Surviving As The Villain's Childhood Friend

While talking to Leniana, a scruffy man with a long beard climbed onto the podium.

“Nice to meet you all. My name is Kiles Bendy, I will be teaching you.”

He introduced himself as a teacher. The man who said he had worked as an Evelian knight for a long time was more like the uncle next door than a knight.

“Everyone who came in this year looks extraordinary.”

He continued, slowly sweeping his hand through his beard.

“I hope there is a talented person among you whom Marquis Evelian will wish to recruit.”

The children cheered at his words.

Most of the trainees consisted of children from prestigious families between the ages of eight and twelve. Children that were at the age of dreaming were just delighted that they had the opportunity to join the Olodika Knights. Except me.

As I glanced around, I saw Leniana Mienda. She had sparkling eyes on her cold face.

When our eyes met, she quickly changed her expression and turned away. I slightly turned my head back with a smile.

All the children with small swords that fit their size looked alike. There were also a few children with particularly beautiful appearances, but all of them lost their light in front of Leniana.

Meanwhile, I was looking for a boy.

Where was he?

Roziel Evelian.

It was clear that the villain would be the most noticeable child among them all. In the novel, his appearance was described as “so handsome you couldn’t take your eyes off him once you saw him”.

But no matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t see Roziel.

No way, are we really not training together?

I thought we would train together since we were the same age, but my expectations were slightly off.

There’s a rumor that you’ve already completed learning all your swordsmanship training. Is that why?

However, training should be practiced continuously so would I be able to see his face?

Agelisk had a slight gap in skills compared to other training centers. Some children couldn’t even be bested by a few adult knights like Leniana, and some children had just blossomed their talent.

There’s only one reason why they came into Agelisk. It was to learn the ancient swordsmanship art called Agrad.

This is a big deal.

I heard that Agrad swordsmanship was so difficult that even after three years of training, the number of learners could be counted on two hands. But if Roziel, who was only twelve years old, had already mastered the art…

Maybe… he’s more of a genius than Leniana Mienda.

It was a little scary that the villain who would destroy the world was so good.

I sighed deeply.

Anyway, if Roziel wouldn’t train with us, I would have to find him separately.

It seemed like things would get complicated.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kiles who was at the podium scanned the children one by one. There were a few particularly noticeable children. Good and bad.

“I will tell you about the rules you need to follow at Agelisk. First, you have to respect each other. There is no title, no wealth, no reputation here. He who is judged solely by his ability, and who is better, has humility and does not lack skill. If you make an effort….”

Kiles stopped talking. His facial expression, perhaps because he grew a beard, looked frightening.

“…There are some people who can’t concentrate,” Kiles muttered grimly.

His gaze was on the brown-haired girl. She was constantly looking around for something.

‘How gutsy.’

(TL/N: guts like she has a lot of nerve/ no fear to blatantly not pay attention.)

Not many trainees showed such a disorganized appearance from day one. Unlike other children, the ordinary girl was holding a cheap iron sword.

He was told the children invited here were from remarkable families and were incredibly talented.

‘I’m sure you could afford to at least get a decent sword.’

Kiles opened his eyes and examined the girl, but there was nothing special about her. Normal height, arms, and legs stretched out, lean body, and skin that was pale for a knight. That was all. Kiles knew a thousand ways to tame a spoiled child.

He took a small coin out of his pocket and threw it at the child. It was just a bump on the forehead.

But…

Huh?

Without looking at the flying coin, the child turned her head slightly to avoid it. Then she scratched her cheek gently. She didn’t even know what was going on. It was just instinct that she knew something flew towards her and avoided it.

“Well, teacher?” The child standing in front was called Kiles.

“Ahem.”

When he came to his senses, Kiles pointed to the girl who was still doing something else.

“The trainee doing something else over there.”

“…”

“The trainee with brown hair and green eyes.”

“…”

“The trainee in column two, row three.”

“…”

What in the world should I call you to get you to answer?

While he was agonizing over what to do, the trainee standing next to her tapped the girl and then looked to the front. The girl looked at Kiles with her eyes wide open. There was no animosity or curiosity towards Kiles in her eyes.

I just called you and you just look at me like this.

Kiles was offended, somehow. But if asked to pinpoint why he felt that way, he wouldn’t be able to.

“What’s your name?”

“Yu…Yuri…”

The girl hesitated.

Kiles raised his eyebrows.

“Yuria Zeos.”

Kyle sighed at the child’s words. “If it’s Zeos… As far as I know, the eldest son there has considerable swordsmanship skills.”

“I came here because of circumstances.”

The children chattered at Yuria’s words. She smiled awkwardly. Rather than a knight, she appeared more like an innocent girl.

“Is that right?”

‘I don’t know what’s going on, but I can’t believe you’re coming to Agelisk with that old sword.’

It wasn’t even a standard sword.

“… Anyway, you shouldn’t be doing anything else while a teacher is speaking.” Kiles said, hiding his discomfort.

“Oh, I’m sorry…”  Yuria said, scratching the back of her head.

Kiles smiled cruelly and told Yuria. “You’ve lost 10 points for your behavior. I can’t believe someone is already getting points deducted. That’s great.” Kiles’s aura became hideous.

“Hehe.”

Kiles started talking about the rules again, leaving the smiling Yuria behind.

The speech was long. From the rules to follow in Agelisk to the training schedule, to the way classes are taught, to history…

As Yuria stood for the long speech she began to doze off. She had been looking around busily up until a moment ago and changed her attitude because she couldn’t find what she was aiming for. Neither, of course, was a good attitude.

“…”

Kiles glared at Yuria as hard as he could but she did not wake up.

“Then I’ll dismiss you all now. There will be a banquet this evening to welcome the trainees. Everyone, gather at the banquet hall in the annex.”

Only then did Yuria, who opened her eyes, scratch the back of her head and leave the training ground.

Kiles’ eyes persistently followed her. Was it just coincidence or skill that he just saw with Yuria moments ago? In terms of behavior, it was so terrible that it could not be called the glory of any family, let alone a knight.

‘It must be a coincidence.’

Kiles shook his head. There was always a troublemaker in any class. ‘And it was the best quality in a teacher to be able to deal with a troublemaker.’

Kiles clenched his fist. ‘I’m going to make that naive girl my disciple.’

However, he didn’t know at this point what kind of storm that girl he thought was just a troublemaker would bring to Agelisk.

* * *

The welcome banquet had begun.

I took a sip of a drink and looked around. A banquet with children without a guardian was more of a social gathering than a banquet. The banquet hall, with delicious desserts, sweet drinks, small tables, and chairs, had a cute taste.

I didn’t sit down, but stayed by the wall and looked around.

“Hi. Are you looking for him, too?”

At that time, someone stuck close to me.

“Who?”

“My name is Marin Cyans. I’m from the Kendalin region in the north.”

It was a girl with sky blue hair and glasses. She raised her glasses and whispered. “Roziel Evelian. You’re looking for him, aren’t you?”

“How could you… “

“Others besides me are looking for him.” Marin said with a snort. “In fact, I’m sure there are a lot of people who came here to see the beautiful Roziel Evelian.”

“What kind of idiot spends three years like that?”

In fact, it was me. But I had a sense of duty, so I had to exclude myself.

“What’s wrong with betting your life on a handsome guy?” Marin said with a grin.

I think I just heard a lot of things. But Marin dragged me behind the curtain without giving me a moment to panic.

“So who are you going to vote for?”

“What are you talking about?”

Marin’s eyes opened wide at my words.  “You… you don’t know yet…”

Her gaze became pitiful. It was like looking at a man who had fallen behind on civilization.

“It was a little shocking that you came instead of Blandis.” Marin went on. “But it’s okay though. You look like a good person. You will be able to make friends with the other kids in no time.”

…Do I look that pathetic?

She handed me the paper. “Come on. Let me explain. Do you know how long it’s been since this Agelisk opened? It’s been 50 years! Of course, all the kids were flying from all over the Empire and flocked here.”

I nodded.

In the original book, Agelisk was so great that a rural family like Zeos didn’t even get an invitation. It was even said by others that my roommate, Leniana Mienda, was close to being a swordmaster already. A girl who was only ten years old… Agelisk was the place where such outstanding figures gather.

Marine tapped me on the shoulder. “Come on. Take a look around this banquet hall.”

I had already looked through it fifteen times. It was just a bunch of little kids between the ages of ten and thirteen gathered together and chewing on snacks. It wouldn’t be strange if someone among them cried and wet themselves.

But Marin said in a serious voice that she felt a little different from me.

“There, the most notable figure in the Agelisk. Leniana Mienda.”

“Yes, I know.”

A beautiful girl with short hair looked a little bored in the crowd.

“And that boy is Terran Widlich.”

“…Who?”

A boy with blue hair and red eyes was munching on a cookie.

“Widlich is one of the richest men in the Empire. Their land is far north, so it’s not well known to the capital. Rumor has it that he has a sword made of dragon scales.”

“Even if you buy a dragon sword at home, you don’t buy sweets?”

“…”

Since then, Marin has told me about some important people. I wasn’t really interested when I was talking back.

“When these people get together surely this place will be a microcosm of politics!”

Then Marin said something that might interest me. It was a difficult idea to come from a girl my age.

“So?”

“It means that the relationships and connections you make here will last a lifetime.”

It was a good insight. We’ve already built up connections and jumped into politics. Thinking about it… I started to evaluate her again. It seems that I saw the children here too softly.

“So we decided to vote.”

Was it a vote to choose the person who would lead the empire in the future? Or a vote on who should stand in line to strengthen the political life ahead?

“On who will win the young Evelian’s heart.”

“…”

Suddenly, I wanted to get away from Marin.

“Agelisk has a hundred people at most. What if there are men and women in this small world? Of course, we’ll fall in love. It’s a very high probability.”

What did you expect from the kids over there who chew on sweets and candies?

“Come on.” Marin grinned and held out the paper to me. “Where do you want to cast your vote?”

Looking at the paper, some promising candidates could have a relationship with the young Evelian.

“Do I have to vote…?”

I didn’t want to. It was ridiculous that first place was Leniana Mienda, and second place was Marin Cyans in front of me. It was like watching a fraudulent vote.

“More than half did.”

At the end of the paper, I wrote in the ‘Other’ column I added at the bottom of the paper. It was a small bet between children anyway, so I thought it didn’t matter who I bet on. I skillfully participated in the voting fraud.

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<Yuria Zeos>

“You can’t tell me…”

“Yes, it’s my name.”

“…”

Her eyes narrowed. I could feel her bewilderment as she slowly looked me up and down.