The Villainous Me Turned the Losers into Blackened Bosses-Chapter 32 - A Witchs Reflection

“Hmph, it’s just a little coin. I, Leah, refuse to believe I can’t succeed without it.”

That night, with nine days left until the competition, Leah returned to her lab to continue researching Warmth Amidst the Elements. What awaited her was…

Failure.

This time, it seemed she had used too much of the solution, causing it to explode and scatter all over the lab.

“I-It’s just because I accidentally spilled too much,” Leah muttered, her face smeared with the sticky white solution.

With eight days remaining, Leah arrived at the lab early in the morning, brimming with determination. What awaited her was…

Failure.

This time, it seemed she hadn’t used enough of the solution. It fizzled out before it could even heat up, and somehow, it even extinguished the nearby lamps.

“It’s just… a technical adjustment. A s-small issue,” Leah said, her voice shaky as she crouched under the table in the pitch-black lab, fumbling for lamp oil.

Failure.

With seven days left, Leah’s own magical control became the problem. She overexerted herself, and the resulting explosion left her hair in a frizzy mess.

“I can do this! It’s not like I’ve been experimenting for just a day or two. I-I don’t need a student to teach me!” Leah grumbled as she straightened her frazzled golden hair with a comb and flat iron.

With six days remaining, Leah resolved to give it her all, trying every method she could think of.

By evening, her experiments had failed repeatedly. No matter how she adjusted the ratios of the catalyst and medium, nothing worked.

“It’s just… it’s just not coming together!”

“Ugh, why is this happening?!”

It was as if the universe was mocking her for not accepting Will’s offer that day.

Over the past few days, every minor adjustment to her data resulted in significant deviations. Yet sticking to her original data left her just short of success.

By every calculation, the best results for Warmth Amidst the Elements—the longest duration and most stable temperature—had been achieved using the coin Will had given her.

Not only had the data been optimal…

Her physical condition had also been at its peak.

After that experiment, she had felt completely refreshed, as if days of fatigue had been wiped away in an instant.

As the clock ticked closer to midnight, Leah remembered that tomorrow was Monday. Though she didn’t have any classes scheduled, she would need to check in on her homeroom class in the morning.

And so…

She pulled out the folding bed from under her lab table, carefully set it up with a mattress and blanket, and removed her robe before lying down.

—Truthfully, she had been sleeping in the lab for several nights now.

“Sleep, sleep, sleep…”

“Sleep…”

“I can’t sleep!”

About half an hour later, Leah lay on her back, staring at the lab’s ceiling lamp. Her crimson eyes glowed faintly, the whites of her eyes tinged with red from exhaustion.

“Why… why is this happening?”

Her heart wasn’t racing like it had been the night before.

Her blood and magical circuits weren’t flowing with the same intensity as before.

And yet…

She couldn’t fall asleep.

Reflecting on the past few days, she realized she had been struggling to sleep until the early hours of the morning.

When she was awake and experimenting, she could distract herself. But now, lying still with nothing to occupy her hands or mind, her thoughts wandered to…

Feelings and emotions.

Every time she closed her eyes, she saw herself pinned against the wall, staring into Will’s blue eye. In his gaze, she saw her own reflection.

—”...Do you want to love someone? Do you want someone to love you, to stay by your side? Do you want to not be alone anymore?”

—”With your strength and long lifespan, there’s nothing you can’t have if you go after it, Leah.”

—”When you stand before them, you’ll be the only one they see…”

Throughout her long life, others had asked her if she wasn’t lonely living this way.

Even the Vice Principal, Mary, had urged her to connect with others and not continue isolating herself.

Leah hugged her blanket tightly, even wrapping her legs around it.

She had always believed she didn’t fit in. While confident in her strength, she never expected anyone to approach her persistently or to keep their eyes on her.

But…

“Will Hysterm… what a troublesome student.”

Despite being her student, he believed in her so much, even wanting to teach her how to reach out and take what she wanted.

“Could it… could it really work if I followed his advice?”

Foll𝑜w current novℯls on ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm.

With six days left until the Eighth Fire and Flame Magic Research Competition, Leah calculated her remaining time. One day to succeed in the experiment, another to repeat the tests, a third to organize the process… and maybe one day to rest. The timeline was too tight.

“Sigh… maybe I should go find him tomorrow… But after making such a fool of myself last time, I’ll need to avoid the other students this time…”

—

The next morning, Will woke up, glanced at the date, and then at his Task System—not the pages for any of the heroines, but the rare section belonging to “Will’s” personal tasks.

“Looks like writing this task system was worth it. According to the system… hmm, the second Monday of the term. Something important is bound to happen today.”

Since Monday was reserved for practical tests, and the weekend had been free, the term had started on a Thursday. After two days of sparring with his homeroom teacher, both he and Leah had spent the weekend apart.

Oh, but Will’s weekend had been quite enjoyable. Spending time with Eir—uh, training Eir to further refine her ice-condensing techniques, giving her special lessons on embracing her darker side… and then casually exploring the capital, buying lots of things, and enjoying delicious food and drinks.

Yawning, Will descended the stairs.

The three-story private residence in the capital had bedrooms for him and Eir on the third floor, a small living room on the second floor, and a reception area and staircase on the first floor. The first floor also housed a high-temperature sauna room specifically for Eir’s training.

In the second-floor living room, Eir, dressed in her maid outfit, hummed a cheerful tune as she carried a tray with perfectly cooked, springy fried eggs and slices of warm bread.

Her tail wagged happily, and her ears twitched as she worked. She seemed to be in an excellent mood.

Because she continued her sauna training every morning, Eir woke up much earlier than Will. Naturally, she also prepared breakfast—something she insisted was part of her duties as a maid.

“La-la-la~”

“Good morning, Eir.”

“Good morning, Young Master! You’re up early for breakfast today. After two days of rest, are you ready to head back to school?”

Eir beamed, spinning around with a bounce. Her tail and ears perked up as she placed the eggs and bread in front of him.

“Oh, thank you. Breakfast looks great as always.”

But as soon as Will sat down and thanked her, Eir’s smile vanished.

“Y-Young Master, what… what are you spreading on your bread?”

Eir watched in horror as Will pulled out a bottle of thick, red liquid. The ominous color glowed faintly, clearly not something normal. It had to be some mysterious substance from a dungeon!

Could something from a dungeon even be edible…?

“Oh, it’s chili oil. Don’t worry, it’s just regular chili oil.”

“Young Master… you call that chili oil?”

Even from two meters away, Eir’s sensitive nose caught the spicy aroma. She wrinkled her nose, her wolf-like senses twitching in protest.

“It’s perfectly normal.”

The viscous liquid on Will’s spoon seemed to radiate heat, steaming as he spread it on the bread. In an instant, Eir felt her beautifully toasted bread transform into some kind of dark cuisine.

“And… it should… taste great.”

Will confidently picked up the bread, but then hesitated. After a moment, he set it back down.

“Eir, could you get me a glass of cold water? The coldest you can manage, with ice.”

“O-Of course.”

Eir quickly fetched a glass of ice water and placed it on the table.

“Mm… your collar has ice dragon stomach fluid, right? This is flame dragon stomach fluid. In some regions where spicy food is popular, flame dragon stomach fluid is considered a top-tier chili seasoning. Alright, here I go—ahhh—”

Will gulped, his expression turning serious, but he didn’t hesitate to take a bite of the bread.

Eir couldn’t help but admire her young master’s courage.

He would surely achieve great things when he grew up!

“Cough… cough, cough, cough… Okay, this is a bit intense… gulp, gulp…”

Will chugged three glasses of water in quick succession.

“Young Master… are you… losing your mind again?”

“...No, no. Cough, cough…”

His voice was hoarse, his lips swollen and red from the heat.

But even so, he stuffed the remaining half of the bread into his mouth.

“Cough, cough, cough…”

After clearing his throat, he finally spoke.

“It’s because… destiny whispers to me. Today, I will face the cold. Overcoming this challenge will lead me to a brilliant spring and a radiant moonlit night.”

Eir shoved his school bag into his hands.

“Young Master, stop being dramatic. It’s summer.”

“Oh, right. Eir, speaking of which, I have a very important task for you this afternoon.”

“What is it?”

“Come closer.”

Will instinctively leaned toward Eir’s human ear.

“Uh… Young Master, if you want to whisper…”

Eir crouched slightly, offering her wolf ear instead.

“Here, talk into this…”

“Alright, it’s simple…”

Will leaned in and whispered into Eir’s ear, sharing a task that was deeply tied to the significance of “today.”