The Heroines All Want to Kill Me

"...Are you awake, young master?" After a rather long night, I opened my eyes and found Kanika, already dressed in proper attire, waiting in front of me.

"Yeah."

"Then, shall I prepare breakfast?"

"No, it's okay. I don't have much of an appetite today." Worried that it would be too much trouble for Kanika to prepare breakfast, I declined politely. However, she furrowed her brows and said,

"You can't skip breakfast, young master."

"Really...?"

"Yes, especially breakfast is crucial for a balanced diet."

"...Alright then, please prepare something simple."

"...Okay." Under her stern gaze, I had to give in and ask her to prepare the simplest breakfast possible. Watching her walk out of the room, I couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

"...For some reason, I always feel that Kanika's attitude towards me has become a bit strange." Although I wasn't quite sure, perhaps Kanika didn't dislike me as much as I had imagined. Of course, it seemed unlikely that she had retained all the memories from the previous cycle... but given her kind - hearted nature, it was somewhat understandable. Usually, dark mages would gradually be corrupted by evil due to the dark magic power they possessed. But Kanika was different. She had the potential to grow into a dark mage powerful enough to subvert the world, yet she still maintained her untainted kind heart. Of course, apart from her kindness, there were other reasons... That reason was...

「...Ugh.」Suddenly, my head started throbbing painfully. Perhaps I had pushed myself too hard yesterday. I rubbed my temples. For a moment, I couldn't remember what I had been thinking about just now. While I was feeling a bit dazed, I heard the sound of the door opening and gently stood up from my seat.

"Kanika, are you already here?"

"...Yes, I've put the food here." Kanika, who pushed the door open, placed the buttered rye bread and coffee down, then turned around and walked towards the outside of the dormitory, saying as she walked,

"...Then, please enjoy your meal." After saying this, Kanika left. I silently took a bite of the rye bread and muttered in a low voice,

"...It's really strange." Something just felt off. Buttered rye bread was one of my favorite foods when I was a child. Moreover, this was before Kanika became the housekeeper. But I hadn't sought it out much after growing up... How did Kanika know about this and specially make it for me?

「...Is it a coincidence?」Although I once suspected that it wasn't a coincidence, upon closer thought, there were just too many things that didn't seem right. Her attitude towards me last night, her frequent outings recently, and today's buttered rye bread... It seemed necessary to find out where Kanika had been and what she had been doing at some point.

「...Excuse me, Young Master Frey?」Just as I was thinking this and walking out of the dormitory, I saw the dormitory administrator approaching me with his head lowered from a distance.

「...What's the matter?」

"I'm truly sorry... It's like this... Dozens of complaints were received last night..."

"Complaints?"

"Yes, that is... well... about the intimate behavior with the servant at night. Please restrain yourself a bit..."

"....." It seemed that I had to set up sound - proof magic in the dormitory as soon as possible.

.....

"...Wooah!"

"E, Elena! Don't push yourself too hard!" I was currently hiding secretly in the training ground, peeking at Elena's training. The reason I was doing this sneaky thing was that I had to figure out how to lose to her in the upcoming practical assessment. If she was having trouble even casting basic magic, then I might have to do something stupid, like tripping myself while charging or accidentally stabbing myself while swinging the sword. However, if she could barely cast basic magic, then I could put on a little act and lose to her appropriately. In the eyes of the world, although I possessed starlight magic but couldn't use it well, I was like a third - rate chef who had top - notch ingredients but could only make street - side food. That is to say, even if I lost in basic magic, it would just make me a laughingstock for a while and wouldn't cause too much of a stir.

"...Ugh!"

"E, Elena...!" Just as I was thinking this, five fireballs emerged above Elena's head. Looking at that scene, I temporarily set aside my worries about how to lose to her and watched the burning fireballs above her head with quite an admiring gaze, thinking to myself, '...Even with her magic power depleted, she is truly the great mage of the future.'

The fireball is the pinnacle of basic attack magic and also the most commonly used combat magic. In actual battles or wars, compared to the extremely powerful meteor spell or earthquake spell, the more practical and faster - chanting fireball spell is used more widely and is more likely to cause casualties. Moreover, if various attributes can be added to the fireball spell or it can be strengthened, this fireball spell, which can be regarded as the foundation of combat magic, if one can summon 5 of them in a state of depleted magic power... I'm afraid some stupid nobles wouldn't even be able to defeat Elena in such a state.

'...But the key lies in accuracy and power.' Of course, summoning 5 fireballs, which are known as the cornerstone of attack magic, in a state of depleted magic power is indeed praise - worthy, but reality isn't that easy. Because simply summoning the fireballs isn't the end of it. Sending them towards the target requires a considerable amount of concentration and magic power, and detonating them after hitting also requires precise control. The reason she has always been bullied by the nobles and couldn't defend herself is likely that she encountered problems in the process of controlling the magic. That is to say, this is a very arduous task for Elena with depleted magic power.

"E, Elena! Isn't it really too much for you? Why not control it to around three..."

"That... damned bastard... If I want to teach him a lesson... this much is necessary..." As I was thinking these things, before I knew it, I had started to watch Elena with trembling eyes - she was cursing while staring at the target. The next moment, the fireballs floating above her head began to fly towards the target.

"...Ugh!" The fireballs started flying towards the bull's - eye. Just as I was secretly smiling, thinking that I could smoothly lose to Elena and let her absorb my magic power...

"Huff, huff ah..." —— Whoosh... Suddenly, Elena stumbled and lowered her originally outstretched arm.immediately, the originally blazing and rapidly flying fireballs instantly disappeared in the air.

"Elena... See, I told you five were too much for you."

"...Damn it." Elena looked at the scene in disappointment, then leaned into the arms of her friend Ariana and muttered,

"This won't do... This just won't do..." Ariana looked at her with pity and softly suggested,

"Elena, should I secretly help you?"

"...What?"

"That guy Frey is an idiot. He will definitely charge straight forward with his sword at the beginning."

"...So?"

"So, I'll secretly set up a defensive barrier on the way where Frey is only focused on charging forward and make him trip and fall. Then, while he's down, you just throw one or two fireballs or lightning bolts and knock him unconscious."

"...." Elena fell silent upon hearing these words, while I silently applauded Ariana in my heart and muttered, "...I really need to find a friend like this too."

If it was Ariana, a genius in defensive magic, setting up an invisible barrier, not only those incompetent supervisors but perhaps even Isolte could be deceived. Of course, if I didn't fall naturally enough, Isolte might notice something was wrong... But since she already knew about this plan, as long as I pretended to trip as naturally as possible when my foot was caught, Isolte would have to be kept in the dark. If it really came to that, I could also pretend to fall before hitting the protective shield. Of course, I wasn't without considering the method of suddenly falling while running... But Elena had a habit of not using magic on people who had fallen. According to the prophecy book, this was because of a psychological trauma in her past... So the "running - and - falling strategy" had long been abandoned by me, but if Ariana proposed it like this...

「...Forget it, don't get involved, Ariana.」

"E, Elena, but..."

「...I'm sorry, but no.」As expected, Elena, her face slightly pale, refused Ariana's proposal. Looking at her regretfully, I then muttered gloomily,

"...Alas, the trauma from parents really can't be overcome easily." The trauma brought by parents seemed to have a rather serious impact on children. Take me for example...

"...Ugh!" Just as I was thinking, suddenly my head started to ache again, as if it was about to split open.

"...After returning, didn't the stress - induced migraine disappear?" Confused by the inexplicable headache that had already appeared in the morning, I was about to quickly leave the training ground...

"...Who's there!?" Ariana seemed to have heard my groan. She let out a sharp scream and set up a protective barrier around the place where I was hiding.

"...What's wrong with you?"

"Frey... you..." With my retreat completely blocked, I could only helplessly raise my hands and walk out from my hiding place, exposing myself in front of them. Seeing this, Ariana gritted her teeth and muttered in a low voice,

"You, it's all because of you... Elena has... made that absurd bet..."

"Both parties agreed to this bet, didn't they? What's the problem?"

"But, but the death vow is a dark magic explicitly prohibited by the empire...! If the religious order finds out about this, even you won't be able to escape..."

"..." I was rather curious about what Ariana would react like if she knew that the one who most frequently used the death vow was actually the pope of the Sun God religious order. But this wasn't the time. So, I had to appropriately act like a villain and earn some points by the way.

"...Do you know that if the death vow is exposed, both parties will be punished?"

"But, but it's you who unilaterally...!"

"When has the religious order ever considered such things?"

"Woo, woo..." Hearing these words, Ariana bit her lip. I then gave her a mocking smile and continued,

"Ah, right. You don't seem to be in a position to be so rude to me, do you?"

"...What?"

"With just a flick of my finger, your sister who works in the duke's mansion will either lose her head or be transferred to the basement."

"...!" Hearing those words, tears started to well up in Ariana's eyes. Of course, her sister was working contentedly in the duke's mansion under our father's crony - based employment policy and even received extra allowances. But as she was still in the academy, she naturally couldn't know these things. While thinking about these boring things, I gave Ariana, whose eyes were bloodshot, a despicable smile and dealt a final blow.

"So I said, don't get too full of yourself, bitch."

"...Woo!" However, upon hearing those words, a raging fire burned in Ariana's eyes, and her originally outstretched hand clenched tightly into a fist.

"What... what are you doing... Cough!"

"Bastard... you bastard..." At that moment, the protective shield that surrounded me suddenly contracted, and I let out a dry cough like a flattened dried fish.

" Ariana... Stop it."

"Elena, I'll take the responsibility. There's no one else here now. So, even if you just break one of his bones, you can win..."

"Ariana!!!" Just as I was on the verge of suffocation and was hesitating whether to draw the sword at my waist, Elena, who had been standing aside with her head down, suddenly let out a scream.

"...I understand."

"Puhah...! Huff, huff..." Ariana slowly lowered her arm, and I finally escaped from the oppression and gasped for air. Elena stared at me coldly and pronounced,

"...That bastard, I'll kill him." After leaving those words, Elena left the training ground. Ariana cast a contemptuous glance at me and then followed her.

[Mischief Points 100pt Obtained! (Cheap provocation is often the most effective)]

"Cough... cough... Sigh..." Just like this, I coughed for a while due to the after - effects of the brief suffocation. Staring at the system window that appeared in front of me for a while, I stood up while leaning on the wall and thought to myself,

'...I hope no one saw that?' What they had just done was at least enough to get them expelled. Of course, if it had happened between ordinary academy students, they might only receive a mild warning... but they had the misfortune to mess with me, a noble and a thorn in the side of the academy, and things became troublesome. If I were to run to the dean now and report that those two had attacked me, he would immediately expel them from the academy. In this academy, the treatment of nobles and commoners was that different. So, any normal person wouldn't do such a thing to me... but those two were Elena and Ariana, who were known as the empire's mad dogs in the previous timeline. Once they lost their minds, they could do anything. After all, in the previous timeline, they had also provoked nobles and almost been expelled from school. At that time, I had gone to great lengths to secretly smooth things over for them.

'...Please, in this timeline, just target me alone.' While praying that they would only go crazy on me in this timeline, I left the training ground.

.....

"Another busy day today." After arriving at the classroom, I found that my desk drawer and desktop were filled with various gifts. Seeing this, I couldn't help but sigh. Perhaps some people might think it was a good thing to receive gifts, but these weren't ordinary gifts. They were bribes accompanied by long - winded letters. And the content was nothing more than obvious intentions like wanting to build good relations with the Starlight family or wanting to become my lover.

"...Since today is a free - class day, how about opening the backlogged bribes?"

However, the bribes still had to be kept well. Because these letters could be used as evidence when rectifying the empire in the future, and the bribes were the source of funds for my evil deeds. Recently, thanks to the money in the anonymous account left by my respected father, my finances had finally become a bit more comfortable... but money was always in short supply. Of course, I wouldn't use this money to satisfy my personal desires. After everything was over, I would use it for poverty relief and charity. There was no better use for dirty money.

"...Hm?" Anyway, taking advantage of the once - a - week free - class day when one could either freely attend classes or take a rest, I was counting the backlogged bribes. Suddenly, I found a rather strange piece of paper in the drawer.

'...What is this?' I tilted my head and carefully examined the piece of paper. It was filled with barely legible words and seemed to be wrapping something.

"...An envelope?" I once thought there were diamonds or chocolates inside, so I casually opened it. As a result, a paper bag fluttered weakly to the ground. I tilted my head and thought for a moment. Then, I suddenly froze in place when I noticed a line of words written at the top of the paper wrapping the paper bag.

- Blackmail Letter

Although the handwriting was scrawled and hard to make out, the strokes were thick and sharp enough to convey the writer's will. I began to read the content of the letter with a solemn expression.

- I have learned your true identity, Lord Frey Laan Starlight.

After reading the first paragraph, I closed my eyes tightly and muttered in a low voice,

'...Could it be that the Holy Maiden has discovered me?' In the Rising Sun Academy, even the lowest - ranking Class C has the strength to crush an ordinary academy. And the only one who could use such out - of - the - ordinary grammar here was none other than the Holy Maiden. But how could the Holy Maiden have seen through my true identity? Although the Holy Maiden had experienced a regression once, by checking her intelligence value through "information retrieval", it was only '2'. And to be honest, if she didn't have the knowledge reserve from the previous cycle, this value would definitely be '1'. No wonder the once - in - a - millennium pure white Holy Maiden, who had the highest status in the religious order, was eventually stripped of her real power. There were reasons for that.

"There are jokes circulating among people that when the Sun God bestowed power on the Holy Maiden, he accidentally hit her head and made her an idiot; or that the Holy Maiden is actually a genius beyond my fiancée, Serena, and is the mastermind behind the scenes, and all of this is part of her plan."

"It's hard to believe that such a Holy Maiden has seen through my identity."

"But if it's not the case, then how can this letter that no one else can imitate be explained? Could it be that the Sun God, who couldn't stand by any longer, secretly gave her a little hint?"

'...It's okay. The punishment window hasn't popped up yet. So, continue reading... no, continue deciphering.' I was briefly panicked, but remembering that no punishment window had popped up, I held onto a glimmer of hope that the Holy Maiden only suspected me of being a false villain. So, I continued reading the letter.

- If you don't follow my instructions, I will [reveal/expose] your secret (<- Which of these two words is correct?) to the students of the academy.

"...Haa." I stared at the paper for a long time and finally managed to decipher the content. After reading the last paragraph, I silently stuffed the paper into my pocket, walked out of the classroom, and muttered in a low voice.

- So, if you don't want your secret to be exposed, please immediately go to the sanctuary of the Sun God religious order after the academy classes end today. [P̶e̶r̶·Astrad]

"...She's really crazy, truly."

.....

I hurriedly stopped a passing carriage and headed for the sanctuary of the Sun God religious order. Perosh greeted me

"Welcome, Mr. Frey."

"...." The Holy Maiden sat on the high throne, surrounded by a faint glow, looking sacred and solemn.

"What exactly was that letter about..."

"...Please be quiet." Just as I was about to ask her about the letter, she interrupted me with a cold voice.

"...I already know your true identity, Mr. Frey." When she said this in an indifferent tone, I had to re - evaluate my opinion of her.

「...Could the theory that the Holy Maiden is the mastermind behind the scenes not be a joke?」That cold and confident expression could never belong to someone who was merely suspicious. Clearly, Perosh Astroid knew something about me. And perhaps that was...

'...Wait, but why hasn't the punishment window popped up?' For some reason, the punishment window hadn't appeared. To be honest, I thought the Holy Maiden suspected me of being a false villain and had summoned me to test me, so I had prepared several countermeasures. However, the Holy Maiden now had an expression of absolute certainty. Then... why hadn't the punishment window popped up?

"Now, I proclaim in the name of the Sun God..." In a situation where I couldn't see the way forward at all, I thought that even half of Serena's wisdom would be helpful. So, I began to listen quietly to her words...

「...Miss Frey.」

".....?" The next second, I doubted my ears.

「What did you just say...?」

「...Shh.」The Holy Maiden interrupted me just as I was about to ask in a daze. Then, she wear a triumphant smile, took something out of her bosom, and threw it in front of me.

「Wait, what on earth is this...」

「From now on, you...」When I heard what she said next, my mind went blank.

「...shall be my exclusive maid and serve me until you die.」

".....!?" And at my feet, there lay a maid's dress adorned with cute lace.