The entrance ceremony concluded without a hitch. The real event, however, was the welcoming party for freshmen that followed. Of course, the receptions for commoners were modest, straightforward affairs. For the nobles, it was another matter entirely. “…A fifty-six-year-old vintage from the western continent.” “Here we have the veal filet and foie gras. I trust it is to your liking.” The people of the Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Empire were starving, yet here were its esteemed sons and daughters—none of whom had even earned a title—burning through enough money to feed a village for months, all for a welcome party. Then again, I was supposed to be their leader. “Lord Scion! A toast!” “My, the rumors about you being so handsome are true. Could you spare me some time tonight?” “A pleasure to meet you, Lord Scion! I am the second son of Viscount Yoon.” Surrounded by a swarm of sycophants at the seat of honor, I offered a strained smile and sipped my Vigor. Inwardly, I was running through calculations: how to survive the heroines, and how to eradicate the parasites corroding this Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Empire. “So, did you hear what that commoner bastard said earlier?” “He said his dream is to become a student council member! Can you believe the nerve?” “Definitely has a screw loose. Maybe we should knock some sense into him.” While pretending to enjoy the flirtatious chatter of the women who approached me, I tuned in to the conversation of the nobles at the next table. Yes, on the surface, Academy of the First Light strived for equality. In reality, it was anything but. Most aristocrats implicitly ignored the commoners; some bullied them outright. The same held true for the students. The greater their family’s power, the more benefits and renown they enjoyed, and the professors simply turned a blind eye to it all. In other words, it was bullshit. “It’s not a guy, it’s a girl?” “What? A girl? Well, that sounds much more fun, doesn’t it?” The girl they were talking about was undoubtedly ‘her’—the commoner who would one day become the Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Empire’s Grand Magus and dominate battlefields. During her time at the academy, she became a prime target for aristocratic bullies after injuring three drunken noble students who had picked a fight with her. “Right? I suppose that does sound interesting.” “So, when are you going to do it, Arrogant Noble?” “Uh… well… might as well be as soon as possible, right? Haha…” “Really? Then do a good job.” As I spoke with casual indifference, the nobleman in the center of the group bowed a full ninety degrees. He then hurried out of the banquet hall, already in a heated discussion with his companions. I haven’t seen a single trustworthy person in this entire extravagant bunch. I pitied the student’s retreating back; he would soon be a sacrifice to the woman destined to become an Grand Magus. My thoughts drifted. Tomorrow, classes would officially begin, and I would inevitably cross paths with the heroines. We were all assigned to Class A. Of course, unlike the five heroines, who were either naturally gifted or outright geniuses, I’d had to pull some strings to get in. In fact, I’d used the back door on purpose. Honestly, if I took the entrance exam now, I was confident I could tie for first place with my fiancée, a perfect score. But I couldn’t. I had to be incompetent, evil, pathetic, and vile. Someone unfamiliar with the system might ask why I didn’t just confide in a few people that I was a ‘False Scapegoat’ and commit my evil deeds selectively, without all the stress. I desperately wished for such a simple solution, but the system would never offer an easy path to a happy ending in this doomed world. “Providence, inherent skill window.” [Inherent Skills Window] - Permanent Debuff: The Fate of a False Scapegoat Description: Each time your identity as a ‘False Scapegoat’ is discovered, your vitality and lifespan will decrease. That daunting penalty was why I could never reveal my identity. I was already periodically giving my life force to Shadowmancer and had a mountain of work ahead of me. If my lifespan decreased any further because of the system, I’d be finished. My secret had to remain a secret. …Should I just give up on being a villain? For a moment, my resolve wavered. I shook my head, hardening my heart. As the successor to the hero who had appeared a thousand years ago, I’d been trained for this my entire life by my father. If I didn't step up, the world would perish. My father wasn’t a cold-hearted man who would knowingly drive his son to his death. He would have torn the Ancestor's Chronicle to shreds if he knew I was doomed to die. Perhaps my ancestor had foreseen this and cast a spell on the phrase ‘The Hero will perish in vain alongside the Demon Sovereign,’ making it visible only to me. But that would make my ancestor from another world a cold, heartless man, forcing his own heir to sacrifice himself a millennium later. “Providence, show clear privilege.” [Clear Privilege: When everything is over, you can make a single wish to the Sun Absolute.] Perhaps my ancestor, to avoid such a reputation, had negotiated with the Sun Absolute a thousand years ago, leaving me this gift. The Sun Absolute was the Overseer of Light in this world; granting the wish of a mere mortal like me should be a simple matter. In short, this was my plan: First, I would build a reputation for unparalleled evil while secretly gathering evidence and reigning as a shadow mastermind. Simultaneously, I would weaken the true forces of evil and root out the despicable customs and abominations plaguing the empire. Then, on the day of the final battle, I would use the system to die alongside the Demon Sovereign. Afterwards, I would use my wish to the Sun Absolute to be revived. For reference, my ancestor had left a tip in the Ancestor's Chronicle. He’d written that the Sun Absolute was more pompous and cheap than one might expect, and that wishing for anything more difficult than resurrection would likely earn you a divine punishment for your impudence. If the Sanctum of the Sun of the Sun Absolute or the Holy Maiden ever saw that, they would denounce my ancestor as a heretic. But I trusted the Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Empire’s Hero over a cult that knew only how to preach nonsense. Anyway, after my resurrection, I would reveal all the information I had gathered to prove my innocence and self-sacrifice. Then I would spend the rest of my days as a celebrated hero, living in luxury. And as a bonus, I would get to see the cleansed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Empire. Frankly, it was a hell of a journey for the reward, but what choice did I have? I was the only one who could save the world. If I didn't do this, my family and I would eventually perish along with everyone else. This madness was necessary—not just for the Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Sun-Blessed Empire, but for myself and the people I cared about. “You filthy bitches. Can’t you just shut your traps and follow me?” As I was organizing my thoughts over another glass of wine, the banquet hall doors banged open, followed by a commotion. Looking over, I saw the drunken nobles who had left earlier, now dragging a group of terrified commoner girls into the hall. In the previous timeline, I’d skipped the banquet, too busy devising plans to destroy the empire… Damn it, I can’t believe this is happening. While I casually sipped my wine on the surface, my mind raced, trying to figure out how to solve this. Then I heard a familiar curse from the center of the disturbance. “Fuck! Fuck you bastards! Let me go! Let me go!” “Be quiet… you angry bitch…” “Lord Scion! I’ve got her! The bitch I was talking about!” I finally saw who Arrogant Noble was holding—a red-haired girl with ferocious eyes and a scar across her face. My eyes widened in shock. …Crimson Prodigy was captured here? They called her the Second Coming of Hellfire, and it wasn’t just for show. She turned every battlefield she stepped on into a pit of hell. Besides her mastery of flame magic, she was a prodigy proficient in all elemental schools, a magician born to wield magic. A genius like that should have been a top-tier talent even in her school days. So how was she captured so meekly? …Don’t tell me she’s planning to burn down the entire banquet hall, nobles and me included?! After a moment of terrifying imagination, I quickly pulled up the system window floating before me and entered the store. [Store / Beginner Assistant Skills] - Inspect Lv1 (30 points) Description: Displays important information about the target in the system window. - Emergency Protection (70 points) Description: Protects the target once from a fatal blow. (Disposable) (Purchase limit 0/3) - Mind Reading Lv1 (150 points) Description: Allows you to read a person’s emotions once per day. I scanned the skills that might be useful and urgently purchased ‘Inspect Lv1’ and ‘Emergency Protection’. As soon as the purchase was complete, I muttered the activation command. A window summarizing Crimson Prodigy’s information appeared. [Stats] Name: Crimson Prodigy Passive Status: Mana Exhaustion / Sickly / Weakened She was still at a low level, but as I checked her information, I was stunned by the words ‘Mana Exhaustion.’ A freshman at the academy who already boasted an incredible eight circles of mana was in a state of mana exhaustion? Did that even make sense? “Fuck! I’m going to kill you all! I’m going to kill every last one of you!” “She’s rude, but she has a pretty face, doesn’t she?” “What about the others?” “Hey, don’t tell me you’re actually going to play with these lowly things?” “As long as they taste good, that’s all that matters.” I tilted my head, trying to figure out what was going on, but the aristocratic male students had already started whispering amongst themselves, their sinister eyes fixed on Crimson Prodigy and the other commoner girls. “I’ll take the one on the far left.” “I’m getting the brunette on the right.” “Then I’ll take that rude bitch.” The students, their whispers finished, let cruel smirks spread across their faces. One by one, they rose from their seats and started toward the girls, who were trembling on their knees. “Hey, let me go! You bastards!” As the men grabbed their hands, the women began to scream. Finally, having observed quietly until then, I had no choice but to act. “Can’t you stay still? This lowly bitch dares…” I hurled the crystal wine glass in my hand at the boy who was dragging Crimson Prodigy by her hair. “…What the hell? What kind of fucker—?” The male student staggered, clutching his forehead where the glass had struck him. He started to swear, but I silenced him with a cold glare. “You bastard. What did you just call me?” My reputation for drunken violence was well-known, and the air in the hall turned frigid in an instant. He immediately slammed his forehead into the floor with a sickening thud. But I just stared at him coldly. “Where do you think you’re putting your head?” “On the broken glass, you punk.” The boy’s eyes darted around for a moment, but comprehension dawned quickly. He slammed his forehead down again with all his might, this time onto the shards of the shattered wine glass. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry, Lord Scion! Please forgive me!” The shocking scene sent a wave of dread through the room. Amidst it all, I sighed and rose from my seat. “Everyone but these girls, get out.” No one moved. “Didn’t you hear me? I told everyone to leave.” Still nothing. “Get out so I can have fun with them, you bastards!” The moment the rebuke left my lips, the students, who had been frozen in apprehension, scrambled for the exit. “Please, s-someone save me…” The slender girl who had been on the far left, the only one still standing, began to tremble and plead. “…Let’s see how you taste.” I ignored her pleas, stepping forward to stroke her chin. The remaining girls witnessed the act and began to shake with fear. Suddenly, Crimson Prodigy shoved me back with all her strength and screamed at the other girls. “Run!” Terrified, they fled in an instant. A faint smile touched Crimson Prodigy’s lips as she watched them go, but then her strength gave out and she keeled over. “…You’re one crazy bitch, aren’t you?” Once I was sure the girls had escaped, I slowly rose, grabbed a bottle of wine from a nearby table, and chugged from it as I approached Crimson Prodigy. “Haa… disgusting to the very end. You bastard.” “What are you talking about?” “You’re a walking corpse. A filthy piece of shit who only thinks with his lower half. If I’d known it would turn out this way, I would have used my ultimate magic on you instead of the Demon Sovereign.” “What kind of bullshit are you spouting, you bitch?” She rattled off events from the previous timeline like a machine gun, and I desperately feigned drunken confusion. By the time I reached her, I was swaying on my feet. I reached out a hand. “Damn it. I should have saved enough mana to kill myself.” Her words hit me like a physical blow as I grabbed her by the collar. I immediately closed my eyes and slumped to the floor. Normally, leaving myself so defenseless in front of her would be suicidal. But she was in a state of ‘Mana Exhaustion.’ She couldn't harm me. I collapsed and let out a theatrical snore. I felt her gaze on me for a long moment before she staggered to her feet and quickly made her way out of the banquet hall. Honestly, I didn’t know how I would have reacted if she’d actually tried to kill me. Fortunately, it seemed she was smart enough to realize that if the men I’d chased off returned and found me dead, not only she but her entire family would be annihilated. [Acquired Scapegoat Karma: 200 pts! (The Savior of Female Students)] “Hah… this is really tough.” A wave of relief washed over me as the points appeared. I let out a long sigh and started to push myself up… Notice! [Emergency Protection skill is automatically used!] Target: Crimson Prodigy’s 12 o’clock Curse [Details: The 12 o’clock curse sentences the target to inevitable death at 12 o’clock midnight the day after the spell is cast. This devastating curse can only be used once a year, and the caster suffers from mana exhaustion for 1 year.] The system window popped up in front of me, and I almost passed out. Apparently, I had a lot more work to do than I thought.

Chapter 4: A Feast of Lies