The Villain Wants to Be Dumped chapter 43

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“What?”

“Ah, sorry.”

Ruite had meant to keep that thought to himself, but it slipped out.

Magnus started laughing out loud, clearly finding the remark hilarious.

Chester, however, only asked him to repeat it and didn’t seem particularly offended by what Ruite had said.

“Have you really never received anything below an A+?”

Ruite took the opportunity to confirm the rumor properly.

Without a single change in expression, Chester nodded.

His attitude made it seem like it wasn’t even a difficult feat, which was a bit annoying, but Ruite felt something else entirely.

“You really are incredible…” Ruite muttered softly.

Even if he understood it was because Chester was the protagonist of the original story, as a fellow Academy student, he couldn’t help but feel pure awe.

“Hm, what? Say that again.”

“Huh? I said you’re incredible.”

Ruite even went so far as to give him a thumbs up.

Chester’s lips twitched uncontrollably.

Of course, his expression stiffened back into a blunt mask when Magnus added, “Exactly! You really don’t seem human!”

Ruite began to think.

‘If I’m doing an assignment with the legendary Chester, maybe I can benefit from those grades too?’

It wasn’t as if he had volunteered to be on Chester’s team; the professor had assigned them.

So, it shouldn’t be a problem to ride on Chester’s coattails just a little bit.

If he did, he might actually leave the Academy with at least one A+ assignment to his name before graduation.

“Chester. Let’s do a good job.” Ruite’s eyes sparkled.

“…Whatever.”

Chester scratched the back of his neck.

It was just a simple “let’s do a good job,” but he felt like he was floating.

And what was with those eyes?

They were sparkling as if they were made of polished jewels.

Even when Ruite wasn’t doing anything, the intensity in his large eyes made Chester think, for some reason, that he was quite pretty.

“Then we should head to the library first, right? When do you want to go?”

“Today.”

“Huh? Don’t we have a lot of time for this assignment? You want to start already?”

“Yes. You’ve never received an A+, have you?”

“That really stings. I’ve at least received an A before, you know?”

Ruite couldn’t hide his expression.

He had tried to sound serious and dignified, but his indignant, pouting face looked quite cute to Chester.

“You always wait until the deadline to do your assignments, don’t you?”

“Can you… see into people’s pasts or something?”

“Regardless, if you want a good grade, you have to invest time. Even if the deadline is far off, it’s better to start little by little. That way, we’ll have more time to discuss the assignment.”

And, Chester added mentally, that would mean much more time for them to be alone together.

“Hmm… when you put it that way, you’re right.”

Chester felt a wave of relief.

Ruite was much less stubborn and opinionated than he had expected.

“Then let’s start today. Meet me at the library after dinner.”

“Sure.”

After eating their respective dinners, the two moved to the library.

Ruite was slightly late because he had been chatting with Dylan, but Chester didn’t nag him.

He only frowned slightly when Ruite explained that Dylan’s stories were so interesting he couldn’t help himself.

“Let’s decide on a theme first.”

The assignment was to choose one famous philosopher from the history of the Empire and organize a report after researching them.

The two passed the quiet reading area and entered the lounge, where speaking was allowed.

“Which philosopher should we go with?”

Chester rattled off a list of several philosophers who would fit the topic perfectly.

But as he listed the names, the question marks on Ruite’s face only increased.

“Chester.”

“What.”

“I didn’t recognize half the names you just said. Are there really that many famous philosophers?”

“…Do you even attend the lectures?”

Ruite bit his lip. He wanted to argue, but he had no defense.

“I have one excuse.”

“Just one, then.”

“…Philosophy lectures are boring.”

Ruite avoided eye contact and doodled aimlessly on his notebook with a pen.

Chester had expected a grand explanation given Ruite’s solemn tone, but it turned out he just found the lectures boring.

What kind of student listened to Academy lectures for fun?

In the past, those words would have sounded pathetic.

“I’ll let it slide because you’re cute.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

Chester startled himself the moment the words left his mouth.

It felt like he had been hit over the head by his own subconscious.

Fortunately, Ruite hadn’t quite caught what he said.

“Never mind. Let’s choose from these three. You know these three, right? They’re quite famous.”

“…Of course. I know them.”

“If you don’t, say so now.”

“To be honest, I don’t. This one and this one.”

Knowing only one out of three was basically knowing none of them.

At this point, Chester was naturally curious about one thing.

“What was your philosophy score on the last midterm?”

“That’s private information. I can’t tell you.”

“That means you did poorly.”

Ruite glared at Chester resentfully.

It seemed Chester had hit the mark.

Chester took a moment to recall which subjects Ruite dozed off in and which ones he stayed awake for.

As he tested the waters, he realized that in general lectures, Ruite unexpectedly received quite good grades in Arithmetic and Geometry.

Chester had thought it odd since he often saw Ruite drawing in class, but the difference seemed to be that he didn’t fall asleep in those.

On the other hand, in Philosophy, Literature, and Political Science—the subjects he slept through—he couldn’t mention his scores with any confidence.

However, his scores in Magicology and Mana Theory seemed to be high.

In summary, Ruite only performed well in subjects that interested him and put zero effort into the ones that didn’t.

In that sense, Ruite was actually quite bright.

His grades were only in the upper-middle range because he simply gave up on the subjects he disliked.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that? Are you still not satisfied after digging into my private life?”

“It’s not that… I just find it unexpected.”

He had known him for a long time, but to be honest, he had always thought of Ruite as a pathetic fool.

He hadn’t expected Ruite to have this side to him.

Discovering this today made Ruite seem rather charming.

“You… you just thought I was stupid, didn’t you?”

“Not anymore. Anyway, pay attention. I’ll explain them to you.”

“Okay.”

Returning to the main point, Chester explained the three candidate scholars in detail, as if he were the professor himself.

Ruite was quickly drawn in by the clear and concise explanation.

“That’s the summary. Now, tell me which scholar you think would be best for the report theme.”

“I’ll go with this person.”

Ruite pointed to the second name on the list.

Chester’s eyes widened slightly in surprise.

That scholar was the one he also thought was most suitable for the topic.

“What’s your reason?”

“Can I be honest?”

“Yes.”

“I like the name.”

“…”

The lounge went silent for a moment.

Chester looked at Ruite with a look of disbelief, while Ruite, feeling a bit guilty, began to scramble for actual supplementary reasons.

“You do want to get an A+, right?”

“Of course. But since I have you, isn’t that grade already guaranteed?”

Ruite gave a broad grin.

A smile full of mischief and expectation was reflected in Chester’s eyes.

It was the kind of smile that instantly cleared away his disbelief and made it impossible for him to think of anything else.

“Of course, I’ll work hard too.”

Ruite pumped his fist.

Even if Chester was an assignment genius, he had no intention of just riding along lazily.

Besides, even if they were a forced team, there was no benefit in staying on Chester’s bad side.

“So, what materials should we look for first?”

“Ah… hmph. Well, first we need to gather as many books related to this person as possible.”

“Right. Let’s go find the materials then.”

The two left the lounge and headed to the library stacks.

They stood side-by-side in front of the shelves classified under Philosophy.

“Wow, every single one of these looks boring.”

“Assignments aren’t for fun.”

“I know, I know.”

Ruite began searching for reference materials in earnest.

Chester’s hand also moved along the books, but his gaze was fixed on Ruite standing right next to him.

The lack of distance—the fact that Ruite was within arm’s reach—gave him an unknown sense of fulfillment.

It was the first time he felt that doing an assignment was actually enjoyable.

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