I’m a Villain, but I Want to Live a Long Life - Chapter 119

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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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The area behind the Tower of Wisdom was cold and dark. The only light came from torches held by a few administrators.

“Didn’t they say we were going to the examination hall?”

“Exactly. Why did they bring us here…?”

Students around us, excluding our group, were all muttering to themselves.

The Rishion examination hall they knew was located in the basement of the main building.

Not here, in this open field behind the Tower of Wisdom with nothing but empty space on all sides.

From the perspective of those who knew nothing, this entire situation would be quite bewildering. Then the back door of the Tower of Wisdom opened with a rough sound.

Through the opened door, about twenty people walked out in formation. Their blue uniforms fluttered in the wind.

Students muttered in surprised voices.

“Supervisors? Why are there so many of them?”

“More importantly, what are they holding right now?”

The supervisors had something in their hands. Students who identified what those objects were whispered to each other.

“Aren’t those offensive magical tools?”

“I think you’re right. But why are the supervisors carrying offensive magical tools?”

Offensive magical tools. And they were top-grade magical tools that were difficult to encounter easily in the market.

As the murmuring grew louder, suddenly a sharp amplified voice echoed through the air.

“Everyone has waited long!”

Sadina stepped up onto the dais prepared right in front of the door in one stride.

She looked around at the students, wearing a uniform that differed only in color from those of the supervisors.

“The time has finally come to take the examination.”

As if those words were some kind of signal, the supervisors who had been standing in two rows scattered among the students.

They soon surrounded the entire open field in a circle with refined movements.

“Those people don’t seem like simple supervisors.”

Rosette muttered beside me. I nodded upon hearing her words.

Though dressed as supervisors, their serious expressions and disciplined movements.

All of them had tall statures and broad shoulders.

“Right, judging by their atmosphere, they seem like Halen’s Royal Guard.”

If the Tigris Family had a Knight Order, the House of Halen had a Royal Guard.

As they were House of Halen’s private soldiers, they were often deployed not only for ducal affairs but also for Academy matters, and today seemed to be one of those occasions.

“Seeing that even soldiers have been mobilized, it looks like they’re really planning to hunt Diermant.”

At Estelin’s whispered words, we all nodded with tense faces.

In the sky, the second moon emitting red light was just rising between the clouds.

Sadina’s voice was heard again from the dais.

“There isn’t much time, so I’ll announce the examination task first!”

The various disturbances among the students subsided. Everyone held their breath and listened to Sadina’s voice.

“The examination task is to go into the forest and find an ancient monster’s magical stone before dawn!”

Immediately, exclamations of various sizes burst out from here and there.

“What? Find a magical stone?”

“Wait. It’s not a mock battle?!”

“There’s never been such an examination task before!”

“No, but did she just say ancient monster…?”

Sadina looked around at the students and laughed as if amused.

“No need to make a fuss. Though it’s called an ancient monster, it’s not that dangerous an entity.”

Sadina waited for the open field to fall into complete silence before starting to speak again.

“What you need to obtain is none other than a Diermant’s magical stone.”

“Diermant?”

Sadina tilted her head slightly and shouted.

“That’s right, Diermant! Monsters that feed on forest energy and move in groups. They only reveal themselves on days when negative energy is strong, so they might feel unfamiliar at first.”

The open field became noisy again. Sadina continued speaking without batting an eye.

“However, those creatures basically like humans. They rarely attack humans first. Though that doesn’t mean they’re not troublesome. So…”

At that moment, someone raised their hand high in the middle of the open field. It was Anita with serious eyes shining.

When Sadina nodded, Anita opened her mouth with a particularly crisp tone.

“I understand what kind of monster Diermant is. Also, you’re saying we need to obtain that monster’s magical stone.”

Anita swallowed and shouted seriously.

“The monster won’t willingly give its magical stone to humans. There will probably be combat.”

“Of course there will be combat. So what?”

At Sadina’s response, Anita closed her mouth. After hesitating for a moment, she opened her mouth again.

“Di-Diermant is an ancient monster! Even armies with tremendous skill are careful when facing ancient monsters. But to have students face such ancient monsters…”

“Ah, because of that. I wondered what you were going to say.”

Sadina stroked her chin. Then she looked around at the students and spoke in a clear voice.

“There are as many as twenty supervisors assigned to this examination! They’re all skilled warriors from House of Halen, and they carry top-grade magical tools I recently made.”

Students glanced at the magical tools in the supervisors’ hands.

“Also, observation magical tools are spread throughout the Academy Jurisdiction Forest.”

Sadina smiled broadly.

“What do you think is the reason I made such preparations with enormous budget?”

No one opened their mouth. As the silence lengthened, Sadina shouted through the stillness.

“To intervene immediately if a dangerous situation arises! We can’t have students harmed by monsters in Rishion’s entrance examination.”

She exchanged glances with Duke Halen and shouted leisurely.

“Besides, the probability of dangerous incidents occurring is slim to begin with! There’s only one group of Diermant residing in the jurisdiction forest. They’re all young individuals, and their number doesn’t even reach twenty.”

Students looked at each other and stirred quietly.

“So the monsters won’t be as strong opponents as you think. Of course, I’m not saying they’ll be easy opponents either.”

Unprecedented confidence appeared slightly on Anita’s face.

“Also. If you fail to recover the magical stones anyway…”

The eyes of the leisurely smiling Sadina flashed.

“The Academy plans to step in and recover all the magical stones soon. That’s how confident we are.”

I froze in place with a slightly surprised face. Estelin asked beside me.

“Does that statement sound strange to you too, Selene?”

I nodded.

“Yes, it sounds exactly like they’re planning to wipe out the Diermant around the Academy.”

Janet and Verain came close to us.

“They said there are no adults in the Diermant group, and the number of individuals is small too. So are they just letting students face the monsters?”

Everyone looked at each other without answering. I thought carefully and muttered.

“What has Rishion’s reputation been like recently?”

Rosette raised her head.

“What do you mean, it was similar to usual.”

“What exactly does similar mean?”

“Literally, it was similar to usual. There was no particular good news or bad news. At some point, Rishion has just been maintaining its position with the feeling of being truly worthy of its name.”

I closed my mouth and pondered, then muttered quietly.

“I think it’s probably because of that.”

“What?”

Everyone’s gaze turned toward me. I calmly exhaled and opened my mouth decisively.

“Think about it. There haven’t been any people mentioned as outstanding talents produced by Rishion… particularly since our fathers’ generation.”

Rosette’s eyes widened. I looked at her and continued speaking.

“Of course, it’s true that the graduates’ level is high on average. But that’s the end of it. Rishion hasn’t been developing at some point.”

“So they made changes to the examination task?”

I nodded and looked around at everyone as I spoke.

“Right. Besides, everyone heard what Professor Sadina said just now.”

Verain, who had been frozen with a blank face, responded bewilderedly.

“Yes, she said if students can’t do it, the Academy will recover the Diermant’s magical stones…”

“The Academy was planning to drive out the Diermant from the Academy jurisdiction from the beginning.”

Verain and Janet exchanged surprised glances. I continued speaking.

“The timing for subjugating the Diermant probably coincidentally overlapped with the entrance exam period. The Academy likely needed some kind of change at just the right time.”

“So they’re having students participate in the Diermant subjugation?”

I nodded while looking at Verain.

“Yes. No matter how docile and fond of humans they are, Diermant are ancient magical beasts. But Rishion’s prospective students are facing such ancient magical beasts?”

“….”

“This is an opportunity to boost the Academy’s reputation that has been stagnant. It’ll become an enormous controversy. Every gossip magazine will be plastered with stories about Rishion’s entrance exam, right?”

Janet opened her mouth and muttered quietly to herself.

“That’s right. No matter what kind of results the students achieve in this exam, the Academy’s power will be demonstrated.”

“Right. Whether the new students subjugate the Diermant or the Academy steps in directly to subjugate them, both outcomes wouldn’t be bad.”

But I narrowed my eyes and muttered quietly.

“If the subjugation succeeds, that is.”

“What do you mean by that, Selene? ‘If it succeeds’?”

Estelin asked. Rosette also narrowed her brow and asked me.

“The students might be one thing, but how could the Academy fail? The magical beast pack itself is small and young.”

I held my breath for a moment, then looked around at everyone and asked.

“That’s exactly what’s strange.”

“What exactly?”

“Why would only small and young individuals remain in the pack in the first place?”

A cold silence settled in the air.

Around us, the sounds of other groups sharing their opinions could be heard faintly.

I muttered in a very small voice.

“…They must have conducted a subjugation beforehand to ensure students could take this exam safely.”

Everyone looked shocked, covering their mouths or widening their eyes.

“They deliberately left only young individuals that would be easy for students to handle.”

“My, my goodness. Ancient magical beasts aren’t toys, what is this?”

Leaving Rosette’s words behind, I turned my head to stare at the dark forest visible behind the supervisor’s back.

Just then, Amon, who had emerged from the pendant, muttered.

[Indeed, now that the moon has risen, those creatures have started their activity. …However.]

“….”

[For some reason, those creatures seem to be extremely angry.]

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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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