Surviving As The Villain’s Childhood Friend - Chapter 16

After the training, I organized my messy clothes and hair. My face was covered with sweat.

Ha ha ha, the sound of rough breathing filled the training ground.

‘Five thousand times. It’s not something a person should do…’

My arm was tingling.

If it were an ordinary human being, their arm muscles would have burst. But the children here were not ordinary humans.

The children who had been sitting down to cool off quickly got up from their seats.

I staggered like a zombie.

Where did Roziel go?

In the distance, Roziel could be seen rushing out of the training ground.

‘Why are you in such a hurry…’

As I looked at his back, the children’s eyes were on me.

Ever since I came here… No, to be precise, this kind of gaze had often caught my eye after the rumors spread that I had played some cruel joke on Roziel.

Every step I took, the gaze followed me.

I wanted to shake it off, but I didn’t know how. I just did my best to pretend I didn’t know.

But today, the eyes that stared at me were particularly stinging.

‘What else did I do wrong?’

I was embarrassed that there were more than one or two things to point out.

“What’s wrong with her?”

“How dare you refuse Teacher Kiles’s guidance?”

Ah. It was that.

Teacher Kiles was just a scruffy old man to me, but he was a member of the Knights of Olodika. And he was an idol to the children.

‘Should I have just accepted it?”

I didn’t know turning down his advice would be so negative.

Perhaps from another child’s point of view, I might be seen as a woman who is arrogant on a subject that I had no skills in.

But it was so annoying. What should I do?

When I was at home, I trained once a week. To me, the teacher’s close guidance like that was like torture.

‘By the way teacher, why are you so interested in me?’

On the first day, the impression was so bad that I got 10 points deducted.

Strangely enough, Teacher Kiles got more interested in me after the first training.

‘…I secretly skipped dozens of those each practice. Did you notice?’

After all, it was hard to get practice…

After thinking this much, I glanced at him.

Kiles, who had a long beard, was a conservative man who liked training consisting of blood and sweat.

If you get caught doing wrong, something bad would definitely happen. 

‘…Let’s just do it later.’

That gaze… it was nothing. I just had to endure it.

“What’s on the menu for dinner tonight…”

I made a rough conclusion and headed back to my dorm.

“By the way, what’s the deal with Roziel Evelian?”

A boy’s sarcastic voice stopped me from walking.

“He’s handsome.” The other girls responded, but the boys just snorted. 

I suddenly had an urge to intervene in the conversation.

I wasn’t in love with Roziel Evelian for a reason, but he was cute and lovely. So, I was confident that I could answer the boy’s question with at least 50,000 answers.

However.

“Even if such rumors are circulating?”

The boy’s intention must have been different.

That tone of voice was obviously meant to be sarcastic.

“Well. In fact, it didn’t seem like that at all.”

“Right. Even when our eyes met he even smiled.” The girls spoke with ecstatic expressions.

The nobles admired the Evelian family, but they were also envious.

In addition, Roziel Evelian, a young child, was in a position to receive more explicit envy.

“Originally, a real psychopath doesn’t show on the outside.” 

Especially among boys of the same age, there were some who were particularly hostile.

‘Ugh, jealous people.’

“That’s right. That’s why they don’t even come out in society. In case they get caught.”

All kinds of rumors were floating around about the reasons for his social position.

Everyone said that it was because Marquis Evelian’s nose was very high.

Well, young children naturally want to believe more provocative and bizarre rumors.

“Huh? Still… If you talk like that.”

The girls who didn’t hear stopped the boys. 

“Who cares. There are women who like you even if you’re crazy.” 

They didn’t care. Rather, he glanced at me and continued. He was probably talking because he wanted my reaction.

But you know what?

The loudest people were the first to die.

I looked back and smiled softly.

The children were perplexed by my smile.

But he soon came to his senses and glared.

“What, what are you looking at?”

Roziel Evelian was more naive than I thought. Pureness that a child would have and the appropriate cheerfulness.

I didn’t know what the hell he went through while growing up to become an obsessive villain, but at least it was okay for now.

“Roziel is better than I thought. Mind and heart.”

“What do you know?”

Everyone’s expressions soured.

“Then what do you know?” I answered back and picked up rocks from the floor.

It was a simple act, but maybe it was because they had a good sense. Perhaps they felt an unusual energy, so they pulled out their swords.

Pointing a sword at young children was not something an adult should do.

No matter how angry I was, kids were kids. With a little discipline, they would surely be able to walk the right path. 

“The warrior is talking, stay alert and live.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

I immediately threw the stone with all my might.

“Gasp!”

My laziness created poor stamina, but it made me more efficient.

Where should you attack and where should you defend in order to piss off your opponent the most?

I had to get the results that others had obtained over the weeks within a few days, so I was very smart in this way.

The stone flew away at such a speed that it was invisible to the naked eye.

Klang.

And precisely hit the blade of one boy.

Even the hard sword did not go, but the recoil on the blow remained. The boy’s body shook.

“Hiick.”

And the shock was immediately transmitted to the hand holding the sword. His arm, which had been trembling, lost strength, and the sword fell to the floor.

“…”

The fact that the knight dropped his sword while under attack was a clear defeat.

The crowd quieted down.

I picked up the stone again.

“C-cowardly! Let’s fight with the sword!” A frightened voice hit my ear.

I didn’t respond.

The other boy swung his sword wildly. It was a tactic to avoid my stones.

I liked his eyes.

This was what they called talent?

If you looked closely there was a pattern in all the moves. It was the same this time. 

‘It’s going to be at 3 o’clock.’

After a few seconds, his sword would point at 3 o’clock. I threw a stone at that point.

Clang.

It was exact.

Again, the boy dropped the sword.

“Eek…”

At this point, the surroundings were not quiet but frozen.

“Walk on the right path. Do you understand?” I muttered softly and picked up the stone again.

“Are-are you crazy?”

Even though they said so, they couldn’t come close to me.

“The answer?” 

“Ahhh!”

With a smile, I threw the stone high into the sky and caught it.

Their legs trembled and kept stepping back. He looked full of desire to run away.

However, whether it was because of the knight’s pride or because of the gaze of the people around him, he could not actually move.

Most of the trainees returned to their dormitories, but some still remained.

I looked around and grinned.

“Thanks to this there will be another strange rumor. All because of some light-hearted bastards..”

“I-I’ll be quiet. I will…”

“Hmm.”

“Really.” The boys said with tears.

“There’s something more important than that.” 

“W-what is it?” 

“From now on, don’t go around talking about Roziel Evelian.”

“…”   

They looked at me with tears in their eyes.

“…Why?” A boy courageously asked.

Their gaze was as if they were looking at a warrior of love. A look of awe overflowed from his face to the point of being burdensome.

“You really love Roziel…”

“No. Not something like that.” I denied it at once.

“Then?”

They didn’t let go of the doubt.

“Because that’s a bad thing to do.” I said it with strength in each word so that the children could understand it properly.

“It’s bad to talk freely about someone you don’t even know.”

“…”

“Roziel Evellian is a nobleman who is far too high for us, but he is also a friend of the same age as us.”

At my words, the children hesitated and bit their lips. Looking at them rolling their eyes with their heads down, they seemed to know what they did was wrong.

“Well done. Do you understand now?”

I put strength in my hand while holding a stone. Crackle, the stone was shattered in my hand.

“Yes, I’m sorry.”

“If you see Roziel later, will you say hello?”

“Uh huh.”

The boys crawled away in tears and ran away from their seats.

Then.

“Wow, that was cool.” 

“You were carrying an old sword…Was it to hide your strength?”

“…”

The remaining girls were looking at me with sparkling eyes. Their eyes seemed to see ‘ a free genius knight who is not bound by customs’. No. This was as difficult as seeing me as an idiot.

I was worried for no reason, so I bowed down and tapped my back like an old man.

“Oh god. My back.” 

…They didn’t seem to believe it.