WeTried Translations
Translator: Nemui
Editor: Nemui
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Reincarnated as the Villain's Heir
Chapter 40: Things Have Somehow Become Ridiculous
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When I returned, the academy was full of talk about the Emperor Worm subjugation.
Or rather, it was not.
Only the student council and some teachers knew about that matter, and it would cause a huge commotion, so they likely did not release the information.
You would think someone from the student council might leak it, but as expected of the student council.
Even that Gareo seemed tight-lipped.
After returning, I was also called by the headmaster, but it was annoying, so I dealt with it casually.
He probably had not wanted damage severe enough to destroy the academy, and sooner or later, House Balfont would likely have handled it anyway.
I accepted the thanks as a formality, and if that was not enough to satisfy them, I simply told them to send money to House Balfont.
"Leticia, here we go."
"Yes...!"
I was using lunch breaks and other free time to help Lilisha and Leticia train.
Leticia had apparently been training by dueling various students on her own.
However, because her opponent was a princess, people were inevitably holding back somewhere.
Leticia was dissatisfied with that and realized she could not improve like this.
So the arrow had landed on me.
"Deflect!"
"Too soft."
After striking Leticia's sword several times with the magic sword, her Deflect defense collapsed.
When her stance broke, I cut through her torso and forced her out of the field.
"Ugh... You are too strong... As expected of Lord Alphys..."
"Your center of gravity is stable, but your mana reinforcement is not. In Deflect's case, assume you will receive attacks with your whole body and spread mana reinforcement through it."
"Yes..."
"Next is Lilisha."
Lilisha entered the field.
Leaving Leticia aside, this was the first time I had seen Lilisha training at the academy.
The previous incident must have hit her hard.
If it was just a matter of teaching, House Parsifam could gather people far more excellent than me.
However, knowing her, those people were probably already no match for her.
In the end, the shortcut to improvement was gaining experience against suitable opponents and stepping up.
In the beginning, even I had hunted weak monsters endlessly.
Now then, I thought she had become stronger than when she fought me, but how much had she grown this time?
"If you hold back, I will not forgive you."
"Then I should defeat you instantly?"
At the opening, Lilisha fired large and small fireballs.
The mana was gathered well and condensed.
They drew subtle curves, so they were probably guided.
If those hit, even with mana reinforcement, each would cause a large explosion and burn the body.
If each shot had power equal to the previous Flare, then compared to the other day, she was practically a different person.
"You have grown. But..."
At this stage, there was no artistry.
I created a Black Hole and took them all in.
I would make good use of those someday.
"Is that all?"
Just as I showed composure, flame burst from behind me like a burner.
Taken by surprise, I could not fully evade, and it grazed my left arm.
I wondered when she had set this up, but it was probably sparks scattered from the fireballs.
She had likely expanded the mana contained in those tiny sparks.
"I cannot believe you dodged even that...!"
"No, that surprised me a little. Then now I will go."
I rushed straight at Lilisha.
Lilisha tried to defend with a wall of flame, but I cut through it with one swing of the magic sword.
Then, pretending I would rush in further, I used Shadow Entry and took Lilisha's back.
I stabbed her in the back, forced her out of the field, and ended the match.
"Kuh! I still cannot match you at all...!"
"No, you have become ridiculously strong. I almost got serious."
"But you were not serious... As expected of the one I lov... no, the one I am interested in."
"Is that correction really fine?"
Her face had been red for a while, but I would pretend not to see it.
This was not that kind of thing. It was the influence of fire magic.
Still, before, losing would have made her cry hard, so she had grown quite a bit.
"As expected of Lord Alphys!"
"What are you saying? You are fighting me too."
"Huh? No, no, no, no! There is no way I can match Lord Alphys!"
"This is not about whether you can match me. I need you to become stronger as my retainer."
"As Lord Alphys's retainer... you need me..."
Luchel pressed both hands to her cheeks and squirmed.
I felt like some convenient mental translation had just occurred.
Good grief, this lovestruck fool was a problem too.
Even without that, right now, every student was putting quite a bit of spirit into training.
The reason was the royal escort selection match.
Apparently, royalty and nobles would come to observe the academy soon.
By entrusting their escort to outstanding students, the academy aimed to raise its status.
Of course, there would be normal guards too, but depending on how one handled it, this was also a chance to show one's existence to royalty.
That was why even the commoner students were training desperately this time.
"Lord Alphys, can I win through the selection match as I am now?"
"Leticia, huh? Looking only at ability, you have hope, but in actual matches, no one knows what will happen. You understand that best, right?"
"That is true..."
The selection match was held without divisions across all years.
Naturally, that favored third-years, but even second-years and first-years had a good chance of being chosen through special review if they lost.
In short, they only had to make people think, Not bad for a first-year.
"Lord Alphys! Selection fight! Selection fight!"
"Lord Alphys looked this way!"
"No, he stared hard at me!"
Those were the fan club members of someone called Alphys.
I could see a low-level dispute, but ignore it. Ignore it.
"Lord Alphys. Is it fine for the fan club over there to slack off?"
"Not everyone needs to aim upward. Actually, you joined the fan club too, did you not?"
Luchel made a face that said, How do you know that?
Do not underestimate House Balfont's information network. We knew the details of every fan club member.
After all, we did not know what they might do.
"Heeeey! Alphys! I will not hold back in the selection match, but I will cheer for you! Spirit! Spirit! Spiriiiit!"
"Oooooh! Alphys! Win!"
Wait.
Gareo was leading a group of boys and carrying a flag?
I had not heard about that one.
"Lord Alphys, you are popular with the boys too."
"Why, Leticia? That makes no sense."
"Did you not know? Since your match with Lilisha, you have had support from the boys too."
"Aaaah... From then."
Even Leticia knew, and yet this was a blind spot for me.
Or rather, I had been exhausted from fighting that damn worm, so I had not had time to care.
Every last one of them could do whatever they wanted.
"Listen up! Ever since fighting alongside that Alphys, I have recognized his ability! If you give him rotten support, I will beat you up!"
"Ooooooh! Alphys! Alphys! Alphys!"
"Good grief, he makes me fall for him..."
Seriously, do whatever you want.
Still, I was concerned that one person seemed strangely ominous.
For me to feel a chill, just what was going on?
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