Chapter 60 | Survival Guide for the Otome Game's Villain

By mid-October, the evening breeze already carried a chill.

The final battle of the Ranking Tournament was tomorrow, but the academy was much quieter than usual. This morning, the headmaster had taken a large group of upperclassmen to the Imperial Military Preparatory Academy, also located in Radiant City, for a joint exhibition, which served as a warm-up for the tournament. With even most of the instructors gone, the entire academy felt as though it had been hollowed out, leaving it empty and quiet.

The only lively place was the combat training building.

Solar Class A, the elite of the elite classes, claimed nearly half of the spots in the final battle. Although there were no instructors, the students were still training on their own initiative, the faint tremors of their practice felt even through the walls.

The liveliness belonged to them.

Erich leaned against the railing at the edge of the rooftop terrace. The muffled thuds coming from the floors beneath his feet, separated by so many levels, had turned into a vague, rhythmic drumming.

This teaching building had an entire Class A in it today, but it had nothing to do with him.

He turned his head to glance at Isabella beside him. She was sitting on a low wall at the edge of the rooftop, her legs dangling in the air, looking off to somewhere unknown. The setting sun cast a warm orange-red glow over her profile, making her look rare and gentle.

Come to think of it, the two of them had been meeting on this rooftop for nearly a month.

It was Isabella who first suggested it. She had probably discovered it one day while passing by, mentioning that the rooftop terrace of this teaching building had an excellent view, overlooking most of the academy, and that one could watch the sunset on clear evenings. When she asked if he wanted to watch it together, Erich had agreed readily, though he was secretly on his guard.

A demon, pulling him to an empty rooftop—could it really be just to enjoy the scenery?

He had thought so at the time, but he hadn't refused.

On one hand, he did need someone to exchange insights on magic with, and Isabella, who was clearly hiding a great deal, was the perfect candidate. On the other hand... Isabella was surprisingly pleasant to be around. She spent most of her time sitting quietly, exchanging casual, idle chatter with Erich from time to time.

Sometimes, Erich would ask her for advice on second-tier spells, and she would always answer seriously. Although Erich found the bottleneck completely unyielding when he practiced according to her methods, the theories she spoke of at least sounded reliable.

Thus, this time became a tacit habit between the two of them. After classes, in a place where no one paid attention, they would quietly meet on the rooftop, watch the sunset, chat about magic, and more often than not, say nothing at all, simply staying there in silence until it was almost dark.

Suddenly, a loud noise erupted downstairs. Someone had likely cast some large-scale spell, causing quite a stir below.

Erich frowned, not knowing what grand move those people in Class A were pulling. Honestly, he was getting a bit irritable.

After all, with his magic stuck and his attributes making no progress, it would be a lie to say he wasn't anxious when comparing himself to his classmates, who were visibly improving.

Not to mention the young princess, who was constantly avoiding him.

Erich felt frustrated whenever he thought about this, but he didn't want to dwell on it today.

The final battle was tomorrow; no matter what, he needed to adjust his state of mind today. He let out a long breath, trying to pull his attention away from his cluttered thoughts.

“Sometimes I think this place is pretty nice,” he suddenly spoke up. “You can see the entire academy, and no one comes up here.”

“Yeah,” Isabella replied, her voice scattering in the wind. “Quiet.”

“Indeed. It would be even better if there wasn't a group of people setting off fireworks downstairs.”

Another muffled thud echoed from below, as if in response to his words.

Isabella let out a soft laugh.

After a brief silence, Erich asked again, “What do you think about tomorrow's final battle?”

“What do I think?” She turned her head to look at him. “Just win, and that's it.”

“That's as good as saying nothing.”

“That's just how it is.” Isabella shrugged. “An eight-person free-for-all. The one who stands until the end wins. Nothing else matters.”

“Fair enough.”

What Erich actually wanted to ask was something else. He had advanced to the final round on a bye, but to be honest, with his current half-baked state, he had no confidence in how much of his power he could actually display if a real fight broke out. However, he couldn't say this openly to Isabella.

Isabella seemed to look at him for a moment before averting her gaze. “The sunset is almost over,” she said.

The massive red sun had already sunk near the horizon, more than half of its face obscured by the city's undulating skyline, leaving only a fading afterglow. The sky gradually transitioned from an ambiguous warm red to a deep Klein blue, like a canvas folded in half.

The two fell silent. Like many evenings before, they quietly watched the last ray of sunlight melt beneath the horizon.

And melting away along with the sunlight was the sound.

The moment the sound vanished, Erich sensed something was wrong. The muffled thuds of Class A's extra practice downstairs, the distant chirping of birds, the whistling of the wind sweeping across the rooftop—every single sound vanished completely at the exact same instant.

The final line of light on the horizon was rapidly turning into an oppressive, dark purple.

Something was falling from the sky, enveloping the entire teaching building layer by layer. Dark purple curtains of light rose from all directions, completely shrouding the building.

Erich's body reacted before his mind did, his hand already resting on the grip of the wand at his waist.

But as he stared at the dark purple curtain of light, he suddenly froze.

This color, this feeling...

He had seen it somewhere before.

Something flashed violently in his mind. Before his transmigration, in the game, this dark purple curtain of light—this barrier—looked exactly like something from a certain chapter in the game. It seemed to be some sort of lockdown barrier before a boss fight. He couldn't remember the exact plot; after all, he had skipped all the dialogue back then, only remembering what the boss looked like and how to fight it.

But there was one thing he remembered very clearly.

In the game, when this barrier appeared, the person who was about to meet with disaster was... the young princess of the Radiant Empire, Leonora Viridian.

“A military-grade barrier,” Isabella's voice sounded beside him. “An area lockdown and sound isolation. Those inside can't get out, and those outside can't get in.”

“You recognize it?” Erich frowned.

“I've read about it in books. Its feature is that it can precisely lock onto a target and then slowly contract. Why don't you guess who in this building is worth such a massive price?”

Isabella was hinting at something. Did she also know that the target was the young princess? Then what was her stance?

Erich couldn't figure it out.

Where was the young princess now? Was she doing extra practice with Class A? Was it possible she had already left? No, the barrier had unfolded in an instant, indicating that the caster was extremely clear about the situation inside the building. The young princess had to be in this building right now. His gaze fell upon the dark purple curtain of light, which flowed slowly under the fading sunset, contracting like a breath.