I'm in Love with the Villainess!-Chapter 121: Bureaucracy after Battle...?

*** A Few Minutes Later

The Eryndor Royal Sanctum

It was one of the few places in the academy that hadn’t been reduced to rubble by the Hunt. A special location where certain professors could continue handling paperwork while the rest participated in the examination.

From the outside, it resembled a palace. Inside, knights and mages bearing the royal insignia on their chests stood guard.

Being brought here was the last thing I predicted after defeating Corvus...

Well, kidnapped was a better word, considering they just grabbed me out of nowhere and teleported me directly here along with a fresh change of clothes.

If you asked me whether this was how I expected things to go when I first entered the examination, I’d be lying if I said yes. Nothing that happened over these three days had been planned.

Other than the first few parts of the first and second days, of course.

I sat in a straight-backed chair directly in front of the headmaster’s broad oak desk.

Naturally, the one facing me was the headmaster himself.

His hair was a stark, untouched white, his eyes a pale, almost colorless hue, and the robe draped over him mirrored that same palette. Immaculate, flowing, and heavy with embroidered sigils of the academy.

He was another of the novel’s strongest figures, someone who could stand against Corvus himself through sheer mastery of magic and overwhelming destructive power.

Azrael Frostmere.

An ice attuned grandmaster.

"Cael Arden, right?"

"Yes."

I sat with my legs crossed, my body back to normal—just an average human once more, with the Profaned Prince modifier restored.

Azrael sighed, clearly bothered by what had just happened.

He had never expected Corvus to be defeated, not since the day the academy recruited him.

Corvus was meant to be nothing more than a fear factor—a living nightmare to turn the remaining days of the Hunt into pure horror and strengthen the students’ resistance to fear.

But...

To have him defeated?

That ruined his entire plans.

"So... as you may know..."

"You didn’t expect him to get defeated, didn’t you?"

"N-No." Azrael pinched the bridge of his nose. "Also, you are quite casual talking to me, are you not afraid or worried?"

"I didn’t do anything that would warrant punishment, so why would I be?"

I replied flatly, but inside, I was ecstatic. Maybe this was my chance to end the examination early and finally get rid of this terrible frustration.

Hell, even cutting it down to four days would be enough for me.

"Fair point, now, for why I brought you here."

Azrael slid a parchment over his desk, something about point distribution and how I had gone well over the limit when I defeated Corvus.

"You have reached the limit. As per procedure, this means you may leave the examination early."

Azrael said it very matter-of-factly, but even I could tell he wasn’t used to saying something like that. No one in the academy’s history had ever reached the point limit during the first semimonthly examination’s Hunt event.

"But since you had two people with you who were observed to have helped, they should have also gotten a fair share, but we deemed their contributions to be insignificant."

Azrael planted his finger onto the parchment.

"And to fix that, you can pick which one you want to receive the surplus points you have received based on how useful they were."

Basically, in short, he wanted me to distribute my remaining points to one of the observers deemed as part of my team.

Being either Kevin or Evelina.

And if I was counting correctly.

[Photographic Memory]

And I sure as hell am.

No matter who I pick, they’ll also hit the threshold. Which means they’ll be able to depart early.

And...

The option is obvious, wasn’t it?

Kevin was still occupied with trying to win over the senior council president.

As for Evelina, if I chose her now, it might reduce her chances to show off during the remaining days.

But being able to leave the examination early was definitely a far more significant boost to reputation, and if there was anything she wanted, it was more reputation.

The choice was painfully obvious.

I didn’t even need a second to think about it.

"Put the surplus on Evelina."

Azrael blinked.

"That quickly?"

"Yeah."

"No deliberation? No weighing of options?"

I stared at him.

"It’s Evelina."

"...Ah."

He nodded slowly like that alone explained everything.

Honestly, it kinda did.

Kevin was strong, sure. Reliable too, but he was still playing politics with the senior council. Also... he was better off learning how to socialize more before I continue strengthening him.

A healthy weapon is a good weapon.

Now, as for Evelina?

She lived off the spotlight and momentum as a duke’s daughter.

Giving her a clean, early exit with a ridiculous point total was basically handing her a megaphone and telling the entire academy.

’Yeah, she kept up with the monster who beat Corvus.’

Her reputation would skyrocket overnight.

And if she was happy, I’m happy. Or more specifically, if she knew I was behind that skyrocket...

I’ll definitely be rewarded with something...

Which, right now?

Priceless.

Azrael scribbled something onto the parchment. The quill scratched loudly in the otherwise dead-quiet room.

For a place called the Royal Sanctum, it was weirdly tense.

Knights along the walls weren’t even pretending not to stare at me.

Like I might suddenly explode or something.

I mean... fair.

I kinda did level half a district.

"Done," Azrael said finally. "Your points have been redistributed. Evelina D’Arclight has also reached the withdrawal threshold."

He set the quill down and leaned back.

The chair creaked softly.

Then he just... looked at me.

Long.

Evaluating.

The kind of stare old monsters give when they’re trying to decide whether you’re a problem or an investment.

I gave him a flat look back.

We sat there like that for a few seconds. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"...What?" I asked.

"You are very quiet for someone who has defeated the infamous boogeyman."

"He knocked himself out, big difference."

Azrael’s lips twitched. I was surprisingly humble despite my achievement; even just having Corvus surrender in a fight was unbelievable.

Although...

Azrael frowned.

Corvus was definitely playing with fire when he decided to cast a spell as volatile as Shadow Domain.

’That idiot...’

"You realize what you’ve done to the examination structure, correct?"

"Blame the one who placed the bounty on me."

Azrael laughed.

"You have a quick wit for someone so young."

He folded his hands together.

"Half the participants stopped fighting each other the moment your bounty was announced, and the other half were taken out by collateral damage. Several districts now need repairs costing three times more than last year’s biggest Hunt, and at least seven professors have already filed workplace safety complaints."

When he listed it like that, it sounded kinda bad.

But... I’d rather die than sympathize with an academy that had a net worth of a small kingdom.

Damages like this were nearly nothing to them.

"To be frank, you should be proud." Azrael laughed, surprising me.

That was definitely out of the blue.