Transmigrated as the Villain: I Will Destroy Fate

Ronan didn’t care about the Runic Arts Club.

Not really.

Sure, the Runic Arts were powerful. Control, traps, territory denial, communication.

But that wasn’t the reason he had stepped forward.

His gaze shifted slightly, and it locked onto a gorgeous woman with blonde hair and streaks of silver.

Seraphina Valon.

That was the real value the Runic Arts Club held.

Ronan took the application sheet and filled it out with no hesitation, his handwriting clean and deliberate.

"Thank you for submitting your application," the attendant said. "We will inform you once your application has been accepted."

"Understood."

He handed it back casually.

"Most people hesitate before applying."

Seraphina’s voice echoed from behind him.

"Well, I’m not one to waste time on decisions I have already made."

Seraphina gave him a beautiful smile.

"I am the same in that regard."

As she said that, she filled out the same form and handed it to the attendant, who looked far more shocked and flustered than she had been a few moments ago.

"T-Thank you for submitting your application. We will inform you once your application has been accepted."

"Thank you."

The attendant stammered back a response. She was in her late 20s, stammering due to an 18-year-old girl.

Although that wasn’t anything unusual. Most people would be in the face of the princess.

"You have quite the group of friends. They are quite amusing."

"I wouldn’t call them friends," Ronan replied. "Aquinatances maybe."

Seraphina hummed. "I must say, you have quite the nasty reputation."

"What have you heard? I’m curious."

"Well," she said with a sly smile. "I have heard you like harassing your maids. Or that you have a short temper. Or that you like bullying young girls."

"The last one is false. That was a misunderstanding."

"So that others are true?"

She looked far too amused.

"No, they are not."

"Well, if it means anything, they don’t sound very true either."

"That means a great deal coming from you, Princess Seraphina." Then, Ronan got an idea. "If you want to make a public announcement telling the student body how great I am, that would be appreciated."

"Hmm, perhaps the rumors were true," she said with a small giggle.

"Heads are turning," Ronan said, eyes scanning the students who were looking in their direction. "I wonder what I’ve done to earn the attention of the princess."

"We will be club members together soon," she offered. "Why would I not want to get to know my future club members?"

"There’s no guarantee I’ll pass."

"No... I think you will."

"If the princess of all people has faith in me, then I can’t afford to fail, can I?"

Seraphina frowned at that slightly, but she didn’t rebuke the statement.

Before she could open her mouth again, though, the noise in the room suddenly dropped. Students stopped mummering, and quickly–

Silence.

It was unnaturally fast, and it felt like something was pressing down on the space itself.

A pulse of mana rippled through the hall.

Ronan turned his attention towards the front of the room, and so did every other student.

"Attention all first-year students."

The voice was deep. The man didn’t yell, but in an instant, he commanded the attention of every student in the hall.

It was the vice headmaster himself.

Roman Sustrei.

"Every single first year in the building will return to their homeroom classes at once. There will be an important announcement to make."

His voice echo’d, and it was obvious he wasn’t just speaking to the students in the hall, he was speaking to every single first year.

"It is mandatory."

A brief pause followed in the student body, and then the man disappeared into smoke.

Students instantly started talking.

"What’s going on?"

"Did something happen?"

"Did someone do something?"

Ronan gave one last smile at the princess before he started walking towards the B class.

So it was already starting.

Earlier than expected.

When he got there, Kazuma was already seated. Of course he was.

"You noticed it, didn’t you?"

Kazuma’s voice came out quieter than usual... more guarded.

"Noticed what?"

"The tone of the vice headmaster’s voice. This event is not planned."

The awkward Kazuma was gone, and he seemed to be in deep thought. He was on edge, and it didn’t seem like he was as relaxed as he usually was.

Elara walked in next, and she was just as confused.

Instead of sitting in her usual spot, she came up to the two of us and sat there.

"What’s going on?" She asked. "That could not have been planned. Why would there be a mandatory announcement in the middle of the club fair?"

"There’s no guarantee it’s anything important," Ronan said with a yawn. "Don’t stress, I’m sure it’s nothing."

"Ugh, you’re so dumb. What do you think, Kazuma?"

"I have to agree with you, Elara Lockhart. There seems to be something unexpected happening; this doesn’t seem ordinary."

"See, someone agrees."

Ronan kept quiet, a thoughtful expression on his face.

He didn’t remember the emergency announcement happening so early. If he remembered correctly, it was a few days after the club fair, after Luca had joined the cooking club, Iris.

Was this due to his actions? Or was there something else at work?

"Attention."

Vera commanded the attention of the entire class.

"As you have heard, an emergency announcement has been issued. The reasoning for it was not told to the staff, so I do not know why this is happening. All I know is what is going to happen, which I will not communicate to you."

Vera’s eyes scanned the room.

"Starting today, Luminara Academy has decided to take more drastic measures to ensure the growth of its students.

A ripple passed through the class, and nobody spoke.

Everyone was thinking the same thing: what drastic measures?

"And as a result... the schedule has been adjusted."

She started drawing things on the chalkboard and moved aside to show what she had drawn. A forest with five chess pieces, arrows pointing towards the middle symbolizing battle.

"A mandatory exam has been issued for all freshman students, the first this academy has seen," her pointer struck the board.

And in massive letters read the name of the exam she spoke of.

The Inter-Class War.