The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

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The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

Chapter 373: Embracing Freedom

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“Haha. This is just the best!”

With Lavienne’s battle against Shudo concluded, and on top of that, her victory in the verbal spar with Ride, I couldn’t help but smile as I watched Lavienne return to us.

Why, you ask? Because her relentless pursuit of victory, her insatiable greed for winning, and her audacity to wager even her life without hesitation—all of these traits were reminiscent of the Lavienne from my past. Yet now, she fought with newfound boldness and calm, having discovered a new goal, making it all the more enjoyable to watch.

“I’m back!”

As I pondered these things, Lavienne appeared right in front of me, smiling cheerfully and playfully thrusting her tiny fist towards me.

“I won, just like I promised!”

“Heh. Wouldn’t expect anything less from you.”

“Hehehe.”

I returned her words with a grin, bumping my fist against hers, and in that moment, she wore a rare, age-appropriate soft smile.

“Good job, Lavii.”

“Thank you, Fiera-chan!”

“Well done, Lavii. You did great!”

“Ahaha. Shuvina-chan seems even happier than me!”

“Nice work, Lavii. If only you had crushed bones and broken teeth too. But watching you was refreshing!”

“Wow, Sonia-chan is ruthless! Well, I guess I thought I could’ve done a bit more too.”

“Thank you for your hard work, Lavienne-san. Here, please have this.”

“Wow! Thank you, Iris-chan!”

As we praised Lavienne, Fiera and the others also took turns congratulating her. Finally, Iris pulled out a drink from a ring enchanted with storage magic, and Lavienne gulped it down in one go.

“Ahhh, feels rejuvenating! By the way, Fiera-chan…”

“Hmm?”

“Don’t give me those hostile glares while I’m seriously fighting! I almost ditched my duel with the hero and jumped at you instead!”

“Hmm. You noticed?”

“Of course! Anyone would notice when they’re glared at like that!”

“I see. I’ll be more careful next time.”

Since I was solely focused on Lavienne during her battle, I wasn’t aware of what those two were discussing, but it seemed like there was something only Fiera and Lavienne understood.

Well, I didn’t intend to pry deeper into it, nor did I particularly want to know, so I just let their conversation drift past me.

“Wow! But seriously, I’m glad the hero is still the same idiot. I was a bit worried when he used that special magic without the Holy Sword, but as expected from the intel I got beforehand, he’s just a naive guy blinded by his own sense of justice, soft on the weak and kids, so it was easy to win!”

“Hmm? Intel beforehand?”

“Of course! There’s no way I would just battle that absurdly powerful hero without any plans, right? I gathered all the info I could—what quests he’s taken as an adventurer, how he acted in town, his way of interacting with people, and what happened at the academy. Even the fact that he spared you just because you were a girl when he fought Fiera.”

“Ugh. That last point is my shame! I swear I’ll get him back for that!”

“Ahaha. Do your best! Anyway, based on my investigation, he turned out to be a nauseatingly good person. He’s kind to the weak but merciless to villains. Plus, he has a strong tendency to only believe in the immediate facts and never considers that someone might be trying to deceive him. Such a self-righteous fool that I figured he’d be flustered if I pretended to be weak. And just as I thought, the hero reacted a bit when I called myself a frail girl, so I capitalized on that!”

“I see.”

“Yeah. That said, I’m tired, so I think I’ll head back to my room now. The new term starts tomorrow, after all, and I need to prepare.”

“Yeah. As Lavienne said, we should return to our rooms too. Staying here any longer won’t do us any good.”

“Hmm. Let’s do that.”

So, having witnessed Lavienne’s victory over Shudo, we didn’t have any particular plans, and after exiting the training grounds, we each returned to our dorms as Lavienne requested, spending the rest of our time freely in anticipation of the new term starting tomorrow.

And so began the new term, but time flew by in the blink of an eye, leading us to a month later, where the second martial arts tournament was looming.

The few months since the new term started hadn’t brought anything particularly monumental; honestly, you could say we were savoring a rare, uneventful peace.

The reasons for this can be largely split into two. First, the annoying Shudo had lost to Lavienne and was demoted to Class A as planned.

Thanks to that, the nasty glares I used to get from him, those irritatingly loud and annoying voices, and his silly antics of calling me by my full name despite being corrected repeatedly—all of that was lifted, and our school life became remarkably calm and peaceful.

Well, the once brainwashed Ride and other classmates still shot me glares filled with mixed emotions, but since they didn’t directly interact with me, it was still a relief.

The second reason was that Sephiria, who was supposed to join us this year as a newcomer, was already attending our academy as our classmate since a year ago.

As mentioned earlier, Sephiria is normally one year younger than us, but thanks to Shudo awakening as the hero last year during the dungeon practical, she was supposed to enter as a fresh student this year.

And afterward, there were times when she would team up with Shudo to annoy me, but this time, since Sephiria had retained some of her past memories, she chose to act on her own will, enrolling in the academy a year earlier than her past self.

Moreover, maybe because she had those past memories, she was now cooperating with me rather than Shudo, turning what had originally been a tiring and troublesome event of new students entering into something that had nothing to do with me.

Thus, my life at the academy has truly been free, and just like in my first year, I was exempt from classes, happily researching magic circles and exploring the Morning Star Dungeon, living life freely.

Of course, there were times when I interacted with Fiera and Lavienne, but unlike Shudo, they understood the appropriate distances with me, so engaging with them wasn’t too bothersome at all.

“Hmm? What’s this magic power…?”

While I was enjoying my freedom like this, I sensed a recognizable magical reaction in the magic I was manipulating for training. I immediately stopped my training, jumped out of the window, and used flying magic to head straight towards the source of the reaction.

“That’s it.”

Above the place where I sensed the reaction.

Below, a suspicious-looking figure, deeply hooded, was wandering around the imperial capital’s market, glancing around with interest.

“Huh. Seems like he’s interested in the human town since it’s his first time here too. But why is he here? I thought he was supposed to contact me after our last meeting. Well, I guess I’ll find out when I meet him. For now, let’s go say hi.”

I figured he must have noticed me up in the air, so observing him would be a waste of time. I landed at a suitable spot and headed toward the person who was stopping in front of a stall.