I Got Reincarnated as a Villainous Noble, and When I Tried to Create an All-Male Academy to Avoid a Bad Ending, for Some Reason the Gender Ratio Reversed? - Chapter 14

Chapter 14: The Whereabouts of the Original Protagonist

Another three weeks passed after that.

Exactly one month had gone by since enrollment. Time really flew.

I still felt like I had just enrolled the other day, yet somehow I had already gotten used to this environment where the gender ratio was completely reversed. Human adaptability was honestly terrifying.

While I was thinking about that and drinking coffee in the mansion after early morning training, Rose the maid came over with a report in her hand.

“Ol-sama, regarding that matter…”

As she spoke, Rose showed me the results of the investigation into the protagonist Vista.

“To get straight to the point, the man called Vista has become an adventurer.”

“An adventurer?”

“Yes. He has already registered and is participating in nearby monster subjugation quests, according to the information.”

“…I see.”

I had thought it was a strong possibility, but I never expected he would actually become an adventurer.

I wasn’t sure whether this was a good thing or a bad thing.

I couldn’t decide, but either way, I couldn’t just leave things as they were.

Unlike a game, in this world once someone died, there was no reset button.

“It seems he has excellent potential as an adventurer. In just this one month, he has already earned a considerable amount of trust from those around him through his performance. They say he is an expected rookie.”

Well, of course he was strong—he was the protagonist, after all.

Even if his skills and knowledge were still immature, his raw talent alone was probably enough to take down monsters.

Gaining real combat experience was important, so personally I wanted to just sit back and watch his growth as an adventurer. Still, doing absolutely nothing made me anxious.

“Rose, what is the relationship between our marquis house and the adventurers’ guild right now?”

“We are not currently providing any special support.”

“Then let’s start support immediately. Call Fran for me.”

“Understood.”

I sat down at the desk and began thinking up measures one after another.

I had to come up with the maximum possible support plan so that adventurers wouldn’t end up dying in the streets.

If the protagonist got seriously injured or died over something small, the world would literally be destroyed.

This was something that needed urgent action.

“Ol-sama, sorry to keep you waiting.”

Fran arrived shortly afterward. It looked like she had just woken up—her hair was a little messy and sticking up—but her expression and manner carried perfect elegance.

She already seemed to understand the situation, because as soon as she arrived she said,

“Fran, thanks for coming. I wanted to discuss something…”

“You wish to consider support measures for adventurers, correct? Please leave it to me.”

After that, we discussed the matter together.

Even though it was called support, our financial resources were limited, so we couldn’t simply hand out money freely.

We needed measures that were sustainable and specifically helpful to new adventurers like the protagonist.

After skipping morning classes at the academy and spending the whole morning thinking, we came up with these three plans.

1. For adventurers with less than one year of experience, the church’s treatment fees will be reduced to 30% of the cost. The marquis house will cover the remaining amount.

2. Establish guild-managed dormitories. Rent will be provided at half the market rate.

3. Provide equipment to adventurers with less than one year of experience, and cover half of repair costs.

These were the three.

Honestly, the burden on the marquis house was quite large, but for the first measure, treatment fees weren’t actually that expensive to begin with, and since the marquis house had plenty of financial leeway, we judged it was not a problem.

There were other reasons too—most beginners started out as porters for veteran parties, so they rarely ended up with serious injuries.

Also, the majority of people carried to the church were cases where treatment couldn’t help anyway. The death rate among rookie adventurers was extremely high.

As for the second and third measures, it turned out the church was already in the middle of promoting similar support projects. We decided to cooperate with them and provide support in that form.

By the way, Fran already knew all of this information. I was genuinely surprised that she was so well-informed about adventurer affairs, but according to her, it was simply part of a lady’s proper education.

I had no idea where she was getting all this information from, but whenever I talked to any girl at the academy, she always had the details already. She probably had some excellent spies working for her.

It was both reassuring and a little scary.

Still, there was no ally more dependable than her.

“Then let’s contact the church and the guild right away.”

“Right.”

“Ol-sama, please take it easy here. Preparing the board is my responsibility.”

“I’m counting on you.”

When it came to things like this, it was always better to leave everything to Fran.

If I tried to handle it alone, she would get incredibly sulky, and honestly my own abilities clearly weren’t enough. Her cooperation was absolutely essential.

“Now then.”

All that was left was to inform Father about these measures, and my role would be finished. That part wasn’t a problem at all.

My father—the current head of the marquis house—spent all his time holed up in the territory playing around.

He was basically just a NEET. A NEET who had enough assets to play for the rest of his life.

And that was the person leading the marquis house.

Thanks to that, though, whenever I asked him for something, he agreed immediately without hesitation. It was definitely convenient.

“Come on, let’s begin the reform. The noble reform led by Ol-sama.”

And so we started a new initiative.

A completely hands-off plan where we supported adventurers in the hope that the protagonist would become the strongest.

※

I ended up missing the morning classes, but I decided to head to the academy in the afternoon.

If my attendance fell too low, I would genuinely fail the year. I couldn’t skip too much.

By the way, Fran said she would arrive a little later. Apparently, in order to prepare the board, a fair amount of preparation, negotiation, groundwork, and even some threats were necessary.

I didn’t quite understand, but there was no doubt she was one tough woman.

If this were Japan, she probably could have been Prime Minister. Or maybe not. Who knows.

Anyway, because of that, I was unusually alone today—but the absence of Fran was already causing a problem.

“Orufusen-sama, would you please pair with me?”

“I was about to ask first!”

“No, I was first.”

“What are you saying? I was the one who spoke to him first. That fact does not change.”

“Orufusen-sama, I believe in you. Ah, my god…”

During the practical class, when it came time to choose pairs, invitations toward me came flooding in.

Normally I always paired with Fran, so I never got approached this much, but since she was absent today, the intensity was on another level.

Even at a glance, more than ten girls were calling out to me.

It wasn’t exactly unpleasant, but their pressure was so strong that it became overwhelming.

And among them, there was one pink-haired girl who looked completely unhinged—she had an ecstatic expression on her face while tears streamed down her cheeks. What was going on with her?

“God… ah, my god…”

This wasn’t some cult religion—please don’t say you “believe in me” right to my face like that. Anyone watching would obviously be creeped out.

But whether people were creeped out or not, the girls kept crowding around me without a care. At this rate, I couldn’t even choose a partner, let alone escape.

“Orufusen-sama, please!”

“Grant me your blessing!”

“I will devote my entire life to believing in you!”

After being hounded so relentlessly by the girls,

“…Sorry. I’m feeling unwell, so I’ll sit this one out and observe.”

In the end, the choice I made was to fake an illness.

As a villainous noble, it was beyond pathetic, but I had no other option.

Having faked illness to skip marathon class in my previous life, I had no weak points in that regard.