The Villain Purchased the Heroine

Alright, I admit it.

Choosing Finn was partly based on emotion.

After all, emotions shouldn't interfere after setting a goal, but I broke that rule and acted anyway.

*Sniff…!*

Finn's pathetic sobs fill the air.

It seems he no longer feels the need to hide his feelings now that I've appeared.

Toylen Troa Finn.

Aside from being dead last in entrance exam scores, he's a dullard among dullards who never shone even once in the original story.

Yet, one thing I've picked up on is his tenacity, proven during the Class Battle preparation against Fallon, despite not being written in the novel.

I cherish those with talent.

My game hand will be filled with a sparkling array of talented individuals.

There's no need to clutter the space with those who do not shine.

…So this is merely an experiment.

A test subject to push limits.

Finn's talent might as well be invisible; I could confidently say it doesn't exist.

The test is to see how far he can grow if given the chance.

Who knows, this model might succeed and become applicable to others. It may well produce a wealth of useful insights.

"Hah, it's a ridiculous excuse even to me."

While it's not entirely impossible, it's obvious that investing that capital in others would be more efficient.

Thus, wanting to nurture Finn can be brushed off as a pastime.

Just because a character levels up in an RPG doesn't mean the real me grows alongside it. Yet here I am, playing in the face of that irony.

"Alicia."

"Yes, Young Master."

"You've reduced your stress by helping others."

"…Is that… really the case?"

I guess I'm in no position to lecture Alicia. We're both in the same boat.

"Just a little musing; don't get too lost in thought and forget it."

"Yes… understood."

*

The day after returning to the Academia.

As I was about to enter the laboratory, it was unusually noisy today.

With Finn still undergoing treatment, there weren't many people around who would chatter, so why?

As I opened the door, I found my answer.

"Oh, Vargan! I apologize for entering first."

A lively voice welcomed me.

Frida is a woman who played a significant role in shaking the Saint at the base of Class 5, having been bribed from the airship.

"Really."

"So it was true?"

"Emily, I told you it's real."

Maybe it's because they share a common status of being lowborn, but Emily and Frida already seemed to be getting along well.

As they sat down, Alicia naturally brought out a tea set.

Crimson red tea was poured into the cups, and white steam rose, bringing warmth.

"Wow, it's really a picture."

Frida gaped like an idiot.

I didn't bother to ask what she meant by "picture" because I wasn't curious.

"Here's the membership application. If you write your name here, you can become a member of Arbol Frutal."

"Oh, thank you."

As if afraid I would snatch it back, she took the paper and quickly skimmed it before writing her name down.

She wrote 'Frida' in a crooked, shaky script.

Even a worm crawling might look more beautiful than this.

"Is it okay not to examine the contents closely?"

"I can't read difficult characters yet."

"That sounds like an easy way to get scammed."

"I considered the possibility and memorized the contents of the application beforehand. I just checked if there were other characters."

Frida smiled brightly while sipping the tea that Alicia had prepared for her.

She sent a subtle gaze that seemed to say, "Can I get a compliment?"

"If you can't read or write, it might hinder you in the future. Make sure you learn basic vocabulary soon."

"Is there any other way?"

"What are you standing there dumbfounded for, Emily? Don't you want Frida to join as a member?"

"Wha-What…?! If someone hears that, they'll misunderstand…! That's not it…!!"

Ignoring Emily's loud protests, I read the book that Alicia had laid open.

I started right from where I had stopped reading last time.

Just as I was trying to follow the lines of text, Emily's hand covered the book.

"Explain it properly to us members!"

…What a hassle.

Not wanting to hear the annoying noise, I spoke quickly and concisely.

If we carried out our mission properly in the Class Battle, Frida would become part of our research society, and I would give her pocket money whenever she helped me out.

Reason? She betrayed Class 5, so it wouldn't be right for her to mingle with that group.

By the way, this was something Frida had suggested.

"No matter how much money you can make, it's lonely going around by yourself."

Frida is a woman who learned to act for survival.

She has talent that slightly exceeds the average and is someone with strong survival instincts, making her quite useful.

For instance, during the Class Battle, she could deceive someone in my place. There are tasks that I can't entrust to the more tender-hearted ones.

Moreover, although she wasn't a particularly significant character in the existing story, she had great charm.

Specifically, she is one of the characters with the most ideological conflicts with Liam. Liam cannot accept her cunningness. They clashed significantly during the second semester festival episode.

In fact, that's more than enough reason to recruit her.

"Then… then… Liam too…."

"Alright, enough chatter. Let's get to work."

Cutting off Emily, who was about to start saying something unnecessary, I diverted my attention to the mountain of papers stacked in front of me.

Breaking off from the task, I turned my attention to the mountain of papers in front of me.

There's a lot of them, huh?

"Alicia, how many people have applied?"

"A total of 121. 72 first-years, 29 second-years, 18 third-years, and 2 fourth-years."

"Why are there so few applicants from the third and fourth years?"

"There are several reasons. Primarily, Arbol Frutal is made up entirely of first-years, some students' council members have a negative view of the third and fourth years, and many of them are already part of research societies."

Just as I assumed.

Except for one thing.

"Did you leave out important information to match my mood? Alicia, what you did is information distortion. Don't do it again."

"…I'm sorry, Young Master."

"It's because I'm the president of Arbol Frutal, isn't it?"

This is what they call territoriality.

Even though they are noble heirs, they're still first-years.

They don't want to work under someone who entered the Academia after them.

It should be about skills over age…

…but, it's actually good.

Isn't it saying that those rotten-minded people are filtered out automatically?

It saves me trouble, so it's a win-win.

"When am I going to review all of this…?"

Emily stuck out her tongue.

"I'll do it quickly. Exclude anyone who doesn't meet my criteria, then hand them over to me. I'll make the final judgment."

"So, we'll interview the filtered candidates?"

"Exactly."

The theme of the research society is personal capability development.

We did promote this well.

The name 'New Student Council' that made me hesitant is gone too.

It's only natural for students to gather.

For me, who needs to recruit talents, this is clearly good news.

However, accepting everyone will decrease efficiency. There's a saying about selection and concentration, right?

I'll prioritize candidates who shone in novels, then select those with less prominence but visible talent.

It's a pity I can't bring the elites from the student council, but I'll take my time to nurture them through the process.

But for now…

"Let's organize the documents."

⎯Ah, wait a moment!

The flow was interrupted by Frieda's interjection.

She looked at me with a face full of surprise.

"I can't read…"

"…I won't assign you any important tasks, so just do some chores."

"Yes…"

*

In the room of the dormitory where Erica resides.

She was sitting at her desk, thinking about Vargan.

"What a ruthless guy…!"

Not in a positive way, but in a negative one.

The class battle, completely played in his palm, ended disgracefully.

Usually, Erica wouldn't care much about the opinions of those around her, but the feeling of failure in not being able to lead her class properly plagued her.

From the moment she woke up in the morning until just before falling asleep at night.

Remembering her pitiful state due to Vargan, Erica stomped her feet anxiously.

Though the misunderstanding was cleared, her relationship with Diphelia became awkward because of him. She rarely had any close friends to begin with, and now she lost one potential friend…

No, wait, that's not it.

Don't let emotions consume you.

You must act rationally.

Diphelia is both a saint and a capable person.

It's sad not because she could have been a friend, but because such talent has been lost.

"…"

Erica, looking like a drenched cat or rather a defeated mouse, picked up a fork and poked it into the edge of the cake.

The neatly cut cake didn't collapse or fall apart. The fluffy layers quickly bounced back after being pierced by the fork.

Nom.

The piece of cake in Erica's mouth melted away, wrapping around her tongue. The harmony of sweetness and a hint of tartness was splendid.

"…"

Normally, she would have gasped in awe at such sweetness. But not now.

The upscale cake topped with seasonal fruits felt like old rye bread with no taste.

Munch munch.

She chewed on the small piece meant to be swallowed whole for a long time. It wasn't savoring the flavor, just her mouth muscles mechanically moving.

⎯Knock, knock.

A light sound akin to knocking was heard.

It was a window draped in darkness like sunlight. A magically created yellow bird was visible outside.

Erica opened the window and let the bird in. It was a familiar action. It was how her mother periodically kept in touch with her.

The bird circled the room a few times before settling gently on Erica's shoulder and poof—leaving a sparkle behind as it vanished.

The starry yellow lights recombined into the shape of an envelope. Upon tearing it open, she found a long letter and two theater tickets inside.

"…What is this?"

A letter was normal, but it was her first time receiving tickets.

Placing the tickets on the desk, Erica began to read the letter.

It started with a simple greeting.

As always, it was filled with affectionate words expressing her mother's concern for Erica.

"…Uh, …uh?"

However,

As she read on, Erica's expression turned to one of shock. At the same time, her reading speed quickened, her eyes darting.

She couldn't believe it.

She didn't want to believe it.

She was already tired of that guy lately, and now this?

"Ugh…!"

For a moment, Erica was swept up by her surging emotions and almost tore the letter apart, but she couldn't do that.

It was a precious letter sent by her mother.

No matter how awful the content might be, it was handwritten by her.

"Haah…"

Erica let out a long sigh.

A very long one.

Rubbing her heavy head, Erica read again the specific sentence that had troubled her the most.

"My lovely fairy Erica, please spend a cozy time with Vargan on the upcoming engagement anniversary."

If only it were a family gathering like last year…!

Tightly pressing the pen down to avoid writing anything unpleasant, Erica began to draft her reply. She frequently paused in the middle of writing, letting out long sighs in between.

"…How am I supposed to convey this to Vargan"