Surviving as a Villain at the Academy

2 – Prah Ransel. 18 years old. Attempted r*pe offender (2)

Still, my act seemed successful. Contempt and revulsion started to rise in their eyes. I was torn between a sigh of relief, and a shudder at what lay ahead.

I immediately tensed my body. If my prediction was correct, Ruslan is about to explode with anger. He could kick or punch mightily.

The saving grace was, Prah at the moment was on par with Ruslan, the protagonist, in skill. A single mishap could lead to my defeat… but our capabilities were quite similar. That was sufficient.

As expected, his body moved.

He approached me rapidly. But, that he moved was enough. With Prah’s memories and his experiences flowing into me, I was quite adept in combat.

At the very least, Prah was a seasoned warrior, incomparable to me, who had only ever experienced fights with young rascals. Prah might have just been scum, but one couldn’t ignore the efforts he had piled up with sincerity.

Above all… at this stage, I needed even the abilities of that scum.

I just couldn’t kick off the narrative from the start. The moment I receive a clean hit from him, I’d be incapacitated.

Ruslan chose to kick.

Whooosh!

A foot came whirling in like a whip, ripping through the air towards me. It was an incredibly vicious kick. If hit squarely, it could rupture my organs and therefore had to be blocked with all means.

No, simply blocking it won’t suffice. I needed to seize an opportunity to counter and gain the upper hand. Even a momentary defensive position could lead to a painful, perhaps even fatal, blow.

Decisions had to be made in a split second. I promptly caught the approaching foot. I could feel the force imbued in the kick, a heavy sensation gripped my hands, followed by a numb feeling enveloping them.

However, I couldn’t show any sign of weakness. Ignoring the numbness, I tightly gripped his foot, channelling magical power into my hands.

Although I had never handled magical power in my life, the habits developed by Prax’s body, driven by his unwavering earnestness, allowed such a beginner like me to use magic. Even though it was a basic level of magic control, it was sufficient for the current situation.

Perhaps Ruslan didn’t expect his kick to be blocked by me; his response came a little late, caught off-guard. And that brief gap in time was enough for me to twist and break his ankle.

Crack.

“Guh…!”

Despite his ankle being twisted, he suppressed a groan and immediately threw his other foot towards my head. A blow like that can inflict a fatal wound. I moved my head to evade his kick and withdrew the hand that had twisted his ankle.

Whoosh!

Even the simple wind pressure was enough to blow my hair away. Had I been hit squarely… I would’ve been reeling from a concussion immediately. It was a powerful blow filled with restrained emotion.

But in the end, I had successfully dodged his unbalanced strike; the tide now turning decidedly in my favour.

The current gap between Prax and Ruslan was not that significant. Even though the gap would widen with time, for now, I had a fair chance against him.

And yet, I was the first to break his ankle? This virtually declared my victory. With one foot out of action, it was impossible for him to defeat me given his ‘current’ skills.

Prax Rancel was definitely a villain, but before he fell into villainy, he was a hard-worker. This accomplishment was possible because of his efforts.

I got up and kicked him hard in the body. Because he had tried to harm me first, this was nothing but self-defense. The kick he had just aimed at my head could have been deadly.

“Cough!”

Though I sensed the narrative might get distorted, I was resolved not to fall into that mindset. This won’t distort the grand scheme of things.

Beating him here wasn’t a major problem. After all, he wasn’t particularly strong in the early years of the academy. Especially when the arrival of Ruslan’s gang already implied that they had reported this to the academy’s executive department.

In the end, I would be subdued by the guards of the academy, and they would be deeply shocked by my transformation in many ways. So long as I maintain that degree of stem …… There’s no chance that subsequent narratives can be distorted.

Of course, their animosity towards me would be intensified, but that’s unavoidable. It is not easy to withstand the things that will happen in the future in the state that is virtually disabled.

Even in the original work, Praha was in a sickly state before he met Astarot… It would be better in many ways to preserve my body intact now. Even more so if you want to deal with what will happen in the future.

“Kyak!”

As Ruslan fell pitifully, Diana screamed, and Johan tried to stop me somehow. However, he was not a battle priest, but a mere healing priest, too weak to stop me.

Aris was no different. The reason why her kick worked on me was simply because I was focusing on Ruslan.

Diana couldn’t even think of using magic. She had no choice.

Although she looks quite delicate on the outside and her attitude fits the mold of a delicate woman, she was, in fact, quite cool-headed and decisive.

Even she must be in considerable confusion now.

Because she would not have expected the normally polite and affectionate Praha to do such crazy things to them.

She probably didn’t expect it because she was so cool-headed.

In other words, there was no one to stop me from beating up Ruslan like a dog here. Aris tried to stop me by shouting, but would I stop at just that noise.

Ruslan is a stubborn fellow so he would not give up just because his ankle was broken. He probably tried to hit my skull with his broken leg. It was necessary to make sure he was knocked out for good.

Of course, the academy has a unique institution called the executive branch to prevent disputes between students. But I’m not worried.

Because the authority of the Lancel, the family Praha belonged to, is above the academy.

The reason Praha survived till Chapter 3 of the novel. It’s not just because of the power of the devil Astarot he contracted with… Fundamentally, it’s also because he was born with a silver spoon surpassing that of diamond in this novel.

Lancel. A prestigious family of the Talantis Empire, trusted infinitely by the Emperor. Praha was the only heir to such a family.

Moreover, Lancel is a family that operated the academy with a huge amount of sponsorship money in accordance with the will of the founding emperor who established this Cellus Academy.

In such a situation where the family openly intervened, Praha Lancel was virtually an existence beyond the rules of the academy.

He could trivialize all the grave matters like trying to r*pe a student from a noble family and assaulting a student who tried to protect her.

Attempted s*xual assault, physical abuse… Originally, under the strict academy regulations, it wouldn’t be strange if I were to receive a punishment close to expulsion. However, my status will prevent that. To others, strict regulations turn into a soft rod when attached to the name of Lancel.

Besides, the attitude that Prach Lancel has shown until now will prevent excessive punishment.

Because Prach, who usually didn’t indulge in the power of the Lancel family, treated others with respect. She even helped students who were too poor to attend the academy properly so they wouldn’t give up on their studies.

So this time… it will probably be dismissed as a deviation committed by a boy madly in love. Of course, this would still be a conclusion made by the academy and the executive branch. I won’t be able to avoid the perspective that I suppressed the crime using my authority.

How much time has passed? Right after Ruslan was beaten to the point where he couldn’t resist me properly, I sensed a presence.

I didn’t have to see who it was. It was the executive branch of the Celsius Academy who received the report.

The situation was over.

* * *

Afterwards, everything went as I had anticipated.

My punishment ended up being one month of probation. Since all of the academy’s curriculum is already in Prach’s memory, there won’t be any problems with the exams.

Characters like Aris and Ruslan vehemently protested. A natural course of events. Aris probably hoped I would reform after this incident, and Ruslan wouldn’t try to forgive me for leaving a scar in Aris’s heart and assaulting him.

But the story doesn’t flow as they wish.

The protagonist must face trials worthy of them, and this is no exception for the characters alongside them. The inner torment, pain, and frustration that Aris, the main heroine, has due to Prach Lancel is a narrative just for her.

So, what am I doing now?

I was busily organizing things that would happen in the future in my dormitory room. My nameless novel might be terrible, but the sheer volume was substantial, so I needed to jot down what I remembered to avoid confusion later.

Fortunately, due to countless times of scrutinizing each chapter, I was able to organize the flow of the story without any problems. Especially, my focus was on the story of Prach Lancel.

I had already decided how to act, so now all that was left was to wait.

For Astarot, Prach Lancel’s biggest supporter and the devil who will torment protagonist’s party until Chapter 3.

* * *

Astaroth was enrolled in the academy under the pseudonym Asti.

The original setting where the contract between Praha Rancel and Astaroth occurs was in a church.

As holy as a place the church is, Astaroth, a demon with considerable power, cannot be suppressed by the power of the church.

All in all, it’s quite a messy setup. The mere fact that Astaroth, a high-ranking demon, strolls around the academy is enough to make one think that something is off in the story.

But there is a reason I set up the novel this way.

Astaroth was different from the other demons who ripped humans and angels apart.

She was, after all… a demon who loved humans. Not in the sense of loving a single individual, but a demon who loved what humans had built.

What she loved the most among them were the strong emotions derived from humans.

In the original work, she was interested in Praha and contracted with him for such reasons. Because the love Praha had for Aris was just that powerful.

So there were no reasons for her to hate humans like other demons.

Furthermore, emotions were also the source of her power. If you eat delicious food, you get stronger. So, she didn’t need to rip humans apart and kill them.

This is why Astaroth was considered less dangerous than other demons who massacred humans.

But there’s one problem. That is, I currently do not harbor intense emotions for Aris. If handled incorrectly, Astaroth might not be interested in me.

What should I do? The worry wasn’t long. No, it wasn’t a problem that needed worrying. Because a far greater emotion was sweeping over me, overshadowing my affection for Aris.

Fear of this unstable situation. Fear that my life could end at any moment. Fear that if the narrative of this novel doesn’t proceed correctly, everything will end.

In other words, terror.

This is, so to speak, the primal emotion of humans…… an emotion far beyond the love that Praha had for Aris.

Fear is Astaroth’s favorite delicacy. If it goes as I predict, she will not let go of me, the prey. Absolutely.

In the end, there was only one thing I had to do. Daily, I fervently went to church and knelt in prayer. The gazes around me were unbearably piercing, but I continued to attend church fervently.

At least sometimes.

“‘Disgusting. I thought she was a kind person… but it was all an act.’

‘Do you think she can get absolution after what she’s done?’

I heard such whispers, but… honestly, these reactions were already expected, so I wasn’t too bothered.

Anyway, I had obtained special permission from the priests to stay late in the church.

Whether the priests were moved by my attitude of wanting to confess my sins to God, or by the substantial donation I quietly handed over, they allowed me to pray late into the night.

How many days and nights had passed like this? Today, as always, the sound of someone’s footsteps echoed in the tranquil church, emptied of people. The clatter of footsteps resonated particularly loud in my ears.

There was a chill.

“Hello.”

To me, who was sitting in a church pew, quietly offering prayers, a girl with black hair covering her eyes to the point that her face wasn’t clearly visible, greeted me with a cheerfulness that didn’t match her grim appearance.

“My name is Asti. Praha Ransel, right?”

I turned my head to look at her.

Below her obscured face, a thick smile was etched on her lips… I also smiled inwardly.

I had caught her. Astaroth.