The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen - Chapter 345



345 – I am the Iron-Blooded…!

The Iron-Blooded Lord.

“…”

A woman mad with slaughter.

A long time ago, yes. In the ancient stories that no one remembers, the woman who was called the Iron-Blooded Lord was a figure of terror to everyone.

Wherever she passed, blood and war never ceased, and the sorrow of mothers who lost their families filled the streets.

– Bring back my son!

– …

– My son…

People feared her.

To oppose her, who possessed immense power, meant paying the price of death.

The weak prayed for a hero to appear and vanquish the evil, and the god who heard their prayers appointed a person with a good heart as the hero, who then put an end to the woman’s evil deeds. The woman never repented until the end.

– Why…!!! I only did what you all wanted…!

Realizing that he could not sever the woman’s powerful will, the hero decided to seal her, and she lost her radiant glory, becoming a single sword.

A hundred years.

These hundred years.

Hundreds of years passed, and as her story began to fade from the world, the Iron-Blooded Lord was preparing to reign over the world once again.

Yes, now the Iron-Blooded Lord.

– Please don’t…!

– Gooom!

“Hehehe!!!”

It had become a toy.

I gave an awkward smile as I watched Gomtang run around with Caliban in his mouth. I never thought the magic sword would be treated like that.

– “Eek? What’s this?”

– “It’s a new sword I got.”

– “Oh… It’s pretty.”

– “Do you want to touch it?”

– “Yes.”

– “Here you go.”

The young lady, who had grabbed Caliban, started throwing it around the yard, saying it was perfect as a toy for Gomtang. Gomtang, excited, kept running around with Caliban in his mouth, and this scene unfolded.

– “I am the powerful progenitor of ancient blood…!”

“Eeek!! Ricardo! The sword is talking!”

“It’s an expensive sword, that’s why.”

“Oh… I see. Then, can I not throw it around?”

“Please play with it for a little while and then return it. It’s dangerous.”

“Okay.”

– “Gomgom.”

“Fetch!!”

As long as the young lady was happy, I decided not to think too much about it.

– “I am not a toy. I am a very scary person…”

I was relieved that the young lady liked the new family member.

After playing in the yard for a while, the young lady came back and handed over Caliban with a pouty voice.

“Here.”

“Are you done playing?”

“Yes.”

“Did you have fun?”

“It wasn’t fun because it didn’t talk.”

“Pardon?”

– “I am the iron-blooded lord… hic… a very scary person… In the past, no one even talked to me.”

I gave an awkward smile at the sight of the thoroughly ruined Caliban and nodded slightly with a small laugh.

‘I should comfort it next time.’

I should flatter Caliburn to heal his wounded heart. From what I heard him muttering to himself, he seemed like someone who made a name for himself in ancient times. I thought it would help to get closer to him if I found and read some books about him. When I heard the story in the carriage, I thought he was a small noble from the outskirts… but he seemed to be a bigger person than I thought.

‘I need to study a bit.’

Putting Caliburn back in its sheath, I looked at the young lady and asked if she had been well.

“Have you been well while I was away?”

“Yes.”

“Have you been eating well?”

“Ricardo’s friend cooked for me.”

“Oh… that’s good.”

“And I spent time playing with the bear soup.”

“That’s good too.”

“I even took two steps on my own while exercising my legs.”

“That’s really impressive.”

The young lady smiled brightly and leaned her head forward. Smiling, I placed my hand on her white hair, as she looked so cute asking to be petted.

“Hehe…”

“You’re amazing.”

“Praise me more.”

“You’re really cool.”

“Hehe! I know…”

The young lady was still living in the second unit of the ferry. It was too much for her to walk with a cane. Her leg nerves hadn’t grown, and it was only natural that she needed time to rehabilitate and use her legs, which hadn’t moved for several years.

Although I wished she could run around right away, there is a sequence to things.

While setting up a treatment plan to slowly restore her senses and confidence, I gently petted her head and spoke softly.

“Oh, by the way, did you send a letter to the head of the family?”

“Huh?”

The young lady looked at me with a big question mark above her head.

“Why would I send a letter to my father?”

“…”

“Father is busy making money.”

Why send a letter?

Hearing the young lady’s very filial statement, I shook my head and cautiously responded to her question.

“Shouldn’t you tell the head of the family that you can walk on your own? Even if you’re not fully recovered, you should tell him that you’ve improved enough to walk by yourself.”

“…Oh oh…”

“Right?”

“Yeah,”

The young lady nodded vigorously and extended her hand toward me.

“Give me some stationery.”

“Where did the person who said they wouldn’t write go?”

“That person is dead.”

“Ha ha ha…! Understood. Then I shall bring you some refreshing pink.”

“Pink…?”

“Then how about blue?”

“Eeeek!”

“Then red.”

“Eek…?!”

“Hmm. Then I will bring you white.”

“Yeah.”

Receiving the stationery, the young lady sat at the desk and began to write a letter. Perhaps focused on the long-awaited task, she pouted her lips as she wrote, and I rested my chin on my hand, smiling softly at her.

‘She looks just like an angel…’

“To the father who does nothing.”

‘But her actions are devilish.’

With her elegant handwriting, she was narrating the contents of the letter aloud for me to hear.

“Father. Have you eaten? You need to earn a lot of money. That way, I can just play and eat.”

“Such deep filial piety.”

“That’s right. I think about you a lot.”

“How wonderful.”

“Yeah. And…”

“…”

“I need to keep an eye on my brother. He has to do well so that I can rest, you know? I saw in the newspaper that the reporters are writing strange articles, and if things go wrong, I’ll just crush them and scatter the pieces.”

“Excuse me?”

“Yeah?”

“Nothing at all.”

“Yes.”

The young lady began to write the last line of her letter, a faint smile gracing her lips.

With her mouth tightly shut.

[Father. I can walk.

For now, I still need Ricardo to help me, but I’ll work hard so that one day I can walk with you.

Aren’t you proud of me?

So…

Please don’t worry about me anymore, and take some rest.]

I couldn’t know what the letter contained, as the young lady smiled softly and said nothing while hiding it away, but I decided not to peek, smiling to myself. I had a rough idea of what it might say.

It was obvious that the young lady, who disliked anything embarrassing, had written something rather blush-inducing, so I smiled gently as I watched her back.

‘What a dutiful daughter.’

Though she still had traces of a wayward daughter within her.

Surely, Darvab would be pleased.

He was the type to get all flustered at the thought of keeping a letter written by her as a family heirloom, so perhaps he would rush over the moment he saw its contents.

I smiled, thinking of the Deathmunt family, who seemed likely to visit the mansion soon.

“Should I tidy up the mansion a bit?”

“Eh?”

It seemed we would have guests.

*

From noble mtl dot com

At that moment.

The members of the academy, returning from their long journey, sat in the meeting room with heavier expressions than usual.

Shartia, feeling as if a long-standing blockage had finally cleared, flipped through documents with a face full of fatigue, while the other executives nodded along, also sifting through papers.

Shartia nodded and spoke.

“Everyone worked hard. It must have been exhausting because of this incident; did everyone manage to help out?”

“…”

The executives remained silent.

They had done nothing in this battle. The faces of those who had thought they would become the protagonists of the world upon graduating from the academy were now clouded with worry.

It was their first time experiencing serious injuries and witnessing countless screams, so perhaps it was only natural to find it strange to be smiling calmly.

Overwhelming power.

An unstoppable force.

If Ricardo hadn’t shown up, the executives’ faces were etched with a deep pallor, as if they had faced a situation that could have led to their annihilation.

Shartia cleared her throat, trying to lighten the mood. She urged them not to wear such dark expressions.

“Don’t be so down. It’s not just us who got hurt; many soldiers were injured too. In fact, we should be grateful it ended as well as it did. We even obtained the holy sword.”

“…”

“I’ll cover the after-party today. Let’s lift our spirits a bit…”

“…”

-Click.

At that moment, the executives straightened up and fell silent at the entrance of the meeting room.

“Why is everyone so tense?”

With bandages wrapped around his head and hands, Malik entered, his serious expression accompanied by a stack of documents.

“…”

Seeing the students’ silence, Malik let out a hollow laugh.

“It feels like I’ve walked into a funeral home.”

“…”

“Why the long faces? You completed the mission successfully.”

“…”

“Did a friend die?”

“…”

“That’s not it, so why the gloom?”

Malik exhaled deeply and subtly inquired about their feelings regarding the recent events.

“How was the real battle?”

“…”

“And how did you feel during it?”

“…”

“Were you scared? Or did you feel miserable being overshadowed by the healers running around the battlefield?”

“…”

“That’s why I told you. Train hard and strive forward.”

“…”

“The battlefield is not as easy as you think.”

“…”

“Do you think that elf you saw would save you if you begged for your life? There’s no need to go that far. If luck had been against you, you would have been wiped out completely.”

“…”

“I hope you learn a lot on this journey.”

As Malik’s sardonic smile marked the end of his words, the student council members sighed and began to stoke their resolve.

Malik looked at the student council members and said,

“Then let’s have an after-party.”

Malik knew how to handle people.

“Don’t forget, we’ll have study time too, so look forward to it.”