Just Because I Have Narrow Eyes Doesn’t Make Me a Villain!

TN: Thank James Baily for the chapter.

Nothing particularly special happened after that.

Except for Claire sighing heavily and occasionally glaring at Siwoo after she arrived at the teacher’s office.

“I, I’m sorry…”

“…As long as you know.”

She didn’t look satisfied at all.

I felt Siwoo would have a harder time in class than others, but I was not too worried.

He wouldn’t struggle with something as trivial as the second-year curriculum.

He survived the front lines, a place only top third-year students could return from alive.

And it was even tougher than what they faced.

A bit of tough training from the teacher wouldn’t be a problem. He might be cautious, but he wouldn’t find it difficult.

“It’s going to get noisy again for a while…”

Claire sighed deeply, holding her head in her hands as if she had a headache.

“You should have been more careful. Famous people like you can’t afford to get caught in such scandals.”

“…Famous? Us?”

“Didn’t you know?”

Siwoo and I just blinked at each other.

Famous? Us?

Claire sighed deeply again, seemingly not expecting us to be unaware.

“Think about what you’ve done in the past year.”

“The past year…?”

“Eliminating villains infiltrating the academy, dealing with a monster attack on the academy, taking down an Übermensch executive on the frontline, solving the crisis there… You’ve handled quite a few significant events in a year.”

“H-how do you know all that…?”

How did Claire know all that?

Of course, being a teacher, she would know about internal academy incidents, but… She even knew about the Übermensch executive we took down at the front line?

Siwoo and I stared at her in shock.

“Don’t you ever check the internet?”

“Well, not really…”

Before going to the front lines, I was always busy with the Author. Various incidents popped up, and we had to resolve them.

And after that, there wasn’t much opportunity to use electronic devices.

There was no need to explain why we hadn’t used them; it was why we were in the office now.

“It’s already all over the internet. Information spreads easier than you think.”

Arte Iris and Yu Siwoo.

Our names were displayed on the screen the teacher showed us.

“I often tell others not to ego-search, but I didn’t think there were really people who never did.”

The device with our names had countless posts.

Who we were, what we had done recently, what our abilities were, and more.

It wasn’t perfect, but still, quite credible pieces of information were gathered from numerous sightings and people’s speculations.

“Information is hard to control today. Especially with such big incidents, there’s no way people won’t be interested.”

Siwoo and I hurriedly searched for our names to see people’s reactions.

Should I be relieved?

It seemed like my identity as part of Arachne hadn’t been discovered.

As I let out a small sigh, the teacher showed us a site meticulously collecting information about Siwoo and me.

There was already a post saying that I was pregnant with Siwoo’s child.

…How did this spread so fast?

“The academy attack incident and the abnormal phenomena of the spiders. Both are unprecedented events. Experts are losing their minds over this.”

“Ah, so…”

“After gathering the scant information available and making various judgments, people believe you resolved these incidents. Of course, the academy denies it.”

I understood what the teacher wanted to say. No matter how much the academy denies it, no one believes them.

…But they weren’t wrong.

So, because of these incidents, our recognition has significantly increased.

“Anyway, you two are much more famous than you think.”

“…”

“And people who often see you together started suspecting your relationship…”

“And now, it’s confirmed, right?”

“Correct.”

… What’s the problem with that?

If the world knows Siwoo is mine and I am his, wouldn’t that be better?

It would keep unnecessary girls from clinging to him.

No matter how I think about it, there’s no downside.

Did my thoughts show on my face? Claire sighed and said to me.

“It’s not just annoying citizens you need to worry about… You have to think about the villains.”

“…Villains?”

“Yes. Their numbers have decreased recently thanks to the organization Arachne, but there are still villains out there.”

“Why does that matter…?”

“Villains generally fall into two categories: those who can kill people in cold blood and those who are out of their minds. I worry about the latter.”

Claire looked at me with concern. Even though I wouldn’t be her student for much longer, she didn’t seem to care about that.

“Sometimes, idiots wanting to make a name for themselves appear, and for them, you’re a prime target.”

Seeing the teacher glance at my belly with worry, I finally understood what she meant. She was worried someone might target me because I’d be weakened by pregnancy.

“Don’t worry, teacher. I’ll be fine.”

“That’s not something anyone can guarantee…”

“No.”

I looked at Siwoo and smiled brightly.

While I appreciated the teacher’s concern…

I had Siwoo.

“Siwoo will always protect me.”

“…Ha, alright. Please, only bring me good news.”

“Don’t worry.”

I gave Claire a bright smile.

As expected, she’s a good person.

…Even if I won’t see her often in the future, I decided to definitely send her an invitation if I ever get married.

***

After submitting my withdrawal from the academy, I went home.

Not to Siwoo’s place, but to the original Arachne base I used to stay at.

Claire’s words did make sense.

Of course, I believed Siwoo would always protect me…

But that didn’t mean I could be completely unprepared.

While Siwoo continued his academic life, I decided to stay with my colleagues in Arachne.

“Wow, this is really amazing…”

“What are you doing?”

“Lyla, you’ve got to see this. It’s incredible. Oh… so this is where the baby is…”

I felt Spira’s hands constantly touching my belly.

She seemed genuinely fascinated.

Lyla didn’t notice her expression turning grim.

“…If you don’t stop touching her, I’ll cut that tail off.”

“Eeek! I’m not a lizard! It won’t grow back! I’ll stop!”

“Ha…”

Lyla really had it tough.

Seeing her handle our reckless colleague, it was hard to believe she used to be a high-ranking member of Übermensch.

Maybe she had dealt with this many times before.

“You’ve got it tough.”

“Thanks for noticing… Are you okay?”

“Thanks for worrying, but I’m not that weak.”

Hmm.

Lyla thought she was hiding her interest well, but… she was clearly very curious.

She kept glancing at my belly where Spira had been touching.

“Want to feel it?”

“…Can I?”

“Of course, it’s fine.”

I would have said no to anyone else.

But it was okay with these guys.

They’d never do anything to hurt me.

When I lightly patted my belly to show it was okay, Lyla hesitantly approached me.

Even if she acted nonchalant, she was very curious.

…Honestly, I was still amazed myself.

I never imagined there would be a baby in my belly.

“It’s kind of swollen…”

“There’s a baby inside.”

“Boy or girl?”

“Probably a girl. I’ll know for sure next month.”

“Heh…”

Lyla stroked my slightly swollen belly with fascination, then brought her ear close to it.

“…Sorry, but you won’t hear anything yet.”

“Oh, is that so…? S-sorry.”

Her flustered apology made me laugh.

It was hard to believe how much she had softened from her former sharp self.

“What? Why are you laughing…?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

It brought back memories.

Did the Author want Lyla dead at some point?

But I didn’t kill her. Even though I didn’t know how the Author would react.

Was it a whim or a last shred of conscience?

Looking back now…

It might have been one of the best decisions I made.

“How are you feeling?”

“Oh, Ha-Yul. Is class over already?”

“It just ended.”

I checked the time, and it was already the end of the academy’s classes.

It would take at least ten minutes to get here from the academy, even if he rushed.

“That was fast…”

“My ability might seem useless outside combat, but it has perks.”

“Haha…”

I see.

He must have arrived by transforming into mist.

…No wonder I never saw him driving a car despite his high status.

He used his abilities efficiently, even for small things.

“Spira. Stop playing around and get ready.”

“…Oh, is it time to work already?”

“Yes. Ha-Yul is here. It’s you two today.”

“Ugh…”

When Spira voiced her blatant displeasure, Ha-Yul gave her a sharp look.

…Well, that’s definitely Spira’s fault.

Ha-Yul probably didn’t mean anything by it.

“Please take care of Arte.”

“Don’t worry. I’m pretty strong now, too.”

“…Understood. Then, Arte, congratulations on your pregnancy.”

“Ah, thank you.”

With that, Spira and Ha-Yul stepped out of the house.

Another day of villain hunting was about to begin.

Today was passing just like any other day.

Translator’s Corner

Am looking for novels to work on next. Feel free to give some suggestions in the comments or discord server.

-Ruminas