I’m a Villain, but I Want to Live a Long Life - Chapter 106

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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“…So. You’re saying that Anita, contrary to her promise, left you two out and formed a group without you?”

Even with her body tied up tightly, Verain nodded her head vigorously.

“That’s right! She used to say the three of us should definitely pass together, but when things got tough, she just abandoned us!”

“That’s right, she suddenly started treating us like strangers… It was really shocking for us….”

Janet chimed in with a crawling voice. I looked back and forth between them with a bewildered expression.

Verain gritted her teeth.

“The incident at the prospective student gathering was the same. We had no choice! Anita has been acting like she’s some kind of queen ever since Meg Cline went to the monastery.”

Her eyes blazed with anger as she spoke.

“You think that’s all? Anita can’t stand anyone having a different opinion from hers. Oh, come to think of it, there is one exception. You know Hanod, right? The prince of Sorad. Anita only grovels to that person.”

I listened to her words with a sour expression until the end. A short sigh escaped me.

I could roughly understand how things had unfolded.

I asked with serious eyes.

“Fine, that’s all well and good. But what does that have to do with you two being here?”

Verain closed her mouth. After a brief silence, Janet, who had seemed unexpectedly timid, stepped forward.

“That, that’s… After being rejected by Miss Anita, the two of us thought about it a lot….”

“….”

“We felt a bit sorry about what happened at the salon… And Miss Anita really hates Lady Seleneae….”

I listened to her words with a slightly furrowed brow, then asked with a suspicion.

“Ah— Don’t tell me you want to form a group with me to stab Anita in the back?”

Janet flinched and froze in surprise. Her eyes widened as if asking how I knew.

‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend, or something like that.’

Swallowing the rising sigh, I turned my head. Then I asked Estelin and Rosette.

“What do you think?”

Estelin answered quickly.

“Wouldn’t Seleneae’s opinion be more important than mine?”

“Hmm, then what about you, Rosette?”

Rosette bit her lips and made a humming sound. Then she opened her mouth with a determined expression.

“I think we should accept the two of them. Right now we’re too short on members.”

Janet and Verain’s expressions brightened. Rosette glanced at them and added her opinion.

“Besides, isn’t now the perfect time to bring in new group members? Since we can guess what the assignment might be.”

Indeed, there was nothing wrong with Rosette’s words.

But I tilted my head and looked at Verain and Janet.

“Still, just like that seems a bit much, doesn’t it?”

Verain’s expression stiffened with a start. Janet also looked a bit frightened.

I smiled brightly and asked the two of them.

“If we put you in the same group, what exactly can you two do for us?”

“What, what do you mean?”

I smiled innocently.

“You’re the two people who got caught secretly eavesdropping on our conversation. Honestly, you also have the purpose of using me. So it’s a bit much to put you in the group just based on what we just talked about. Even being generous a hundred times over, it has to be worth it.”

Verain, who had been stunned, shouted indignantly.

“Come on! We’re not those kind of people! The situation just ended up looking strange, but we really didn’t hear anything! We had just discovered you three a moment ago!”

“Hmm, is that so?”

“Yes! We searched all night and had just found you at that timing, so we were looking for a chance to talk to you! We’re also upset about being misunderstood like this…!”

I stared at her intently and nodded inwardly.

Verain didn’t seem to be lying.

It seemed like she hadn’t heard anything about meeting Duke Haren or the story about Diermant either.

‘So no information was stolen?’

As the part I had been secretly worried about was resolved, my wariness relaxed slightly. Verain continued speaking while fuming.

“Besides, I didn’t want to say this much, but if it’s our abilities, they’ll definitely be helpful to you three too?!”

I narrowed my eyes. Verain continued speaking with a sulky face, having calmed her anger a bit.

“You saw it a moment ago too, didn’t you? My ability.”

I, who had been slightly frowning, slowly nodded.

“I saw it. It seemed like you were creating something unusual.”

“That’s a clone. My ability is creating clones. Of course, it’s only temporary, but I can also hide my real body.”

Rosette’s expression brightened considerably.

“If it’s clones, that would really be helpful! It’ll definitely be useful anywhere! At least we can boldly increase our numbers, right?”

That was true. So I thought for a moment and looked at Janet.

“Then what’s Janet’s ability?”

Janet was startled, then soon muttered in a voice as small as an ant.

“I, I’m good at hearing sounds.”

“You’re good at hearing sounds?”

Verain nodded and interjected.

“Yes. Janet’s ability is maximizing hearing. If she concentrates, she can hear sounds from quite far away without missing them.”

“R, right…. So I also know what happened in the Central Building Garden all night yesterday. I thought you three might not know….”

Instantly, my eyes, Estelin’s, and Rosette’s sparkled with curiosity. It was because we remembered the state of the building garden we saw when leaving.

It definitely seemed like it had been a mess.

Janet carefully continued.

“At least 50 people seemed to be leaving the garden. There seemed to be quite a few injured people too….”

“Really?”

“Yes, and also… There’s also something I heard when the professor’s office window was briefly open last night?”

My eyes sparkled with curiosity.

“What did you hear?”

“Well, they said the exam wouldn’t be held at the Tower of Wisdom. They’ll only gather at the Tower of Wisdom, then everyone will move together to the forest near the tower….”

At that moment, Rosette interrupted Janet’s words.

“Ah— If it’s that, we know. Actually, we already know the exam content, and it seems like we’ll be catching magical beasts.”

Janet and Verain’s eyes widened.

After a few seconds of silence, Rosette, who sensed something was wrong, slowly covered her mouth.

“…Oops.”

I shook my head as if there was no choice.

“Oh well, now we have no choice but to be in the same group.”

“D, Diermant? The exam assignment is to catch Diermant?!”

“We don’t know the exact details yet. The only thing we’re sure of is that the assignment is somehow related to Diermant.”

“…My goodness. I heard that Rishion entrance exams were getting harder and harder, but to think they’d even deploy magical beasts.”

When Verain asked back with a shocked face, Janet muttered quietly.

“Could it be because of the horn…?”

Not missing the small sound, I quickly turned my gaze to stare at her.

“What did you just say?”

Janet looked up with a start. Then she waved her hands in panic.

“N, nothing.”

However, when I didn’t withdraw my gaze, she finally muttered timidly.

“Actually, since you mentioned Diermant, I wondered if it might be about obtaining the horn… Oh, it’s not exactly the horn, but the magical stone embedded in the horn….”

Interested in the intriguing story, I sat down close to Janet. Janet blushed and cleared her throat.

“Professor Sadina’s latest paper is about that magical stone, so I thought maybe….”

“Janet, you’ve seen Professor Sadina’s latest paper?”

Janet nodded.

“I looked at it in advance just in case. I usually read them regularly since I respect her….”

My mouth fell open. A student who studies the examiner’s papers in advance before the test.

It seemed like accepting Janet as a group member was an excellent choice.

“A, anyway, this paper was about the effects that appear when processing Diermant’s magical stones. It said it would be useful for developing something like magical bombs….”

Estelin nodded her head.

“It’s a paper worthy of Professor Sadina. She’s famously known for loving explosives, after all.”

I muttered as I quickly pieced together the puzzle in my head.

“Then maybe actually obtaining magical stones could be the test assignment? Anyway, they’re experimental materials, so they’d have many uses.”

My argument seemed quite credible, as everyone’s expressions brightened.

However, only Rosette looked worried.

“But… how are we supposed to get magical stones embedded in demon horns? Isn’t that too dangerous?”

I narrowed my eyes and recalled Adam and Amon’s conversation from earlier.

We returned to the cave and all collapsed on the floor as if falling down. The sun was setting outside.

Thanks to Janet finding a lake in the forest, we had finally washed ourselves and quenched our thirst after two full days.

“It’s refreshing, but… the problem is I’m hungry now.”

Rosette complained weakly. I muttered with a completely drained face.

“We’ve been starving for two days, so it’s only natural. If we return to the central building tomorrow, we should be able to eat something.”

“Right. Since the test is held on nights when the moon rises anyway, I think they’ll let us rest during the day.”

At Estelin’s words, Janet and Verain nodded drowsily. Both looked extremely tired.

I leaned my back against the cave wall and asked.

“You two, so you didn’t sleep a wink yesterday? You said you searched for us all night.”

Verain nodded her head.

“We couldn’t sleep even if we wanted to. It was so cold that if we dozed off even a little, it felt like we’d never wake up again.”

At those words, Rosette, Estelin, and I exchanged glances.

Thanks to Rosette blocking the cave entrance, we were able to spend last night warmly.

I realized anew just how useful Rosette’s ability had been.

“But today’s better, right?”

When I asked with a smile, Verain gestured toward the campfire in front of us as if to say don’t even mention it.

“It’s so warm thanks to this. It’s also fascinating.”

“Fascinating?”

“I’d only heard that flames created by abilities don’t produce smoke, but this is my first time seeing it. This is Selene’s ability, right?”

I hesitated for a moment, then nodded. Then Verain asked.

“Speaking of which, what exactly is the true nature of Selene’s ability?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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