The Strongest Villain, Who Had Secluded Himself Deep in the Mountains To Avoid the Destruction Flag, Is Forced Onto the Main Stage by the Heroine He Helped

Time flies by one way or another, and before they knew it, a week had passed since they arrived in the capital city.

Speaking of a week, it was the time when the academy welcomes new students.

In other words, It was Alba and the others’ first day at the academy…

“Sheria, which one do you think is better?”

“…..”

“For me, I’m kind of drawn to black. But I also think white could work since it has a strong vibe.”

They were near the academy gate while having this conversation.

Hidden in the bushes, Alba was lost in thought.

In his hands were two different-colored masks. Sheria looked at Alba, who was deeply pondering, and her eyes lost their color.

“…Neither of them.”

“Why?!”

You might be wondering why Alba was asking about her preferences on the masks?

The answer was quite simple according to him; “If I wear a mask, I won’t get recognized easily.”

But it seemed that Sheria wasn’t quite satisfied with the idea of wearing masks and going to the academy.

“Wearing a mask to school is like being labeled as a weirdo.”

“Weirdo?”

“It’s like what the believers often call ‘the person with issues’.”

“The person with issues?”

Alba thought that the believers had a harsh way of speaking.

“Mouu~! Enough already! Instead of doing that, let’s get to the academy quickly! We need to check our class assignments and get to the classroom before getting late!”

“Hey, Sheria-san!? Don’t grab me by the back of my neck! I’m not mentally prepared yet!”

Jumping out of the bushes, Sheria grabbed Alba by the back of his neck and dragged him inside the gate.

Naturally, there wasn’t a student who would be dragged into school by a girl. Furthermore, this girl was none other than the Saintess, one of the few in the world. Of course, they attracted quite a bit of attention.

“Hey, that’s the Saintess!”

“She looks so cute… Maybe I will get a chance to talk to her?”

“Wait… the Saintess is dragging someone… No way, did that guy dug his own grave by picking on her at the very first day?!”

The surroundings buzzed with the noises of students who were passing by. Not only the new students but also the ones already attending the school started to talk with excitement due to the obvious and attention-grabbing way of entering the academy.

‘I have to put on my mask quickly.’ Alba thought, but the moment he tried to do so, he received a glare from Sheria, so he gave up the idea.

‘Did the real Alba also stood out in these situation?’

At the very least, he didn’t intend to make such an entrance by being dragged by none other than the Saintess.

It wasn’t hard to imagine that he would stand out more than he was supposed to from the original story.

It was at that moment, as he was about to start crying loudly—

“Long time no see, Alba.”

A voice he easily recognized came from behind.

When Alba turned his gaze while he was being dragged, he saw a girl with flowing red hair and an elegant posture.

‘Al-kun, this is bad. We’re in another situation where we have to deceive…’

‘Yeah, Young Miss. Let’s focus on the composition of the guy being dragged by the Saintess before feeling a sense of crisis.’

First, Alba wanted her to be cautious of the current situation, where they were drawing attention.

“It’s fine, she probably already knows anyway.”

“Huh? Is that so?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Sheria tilted her head cutely.

Come to think of it, he hadn’t told her yet about his encounter with his childhood friend, Alba realized belatedly.

“Why are you making such an attention-grabbing entrance? Do you want to be noticed that badly?”

“If it looks like I’m trying to be noticed, isn’t that a sign of my personality being happy?”

Alba clapped Sheria’s hand and motioned for her to release the back of his neck.

Sheria, who hadn’t fully grasped the situation, looked between the two of them, but eventually decided to let go of his neck.

With a slight pain still lingering in his neck, Alba slowly stood up.

“So, Alba… Who is this person?”

“Ah, she is my former childhood friend and ex-fiancée.”

“…Fiancée?!”

Sheria abruptly grabs the collar of Alba’s shirt and shook him violently.

‘Just when she had let go’ he thought. Alba felt exhausted the moment he was grabbed again.

“W-w-what do you mean by having a f-f-f-fiancée!? D-d-does that mean Alba is already s-s-s-sold!? Wait… excuse me, is Alba available for resale?”

[T/N : Lmao.]

“Y-y-young lady, please don’t shake me… Rather than saying I’m ‘sold,’ it’s more like I’m ‘pre-owned,’ so, pre-owned is a better way to refer to my condition.”

“That’s it…? Well, that’s a relief. Also, I’m not fixated on getting a new one!”

“I think pre-owned is good too. New ones are quite expensive.”

A conversation that seemed like it was coming together but also not quite. Ireina, who was listening from the side, approached Alba and started pulling his ear gently.

“Ouch, ouch, ouch!”

“I apologize for not being able to greet you properly earlier. I am Ireina Persia.”

“Thank you very much for the introduction. I’m Sheria Margaret.”

“Wait, if you’re going to introduce yourself, is pulling my ear necessary?”

Alba felt like she held a grudge against him.

“Saintess-sama, if you want to keep this guy’s identity hidden, it might be better not to stand out too much. After all, his bad reputation is quite well-known in high society.”

“Yes, that makes sense! I’ll be careful.”

“…Well, even if I’m with the Saintess, I’m still going to stand out anyway.” Sheria murmured.

“Huh? Did you say something?”

She just had to be blunt about it. Alba directed a somewhat annoyed glance at Ireina while she was still pulling his ear.

“So, Ireina, why are you here? Weren’t you usually surrounded by your followers?”

“Please don’t call them ‘followers,’ they’re friends. And, if I stepped out in front of you, it would definitely cause a commotion.”

“That’s true.”

While Alba had never seen the faces of his entourage, they had likely seen his face multiple times due to his engagement with Ireina. If their faces met, just like when Ireina’s situation was revealed, there was a risk of being instantly recognized.

“Actually, I wanted to watch over you from the shadows, but because you’re doing attention-grabbing things from the very first day, I came to give you a warning.”

“Wait, I didn’t do it on purpose. See! I even prepared these masks to hide my face—”

“You’ll end up as one of those ‘people with issues,’ so stop it.”

“People with issues?”

Is it really that bad? Alba, who was starting to like the idea initially, was now completely disappointed.

“Anyway, if you don’t want your identity as a duke’s son to be revealed, just behave yourself during your time at the academy. That’s all.”

With those words, Ireina left the scene without saying anything else.

“Even I had the same intention.” Alba muttered softly as he watched her receding figure.

“… Should I also wear a mask for Alba’s sake?”

“…Hmm, maybe we should both try wearing them together?”

“Let’s do that”, they said. And so, both of them started putting on their masks.

Of course, it goes without saying that during their journey to the classroom, they stood out quite a bit.

☆☆☆☆☆☆