The Villain Wants to Change Genres

Chapter 98

“The… the truth is… I spread the rumors about Norman!”

Huh? What’s this about?

It was an unfamiliar voice out of nowhere, and I wanted to see who it was, but I couldn’t because Luwen was holding me. Instead, I perked up my ears. I thought I might be able to tell if someone called out a name.

“I was involved too.”

“Me too…”

“Ugh. We… we didn’t do it on purpose.”

Ah, now I know who it is based on the number of people confessing. Come to think of it, the voices were familiar. It was the president’s four close followers.

‘This is strange. Why did they betray the president?’

Since they wouldn’t betray him without reason, there was only one suspicious person in this situation.

I slowly raised my head. Luwen had an innocent face as if he knew nothing.

‘If it’s not Luwen, there’s no one else who could have done this.’

There could have been internal discord, but it didn’t seem likely that the president would do something to lose all four of his close followers at once. In other words, this must have been due to external pressure.

‘I told you to stay put, but you secretly made a move behind my back.’

However, this kind of support is welcome. I’m not sure how he did it, but he acted quite smartly. There’s only one thing that concerns me.

‘I hope he didn’t do anything that would warrant a warning.’

I wanted to ask about the details, but for now, I needed to focus on the unfolding situation. Putting my curiosity aside, I pushed Luwen away, intending to watch those who were forced to confess their conscience.

But he wouldn’t budge. Instead, he held me even tighter.

“Luwen?”

“Ah. …I’m sorry.”

Luwen apologized for reasons I couldn’t understand before finally letting me go.

I wiped my tears with my palm and looked at the four followers. They seemed frightened, all huddled up. However, none of them appeared to be injured or broken. Perhaps they were just lightly threatened verbally.

‘But it must have been scary enough for them to betray the president.’

It was a bit hard to believe Luwen had done this, but in fact, his character in the original work wasn’t exactly angelic, so maybe that side of him had surfaced. After all, if they hadn’t committed any wrongdoing, they wouldn’t have received such a frightening warning. They brought this upon themselves.

“…You intentionally spread rumors about me? Why? For what reason?”

The voice of the shocked country Norman trembled miserably.

The most effective individuals had made conscience confessions in a place with great impact, so all I had to do was to take advantage of it. It seemed better to steer the focus towards who ordered them rather than why they suddenly decided to be honest. Luwen probably handled it well, but it’s hard to know how others would process it.

“What did I ever do wrong to you for you to do such a thing…”

I looked at the four with a resentful gaze and then bowed my head deeply.

‘I want to naturally draw out that the president ordered this, but how should I phrase it?’

It wouldn’t be good to say too much either. I maintained my head-down posture to give myself time to consider the most effective expression. One of them had already given a hint, but country Norman wouldn’t have the presence of mind to notice it. So I needed to choose words that the current me would likely use.

As I was quickly turning this over in my mind, I felt warmth enveloping my shoulders. It must be Luwen, no doubt. The hand on my shoulder tightened as if telling me to leave everything to him.

‘Did he come prepared with what to say?’

Feeling like it might be okay to leave it to Luwen, I turned my back completely on the four. The Luwen in the original work tended to be straightforward, so I was curious to see how the current Luwen would handle this.

“To clarify, you intentionally spread slanderous rumors about Norman, is that correct?”

It was a polite start. His tone was neutral, as if objectively confirming facts.

“That’s right.”

“What was your reason?”

I tightly gripped Luwen’s shirt like someone in distress.

“…President Alteo ordered us to do it.”

Instantly, murmurs spread through the crowd. Although everyone might have expected it, hearing it directly was different.

There were people denying it, saying it couldn’t be true, others expressing disappointment that they didn’t know he was like that, some were angry, and others found it entertaining. Various voices erupted from all around.

“What reason did he give for asking you to slander Norman?”

“That’s…”

“I’ll explain.”

When one hesitated, another stepped forward.

“We heard that a high-ranking person would be coming for the regular visit after the summer break. But Norman, who had just enrolled, was being mentioned as the representative of the medical department. Honestly, it was hard to accept.”

Was he seeking agreement? The guy took a breath before continuing.

“Having a freshly enrolled student as our representative. We couldn’t just follow the Student Council’s decision. The Swordsmanship and Business departments both have their presidents as representatives, so why should the Medical department have a freshman?”

Someone somewhere agreed with his words. Although Norman is now the top student, he wasn’t back then, so some people sympathized with their resistance.

‘Even so, it’s a useless resistance. If you consider whether it’s a valid reason to ruin me, it doesn’t make any sense.’

There was no need for me to step in here. Little Norman cried out in a voice full of resentment.

“Norman knows about that proposal too. He said the president told him. But Norman refused! He stepped down, saying he wasn’t suitable for the representative position! Yet you still did this to Norman? How can you be so shameless? So brazen? Do you know how much Norman suffered!”

The anguished cry was effective. It would be strange if this didn’t work. Even I, who knew everything, felt a surge of sympathy from his outcry and wanted to hug him.

“The president… suffered too. That’s why we acted.”

“So you’re saying you did nothing wrong?”

This time it was Luwen’s question. Ah, it seems the attack on me earlier wasn’t pre-arranged. Unlike before, there was anger mixed in his voice.

“We… did wrong. We did wrong, that’s true. We’re sorry, Norman.”

“Was the medical department president completely unaware of this?”

“…No. It was the president who initially told us about Norman. He knows what we did afterwards because we reported to him.”

Murmurs spread again, just like when the president was first mentioned. It was the moment when the faint hope that some people had been holding onto shattered.

“I will formally request a disciplinary review of this case to the Student Council.”

One of the four burst into tears. When he started begging, saying he didn’t want to be expelled, it seemed to spread like an infection, and another guy started crying too. The only one who remained shameless until the end was the one who had attacked me.

“Norman. You should rest. Let me escort you to your dormitory room.”

When I nodded, Luwen suddenly picked me up. I almost struggled in surprise. I was proud of myself for barely managing to hold back, fearing it might look ridiculous for the shocked Norman.

Luwen held me tightly and patted my back as if comforting an injured child. Just like I used to do when young Luwen was upset.

‘I’m not a child though.’

But it was too cozy and nice to refuse. Maybe it’s because the rhythm of his patting was exactly the same as when he used to put me to sleep.

Maybe that’s why I just closed my eyes while leaning on Luwen’s shoulder. It should be fine since Norman, exhausted from learning an unbearable truth, would want to rest.

* * *

‘Awaiting disciplinary action…’

Alteo let out a hollow laugh as he looked at the piece of paper in his hand. He had claimed he knew nothing about it, that he wasn’t involved. But now all the guys who had been loyal to him until now had betrayed him.

The once neat paper was torn into several pieces and fell to his feet.

“How… how did I achieve this position… How did I create this position!”

Luwen and Norman. Those two had jointly played him for a fool.

Moreover, he had failed to bring the right to choose practical exam groups to the medical department. As a result, Luwen chose Norman, and the two of them jointly took the top spot in the practical exam as well.

Crunch-

Alteo had to take the practical exam with the lowest-scoring first-year student because he couldn’t receive a proper selection. Because of that, he received the worst grades since his enrollment.

This was the first time a ‘president’ had been treated like this since the academy was established. Although he had enough credits needed for graduation, these records would clearly be a significant obstacle in becoming a royal physician in the future.

‘If it’s come to this, at least the welcoming ceremony… Yes, I must be the representative there at least.’

This welcoming ceremony was especially important. There was news that the First Prince would be visiting. It was the last chance to secure a safe ticket to the royal palace.

Everything had gone wrong because Norman had enrolled. The student council members, wanting to impress the First Prince, tried to make Norman the medical department representative because they thought he would catch the prince’s eye.

Crunch, crunch.

They seemed to give up when he refused, but after the First Prince’s visit was confirmed, Norman’s name was mentioned again. The ridiculous situation of choosing a representative based on appearance rather than grades had occurred. Alteo couldn’t accept it at all.

“Norman, Norman, NormanNormanNormanNormanNorman!”

Didn’t he say he didn’t want it himself? Alteo had only tried to eliminate his qualifications, but if this was the repayment, then he didn’t need to show any consideration either.

‘What should I do? How can I become the representative instead of Norman?’

They were originally people who wanted to push Norman as the representative. And now that Norman had taken the final top spot. While he himself had acquired a blemish. In this situation, a direct approach wouldn’t work.

‘…The subjugation unit.’

Come to think of it, Norman was aiming for the subjugation unit. Having met the conditions, he would surely apply.