Villain Extra: Rogue Reader

The unknown intruder was donned completely in black clothes, and there was even a mysterious flow of mana around them that prevented spying.

Belva also came to understand that the backlash she received was most likely attributed to that mysterious flow of mana.

Nevertheless, with her mana restricted, Belva knew the situation was dire.

She couldn’t comprehend what their intention was, but as Ray’s maid, it was her duty to protect him from harm’s way.

Without hesitation, she retrieved her dagger and lunged toward them.

CLANK!

Her dagger simply made contact with the transparent magic barrier cast by the unknown intruder.

Belva wasn’t disheartened by the barrier and continued to make consecutive slash attacks. She specifically targeted the barrier weak points with extreme precision.

The unknown intruder was somewhat amused by the attacks. They were about to do something when Belva suddenly turned around and charged toward the door.

”What a nice misdirection. Purposely attacking so relentlessly to create a false sense of desperation when in reality, you wanted to make me believe that you’re going all out while escaping through the door to call for help.”

Belva’s expression remained stoic despite being exposed to her intention.

She didn’t even bother to turn the doorknob to open the door, and wished to simply barge through and smash the door.

Of course, the door wasn’t made of simple materials to be that fragile. Her external mana was restricted, but the internal mana was still functioning properly.

’This should be enough even if they tried to lock the surroundings.’ Belva thought to herself.

Alas, she couldn’t even get to barge the door when her movement was suddenly restricted. She was frozen in place, incapable of even moving a muscle.

”I admire the actions, but I have no intention of getting the doors repaired. They’re a hassle, and I’ll be getting an earful from Elsa.” The unknown intruder suddenly said.

’Elsa? The Vice Principal of Crestallan Academy?’ Belva was astonished.

The only person who would dare to address the Vice Principal by her name without any honorifics could be counted on one hand.

His Majesty... that was definitely impossible.

Why would the emperor be here?

That leaves only one suspect.

”Y-You’re Principal Leonard?” Belva was in disarray.

Leonard ”Leon” Lawson was the principal of Crestellan Academy and was known to be the closest to reaching the Ninth Circle.

The last Ninth Circle Mage was a century ago.

”Ah, whoopsie.” Leon stuck their tongue out in an embarrassed manner. His slip of the tongue accidentally exposed the mysterious persona he was putting up.

At that moment, the restriction on Belva was released.

’Hah, what is this?’ Belva staggered slightly and felt exhausted. This was the kind of jumpscare she didn’t appreciate.

The Principal was an Eighth Circle Mage, an entity that even the Emperor wouldn’t dare mistreat. And it wasn’t just the Crestellan Empire. Other Magic Tower and countries also wouldn’t dare to treat Leonard lightly.

Although Leonard was essentially a citizen of the Crestellan Empire and the Principal of the Crestellan Academy, he earned respect from many for his impartiality.

The fact that anyone, including even commoners, could attend the academy was a feat that no other people were able to replicate.

After all, the differences in culture and the clear territorial hostility from other parts made it difficult for anyone to really coexist.

But Leonard’s strength, power, and influence alone were enough to suppress them.

Of course, there was still bound to be some bad blood that managed to escape because there were simply too many students and Leonard was only one individual.

Belva never blamed Leonard either for her plight because it wasn’t that the Principal was laidback. He simply had more important aspects to do and must always consider the big picture.

That was just the cruel reality, and something Leonard was helpless about unless he wished to destroy this hard-earned coexistence within the academy that he had built.

”Young Master Ray...” Belva composed herself and muttered. Her eyes were directed at Ray, but the question was quite obvious. She was asking if his sleeping state was related to Leonard.

”Oh, don’t misunderstand.” Leon undid the mysterious mana flow that concealed his appearance and revealed his true self.

Although nobody knew Leonard’s true age, one thing was for certain: he was extremely old. Yet his appearance appeared no different than a handsome young adult.

If Ray were awake, he would call him the disgusting idol or those eye candy men you would see in dramas or movies. Disgusting because Ray would be jealous of his appearance and cursed god for not making him handsome.

After all, Leonard could literally go around catfishing young women and charming them to become his lover.

Hell, even if they learned of his age, the women probably wouldn’t care when they realized his true identity.

They would think they had struck gold to have been so close to him.

”That student is asleep because he exhausted his mana.” Leon clarified the situation.

”I see,” Belva heaved a sigh of relief.

”You’re that worried I would do anything to a student of my academy?”

”No, Principal Leonard.”

She shook her head and glanced at him awkwardly. ”I’m only worried that if he really got put to sleep by the Principal, he would go on a cursing rampage at you. My Young Master Ray cannot be understood through normal logic.”

”...”

Leonard was rendered speechless. He actually believed it was possible since he had witnessed Raymond’s confrontation with Professor Margaret.

The commotion that Margaret made was detected by him when he had just returned to the academy.

Curious, he sneakily watched the scene in silence and became intrigued. Then his interest piqued when he saw how Raymond utilized the formation properties to create a new possibility to win at the Arena Section.

But most importantly, Leonard was wondering how Belva had been faring.

Given Belva’s status in Margaret’s position, it was hard for him to not hear about her either.

”I originally planned on giving the student a test, but he collapsed from mana exhaustion. I didn’t feel like going back empty-handed, so I decided to change the test subject.” Leon calmly said.