Reincarnated with an SSS-rank Tamer System: My Harem of Villainesses-Chapter 32 – Provocations

Adam was sitting on one of the benches in the main courtyard, his back resting against the backrest and his eyes half-lidded as he observed without really looking at anyone in particular.

He had already eaten and left Piers chatting animatedly with Evelyne in the dining hall. Those two got along surprisingly well; Piers talked nonstop and Evelyne listened with a patience Adam neither had nor would ever have.

The courtyard was filled with students of all ranks talking among themselves, some sitting on the grass, others walking in groups.

Recess was one of the few moments when the three noble departments—high, middle, and low—shared the same space without divisions.

Adam could feel Nox inside him, calm, almost asleep. The little dragon was in a state of peace he rarely showed, as if the academy felt safe enough for him to lower his guard.

’I should spend more time with him.’ Adam thought as he briefly closed his eyes.

’Understand his power better, how the bond between us works. Nox is strong, probably more than I imagine, and I’m barely scratching the surface of what we can do together.’

Haldren’s class had made it clear that control of the core was essential for contracts. If he improved that, maybe he could unlock more of Nox’s abilities or at least use the one he already had more efficiently.

His thoughts were abruptly interrupted.

"Excuse me! You’re Adam Shadowend, right?"

Adam opened his eyes to find four boys standing in front of him. All of them wore the academy uniform, but with the details that identified the lower noble department.

The one who had spoken was a blond boy with an overly wide smile. The other three stood behind him, visibly nervous but trying to appear confident.

Adam looked at them without saying anything, waiting.

"It’s just that, well, we wanted to introduce ourselves because—"

"—it’s an honor to meet someone from the Shadowend family..."

"Yes, exactly... and we also wanted to tell you that—"

The four of them were talking almost at the same time, interrupting each other without letting Adam open his mouth.

"—honestly, it’s impressive that you got in directly without taking the entrance exam..."

"...well, impressive isn’t exactly the right word—"

"What we mean is that, being from such a great family like the Shadowends, obviously you didn’t need to take the test—"

"—although maybe you would’ve passed it, we don’t know."

"—but it’s a little unfair, isn’t it? I mean, for those of us who actually had to take the exam and work hard to get in..."

"—it’s not like we’re saying you don’t deserve it, but—"

"—well, yeah, we kind of are saying that—"

The blond let out a nervous laugh while the other three nodded as if they had just said something perfectly reasonable.

"—it’s just that there are people who prepared for years to get in here, and seeing someone enter just because of his last name, well... I don’t know, it feels weird."

"—besides, we heard you didn’t even train before, so—"

"—exactly, I mean, you were basically born lucky."

Adam watched them through that entire monologue without changing his expression even once. Every word that came out of their mouths was more stupid than the last, and the worst part was that they didn’t even seem to realize what they were doing.

Four low-ranking nobles, probably sons of families that barely qualified to send them to the academy, standing in front of a Shadowend telling him he was lucky.

Adam was about to tell them to go to hell without any filter whatsoever when a familiar voice stepped in.

"Are you done?"

The four boys turned at the same time to find Alice Velmoor standing behind them with her arms crossed and an expression of absolute boredom on her face.

She wore the academy uniform, which, like everything she put on, seemed to fit her too well.

Her green hair was loose this time, falling over her shoulders in a way that perfectly matched those eyes of the same color that were now looking at the four boys as if they were insects.

All four of them froze completely when they saw her. Their eyes ran over her face, her hair, her body... and suddenly all the courage they had gathered to confront Adam evaporated.

"U-uh..." the blond tried to speak, but the words got stuck in his throat as his face turned red.

Alice looked at them one by one with deliberate slowness before tilting her head slightly to the side. "What’s wrong? Did you forget what you were saying?" She took a step forward and the four of them stepped back at the same time as if synchronized. "Because it sounded to me like you were saying some pretty interesting things to my friend here."

"N-No, we were just—"

"Just—"

"Getting to know him, that’s all..."

Alice let out a short laugh that didn’t have a single trace of real humor. "Sure. Getting to know him." She stepped a little closer and lowered her voice just enough so that only they could hear. "You know what? I think you should go get to know someone else. Preferably far away from here. Sound good?"

She didn’t need to say it twice. The four turned around and walked away quickly, stumbling over each other as they tried not to run in order to maintain some dignity.

Alice watched them leave with a satisfied smile before turning to Adam, who was looking at her without saying anything from the bench.

"See?" she said, pointing her thumb toward where the four had disappeared. "Nothing but brats."

Adam looked at her for a few seconds. "Did you come to the academy just to look for a boyfriend and bother other people?"

Alice blinked in surprise before letting out a quiet laugh, genuine this time. "Nothing like that." She said as she sat down beside him on the bench, fairly close. Too close, actually.

"I have my own goal here. But I admit that bothering idiots is a hobby I enjoy."

Adam made a subtle move to shift away a little, but before he could, Alice leaned toward him, pressing against his arm as she looked directly into his eyes.

Her eyes seemed to shine with something that was somewhere between amusement and pure provocation.

"Are you interested in me?" she asked in a soft tone that completely contrasted with her usual attitude. "I mean, since you asked if I’m looking for a boyfriend..."

Adam didn’t move an inch. He didn’t look away and he didn’t get nervous; he did absolutely nothing she could interpret as a victory.

"I just wanted to know if you had any hobbies besides sitting next to sweaty strangers," he replied in the same casual tone as always.

Alice’s eyes widened slightly before she laughed. "Ouch..." But she didn’t move away; in fact, she adjusted herself more comfortably as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Although technically we’re not strangers anymore. We introduced ourselves yesterday."

"Yesterday? That was less than five hours ago."

"Long enough for me."

"Your standard is worryingly low."

"Or yours is ridiculously high." She shot back without missing a beat, looking at him with one eyebrow raised. "How long do you need to consider someone an acquaintance? A year? Two?"

"Depends on the person."

"And me?"

Adam glanced at her sideways. "I’m still evaluating."

Alice smiled widely at that, as if that answer was exactly what she wanted to hear. "I like that. At least you didn’t say no."

They were in that position—her practically pressed against him, the two of them exchanging words as if they were playing a game of verbal chess—when two figures appeared in front of them.

Piers was the first to react. His eyes widened at the sight of Adam sitting with a girl who was practically on top of him, and his expression went through several phases in a matter of seconds before settling into one that could only be described as a poorly concealed "ohh, I caught you."

Evelyne was standing at his side. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw the scene.

Alice looked at both of them with an expression of pure boredom, as if they had interrupted her at the worst possible moment.

She let out an almost inaudible sigh before separating from Adam with deliberate slowness, as if making it clear she was moving away because she wanted to, not because she had been caught in anything.

She stood up and stretched briefly before looking at Adam with a smile that was exclusively for him. "See you later, Adam." She said his name in a way that made it sound different from how anyone else said it.

Then, as she turned to leave, her eyes shifted toward Evelyne for a second. The look was brief.

Evelyne met her gaze without blinking, though her fingers tensed slightly at her sides.

Alice simply turned around and began walking, disappearing among the students.

Piers waited exactly three seconds after Alice left before approaching Adam with a smile he was unsuccessfully trying to hold back.

"Didn’t peg you for that, huh." He said as he sat where Alice had been moments earlier. "Quite the tamer."

Adam didn’t respond. He simply stood up from the bench, brushing off his uniform indifferently.

"We have to go to the next class." He said without looking at anyone in particular as he started walking.

Piers exchanged a quick glance with Evelyne before getting up to follow him, still wearing that smile on his face.

Evelyne remained standing for one more second, looking in the direction Alice had gone, before starting to walk.