Vil and Malleus

Malleus seems to have a fondness for Vil: when he learns the prefect will not be participating in the VDC he says, “But Schoenheit and Asim will be in it? Heh. That should be quite the spectacle”.

Malleus banters with Vil after his overblot, saying, “You seem to have has a bit of sport, yourself. However did you become such a mess? You’re hardly living up to the Fairest Queen’s spirit.”

Vil concedes that he’s “not wrong”, and Malleus repairs the damage done to the coliseum as a favor for Vil, saying, “You owe me, Schoenheit” and “I’ve set the stage for you, Schoenheit. I trust you will keep me suitably entertained.” When Vil says he hardly needs Malleus’ urging to put on the finest possible show, Malleus responds “I’d expect nothing less”. 

When Malleus describes Vil’s performance as “somewhat entertaining” and “worth fixing up the stage to see” Lilia follows with, “You seem even more engaged than you were at my live show”.

Vil is often the person who notices when Malleus has not been invited to meetings, and he also notices Malleus’ absence during the Phantom Bride event.

When Malleus becomes emotionally overwhelmed during Halloween and begins summoning dark clouds and lightning we learn that it was Vil who first noticed the dangerous shift in Malleus’ mood and escorted him to a safe location, away from campus visitors. Vil even maintains a defensive spell in a bid to protect others from Malleus’ wrath.

After Malleus calms down, Vil reacts with “You can’t let the audience get you so worked up. Amateur.”

Vil reacts to Sebek during Halloween with “Has Malleus simply neglected to teach this cucumber any manners?”, and we learn that Malleus actually received advice from Vil for his costume, providing Vil with an hour-long, impassioned speech about the differences between longs and dragons. When Malleus attempts to explain again Vil interrupts with, “I got it the first time, thank you very much!”

Vil says in a voiceline that Malleus has also explained a portrait of the Thorn Fairy to him “in extensive detail.”

When Vil tells Malleus he is surprised by Malleus’ interest in a boisterous Halloween because “I didn’t think you cared at all for noisy parties” Malleus responds, “Have I ever said as much?”.

As the head of the management committee Vil reminds everyone to do nothing to offend the visitors and Malleus says, “You’re ordering ME around, are you?”, to which Vil responds, “It’s hardly beyond your job description”.

After doing Vil the favor of rebuilding the coliseum for the VDC Malleus says that, by the end of Book 6, Vil has put Malleus in his debt by sacrificing a significant part of his life to save the world. As a reward, Malleus shares magic with Vil to return him to his rightful form.

In Book 7 Vil concedes that owes Malleus multiple favors, but he is not amused by his attempt to arbitrarily dictate what happiness is to him and then make him dream about it.

When asked where he would transfer to if he were to leave Pomefiore, Vil responds he would go to Diasomnia. Trey guesses that Vil would land some position of authority there, as well, but Vil says he wouldn’t dream of challenging Malleus to a duel to become housewarden.

It is Vil who brings up the issue of Malleus’ failure to attend housewarden meetings, scolding Leona and Riddle for allowing it to happen the previous year. Vil insists that he won’t be standing for such negligence but he is not pleased by Malleus’ attempt at taking the initiative to solve the problem by summoning them all to Diasomnia.

We see Vil passing on the minutes of a Housewarden meeting that Malleus missed to him, and Vil also corrects the settings on Malleus’ smartphone, turning off manner mode.

Malleus gives rare medicinal herbs from Briar Valley to Vil for his birthday. Vil says, “He recalled me mentioning they were hard to get.”

During Vargas Camp Vil suddenly challenges Malleus to a fishing contest, despite having never fished himself, as he had accurately assumed that Malleus had never done so, either, meaning that they are competing on equal terms.

Vil says that he read a book on fishing and plenty of online articles so he believes he has a chance, but he is “mildly put off” by the sensation of using bugs for bait. Malleus compliments Vil on his casting and Vil declares, “I always play to win, even against the great Malleus Draconia. And win I shall!”

After an hour neither character has had any bites and Vil struggles to keep his cool, telling himself that, while he is a firm believe in playing for keeps, “that doesn’t necessitate getting worked up. I must express equanimity, cunning, and beauty in victory.”

Vil reflects on how the most important part of fishing is to never make noise, as fish can hear raised voices and will scatter if they do. Malleus observes, “And here you were shouting at me just now.”

Vil wades into the lake in pursuit of a fish, saying, “I had the wrong idea about this whole thing. It’s not a fight against Malleus. It’s a battle against the fish.”

Vil catches a fish and declares his victory over Malleus (Club member: “I thought this was a battle against the fish, not Malleus”), but Malleus has also caught one, leaving the two to bicker over whose was first, with Vil insulting the size of Malleus’ fish and the Film Club members observing, “Both those fish are way too small to eat…but there’s no way I can tell these two housewardens that!”