I'm Neither the Mastermind nor the Villain

Chapter 17

Inside a dark room, four people were sitting around a circular table.

In the center of the round table, only three candles were illuminating the room,

and there were no other light sources.

The window that was there was covered with thick curtains, clearly intended to prevent any outside light from entering the room.

"Hyung, what do we do? Did we get caught? Should we just stop now?"

A timid-looking man with brown hair spoke to the man sitting across from him.

The man, who was called hyung by him, had sharp features,

and like the timid-looking man, he also had brown hair.

Resting his elbows on the table and clasping his hands together, the man, trying to set the mood for no reason, slowly looked at the timid-looking man.

"So, what can we even do? Besides invading the academy as planned, what else is there? And Chaeho, stop calling me hyung and call me boss."

"Come on, how am I supposed to change how I've called you for over twenty years, especially since we're family! You could just give up on that stubbornness."

"I told you, stop calling me hyung...!"

"Fine, so what do we do about this?"

A woman with brown hair, who had been listening to their conversation, mediated their quarrel.

"......We just proceed as planned. Preparations are finished anyway, and it's too late to back out now. It's not like the plan will fall apart just because one thing got leaked."

After finishing his words, the man stared quietly at the gray-haired woman who hadn't participated in the conversation.

"What do you think?"

The gray-haired woman rested her chin casually on her hand placed on the table and gave a subtle smile.

"If I said we should stop here, would you actually stop?"

"That's... no."

"Then my opinion doesn't really matter, does it? Do as you please.

However, since we've come this far, we might as well continue. Otherwise, my involvement would be meaningless."

***

Should I tell them or not that monsters will invade.

Right now, I'm on the subway heading to the academy, pondering that.

Since I've possessed this body, I feel like I should take more action.

What I did yesterday doesn't seem sufficient.

"This is troubling."

Should I spoil it or not.

The terror attack will happen anyway.

They didn't come all this way to give up just because of a few hundred monsters.

Then maybe I should at least inform a few people?

[Kid, what did you do yesterday?]

As soon as I entered the classroom, Gabriel approached and questioned me.

"Haha, well, what's this all of a sudden?"

What, did she figure it out immediately? Guess I have no choice but to talk.

But I won't tell her everything, just enough so I won't be suspected.

As I sat down calmly, this time Kim Gabyeol spoke to me.

"Did you really kill someone?"

Seeing her stiffened face, I realized I had to clear up her misunderstanding quickly.

[I sense dark mana, neither from the lion nor from you.]

"Ah, no, I didn't kill anyone or anything like that. I just went to the mountain."

"Why did you go to the mountain?"

"Why else would a dark mage go to a mountain? To find ghosts, of course."

"So you didn't kill anyone, right?"

I nodded.

Seeing that, Kim Gabyeol put down her phone.

Thankfully, I was able to clear up the misunderstanding before Kim Gabyeol reported me to the police.

With a kind smile, I continued speaking.

"But do you know what I found there?"

Kim Gabyeol leaned her upper body toward me as if curious.

"There were a lot of monsters there."

"...Monsters?"

"Yes. Luckily, they were all motionless, but if they had attacked me, it would have been a tough fight."

Kim Gabyeol's eyes widened in surprise.

"...Monsters? Isn't that dangerous?"

"Ah, it's fine. I already took care of all of them."

"So that's why I sensed other dark mana. Then, you didn't kill any people?"

"No, I said I didn't."

"You killed monsters? Really? Where?"

Just then, a green-haired female student joined the conversation.

Kim Gabyeol stared blankly at her and then said a word.

"......Who?"

At Kim Gabyeol's question, the green-haired, green-eyed girl laughed awkwardly.

"Ahaha, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Lee Yeonseul."

"Haha, nice to meet you, Miss Lee Yeonseul."

When I returned her greeting, she flinched a little for some reason.

'That stings a bit.'

"...So, what is it all of a sudden?"

"Ah! Well, you see, I'm an alchemist...."

Lee Yeonseul began a lengthy explanation.

To summarize, she was interested in alchemy using monster byproducts, and since I said I had hunted monsters, she wanted to buy the monsters I hunted.

As many as possible.

Just how much money does she have?

Well, the Lee family is filthy rich anyway.

But this is a dream that's impossible from the start.

In the original story, because of the author, and here, because of Mio.

"Miss Lee Yeonseul, unfortunately, I can't sell you any monsters."

"What?! Why? If you're worried I won't pay, forget it-I'm loaded."

As expected, Lee Yeonseul questioned me when I said I couldn't sell the monsters.

"That's not the issue. Monsters are valuable precisely because they inherently contain dark mana. The higher the dark mana they hold, the more valuable they are-that's common sense."

"Right."

Lee Yeonseul nodded in agreement.

"Then the monsters I killed have no value at all."

Not understanding my words, Lee Yeonseul and Kim Gabyeol tilted their heads in confusion.

"Because this little one absorbed all the dark mana from the monsters I killed."

Saying that, I summoned Mio.

"Kyeng."

Mio, summoned on top of the desk, cried out toward the two.

Perhaps thanks to absorbing all that dark mana, Mio now clearly had more magic power, and her black fur gleamed with luster.

The three who saw Mio reacted differently.

[What a cute fox.]

Gabriel simply looked at her cutely.

"A summoned creature? Is this what those guys were talking about...?"

Kim Gabyeol seemed to be deep in thought.

"This fox absorbed all the dark mana? I can definitely sense a lot of magic inside, but for such a small creature to have that level of absorption ability...?"

Lee Yeonseul was busy analyzing even in this situation.

"Believe it or not, that's up to you, but I told the truth. After she absorbed all the monsters' dark mana, they became nothing but empty shells."

"Really...? That's a shame. Monsters aren't common, so they're hard to get...."

"Miss Lee Yeonseul, since you're an alchemist, by any chance... Donghan Alchemy Pharmaceuticals?"

Amidst all this, Lee Yeonseul reacted to the word Donghan Alchemy Pharmaceuticals that Kim Gabyeol muttered.

"My father does run the company."

At Lee Yeonseul's answer, Kim Gabyeol let out a hollow laugh.

"Small...? Donghan Alchemy Pharmaceuticals is one of the top three alchemy companies in Korea, you know?"

Lee Yeonseul gave an awkward smile.

I can't hold back my curiosity.

"Miss Lee Yeonseul, there's something I'm curious about."

"Hm? What is it?"

"Then, doesn't that mean you can easily get things like monster by-products?"

At my question, Lee Yeonseul smiled awkwardly.

"Well, since my father runs a pharmaceutical company, and personally, he doesn't really like things like dark mana or dark magic.

Monsters aren't really used in medicine, right? So, naturally, it's hard to see things like monsters around."

"Ah, I see. That explains it."

"So I was trying to get monsters myself, but hmm... I guess it can't be helped. Ah! Since this is kind of fate, do you want to exchange contacts? Can you give me your Stargram ID?"

"I don't use Stargram."

"I do."

Stargram, the mainstream SNS of this world.

I installed it to adapt to this world.

I only created an account, so I had no followers or following, but now I'm about to get my first follower and follow.

I told Lee Yeonseul my ID.

"Here it is, Baek Sejin... Huh? You just made an account?"

"I don't usually use SNS, so that's how it turned out. Come to think of it, you're my first follower."

Maybe it was just my imagination, but Lee Yeonseul's neck looked a little red as she walked away.

When I took my eyes off Lee Yeonseul and looked ahead, Kim Gabyeol was staring intently at me.

"Is there something wrong?"

"...It's nothing."

Saying that, Kim Gabyeol straightened her posture and faced forward.

What was that?

***

Kim Gabyeol frowned, feeling her conversation had been interrupted.

Wherever Kim Gabyeol went, Gabriel always followed.

She always carried the label of Korea's youngest divine spellcaster.

Moreover, Kim Gabyeol's contractor was that Gabriel.

People who felt fear and reverence toward the name Gabriel treated Kim Gabyeol as someone important,

and did not consider her an equal.

But Gabriel was always with her.

Not that it was a bad thing.

Thanks to Gabriel, Kim Gabyeol was not lonely.

Gabriel was like her parent, her sibling, and also a friend she could open her heart to.

But isn't it human nature to want to connect with other people?

In that sense, Baek Sejin was someone she had met after a long time.

Someone who possessed a specialness no less than her own, and whose suspiciously narrowed eyes somehow made him stand out even more.

Baek Sejin was one of the few people Kim Gabyeol could talk to as a person to a person.

Even if he looked suspicious and had a contract with demons.

'If anything, maybe that's why Baek Sejin can treat me comfortably.'

Then there's no reason for her to push him away, is there?

Anyway, Kim Gabyeol liked Baek Sejin.

Even though they hadn't known each other for very long.

And as she watched Baek Sejin talking with Lee Yeonseul, Kim Gabyeol found herself feeling unpleasant for some reason.

'...Maybe I should try Stargram too.'