I'm in Love with the Villainess!-Chapter 97: Reverse Hunt

As expected, the second supply drop arrived without any competition, giving us a day’s worth of food without the exhausting battle that usually came with it.

Kevin was clearly thrilled; by the time we got back to the janitor’s closet, he was already taking bites of his food.

There was no point in rationing it; there would be more supply drops on the way anyway.

It was best to eat our fill now and let our bodies recuperate without relying too much on recovery magic.

"This stuff is surprisingly good for being canned food."

Kevin said happily as he ate canned beans, using dark manipulation as a utensil so he wouldn’t make too much of a mess.

"I’d be disappointed if it tastes bad."

I replied with a laugh, also eating some canned beans with dark manipulation.

"How could they call themselves a prodigious noble academy if they don’t have good food?"

Beans, oh how I love them.

Not only are they cheap and filling, but they’re also stable, nothing weird, just clean energy. But most importantly, they’re incredibly cheap when you’re starting off as a beginner assassin.

I would die mid-missions if they didn’t exist.

Kevin paused mid-bite. "You know, I think you have some sort of future vision spell."

"Who knows," I replied flatly.

We finished eating in silence, the good kind, the kind where nothing was trying to kill us for once. I let the food settle before circulating magic, letting my body recover the old-fashioned way instead of forcing regeneration. Less strain, fewer traces.

Kevin leaned back against the wall, satisfied. "I get it now."

"Get what?"

"Why you don’t rush things. Everyone else is burning through spells like it’s the last day already, and here we are fine like its just a normal day."

Kevin laughed, lying down against the cold tiled floor.

Not really a comfortable spot, but our uniforms were good enough insulators and improvised pillows to make anything comfy.

I nodded. "And on day three, they’ll start paying for it."

Night deepened. The academy’s ambient barrier dimmed slightly, standard energy conservation. Somewhere outside, a brief clash flared and died just as fast. No screams this time. Professionals.

I stood and checked the perimeter again.

[Soul Sense]

Sparse movement, professors repositioning, and students consolidating. Nothing really directly aimed at us.

"Sleep," I said. "I’ll wake you in four hours."

Kevin hesitated. "You sure?"

"Yeah. If something comes close, I’ll wake you up."

He didn’t argue this time. Within minutes, his breathing evened out.

I kept watch, back against the door, counting pulses of distant magic like a metronome. The exam wasn’t slowing down; it was just compressing. People were learning and adapting.

And once people start to learn and adapt...

[Light Judgement]

Ambushes are sure to follow.

With my soul sense and acute sensitivity to magic, I could tell it was directed at a storage unit just a few buildings away from us.

We weren’t part of the blast radius, but it’s best to be prepared just in case some would plan to migrate to our location.

"Kevi—"

BOOM!

Guess I didn’t need to wake him up after all...

"H-Huh!?"

[Dark Serpent]

Kevin stood up quickly, instantly casting a spell. He had the survival instincts of a literal war veteran.

I have to give him props... he was better than most colleagues I knew from the past.

Kevin looked at me for answers, and I just gave him a shrug with a blank expression.

"Looks like the professors are finally taking things seriously..."

I looked through the wall towards the destruction, but it looked like the students who were camping there were smarter than I initially thought.

Most of them weren’t eliminated, probably had to do with some stupid amounts of defensive magic layering.

Kevin hurried to the window to check what I’d said. From there, he immediately saw a huge fire blazing in the distance and dozens of students running away in all directions.

Each one was hunted one by one by professors who had everything planned.

[Reverse hunt event has started, good luck everyone.]

The announcer’s flat, almost bored voice was a strangely funny contrast to the chaos outside.

"Should we leave?"

"Not yet, we aren’t in a place that’s an obvious target." I position myself beside him on the window, taking a peek as well, just in case my soul sight missed something.

"Let’s play defense and take out anything that comes close."

That alone already put us ahead of most people.

Inexperienced people panicked when announcements like that dropped. They ran, regrouped badly, collided with other fleeing groups, or sprinted straight into prepared kill zones. Defense was never their first instinct.

It should have been.

A few minutes passed.

Then my soul sense picked something up.

Three signatures. Fast, erratic, and severely exhausted.

"Company," I said quietly.

Kevin stiffened. "Students?"

"Yeah, they’re inside the building already."

The footsteps came soon after, heavy, uneven, scraping against stone as they cut through the seniors’ building halls without any plan. One of them tripped, and another cursed him silently.

They rounded the corner outside our hallway and froze when they saw the closed door at the end.

"...Dead end," someone whispered.

That was when one of them finally noticed us through a wall.

He had better magical perception than the rest, too bad that didn’t really help him.

"Hey—!"

Too late.

[Shadow Snare]

Dark tendrils erupted from beneath their feet, pinning all three to the floor before they could even raise their staffs.

Kevin didn’t hesitate.

[Dark Pierce]

He adjusted the output perfectly, enough to incapacitate, not kill.

Didn’t even need to tell him; he’s growing quickly as I expected.

"Uhhh... I didn’t need to attack them, did I?"

"No... but it’s fine either way, at least it means they’ll no longer be obviously leaking magic everywhere for other professors to track them."

"So... what do we do with them?"

"Let’s dump them in the janitor’s closet, this place is compromised anyway..."

"I thought you said they can’t be tracked?"

"Yeah, but do I look like someone who would take that risk?"

I laugh, snapping my fingers and stuffing them into the janitor’s closet without wasting another second.

[Profaned Step]

Too bad... I was already getting comfortable.

"Besides, I already have a second hideout planned."