Struggling as a Villain

Inside the council office of the palace, seven people could be seen currently being seated around the round table.

Naturally, the head of the Empire, along with his oldest son, was present during the meeting since the matter concerned the future of the Empire.

Along with them, the captain of the Imperial Legion, the three Duke/Duchess, and the foreign minister were present.

Everyone involved with the experiment has either run away with several research reports or killed themselves for some specific reason.

The investigation of the Prime Minister's murder was still ongoing but given the circumstances at that time, it was highly unlikely that any name would come up.

With the previous council now dismissed, the system was in a critical situation.

"Have there been any movements from the foreign empires?" The first Prince asked the minister who was responsible for maintaining a good relationship with the other Empires.

The obese man replied while wiping the sweat off his forehead using a handkerchief, "No, Your Highness. Until now, our spies haven't reported anything."

Silence befell in the room as the Emperor glanced at Bellarine for a brief moment. He was still hesitant to talk to her and Hawkbridge, given the warning they provided just before the incident. And he chose to ignore them.

"Your Majesty, there were several battalions under the Prime Minister's control and influence. We need to trim them out as well." Bennet suggested.

After the Prime Minister was found dead, his office was investigated, and it turned out that the old man had been influencing people for a long time and had been planning for something massive for a while now. He has kept several soldiers and mages of the royal court under his command, who would gain free reign now that the Prime Minister is dead.

"Did anyone discern what Philips was planning?" Philius, the late Prime Minister's books and records were given to the best decipherer.

It was Duke Aeromore who responded, "The main objective of that scum has yet to be ascertained. However, it seems something has been interpreted from those ancient runes." Saying so, the gray-haired man clapped his hand twice before someone walked inside the conference room.

The person carried a folded parchment in his hand which he handed to the Duke before retreating.

Duke Aeromore Leonis unfolded the parchment before showing the magic circle drawn on it.

The Emperor and the others, including Bellarine, closely studied the ancient language written around the circle, only for the Prince to gasp.

"T-This...." He couldn't believe what he just read on the parchment, and looking at others' reactions, it seemed they were completely taken aback as well.

Lucius' face darkened as he muttered under his breath,

"Summoning ritual."

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The central academy of Eldoria boasts authentic teaching and all-round instruction that could make a normal child into an elite warrior.

There are not many ways of getting admitted into this prestigious school. One has to pass a few tests to get their names enlisted and has to pay a reasonable sum for their tuition fees. The enrollment fee does not exceed the amount which a commoner family cannot afford.

The series of tests which a student has to go through contains physical and academic assessments.

Richard had already given those half a year ago, and naturally, he passed.

Now, tomorrow, he will be heading to the academy to get himself into a primary subject.

There are numerous subjects one could choose, however, each one of them requires the students to pass a certain number of tests to show their passion for the said subject. Like, if one wants to get into the 'Alchemy' group, they have to show their skills of transformation and combination of matters to make something useful.

Each group has its unsaid ranking, and everyone knows about it. Out of the six groups, 'Alchemy' and 'Apothecary' are graded the lowest, and only those who have an actual passion for it ever choose one of the two as their primary subject.

Then comes the 'Survival' group which trains the students to become adventurers mostly. This course allows the students to know how to survive in unfavorable conditions and always come out alive.

Then comes the 'Warrior' group and the 'Mages'. Those who choose to be warriors are mostly taught physical combat, weapon training, and related topics. They generally become knights and soldiers for nobles. Mages are magic-orientated and usually deal with things related to magecraft and spells.

Then comes the most difficult and famous group—the Hunters.

Unlike adventurers, who do every kind of job to help and support the citizens, hunters have the responsibility to just hunt the Bates across the continent. They get paid higher and their job doesn't require anything other than killing.

Hunters are deemed as the blend of every other category as they have to know the basics of every other course to survive. Hunters are also directly recruited by various noble families as well, which makes this subject even more desirable.

However, Richard had a different reason to choose this course. And that was—he wanted to remain connected with the main plot.

Laying on the rooftop of the mansion, he stared at the starry sky while thinking about what he had to face and what he had done in these two months.

Living as a typical nobody in his previous life, he was somehow surviving in that world with only one ambition in his mind. And that was to keep his sister safe.

Bella...

'I hope she is doing well.'

Richard was an adopted child, and he met Bella for the first time when he was seven. He still remembered how she was peeking from the kitchen while he sat in the living room; shy and anxious to see her new big brother.

'Mother would have been very happy to see how well Bella grew up...' Richard couldn't help but smile foolishly while thinking about his old days.

His parents whom he...really...wait!

"Huh?!" Richard abruptly got up with a severe frown on his face and thought carefully.

Parents....parents....fuck!

"What did my parents look like?" Richard grabbed his head and tried to think about them even more carefully now. However, despite his efforts, he couldn't remember them at all.

Their faces were vaguely recognizable....like if they stood in front of him, he would remember them. However, this still made him anxious.

Just two months ago, he remembered their faces and everything about them. However, now he not only forgot about how they looked, but the other things like his friends and where he used to study....everything seemed to have started to fade away.

No...this can't be happening.

Richard jumped off the roof and landed on the balcony.

Heading toward his bed, he sat down and rolled up his sleeve hurriedly.

Looking at the symbol of blessings he received from the Goddess, Richard heaved a sigh before applying ether to it—and soon he lost his consciousness.

....

The next time Richard opened his eyes, he was standing in a void which was pristine white, everywhere he saw.

Richard has visited this place twice before. This was the sanctuary of his memories.

The blessing he asked from the Deity was to let him access his memories independently. The reason why he chose this blessing is that there was a constant danger of someone reading his mind.

The Headmaster of the academy to be precise. And there was that psycho princess as well.

That's why Richard wanted to keep himself safe from any kind of situation.

But he never knew he would be visiting this place to remember the people he once used to call 'mother-father'.

There were two shelves on which he stored his memories. One, which the others could see if they penetrated inside his head. It was like a pen drive, which contained bits of his memories which he wanted the others to see. And one, in which all his memories are stored, completely unfiltered.

Richard moved toward the second one, looked into the book under the 'Past' tag, and hurriedly located everything he wished to see.

Dropping all the books related to his past life, Richard sat down.

Flipping the pages at an anxious pace, he finally halted once he saw the faces of two middle-aged people standing side by side while two children of less than ten years standing in front of them while facing forward.

Richard's heart melted at the sight as he finally recalled all those moments he had spent with his family. The flood of memories was not uncomfortable as he took his time reminiscing those moments.

Without realizing it, he spent several hours in the mindscape and went to sleep late at night. When he remains in that void the time flows normally in the real world...which explains why Richard woke up late on the first day of his Academy.

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A/N:- A lot of things about the Minister have yet to be unveiled. I hope you all enjoyed reading the chapter.