I'm the Bad Guy Page 12

  These events should have been impossible. And not because the barrier was supposed to be nigh impregnable, which it was, but because no one was supposed to know it existed!

  How does one prepare for and bypass an obstacle that no one is supposed to know about?

  ...

  Simple, get someone to tell you about it.

  I had to reign in both my aura and my temper before my finger dissolved the table... I lifted my hand and looked at the spot I'd been tapping with my finger. Sure enough, a black spot, roughly the size of my fingertip, stared back at me.

  I stood up from my chair and began pacing around the private residence I'd long since claimed.

  There's a traitor within my circle. There has to be. The only people that are supposed to know about the barrier are myself, Tristen, Annika, Jia Ling, Ulfric, and Adus. As the man to cast the spell and lay the foundation for the barrier, Adus is the most suspicious. Followed by Annika, Tristen, Jia Ling... Then Ulfric.

  My temper threatened to explode out of me at the very thought of my closest friend betraying me... But, it wouldn't be the first time he's kept something from me.

  I glanced at the few sheets of paper sitting on top of the desk. They were the original copy of a standard issue academy health record and the picture of a bored young man stared back at me.

  No, he definitely knew about that beforehand.

  He wasn't at all surprised when I questioned him about it. In fact, if I didn't know better, I'd say he was downright giddy that I'd finally figured out his little trick. Like it was all one big practical joke he'd been playing for years. I couldn't exactly hold it against him since the idea had fascinated me for the last twenty years... It was just annoying that he'd never brought me in on it. Did he think I would judge him? Turn him in? Or did he believe I would steal the idea for myself?

  ...

  Okay, that last bit was a fair assumption. I probably would have, had I thought it would work.

  A knock at the door derailed my train of thought.

  "Come in."

  Tristen stepped through the door with his usual smile on his face.

  "Your majesty," He bowed his head slightly. "A letter has arrived for you from the capital."

  I took the proffered envelope from his hand, tore the protective wax seal off, and opened the letter.

  ...

  I balled it up after reading through it several times and threw it into the nearby fireplace.

  "Your majesty?"

  "Inform Jia Ling that we need to depart tomorrow morning."

  "As you wish." He said while politely bowing his head.

  He turned on his heel and left the room without another word.

  I narrowed my eyes at his retreating back and bit into my bottom lip, a habit from my youth that I'd never managed to get rid of, to relieve the stress of the situation.

  So... Xultes have finally made their move.

  They were the ones to butcher a baron of my empire and gave the order to rape my daughters mind. Failing that, they attempted to kidnap her to do... Who knows what.

  ...

  It was pure luck that young Aren managed to disrupt their original plan.

  ...

  I glanced at the papers on top of the desk.

  That boy sure has a knack for surprising me.

  I grinned.

  * * *

  Chapter 16: Epilogue

  * * *

  I yawned as I walked through the front gates of the castle.

  It's been a month since the princesses whole kidnapping ordeal and my subsequent release from the infirmary with a surprisingly clean bill of health. And... life has finally returned to normal. I mean, sure, a few students were infirmary bound for a few hours after my little... search party. But what was a little PTSD among classmates?

  ...

  Sorry, future classmates.

  Luckily, for me at least, the arch-mage ordered all students to attend an emergency announcement in the great hall and quickly put a stop to any rumors that the academy was under attack by monsters. He explained that the reason for their appearance was due to an accident on his part... Which, technically it was, since Kami was kidnapped under his nose.

  No one dared to question why an Arcanist, regardless of how powerful, was able to summon a literal horde of monsters and simply chocked it down to the arch-mage being eccentric as usual.

  This was one-hundred-percent fine by me. If he wanted to take the blame, then more power to him. I certainly wasn't going to argue the point with him.

  I spotted Kami walking ahead of me in the massive crowd of students currently leaving the castle. A cheerful smile on her face as she walked next to Shana, Carla, and Monica, the new girl she'd met on the train.

  The sight of her being happy brought a smile to my own face and I quickly looked at the ground to hide my expression.

  The other students were already gossiping about the 'chubby kid' that seemed to follow Kami around, so I didn't need to give them any more ammunition to use against me... Even though it was she that followed me around. But I could understand their confusion. After all, who would believe that a girl as beautiful as Kami would ever be interested in a guy that looks like... Well... Me?

  I've lost a bit more weight since being released from the infirmary: My face wasn't as round, my stomach was slightly flatter, and my 'man-boobs' were much smaller... But I still wasn't exactly a prize most people would brag about.

  I sighed.

  Oh well, it's not like I actually wanted to be popular or to have a bevy of beautiful girls following me around. Truth be told. I would find that more annoying than almost anything else.

  Someone bumped into my shoulder from behind and caused me to stumble a bit.

  I furrowed my brows at the walking cliché and his goons as they passed me with smirks on their faces.

  Someone's gotten brave.

  I tightened my grip on the wyvern-skin leather bag the emperor sent me, as thanks for protecting his daughter, and slowly counted backward from ten as I walked with the flood of students.

  We eventually arrived at a massive hill that overlooked the lake I'd seen from the train, and the students broke off into smaller groups. They talked and laughed with their friends as we waited for the teachers to arrive.

  "Aren!"

  I turned my head in the direction I believed the voice was coming from and saw Kami waving her hand wildly in the air.

  "Over here!" She yelled.

  I listened to the whispers of the other students as I walked and wanted to frown at the blatant insults they were saying in hushed tones.

  If you want to insult me at least have the decency to say it to my face, you twats.

  The four girls were sitting in a semicircle with Kami on one end and Shana on the other. I sat my bag on the ground, then I sat down beside Kami and greeted the other girls.

  "Are you excited?" Carla asked.

  "Sure, I guess." I replied lamely.

  ...

  "Don't worry about it." I whispered to Kami after noticing her glare at the other students.

  "Don't they have anything better to do than to make up rumors!?" She hissed.

  "Since its the last day of the academic year... Probably not."

  "The least they could do was talk to you before calling you names!"

  ...

  "I seem to recall you behaving in a similar way when we first met." I teased with a grin on my face.

  A faint dusting of pink appeared on her cheeks and she pouted.

  "Don't worry about it." I quietly said. "Either they'll come around like you did, or they won't. It makes very little difference to me."

  "But... Don't you want friends?"

  "Not really." I shrugged.

  "Why not?"

  ...

  "Because I have you." Her eyes widened in what I thought to be shock, so I was quick to add, "And Shana, and Carla, and Monica too, if she wants. I don't need any other friends."

  Her eyes narrowed b
riefly, then she gave me a half-smile and agreed.

  "Attention, Students!" A high-pitched voice yelled from the front of the class. "We will now begin the graduation ceremony!"

  The ground began to shake, causing some of the newer students to scream, as a near transparent walkway raised from the lakebed. The walkway appeared just wide enough for two people to pass each other and was maybe fifty-feet in length. On the far end of the walkway a large crystal gazebo emerged from the water and began to emit a faint blue aura that seemed to make the water glow.

  The Academy's teachers, all twenty-one of them, not counting the arch-mage and the Head-mage, walked single file down the walkway and stood shoulder to shoulder inside the gazebo.

  "When we call your name, come stand in front of us." The arch-mage explained.

  One by one, the seventh year students were called. They walked down the path and stood in front of the teachers with their backs to us.

  The teachers took turns, either praising or critiquing the student's efforts over the years, before finally bestowing a mage's staff upon them.

  As it was customary for the seventh years to make their own staves, the teachers were merely giving them permission to take them home. However, each staff was given a little something from Eobard, the academy's master enchanter, in the form of a mana crystal inlaid into its head.

  The sun was just beginning to set when the arch-mage handed the final student his staff.

  The arch-mage waited for the student to return to his group of friends before he waved his hands and the gazebo began to brightly glow.

  "And now, we celebrate the end of another year!" He happily cheered.

  An explosion caused us all to jump as a kaleidoscope of colors appeared in the sky and slowly drifted back to the lake.

  "Fireworks!?" I gasped.

  I watched as a group of sixth-year alchemists, led by the resident master alchemist Callen, used wind magic to send little orbs high into the sky.

  So, not fireworks... It was alchemy.

  "Whoa!" Kami and the other girls cheered.

  I smiled at them, then leaned back to watch the spectacle.

  It wasn't quite as loud as the fireworks back home and they didn't leave any residue in the sky... But the colors were very pretty.

  Kami grabbed my arm and said, "Did you see that one!?" as she excitedly pointed to a large explosion of purple.

  "Yeah," I laughed. "I saw it."

  As she continued to hold onto my arm and point out her favorites, I reflected on my days in this new world. It didn't have all the conveniences of Earth, and I certainly missed my friends, but...

  I glanced at Kami's happy face, then at the girls beside her, before finally setting my gaze on the display in the sky.

  ...

  I guess it’s not so bad here.