I’m the Villain? Heck No!

The next day, after finishing his morning classes, Raziel decided to go home instead of following the other students to the arena.

When he arrived home, Raziel took a bath, put on some refined clothes, and asked Clarice to call for a carriage. Curious about where he was going, Clarice asked, but Raziel just mentioned he was going to visit someone.

She was preparing to follow him, but he said it was not necessary for her to accompany him because he wouldn't take too long to solve this matter. The girl just nodded and accepted, deciding to do something else but still maintaining her curiosity.

After entering the carriage, Raziel took the opportunity to retrieve the rainbow stone from his interdimensional ring and analyze it during the journey. He only understood how it worked by recalling some explanations given in the game.

Luckily, he didn't skip the dialogues, as that would have been a bit problematic right now, especially considering that this thing has two ways of being used.

The first way to use the rainbow stone is to enhance mana absorption. You inject some mana into the stone, and once it changes its rainbow color to bright blue, you break it. After breaking it, a very small blue orb will float out, and absorbing this orb will increase a little your mana reserves for some reason.

This process is easy and safe, unlike other methods to increase mana that often come with risky side effects. So, in the future, when the use of rainbow stones is discovered by the public, the prices of these stones will skyrocket. At the same time, many adventurers will attempt to explore the area, later called Rainbow Hell, where this miracle item appears.

The second way is to let the stone absorb mana from your body slowly without injecting mana directly, allowing it to be near your body. Once the rainbow stone changes from its bright color to a dark one, you can discard it because it means some impurities in your body are now gone.

In the future, due to the high demand for these stones, they will become extremely rare. By episode seven, the price had become exorbitant, with a single stone that originally cost two hundred Liridio now commanding around one thousand Liridio. The scarcity worsened as the Rainbow Hell produced fewer stones after some guilds tried to monopolize their extraction.

Anya was not a mage and worked with medicines, so these stones initially held no value for her, as they only served to enhance the strength of mana users. However, that changed when Erick gave one to her as a present after defeating the boss of Rainbow Hell, who was already in very bad condition due to his habitat being destroyed.

She didn't care much at first, but when she learned that her father was dying from mana evaporation and the current treatment for this disease was ineffective, she reluctantly accepted his fate deciding to give him one last gift.

Anya then remembered the beautiful stone that Erick had given her and decided to make a necklace with it, using some other exotic stones that her father liked to collect.

With teary eyes, she gave the collar to her father and quietly left the hospital room, unable to bear seeing him in such a weakened state. Fortunately, through what seemed like fate, the stone reacted with her father's body, and after a week of wearing the collar, his condition showed a slight improvement.

In summary, Anya initially believed the improvement was due to the collar she had crafted. But, she later discovered that the rainbow stone could suppress mana evaporation by purifying the body and stabilizing the mana inside it at the same time.

This revelation prompted her to purchase a large quantity of these stones and effectively develop a treatment for her father, which earned her a reputation as a genius pharmacist capable of curing a disease with a high mortality rate.

'Anya is really a genius and a future money-making machine. If she wasn't so crazy, she would be a perfect waifu,' Raziel thought, admiring the rainbow stone on his hand.

After a few minutes, Raziel arrived at the Haisenvel Imperial Hospital, considered the largest and most luxurious hospital in the Gravantia Empire.

The place was large and beautiful, constructed from white marble with intricate woodwork that lent it a fancy and refined appearance. In the lobby, Raziel asked for information about a patient named Mariet Campbell, presenting a golden pass similar to the one he had given Clarice the day before.

A sympathetic elderly lady with a gentle smile, dressed in a typical white nurse outfit, called another nurse to guide Raziel to the room where Clarice's mother was.

He then followed a nurse who appeared seconds later, feeling a little anxious, as this would be the first time he would see Clarice's mother's face. In the game, she was only mentioned as deceased, and no image of her had ever been shown.

After walking with the nurse for a few minutes, he found himself on the top floor of the hospital in a zone called The Golden Paradise, where only the wealthy were treated with the best medicines and healers the place had to offer.

Inside the room where Mariet Campbell lay, Raziel stood, his gaze fixed on her beautiful yet frail face. Even in her weakened state, the woman before him possessed a striking, almost regal presence that left him deeply moved.

She was a stunning blonde woman with radiant beauty and milk-like skin. Her hair cascaded like sunlight, framing a pale face that exuded warmth and charm. Her figure was curvaceous, though she appeared a bit too thin, her closed eyes and eyelids showed an air of grace and confidence.

It was like looking at an older version of Clarice.

The first thought that crossed his mind upon seeing such beauty was, 'Damn, old man, did you really intend to let this stunning woman die?'

Raziel let out a small sigh and shook his head before asking to be left alone in the room. He needed to use the rainbow stone without any witnesses. If someone suddenly noticed that he knew how to cure this woman disease, it could trigger a lot of problematic events and bring him too much trouble.

Of course, he knew that if he suddenly visited this woman and her health started to improve, someone smart enought might notice the strange coincidence. That's why he had arranged for the treatment to begin the moment Mariet was transferred to this place.

The rainbow stone in his hand would take a week to remove some of the impurities from Mariet's body, so he would need more than one stone to be successful. Sadly, he only had one with him that the original Raziel had bought from a shady seller because he thought Sylfi would like this beautiful rainbow-colored stone.

Well, she completely ignored his gift, which made Raziel be sad. He then gave it to his uncle, who enjoyed collecting exotic items. But after Jasir didn't find any good use for the stone, he simply kept it as a present from his dear nephew.

'If Raziel wasn't such a simp and focused more on improving his personality, he probably would have made some advances in his relationship with Sylfi.'

Raziel sighed again, lamenting how poorly the writers had portrayed this character, as he tried to find a discreet place to hide the rainbow stone. Fortunately, the stone was small, about the size of a tiny diamond, making it easier to conceal.

As Raziel examined the woman, he noticed she was wearing a silver necklace around her neck, which intrigued him to take a closer look.

The necklace appeared to have colored stones embedded within it, which sparked an idea in Raziel's mind. Carefully, he retrieved a pocket knife he usually carried to cut fruit and used it to remove one of the stones. With precision, he replaced it with his own rainbow-colored stone.

At first, it didn't fit perfectly, but with a bit of gentle force, he managed to slot it into place without any issues. After finishing his task, he made sure the rainbow stone would absorb the impurities, observing it for an hour until he noticed a very small dark pigment forming on the stone.

Now that the stone was doing its job, Raziel decided to go home, start training, and figure out a way to track down that same shady seller who, for some reason, had come into possession of one of these stones.

'Maybe Rainbow Hell has already appeared, but the adventurers still haven't realized how dangerous and significant that place is.'

With that in mind, he called a nurse who escorted him to the hospital entrance. After thanking her, Raziel flagged down a passing carriage on the street to take him home.

***

"Huff... huff... forgive me, Father. I... huff... I'm sorry for not participating in the quali-"

*Boom

A loud noise echoed through Raziel's backyard. The poor guy was struck by a giant ball of stone thrown in his direction, knocking him to the ground and leaving him groaning in pain.

The person responsible for this was Mikael Harvestead, also known as the patriarch of the Harvestead family, or simply Raziel's father. He could be seen sitting in a solar bench chair, sipping on a glass of orange juice.

He was tall with a defined body, which was unusual for a mage. His blonde hair and sharp brown eyes resembled Raziel's, but his smile and facial features, while handsome, exuded a sinister aura, akin to staring at a psychopath ready to kill.

Mikael was teaching a lesson to his irresponsible son, who didn't sign up to fight in the qualifiers. When he received the news from an informant inside the academy, the first thing he did was to go have a "lovely" talk with him.

When Raziel arrived home earlier, he met Clarice at the entrance. Her face was pale, as if she had seen a ghost.

As soon as he stepped into the living room, he quickly saw his "father" staring at him like a maniac, making him almost shit himself. Without warning, Mikael dragged him to the backyard to "show some discipline."

Mikael then asked for a chair and a glass of juice from Clarice, who obeyed with a frightened look on her face. Once he made himself comfortable, he started to scold Raziel while hurling low-level earth spells at him, completely disregarding his safety.

"Raziel, I told you to at least make it to the primary matches so I wouldn't cut your allowance. But you didn't even sign up. Are you trying to bring shame to our family name?" Mikael said in an angry tone while drinking his juice.

"Argh... No, Father, I'm not," Raziel answered, crawling on the ground. "It's just... I realized that I was too weak for this tournament."

"I see... <Earth Bombartia>," Mikael recited, preparing to throw another stone ball at his son.

"Wait, wait, wait! I-I promise to train harder this time. P-please forgive me, father, just this once, I beg you!" Raziel implored, knowing his father was ruthless compared to Jasir.

"Sigh... You know, I'm not only angry about that, but I also found out that you received a lot of money from your uncle. I already told him last month to stop giving you more than two hundred Liridio per week..." Mikael paused, setting the empty glass down on the ground.

"But then... you managed to get five thousand from that guy, and for what?"

Mikael looked puzzled, unsure why his son had taken so much money from Jasir, since the man hadn't explained why he gave such a large sum.

"I-its to make an investment!" Raziel said while trying to get up from the ground.

"MUHAHAHAHA!"

His father, after hearing such a thing, just let a sinister laugh escape. To him, this was extreme bullshit because he knew Raziel was lazy enough to not care about anything, including investments or training. The only thing this foolish son does is follow that girl from the Valternorth family.

Unfortunately, the only legal heir eligible to assume control of Harvestead family is Raziel.

Mikael tried to have more sons, but an certain incident left him infertile. Only one of his two wives had a child, who is now seen as incompetent.

"You know, Raziel, I really hope you can become someone capable of carrying our family legacy into the future. So, I'll let these two incidents slide for today. But if you don't start proving yourself soon, I'll have no choice but to disown you," Mikael said seriously, changing his expression and dismissing his spell.

Raziel, upon hearing these words, could feel the deep disappointment in the man's tone. It angered him because it wasn't his fault. He had only arrived a few days ago, and he never asked to be brought into this world in the first place.

With that, Mikael turned to leave when he heard Raziel say, "You're right, father. I may be a disappointment, but... I swear to you, everything I'm doing is to save us. Just trust me this time!"

The big guy turned his head to look at his son standing there, staring back at him with a determination in his eyes that he had never seen before. It made him let out another sinister laugh.

"Ah... Before you go, let me ask you about something," Raziel asked, wiping dirt from his torn suit.

"If you're trying to ask for money, forget it," Mikael said quickly.

"No, no, it's not about money. What I want is to know is if I can break off my engagement with Sylfi," Raziel said in a mundane tone, waving his hand in denial.

"WHAT!?"

And then, for the first time in many years, Mikael let genuine surprise show on his face.