Somehow, the future hero managed to contain himself and did not come seeking to challenge Rotsard for a duel during the few days before the official announcement of the exam results.
Rotsard spent that joyous time dividing his attention between spending time with Mira and training in the cold room. While doing the latter, he considered how he should respond to the provocation that would come from Justin and Amelia... At least as long as the story was going in the right direction.
In the story, his character would be asked by the future couple some basic questions and fail miserably at answering all of them… But the real Rotsard spent a lot of time studying under Mira's guidance… and most of her classmates knew that she was tutoring her fiance... If Rotsard's answers would turn out outrageously stupid, that would certainly show Mira in a bad light.
Putting his own feelings on the matter aside, if possible, he wanted to leave his fiancee with only good memories and the best prospects for the future… Preferably, some influential friends who would not let her rot in some dusty monastery.
But for that to happen, her opinion should be as high as possible…
"..."
Rotsard furrowed his brows while crunching through the bone of a massive roast that the kitchen hand boy served him.
"...you somehow injected spices into the marrow without splitting the bone beforehand… Wasted effort, only someone capable of biting through would appreciate the subtle change."
"Hmhmhm~ Don't believe for a second that this technique is limited to bone marrow only, you carnivore~! It paves the road to many splendid dishes someone with a degraded palate like you could never dream of appreciating~!"
The bleached-blond-haired boy scoffed at the kitchen hand who not only didn't get angry at the seemingly mocking words, but actually puffed up his chest and declared with pride.
"You know what? For a carnivore without a sense of taste, you're not so bad."
Then, out of nowhere, the kitchen hand boy took a deep breath and declared with a serious expression, looking in Rotsard's general direction but not directly at him.
"Likewise. I could say that from amongst your peers, I dislike you the least."
"...! Pffft…!"
Rotsard responded without batting an eye, causing the kitchen hand boy to first flinch in shock, only to snort and wave his hand at Rotsard as if he was too much, only in an amusing way.
The rest of the meal passed in silence…
"If you continue making those experiments you call cooking from tomorrow, they will all go to waste."
"Is… is this a rude way of you telling me you're leaving for the summer break and to not cook for you?"
As he pushed the plate aside and stood up, Rotsard scoffed at the kitchen hand boy, causing him to raise his brow and ask, only slightly mockingly.
"I'm not going to tell you what to think… But I will be gone for the summer break, that much is true."
The bleached-blond-haired boy stopped for a moment, but he didn't even turn around and only shrugged his shoulders as he spoke up.
"Point taken. Well, then, have a good one."
"I won't."
The kitchen hand boy smirked and said with a nod, but the immediate answer from Rotsard completely broke the mood.
"Wh-wha…? Huh? Carnivore? What was that?"
"..."
The kitchen hand boy was so taken aback that he started to show actual concern and asked, but Rotsard just walked off…
"..."
Cursing at himself internally for not keeping his mouth shut.
Why did it always happen?
Why couldn't he stay silent and keep things to himself around people he started to like?
Did he actually want their pity? Did he want them to be concerned and worry about him?
He was a villain.
A third-rate villain who will die, becoming a stepping stone for the future hero.
As a noble, he should accept his role with grace.
Anything less than that was just playing right into the defol's hand!
"..."
"?!?!"
As he thought that, Rotsard's expression turned severe and ended up scaring the students he passed on his way out of the cafeteria, but even if he realized it, he would not care.
It was nearly time for the results to be posted, so Rotsard made his way to the announcement board.
When he arrived, the lists with names and grades were already up there, swarmed by either excited or devastated students.
"...!"
The moment Rotsard showed up, a path to the first year lists opened up for him as the memory of his physical and magic exams was still fresh in everyone's mind…
Now, the question was whether he managed to achieve what his character did in the story, but without cheating, or not.
To confirm it, a single glance was enough.
On every list, with bold letters -Rottsard Vallhall- was stated as the highest achiever.
As for the scores, going for points alone, it was all a hundred out of a hundred, with a few cases of Rotsard somehow scoring above that limit.
Judging by the whispers all around him, the confusion and rather negative sentiment towards that feat was shared by not just his classmates, but all of the first-year students and even some from the years above them.
Their jealousy and contempt… it felt…
"...~!"
"!!!"
Good~
Good enough for a wild grin to bloom on Rotsard's face, scaring the absolute living shit out of the people standing closest to him.
Despite the unquestionably righteous goal of sacrificing himself for the good of the world, a third-rate villain character like Rotsard Vallhall didn't suddenly turn into an angel overnight.
His pettiness, spitefulness, and being self-centered to a suicidal degree were all still firmly there, which was all reflected in that grin as he basked in the negative limelight…
Everything was still there, merely redirected towards showing up to the doefol, and only now reared its nasty head.
"Ohhh? What's this…? The one in the dead-last place on the end-of-term evaluation tops the chart now? How much have all of you been slacking?"
"!!!"
With the same grin never leaving his face, Rotsard turned and mocked the rest of the first-years.