How to Live as a Tyrant’s Spoiled Brat Chapter 45

How to live as a tyrant’s spoiled brat Episode 44

(44)

I never thought of myself as talented, I just wanted to live an ordinary life.

After hearing that, I glanced at the dagger hilt stuck in the desk.

It would take a normal human a lifetime of training to master enough poison to melt properly refined steel.

Do you think you’ve implanted scales on your body that are strong enough to block Sereraji’s lightning strikes?

What is innate in some way carries with it duties and responsibilities.

“Sister. Please keep me in check.”

I said, aiming my sword.

Sereraji nodded and said.

“Vastatin. Do you know that unlicensed potion production is punishable by death?”

“!”

“The royal family is above the law, so why don’t you just follow it?”

“What a ridiculous pun!”

A creature with green scales on both arms bared its teeth at me.

Its fangs grew long like a snake’s and its yellow pupils were torn vertically.

I thought the guy had mastered close combat, so he used his mana explosively within his body.

Mana wrapped tightly around each and every muscle fiber.

I was planning to accelerate to the first stage of Imperial Swordsmanship and subdue him in one go.

Knock, knock.

“uh?”

The brief standoff ended with me suddenly starting to bleed from my nose.

For a moment, my eyes started spinning and my legs lost their strength.

I urgently drew more mana to suppress the venom.

“You bastard.”

The green liquid that Vastatin had floated into the air had been reduced by half, and the remaining half was continuing to vaporize and spread throughout the store.

“ah.”

Sererajie staggered slightly.

As a sorceress, she did not know how to strengthen her body with mana or suppress the poison within her body.

I swung my sword, spewing out six-letter words.

How dare you touch Sereraji?

“Do you know who you dare to rebel against? Do you want to be torn into seven pieces? I will cut off your tendons, shave your head, and throw you into the Wyvern Pit!”

He aimed straight for the wrist and slashed with all his might.

Kaang!

I broke the scales of my black bastard in one go and made him bleed, but I couldn’t cut his wrist.

The bastard stood guard with both scaled hands raised.

I re-learned the bastard’s combat doctrine.

Vastatin’s fighting style was not close combat, but assassination by spraying poison and buying time.

My physical condition was worsening faster than I thought.

Even though Vastatin must be at most thirty, seeing as he can handle this much poison, it seemed like at least his bloodline was real.

That’s why it was more disgusting.

I’m sure I made the magic potion using my abilities.

Just when I had given up on subduing him and was about to change course to killing him, I heard a voice behind me.

“Valentine. I want to do it.”

I said, slowly lowering the sword I had just raised.

“Sister. Don’t move. The poison will spread more.”

“Some are abandoned by their homeland, while others are still living as free wizards on the streets of magic, so I’m jealous.”

Vastatin’s eyes flashed vertically.

“Jealousy? In the world of Serenade? Who is jealous of whom?”

“We were born with the same talent and have enjoyed the same things, so why am I here and you are there?”

“I lived without any support from the royal family, and you entered the ivory tower as a genius member of the royal family.”

He responded to every conversation as if he would be happy for us to stay in the poison.

“I have enjoyed more, so should I bear more?”

“I won’t deny that I gained this power thanks to my bloodline. However, I can’t admit that everything I’ve achieved with my own hands is thanks to my bloodline. It was I who worked hard to develop my talents, I was able to balance my work and studies, and I was able to open a nice store on this street at this age. Unlike you, who received support for everything.”

“You don’t even know what’s difficult… … .”

“Valentine. I’m talking to you.”

Sereraji shook her head, cutting me off.

She stood in the middle of the dance with a faint smile.

“Please give me a chance to prove my loyalty.”

Her gold and silver bangles flashed in two different hues.

Sereraji stood up straight as if he had never stumbled before and recited the spell.

“Scattered into pieces, spreading out like a child’s heart.”

Blue lightning flashed in the air, and green smoke dispersed like clearing fog.

Vastatin opened his mouth wide and looked at Sereraji.

She said, raising her cane.

“This is basic detox magic. No, it’s so simple that it’s hard to even call it detox. Everyone learns it in the ivory tower. If you really worked hard and practiced to build up your strength, the poison wouldn’t disperse in this magic.”

“!”

“Thanks to your talent, you were able to create such a huge amount of poison that you probably never thought about refining it further to increase its toxicity or developing a new poison.”

“you.”

“What’s wrong with trying?”

Sereraji, who was saying that, had a not-so-happy expression on his face.

Vastatin gritted his teeth and gathered the green energy again.

“What are you… … !”

“You dared to attack the royal family, so pay for this with your life!”

I shouted and stabbed him with my sword.

Bang, the floor cracked beneath my feet.

I grabbed the bastard by the neck with my left hand and slammed him against the wall.

“Ugh!”

The bastard screamed and shook his body.

The eyes that were once playful and sorrowful trembled.

“A little blood is like oil on a rusty sword when it comes to constructive conversation.”

I spat out the words that were stuck in my mouth and stabbed the bastard’s instep with my sword, pulled it out, hit his jaw twice with my left hand, pulled away, and stabbed him in the thigh once more.

And he said, pointing his sword close to his neck.

The scales and blades rubbed together, making a clinking sound.

“From now on, tell me everything you know. I know that a lot of our relatives, that is, the illegitimate children of the royal family, are attending that academy. I also know that there is a gathering of those guys. I also know that you are helping them as a graduate.”

There was a guy who once said something like this.

If you give up a little freedom for a little safety, you’ll lose both.

So, if you’re going to do it, you have to do it for sure.

Either leave it alone, or completely uproot it.

This time, Jayliless chose the latter.

I think I should do that too.

Not 1 or 2, but 6 people were eroded?

Some may ask whether it was not the emperor’s oppression that drove them to make such an extreme choice.

Yeah, extreme choices are good.

Even an earthworm will squirm if you step on it, and if you don’t want to die quietly, you have to rebel.

It is also an arrogant idea to think that if the strong press down, the weak will follow suit.

But, no matter what, why did you choose the old ones who wanted to use all of humanity in the world as food or playthings?

No matter what the circumstances, you shouldn’t understand it.

“Tell me everything you know about their hideout or their dorm. Then come with us. We need to confirm your face.”

Vastatin shook his head, his face distorted.

“I can’t do this even if I die.”

Her green hair grew long enough to reach her knees, and the ends transformed into three snakes that lunged at me.

Sharp fangs flashed in the air.

“A lightning bolt that hardens and pushes away.”

Sereraji recited the spell.

Dismissed!

The short blast of electricity hardened the snake and Vastatin’s bodies and pushed them back greatly.

The man with his back to the wall screamed and staggered.

I took a half step forward and stabbed my sword hard.

Crack, crack!

The tip of the sword pressed hard against the scales covering the bastard’s neck.

“You knew about the six people who were eroded this time, right?”

“!”

For the first time, a twitch appeared in the bastard’s face.

“If something like this happens again, it won’t be us, but the knights who will come and behead you. It won’t be a summons, it will be an execution order. Before that happens, come inside where His Majesty can see you. Don’t you have too much to lose if you ask for freedom or death?”

I whispered to him like a sweet devil.

“Don’t you want to save the guys from the Academy?”

As much as I hate to admit it, in a fight the cowardly one is always stronger.

I could be as cowardly as I want if it meant preventing the bastards from en masse invading and running wild in the capital.

The guy was chattering his teeth.

“Don’t lie. How can I trust you, Valencian?”

I smiled faintly and said like a cowardly strong man.

“Believe it or not.”

* * *

The capital was home to large academies, which were attended by a diverse range of students.

Children of the court nobility who wish to study magic, swordsmanship, or administration to become wizards, imperial knights, or administrators.

Students who receive higher education and develop friendships as children of the bourgeois class, such as merchants or large workshops.

Students who dream of rising in social status through connections and education as children of wealthy farmers or small landowners near the capital.

Students who are orphans or from ordinary families but are sponsored for their good grades.

There were originally a few who came to the capital as half-hostages from the local nobility, but they all quickly returned to their families during the brief period of chaos before Jayliris’s accession to the throne.

Although the empty seats were large because they were such big kids, one year was a very long time for the students.

Also, the children of the court nobles who led the Academy’s trends and factions were secretly delighted to be able to regain control.

They rejoiced in their arrival in the world, adorned themselves with flashy jewelry and handbags made by artisans, and showed off their knowledge, culture, and skills in cafes where many students gathered.

“Is everyone preparing well for this exam?”

“Of course. We all know the answer you want.”

A girl shrugged her shoulders.

“I’ve already memorized the administrative law part. What about the magic assignment part?”

“It’s a ‘mass-producible recovery potion’, but I honestly don’t understand why you’re so focused on mass production.”

“They say there are two reasons.”

The boy who opened his mouth like that was a tall, cheerful, handsome man with gray hair and blue eyes.

“The first reason is to enable children from families with limited financial resources to submit their assignments.”

The surrounding noble families all lamented.

“Haha. That’s a reason I really don’t like.”

“This is an academy of learning, so how can the professors be swayed by the financial circumstances of such people?”

“It would be right to research more effective potions even if it means using expensive reagents freely.”

“If you can’t even afford the cost of the reagents, you shouldn’t be here.”

“Ugh. The mandragora roots and flowers I just got will be a burden.”

The gray-haired boy continued.

“And the second reason is that our Academy’s sponsors want it that way.”

The students squinted their eyes.

“sponsor?”

“Isn’t our academy run by a foundation established by the Duke of Aquilis?”

“The person who donates 40% of the operating expenses to that foundation every year is someone in a high place.”

The boy with gray hair pointed towards the palace.

Silence fell among the students who had been talking as if the world was theirs.

He continued speaking with a look of displeasure on his face.

“I don’t like the idea of the royal family interfering with the sacred streets of learning with gold. But this time, wouldn’t it be better for us to consider the professors’ circumstances?”

The students nodded one by one.

Very quickly.

“I think so too.”

“As expected of you. I have never seen a noble child with as much refinement and dignity as you.”

“Yes. As expected, you are the pride of our court nobility.”

“They are no match for those who fight among themselves every day. They say six people died not long ago.”

“That’s just the number of illegitimate children, and they say that every month in the Red Moon Palace, more than you can count on one hand, die.”

The court nobles took pride in leading the empire as cogs in the wheel of administrative bureaucracy.

It was also their power that maintained the empire in place of the former emperor who had become old and had given up his duties.

Even Jaylilith, the sword master and great magician, was running the country with respect for them, so their pride was rising to the sky.

“I wonder if there is an illegitimate child among us?”

“Hahaha. How could that be?”

“How can those who rely solely on bloodlines sit among us, who are so cultured?”

Jin stood up with an awkward smile.

“I’m going to get up for a moment. I have some things left to memorize.”

“Yes. Yes. We all know your sincerity.”

“You really can be a wizard, an administrator, and a knight. I’m jealous.”

“It’s because you work hard like that every day.”

* * *

Valencianus went into the dormitory that Bastatin had told him about and hid behind the door.

Before long, the door opened and a student appeared.

Gray-haired Jin gasped for breath as he looked in the mirror.

On the way in, I crumpled up the letter that was left in front of the door in my hand.

His blue eyes in the mirror were shaking strangely.

“I almost got into trouble. If I had been just a little bit later, I would have been caught.”

The blue eyes distorted until finally yellow eyes appeared.

“Damn. Why are these guys here again at a time like this?”

He sat down at his desk, nervously opened the letter, took out a magic potion from the drawer, and drank it right away.

Valencian smiled and looked at his back.

Then he pulled out his sword and blocked the thorn attack rising from the ground.