Stone Mage: Revenge of the Villain System

"Lovushka and his troupe." Calla grinned. "Now they are the true showrunners not just in Amphitheatre, but the whole school itself."

"What do you mean?"

Ronin asked as the troupe started to perform a play with Lovushka playing the female lead. The 'damsel-in-distress' that the hero must save.

It's not really anything special for men to play women acting roles especially in this setting. Back in Shakespeare's time, there were no women actors.

That means that Romeo was played by a man, and Juliet was also played by a man, and they would kiss and confess their love for each other.

Several other cultures also share the same crossdressing aspect as part of performances, and even rituals. And since the population of women in the Academy was so low.....

It was no surprise that people like Lovushka would have to make up for that scarcity.

"Lovushka is not just an actor. He is also a major influence in the Acadamy itself." Calla explained. "But his ways were much more subtle and often overlooked. Besides having lots of fanatics groveling at his feet and following his every word..."

"He also owns the Truth Serum papers."

Ronin furrowed his brows. "The Truth Serum papers?"

"It's a series of papers that the troupe releases to document all important events in the Academy and other things they must know or would have liked to know."

"Ah, I understand." Ronin nodded.

'So they basically own the school's newspaper club.'

Calla added: "The Academy's Council and faculty itself was only vaguely aware of the papers. It is not sanctioned by them but it is not necessarily 'illegal'. Even when the Truth Serum releases some..... not so truthful things."

"Yet everyone will believe it anyway, especially its loyal followers. The papers are distributed by hand and passed along through word of mouth." She took something from her heavy vest. "Here, take a look if it interests you."

Ronin took the small pamphlet-like paper from her. There were about 20 to 30 pages, and it indicates the week that this 'volume' was for.

"Who writes these papers? How do they mass produce them?" Ronin asked.

The penmanship was near perfect, along with the alignment. Surely, there were no typewriters in this setting.

"It was said that most of them were handwritten by Lovushka himself, and a troupe member called Doppler uses his Mage Focus to multiply these copies."

Sure enough, a man playing the court jester, first juggled one ball that suddenly turned into two and then three in a blink of an eye.

As Ronin flipped the pages, Calla continued to give him details about these papers.

"The Truth Serum has ruined several people ever since its release three years ago. Lovushka is a fourth-year like me, we are in the same class and I have watched everything with my own two eyes."

She made a dramatic scared expression. "Ah, it's enough to make a woman have nightmares every night! The power that mere words can hold!"

"How do they ruin people?" Ronin asked, very interested in these papers now.

She pointed at a certain page at the pamphlet.

"The Confessionals. This was where it all began. Former important personalities were demolished due to their revealed dark secrets. Alliances were broken and wars sparked in flames."

Ronin devoured every word in The Confessionals. Calla was right.

The words here were written so wonderfully well that they can appear believable whether or not they were completely fake.

Reputation can be lost so easily, and the perception of the masses would obviously be changed.

"How do they gain information for these Confessionals? They gain anonymous statements?"

"Yes. I don't know the process itself, but you can seek Lovushka and ask him yourself."

Calla seemed to have enough talking to Ronin, as she went over to Edelweiss' side to watch the play with her. "My oh my, look at that romantic scene! It's enough to make one jealous, don't you think, my princess?"

Ronin sensed that Calla was truly different from all the other harem members Min Cheng had in the past, and even now. They were usually demure, and even the villainess that he steals turn tame because of him.

But Calla herself was not even that much of a villainess, yet she acts so forward and cunning.

That's why Ronin believes she couldn't have just told him about the Truth Serum and Lovushka for no reason.

'She's testing me. She must have noticed something in the way I look at Cermin and Rabuka earlier.'

Ronin examined the papers again, but bumped into someone who tried to move closer to the stage to watch the play.

He narrowed his eyes at this person, but realized that it was a man in a cloak.

A grown man, not a student.

'A teacher? What is he doing here?'

Ronin paid attention to this person's thoughts among the swarm of others in this crowded place.

(His Flame seems to be strong... But is it strong enough?)

(No. And the potency with the transformation is not much because of his Amber Heartstone.)

(I needed someone with a lower and more potent Heartstone... Yet still has a high Flame. But where can I find one?)

(Where can I finally find someone that would fit the metamorphosis?)

Ronin's eyes widened, and he went closer to this man. He nonchalantly tapped his shoulder, even when deep down, his heart had been running laps from every thought he heard...

"Excuse me, you're too tall. I cannot see. Can you please go to the back a little?" He excused himself for tapping.

The man turned to him with a nervous stutter and fixed his shaky glasses. "O-Oh, I'm so sorry about that.... fellow student..."

Ronin: ..... ..... .....

Is he for real? With that beard, no one can ever think he was a 'fellow student'.

But that didn't matter now, as a screen suddenly appeared.

[Name: Professor Mephisto Espinella

Mage Type: Spinel Mecha Morpho Mage

Role: Recurring Character/ Major Antagonist ]

Ronin's eyes widened at the Major Antagonist part. But that's not where the surprises ended.

[Congratulations, you have received a massive level upgrade.

Level 12 >>>>> Level 20 ]

[New Skill unlocked!]