The villainess shall be mine

Fame, influence, Adam didn't yet have or experienced all of these and no one knew his name.

His appearance and attitude might have been outstanding but in the end, it was his status as a student which was used to identify him.

To be precise, the gap between him and those who were present inside the library was so big that they didn't even notice Adam's aura as he didn't display it explicitly like before.

As such, the kids who considered themselves the top students, along with the newcomers who thought that they would become the new top students, glared at Adam as he landed elegantly on the ground.

Some of the most popular kids begin to ask if someone among them knew Adam but as expected, it wasn't the case.

Still, it was not like they could stop him from using the registration point. Nonetheless, some of them hated Adam's guts and had already thought about how to make his life miserable just because he ignored their existence.

These kids were already exposed to the Empire's rotten side and so, their mindset was already wicked.

They felt the need of being validated by their surrounding, getting praised and worshipped endlessly. Therefore, they couldn't stand the fact that someone that was below them dared to ignore their existence.

What they didn't know, of course, was that the individual in front of them could destroy the whole Empire if he wanted to.

Nonetheless, even though they were observing Adam and tried to find flaws, they didn't find any. His attitude, his appearance, and everything about him appeared to have almost reached a higher level of perfection.

Moreover, Adam didn't come with many attendants but only had Blanca with him. Still, Blanca alone was enough to make the perverted boys who grew up in a nasty environment droll.

They began to look at her with lustful eyes and imagined unspeakable things. If they continued on that path, however, their end wouldn't be so agreeable, Adam would make sure of it.

Ignoring all of that, Adam headed to the registration point, and he was more interested in Neige.

For the Emperor's daughter to come to the library herself, was it because the Emperor wanted to show that his daughter would receive the same treatment as the others? And even if that was the case, what was the point?

It could be also Neige's own choice, and in that case, what would the point be that she wanted to prove?

Adam began to connect the dots, knowing that as an apprentice of the Holy Mother, Neige was an important individual, but the girl in front of him didn't give off that impression.

Maybe, after encountering an extremely powerful for like Rudeus anyone below that level didn't even make him feel anything, or so Adam thought, but still, if she was restraining her power at that moment to be able to move around freely, then she shouldn't be underestimated.

Nevertheless, Adam didn't feel the need to talk to this princess, so he just approached the registration device beside her.

Neige was a bit surprised and looked at Adam, but Adam didn't even take a glance at her.

Such an action would be considered disrespectful if the circumstances were different, but at that moment, Adam was more respectful toward the princess than those who looked at her with judgmental eyes, or while having perverted thoughts.

Adam didn't know what Neige's circumstances were, and he didn't care, but from what he could see, she was a student, and there was no reason for him to get involved with her needlessly.

Seeing Adam's attitude, Neige looked like she was thinking about something but no one saw a change in her expression, and she immediately shifted her attention to the registration device.

"ID confirmed. Welcome to the Holy Academy, Adam Von Kepalta. You can now consult the detailed schedule of the test inside the device below. Along with your ID, it's one of the…"

"ID confirmed. Welcome to the Holy Academy, Neige Vyh Emporora…"

After finishing the registration process, Adam grabbed the device that looked like a smartphone and was about to leave.

Still, he felt like Neige was looking at him once again, and he was sure that she was curious about his name. Thus, he glanced back at her out of curiosity, and their eyes meet.

They stared at each other for a few seconds, without saying anything, and then Adam continued to walk away.

He noticed that the guards who came with Neige were also glaring at him but with gazes full of killing intent.

Adam knew that these guards were from the Holy Church and considered Neige as a special individual, so they were overprotective of her for no apparent reason.

However, since Adam and the other students weren't doing anything wrong, they kept their calm, but these people thought that unqualified people shouldn't even approach or look at Neige.

Though, whatever their thoughts or beliefs, Adam didn't even bother to remember that they existed.

He didn't antagonize the Empire, but he wasn't going to let anyone look down on him.

The way he was now, he wasn't even against the idea of destroying the whole empire and finishing the job faster by forcing the one who pull the strings from behind the scene to come out.

Nonetheless, he wanted to prove that he could become a better version of himself first, and that was why he decided to take things to step by step. That way, he would learn and grow stronger mentally and physically.

There was indeed an advantage in becoming stronger in a short amount of time and immediately using this power to make one's dream come true, but growing stronger step by step was also another path that required determination.

Moreover, it was not like an individual would be satisfied and live a happy life whichever path they chose, and in the end, everything they accomplished might be for naught.

Adam, for one thing, was not yet satisfied with his current self as he saw that he could still develop, and he believed that whatever these people thoughts about him wouldn't allow him to do that. Therefore, it was not even worth it to let their presence stay in his memory.

Neige, however, was a different case, and her connection with the Holy Mother was something that Adam couldn't ignore even if Neige as an individual was not as impressive as Blanca or Liu.

Well, she was still young, or so Adam thought. It seemed like he was used to seeing Blanca and Liu so he became immune to other women's charms, particularly if they could still be considered a kid.

'Well, getting entangled with troublesome women and their problems is never a good thing unless I am prepared to spend most of my time dealing with that,' Adam thought to himself. 'And unless it's Liu, I would never do that. It's a pain…'

It was his choice to consider Liu as someone special, thus he made the promise to himself that he would always prioritize her over other people. It was not like he expected Liu to reciprocate his feelings, and he also knew that he would not be able to give her a happy life if he didn't solve his problems first, so in a way, it was just his one-sided feelings.

​ 'Some people would call me stupid if they hear that, but if I asked them if they would be happy with five wives, I bet they would say yes. That's how stupid these people are. If you can't even be happy with one wife, how can you make five happy? Oh! My thoughts wandered too far again…'

One minute hadn't even passed but Adam had already managed to think about various topics and make a short analysis of various theories.

It was not that time stopped, it was just that his thought process was too fast, and sometimes, he needed to keep his thoughts in check or he would end up thinking about unnecessary things.

When Adam was about to leave, a group of soldiers came rushing and surrounded Blanca and him.

"…" Adam knew that the foolish soldier didn't learn from his mistake and he was disappointed, but he didn't let any expression appear on his face.

People began to get curious about what was happening, and when the soldiers entered the library in such a rough manner, a crowd followed them like a bunch of brainless ants. Curiosity was certainly one of the main reasons for premature death.

"Do you need something from my master?" Blanca walked forward and asked the Head of the Library's Security department.

Unable to find any leads, the only clue they had was the report from a soldier who spotted Adam coming down from the sky. He also emphasized the fact that Adam was suspicious, and just by looking at his clothes he was sure that he was the culprit.

Indeed, this soldier wasn't wrong, but his failure to make a wiser judgment would cost him his life someday.

"Take him into custody! We will interrogate him thoroughly!" The bulky man who wore a fancy military uniform ordered.

Adam knew that something like this would happen if he breached the barrier, but he didn't expect them to take such a dramatic measure without even knowing his identity.

From this alone, Adam managed to reach various conclusions about how things worked within the Holy Academy.

'It looks like the Holy Academy isn't as impressive as it appears,' he thought, but from everyone else's point of view, the soldier who was trying to intimidate Adam were incredible, with their tall stature, plasma swords, and shiny armor equipped with a special Gravitum engine that gave them the ability to fly.

What these people didn't know, of course, was that they were giving Adam the perfect opportunity to establish a proper image for himself. What he did might have been silly and, at the same time, ingenious, but he was killing two birds with one stone.

As such, before the soldiers reached him, Adam reached his hands.

"Enough," he said in a peaceful voice but it echoed through the library and made everyone feel pressured.

The soldiers looked like they were frozen in time, even though Adam just muttered a few words.

After that, Blanca walked toward the high-ranked officer and when she arrived in front of this tall man, a mysterious force pulled him down to his knees.

After that, Blanca activated the device that Adam had just received.

"Adam Von Kepalta. 16 years old. The current Lord of Kepala. Authorized to take part in the Holy Academy's test…"

The device show Adam's face, his title, and various information about him.

That should have been enough to prove Adam's identity, but what was happening was just too humiliating for the high-ranked officer and the other soldiers, but it was not like they could do anything.

Even Neige's bodyguard was about to intervene, but Neige shook her head. She was by no means scared, and she didn't believe that her bodyguards were weak, but the man standing in front of him was just at a different level.

She was smart enough to notice that all of the immobilized soldiers were at least level 7 gift-holders and they wouldn't be stopped by just a few words.

Looking at Adam leaving, Neige began to doubt if she could manage to take the first rank during the test, and this was the first that such a thought crossed her mind.

The soldiers were able to move after Adam left, but their faces were full of anger, and almost forgot Neige's presence.

"You should base your actions on meticulous discernment next time," Neige said to the high-ranked officer and left.

The officer didn't even have the chance to say anything during all of that. He made fool of himself and it was not his fault. He was just unlucky.