I, the Villainous Prince, Buy the Ruined Villainess with Money - Chapter 38-39

Chapter 38: Archrival?

After that, the knight we had sent to report came back, so we decided to return for the time being.

We had not defeated the magical beast, but it was an emergency, so there was no helping it.

When we got back to the camp… something seemed noisy.

The students had gathered, and among them was a girl who stood out more than anyone.

“Everyone, look! Crown Prince Kyle took down a huge one!”

“S-stop it, Leila.”

“No way! It’s amazing! Right, Raidou?”

“…Yes, that’s correct.”

“Well, Raidou helped too.”

“But still! The one who finished it off was Kyle!”

A huge boar lay in the plaza, and beside it stood my older brother Kyle, Raidou… and that must be her.

Shoulder-length silky black hair, cute features, a slender build, maybe about 155 cm tall.

She was exactly the kind of girl guys want to protect… though I’m firmly on Team Yulia!

More than that, I had never seen her before because I wasn’t interested, and even now I had been avoiding meeting her.

Because I didn’t have the confidence to hold back my anger.

“…Hmph. (How dare she mess with my favorite.)”

“M-master, I’m fine… Everyone else looks like they’re suffering.”

“What?”

When I looked around, the nearby knights and students were on their knees, faces twisted in pain.

Damn, I let too much killing intent leak out.

Then the girl noticed and pointed straight at me.

“Ahh! You’re making them kneel! That’s awful!”

“Leila! Stop that! It’s not good to say things like that.”

…Calm down, me. Lowering my image here wouldn’t be smart.

I took a slow breath and steadied my mind.

The people around me stood up.

“My apologies, everyone. I got a little worked up.”

“N-no, it’s fine! …Did he just apologize?”

“…Prince Alvis?”

…This is the fault of my past self. I have to admit that much.

If I want to live in peace, I need to keep improving.

“Hmph… There are injured people here—Area Heal.”

“””Wha—!?”””

To make amends, I cast recovery magic on the nearby knights and students all at once.

Naturally, everyone was shocked that I could use it.

“That should do it…”

“Hehe, that’s just like you, Master. Making an excuse to heal them.”

“N-no, I didn’t mean… (It’s not like that, but if my favorite isn’t saying anything to her, maybe it’s fine.)”

Yulia showed no particular reaction to the crown prince or Leila.

Maybe she had changed the direction of her revenge.

If so, I should try to follow her example.

“W-why can Alvis use recovery magic!?”

“Isn’t that something only people in the church or with special power like me can do…?”

Those two were chattering noisily.

I ignored them and followed the knight who had come to guide me toward the commander in the center.

The knights all dropped to one knee at once.

“Prince Alvis! We heard the report! Well done defeating the Goblin General!”

“””Magnificent work, Your Highness!”””

“Raise your heads. It was just some arrogant pest, so I toyed with it a bit. More importantly, I won’t let anyone run wild in front of me (for my favorite’s sake!).”

“Such… There are many new recruits here, and the only ones who could defeat that thing are myself or Raidou. We are grateful you handled it without putting the knights or students in danger.”

“That’s not important. Your job is to find the cause, isn’t it?”

“Yes, sir! You are absolutely right. Everyone! Form up and begin the investigation!”

“Wait. …Do not speak of this matter to the students.”

“…Such consideration… Understood.”

The knights nodded, saluted me, and started moving.

When I turned back, Leila was glaring at me while my brother wore a wry smile.

I deliberately ignored them and took Yulia into the shade of a tree.

Yulia spread out a cloth, sat down, and patted her thighs twice.

“Hm?”

“Please, Master.”

“…Can’t be helped. (Here it comes!)”

I slowly rested my head on her lap.

In my line of sight were the huge boar, my brother, Leila, and the students crowding around them.

So they were showing off.

When I glanced up, Yulia had a pout on her face… Yes! Reward time!

“What’s wrong? You really don’t like them after all?”

“No, that’s not a big deal to me. It’s just… aren’t you frustrated, Master? You did something far more impressive…”

“There’s no need to go out of my way to announce it.”

I only defeated it because I wanted to look cool.

Let my brother keep getting praised like that and take the throne.

I don’t know if that girl will become his consort, but if I don’t interfere, the ruin route should be avoided.

“Hehe… you’re so kind.”

“Hmph, what are you talking about? (No, I really have no idea.)”

“So you don’t worry everyone… Well, at least I’ll praise you.”

She gently stroked my head.

Just that was enough to send my irritation far away, and my heart felt at peace.

—

Chapter 39: The Protagonist’s Perspective

…Ugh! What on earth is going on!

I finally got rid of the villainess, yet somehow Alvis ends up helping her.

Even though I told them to punish her properly, Crown Prince Kyle stays vague about it.

I’m the protagonist of this world, so everything should go exactly as I want.

In fact, things went smoothly up to the point where I had the villainess cornered.

“Why is he casually getting a lap pillow… If I provoke him like that, given Alvis’s personality, he should snap at me about disrespect or something.”

That way, Alvis’s reputation would drop, and Crown Prince Kyle’s would rise.

Yet he ignores us and goes straight to the knights.

On top of that, somehow he’s teamed up with Arnold and Agnes.

Originally, those two were supposed to become Alvis’s enemies.

“I thought he was going to bully them, but it doesn’t look that way at all. Agnes is an important character for recruiting Raidou, and Arnold is basically a bonus since his family provides military power.”

As proof, both of them ran over to Alvis instead of to our side.

Arnold isn’t much of a character, but he’s from a powerful house.

I think he was injured, and healing him is supposed to earn gratitude.

“He’s just a mob character, so I thought it was fine to leave him, but… maybe that was a mistake.”

For some reason I don’t know, Alvis can use recovery magic.

He probably healed Arnold that way and gained favor.

It’s true he has water magic aptitude, so it wouldn’t be strange if he could use it… maybe there was some hidden setting like that.

“No, Agnes is the bigger problem.”

She’s the turning point where Alvis’s position starts to worsen.

Her family has strong political influence, and I need them as allies.

More than anything, she’s the key to capturing Raidou.

Still, even without her, as long as I clear the next event, things should be fine with Raidou.

“I’m supposed to get somewhat close to Raidou here, then later deepen the relationship through Agnes.”

In the first place, my role is to save Agnes when she’s being bullied.

If he won’t bully her, nothing can happen.

Well, that’s a relief in its own way.

I think Raidou’s little sister gets punished by Alvis, so I can just tell Agnes about that.

“I’ll think about that later. For now, the next event.”

Yes, this is where the real part of this event begins.

Normally, a Goblin General that shouldn’t be here appears, and the crown prince and Raidou work together to defeat it.

I, who hasn’t awakened to light magic yet, support them with water magic while Raidou suffers a serious injury.

Healing that raises his favorability, and later he becomes my ally—that’s the story.

“…Still, there are no signs of it.”

I think a massive number of goblins appear, and one of them evolves.

So the forest should be overflowing with goblins, and we should be getting reports like that soon.

Then Crown Prince Kyle approaches me under the tree.

“Hey! Leila! What are you doing over there!?”

“Sorry! I’m coming now! …Oh well. For now, I’ll rest and prepare for the next event.”

However, I have to do something about that villainess.

As long as she’s alive, that event might still happen.

So I need to deal with her before things turn out like that.

But she doesn’t know.

That the carriage event has been avoided, and Raidou and Alvis are already on good terms.

Above all, that the Goblin General event is already over.

That most of the goblins were wiped out during Alvis and Yulia’s slaughter date.

That the Goblin General was drawn in by that and quietly taken care of by Alvis.

That somehow Alvis has gained the knights’ trust.

…And so, without realizing it, Alvis had destroyed the events one by one.