I Will Not Fall For the Villain’s Flirtations - Chapter 44

“Of course. They train more thoroughly than anyone.”

Wow, even if I had to seek asylum, I would never go to the Magic Tower!

Of course, it’s a place that wouldn’t accept anyone who isn’t skilled, so I couldn’t enter in the first place, but regardless, it was absolutely incompatible with someone like me who hates exercise.

Panting and shivering, he spoke coldly without giving me a moment to rest.

“Now, you’ll run for three minutes. Can you do it?”

“N-No, no!”

But he snapped his fingers mercilessly. I gritted my teeth, swallowed my groan, and hurriedly tried to keep up with the belt’s speed.

It felt like I was undergoing high-intensity interval training. The mage, who suddenly turned into a personal trainer, didn’t stop there and pushed me in various ways.

He made me do bodyweight exercises and even brought out all sorts of unfamiliar equipment, claiming that muscle strength was essential for consistently harnessing holy power.

“One, pull. Two, release.”

“Ugh, I really can’t do this anymore…”

“You can do it. Three, pull again.”

When I finally reached my limit and collapsed, unable to continue, he finally stopped this madness.

Or so I thought.

“Then, how about forming a barrier again?”

“…Can’t you see the state I’m in?”

I was beyond exhausted, drenched in sweat as if I had taken a shower. There was no way a single day of intense exercise would make any dramatic improvement.

“It’s a different kind of strength, so it’s fine. When you face the Magic Tower, you’ll encounter even more extreme situations. Are you going to give up immediately then?”

“…Can’t you just pretend to be an ally next to me then?”

I didn’t even have the strength to lift a finger, so what could I possibly do? I might as well surrender. Trying to fight back in this state would only lead to certain death.

At my shameless question, Keene looked down at me with amused eyes. I always thought it, but it must be really hard for such a handsome face to look this annoying.

“My dear Du is even cute when it comes to stamina.”

“…Why don’t you just insult me outright?”

When I snapped back at his teasing words, he laughed heartily and sat down on the floor. His violet eyes, fixed on my face, sparkled brilliantly for a moment, and then his elongated eyes curved seductively.

“How could I ever insult my dear Du?”

“….”

I didn’t even have the energy to retort anymore. Lying there helplessly, a figure from the past suddenly flashed through my mind. At the same time, the cold reality I had forgotten while being relentlessly pushed around jolted me awake.

[Maintain the formation! Evacuate the purification priests!]

Panicked people. Screams echoing everywhere. Ferocious monsters and the injured appearing one after another.

I raised my hand to cover my eyes from witnessing the horrors.

“Why did you attack Luticia…?”

I still couldn’t believe it. When we were joking around like this, he was just a bit shameless and annoying. Even lying on the floor of the Magic Tower’s training ground, I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that he was a spy of the Magic Tower and the one responsible for the horrors in Luticia and other regions.

In response to my somber voice, I heard him slowly lying down beside me. Soon, a low voice echoed right next to me.

“Does it make you uncomfortable to think of me as a villain?”

“You are a villain.”

Keene chuckled. As I glanced at the faint sunlight streaming through a small round hole in the ceiling, he replied nonchalantly.

“If the number of casualties is the measure, the Pope would be a greater villain than I am.”

“……”

I slowly blinked.

For someone who had lived their entire life in the Holy Kingdom, his words would have been infuriating. But with my memories of a past life, I knew exactly what he was referring to.

The temple had done many good deeds, but it was ruthless towards heretics. Not only that, but it also didn’t hesitate to wage wars under the pretext of exterminating heretics to gain control over certain regions.

Good and evil are defined by interests. This place wasn’t much different from my past life. After all, people are the same everywhere.

“Of course, you’re not wrong, Du. Even I don’t think I’m a good person.”

He spoke self-deprecatingly and turned his head towards me. His face, which I glimpsed, surprisingly lacked any trace of a smile.

“But I have no intention of dragging you into what I do, Du. I don’t want to either.”

“……”

“I hope you don’t feel guilty because of me.”

Unlike before when I was dragged along by his threats, I now vaguely felt that I had a choice. Yet, the reason I couldn’t decisively cut ties with this man was.

“Isn’t this enough?”

“……”

Because I liked those eyes that looked at me as if I were someone special. I appreciated the favor shown by this mysterious man who didn’t belong among the ordinary people.

It made me feel like I was the protagonist or something.

After a long silence, I opened my lips.

“You said you were curious. What are you curious about?”

Keene met my eyes and smiled faintly. Soon, a low whisper flowed into my ear.

“I’m going to find out from now on.”

* * *

He was indeed a ruthless teacher. I don’t know if it’s a characteristic of mages or just those from the Magic Tower, but he was even persistent.

“You’ve rested enough, right? Now, how about forming a barrier again?”

“…I feel like I’ve been lying down for less than thirty seconds.”

Apparently not busy, he visited me every day to persistently torture me. With less than a month left until the ordination exam, I had no excuse to escape since I had self-study time unless I had to attend mandatory Mass.

It seemed like I should have gone to the Magic Tower instead of the temple. Such perfect work-life balance. I should have become a slacker like that.

“W-W-Wait a minute!”

I hastily called out to him as soon as I formed the barrier. Although he was gentler after almost flinging me away the first time by overestimating my skills, his attack magic was still very painful.

“You have to go easy. Got it?”

“Du.”

With an unusually fresh smile, Keene said something cruel with a cheerful face.

“You have to be number one.”

“W-What? Why?”

“Isn’t it obvious since I’m teaching you?”

Such a grade-obsessed maniac! No wonder he’s from the Magic Tower!

“Your kids are definitely going to be extremely unhappy!”

As someone who had suffered from rote learning in my past life, I cried out desperately, and for some reason, he widened his eyes. The corners of his mouth suspiciously curled up in satisfaction, and as soon as I frowned, he blurted out something absurd.

“Are you planning to have more than one?”

“What nonsense…”

But my protest didn’t continue. The cunning spy immediately launched an electric attack spell. I barely managed to form a barrier, but the tremendous pressure made it feel like it would break at any moment, causing my legs to tremble.

“I’m going to apply more pressure, so try to endure it.”

“It’s already hard enough!”

Despite my desperate protest, the man smiled and increased the power. In a situation where a scream naturally came out, I clenched my teeth and mustered all my strength to draw out my holy power. Keene raised his eyebrows in apparent surprise and gave a dry compliment.

“You’re doing well. Quite an improvement for a short period.”

“Then could you ease up a bit…”

“Of course, actual attacks won’t be this kind and will come at you from all directions, so you’ll need more practice.”

“……”

Even though I was reinforcing the barrier only at the point where the attack was hitting, it was exhausting. Just as I was about to collapse from fatigue, Keene stopped the magic and pulled me towards him.

Leaning weakly against his arm, completely exhausted, he laughed lightly and brushed my sweat-soaked hair.

“You did well, Du. Would you like some water?”

“…Instead of water, could you do that thing you did last time?”

As I spoke, I roughly wiped my face and body with my hand in the air. Without even making eye contact, I heard a cheerful laugh as if he found my nonchalant request amusing.

“You seem to like the cleaning magic.”

“I don’t know about anything else, but I definitely want to learn that someday.”

It all started when he used magic to clean my body after feeling sorry for me, drenched in sweat during the last training session. That experience, based on my past life memories, surpassed even the thrill of using a dishwasher for the first time.

The feeling of cool water covering my body and removing all impurities while doing nothing!

Of course, I later found out that cleaning magic required high-level control and wasn’t meant to be used on people. It was a clear example of the man’s skill, but more than that, I really wanted the magic itself. I had to obtain cleaning magic no matter how long it took.

“Does it feel good?”

A large water droplet swept over me from head to toe. Enjoying the drying magic with my eyes closed, I nodded and casually replied.

“It’s fantastic.”

“If you live with me, I can do it for you every day.”

“No, thanks.”

After half-heartedly dismissing his habitual flirting that probably lacked any sincerity, I slowly got up. Feeling hungry as if all my energy had been drained.

“I’m hungry.”

After being tormented so much, complaining like this came naturally. Keene smiled softly and made a shocking suggestion in a casual tone.

“Do you want to go to the dining hall? It’s upstairs.”

…Did he just suggest that I go to the Magic Tower’s dining hall?