How Could the Villainous Young Master Be a Saintess?

He had to bring Milian back. No matter what.

Vinny tightened his grip slightly around the Soul-Heart in his hand. The moment he thought about the problems now in front of him, his mood turned heavy all at once.

After that, a Carillian Academy mentor came to visit him and offered the Academy’s condolences on its behalf.

“Let me see, Student Vinny, right? What rotten luck,” the blue-robed mentor said with a sigh. “I took a look at the records, and it seems the last time you had a practical assessment, you also ran into some unbelievable trouble. And now this semester hasn’t gone smoothly either. In the middle of all that bad luck, the fortunate thing is that both times you managed to push through by relying on your own solid ability. As expected of one of the top first-years.”

Then he added, puzzled, “Still, it really is strange. Why does this kind of thing keep happening to you?”

“I’d really like to know the answer to that too, sir.” Vinny let out a long sigh. “I’d like to have one easy practical assessment myself for once, but every single time I end up running into some kind of unexpected mess.”

Vinny remembered that in the practical assessment materials sent to him, the difficulty field had come with a note in parentheses: for reference only, please use the actual difficulty as the standard.

That line felt a bit like a disclaimer, but Carillian Academy was also using it as a reminder to its students: never judge anything by appearances alone, and never rely only on the dead numbers written on a panel. What the truth of a situation really was had to be inferred with one’s own judgment. After all, once they entered a real environment, no one would be there to tell these young students what to do.

Vinny remembered that starting from the third year, practical assessments no longer even came with a reference difficulty rating. What difficulty an assigned incident actually had was something the students had to judge for themselves.

“Oh, right, sir. Classmate Aesphyra already told you the details, didn’t she?” Vinny went silent for a moment before asking.

“Yes. Did you remember some additional detail, Student Vinny? Is there anything else you want to add?” the mentor asked.

“No, sir. What I want to talk about is Milian.”

At that, the mentor also fell silent for a while. Then he tried to comfort Vinny. “Classmate Aesphyra already told us about that as well. Student Vinny, don’t blame yourself too much over this. It’s not your fault. When something that sudden happens, no one could have seen it coming.”

Who could have guessed that a bunch of bandits would wind up involving a Demon Pillar minion?

The Academy’s judgment had been that this bandit group was, at most, connected to Demon Pillar cultists. As for them somehow being capable of summoning a Demon Pillar minion and allowing it to manifest in the world, the odds of that were vanishingly small. Barely higher than stepping outside and being killed by a brick that came flying from nowhere.

The reason was simple: the wall of laws protecting the Tyrelis Continent was no ordinary thing. Otherwise, Tyrelis could never have continued to exist for so long under the covetous gaze of so many Demon Pillars.

It wasn’t as though there were no historical records of Demon Pillar minions appearing in the world, but they were pitifully few. This was a low-probability event among low-probability events.

Carillian Academy was also baffled as to why a Demon Pillar minion had managed to arrive on the Tyrelis Continent so smoothly. By all reason, even if it had the means to get here, it still should have been suppressed by the laws of Tyrelis and unable to display such absurd combat power.

But based on Vinny’s account, that did not seem to be the case.

Because of that, Carillian Academy was treating the matter with extreme seriousness.

As for fluctuations in difficulty, the blue-robed mentor knew that part was normal enough. A practical assessment’s difficulty index was only a reference in the end. That too was part of the test—whether one chose to trust the clearly labeled “for reference only” data, or one’s own judgment.

But a deviation as outrageous as the one Vinny had encountered really was too much.

“I’m going to bring Milian back,” Vinny said firmly.

“This...” The blue-robed mentor was briefly at a loss for words. “Student Vinny, it’s good to have spirit and determination, but whatever you do, don’t do anything irrational.”

To put it bluntly, the dead did not come back to life. The blue-robed mentor had never once heard of a case where someone who had been killed and exiled by a Demon Pillar minion had survived. But he also could not bring himself to rebuke Vinny.

Could Milian really still be saved?

The blue-robed mentor found that question extremely doubtful. Nearly impossible. He felt that even if that elusive headmaster of theirs showed up in person, there would still be nothing he could do.

No one could make a dead person live again.

“I know.” Vinny nodded.

One look was enough for the blue-robed mentor to realize Vinny had not really taken that in, and he could only sigh inwardly.

Kids that age were all stubborn. No matter what adults said, even if they answered, it was hard for them to truly listen.

By the next day, after several days of recuperation, Vinny was already able to get out of bed and walk around. His bodily functions had more or less recovered.

Big Sister Vanessa, how are you feeling now? the little angel asked. It had woken up some time ago as well.

“I’m much better,” Vinny replied while staying in his room, gazing at the gloomy weather outside.

It looked like it was about to rain.

Vinny said nothing.

The little angel also noticed that Vinny did not seem to be in much of a talking mood.

Big Sister Vanessa... are you okay? Really okay?

“Didn’t I just say I’m fine?”

I meant your mood, the little angel said hesitantly.

“It’s fine,” Vinny said blandly.

Even the little angel could tell that answer was overflowing with perfunctory dismissal.

The little angel hesitated, then stopped, not knowing how to comfort him.

Big Sister Vanessa... don’t be too sad, okay?

“What am I sad for?” Vinny tilted his head. “The outcome hasn’t been decided yet. If I don’t think about what to do next and instead think about how to be sad, wouldn’t that be putting the cart before the horse?”

The little angel fell silent.

“The air in this room doesn’t feel very good,” Vinny murmured to himself as he pushed open the door and walked out.

Better to go outside and take a walk. Clear his head a little.

RUMBLE...

At the exact instant Vinny stepped out of the room, a low roll of thunder twisted through the clouds. Outside the corridor windows, the mountain rain was on its way and the wind had already filled the halls.

Vinny looked at the black clouds, dark as ink. It seemed as if they were swollen with heavy rainwater, just waiting for a single thunderous crack before pouring down in sheets.

Leaning against the window, Vinny silently watched the view outside.

He rather liked weather like this—so long as he was standing under a roof. If he were the one stuck out in the rain, that would be a different story.

Before long, rain began to lash down from the sky. In the flashes of lightning and crashes of thunder, two figures were briefly illuminated in the corridor.

Vinny froze for a second, then turned his head and looked at the old man in butler’s attire who had, at some point, appeared at his side and was standing ramrod straight.

“And you are...?” Vinny asked after a brief hesitation.

“The Young Lady should have introduced me to you. My name is Brill, private butler to the current head of the Galathus Family.” Brill stood with his hands behind his back. The thunder was fierce, stretching his shadow long and briefly lighting the stern, expressionless lines of his face.

“I see. Mr. Brill, thank you for helping me this time,” Vinny said.

“There is no need for Young Master Facilis to thank me. I merely acted under orders.” Brill stood upright in the lightning-riven corridor and spoke in a steady tone.

In other words, thank the person who should actually be thanked.

Vinny did not know what to say. Though the old butler’s hair had long turned white, he was still full of energy. There was nothing about his bearing that felt like that of an old man.

He was most likely a transcendent. And a high-level one, at that.

Vinny guessed as much inwardly.

Brill turned away and looked out the window, seemingly with no intention of speaking further with Vinny, as though he had merely happened to come here by chance.

Seeing that, Vinny did not disturb him. Besides, he was not in a very good mood himself.

“The world outside is dangerous, far less easy than life inside the Academy. I would like to say that,” the old butler suddenly said in his deep, powerful voice, “but clearly, Young Master Facilis, you are not some delicate flower raised in a greenhouse.”

“Hm?” Vinny, who had been looking out the window, turned toward Brill.

“Many rumors in the outside world say that Facilis is already a name that exists in name only.” Brill did not turn back. He still stood with his hands behind his back, facing [N O V E L I G H T] the window. “The truth of this world has always been elusive. People are, after all, the group most easily misled by rumor.”

“But if a rumor spreads, there’s usually some basis for it.” Vinny had no idea what this old butler was trying to say.

“Young Master Facilis, you are not like the noble young masters I have seen before, those who preserve their dignity through pride and family background. Your eyes tell me that you are not someone who values surface dignity all that much. Compared to appearances, there are other things you value more. Besides that, you are a resilient, yet fragile person.”

Vinny said nothing. Only after a moment did he speak. “Mr. Brill, you seem to know a fair amount about me?”

“Vinny Facilis. Born in the Camella Royal Capital. The only remaining member of the Facilis Family. Lost both parents at a young age. House fallen into decline. Has survived only on the noble stipend issued by the King of Camella. One-star magic aptitude. Stood out in last year’s Carillian Academy entrance tournament and entered the Academy. Then, in the second semester, rose to prominence in a single move, becoming one of only three first-year students to advance to Magus.”

Brill recited all of Vinny’s information with complete fluency.

“Mr. Brill, you went out of your way to investigate me?”

“Young Master Facilis, please do not misunderstand. This was not something targeted specifically at you. The Galathus Family has its own intelligence network, which gathers information indiscriminately on many people and matters. That likely includes a great many pieces of information that are completely irrelevant—from what sort of rumors and gossip have recently appeared in the Camella Royal Capital, all the way down to which newspaper was being sold this morning in the Imperial Capital of Tyrel.”

Brill continued, “According to what we know, those rumors about you already existed from the time you were very young.”

“Why are you suddenly telling me all this?” Vinny asked, still watching the rain outside.

“Although those rumors are too old now to trace back to their origin, and many details can no longer be verified, we still found some clues in the information gathered by Galathus intelligence personnel from that time,” Brill said expressionlessly.

“What?” Vinny’s expression shifted.

“There is something wrong with how those rumors appeared,” Brill said. “Although too much time has passed and many traces have already been erased, we believe those rumors spread as if they had suddenly exploded outward in every direction. And they were highly purposeful.”

“...So these pieces of intelligence should, by all rights, have been irrelevant before I enrolled. To the Galathus Family, they shouldn’t have been any more important than what breakfast was being sold this morning at a roadside stall in the Tyrel Imperial Capital. So let me ask—after all these years, you still haven’t destroyed them?” Vinny fell silent for a moment. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking before he finally asked.

“The Galathus Family has a habit of organizing its intelligence and preserving it for at least twenty years,” Brill said.

“...” Fine. What was there even left to say?

Other than that the Galathus Family’s intelligence network was absurdly ridiculous, what else could he say?

“Then why did you suddenly start investigating me lately?” Vinny spread his hands. “To be honest, I don’t even know what there is about me worth investigating. Seriously, I’m a pretty ordinary person.”

“That was the Young Lady’s instruction,” Brill replied. “She ordered Galathus intelligence personnel to determine how the rumor from back then—that you were not a true blood descendant of the Facilis Family, that you were an impostor—was spread, and where it spread from.”

“Aesphyra...” Vinny murmured, then said nothing more.

“Young Master Facilis, I do not make judgments without confidence or concrete evidence. Even so, I still must warn you of something. If these rumors truly were, as one of our suspected possibilities suggests, not accidental at all but purposeful from beginning to end, then I do not believe the person who planned all this will give up so easily.”

Brill looked at the thunderclouds beyond the window and said calmly, “After all, such a person has been laying the groundwork for this for a very long time.”

“I understand. Thank you for the warning.” Vinny nodded.

“Besides that, there is something else I would like to say. Something personal.”

“Please, go ahead.”

“How much do you know about the Young Lady?”

At Brill’s question, Vinny fell silent.

Not because he was reflecting on how little he knew, but because he knew far too much, to the point that anything he said felt inappropriate.

After all, to Vinny—a transmigrator who had played the original story—Aesphyra had no secrets at all. He had known from the very beginning that her greatest secret was her hidden identity as the last surviving descendant of the royal line of the Tyrelis Ancient Empire. So he had never been curious about why the Galathus Family possessed such an enormous intelligence network and such widely spread business interests.

“To be honest, a long time ago I concluded that your true identity was actually that of a girl. My apologies. I mean no offense by that.”

“Yes, I understand.” Vinny nodded, indicating that he was not surprised the old butler had been suspicious for that reason.

Aesphyra’s orientation was definitely something her family knew about.

“Young Master Facilis, I watched the Young Lady grow up. This is the first time she has ever attached this much importance to someone. You could even say... cherished them.”