The World's Strongest and Most Evil Noble Strives Humbly and Diligently ~ Using Knowledge of the Original Story and Unique Magic to Avoid a Destruction End ~ - Chapter 14: The Original Protagonist

Chapter 14: The Original Protagonist

(Starting a fight with the Four Great Nobles on the first day of school… That’s amazing. If your father finds out about this, he might faint.)

As I sighed in disbelief, the black-clad senior student next to Franz tried to calm his reckless friend.

“C-Calm down, Franz! Hollow is the super-genius mage of the Heisenberg family! According to rumors, at a martial arts tournament when he was seven, he humiliated and brutally beat the eldest daughter of the Ainsworth family, one of the Four Great Nobles…! There’s no way you can win!”

“Don’t worry. I’ve heard that Hollow’s arrogance and laziness have ruined his talent. No matter how brilliant a raw gem is, if you don’t polish it, it’s just a worthless rock.”

“…That’s true…”

“If I take down that bastard here, my name will spread throughout the Klein Kingdom! I can push aside my annoying older brothers and become the top candidate for the next head of the Thomas family!”

“A-Amazing, Franz! That’s a perfect plan!”

A perfect plan—except for the fact that it’s impossible.

As expected, fools attract fools. Franz’s friends were just as stupid as him.

“Well, well, what will you do, Lord Hollow? Surely, the great Heisenberg family’s top-ranked student won’t tuck his tail and run, right?”

I glanced at the clock tower—8:15 AM.

(Five minutes until the protagonist arrives… I don’t have much time left.)

If I waste any more time, I’ll run into the protagonist.

That must be avoided at all costs.

What I need to do now is resolve this nonsense as quickly as possible while staying in character as the infamous noble, Hollow von Heisenberg.

(If this were the original story, what would Hollow do…?)

I decided to let the “Hollow Brain” take over my thoughts and actions.

As a result, an unexpected phrase left my lips.

“Haa… I’m sorry.”

“H-Haha… Hahahaha! So, in the end, you’re just a spoiled noble brat! When it comes to an actual duel, you’re so scared you can’t even—”

“I tend to be a bit of a clean freak. I apologize, but I cannot bring myself to touch that filthy, tattered outfit of yours. However, I will accept the duel. Please forgive my rudeness.”

A fake apology laced with brutal mockery.

…Yeah, even I think that was awful.

Hollow von Heisenberg truly is the scum of the earth.

“Fufu, look at Franz—he’s being completely ignored!”

“As expected of the heir to a Great Noble family. Even his insults have ‘class.’”

“H-Hollow-sama… I’m starting to admire him…”

The surrounding junior students laughed, as if saying, “Serves you right.”

Publicly humiliated, Franz’s face turned bright red with rage.

“Y-You bastard…!”

Consumed by fury, he drew his sword.

“You vile, corrupt noble! I, Franz Thomas, will bring you to justice!”

With a wild yell, he charged at me.

I quickly took a stance to counter—only to be stunned.

(…Huh…?)

He’s slow. No—he’s far too slow.

Even if I blinked, took a deep breath, or tilted my head slightly, Franz was still far away.

(He talked so big, yet this is all he’s got…? This is just pathetic.)

I lightly raised my right foot and tapped the ground.

The moment I did, the paved stone floor shattered, and debris shot out like shotgun pellets.

“What—?! Gah…!”

Hit directly by the flying rubble, Franz was blown backward, tumbling across the ground before slamming into the main school building. He didn’t move after that.

“Oh my, where did Lord Franz go…? Ah, how troublesome. He’s so tiny, just like gravel, that I can’t tell him apart from the debris.”

Wait—no, I should stop talking now.

If I leave this to the “Hollow Brain,” the mockery will never end.

As I took a deep breath to push my evil thoughts to the back of my mind—

“H-Hey, Franz! Are you okay?! Hang in there! Damn it, I’ll take you to the infirmary right away!”

Franz’s black-clad friend dug him out of the rubble and rushed him inside the school, still wearing his shoes.

And with that, the matter was settled.

I should leave quickly before I run into the protagonist.

Just as I turned to go, a junior female student called out to me.

“U-Um…!”

“What?”

“Thank you for stepping in and stopping the fight. I really, truly appreciate it.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“Lord Hollow, may I ask you one thing? Why would you, the top of the black-clad students—the ‘First Rank’—help us white-clad students…?”

“No real reason. If I had to say, it’s just that fool was an eyesore.”

I definitely couldn’t say, “I did it to prevent a protagonist event.”

They’d just think I was insane.

(That might have been too cold of an answer…)

Even if I don’t get close to the junior students, I should at least maintain a decent relationship with them.

Considering the future events, it’ll be more convenient that way.

I should say something inspiring to boost their morale.

“This is a rare opportunity, so I’ll give you some wisdom.”

“W-What is it…?”

“It doesn’t matter if you wear white or black—those are standards set by others. What truly matters is not how others evaluate you, but how you want to be.”

In that moment, the eyes of the junior students lit up.

“““……!”””

They say words aren’t about ‘what is said’ but ‘who says them.’

The fact that I, the top of the senior students, declared that clothing distinctions were meaningless must have had a huge impact on them.

“Y-Yeah! Even if we weren’t born with special magic, if we keep working hard, we’ll have a bright future!”

“H-Hey… wasn’t Hollow von Heisenberg supposed to be some awful villain?”

“That’s what I heard, but… isn’t he actually really nice?”

“Aah, I wish all the senior students were like Hollow…”

“H-Hollow-sama… You’re officially my favorite now…!”

Nice, I just earned some popularity points!

That’s another death flag crushed!

(In the original story, Hollow treated the junior students like garbage, showering them with insults and cruel laughter. As a result, one day when he was peacefully napping on the rooftop, they stabbed him to death with knives.)

The so-called “Rooftop Assassination END.”

Of course, since I always have <Void Possession> active, I don’t have to worry about being stabbed with a blade… but there’s no need to invite unnecessary grudges.

Anyway, I’ve already accomplished my goal.

I immediately step away from this place and off the protagonist’s path.

(This is going smoothly… No, it’s perfect.)

The event where the protagonist gets praised by the preparatory students and teachers—‘Protagonist Boost Event’—has been erased.

On top of that, I also crushed one of the Bad Ends that the original Hollow was supposed to face—‘Slashed to Death End.’

Because of that idiot Franz, things got a little dicey for a moment, but in the end, I got the best possible outcome.

However, I can’t let my guard down.

After all, I’m about to meet my arch-enemy—the original story’s protagonist.

■

After that, the entrance ceremony ended without any problems, and the students headed to their assigned classes.

By the way, the first-year students’ ‘class’ and ‘ranking’ were posted on the bulletin board in front of the gymnasium.

As the top-scoring student, I was, of course, placed in the highest-ranking ‘Special Advanced Class’ and given the top position—‘Rank 1.’

To repeat, Redrick Magic Academy is an extremely hierarchical society.

Students are divided into Special Advanced, A, B, C, and D classes based on their entrance exam results, and each student is given a rank.

(Alright, it’s finally time.)

I moved to the main school building, went to the third-floor restroom, and fixed my appearance in front of the mirror.

(Loosen my shirt a little, make my eyes look a bit dead, shove my hands into my pockets… Alright, perfect.)

A slightly messy black uniform, cold crimson eyes looking down on people, a lazy stance—wherever you look, a perfect villainous noble.

With my character settings firmly in place, I made my way to the first-year Special Advanced Class and flung open the back door of the classroom.

Inside, all the named characters from the original story had gathered.

(Ugh… whoa…! It’s the ‘real thing’…!)

I almost let out a howl.

For a devoted fan of Ronzorkia, this was an irresistible sight.

Man, this is truly a feast for the eyes…

“Hey, look, the rumored ‘Vicious Noble’ just showed up…”

“So that’s Hollow von Heisenberg, this year’s top scorer?”

“Huh? But wasn’t it Elisa who gave the speech at the ceremony?”

“He turned down the freshman representative speech. Hasn’t changed a bit since the banquet ten years ago—still a nasty bastard.”

I could feel multiple gazes from a distance.

But no one dared to talk to me.

Well, given Hollow’s bad reputation, that was expected.

Since there were no assigned seats, I took a vacant one by the window.

(The protagonist… isn’t here yet.)

He’s probably caught up in some bizarre event right about now.

If Hollow has a ‘Super Death Prone’ trait, then the protagonist has a ‘Super Trouble Magnet’ trait.

For ‘him,’ getting tangled up in some kind of incident in the short distance between the gymnasium and this classroom is just another ordinary day.

Three minutes later, the back door of the classroom opened, and a boy in a white uniform stepped in.

At that moment, a shiver ran down my spine.

(…He’s… here…!)

Allen Fortis, fifteen years old.

Snow-white medium-length hair.

He’s 160 cm tall, has a slim build, but possesses incredible physical strength.

His defining features are his large sky-blue eyes and gentle lips, and he wears Redrick Magic Academy’s white uniform.

This seemingly harmless guy—Allen Fortis—is the protagonist of the original Ronzorkia story.

He carries the strongest hero bloodline, hosts an immense amount of the Demon King’s essence, and yet, he controls both sides like an absolute freak.

“…A white uniform?”

“Why is a preparatory student in the Special Advanced Class? I thought this class was for regular students only?”

“Who knows, maybe he got lost?”

“I heard there was one guy this year who got into Special Advanced without having a Unique Magic.”

As murmurs spread through the class, the protagonist awkwardly sat in an empty seat.

Right after that, the front door of the classroom opened, and a beautiful black-haired woman walked in.

She stood at the podium, cleared her throat softly, and introduced herself.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Fiona Seder, your Special Advanced Class instructor. I’ll be with you for the next three years, so let’s get along.”

Fiona-san, who hid her rotten insides behind a perfect demeanor, gave an elegant bow, and the class responded with warm applause.

“Whoa… She’s way too cute!”

“Cute? No, she’s more like… beautiful… stunning, really…”

“Big chest, slim waist, perfect figure… Damn…”

Most of the male students were mesmerized by the young female teacher.

Well, can’t blame them. From a distance, she looks like the perfect black-haired beauty.

Inside, though, she’s rotten to the core.

By the way… the fact that Fiona-san is our homeroom teacher isn’t a coincidence.

I asked my father to pull some strings.

The Heisenberg family donates a lot of money to Redrick Magic Academy, so we have some influence.

Power is everything.

(Fiona-san will follow my orders. This will make things much easier for me at school.)

As I planned my next moves in my head—

“Alright, let’s begin our morning homeroom—”

Just as Fiona-san started speaking—

“—Hold it right there.”

A sharp yet beautiful voice rang out like a bell.

The girl who had caught everyone’s attention slowly stood up and calmly stated:

“There’s someone here who doesn’t belong.”

The speaker was Nia Le Ainsworth, fifteen years old, Rank 4.

163 cm tall, long platinum-blonde hair tied in a half-up style.

Large curled eyes, beautiful amber irises, flawless white skin—an absolute beauty.

Firm, well-shaped br3asts, a slender waist, and healthy thighs—a perfect figure.

She wore the Redrick regular student uniform: a black blazer over a pure white shirt, and a black miniskirt with a slit.

“Allen Fortis, why is a dropout like you in the Special Advanced Class?”

Nia looked down at the protagonist with the gaze of an absolute ruler.

As the tense atmosphere spread—I was overwhelmed with emotion.

(Wow! A tsun-tsun Nia… This is amazing!)

Nia is one of the main heroine candidates and has a passionate fan following due to her tragic circumstances.

Right now, she’s burdened with an enormous problem and is mentally cornered.

At the start of the story, she acts cold and sharp-tongued, but as the story progresses, she falls head over heels for the protagonist.

In other words, ‘Tsun-tsun Nia’ can only be seen in these very early moments—right now.

I need to burn this into my memory.

“I enrolled in Redrick to train with talented mages and improve myself. I’m not here to waste my time with a dropout who doesn’t even have Unique Magic.”

Nia threw out a sharp remark.

“J-Just because someone wasn’t blessed with Unique Magic doesn’t mean they’re a failure! If they work hard, they can become an excellent mage!”

Allen fired back without backing down.

(Hey, hey, don’t just move forward with the main route like that…!)

In the original story, this scene leads to a duel between the two.

Nia would use her Origin-Class Unique Magic <Primordial Flame> and dominate the battle…

Until Allen awakens his Unique Magic at the last second and pulls off a stunning comeback.

In other words, this duel is a ‘Protagonist Power-Up Event.’

(Not happening…!)

I’m going to use my knowledge of the original story to crush every single one of Allen’s power-up events.

By doing this, I can weaken him without directly opposing him!

This is my ‘Perfect Anti-Protagonist Strategy’!