.

There was no magical treatment, nothing special at all. It was just an ordinary candle.

The cadets sat down, looking confused.

Naturally, Firnea’s vicinity was packed with people.

Not that I planned on giving up my place next to her.

"Virdem, sit next to me."

"...Pardon?"

What was she saying?

"I am a butler."

"And you’re also a cadet, right? This is the Academy. So, are you just going to use the excuse of being a butler to do nothing and stand behind me?"

"..."

I couldn’t argue with that logic.

Feeling awkward, I sat down to Firnea’s right.

...Sitting next to Firnea in the same space and in the same manner felt incredibly strange.

Honestly, it was far more uncomfortable than physically touching her.

Firnea, on the other hand, seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood.

While all this was happening, the rest of the cadets gradually filed in and took their seats. The room became somewhat noisy—

"Nice to meet you aaall..."

A professor staggered into the room.

Judging by appearances is a bad habit, but this one was peculiar overall.

Dark circles almost reaching his cheeks, a sluggish gait.

Unkempt reddish-brown hair that looked like it hadn’t been washed in days.

His clothes were filthy, a little better than how Arin had looked when I first met her.

Naturally, the cadets frowned. But the professor paid no attention to the crowd and walked to the center of the lecture hall—

"...?"

He pulled a pillow out of his bag and lay down.

The action was so bizarre that everyone was left speechless. The professor mumbled in a voice that sounded like he was on the verge of death.

"For the first class, um, let’s just say there isn’t one..."

"E-excuse me."

"Yeees...?"

"Aren’t you going to introduce yourself or something...?"

"I’m Rerei~ No surname... Yawn..."

No surname. He was a commoner.

The cadets’ displeasure deepened.

Since the Academy was merit-based, it wasn’t unheard of for a commoner to become a professor.

But acting this way without any backing would only invite scorn.

Some cadets actually began voicing their complaints.

"Is it appropriate to act this way in front of students who came to attend a lecture?"

"Umm...? But you’re not my students yet?"

"What do you mean? We definitely signed up for Advanced Magic Studies..."

"Advanced Magic Studies, suuuper difficult~ But the Academy cadets are all so prideful~ They don’t even know the basics but sign up for it~ They see a famous name and flock to the class, but that’s not okay..."

With a soft, gentle tone, Rerei verbally pummeled the cadets.

"So, if you’re going to take my class, light the candle and walk out~ We’ll start the real lecture next time~"

"...The candle?"

"Yes~ Whether you use Ignition magic, some other magic, whatever, figure it out~ Yawn... You can ask questions, but try not to..."

And then he promptly rolled over and went to sleep.

Did that mean we had to pass some kind of test to attend the lecture?

"Virdem."

"Yes."

I exchanged a glance with Firnea.

"Want me to light it for you secretly?"

"I can do it myself."

"Alright, then."

—Fwoosh!

The candle placed before Firnea burst into flames.

It was the first candle to light up. Firnea, her expression haughty, spoke.

"This counts as a pass, right?" ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com

"You're fast. Yes, you may go... Cadet Firnea..."

Rerei glanced at the candle and said that.

But Firnea, completely ignoring him, remained seated.

"What the hell, that was easy?"

"What kind of trivial nonsense is this...?"

Seeing her performance, the other cadets gained confidence and began casting ignition spells.

Since it was the most basic of spells, they all seemed to be using it without incantations.

"...Huh?"

But it didn’t manifest.

They could grasp their mana.

However, there was no flow of magic power.

In other words, the phenomenon of magic was not occurring.

"W-what’s going on? Why isn’t it working?"

"Burn, ignite...!"

The cadets, flustered, tried chanting incantations, casting other spells, employing their own unique methods, but not a single one managed to light their candle.

At this point, the cadets with deeper knowledge of magic began to catch on to something.

—A wide-area dispel.

The kind of thing that only existed in fairy tales, that clueless professor was actually doing it.

"No way, that’s impossible. How is he doing that?"

"There must be some kind of tool that’s blocking the activation of magic. The test must be to find it and destroy it."

If they had paid attention to Firnea lighting her candle, they’d have known it wasn’t some cheap test like that. Were they in denial?

It was far cruder. Rerei had flooded the entire lecture hall with his mana.

We were already submerged in Rerei’s ocean.

No matter what kind of lighter or match we had, nothing would ignite under these conditions.

Could one create a safe zone in such circumstances? If not, then it was a roundabout way of saying, “Get lost.”

I pulled out a pen and started scratching the surface of the desk.

Firnea, watching me, smiled as if she found it amusing.

"Trying to get out that way?"

"My apologies if I disappointed you. My magic skills aren’t exactly exceptional."

"Don’t say something so stupid. No mage in the world could do something like that. You’re the only one who can."

"...Was that a compliment?"

"Of course."

I was about halfway through scratching the desk when Rerei, who had been lying down, suddenly sat up halfway and stared directly at me.

His gaze was irritated.

"...You’re doing something weird."

"Am I not allowed?"

"No... Well, it’s like I asked you to ride a horse, and you killed it, skinned it, and made a carriage out of it instead, but... Hmm..."

After a moment of contemplation, he lay back down.

"I don’t care~~ My lecture probably isn’t necessary for you anyway, but if you want to attend that badly... Go ahead..."

"Thank you."

Since the process took a bit of time, other cadets began passing the test one by one.

"Ugh, ugh...!"

The next to pass after Firnea, dripping blood from her nose, was a familiar face.

Emily.

I hadn’t noticed her earlier, as she was tucked away in a corner.

"Emily, you pass too~"

"...Ah, uh, yes."

Emily, upon hearing her name, flinched and glanced nervously in my direction.

Firnea was too busy staring only at me to even give Emily any attention.

And I wasn’t particularly concerned either.

She had already exhausted her resources by hiring Misellini.

At this point, she was no longer a threat to the Seriratus family.

If she dared to lash out in her current state...

I’d make sure to pull her fangs out this time.

Other names were called as well.

"Porcia, you pass too~"

"...You know my name?"

"Yup~ I skimmed through all the names of those who registered for the class~ Even memorizing half of them would’ve been enough..."

The increasingly desperate cadets tried to bargain.

"W-wait, Professor Rerei. I didn’t register for any other Magic Studies classes. Is there any way..."

"Sorry~ I wouldn’t know..."

No dice.

After about twenty students passed, the carving on the desk was finally complete.

"Phew... Ignite."

—Fwoosh!

Stretching my arms, I cast the ignition spell, and the candle ignited without a hitch.

Unlike with the other cadets, Rerei called my name with a clearly displeased look.

"Virdem, you pass too... Seriously..."

"If it bothered you, I apologize. I had no choice but to resort to this method, as I absolutely need to attend this lecture. My apologies."

Acknowledging that I had used an unorthodox method, I bowed my head politely.

Rerei, with a slightly surprised expression, shook his head slowly.

"Like I said, I don’t mind... It was just... unexpected, that’s all. Don’t worry about it..."

"Understood."

"Sigh, so jealous, so envious... Wish I had a butler like that... It’d be like printing money... Heh heh..."

As Rerei delved into his daydreams, the defeated cadets began leaving the lecture hall one by one.

They were all mages, after all. They had figured it out.

Even if they were given a month instead of an hour, they wouldn’t be able to cast magic in this place.

Once fewer than half the cadets remained, Rerei sat up and scanned the room.

"More of you stayed than I expected... Well then, for the next year, nice to work with you all~"

"...Can we leave now?"

"Yes~ There’s still some time left, but... just go~ Go..."

Waving his hand dismissively, Rerei sent us off.

I rubbed my temples.

A commoner professor acting this outrageously...

...That meant the other professors were likely far worse.

****

A few minutes later, the lecture hall was empty.

"..."

Rerei, rustling about, got up.

"Yawn..."

What disturbed her sweet nap was her insatiable curiosity.

She had already known through the magical threads she’d scattered.

But she had to see it with her own eyes.

Did he really do it? Really? Seriously?

Heart pounding slightly, she moved to where Virdem had been sitting.

"...He really did it..."

Rerei ran her fingers over the bizarre markings Virdem had carved into the desk, her expression one of utter disbelief.

"...That crazy bastard... He made that in just twenty minutes just to pass a test..."

Naturally, he couldn’t have used mana. That’s what the magical threads were for—to prevent exactly that.

So then, why was there magical energy emanating from this scratched-up wooden desk?

"...He made an artifact..."

The craftsmanship was rough, and time constraints had forced it to be crude.

It would only last for about two minutes, creating a small safe zone in the ocean of magical energy, before turning into useless waste.

But even so, it was ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) undoubtedly an artifact.

A mechanized magician, the kind that could only be created by a master craftsman among the dwarves who poured their soul into the work.

But with the near extinction of the dwarves, its value had skyrocketed to the point that no one could make it anymore.

"Why the hell is he just a butler...?"

Rerei couldn’t understand why someone like Virdem was serving as a butler.

If he sold artifacts like these, he’d become one of the richest men in the Empire.

If she had that kind of skill, she’d have quit being a professor in an instant.

Quit, bought a pile of magic books, locked herself away in a mage tower, and studied all day while...

"Hehehe..."

...While indulging in dirty fantasies about cute male slaves.

It was her chronic condition.