Absolutely impossible!
“Hiss—”
Seeing that Professor Plon was playing it so big, Professor Gran couldn’t help but gasp:
“Is that really necessary? What if he actually goes through with it?”
“Actually goes through with it? Hehe…”
Professor Plon sneered, “I’ve been a teacher for fifty years; I can see what those students are like at a glance.
Let’s put it this way, that Mu’en Campbell, unless he’s been possessed by an evil god, will forever be a useless, good-for-nothing who can’t even be propped up by mud.”
“Well, I also find that hard to believe, but… hey, hey, hey? Look, is Mu’en Campbell really apologizing to Ariel?” Professor Gran suddenly exclaimed.
“Apologizing?”
Professor Plon was also taken aback and instinctively turned to look.
Then he saw at the entrance of the academy, surrounded by a crowd of onlookers, Mu’en Campbell was actually bowing his noble head to Ariel.
“What’s going on…”
Professor Plon thought he was hallucinating.
He couldn’t believe that the Mu’en Campbell, who was so arrogant that the professors had all heard about him, who acted recklessly in the academy relying on his status as a duke’s son, was actually lowering his head and apologizing to the illegitimate child Ariel, whom he had always looked down on and even deliberately excluded?
What on earth happened?
Is the end of the world coming?
“No, this must be an act; he must be brewing some sort of trick!
Hmph, to think he could fool my eyes, honed by fifty years of experience—you’re a long way off, Mu’en Campbell!”
Professor Plon leaned on the windowsill, stretching out his neck to look outside.
His slightly aged eyes sparkled with sharp wisdom.
People can feign a facade in front of others, but once they’re alone, their true nature will reveal itself!
Just watch; I won’t take my eyes off you for a moment until I expose your ridiculous hypocritical mask!
“Ah, he entered the school.” Professor Gran took on the role of commentator.
“Eh? He picked up the garbage on the ground and even straightened the trash can.”
“He returned a fallen bird’s nest to a tree; those birds seem to be quite affectionate with him.”
“He handed a handkerchief to a young girl who was heartbroken, though she ran away scared almost immediately.”
“He took out a book and read while walking, and he reads fast!”
“And…”
“He actually bowed to the statue of the first dean!”
The amused Professor Gran was shocked:
“What kind of ultimate model student is this? I’ve never seen a student bow to the statue of the first dean!”
“…”
“Um? Professor Plon?”
Noticing the sudden silence beside him, Professor Gran instinctively turned his head.
He found Professor Plon staring blankly at Mu’en’s location, looking petrified.
After a long pause, he finally spoke, his voice a bit hoarse:
“I haven’t bowed to the statue of the first dean either, not even once.”
“…”
Silence.
Silence was the response tonight.
Mu’en Campbell’s behavior today was so bizarre that even the two professors who prided themselves on being well-informed were at a loss.
Until Mu’en walked into the dormitory area and disappeared from the professors’ sight, Professor Gran finally broke the silence, looking at Professor Plon with a sigh:
“So, are you going to swallow your entire desk or tear it apart piece by piece to eat it?”
“…”
Professor Plon twitched his cheek, glancing at his precious antique rosewood desk, then at the smile on Professor Gran’s face, which was full of mischief, and after a long silence, he managed to squeeze out a sentence between clenched teeth:
“It’s just one day; it doesn’t mean anything. I will keep a close eye on Mu’en Campbell, and I will prove to you that I am right.”
With that, he walked away without looking back.
“Whoa—”
Watching Professor Plon’s figure gradually disappear, Professor Gran whistled and murmured to himself:
“Still the same old stubbornness, huh?
However…”
Professor Gran turned to look at the dormitory area, his smile growing increasingly cheerful:
“I feel like this year, school is going to be very interesting.”
…
“I remember I accidentally kicked the head off this statue once.”
Mu’en looked at the old man statue with a white beard, tilting his head and immediately noticing the clear adhesive marks on its neck.
“How come no one has discovered it yet?”
Mu’en’s mouth twitched.
He really didn’t know who this statue was carved after; why was it so unappreciated in the academy? Doesn’t anyone come to pay their respects?
As for the name on the statue’s pedestal… it had long been covered by vines, making it unreadable.
“Regardless, it’s better to apologize first.”
Mu’en respectfully bowed to the statue in front of him, “Consider this a farewell to the old Mu’en Campbell.”
From now on, to study.
To learn.
To train and become stronger.
To be a good student.
To completely break free from the fate of a yellow-haired villain.
With that wish in mind, Mu’en walked lightly toward the dormitory area.
…
“Room 526, Mu’en Campbell.”
Mu’en first went to the dormitory matron to pick up his room key.
“Mu’en Campbell?”
The dormitory matron looked at Mu’en in shock:
“You came so early? And all by yourself?”
She still remembered when Mu’en first came to the academy; he arrived in a griffin-drawn carriage, followed by a horde of maids to help him tidy up his room.
That scene, wow, she couldn’t forget it to this day.
“Everything is ready, so of course, I came alone.”
Mu’en smiled, “I’m not a child anymore.”
“Oh, oh.”
The dormitory matron was momentarily mesmerized by Mu’en’s handsome smile and hurriedly handed the key to him.
“Here’s your key.”
“Thank you.”
Mu’en nodded in gratitude and turned to go upstairs.
After Mu’en left, the dormitory matron placed a hand on her chest, her chubby cheeks slightly flushed:
“My, how does it feel like he has become so charming in just one vacation?”
…
“I didn’t expect that I would still come to the academy.”
Opening the door to the single dormitory and looking at this room that was both familiar and strange, Mu’en couldn’t help but feel a bit emotional.
He hadn’t planned to come to the academy, after all, not only did it have the protagonist Ariel, who clashed with him, but also Celicia, whom he didn’t know how to face, and it was also the stage for some dangerous events in the future.
It was really too dangerous for him, a yellow-haired villain.
But…
Fate had its way, especially with him as a yellow-haired villain.
He had no choice but to come.
Mu’en closed the dormitory door and walked to a mirror, taking off his shirt.
At that moment, he already had relatively clear muscle lines, and compared to when he first crossed over, he was noticeably stronger.
However, on his somewhat fair skin, strange lines could still be faintly seen.
Like fingerprints.
Those were the marks left on him by the evil god, the King of Withering.
“Looks like they can’t just dissipate naturally, huh?”
Mu’en extended his hand, and flames of crimson flickered in his palm.
Yet, compared to the terrifying power he had when confronting another evil god directly before, the flames in his hand now seemed quite weak.
It was probably comparable to the flames obtained through sacrifice by the previous assassin.
“It’s just like some unscrupulous game’s first-time recharge promotional benefit.”
Come on, just a six-dollar initial recharge, and you can feel a different kind of power!
How’s that? Isn’t this power, which holds the world in your palm, impressive? Exciting?
What? Want more?
You’ll have to pay more!
No money?
That’s fine too; you can pay with something else.
Like… a soul or something.
—Without needing to think, Mu’en already knew that the King of Withering was not retracting this power completely because that was precisely what he was aiming for.
“There’s no way I will comply with your wishes.”
Mu’en extinguished the flames and murmured softly.
This was also the reason he came to St. Maria Academy.
With two evil gods watching him, he needed to get stronger with urgency.
And perhaps in the academy, he could find a way to completely sever ties with the evil gods.
…
“But Mu’en Campbell, you are so useless!”
Just as he made his resolution, Mu’en couldn’t help but hold his head and wail.
Of course, this ‘useless’ wasn’t a self-deprecation but an insult to the original host.
Because just a glance at the empty brain reminded Mu’en of how wild and unrestrained the original host’s first-year life had been.
As for martial artists, there was nothing to worry about; his duke father had laid a solid foundation for him, combined with the Black Book, even if he had wasted a year, Mu’en was confident he could catch up soon.
But the problem lay in magic; Mu’en Campbell only knew a pathetic lighting spell up to this point!
What kind of magic is lighting?
It’s the ultra-simplified version of Holy Light magic, which is entirely useless except for turning into a humanoid light bulb.
The principle of use is to gather light element magic into the palm and then release it.
It’s ridiculously simple.
But this Mu’en Campbell had only learned this spell in a year! His theoretical knowledge about magic was practically zero! It was clear he probably spent every magic class either asleep or daydreaming.
It would be a miracle that he hadn’t been killed by his magic teacher yet!
Yet, the Black Book could not help Mu’en learn magic because magic could not be acquired simply through practical combat or by imitating someone else’s actions.
And he couldn’t afford not to learn magic.
If he wanted to sever the connection with the evil gods, the path forward was probably only through magic.
As for following the path of faith… given the fanatical hatred those zealots had for evil gods, he would probably be captured and burned at the stake before he even stepped into the Church of Life.
“So, the current situation is…”
Mu’en looked at the seemingly new magic textbooks on the desk, flipped through them, and found that they indeed looked like celestial scripts, unable to help but chuckle bitterly:
“This dimwit with an intelligence of only nine has to start learning magic from scratch?”
A bit difficult.
But…
It’s also quite interesting, isn’t it?
Since he decided not to wallow in despair anymore, he would tap into the resilience of a worker.
If he wasn’t afraid of the 996 work schedule, what’s to fear about some magic?
Let’s go for it!
…
Determined about his effort, Mu’en stopped wasting time.
He spent a little effort re-organizing his room.
Then he grabbed a bite in the cafeteria.
On the way, he happened to bump into the new students checking in; a lot of them didn’t know who Mu’en Campbell was yet, and some young girls excitedly gazed at him with starry eyes. If their parents weren’t right next to them, they probably would have rushed over to chat with him.
“Seems like my charm is stronger than I thought.”
Provided there aren’t any horrible rumors ruining things.
Mu’en stroked his chin, feeling that improving how he appeared in the eyes of others was genuinely necessary.
In the afternoon, he returned to the dormitory once again.
After taking a shower, he lay down on the bed earlier than anyone else.
He closed his eyes.
He opened his eyes.
The familiar black space came into view.
He looked ahead not too far away.
A naked man stood there, exuding an invisible aura like a thirsty beast.
“Have you been waiting long?”
Mu’en gripped his short knife, a fierce grin appearing on his face.
“On the one hundred and ninety-seventh time, I am going to make you show me that strange move that can summon thunder.”
The man grinned.
It looked like a silent laugh.
…
…
“Hey, hey, Ariel, I heard Mu’en Campbell apologized to you, is it true?”
In Ariel’s dormitory, Lia leaned over her bed, curiously asking.
She had just come back from outside, and it was obvious she was in a hurry, with a sheen of fine sweat on her forehead.
But she didn’t care about that; she just stared at Ariel, eager for an answer.
“Mm-hmm, it’s true.”
Ariel was focused on an ancient book in her hands, casually nodding, “Mu’en Campbell did apologize to me.”
“Is that really true?”
Lia exclaimed, unable to help but slap her forehead, but unintentionally causing her bosom to surge.
“I thought it was just some random rumor going around.”
“Today so many people saw it, what rumors can there be?”
Ariel rolled her eyes.
“Really? Then isn’t it a rumor that Mu’en Campbell tricked you into getting an abortion too?”
“Of course not… wait? What did you say?”
Ariel shot up from her bed in shock, staring at Lia:
“It seems I just heard some absurd talk about abortion?”
“Yeah, isn’t that what everyone is talking about outside?”
Lia counted on her fingers, saying:
“Mu’en Campbell dislikes you because you were his ex-girlfriend, and you came to school still pining for him, so he always wanted to kick you out.
There was supposed to be a child between you, but Mu’en Campbell, for the sake of the Campbell family’s reputation, forced you to have an abortion. He apologized to you because his conscience was pricked by that incident.
Moreover, while dating you, Mu’en Campbell had been seeing thirteen other girls at the same time, and you were the strongest among them, secretly termed by him as…”
“Stop, stop, stop! Enough already!”
Ariel quickly gestured for Lia to stop, astonished:
“Where on earth did you hear such ludicrous stories?”
“From outside.”
“Where outside?”
“Just among those students, um, mostly among the girls.”
“How dare they spread such nonsensical gossip?”
Ariel slammed the table in anger.
“Do you think I won’t tear their mouths apart?”
