I'm a Villain in My Own Game?

[Raul PoV]

Days passed, and we kept Thomas's incident tightly under wraps. Once he regained consciousness, the victim of Thomas's actions couldn't remember anything that had happened to him.

He also had no memory of Thomas luring him into that quiet alley within the academy grounds.

It seemed Thomas had done something to him before dragging his victim to that execution site. If I remembered correctly, Prince Vlad had given Thomas a bottle of purple liquid.

There were countless potions with all kinds of effects in the game Path of Destiny. I also planned to have Olen Mask work on brewing one, once he finished crafting the artifacts I'd requested to spec.

For now, not a single complaint had reached the disciplinary committee about Thomas's actions. Probably because his victims so far numbered only two.

I'd ordered Eric to keep a constant watch on Thomas's movements, to stop him if he tried anything extreme, and to report back to me immediately if he saw Thomas talking with Vlad.

Right now, I was heading to the Student Council building to discuss next year's club budget allocations for the academy.

Since I needed resentment to unlock several of my remaining Profound Codexes, I figured I could make good use of this situation.

Arriving at the Student Council building, I headed straight for the meeting room. Quite a few people had already gathered to discuss the matter.

"Ah, you're here, Raul," Elena said, smiling at me. "Sit down, we'll be starting shortly."

I nodded and took a seat beside Elena. The disciplinary committee's role in this matter was to accompany the finance department when confronting problem clubs.

That's why I was here—to understand the full situation before heading out into the field.

"We'll be reviewing the financial reports for the academy's clubs today," Elena said, opening the meeting. "The academy allocates three thousand gulden annually for all club activities here."

Currently, the academy had ten clubs: Swordmaster, Lancer, Brawler, Wizard, Potioner, Healer, Runer, Warrior, Paladin, and Archer.

Every student could join whichever club matched their preferred fighting style.

"Divided evenly, each club would receive a budget of 300 gulden per year," Elena continued from where she'd left off. "But the academy doesn't want it handled that way. They want clubs producing the best graduates to receive a larger share than the rest."

That seemed reasonable enough—students needed to give their best effort if they wanted the academy's full support in developing their abilities.

"Among all the clubs, the Swordmaster club currently has the highest number of top graduates," a bespectacled woman explained. If I recalled correctly, her name was Sarah Volkswagen. "Meanwhile, the lowest performer is the Lancer club. Yet they currently hold the third-largest budget among all the academy's clubs."

The Lancer club, huh?

This club consisted of students who used spears, staffs, or other polearms as their weapon of choice in combat.

In the game, characters of this class carried both strengths and weaknesses, depending on how players chose to utilize them in battle.

"Aside from the Lancer club's graduates, the Paladin and Potioner clubs have also seen a decline in their contributions to the Empire," Sarah continued, reading off the declining statistics for graduates from these three clubs accepted into the Knight Order or the Empire's prestigious mage towers.

"So then, what should we do about this?" I finally spoke up. "Based on what the President just said, these three clubs' budgets need to be cut next school year, with the freed-up funds redirected to clubs showing stronger growth."

Hearing my words, everyone in the room fell silent.

They all knew, deep down, what needed to happen next. But this move would inevitably spark conflict with the three affected clubs. It was only natural they'd protest fiercely against the budget cuts, claiming unfairness.

Still, the Student Council had no choice but to carry out the academy's mandate.

"We're all aware of the risks involved here," Elena said, speaking up again. "Raul, you and someone from the finance department will handle the confrontation with these three clubs tomorrow," she ordered.

"Understood, President," I agreed.

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"Whatever it takes, I hope the two of you can get these three clubs to accept this decision without causing a scene."

After the meeting ended, I headed out of the room to head to my first match in the year-end tournament qualifiers. My opponent was a second-year student from the regular track.

"Senior..."

Hearing a voice calling out, I turned around. A woman with her hair styled in a side ponytail stood before me.

"M-my name is Miria de Coruna," she said quietly. "I look forward to working with you tomorrow, Senior Raul."

Ahh... so she's the one who'll be handling the confrontation with the three problem clubs alongside me tomorrow, is she?

Was this simply her being shy, or was she genuinely afraid of me?

"Alright, likewise, I look forward to working with you tomorrow too, Miria."

If I remembered correctly... wasn't she the first-year student who ranked in the academy's overall top ten?

Let me think for a moment—her Nature Mana affinity, if I recall, was Plants and Trees, wasn't it?

[Alisha PoV]

Leon and I were walking toward the academy's dueling arena. Honestly, this place felt far more magnificent and expansive compared to Silvercast Academy back in the Tsardom of Slavia.

Beyond having more students, they also seemed noticeably more competent, showing a much wider range of fighting styles.

"Leon, what do you think of Grunbelt Academy so far?"

My loyal attendant fell silent for a moment, thinking it over. "I think this place suits you better than our own country, given the disaster it's currently facing."

Ughhh... thinking about my country's situation always weighs on my heart. Still, I'd done everything within my power to help the Tsardom of Slavia recover from its current downfall.

"Ah, that reminds me. Leon, didn't you just have a match against an opponent in yesterday's qualifiers? What do you think of the students here?" I asked him.

Even though I trusted that Leon wouldn't lose to ordinary students, I'd still noticed no shortage of genuinely talented ones here, like Valeria, Princess Elena, and Brian.

"They're nothing, Alisha," Leon answered confidently. "I'll prove to them the strength of us northerners!"

Leon possessed a unique Profound Codex centered around Anti-Magic. He was the perfect counter for a mage like myself.

Still, it wasn't impossible for a mage to defeat Leon. With the right conditions and specific tactics, I believed I could beat him, even with his ability to neutralize whatever spells I cast.

We soon arrived at the dueling arena, where plenty of seats sat empty. I supposed that made sense, since this was still just the qualifying round—the place wouldn't be too crowded yet.

Leon and I had come here specifically to watch Raul de Garcia's upcoming match.

"Ughh... he's not lucky at all, drawing that guy."

"Exactly, why did my good friend have to face him in the very first match!"

I overheard a few students talking not far from where we sat.

Why did they sound so afraid of my future husband? Wasn't his mana aura fairly weak?

A mage or fighter really ought to master Mana Sensing to properly gauge an opponent's strength. But it was also possible for someone to conceal their mana aura, if they wished to.

Still, I got the sense Raul wasn't hiding his mana aura at all.

Yet... I noticed the second-year students seemed far more eager to avoid facing him than they were to avoid strong-looking opponents like Valeria, Brian, or Princess Elena.

Was there some piece of information about Raul I wasn't aware of, something that made these students so afraid of him?

Before long, a second-year student entered the arena from the right corner, his expression noticeably tense.

From the opposite side, the black-haired student appeared as well, his expression as flat and unreadable as ever.

Their match was about to begin...

I hoped I'd finally get to see the true strength behind Raul de Garcia, the one that had these students so frightened of him.

But why was he fighting bare-handed? Wasn't he supposed to be a swordsman?

The instructor then stepped between both competitors, giving the signal to begin the match.

"Are both competitors ready?" the instructor asked them.

Raul simply nodded, while his opponent answered firmly.

"Alright, the first qualifying round between Raul de Garcia and Vincent Alabama, begin!"

The instructor had started the match, yet both of them stood still, neither making a move.

Raul's opponent seemed to be thinking through what to do against the man before him.

What were they doing? Why weren't they attacking right away?

Raul let out a sigh, then walked toward his opponent.

"Just surrender if you don't have the confidence to fight me," Raul said, his tone perfectly ordinary.

"Th-there's no way I'm surrendering without even putting up a fight!" the man shouted.

He took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. Sparkling motes of light began emanating from his legs, signaling that he'd activated Acceleration magic.

The man planted his foot against the ground and rushed toward Raul at speed.

He unleashed a horizontal slash aimed at the black-haired man, but Raul dodged it with ease.

He followed up with a relentless barrage of strikes, trying to corner Raul, yet not a single attack landed.

—Bam!

The man's body flew backward, struck by a punch from Raul aimed straight at his face.

He got back up and activated Temper magic. He settled into a stance, preparing to attack Raul once more.

It looked like Raul's opponent was about to unleash a full combo.

"Waterflow Dance!"

The man rushed toward Raul again. But the black-haired man looked completely at ease, effortlessly dodging every strike in the combo the man threw at him.

—Bam!

Raul then kicked his opponent square in the face, knocking him out cold.

"Match over! The winner is Raul de Garcia!"

Having won the match with ease, Raul turned and walked out of the arena.

"Told you he didn't stand a chance against him, didn't I?"

"He's really unlucky! Vincent trained so hard for this tournament, too!"

I heard the students nearby continuing their conversation.

"Leon, what did you think of that match?" I asked, wanting his opinion.

"He... read every single one of his opponent's attacks," Leon answered seriously. "His movements were flawless—there wasn't a single wasted motion in anything he did."

I thought the same thing.

It looked as though he already knew exactly where his opponent's attacks would land, every single time.

"Leon, do you think you could dodge every single combo Raul's opponent threw, if you were in his position?"

Leon fell silent for a moment, thinking it over.

"No, Alisha," Leon answered. "I think at most I could dodge five of those strikes and parry the remaining three."

He also hadn't used a single physical-enhancement spell throughout the entire match, in stark contrast to his opponent, who'd used two—Acceleration and Temper—and still couldn't land a single hit, despite having the physical advantage those spells should have granted him.

"Raul de Garcia... just what exactly are you truly capable of?"

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