The Villain Wants to Live

—The theory test will be divided into common questions and series questions, as will the practical tests.

The admissions briefing session at the Roteo Hall was repeated, exactly as it had before. During the briefing session, the complete separation barrier spell engulfed the hall, and in the midst of it, Deculein resumed his explanation.

—Will we be able to attend your class as soon as we enter the tower?

—No.

—Why? I want to take classes from the Head Professor~!

The situation was the same. Even though she watched it all with her own eyes, Epherene didn’t understand. She was completely dazed.

“Nice to meet you.”

Then, that voice approached again with the pressure of cold magic. But this time, she wasn’t afraid. Rather, she was more curious. Epherene quickly turned to look at him. Murkan, a wizard with eyes as black as ink and wearing a dark robe.

“Hey!”

“…”

For a moment, Murkan’s pupils widened, but his surprise quickly subsided. Did he understand this situation?

“What’s going on?!”

“…”

Murkan was speechless. Epherene, frustrated by that, grabbed Murkan’s collar on tippy-toes.

“I’m in big trouble right now. Even putting the thesis aside-“

“Did the bomb explode?”

“Yes.”

Epherene replied immediately. She didn’t know what the bomb was, but somehow something exploded, and she ended up like this.

“Looks like it’s already on repeat.”

“…”

Murkan nodded and pulled something out of his pocket.

“…Pocket watch?”

“My nephew made it.”

“…”

It was a watch made of wood. Murkan handed it to Epherene.

“He entrusted it to me and said, when the time is right, give it to the Child of Time. He’s someone who has never asked for a favor once in his entire life.”

Murkan muttered in a sorrowed tone, then looked at Epherene. She avoided his gaze.

“…What is the Child of Time?”

“You were born on the day the meteorite fell.”

“Huh? How did you know?”

“Your fate is bound by time. Your physiognomy, mana, and your name, everything.”

“…”

There was no evidence to back Murkan’s words; it wasn’t even scientific. However, since his name was Murkan, all gaps were filled with the word magic.

“Then what is that bomb?”

“My nephew said it was a declaration of war by the Altar. They were planning to bomb the Emperor first, but it seems that providence has gone awry.”

“Oh!”

Nodding, Epherene took Murkan by the hand instead of the collar.

“Help!”

“I am not involved with the royalties. I already swore that.”

“What! You’ve already intervened!”

“I was just passing on my nephew’s request.”

Murkan released Epherene’s hand.

“The answer is for you to find. There is still plenty of time.”

Murkan disappeared after saying that, just like two months ago.

-Huh? The barrier is gone!

A voice resounded in the briefing hall, and in the next moment, sighs of relief erupted simultaneously throughout the crowd.

“…”

Epherene, blinking a few times, immediately came back to her senses at the sight of Deculein coming down from the podium. Deculein also wore a curious expression given the sudden dismantling of the barrier. But this time, she stood still.

“Epherene.

Unlike two months ago, Deculein, approaching her first, asked.

“Have you met someone?”

Epherene didn’t answer.

* * *

“…This is strange.”

Meanwhile, Sophien looked out the window with a frown. The clear blue sky was still there, but somehow it felt empty. Not only this world but also inside her.

“Are you okay?”

Then Ahan spoke. Sophien shook her head.

“It’s nothing… but, Ahan.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Do you want to bet?”

She spread the knights’ files on her desk.

“Who of the two will accomplish my task first?”

“…But I do not know the tasks.”

“This bastard, Jayron.”

Sophien put her finger on the first file.

“I ordered this guy to catch a basilisk.”

“…!”

Ahan’s eyes widened.

Basilisks were one of the rare monsters of the same class as a Great Tiger. However, since it was territorial, a head-to-head match was more dangerous than with a tiger.

“For this guy, a flower called Regetal that blooms only in Annihilation. And for this guy…”

Sophien recited the formidable tasks.

“Finally, Julie. For this knight.”

A smile appeared on Sophien’s lips.

“My attempted poisoning. I told her to find out who was behind it.”

“…”

Ahan’s mouth fell open.

“Poison…”

“Right. Of course, I think I have a vague idea of who’s behind it.”

It was an easy inference if all the details, such as the dynamics of the families and the process of conflict, were put together after intense thought, but Sophien didn’t want to do all that work. She didn’t want to waste herself on that far away thing.

“If you do, shouldn’t you punish them now?”

She smiled at Ahan’s question. Without responding, she looked out over the lake.

“…Now that I have wrapped this up, I will go fishing.”

Then, she stood with the fishing rod that Deculein had given her.

* * *

…Late at night while the island was asleep.

I was alone dealing with my mana in the underground crystal cave. I was training to perform Psychokinesis as precisely as possible, but it was twice as hard as expected. It was a process that was difficult to bear even for me, with my patience, self-control, and mental strength at a superhuman level.

“This damn…”

Working on the so-called ‘moving grains of sand’ made me swear without realizing it.

“…”

Separating a bag of sand grain by grain so that it wouldn’t break. If two grains were picked up at once or one was broken during transport, I started over. Tonight alone was my 937th attempt.

“Still…”

This much wasn’t bad. As painful as it was, it was proof that the training was right. I straightened my messy hair and wiped the sweat from my body with Cleanse. Then, I moved the sand.

Swoosh—

The sand in the sack cracked, and a very fine grain floated up. I transferred it to another sack and again took the second grain. Third grain… and while repeating that hundreds of times…

Rustle-

One grain broke.

“…”

I looked at it and raised my head, then took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

Tweet— Tweet—

The morning birds chirped outside the cave. I spilled the sand in the bag on the ground. This was a routine that took advantage of my personality. Deculein wouldn’t be able to tolerate such a disorganized state, and no matter what happened, he would come back here to repeat the training.

“…But.”

Immediately after that, as I left the cave, I felt that something was strange. To be precise, it was a feeling of déjà vu.

“Did it happen…”

Before too? I looked around the garden.

Tweet— Tweet, tweet—

Daylight illuminated the cave entrance. Déjà vu.

“Master.”

Then Ren ran up.

“Epherene didn’t come back tonight.”

“Did she say anything?”

“Yes. She said she had some work to do and borrowed the car and left.”

“Does she even drive?”

“Yes. I don’t know when she learned it, though.”

I groaned and shook my head.

“I’ll see her at the tower anyway. Get ready.”

“There is no car to prepare.”

“…”

I realized why Ren had said this. After all, there was no such thing as an attendant car in a world where cars were precious.

“…Let’s go by horse.”

“Yes. In case of such a situation reoccurring, I will prepare another car separately.”

I nodded.

* * *

Epherene drove around the islands in the car and searched all the places where the bomb might have been installed. However, it was nowhere to be found.

“Hmm…”

Reluctantly, the place Epherene went, in the end, was Professor Louina’s office. Epherene told her everything.

“…You wouldn’t believe it.”

At Epherene’s words, Louina laughed bitterly.

“It’s not easy to believe. So, you’re saying you’re back from April 9th, right?”

“Yes.”

“But, well, it’s a possible story. As Murkan said if your origin is time.”

The origin time. Epherene thought that might be possible. In the first place, origins didn’t exist for ordinary wizards, though she never thought hers could be time.

“Then let’s think about it. What is their purpose? For what purpose would they plant a bomb?”

“Murkan told me. It was to kill Her Majesty.”

“Then, have you searched the basement of the Imperial Palace?”

“…No. When I asked, they said that the basement of the Imperial Palace was closed off. They said they wouldn’t open it.”

Louina smiled broadly.

“I see that you searched well all this time.”

“Yes…”

“But why didn’t you ask your teacher?”

Deculein. Epherene shrugged.

“Oh, that’s…”

“Do you think he won’t believe you?”

“…Yes. To be honest.”

Would Deculein believe in time travel, regression, and those kinds of things? She was worried about that, but there were other reasons as well.

“But… it is possible that they were targeting the Professor.”

“Professor Deculein?”

“Yes. The bomb went off on the anniversary of his ex-fiancée.”

“April 9th.”

“…Do you know?”

“Of course, I do. She was my colleague.”

Louina smiled. Epherene nodded and breathed out a sigh of relief. After all, coming to Louina was the right choice.

“Nevertheless, don’t do anything conspicuous. If it’s the Altar, you could be in danger. And… oh, the Professor is here.”

Then, Louina pointed out the tower window. Epherene followed with her eyes.

“…Oh, he came riding a horse.”

Deculein was riding a black horse today. Cutting a solemn figure, all eyes around campus were focused on him, but Epherene tilted her head.

“Didn’t he come by horse because you took the car?”

“…Oh, right!”

Epherene’s eyes went wide.

“Then I’ll be going!”

She packed all the library materials she brought and went downstairs… and five minutes later, Epherene watched Deculein sitting behind his desk. Should she tell him or not? On the other hand, he was doing his job, scribbling as usual. He was as casual as ever, exuding an aura that made it difficult to approach.

“If you have something to say, say it.”

Deculein, who couldn’t stand Epherene’s gaze, raised his head.

“…Yes? Oh, um…”

Epherene hesitated. After five more minutes in that state, when Deculein finally put down his fountain pen, Epherene made her decision. It would be better to inform the Professor. The moment she jumped up with that thought and was about to sit across from Deculein.

─.

A certain sense of incongruity engulfed Epherene. At the same time, Deculein’s crystal ball rang. Epherene’s crystal ball trembled to match. No, at that moment, perhaps, the crystal balls of the whole world were crying out.

“…”

Before long, Deculein and Epherene’s faces hardened as the message came through.

—An assassin broke into the Imperial Palace and killed Her Majesty Sophien.