I SHOULD BE THE VILLAIN, BUT I PREFER TO BE A TYCOON-Chapter 33: The Invisible Barrier: Stronger Than Yesterday

Chapter 33: Chapter 33: The Invisible Barrier: Stronger Than Yesterday

In a few words... Several things happened, and in the middle of the night, several employees worked to replace what needed to be replaced and dry the floor, etc.

’I know I’ve been through some things, but I feel pretty dumb for not thinking about the risks of using my spiritual power in the halberd...’ Zayden thought with a forced smile.

He felt guilty for making so many people work to clean up the mess he made.

Out of guilt, he gave a good tip to each of them.

They seemed happy, but that didn’t lessen the feeling that he had done something foolish.

Another thing... After using the halberd for a few seconds, he felt all his spiritual power almost completely drain. This made him think that this weapon wasn’t good to use at the moment. Although it was a great trump card.

**

**

June 11th, Tuesday.

Because of yesterday’s rain, the ground was still wet.

Well, that wasn’t a problem Zayden needed to worry about since he and Yamagi were going to school by car.

When they arrived, Zayden said, "Thanks for the hard work, Wilson."

"Just doing my duty, Mr. Zayden," Wilson replied with a flattering smile.

The moment they stepped out of the Mercedes-Maybach, several students looked in Zayden and Yamagi’s direction.

Ignoring the stares, Zayden felt strange ever since entering the school grounds.

Since he became a Baron, this was the first time he returned to school. And it was also when he noticed that there was some kind of invisible dome around the school.

He didn’t know what it was for until he saw a familiar face approaching, with a level 4 obsessive ghost attached to her.

Riko Kohinata, one of the heroines, as well as the love interest of the protagonist, Subaru.

The moment she got close to the barrier, he saw the obsessive ghost with long gray-skinned hair crash against the ’wall’ of the barrier and pound its fists furiously while its hair flailed as if it had a life of its own.

It was as if it felt enraged for not being able to continue following Riko.

Another thing, Riko’s visibly uncomfortable expression instantly improved upon entering the school’s barrier.

’There’s someone who knows about the supernatural in this school,’ Zayden thought. ’Not only that, they must be pretty strong if they managed to create a barrier like this around the school...’

He just didn’t know if this was a good or bad thing.

Whatever it was, he used the new skill he had acquired, ’Stealth,’ to appear as a normal human.

He only hoped that this barrier didn’t come with some kind of supernatural being identification sensor that would detect he was a Baron. And even if it did, with his one year of protection, he somehow remained hidden.

"Boss?" Yamagi called him.

"It’s nothing," he said. "Let’s go."

"Yes," Yamagi agreed.

...

During the lunch break, Erika invited him to eat, and Catherine came along too.

It was an area surrounded by bushes and trees.

Erika found this place by accident.

"What do you think, isn’t it a great spot?" Erika asked.

Especially near a tall tree, the grass was shorter. It was as if it had been deliberately created as a picnic spot.

"Yeah, very much." Zayden agreed.

"I like it~" Catherine hummed softly.

Erika came prepared; she spread a picnic blanket on the ground and used some stones to weigh down the four corners.

"Here, I made this for you, Zayden." Erika handed him a bento.

"Thanks." Zayden smiled as he accepted it.

Catherine looked in Erika’s direction with a complicated expression.

After the three of them sat down, Zayden said, "Actually, I have a gift for both of you."

He pretended to pull two vials out of his pocket.

"What are those?" Erika looked with visible curiosity in her emerald-green eyes at the vials in his hands.

"Don’t tell me they’re magic potions that’ll give us eternal youth?" Catherine joked.

"You got the magic potions part right, but you’re wrong about the benefits they bring when you drink them." Zayden replied, "When you drink it, it’ll give you random benefits like physical improvements, even mental ones. And even if it makes you stronger, it won’t turn you into a macho woman."

"Seriously?" Catherine stood up.

Erika pursed her lips, seemingly unable to find words to describe what she was feeling at that moment.

"Yes, it’s serious." He replied.

Catherine sat back down but couldn’t calm herself.

Zayden extended a hand toward each of them with a vial: "It’s your decision whether you’ll drink the potion or not."

"I will." Erika was the first to take the vial: "I trust you."

Without hesitation, she opened the vial and drank it in one gulp.

───────────

[5x Multiplier!]

───────────

[Strength +10!]

[Intelligence +5!]

───────────

Zayden felt an immense increase in his strength. The intelligence boost wasn’t very noticeable at the moment, but there was some change.

"I’ll drink it too!" Catherine exclaimed, opened the vial, and drank the liquid inside.

───────────

[4x Multiplier!]

───────────

[Speed +8!]

[Strength +4!]

───────────

Once again, Zayden felt the invigorating sensation of his attributes increasing.

The strength, in particular, he felt had increased significantly.

’Status.’ He murmured in his mind.

───────────

[– Zayden Valtrex –]

Race: Human

Title: [Baron]

Level: 1

Next Level: 10% - [10/100]

Wealth: 671,183,919 yen

───────────

[– Attributes –]

[Strength E]: 19 -> 33

[Intelligence E]: 19 -> 24

[Speed E]: 21 -> 29

[Recovery E]: 25

[Luck E]: 23

[Spiritual Power E]: 20

───────────

’All my attributes have become "E." And it seems they don’t rank up every ten points...’ He thought.

Setting that aside for now, he looked at the girls.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"Huh... Different?" Erika replied with uncertainty in her voice while tilting her head.

She raised her hand, her long, pale fingers with neatly manicured pink nails becoming visible until she clenched her hand into a fist.

"As I thought, I feel like my strength has increased..." She murmured, and soon her lips curved into a perfect arc smile: "Like you said, it was something magical. I feel like I’ve become stronger. Though I have no way to prove it now..."

"I feel different too," Catherine said. "At the very least, I feel like something in me has changed."

"We have P.E. class today," Zayden said. "If it’s a physical improvement, you’ll be able to notice the difference."

"You’re right," Erika nodded.

"I’ll admit I was skeptical before drinking that potion," Catherine said suddenly. "Though I trust you wouldn’t poison me or anything like that, it was hard to believe such a magical potion could exist in this world..."

"Well, I don’t blame you for thinking that way," he laughed a little. "I’d be suspicious too if someone told me about something like that before."

Erika, on the other hand, scratched her face with a shy smile: "I wanted to believe it was real. And, just like you, Catherine, I trust Zayden. Even if it didn’t have the desired effect, I believed it wouldn’t harm me."

"Well, let’s put that aside for now and eat, or we’ll miss lunch," Zayden reminded them.

"You’re right."

**

**

The fifth class was math. After fifty minutes of class, it was time to switch teachers and head to the final class, which was P.E.

As soon as the math teacher left the classroom, the P.E. teacher arrived.

The P.E. teacher was named Tachibana Keiko, a woman with a striking presence and an athletic build.

She had long, light brown hair tied in a high ponytail and greenish-brown eyes. She wore a pair of gray leggings with a dark blue sports jacket.

"Go change and meet me at the sports court," Teacher Keiko said.

"""Yes!"""

...

"Form a line."

Two lines were formed, with the girls’ line being the larger one.

"First, you boys, run ten laps around the court," Teacher Keiko said. "Then it’ll be the girls’ turn."

Some grumbled, but they still had to do it.

"Let’s go, Yamagi."

"Yes."

Zayden and Yamagi were the first to start running. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Their pace was different from the rest.

Catherine, who saw Zayden running, smiled a little and commented: "As expected, while Zayden and Yamagi are almost finishing their first lap, the rest of the boys aren’t even halfway through their first."

"Well, just look at those muscles in their legs... Just seeing Zayden’s legs makes it easy to imagine he’s a good runner. Yamagi’s the same."

"Zayden really has a great body..." Some girls were practically drooling.

"Don’t you agree, Emilia?"

"Huh?" When she was dragged into the conversation, Emilia showed confusion. She had been looking in Subaru’s direction the whole time, so she hadn’t even paid attention to Zayden: "What was the question?"

Shaking her head with a wry smile, the girl repeated what she had asked.

Only then did Emilia look in Zayden’s direction.

"I guess so?" She replied.

"Why are you answering with a question? That’s hilarious~" The girl started laughing.

Emilia didn’t even blush and turned her attention back to Subaru, and it was at that moment that Zayden and Yamagi passed Subaru and the others.

Inevitably, Emilia’s eyes followed the two. It was like the force of attraction. But she only got distracted looking in their direction for a moment before turning her gaze back to Subaru.

’So cute~’ She thought.