If The Villain Catches Me Alive

Chapter 10

"Oh, it's not like that!"

"Or maybe it is."

Theodore's questions were getting annoying. No, why is he asking so many questions? He's never been this way before!

"......Have you grown to hate me?"

"Huh? Not at all!"

"Of course not. Why would I hate......"

Just as I'm about to give in to the kid's barrage of misunderstood questions:.

"What are you two doing?"

Jeffrey, who was arriving for work just in time, squeezed between us. He was dressed in a neat robe, holding a cup of coffee in one hand and yawning sleepily. Nice, Jeffrey!

"I'm in a hurry, I'll go first, you two have work to do! Oh, and you're on your own for lunch!"

And with that, I rushed up the stairs, leaving Theodore behind. I almost got misunderstood... Ah!

Did he think I wanted to end our relationship?

No. I don't think the Tower Master would allow it in the first place.

I was just trying to avoid being caught turning in the papers too late. It's too... I don't want to look like a teacher who doesn't care about his pupils.

As I calmly walked up the stairs one by one, I was reminded of what I had forgotten during our conversation earlier. My nervousness quickly subsided.

Over the course of ten days, I realized... Dante didn't belong in the Tower of Light. He wasn't supposed to be here.

Being a failing research mage was just a cover. He had talent, it was just that he channeled it in a bad way.

'The moment the basement lab is discovered, I'll be immediately accused of heresy and condemned...'

My spine chilled at the clearly visible future. Accepting it and deciding to somehow get through it wasn't supposed to be like this. This kind of thing... I really didn't want to seek forgiveness for.

'......I don't know.'

It seemed like I hadn't solved anything, but just snowballed into an irreparable mess.

'I just... I thought that if I reconciled with Theodore, I would be able to make a life for myself afterwards...'

That was my arrogance, fueled by ignorance. I sighed heavily, and it too dissipated into thin air.

Without leaving a trace.

***

Nevertheless, I put all my energy into finding a solution that might exist somewhere. And finally, I found one.

[Study No. 8882: Recreating the Physical Body].

Research Results: Failure.

Notes: As I continued to search for a vessel to increase the amount of mana, another possibility occurred to me.

What if instead of searching for a vessel, I create one? The experiment failed, but it seems worthy of further study. To be followed up.

As usual, I descended into the basement lab at dawn and sat with my back against the bookshelf, flipping through the stacks. The study numbers were already approaching eight thousand.

"Recreating the Physical Body....."

I flipped through a nearby book to find the next page. It said "to be followed up," but it didn't look like it had been done. Suddenly, I realized I was nearing the end of this paper.