Villain's Odyssey: Enslaving heroines, Conquering Villainesses
Chapter 40: The Teleportation Gate

Chapter 40: Chapter 40: The Teleportation Gate

"Natalia Polaris," announced a man holding up an ID card.

"Yes," replied the girl seated in the wheelchair. Her expression had shifted from casual to serious as she addressed one of the officers in charge of the Teleportation Zone.

"And you?" the officer asked the young man standing behind her, returning the card to Natalia, who promptly tucked it into her side bag.

"Well, I just joined today. I still haven’t gotten an ID," Asher explained.

The officer’s frown was slight but noticeable. "Please wait a moment for confirmation," he said, then walked toward a black-haired middle-aged man and spoke to him quietly. After some discussion, the man typed something on his holopad.

"Why are you so serious now?" Asher leaned closer to Natalia’s ear, his breath tickling her skin.

She quickly covered her ear, a slight shiver running through her. "Shh!" She pressed a finger to her lips, shushing him with flustered urgency.

"Okay?" Asher replied, ’amused’ by her reaction, then fell silent.

"CONFIRMED!" they both heard. The officer returned with a professional smile. "Transport tickets cost 50 points each."

Natalia nodded, briefly glancing at Asher before returning her attention to the officer. Remembering that Asher still had no ID—and therefore no ’money’—she spoke up. "Deduct it from my card."

The officer collected her card once more, and they were directed forward. The teleportation system wasn’t just about convenience; the fees were designed to control student movement. Only elite-ranked students could afford daily travel between locations, though it would eventually drain their resources. Lower-ranked students rarely bothered, limiting their trips to weekends when the gate was free.

"Here, miss," the ticket officer said, handing Natalia a payment device.

[Insert your pin] appeared on the screen.

Natalia turned back and glanced at Asher, wanting to ask him to step away since PINs were supposed to be private. But seeing that silly, innocent smile on his face, she couldn’t bring herself to say it. There was something endearing about his complete lack of awareness.

She turned back to the device and entered [1121], then handed it back.

"Done," the officer confirmed, handing them their tickets. Natalia collected both and passed one to Asher. "Head for the portal," the officer instructed.

"Let’s go," Natalia said, and Asher pushed her wheelchair toward a small queue.

As they approached, Asher noticed everyone’s curious glances. Among the faces, he spotted a familiar one: Castor. Someone who, like Isabella and a few others, he had once trusted completely—only to be betrayed without a second thought. Friends he had protected with his knowledge of the future, only to have them spit in his face when it mattered most.

Oddly enough, he felt... nothing.

It seemed their betrayal hadn’t cut deep enough to serve as an emotional trigger. Perhaps only Isabella could truly reach those buried feelings.

"Asher?" Natalia’s voice brought him back to the present. He looked down to find her gazing at him with concern.

"Huh?" he blurted.

"You spaced out. Something wrong?" she asked gently.

He shook his head. "Nah, just thought I saw someone I knew." He resumed pushing the wheelchair, taking his proper place in line.

"Hey there~" came a cheerful voice from directly in front of them.

Asher looked up to see a girl with a radiant smile. Behind her stood a young man he recognized as Leon. Of course, he thought. Where there’s Castor, you’ll always find either Andrew or Leon. Once upon a time, that would have included him too.

The girl had long white hair with blue-tipped ends and striking blue eyes. She extended her hand with enthusiasm.

"I’m Tracy!" she announced brightly.

"Asher," he replied after a moment’s hesitation, offering a gentle smile and reaching out somewhat reluctantly.

SO CUTE! Tracy’s inner voice screamed as she grabbed his hand and shook it with perhaps a bit too much vigor.

"Hey! Tracy!" Leon’s annoyed voice cut through the moment. She turned with a slight frown. "What?!"

"Let’s go," he said tersely. "The others have already gone through the portal. Our tickets are cleared."

Tracy waved him off with a strained smile. "Just go on without me. Can’t you see I’m busy?" Her whisper was just loud enough for Leon to hear.

A visible vein appeared on Leon’s forehead. He was clearly pissed. "Well, I don’t blame you one bit. I blame stupid me for trusting you."

"Trusting me?" Tracy responded with genuine confusion. What the hell does this idiot mean? Why is he acting like he’s my boyfriend or something? She had the urge to beat him senseless, but not in front of her... well, what she was already considering her ’prince charming.’ She had completely ignored the girl in the wheelchair, not even considering the possibility of them being in a relationship.

"Don’t tell me you forgot where we’re supposed to go! What tomorrow is!" Leon snapped.

"Oh."

Yes, she had totally forgotten. But honestly, who could blame her? Never in her life had she seen such a handsome man standing right in front of her. So close! So within reach! This had to be destiny—she was absolutely sure of it!

"Yeah, just keep being an idiot," Leon muttered, stalking off toward the portal.

Tracy stared daggers at his retreating form. That bastard embarrassed me in front of my prince charming! She was going to beat him senseless later, she swore it!

"Um... I think you should go," Asher said gently, glancing down at their still-joined hands.

"Y-yeah, I should," Tracy agreed... but made no move to leave. In fact, she tightened her grip.

"Tracy?" Asher tilted his head, confused.

SO CUTEEEEEEEE! HE IS THE ONE! OH, HOW LONG I HAVE WAITED! FINALLY! At this point, she was barely holding back from screaming. After all these years at the academy, she had finally met someone she desperately wanted to know, wanted to... well, have! It had to be destiny!

She was definitely losing her mind, and loving every second of it.

"Miss, you are in the way," came a cold voice that brought Tracy crashing back to reality. The girl in the wheelchair was staring at her with an expression that could freeze hellfire.

"Your sister?" Tracy asked quickly, recognizing from the uniform that the girl was a junior—second year, to be precise.

"No, she’s my friend," Asher replied simply.

Tracy sighed internally with relief. Though she’d said ’sister,’ she’d had a nagging feeling it could be something more. Thankfully, it wasn’t what she’d dreaded most.

He said friend... I can deal with friend.

The whole situation was just plain nonsense by any reasonable standard.

How could anyone meet someone and, within three minutes, start making plans to make them theirs?

Even Asher found this behavior somewhat... excessive.

Was his appearance really that extreme?

Was this part of the reason Anna and Vivian had changed so dramatically in the Legacy Vault?

Back when he’d been Azalea, he’d known Tracy well. She’d never reacted this way to anyone—not even to ’him’. She’d had many admirers, including Leon and Andrew, but had never taken any of them seriously. Her reaction now was... significant.

"Sorry for my rude behavior," Tracy said, switching to her social butterfly mode. "I didn’t see you there. Hi, my name is Tracy!"

"I see," Natalia replied with a smile that somehow managed to be both polite and terrifying. "So please, can you move? We have somewhere to be."

"O-oh," Tracy stuttered, immediately recognizing that this girl wasn’t exactly the friendly type.

But that wasn’t necessarily a problem. She’d dealt with literal stone-faced personalities before. A not-so-friendly, physically challenged junior should be easy enough to handle.

Maybe if I become besties with her, I can get closer to him, Tracy plotted.

"Alright, I understand," she said, then looked back at Asher expectantly.

"Bye," he said simply, with that same gentle smile.

"Yeah... bye," Tracy replied, but made no move to leave.

She desperately wanted to ask for his contact ID, but didn’t want to seem desperate. This was hilarious, considering she was currently the living embodiment of desperation.

"Um, my hand?" Asher asked politely.

Tracy reluctantly released her death grip. "Oh, sorry about that," she said, her cheeks flushing red.

"It’s fine," he assured her with another smile.

"O-okay, see you around!" She waved enthusiastically, then started running for absolutely no reason, promptly tripped over her own feet, and tumbled directly into the portal.

Asher blinked at the spot where she’d disappeared. "Well, that was... something."

"Let’s go?" he asked Natalia, who simply nodded.

She didn’t know why, but watching Tracy’s unabashed staring at Asher had been incredibly annoying. And a single phrase-he called me his friend—kept echoing in her mind.

It made her feel strangely happy but insecure. But then again, why was she feeling this way in the first place?

As they moved toward the portal, Natalia found herself stealing glances at Asher’s profile, wondering when exactly her feelings had gotten so complicated.