The rooftop was Veilrin's space.

-Alright, I'll call the roll. Hystania Hanna...

-...

-Is anyone absent?

-...?

It was a small act of rebellion against the professor who didn't call her name even though she was sitting in the front row.

Of course, she knew that skipping class was a bad thing, but she had to vent her gloomy feelings, so the rooftop was a kind of shelter for Veilrin.

"..."

Many interesting things happen when you go up to the rooftop.

-I didn't like you from the start, so this is great.

-I thought I was the only one who thought that, so this is great. Get ready to die.

-Bullshit.

She could see the plain sight of students brawling.

-I've liked you for a long time.

-...Me too.

-Should we be a couple from today?

She could also occasionally see the scene of a youth romance coming to fruition, so the 'rooftop' was also Veilrin's movie theater, where the hottest information in the academy was exchanged.

Sometimes, a couple would come up to the rooftop for some skinship that would make her face blush, which was embarrassing, but since they were all adults, Veilrin would also watch with her nostrils flaring. Of course, it was all just kissing.

Anyway.

-Creak.

The rooftop was the place where information circulated most actively. To the point where it would be ranked as the worst place for a subject who wanted to shout that the king's ears are donkey's ears.

-Theo?

-Yu...Yuria.

It was an interesting place.

-Kaila is here too...?

-...

-Didn't you say you had something to talk about, just the two of you?

A fierce voice began to be heard.

-Get lost.

The scary senior spoke coldly.

-...

The nice senior was being cursed at, not knowing what was going on in this situation.

-Don't talk so carelessly.

The popular guy at school was taking the nice senior's side, and a scene of confusion was unfolding.

'Wow...'

Veilrin, hugging her knees, peeked her head out and was intently eavesdropping on the melodramatic scene that was unfolding in a chaotic way. After all, no one would find her on this rooftop.

-Why.... are you always bothering me!!!

She flinched at the loud noise.

-What are you talking about, Kaila?

The nice senior was trying her best to calm down the scary senior, and it was clear she was holding back her anger.

-I told you to stop...!"

The stupid man, as if that was the only thing he could say, was relentlessly repeating not to do it.

It's a love triangle.

An exciting love triangle that would make her want to eat popcorn if she had any.

Looking at the situation, it seemed that Theo-sunbae liked Yuria-sunbae, and the scary senior liked Theo-sunbae, but.

-...Haa.

It seemed that Yuria-sunbae had no feelings for Theo-sunbae at all.

If she had feelings for him, she would have made a disgusted face at seeing the scary senior and Theo-sunbae together.

Right now, Yuria-sunbae's expression was that.

-What is this situation?

An expression that said she was annoyed to death.

'Uh...'

Veilrin could tell because she had seen Yuria's ferocious side, who had massacred the undead with a serene expression during the special class.

-Lunchtime is almost over.

That Yuria-sunbae was holding back a lot right now.

The situation was unfolding rapidly.

-Ding dong dang dong.

With the bell that signaled the start of class, Yuria-sunbae let out a long sigh and left.

-I'm going.

Theo-sunbae glared at the scary senior once and disappeared to catch Yuria-sunbae. And not long after, the scary senior also disappeared with a dark expression.

Veilrin, who had come up to the rooftop at 11 a.m., looked at the passing lunchtime and thought about the next class. She thought she could skip the next class.

Her mouth was itching.

She had heard some amazing information.

If she told other people this, she could surely become popular, but since she had no friends to tell, this secret had to be kept for a lifetime, so her expression became even darker.

"Hmph..."

Veilrin, who was a loner again today, hugged her knees and looked at the students walking around the academy with a sad face.

After the bell rang once more.

-Ding dong dang dong.

The tightly closed rooftop door opened with the sound of an old latch scraping. 'Creak'.

-Ah, fuck... economics class is so fucking hard.

It seemed to be a 1st-year student.

Only a spirited 1st-year student would walk around in a group, swaggering and cursing.

-Is that guy even a real professor?

-Hey, I heard from a 3rd-year senior that that guy was a complete idiot. He's not much older than us, and he was a student who was expelled for being disciplined at the academy.

-What? A guy like that is teaching us?

-I don't know. The senior director must have done that shit again.

Economics class.

She wasn't taking the economics class because she hadn't signed up for it, but was it really that bad?

The students, who had taken out a palm-sized rectangular box from their pockets, were holding something like chalk between their fingers and spitting on the floor.

'...Ugh.'

Veilrin, who frowned, covered her nose and nodded as if she was used to it.

'I'm glad I didn't take it...'

Thinking that she was glad she didn't take the economics class.

This was the bad thing about the rooftop.

-Ssssss... hoo.

-Ha. Now I feel like I'm alive.

That people who smoked would come up at all times.

The 1st-year students who had come up to the rooftop were smoking.

According to the school rules, smoking within the academy was prohibited. In particular, smoking in a school uniform was a forbidden act with a penalty of 20 points, but since there were many students who came up to the rooftop to smoke, including professors, the rooftop was an unspoken smoking area at the academy.

Veilrin hated the smell of smoke, but she didn't have the courage to say a word to them, so she just squatted in a corner and hoped they would finish smoking quickly.

'I hate the smell of smoke...'

The students, who were continuously puffing out white smoke, took out another cigarette from their cigarette pack, lit it with magic as if they were used to it, and continued to talk.

-Ah... I want to drop out.

-True.

-There are a lot of pretty girls at school, but it seems like there are none in our class.

-True.

-I heard there are a lot of pretty people in the 3rd-year senior line. There are a lot of pretty people among the 2nd-year seniors too.

-True.

-Is that the only thing you know how to say?

-No.

-...

Veilrin secretly hoped that her name would come out of their mouths. She thought it would feel good to hear that someone liked her.

But contrary to Veilrin's wish, her name never came up in their conversation.

-Hoo...

The wind blew strongly again and began to blow the cigarette smoke towards Veilrin.

'Smell...'

She didn't know what was so good about the smelly cigarettes that everyone smoked, but Veilrin, who hated the smell of smoke, decided to pick up the cigarette butts they left behind when she left and started to focus on the conversation again.

-What's your next class?

-I have... swordsmanship.

-Crazy. I have a free period.

-Crazy.

-Are you jealous?

By the time their leisure spread and the bell signaling the end of the break rang.

-Creak.

The rooftop door opened once again, and the students' chatter came to an abrupt halt.

'They don't seem to be in the same group...'

Seeing the awkward atmosphere, it seemed that they were not acquainted with the students in front of them. Veilrin personally hoped that they were not students who had come to smoke, but she was not very hopeful.

After all, the reason for coming up to the rooftop was obvious.

-Creak... thud.

The moment the door closed and Veilrin, who was preparing to cover her nose, bowed her head.

-Huh...?

At the familiar voice, Veilrin raised her head and began to look in the direction from which the sound had come.

'Uh... huh? Why is that person... here?'

A tall height.

Red hair.

And a man who was strangely competent was smiling as he looked at the cigarettes in the students' hands.

-Is this right, everyone?

The students' eyes widened as they looked at the man.

-...Professor!

Like a herbivore that had seen a predator it shouldn't have met on the green meadow.

-Hmmmm.

The man, who had taken the cigarette from the student's hand, tilted his head and began to speak calmly, reading the words written on the cigarette pack.

-Marvo Red... you're smoking something quite strong, young students.

-...Ah... no, that's.

-You're all adults, so I'm not going to say anything about you smoking, but you know that you're not supposed to smoke within the academy, according to the school rules, right?

-...Yes.

-And if you smoke in a school uniform, won't it look strange? You're students of a prestigious academy, after all.

-I'm sorry.

'Crunch.' The man, who had crushed the cigarette pack with one hand, placed the crumpled cigarette pack in the students' hands and said with a refreshing smile.

"Well then, I'll see you in economics class."

"Hic...!"

"You seem to have a lot of energy, so it should be fine to push you a little harder, right?"

-Creak.

'Thud!' With the sound of the rooftop door closing, Veilrin's heart also began to pound. She was wondering if he might recognize her.

She had met him last time, and he didn't smell of smoke, so it didn't seem like he had come up to smoke... but just in case, Veilrin covered her nose, held her breath, and waited.

And of course.

"What are you doing here?"

"...Hic!"

"Veilrin-ssi."

The true professor found Veilrin and smiled.

"Skipping class is a bad thing."

Veilrin smiled and clasped her hands together.

"I'm sorry."

Ricardo, who was smiling brightly, asked Veilrin.

"Hmm... by the way."

"Yes?"

"Did anything interesting happen here?"

"...Pardon?"

Veilrin, with a refreshing smile, opened her lips with the expression of the subject who had shouted 'The king's ears are donkey's ears!' in a bamboo forest.

"Well, you see..."

The story she had seen.

"Hehet...!"

She began to unfold it for the first time.

*

And so, a short time later, in the 3rd year B class classroom.

'What are they doing over there?'

I looked at the student sitting at an empty desk and raised a large question mark in my head.

For some reason, a familiar person was sitting there.

"..."

Why is she opening her notebook?

-Swoosh.

Why is she opening her economics textbook on her desk?

-Hoo...!

I let out a hollow laugh as I looked at Veilrin, who was preparing for class with sparkling eyes.

Even though it wasn't her own class.

-Focus...!

She had come to my class.

Let's think.

-Cat.. cat...

After class, I was sitting on the rooftop, enjoying the view, while using Veilin, who was hesitantly drawing a picture on the ground, as a backdrop to organize my thoughts.

"I should draw a cat..."

"Personally, I'd like you to draw a Sphynx cat."

"Then I'll draw a naked cat..."

"If you put it that way.... doesn't it sound a little strange?"

I left the blushing Veilin behind and recalled the conversation I had with her yesterday in my mind.

-A greasy senior was on the rooftop.

Tae-oh was on the rooftop.

-That scary senior...

-Is it Kaila?

-Yes, that's right. Kaila-sunbae came up to the rooftop.

Kaila came to the rooftop.

-But why was Tae-oh on the rooftop? Was he trying to eat alone because he had no one to eat with?

-No... the greasy senior has a lot of friends, so I've never seen him on the rooftop.

-Then why....

-I think he was probably trying to confess to Yuria-sunbae. He had a bouquet in his hand... for sure.

-Should I kill him?

-Pardon...?

So Tae-oh was on the rooftop to confess to Yuria, and Kaila interfered...

I was quite annoyed that Tae-oh was trying to confess without my permission, but I decided to pay him back later, and I began to unfold the situation in my mind as I organized it.

Tae-oh and Kaila...

"Hmm..."

Not a fitting combination.

In the work, Kaila was a supporting character who appeared as a villain after the young lady left the academy.

Strictly speaking, Kaila had more screen time than the young lady in the novel, so she was a character who was cursed at a lot by the readers.

A strong backing.

Numerous followers and factions that followed her. And a cunning mind.

If the young lady's bullying was child's play, Kaila's bullying was that of a typical scheming villain who mixed mental and physical torment to bully Yuria.

Her evil deeds were so elaborate that....

-Don't talk bad about Kaila.

To the point where Yuria at the academy took the side of 'Kaila,' who was taking care of her. So much so that even the young lady would click her tongue at the mention of the name 'Kaila,' so she was a tricky opponent.

That's how much of a malicious villainess Kaila was, showing a good side and doing good deeds in front of people, but scheming behind their backs.

"Haa..."

Because she was a person like the young lady, who had to have what she wanted.

'I think I'm going to get involved with the person I least want to be involved with...'

Why didn't I think of it?

I knew that the villainess Kaila was still at this academy, but I was so fixated on the topic of cultists that I didn't even suspect her.

It was a relief that I realized it before it was too late, but at the thought of having to face perhaps the most troublesome enemy at the academy, I let out a quiet sigh. I thought it would be better to fight an apostle of the cultists.

'My already bad image.... is going to hit rock bottom.'

As I was having gloomy thoughts, I glanced at Veilin, who was drawing a strange picture on the ground, and smiled.

"Is that a Sphynx cat?"

"Yes."

"It doesn't look like it."

"No, it is..."

Veilin removed the hand she was drawing with and began to show off the strange picture she was drawing with chalk, but.

"..."

At the abstruse picture, which was hard to even call a cat, I let out a small chuckle with an awkward smile.

"D-don't laugh. It may look like this, but I won an award for drawing in elementary academy."

"Oh..."

"No one knew my name at the awards ceremony, so I didn't get a plaque... but I was praised for being good at drawing..."

"Wow."

I gave a thumbs up with an awkward smile at Veilin's bitter story. Because in situations like this, I don't know whether to look sad or to praise her.

Anyway, I was grateful.

"Thanks to you, I feel a little more refreshed."

Because thanks to her, I was one step closer to solving my blocked problem.

"...Huh?"

Veilin, who had received a compliment with a look of not knowing what it was for, was fidgeting and scribbling on the ground with chalk. While muttering shyly, 'I've exceeded my daily attention quota....'

"Hehet."

She was drawing fur on the Sphynx cat.

At her increasingly ruined drawing, I smiled faintly and added one more thing. Because I had to be grateful for what was grateful, and I had to scold what needed scolding.

"Still, skipping class is a bad thing."

"Yuk..."

"The professor worked hard to prepare for the class, so it's not polite to skip."

"He didn't call attendance..."

"..."

"I didn't think I should go."

I felt like I had touched a sore spot I shouldn't have.

"Ahem. Still, I'll come up to the rooftop often and listen to you, so please refrain from coming up to the rooftop a little."

"..."

"There are a lot of bad students, and the smell of cigarettes is strong, so it's not good for your health."

"But there's no place as comfortable as the rooftop..."

"..."

"I don't have any friends.... I."

A rooftop ghost with a story. At Veilin's story, I smiled faintly and nodded. Because it seemed like she wouldn't give up coming to the rooftop no matter what I said.

Then, what should I do now?

I knew that Kaila disliked Yuria, but on the other hand, there was no reason for Kaila to harm Shartia...

No matter how crazy Kaila was with her possessiveness, she couldn't easily touch a princess.

I need to find a clue that will make Kaila cross the line, but I couldn't find it. In the first place, there was no guarantee that Kaila was the villain mentioned in the quest...

But then again, at this point, if it's not her, it doesn't seem like there's anyone else...

'Don't tell me...'

At the sudden flash of thought, I opened my cold eyes and thought of an ominous assumption. Because if it was Kaila, who had surpassed the limits of possessiveness, the reason for her to threaten Shartia was established.

I threw a question at the homeless Veilin, who was drawing a bed on the rooftop floor and preparing to lie down.

"Veilin-ssi."

"Yes."

"From now on, let's imagine that you have a man you like."

"Uh... uh uh... I don't!!!"

Startled, Veilin shot up from her lying position and began to stutter.

"R-r-r-really... uh... uh uh uh... I don't!"

Like a broken person.

"We're just imagining."

"Ah... if."

"Yes, if. If Veilin-ssi likes a man, but that man is not interested in Veilin-ssi."

"Because I'm... ugly."

"The bangs are the problem, so don't worry about it. And those bangs have their own personality, so they're not bad either."

"Wh-wh-wh-wh-what are you saying?"

"You bit your tongue."

I continued with a faint smile.

"Looking closely at the reason why that man is avoiding Veilin-ssi, it seems that a 'certain person' is hindering his work, so he is avoiding Veilin-ssi."

"Work..."

"Then what would Veilin-ssi do?"

"...I'd have to give up."

"Right now, Veilin-ssi is in a state of feeling that 'I have to have this man, even if I die.'"

"I've never felt that way..."

Veilin, who was lost in thought, uttered the answer I was waiting for in an emotionless voice.

"If he's an indispensable person... then I think I would do that work for him. As long as it's not killing someone..."

"...I see."

That was enough.

Because with Veilin's answer, I could deduce Kaila's mental state to some extent.

In the novel, Kaila's mental state was 'self-deification,' that is, a state where she looked down on lives other than her own as trivial.

If she came to think that the reason Tae-oh didn't love her was 'because he couldn't become emperor,' then Kaila could kill Shartia for Tae-oh's sake.

It was an absurd hypothesis, but that was her course of action in the novel. In the first place, she had even locked Yuria in a dungeon, so she had a prior record.

In the original work, Kaila's end was that the truth was revealed to everyone, and she was kicked out as a commoner and met a miserable end, but that end was not necessarily guaranteed, so I thought that variables could certainly occur.

Now one person.

I had found one person now, but I had no idea how to save the other two.

If I had my way, I would have thrown both Tae-oh and Truller in prison and waited for a month, but I thought it would be a legal problem, so I shouldn't do it.

With a dejected expression, I glanced at Veilin, who was scribbling a picture on the rooftop, and carefully made a request. A request that I shouldn't be making as a professor.

"Veilin-ssi."

"Yes?"

"How long do you usually stay on the rooftop?"

"...That is."

"I'm not trying to scold you, so please answer honestly."

"All day."

At Veilin's unexpectedly bleak school life, I gave an awkward smile and carefully made a request.

"If you happen to hear any suspicious stories or gossip on the rooftop, could you tell me?"

"..."

Veilin looked at me once, then said with a heavy expression and a trembling voice.

"There's a condition."

"As for compensation, of course, I'll take care of..."

"Let me attend class."

"Pardon?"

"I secretly attended today, but please let me attend confidently."

"...I have to discuss it with the other professors."

Veilin said with a shy expression.

"I'll just sit there. I like making eye contact..."

"Pardon?"

"When I'm sitting in the classroom, I feel like a ghost.... There was a time when I had a question and kept my hand raised until the end of class."

What kind of life is she living?

I nodded at Veilin's shy appearance and affirmed her words.

Then.

"Please take care of me."

I'll have to wait for her to fall into the trap.

For the well-being of my emperor.

"Yes."

For a peaceful life as a bum.

·

·

·

A short while later, I was able to hear news of another person.

"..."

The crime of the person I had expected.

*

A dark wind blows.

"..."

The one who wanted to turn back the clock was clenching her fists and screaming.

Why won't you look at me?

Why won't you notice me?

What do I lack compared to that woman?

Am I not better than that woman who only knows how to smile nicely, when I can do so much more? In the darkness, she asked and asked again.

"...Right."

Kaila let out a quiet breath and smiled.

That there was a bad person.

If only that woman didn't exist, everything would have gone peacefully. With that wish, Kaila moved.

"I can make him shine again."

With an old book in front of her, her eyes were shining.

[Disillusionment (幻滅)]

On the path to ruin.