I Am a Villain, So What?-Chapter 175: One cup isn’t enough

Inside the rattling armored transport, I carefully disassembled the bolt of my Winchester rifle and began wiping it down with a lightly oiled cloth. Even in transit, downtime had to be used efficiently.

"Hey. You."

Breaking the long silence, Elisha finally spoke up.

"Speak, Cadet Elisha," I said, not looking up from the rifle.

Why she invited me—I was curious about that myself. I hoped she’d just state her business without playing political games.

"...Never mind."

"..."

What was her problem? Stopping midway was annoying.

I glanced at Elisha out of the corner of my eye. She was fidgeting nervously, her gloved hands gripping the edge of her seat. She clearly wanted to ask me something but was battling her own pride.

I ran through the recent events in my head and quickly pinned down the likely cause. The alleyway fight last week. From what I knew of the Protagonist’s nature, Kael tended to bottle things up and carry the burden alone rather than sharing his failures with his party. Elisha must have seen his injuries. She must be dying to know what happened and what kind of ’Trash’ thing I did this time to cause those unique, circular puncture wounds.

Hah. I got worked up for nothing.

I thought it was something related to the impending disasters. As the tension melted away, a wave of fatigue hit me.

I’m drowsy.

Even with the sun climbing high in the sky outside, my internal clock was thrown off. The Northern Territory past the mountain ridge wasn’t just a freezing tundra; it gave way to the Iron-Sand Desert—a vast, barren wasteland where the temperature fluctuated wildly. Wherever you looked, it was just an endless sea of reddish sand. It was a dangerous place. You never knew when or where a monster might ambush the convoy, so I had to stay alert.

I needed to wake up.

I opened my inventory and pulled out a thermal flask of coffee I had brewed back at Kitchen 21. As I popped the lid, the rich, sweet aroma of a Caramel Macchiato filled the confined space of the carriage.

"Hey, Lucien," Elisha said, her nose twitching as she eyed the flask suspiciously. "That’s not an illegal stimulant, is it?"

"..."

Does this noblewoman not know what coffee is, or is she just looking for a reason to interrogate me?

"It’s not. It’s coffee," I said, taking a sip.

"It smells like a narcotic. Look at how sweet that aroma is," she accused, leaning forward slightly.

"Does adding a ton of sugar and milk make a drink an illegal drug?" I sighed, capping the flask. "If it was actually a narcotic, do you honestly think I would pull it out and drink it right in front of a Duke’s daughter?"

"Hmm..."

Elisha thrust her hand out across the aisle.

"Give me some. I need to inspect it myself to be sure."

I stared at her outstretched hand. What kind of logic was that? Let me drink the suspected poison to verify it. She wasn’t the Imperial Police. She just wanted a taste of the sugar.

Rather than getting on the bad side of someone who was a core member of the Protagonist’s party, treating her to a cup of coffee was a cheap trade.

"Here."

I poured a generous portion into the flask’s metal cup and handed it to her.

Elisha took the cup, grumbling something under her breath about "confiscating contraband," and took a cautious sip. Then, she downed the rest of the hot drink in one go.

"Ah!"

Elisha’s eyes went wide, sparkling with genuine surprise.

"D-Delici—!"

She started to shout, but immediately flinched, clamping her mouth shut. Her face flushed red. It is incredibly annoying when someone cuts off mid-sentence twice in one hour.

"Delici-what?" I prompted dryly.

"Delici... Delici... It’s not not delicious!" Elisha stammered, crossing her arms defensively. "Hmph! Well, it’s memorable, I suppose. A very unique beverage."

Then, she uncrossed her arms, glanced at me sideways, and held out the empty cup.

"...One cup isn’t enough to properly verify if it contains stimulants."

"..."

She must’ve really liked it. Acting generous, I refilled her cup. She snatched it back eagerly.

Cute. Very typical seventeen-year-old behavior.

I decided to ignore Elisha’s pointless pride and went back to reassembling my rifle.

The Iron-Sand Desert was full of dangers. The border camp’s reclamation project didn’t make this territory safe by any means. Sandstorms were the least of our worries. A sudden mana storm here could tear through steel plating, the desert-adapted monsters were notoriously aggressive, and the shifting sands hid ancient ruins. Step in the wrong place, and you fall into a subterranean death trap.

Of course, those ruins were exactly what I was aiming for.

Because hidden inside them was...

****

"All right! We’ve arrived!" Valerius shouted from the front of the convoy.

The caravan halted at the Ironridge Border Camp. It was a sprawling military installation with hundreds of large, reinforced tents. Surprisingly, thick patches of engineered vegetation were growing in the sand without an oasis nearby. The place was bustling with workers and soldiers tending to the new flora.

"Okay, let’s assign quarters first," Valerius instructed as the club members unloaded from the carriages. "Women’s barracks are on the left, men on the right. Leave your heavy luggage here; it will be stored in the reinforced warehouse. We can’t risk losing supplies if a sandstorm hits."

Valerius skillfully directed the Marksmanship Club, explaining our itinerary. We were scheduled to help plant the engineered vegetation, deal with minor perimeter monsters, and conduct target practice for the local militia.

"Hey, Valerius! Long time no see!" a voice boomed.

"Ah, Supply Officer!" Valerius smiled, walking over to shake the middle-aged man’s hand. "It’s been a while. I’ve been slacking on my visits, haven’t I?"

"Haha, you’re an elite Academy professor now. You can’t come to the dirt outposts as often!" the officer laughed heartily.

"But... the camp seems a bit empty," Valerius noted, looking around the tents. "I don’t see the Vanguard Combat Team or the main Reclamation squad."

Commander Sophie Verdant marched past them, shooting Valerius a sharp look.

"Do you think we’re just sitting around playing in the sand? Everyone’s out on the reclamation project. The teams are spread out miles away from the base camp."

"Ah, I see," Valerius nodded. "But usually, the morning shifts would all be back by now, right?"

"That’s exactly what I’m worried about," Sophie said, her brow furrowing. "But I’m sure we’ll hear from them soon—"

"Distress signal!" a guard shouted from the camp’s watchtower.

Everyone turned. Far off in the desert horizon, a thick plume of bright red smoke was rising into the sky.

Valerius’ expression instantly turned grave. Commander Sophie didn’t waste a second. She turned and sprinted toward the camp’s stables.

"Damn it!" Sophie cursed, throwing a saddle onto a massive, two-humped desert camel. "I sent the entire reserve platoon to escort the Reclamation Team!"

She looked urgently at Valerius, who had followed her.

"Professor Valerius! Can you assist?!"

"I can fight, but I don’t know how to ride these desert beasts!" Valerius admitted, looking warily at the aggressive, spitting camels.

"Hah! Fine! Get on behind me!" Sophie ordered, swinging herself up into the saddle.

Desert camels, raised amidst mana storms and predators, were notoriously foul-tempered and difficult to control compared to standard horses.

As Valerius awkwardly prepared to climb up behind the Commander, I guided my own mount out of the stables.

"I’m going too," I announced.

"You—?" Sophie blinked in surprise.

I was already seated firmly on the back of a large desert camel I had swiftly detached from the convoy’s baggage line. My high-level riding proficiency made the usually aggressive beast completely docile under my command.

These sudden, unscripted emergency events were the perfect opportunity to farm System Points.

I snapped the reins ready to farm some points but was interrupted.

"Wait! I’m coming too!"

Elisha scrambled onto the back of the camel right behind me. The beast flinched and let out an annoyed grunt, but I pulled the reins hard to steady it.

"What are you doing, Elisha?" I asked, glancing back.

"I’m an archer! When it comes to long-range vision and sniping, I’m the best here!"

She wasn’t wrong. If she could actually contribute to the fight, there was no reason to kick her off.

"Hold on tight, then," I said, snapping the reins.

We surged forward, quickly catching up to Commander Sophie’s camel. As we galloped across the uneven dunes, Elisha wobbled dangerously. She was trying to balance using only her core strength to avoid touching me.

"Elisha! Stop being a nuisance and hold onto my waist!" I shouted over the rushing wind.

"H-Hold your waist?!"

"Or fall off! You’re throwing off the camel’s center of gravity!"

She hesitated for a split second before grabbing the sides of my tactical coat tightly. As the camel launched over a steep dune, jolting us hard, she let out a sharp yelp and clung to me completely, her arms wrapped tight around my midsection.

We crested the highest sandhill in the area. The battlefield finally came into view.

"There they are!" Sophie shouted, pulling her camel to a halt. "Damn it, they’re too far! Valerius, can you hit anything from here?!"

"Do you think I’m a hawk?" Valerius grunted, squinting into the distance. "It’s a full kilometer away!"

"The Reclamation Team is trapped in the center," I said, analyzing the dust cloud below. "They’ve formed a circular defensive line. The injured are in the middle. They are fighting a Titan Sand-Serpent."

Sophie froze. Valerius and Elisha stared at me blankly.

"Cadet Lucien, you can see that clearly?" Valerius asked.

"Yes."

The Titan Sand-Serpent was easily thirty meters long. It was a localized disaster-class monster. You couldn’t outrun it in the sand, and standard infantry couldn’t pierce its scales. If we didn’t support them immediately, the defensive line would break, and the team would be wiped out.

I stopped my camel and unslung the Winchester rifle from my back.

I reached into my bandolier and pulled out a specialized cryo-round. It was one of the new bullets Merle had forged using the high-density blue mana crystals we had just mined from the Spire’s 20th floor. I loaded it into the chamber and took aim.

Elisha realized what I was doing and tried to stop me.

"Hey, Lucien! Didn’t you hear the Professor?! It’s a kilometer away! A rifle can’t maintain bullet velocity or accuracy at that range against desert winds! Do you think you’re a Gold-Rank sniper?"

I ignored her, exhaled slowly, and pulled the trigger.

BANG!

The heavy recoil shoved against my shoulder. A bright blue streak tore through the desert air, cutting straight through the crosswinds.

It hit the massive serpent directly in the side of its head.

The blue crystal casing shattered on impact. The compressed mana detonated, instantly flash-freezing the entire right half of the serpent’s skull.

The beast thrashed wildly, letting out a horrific, gargling screech. But with half its brain frozen solid, its massive body quickly lost coordination and collapsed limply onto the sand.

"Uh..."

Elisha stared down at the distant, dead monster, her mouth hanging open in a daze.