Never Die Villain

Once the professor finished explaining the instructions, everyone was given the rest of the period to form their groups. Students began moving around the classroom, most of them already grouping up with friends they had worked with in previous classes.

Ilya, naturally, had no such advantage.

"Hmm..."

He looked around the room and wondered who he should ask, only to notice a group of students suddenly approaching his desk before he could make a decision.

The one standing at the front was a woman, of course, though the four students behind her were a mixture of men and women.

"Ilya Belozersky?"

"That’s me."

The girl seemed relieved that she had gotten his name right. She glanced briefly toward the others behind her before clearing her throat.

"Uhm, if you don’t have a group yet, would you like to join ours?"

Ilya looked past her. There were five of them, including the girl speaking to him, and none seemed particularly bothered by the prospect of having someone they had only met today joining their group.

"Uh, not really. But if you don’t mind—"

"He already has a group."

Before Ilya could finish, Elise appeared beside him and grabbed hold of his arm. She pulled him slightly toward herself, then looked at the group with an expression that suggested the matter had already been decided.

The girl blinked. "Oh. You do?"

"No, I don’t."

"...."

Elise slowly looked at him.

"Ilya...?"

"What?"

"You’re in my group..."

"Since when?"

"...Since now."

Ilya stared at her for a moment before looking around. Sure enough, several of Elise’s friends were sitting a short distance away, and judging by the empty chair they had left beside them, they had apparently already assumed he would be joining their group.

He recognized most of them.

They were the same sons and daughters of high-ranking nobles he had occasionally seen at imperial banquets in the capital, the sort of people Ilya had recognized by face long before he ever knew them personally.

Elise had always been popular among the nobility, so it wasn’t particularly surprising that even here in the Magic Department, her circle consisted of people from families he recognized.

"You never asked me."

"I was about to."

"Well, they asked first."

Elise’s grip tightened around his arm.

"That doesn’t mean you have to say yes."

"I was already saying yes before you interrupted me."

The girl standing in front of him tried to hide her laughter, while one of the men behind her turned his head and suddenly found something on the other side of the classroom extremely interesting.

Elise noticed their reactions before leaning closer to Ilya and lowering her voice.

"...You don’t even know them."

"I don’t know anyone here."

"But you know me..."

"That’s exactly why I should meet other people."

"...."

Elise looked genuinely offended.

Ilya carefully pulled his arm free before standing from his seat and picking up his things.

"Sorry. Maybe next time."

"Ah..."

For a moment, Elise looked as though she wanted to say something else, but Ilya had already turned toward the other group.

"Offer still open?"

The girl immediately nodded. "Of course."

"Great."

Ilya picked up his bag and followed them toward their table, leaving Elise standing beside his now-empty seat.

She remained there for a few seconds, watching as he sat down among five people whose names he didn’t even know, rather than join the group she had already prepared for him.

"...."

A bitter smile slowly formed on her lips.

* * *

"I’m Garen. Ilya, right?" The young man held out his hand with a grin. "Can’t believe I’m actually talking to a celebrity."

"Celebrity?" Ilya shook his hand. "Now you’re exaggerating."

"Hahaha! You’re a lot funnier than I expected."

Garen released his hand and leaned back against his chair.

"Don’t worry, man. Here in the Magic Department, we don’t really care where you came from as long as you know your magic and don’t make the group project miserable for everyone else."

"That sounds reasonable."

"It is. Speaking of which, we should probably introduce ourselves before you spend the next four months calling us ’you’ and ’that person over there.’

Garen pointed at himself first.

"Garen Vollbrecht. No noble house, no fancy lineage, and unfortunately, no enormous inheritance waiting for me after graduation."

"...You say that like you’re disappointed."

"I’m surrounded by nobles. Of course I’m disappointed!"

The girl who had originally invited Ilya rolled her eyes before offering her hand next.

"Solveig Eiriksdottir. House Eiriksen, from Skeld Province, although we’re only a baronial family, so don’t expect me to have anything interesting to say about court politics."

"Ilya Belozersky."

"We know. Hehe."

"Right."

A girl with short brown hair sitting beside Solveig raised her hand next.

"Maëlle Vauquelin. Just Maëlle Vauquelin, no House anything." She paused before pointing toward the quiet man beside her. "And before he spends ten minutes deciding how to introduce himself, that’s Wolfram."

"I can speak for myself."

"Then speak faster."

Wolfram gave her an irritated look before turning toward Ilya.

"Wolfram von Drachenau, third son of House Drachenau."

Ilya recognized that name.

"The Drachenau Marquisate?"

Wolfram nodded. "That’s the one."

"Ah. I’ve heard of your family."

"Hopefully nothing from Garen."

"See?" Garen slapped the table. "We’re getting along already."

"That leaves me, then."

The last member was a blonde girl sitting at the far end of the table, who had remained quiet throughout the introductions.

She closed the notebook she had already been writing in and gave Ilya a small nod.

"Lisbet Rosenkrantz. House Rosenkrantz."

"Rosenkrantz..." Ilya repeated.

"Viscounty in the northwest," Lisbet said. "Don’t worry if you haven’t heard of us. Most people haven’t."

"I have."

Lisbet blinked. "You have?"

"Your family owns the silver mines near Grünwald, right?"

There was a brief silence around the table. Garen slowly looked at Ilya.

"You know, when you said you didn’t know anyone here, I assumed you meant you were socially isolated, not that you had the entire imperial peerage memorized..."

"I grew up around nobles."

"Right." Garen nodded solemnly before suddenly breaking into a grin. "Sometimes I forget you’re a Belozersky. I mean, isn’t this unbelievable? The family of war heroes known across the Empire for their swordsmanship, and somehow one of them ends up sitting here studying magic with us! Hahaha!"

Ilya sighed and leaned back in his chair.

There were six of them now: Garen Vollbrecht, Solveig Eiriksdottir, Maëlle Vauquelin, Wolfram von Drachenau, Lisbet Rosenkrantz, and himself, an assortment of people he probably never would have spoken to if he had remained in the Knight Department.

For the most part, they were complete strangers.

Yet strangely enough, Ilya already felt more comfortable sitting among them than he had expected.

Nobody seemed particularly concerned with the rumors surrounding him, nor did they treat the Belozersky name with the same caution he had grown accustomed to from others.

If anything, Garen seemed to find the entire situation hilarious.

Maybe Vera had been right.

Perhaps things really were different here.

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