The Heroines All Want to Kill Me

"...Frey Laan Starlight, do you know how much trouble you've caused?"

"Not really. It's just a small item. Is it really necessary to make such a big fuss?" At the moment, I was having a private conversation with Isolte in the faculty room. It was a private conversation because after stealing a few glances at me, the other professors slipped out of the faculty room one by one. Even if you're the eldest son of the duke's family that controls the empire, it's rather absurd for professors to be afraid of a student. However, this corrupt academy in this corrupt empire managed to achieve such a strange situation. To be honest, it's truly astonishing to have reached this point. Of course, most of the professors who left just now were new professors in charge of the first - year students or those from commoner backgrounds, which is why this happened. But even so, it can't be considered a normal situation.

"…If it were an ordinary enhancing divine artifact, things wouldn't have escalated like this. Although that would still be a violation, it should have been something that could be resolved with appropriate admonition and point deductions." Just as I was thinking this, Isolte spoke with a serious expression. I tried my best to put on an impatient look and retorted.

"Then why are things like this now?"

"That divine artifact reacted to the saintess's 'Divine Power'. You should understand what this means, right?"

"My power has lost its luster since I was a child. You know that very well, sister. Why are you asking me this all of a sudden?" I crossed my legs and answered brazenly. Isolte sighed, then her expression turned worried, and she continued,

"Frey... You weren't like this before... Why on earth have you become like this..." Hearing her gentle voice, a pang of sadness welled up in my chest instantly.

[Isolte Allem Bivorm's Current Emotions: Anger / Disappointment / Concern / Heartache / Pity] Before I knew it, I subconsciously used the [Mind Reading] skill. Looking at the information that emerged in front of me, I was stunned for a moment, then closed my eyes and fell into memories. When I was a child, Professor Isolte—no, Sister Isolte was always gentle with me. Even when everyone was pointing fingers at me, she was one of the few who always believed in me. Looking back, although my childhood friend and fiancée also tried hard to save me, Sister Isolte, who was just like a sister to me, still chose to trust me. This kindness was even more precious. So, was that the case back then? When I saw her body, which had fought to the death against the Demon King's army to save the students until the end at the academy, even though I knew she would be resurrected after I returned, I still hugged her cold body tightly and cried bitterly. Why was that?

'…No, don't be swayed by useless emotions.' Isolte Allem Bivorm was standing right in front of me alive at this moment. Moreover, the five "heroines" who had once hated me, cursed me, and died were all alive now. So, in order to prevent them from dying again... I had to become a pseudo - evil person.

"…Don't try to move me with emotions. I haven't changed. I'm just adapting to this world."

"Frey..."

"…One day, you'll understand too, sister, right?"

"...What?"

"Even if you always live so uprightly, you'll eventually be defeated. You know that very well, don't you, sister?"

"......" For someone like her who always sticks to her opinions and uses her beliefs as weapons, these words must have been quite harsh.

"Perhaps. But even if I fall... The sprouts I've nurtured will bloom into flowers one day." Even so, she didn't show an unhappy expression. Instead, she looked at me gently and said. She's really a kind - hearted person.

"So, Frey. Stop being stubborn. Now..."

"Just get to the point. So, what exactly is that divine artifact?" If we continued to talk in - depth, I was afraid my true thoughts would be exposed, so I quickly changed the topic. Isolte stared at me quietly, sighed, and then resumed a business - like expression.

"That divine artifact reacted to 'Divine Power'. That is to say... This is a dark magic artifact explicitly prohibited by the empire."

"...So?"

"Where did you get that divine artifact? Frey?"

"...The back alley."

"That brooch doesn't seem like something that would be sold in a place like the back alley..."

"You know that's a code word, right?"

"........" For the nobles, "the back alley" was a code word for the largest and most famous black market in the underworld. Although being caught would mean the death penalty according to imperial law, not a single noble abided by it. There were even rumors that when important officials and powerful people in the empire had important matters to discuss, they wouldn't write letters but would directly have their carriages head to the back alley.

"...Are you sure you want to be responsible for what you just said?"

"Do you want to report me, the eldest son of Duke Starlight? In this era, not to mention the duke's family, even a baroness dares to show off the ornaments she bought in the alley. Do you think reporting would be useful?"

"…It seems you've forgotten my influence."

"Compared to you, sister, who has almost severed ties with the Bivorm family, the companions of the hero... As the eldest son of the Starlight Duke's family, a hero's family that is hated but not abandoned, my influence should be greater, right?"

"......" Seeing me retort one after another, she glared at me for a while and then said,

"…I will report this matter to the royal family."

"Fine, do as you like."

"And I will also report it to your father."

"Ah, about that..." After the interview, I was going to return to the dormitory to write to my father and ask for some money... But if this matter reached my father's ears, it would be troublesome.

"Please, I'll do anything. Please don't tell my father..."

".......""...Hm? Sister?"

"Sigh..." Seeing me pleading eagerly, Isolte let out a long sigh and finally spoke.

"Then, I have a condition."

"...Condition?"

"…Take me to the place where you bought that thing."

"...What?"

"I can't let a place that sells dangerous magical tools to students go unregulated. I want to conduct a surprise raid myself and seize evidence."

"…Really, you're not living in another world." I couldn't help but click my tongue at her astonishing sense of justice, then nodded in satisfaction and said,

"Okay! I'll take you! As long as you do this, you won't tell my father, right?"

"…Yes."

"Great! This deal sounds good! How about going on the weekend? Anyway, I was planning to go there on the weekend!"

"…We're going for a surprise raid, not shopping."

"Come on, sister, you should also take the opportunity to have a look! I heard there are a lot of novel things there!"

"…No." Although I was talking with a playful smile, my heart was bleeding inside.

"…Damn it, that place had the best cost - performance ratio." It was really heartbreaking to have to leave that store. The shop owner was a strange person. Knowing that I was a student, he sold illegal divine artifacts for doing evil at normal prices without even thinking of overcharging me. But illegal was illegal, so what could I do? Instead of smashing the store, I might as well poach the highly skilled shop owner and make him my personal craftsman.

"Well, if you don't want to, there's no other way... Anyway, is it over? Can I go?"

"......." I stood up and secretly glanced at Isolte's expression. She was silent and seemed to be deep in thought.

"See you on the weekend then!"

"...Got it." Just like this, I said goodbye to her who was absent - minded and quickly left the faculty room. Incidentally, as soon as I went out, the professors who had been standing dumbly in the corridor walked into the faculty room one by one. It seemed that I had to think of a way to enhance the authority of the teachers.

.....

Time passed bit by bit, and before I knew it, the last class of the day arrived. Since Isolte didn't come to the classroom due to something, the last class naturally turned into a self - study period, and those playful nobles got together and started chatting.

"So! That drunk guy at that time, when..."

"Really? Oh my!"

"Pfft... So funny..." By the last class, the boundaries between the factions were already very clear.

"Lord Frey, speaking of which... If you're free, would you like to join us after school..."

"...Um, that stupid professor didn't say anything, did he? Don't take it to heart... We're on Lord Frey's side."

"Dare to tamper with the brooch... It must be one of those lowly commoners. Should we interrogate them one by one?" No, actually, I had to endure it. Because all the nobles gathered around me and chatted with me. From a certain perspective, it was as if I was being oppressed by the nobles, but in fact, it was a veiled signal that the noble students wanted to join my faction. Unlike those commoners who were sitting quietly at the back, reading or reviewing, the nobles were queuing up and showing their social skills. Looking at them, I felt a rush of blood to my head, but there was nothing I could do. To become a pseudo - evil person, I had to become the leader of this bunch of hopeless people.

- Click! Just as I was suppressing my anger and dealing with those noble students one by one, the classroom door suddenly opened, and someone walked in.

""......"" At that moment, all the noisy noble students froze. Because the person who walked into the classroom was the third imperial princess of the empire—Klarna Sola Rising Sun. She had brilliant blond hair and eyes that symbolized the imperial family of the Rising Sun Empire, and a proud face that could charm everyone. She exuded an aura as if she could take control of the whole place at any time. However...

"...I know a good tavern nearby! I'll cover all the expenses. How about going there to relax and forget about what happened today?"

"...That professor severed ties with the Bivorm family, right? So, he's actually not that great, is he?"

"...Well? But his strength still seems to be somewhat decent."

"But from the duel just now... Lord Frey is indeed stronger, right? As expected of Lord Frey!"

"Exactly! He must have felt humiliated and just found an excuse, saying that the badge was maliciously swapped!" Those nobles took a brief look at her, then for some reason, shifted their eyes away from her, looked back at me, and continued chatting.

"......." Until the imperial princess quietly walked to an empty seat and sat down, they didn't look at her again and started treating her as if she didn't exist. Yes, the nobles had already made a value judgment in their hearts. Compared to the imperial princess, who was at the bottom of the line of succession and was almost a figurehead, it was clearly more advantageous to join my faction—I was the eldest son of the Starlight Duke's family, a family that had held great power in the empire for a thousand years and even the imperial family didn't dare to offend easily.

""......."" The commoners also didn't dare to approach her. Although the nobles looked down on this imperial princess, for the commoner students, who were ordinary imperial subjects, her status was far too lofty.

"........""Moreover, Kania and Pelosh didn't approach her either. As a dark sorceress, if Kania got close to Klarna and Pelosh, who had the power of the sun, her magic power might go out of control and rampage. And Pelosh, having grown tired of the power struggles between the cult and the imperial family in the last reincarnation, was quite wary of the imperial family. That is to say, she was completely alone in the class now.

"Since it's been successful once..." However, I clearly heard it.

"...There's no reason it can't be successful a second time." She murmured with determined eyes.

'...Anyway, she's really an amazing person.' If my fiancée was a model of a natural genius, then the imperial princess was a complete hard - worker and a role model of a self - made person. She was the imperial princess at the bottom of the line of succession, once called an orphan. In the last life, she gritted her teeth, expanded her support base while improving her combat ability through hard training. She worked so hard and hard that she finally managed to reach the top of the line of succession, but this process also wore away her originally cute personality and made her cold - hearted. However, the occasional glimpse of her former cute personality became one of the anecdotes in the imperial palace when she was welcomed as the new emperor. Until the Demon King destroyed everything.

"......" Just as she was immersed in past memories, the imperial princess started staring at me with sharp eyes. I quickly shifted my gaze away from her and suddenly started thinking about the difficult problem that emerged in my mind.

'...This, should I stop the imperial princess from expanding her power, or should I let it go?' If I let the imperial princess expand her power, my life would be in immediate danger; but if I stopped her, the future of the empire would be in crisis. Because all the other heirs to the throne were complete failures.

'...I'm really going crazy.' It felt like none of the problems were solved, but new troubles kept piling up.

"...This damn game is really shitty."

"Hm? What did you say?"

"Nothing. By the way, was a tavern mentioned just now...?" I muttered the word that my ancestors often used in the prophetic book and started making an appointment for a drinking party with the nobles. Today, I wanted to get drunk until the early morning and then sleep soundly in bed.

.....

"...You're back, master."

"...Ah, right. You're here." I completely forgot that Kania was still in my dormitory. She even stayed up with wide - open eyes until I came back drunk in the early morning.

"...Then, I'll go prepare the bath water."

"No need. You can leave now."

"Okay, I'll sleep on the folding bed."

"No, I mean leave the room."

"Then have a good rest."

"...Damn it." After spitting out a heartfelt swear word for the first time in a long time, I realized that this would cost me evil - deeds points, so I calmed down and lay down on the bed.

'...Just lie down like this. After confirming that Kania is asleep, I'll inject tomorrow's vitality into her, and then I should go to sleep too.' As I sorted out my thoughts and tossed and turned on the bed, I suddenly noticed a black cat doll on the desk.

"...Hey, what's that?"

"Do you mean that?" I pointed to the doll and asked, and Kania smiled and answered my question.

"...That's a gift from my younger brother. Isn't it cute?"

"Tsk, a black cat... It's really unlucky." Actually, I liked cats very much, but for some reason, I lied. Perhaps it was because I was used to living as a pseudo - evil person and always wearing a mask to act.

'...How sad.' The combination of the drunkenness and the early - morning sentimentality made me feel a bit melancholy. I silently turned off the bedside lamp switch, closed my eyes, and started pretending to sleep.

.....

Just like this, after Frey and Kania fell asleep, a long time passed quietly.

"...Are they asleep?"

"......." Frey lay quietly with his eyes closed. After throwing the question to Kania and confirming that she didn't respond, he quietly got up from the bed.

"...Good, she's really asleep." Since injecting vitality into Kania while she was asleep had become a daily routine, Frey could easily tell whether she was asleep or not. After determining that Kania had fallen into a deep sleep, he gently turned his right hand and walked towards the simple bed.

"Then, let's start again today?" Soon, Frey came to the simple bed and slowly reached out his hand towards the sleeping Kania.

"........" And Frey's appearance was reflected in the eyes of the black cat doll on the desk.