I'm Neither the Mastermind nor the Villain

Chapter 12

The entrance ceremony of an academy story is always noisy.

Of course, whether that noise is the joyful sound of students happy to see their friends after a long time,

or the shy sounds of people meeting for the first time and having their first conversations, no one knows.

Or perhaps it could be the shouts and screams of people facing unexpected situations.

But there is one thing certain.

The details may differ, but in the end, it is always noisy.

That was the same for Warna Academy.

Some were happily catching up with friends they hadn't seen in a while,

some were awkwardly chatting and trying to get closer,

and some were whispering while looking at a certain person.

"Isn't that person super suspicious?"

"He totally looks like a villain, doesn't he?"

"Did he kill a student and steal their identity to get in?"

"Hey, hey, lower your voice. He might hear us if you're not careful."

There was one thing common among the people whispering while looking at that man-they never dared to approach him closer than a certain distance.

And they only whispered quietly among themselves in case someone overheard.

So that suspicious man with squinting eyes wouldn't hear what they were saying,

and so they wouldn't disappear from this world after he took revenge later.

But no matter how careful they were, once words left their mouths, could they really vanish anywhere?

The words they uttered had already been overheard by someone unrelated to them.

[An interesting story I hear.]

"An interesting story?"

To be precise, an angel overheard it.

[Seems there's a suspicious-looking person, and those people gathered over there are chatting excitedly about it.]

"There's a suspicious person?"

At the angel's words that there was a suspicious person, the woman's brows furrowed.

[Apparently so.]

"Where is that person now?"

At the woman's suddenly sharp tone, the angel chuckled softly.

[Why don't you check for yourself.]

"...Fine, Gabriel."

At the angel's suggestion to see for herself, the woman reluctantly stood up and approached the group still whispering among themselves.

"I'm telling you! I went to Yongsan a few days ago, and I saw that guy there!"

"No... but making up things that never happened is a bit..."

"It's true! People were murmuring, so I looked, and he was threatening a couple!"

"Sorry, but can you tell me who this suspicious person is?"

"Huh? Who?......Gasp!"

The heated conversation instantly cooled the moment the woman cut in.

"Are you... Kim Gabyeol?"

To the question from one of the group, Kim Gabyeol simply gave a slight nod.

"Where is that person?"

"Uh... I'm not sure who you mean..."

"You know, the person you were just talking about. The one you all said was suspicious?"

"Ah, ah, that guy... He's over there talking to the red-haired man."

Following their words, Kim Gabyeol looked ahead and saw a man in a black coat talking with a red-haired man and a woman with short black hair.

"So it's him. Thanks for letting me know."

As Kim Gabyeol easily found out the suspicious person's location and was about to leave, they stopped her.

"Wait! Don't go!"

"Hold on!"

"Don't tell him we talked about him! Got it?"

"Never say we told you anything!"

So desperate were they that all four shouted at her.

Two tried to hold her back, while the other two tried to erase the evidence.

The first two wanted to stop her out of fear she might get hurt,

and the latter two wanted to erase the evidence out of fear they might get hurt.

And they succeeded.

"Alright, I won't mention you guys."

They got her promise not to reveal anything about them.

Even though the thought that that man looked extremely dangerous never left their minds...

But who was Kim Gabyeol? The youngest divine spellcaster ever! The one who, from birth, was blessed and accompanied by none other than Gabriel, the Archangel herself.

Of course, the Gabriel staying with Kim Gabyeol wasn't her true form, but honestly, how could such a being descend here in her true form?

For transcendental beings from other worlds to descend here, a price must be paid.

The greater their power and rank as transcendental beings, the higher the price.

So, the so-called 'high-tier' transcendental beings tended to manifest in tiny forms when descending to this world.

Because the price was just too great otherwise.

Besides, even when manifesting small, the power they could exert here wasn't much different from manifesting in full size.

Yes, that's how incredible Kim Gabyeol was.

She was someone accompanied by none other than Archangel Gabriel.

So they didn't think Kim Gabyeol would get hurt so easily.

And it made sense. Unless some powerful transcendental entity or demon saw Archangel Gabriel as nothing, most wouldn't dare touch Kim Gabyeol, who was blessed and contracted with her.

The same went for Gabriel's other contractors.

Unless that super suspicious squinty-eyed man had contracted with another Archangel or one of Solomon's 72 demons, especially a high-ranking one, who could possibly stand against Gabriel?

That's why they felt relieved.

*

'Huh, he's handsome.'

That was her first impression when she saw the so-called 'suspicious person'.

According to the others who had made such a fuss,

-He was so scary they almost peed themselves.

-His face and aura were just like those of a big-time criminal.

-He even had a summoned creature, which looked like a ferocious beast with jet-black fur, as if the night sky itself had been transplanted onto it.

Of course, they didn't say these things directly, but that's how it sounded to her.

But the 'suspicious man' she saw wasn't quite like that.

He did look pretty suspicious, just as they said.

No, very suspicious.

In contrast, the people he was talking to were a refreshingly handsome red-haired guy and an adorably cute short-haired girl.

It didn't quite match up.

Just by looking at him, you'd think he was the type to command savage brutes... or assassinate someone.

Noticing her gaze, the squinty-eyed man stiffened slightly in surprise, then quickly smiled.

'That smile makes him look even more suspicious.'

He probably meant to look friendly, but she couldn't imagine anyone fully understanding his intentions.

Of course, that was probably how most people reacted upon seeing him.

It wasn't that Kim Gabyeol was special.

In fact, she thought her impression was nothing unique, and anyone would find him suspicious at first glance.

Then Kim Gabyeol turned her steps back toward her seat.

Since the entrance ceremony would start soon.

But her movement soon stopped, and she turned again toward that 'suspicious man'.

Because he had moved to a less crowded spot, making it easier to approach.

[I sense dark mana. And it belongs to our cute lion. He's hiding his presence and dark mana well, but he can't fool me.]

At those words, Kim Gabyeol infused divine power into her eyes and looked at the man again.

Then she saw something floating beside him.

The silhouette of the object was hard to make out, but she could roughly guess what it was.

Who else could Gabriel affectionately call 'our cute lion' besides the Archdemon Marbas.

The demon that spreads plague among humans and transforms them into animals.

[Can you see that cute lion?]

"Not really...."

[Yes, that's normal, it just means your training is still lacking.]

"Hello?"

"Nice to meet you. This is truly surprising. Aren't you Miss Kim Gabyeol?"

Eventually, Kim Gabyeol went up to the man and greeted him.

At the sudden greeting, the man with the narrowed eyes responded with an exaggerated reaction.

"Yeah, and what's your name?"

"I'm Baek Sejin. It's an honor to meet you."

"Why are you suddenly speaking formally?"

"Formally? Haha, well, I tried to fix it, but it's hard to change."

Despite Kim Gabyeol's question, which could have sounded rude, he smiled as if unbothered and answered.

[Marbas, how have you been? By the way, you formed a contract? You're so fickle- is this another whim of yours?]

Along with those words, the blurry object beside the man suddenly became clear, revealing a lion plushie.

Baek Sejin's gaze fixed on Kim Gabyeol's left shoulder.

Right now, Gabriel was sitting on her left shoulder in the form of a small angel.

Just as Kim Gabyeol had seen Marbas's avatar,

Baek Sejin also saw Gabriel's avatar.

"Is this Miss Gabriel?"

"Well, yeah. And that cute lion plushie over there, is that Marbas?"

When she asked if the lion plushie was Marbas, Baek Sejin's smile deepened.

"That's right, fate allowed us to form a contract."

"I see. But hey, why are you smiling like that?"

At the completely unreadable question, Baek Sejin's face filled with confusion.

"What do you mean... Is there something wrong with my kind smile?"

"It just looked like the face of someone drowning somebody."

"Huh?"

{Hahahahahahahaha! Did you hear that, contractor? Hahahahahahahaha!}