I Was Reincarnated as a Villainous Noble Who Loves Betrayal, so With My Knowledge of the Original Story, I Plan to Become Invincible While Living Sincerely Without Betraying Anyone

Episode 3

Ariniki led me to the riverbank outside the military academy’s grounds. We stood side by side, gazing absentmindedly at the river.

“Am I really that hated? They didn’t have to do that to an F-Class guy…”

I picked up a stone that had fallen nearby and threw it into the river.

As soon as it splashed, Ariniki spoke.

“It can’t be helped. Did you forget what you did?”

“What did I do?”

“You lied about being a duke when your father was a baron. You run to the rear during group battles, and you attack your allies with poison magic. Isn’t that right?”

Well, no wonder I’m disliked!

Viper’s skill set is characterized by long-range shooting combined with poison magic, which makes him seem like the ultimate scoundrel. It’s not the only reason, but it’s episodes like these from my unchangeable past that make me appear like a coward.

“…From now on, I’ll be honest and live with integrity. Otherwise, I’ll lose everything.”

“Everything…?”

“Yeah.”

I said that and turned to face Ariniki. Understanding the meaning, she blushed and looked away.

“Uh… I won’t go anywhere… I mean, as long as Viper is here…”

“Why don’t you just abandon me? I’m clearly trash. You could just break off the engagement.”

“We’ve been childhood friends… And I… love you.”

Ariniki said this while fidgeting. She was too cute. I wanted to hug her, but we were in a public place, so I couldn’t go that far.

“But… Can I really trust you? When we were kids, you went around saying there were wolves in the estate, and when real wolves appeared, no one believed you, and people died. You were laughing then. Is this time for real?”

More trashy episodes are coming out.

“It’s true. I won’t lie anymore. I’ll live with integrity.”

Ariniki nodded deeply in response to my words and then hugged me herself.

“So… this is your last chance. I’ve been really torn about it. I’ve been hoping that Viper would become sincere like when you were little… but I’ve been conflicted, wondering if it’s true this time…”

“It’s okay.”

That’s all I can say for now. The story of me betraying the Goose and being blown up is out of the question.

But what exactly should I do now?

First and foremost, I need to avoid betraying Goose. That’s the bare minimum.

Goose probably doesn’t have that intention, but the more he comes down hard on me, the more tempted I’ll be to betray him.

In other words, I need to make sure Goose doesn’t want me to betray him. To do that, I need to become stronger. What’s missing from my current skill set to become stronger?

Should I master long-range attacks and poison magic? No, in the end, with my current skill set, I’ll only be able to fight in a sneaky way. My reputation won’t improve much. I need something more mainstream, something flashy.

“Hey, Ariniki. Can I only use poison magic?”

“It’s not like that at all. You used to be called a child prodigy, remember?”

“Ah…”

“At least until you were seven, you were the best as far as I know. But you stopped practicing fire magic when another kid beat you to casting intermediate-level fire magic. You did the same with ice, lightning, wind, and all the other attributes. Every time someone surpassed you, you got jealous and gave up, and what you were left with was niche poison magic.”

“I see…”

I can kind of understand how Viper felt back then. There are two types: those who burn with rivalry when there’s competition and those who wither. He was the latter type. In other words, he was someone with high pride who couldn’t stand not being the best.

“Viper, you definitely have talent. You were said to be able to master all the attributes of magic.”

“All of them? Only the Great Sage can do that, right?”

In ‘Goose Chronicles,’ each character could use only up to three magic attributes, no matter how many they mastered. That’s why it was necessary to use a variety of characters to conquer the game.

The ability to use all the attributes of magic was a privilege reserved for the Great Sage, who appeared toward the end of the story. Even so, he was often called a ‘cheat’ character because he could use all the attributes of magic.

If someone could use all the attributes of magic, it was practically a cheat.

“You mean the Great Sage? The one they say is a legendary figure living deep in the mountains?”

I see. The Great Sage hadn’t made contact with anyone in this world yet.

I dug my own grave, so I fell silent, and Ariniki continued.

“Well… Since we’re at it, I’ll tell you this. Just drop your tiny pride and go all out for once.”

Ariniki said this, her eyes full of determination.

In the phrase ‘tiny pride,’ I felt like everything was packed in.

I, too, often used the fact that someone slightly more skilled than me was ahead as an excuse to run away from something. Whether I started a new hobby or a game, there was always someone several steps ahead of me. As soon as I realized that, I would give up.

I could understand the feelings of the old Viper all too well. That’s how ‘I’ used to be.

But if I just sympathize with Viper’s thoughts, I’ll die in this world.

Someone else got ahead a little bit, so what?

I won’t lose to that.

With that determination in mind, I prepared my hands and chanted one by one the elemental magic of fire, water, ice, lightning, wind, earth, darkness, and light.

Like throwing a stone, the basic projectile magic flew into the river one by one.

“I did it.”

“Huh?! You… did it in an instant?!”

Ariniki, who was next to me, opened her mouth in surprise.

“Isn’t that a basic magic? And your way of opening your mouth, it’s improper.”

“I never thought I’d get scolded by Viper like this.”

Ariniki smiled happily and hugged me. My crush was hugging me. There couldn’t be any greater happiness. I’d be fine if I died like this. Well, I didn’t want to die, but…

At the same time, I remembered the name of the last event I had missed in the event list.

It was called ‘Viper’s Awakening.’ Maybe it was a design decision that Viper could use all attributes of magic, too? I began to think about such meta things.