I Raised the Villain's Daughter Too Well-Chapter 19: Didn’t Know! -

“Hey. From now on, don’t ever wash yourself with mud again.”

“Okay.”

With a final warning to Arin—who I likely wouldn’t see again—I stepped into the portal.

Whooosh!!

Blinding white surrounded me on all sides.

“Are these bastards insane...?”

Before I could even recover from the motion sickness of the sudden spatial transfer, a bone-piercing chill slammed into my entire body.

When I opened my eyes, I saw nothing. Only a raging snowstorm and a snowfield deep enough to swallow my ankles.

The sun was hidden beyond thick snow clouds, not even the faintest light piercing through, and the wind beating against my ears was loud enough to numb my hearing.

The environmental change was so extreme that it was hard to believe I’d been sitting in a warm classroom just moments ago.

‘They really have no intention of letting anyone pass.’

This setup—if you can’t use magic, you’ll be eliminated within a minute. No exceptions.

Even then, only those who can use at least Second Rank magic. If all you’ve got is the bare minimum of elemental spells, First Rank, you’re dead unless you forfeit.

I cloaked myself in a small shield made of mana. The cold remained, but it was bearable now that the wind was blocked.

Only then did I inspect the issued bag. A pickaxe, a few rock-hard biscuits and jerky, a lantern half-filled with oil, a pair of dark binoculars, matches, and most importantly—the compass.

The needle of the compass spun wildly before finally pointing in one direction and stopping. Presumably, somewhere that way was the so-called crystal.

But that wasn’t what mattered right now. If I stayed in this blizzard for even ten more minutes, I’d freeze before I could take a single step.

I’d have to melt a path forward using maximum firepower, but if I did that, I’d be forced into a miserable rhythm of one hour of marching and two hours of rest.

That is—assuming I hadn’t prepared in advance.

I offered a deep, silent thanks to Emily, who, whether she realized it or not, warned me with the keyword hypothermia.

I activated the pendant I had crafted in advance.

While preparing Lady Firnea’s birthday gift, I’d essentially turned into an artifact craftsman good enough to slap a dwarf across the face.

It hadn’t even taken me two hours to buy a quality mana stone, hammer it appropriately, engrave the magic circle, and shape it into a pendant.

—Whuuuummm!

“Not bad.”

The pendant activated, thawing my frozen body in an instant and filling me with energy.

I hadn’t even had time to test it, but it worked flawlessly.

Having resolved the hardest part of the exam in just 30 seconds, I hummed a tune as I walked toward the crystal.

Looks like first place is mine.

****

Imperial Capital Academy – Temporary Noble Viewing Room

In the lavishly decorated room, several crystal orbs were installed, each projecting the image of a different examinee. The noble children gathered in clumps, watching the screens and speaking irritably amongst themselves.

On-screen, examinees were either giving up one after another, or shattering their compasses just before freezing to death.

“Number 30512—I had my eye on him. What the hell, he dropped out in three minutes.”

“Number 1104... That bastard—I sponsored him with three bottles of elixir!”

“Shit, we just threw money away!”

The ones gathered here weren’t all that high in standing. Just middling nobles who had barely managed to receive an Academy notice.

Naturally, the truly wealthy didn’t bother scratching lottery tickets.

“Haaah, I’m done.”

“What? Already? Didn’t you hire a hundred people?”

“I cut it to thirty midway. They said they were confident, so I hired an expensive mercenary company. I swear I’ll kill all those bastards.”

“Don’t. Killing people costs money too.”

“Fuuuck...”

One noble stormed out in a rage.

If a sponsored examinee became a Special Talent student, it was a huge gain. Inside the Academy, it meant having an ally you could trust unconditionally.

Such a "running mate" offered overwhelming help with grade management. It was a fact proven for decades.

Truly well-connected nobles didn’t even have to lift a finger—trustworthy allies would flock to them in droves. But for the rest, a Special Talent student was a lottery ticket worth scratching.

That is, if the exam wasn’t as absurd as this one.

“This is complete bullshit, isn’t it? I was told to watch out for hypothermia, so I thought they’d send them somewhere like a snowy plain.”

“I thought they’d be made to fight some ice-attribute monsters. But the Crovan Mountains? Really?”

“I looked up every Special Talent exam in history—this is by far the worst. Looks like we all just lost money. Must sting for you the most, Lady Emily, since you scratched the most?”

“Shut up.”

“Oof, rejected.”

“Moron, hahaha...”

Emily bit her nails anxiously as she stared at the screen.

It was horrifying. Being surrounded by these foul-mouthed nobles. Having to depend on a damn lottery. Watching her house fall further into ruin.

But above all—

‘...How is he enduring this?’

Watching her enemy thrive like this.

While more than half of the 500 examinees sponsored by the nobles were already eliminated, Virdem was advancing faster than anyone else.

She knew he could use magic, but at best, it had to be Third Rank.

How was he able to keep moving forward without resting even once?

His singular advance began drawing the attention of other nobles as well.

“Hey, wait a second—who sponsored that guy in the butler outfit?”

“...What the—Isn’t that Virdem?”

“Virdem?”

“That guy from the Serbus Family. You know, Firnea’s right-hand. They’re always together.”

“Oh? You’re right. Why’s a butler here?”

“Looks like someone put him up for the Special Talent exam.”

“Hah, are they out of their minds? Why not make the coachman take it too while they’re at it?”

“But...”

The nobles mocking Virdem soon turned curious as they stared at the screen.

“...Why is he doing so well?”

“He’s in the lead right now.”

“...?”

For a moment, a horrifying thought flashed through the minds of all the nobles.

No way. Could they be serious?

Did they put a butler into the Special Talent exam not as a joke—but because they actually believed he could pass?

“Well, looks like he was given a decent artifact...”

“Whatever. He’ll hit the yeti zone soon. He’ll get shredded.”

The nobles tried to brush it off with laughter.

—Slick!

Until they saw a yeti get taken down in three seconds.

“...”

“That bastard... just now...”

Even through the low-res projection of the crystal orb, it was easy to see—the speed of that draw, the precision of that strike.

The yeti’s throat was sliced, blood spilled, and it collapsed. It never rose again.

Virdem calmly re-sheathed his blade and continued walking.

The noble children didn’t laugh anymore.

Their opinion of Virdem hadn’t changed—he was still “just a butler.”

But now they had to ask themselves—

What kind of house produces a butler like that?

What kind of house is the Seriratus Family, if that “just a butler” is leading the Special Talent Exam?

“...Is he really a butler?”

“If even the butler’s that strong... how powerful is their knight order supposed to be...”

“When I talked to Lady Firnea last time, that bastard was staring daggers at me. I thought, ‘What’s a butler getting so worked up about?’ Turns out he had something to back him up.”

“Messing with the Seriratus Family sounds like a death sentence. Once I get in, I’ll need to cling to them hard.”

“Ugh, uuugh...”

Emily clenched her teeth as she watched the reactions around her shift from panic to pragmatic interest.

After today, the rumors would spread: even their butlers are monsters—on par with knights. That’s the kind of family the Seriratus is.

Even with Pitus dead, nothing had changed. They were still firmly in control.

Her hands and feet trembled. She still couldn’t forget that cold stare from the library—those eyes that looked down on her with absolute indifference.

‘Just how dearly did you raise him...?!’

Emily cursed Firnea, who wasn’t even in the room.

She had always known their relationship wasn’t that of a typical master and servant. Since they were young, it had been obvious how unusually close they were. She assumed Firnea must’ve bought him all kinds of elixirs to turn a mere butler into that.

‘Still... it’s not over yet...!’

She forced herself to smile.

Right behind Virdem on the screen, a blond man with a fierce expression was closing in.

She had given the order.

If you see a man in butler’s attire—eliminate him.

If he failed to do so...

“Uuugh...”

It was a horrifying thought. To think she might have to face that guy even inside the Academy.

Worse, he might use that environment to tighten the noose around the Laurencia Family’s neck.

Emily clenched her fists. In her eyes—locked onto Virdem’s image—there was hatred, but also a deep, gnawing fear she couldn’t shake.

‘Please... just die out there.’

For the first time in a long while, she prayed with all her heart.

****

“...What the hell is this?”

I frowned as I took down the ninth yeti.

Something was off. These yetis—

Never mind the sheer number—they weren’t afraid.

Even when one of their own was cut down in a single blow, they didn’t retreat. They just kept charging.

“Hmm...”

Even considering the extreme environment, no—especially because of it—this behavior was abnormal.

—KWOAAARRRGH!

Before I could finish my thought, more yetis screamed and rushed at me.

They were strange creatures—like someone had fused a human with a polar bear and then doubled its size.

Their weakness was their speed. Living in this terrain had made them strong, but slow. With just a bit of reflex, their attacks were easy to dodge.

More importantly, my body wasn’t freezing up in the slightest.

With minimal movement, I lightly slashed the necks of two yetis.

—Guh, guhagh...!

No need to waste energy. In drawn-out fights like this, just nicking the neck of a medium-sized monster like that would result in massive blood loss and death before they even realized.

It worked pretty well, but...

—KRAAARRGHH!

“Ugh, enough already.”

Thirteenth one. It didn’t even mean anything anymore.

I was starting to get annoyed, so I finished it off and dug out a small snow cave to rest in.

A head-on approach wouldn’t work. Somehow, from a certain point onward, the yetis just started going berserk and attacking like crazy.

But digging my way through would take who knows how long, and since the evaluation focused on process, that wasn’t an option either.

...Come to think of it, if the exam values process, maybe I should just keep tearing through them all?

I don’t know. Even if the exam was designed to be impossible to pass, there had to be at least a narrow backdoor.

For now, I’ll rest about ten minutes, and if this shit continues, I’ll look for another method.

Just as I was settling in to take a break—

—KRAAAAAAGHHH!

THUD!

“...”

A yeti suddenly appeared and slammed its fist down at the entrance of the cave.

Brushing the snow off my face, I let out a long, irritated sigh.

At least one thing was now certain:

I had erased my scent completely. If they were behaving normally, the yetis shouldn’t be able to find me.

—But they were still tracking me down, somehow.

And it made no sense for the exam administrators to specifically target me, even if I had Seriratus behind ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) me.

The logical conclusion: among the examinees, there’s someone actively aiming for me.

“So that’s how it is?”

This might actually work in my favor.

I’d been worried that just trudging through this snowy mountain wouldn’t be enough to earn a high score—

But now I had some juicy prey.

Smiling slightly, I pricked my finger.