If I was asked to describe the Academy in a single word, I would say ‘huge’. If I could use multiple words, then ‘huge assemblage of fodder waiting to be slaughtered’. That was the perfect description because the ignorant brats of the Academy didn’t have a bright future in store for them. Corrupt politics, factions, sabotages, and wars awaited them outside the gates. And the Academy never prepared them for anything of real consequences. Of course, there was one undead added to the mix.

I must warn you beforehand that even though I am an easygoing undead, I am undead. I don’t share the same values as these humans, who think about short-term survival in the wild. For me, having fun precedes everything else, and in this world, survival of my villainess alone holds priority even at the cost of destruction of the world.

It wasn’t unusual for men to accompany their masters to the academy, so I didn’t earn any horrifying stares for my appearance. The mage at the gate raised his eye in question, though, for I wasn’t accompanying my villainess this time around, but he waved at me as soon he recognized me.

Told you I am an easygoing undead.

Garlan’s love for bread had sparked up our first conversation, and since then, we shared untold respect for each other.

“Yo, Rudolf!” he said as soon as I reached close to his guarding booth. The busy gates on the left didn’t escape his eyes, for he used [Dragon eye] spell that granted him a 360-degree vision. “Not with your lady this time?”

I leaned against the extended wood of his booth and glanced at him through the square opening. He was eating bread, no doubt. The amount alone explained his portly appearance. His tummy poked out of his dingy grey tunic, and he wiped the crumbs from his lips with the back of his hand.

“She asked me to walk to the academy,” I replied, gazing hungrily at the bread. He handed one packet to me, and I munched it down before his wolfing mouth could finish his own.

“She’s as unreasonable as ever, isn’t she?” He laughed, giving me a pat on the shoulder through the glass opening. “I’m surprised you stick to her like glue, though.”

“Well, she gives me bread.”

“That explains it,” he laughed. “Her grades are pretty bad, though. I heard gossips about the vile daughter of the Marquis household who was bent on tarnishing their reputation.”

“Even you know about it?” I held back my surprise, deciding to teach those sisters a lesson one of these days. “How are your adventures coming along?” I switched the topic, not wanting to blame Garlan for his rude remarks toward my lady. As long he liked the bread, he was my bread lad.”Any interesting mission from the mercenary guild?”

“Nah,” he waved his hand. “Amateur mages are in plenty, so I hardly get enough jobs. This job is fun, as I can watch some pretty noble ladies pass by.”

“Don’t–“

“I know, Rudolf,” He cut me off. “Even if you didn’t warn me, I wouldn’t dare to stare at her twice. She would gouge out my eyes if nothing else.”

I nodded. “Keep up the good work, Garlan. I’ll see you around.”

“You too, bread lad. I’ll call you if interesting missions pop on the guild board.”

I waved at him without turning back and entered the campus. Only nobles were allowed to have two names in the world, so I had just one if you remove my title, undead.

I don’t hate humans, to be honest, because if it wasn’t for them, I couldn’t have survived the boredom of two millennia. And people like Garlan helped me restore that faith. He was a good man if you ignored his perverseness. And he liked the bread.

The huge building before me was very similar to the schools of the twenty-first century. I would have appreciated the world more if the creator had been more artistic, but I perfectly understood where they came from. Even I was forced to use the same blueprint while creating kingdoms and demons.

A few other maids greeted me politely, keeping in mind the reputation of their houses, and I didn’t bother replying. They just weren’t worth the effort, and my lady already had an excellent reputation that I couldn’t quite ignore.

I didn’t enter the building and took my usual place under the giant tree with prop roots dangling from its enormous braches. I didn’t know the name, and I doubted the creator knew it either, so I just kept it at ‘tree’. All green things were plants, all dark grey things were roads, all brown things were horses; something like that. Because not everything in this world deserved my recognition.

I used [Devil eye] spell and reached the final year classroom to keep an eye on my lady as always. She was adamant about letting me do it initially but had somehow conceded. And it should be apparent that she never usually agreed to anyone but that handsome prince who was a prime member of the heroine’s harem. He wouldn’t have long to live if he strayed my lady from her righteous path.

The lecturers mumbled some very wrong stuff about magic, which I was least interested in correcting. The notion of mana as something internal limits how many spells a person could use in a swoop. But, it wasn’t a necessity to think of mana as a part of the body, for you could accumulate it from the outside world without ever worrying about exhausting it. This meant anybody in the world could use magic, whether they had an aptitude for it or not. But the learning curve was exceptionally sharp for external casting unless you knew internal casting, and most people gave up within the first few decades.

Kingdom Arilikia dabbled with only internal casting as far as I knew, so they were always forced to look at their aptitude.

In the modern world, they called mana radiation which was a source of energy. Transmuting that energy from one form to another took practice and something more than just mathematics. Creating spells was just a natural process that followed after mastering the conversion of mana, and names of the spells just served the memory keeping purpose.

The high-tier progressive mage was spewing nonsense instead of knowledge. And people who topped the academy were nothing more than an oblivious bunch who were proud for having garnered garbage in their heads. Should I blame the creator of the world for their ignorance? Certainly not, because I had managed to overturn my own architects and become undead.

The morning session ended in a few hours, and my [Devil eye] nudged my lady awake. No one else could see the weird blackish eye, except for Letitia and Garlan, both of who had gained my acceptance. The glare was the most striking feature of my villainess since I could even feel her fury through the eye. Nevertheless, I had to get her moving to the mess for food.

She did move, and my [Devil eye] followed her, twirling around her at times or settling over her head at others, all the while earning her grunts. She had two friends, the renowned bullies of the academy, who were suspended from the academy for a couple of weeks for bullying the heroine. Indeed, my lady was involved in the same, but her terrifying background had prevented any of the mages in the school from taking a drastic step. Except for the entourage of the heroine, of course.

One among the handsome men was stopping her way to the mess, and I got up. Blonde he was, but handsomeness oozed out of his attire. If I wasn’t wrong, he was the heir of Earl Crovict, who controlled a part of the southern fleet. Trade and military included. His name, though, was inconsequential, so I hadn’t bothered to memorize it.

“Why are you still in school?!” He asked, and I saw the heroine approach the commotion through my [Devil eye]. They were at a T-intersection of the corridor, so the audience dropped by like bees on nectar from all three sides. “Bullies like you are not worthy of enlisting in the Academy!”

Bullies aside, this academy was indeed not worthy of her enlistment. How come the words became twisted in his mouth?

I saw the heroine rush from one end of the corridor and stand before Letitia protectively, her hound wagging his tail at her if he ever had one. She wasn’t blonde like most nobles but had characteristic purple hair that was considered rare in the entire world. For centuries she alone had it, so I had thought about burning it initially for my villainess. But to my dismay, she played a pivotal role in letting Letitia steer toward her right path. I had to agree that she was beautiful, probably flawless when compared to women in general.

So the obvious question would be, was I one among her harem members? I’ll let you ponder with the hint that only old men and women in the world had grey hair. And they counted in thousands.

Two more men from her entourage watched the commotion as bystanders, ready to strike into action should a fight break out. It was only their sharp distinctiveness from the rest of the crowd that enabled me to distinguish them. Thankfully, the crown prince was nowhere to be found, or else my lady would have gone all mushy by now. To be honest, it was about time I memorized their names since all the harem members were going to become pillars of the empire in the future. Which, obviously, my lady had to crush.

“Please don’t, Elert! Letitia hasn’t done anything wrong.”

The heroine is a good girl, as most of you might have already guessed. Probably the best I have seen in my entire life. But to her dismay, I don’t swing that way.

I clicked my tongue in annoyance and heard my lady repeat my actions. A smile bloomed on my lips, for I liked how we hated the same things.

“Don’t defend her, Gladiata,” Elert looked hurt, but I bet he was bubbling with happiness over the selflessness of his love interest. “You are noble, all holy maiden destined to forgive anyone irrespective of their sins. But, I, as the future Earl of the country, cannot ignore such blatant disrespect to the rules of the academy.”

“Ah darn this bitch and bastard,” Letitia cursed, albeit softly, but I bet most of them heard it already.

“Letitia?” Gladiata turned around, a hurt expression plastered across her face. “I just want to be your friend. I know you are lonely and act tough, but beneath that hard exterior, there is a kind girl who wants to be acknowledged.”

Gladiata came from a mediocre family, unlike most of the nobles. But she had rightfully earned her place in the academy, so no one bothered to address her delusions that she shouldn’t be so friendly towards my lady. Except one, obviously.

A sharp slap resounded in the corridor amidst the murmurs as soon as I reached it, crown prince on the opposite. He was a graduate of the academy, so it surprised me to see him here, carrying his boorish redhead. Yes, I had an unsaid hatred toward this man.

I saw his face contort in anger as the heroine spun around and collapsed into Elert’s bosom, much to my joy, and the prince walked towards the center with a heavy gait, people naturally acquiescing to his presence. I, on the other hand, had to push and trudge to meet my lady.