The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen - Chapter 402



402 – Olivia’s First Fishing.

Their short and intense first meeting ended regrettably in a short time.

-I… came by car.

-Then I’ll be going now!

-Yes. Be careful.

-Hmm…?

Since Shuen had achieved his original purpose, he left saying he had to plan the next step.

-Mr. Shuen, it’s raining heavily outside, you can sleep here. There are many empty rooms, so you can stay.

-It’s okay!

-But still…

-I have to go to work tomorrow! If I’m not there, some students might starve to death.

-It’s dangerous. I’ll take you at dawn….

-…I can’t lose this job I finally got.

Shuen, who came without notice and left them dazed, apologized for coming without a letter and disappeared.

“…What?”

Still, it’s a relief.

I was nervous, thinking that a bloodshed would occur if the young lady and Shuen met, but I was relieved that it passed without any incident.

And then,

“Goodbye.”

The young lady was smiling, seemingly satisfied with her meeting with Shuen.

“Don’t forget to bring chocolates next time you come.”

As I watched Shuen’s back, bitten by Gomtang, I turned to the young lady and asked,

“How was it?”

“It was fun. It felt like he was both stupid and smart at the same time.”

“Like you, young lady.”

“Eek?”

Thank goodness.

*

The next day, when the sky cleared up.

“Shall we go to the sea to catch fish?”

“Shall we go to the river to catch fish?”

Near the riverbank of Hamel, where the warm sunlight was shining, a loud noise could be heard.

-Clatter.

“Eek…”

-Clunk.

“Eeeek.”

It was the sound of a cart being pulled.

The young lady, sitting in the back seat, was humming a song while watching me pull the cart.

“Fill this bottle to the brim~”

“La la la la la la la la…”

Feeling good about the outing after a long time, the young lady was humming a tune, and I couldn’t help but smile and put more strength into my steps.

Because today was… the long-awaited fishing day.

It was the first time in a long while that we went out alone from the mansion. We hadn’t gone out alone since Gomtang came to the mansion.

With the cart loaded with fishing rods, bait, and food, I looked at the young lady and said,

“Are you excited?”

“Ung.”

“I’m looking forward to it too.”

You never know what you might catch.

To be honest, I don’t know much about the fish ecosystem in this world. I could confidently say I knew more about orcs and monsters than anyone else, but fishing wasn’t mentioned in the novel.

In my previous life, I knew about catfish and bass in the river. I had a rough idea of what kind of fish lived there, but since I had never fished in this world, I was just going with the flow.

So…

“Miss.”

“Ung?”

“Have you ever caught a fish before?”

“No?”

I was just trusting my instincts.

When I bought the fishing rod, I didn’t hear anything special, so I thought it would be fine.

– Can I buy a fishing rod?

– Do you have a specific target fish in mind? Like ‘orc trout’ or ‘troll snakehead’…

– Uh…? I don’t really know… It would be great if you could recommend a rod that can catch big fish.

– Big fish or small fish, if you have good luck, you’ll catch them. Haha!! Let’s see… Which rod should I give you?

– …

– Seeing the sword at your waist, you seem to be an adventurer… Am I right?

– I do similar work… Yes, that’s correct.

– Then this rod should be fine.

When I actually bought it, I was quite surprised because the fishing hook and bait were very different from what I had seen in my previous life.

– Is this a hook? It looks like a saw.

– If you want to catch a big one, it has to be this big.

Using goblin meat as bait.

They gave me a hook the size of a finger.

“To catch a fish… What was the next line of Ricardo’s song?”

Well. It should be fine.

Fish aren’t that dangerous…

I forced an awkward smile to shake off the uneasy feeling. As long as it was fun, it didn’t matter.

“Ricardooo.”

“Yes.”

“Will there be a lot of fish?”

“Probably. After it rains, we usually catch a lot of fish.”

“Why? Doesn’t the water rise and make it harder?”

“I don’t know. I just know that we usually catch a lot.”

“Hooom.”

“We’ve arrived.”

“Ung…!”

Upon arriving at the water’s edge, I set up a chair on a decent rock and seated the young lady.

“This is nice. If we fish here, even someone with no luck might catch something.”

“Luck…? Is that something you eat?”

“No. It means the luck to catch a lot of fish.”

“Ricardo, it’s not good to believe in superstitions too much.”

“…”

Ignoring the young lady’s admonishment, I continued my preparations diligently.

Attaching the hook to the fishing rod.

Putting on the bait.

Just in case she got cold, I spread a blanket over her knees.

-Whooosh.

“Feels nice.”

“Indeed.”

“I think we’ll catch a lot of fish.”

The cool breeze felt good.

As expected, I thought there was nothing better than fishing when you want to feel relaxed. Plus, seeing the young lady in her casual clothes made me feel good too.

A white dress and a white hat.

If it gets dirty, it’s done for, but you can always buy another one.

Now, to sit back and fish leisurely…

“Snap.”

Hmm…?

I turned my head at the cheerful sound in my ear and looked at the young lady.

“Hmm…?”

“Nibble… Nibble…”

The young lady, with her mouth full of snacks, was intently watching the red float bobbing on the water.

“Miss?”

“Mm.”

“When did you bring the snacks?”

“Earlier.”

“Oh…”

“Would you like some, Ricardo?”

Seeing the young lady reaching into her treasure pouch to take out some snacks, I let out a dry laugh and shook my head. Although I wanted to eat with her, I thought I wouldn’t be able to focus on fishing for various reasons.

“I’ll have some later.”

Ten minutes passed.

“Yaaawn…”

“…”

“Ricardo.”

“Yes.”

“When will we catch something?”

“It’s only been ten minutes.”

“Really?”

Thirty minutes passed.

“Ricardo.”

“Yes.”

“When will we catch something?”

“…”

The pride of calling myself the god of fishing began to crumble. By now, there should have been at least a small bite.

-…

I bit my dry lips as I stared at the eerily quiet water’s edge.

“…Just a little longer, and there will be a bite.”

“Eeeek… It’s not coming…”

“…Haha.”

‘Well, fish are always the ones you can’t catch.’

If I used my senses, I could easily catch the fish, but knowing that would be no fun, I was trying to enjoy the leisure as much as possible.

Fishing…

[30 minutes later.]

Leisure…

“…Miss.”

I spoke to the young lady who was yawning.

“Yes.”

“Shall we eat?”

“No. I want to fish.”

“Isn’t it boring?”

“Hmm?”

The young lady shrugged her shoulders and shook her head.

“It’s fun.”

“Why?”

“Because I can eat snacks as much as I want.”

“…That seems like a very impure intention, so it bothers me.”

“Hehe…”

The young lady, holding the fishing rod and just watching, answered with a bright smile.

“Ricardo, you enjoy it too.”

“That is…”

“So, I enjoy it too.”

“Miss…”

“So, give me more snacks.”

I resented the young lady for breaking the mood.

Even after a long time, with no bites, I stretched and suggested to the young lady that we take a break. Even I, who claimed to be a master angler, hadn’t caught a single fish yet.

“Shall we take a little break?”

It was then.

-Jingle.

“Hmm?”

From noble mtl dot com

The sound of a drop shaking on the lady’s fishing rod. Seeing the red float sink deep into the water, the lady looked at me with a blank stare and said.

“Ricardo, the fishing rod is moving.”

“Huh… huh?”

“Look. The fishing rod… eek!”

The lady, who was holding the fishing rod, widened her eyes and looked at me.

“Eeeeek!!!!”

“…Stay calm!”

“Eek… eeeek!! Eeeek!”

‘Rattle. Rattle.’ Seeing the lady’s fishing rod trembling, I spoke urgently.

“Pull it!”

The lady widened her eyes and started pulling the fishing rod.

“Ughghghghgh!!!”

Making a strange noise, she began to bite her lips.

“It must be a big one!”

“Huh?”

I went behind the lady and started pulling the fishing rod together.

Feeling the strong tug, it seemed like a pretty big fish had bitten properly.

“!!!”

I almost smiled at the pleasant sensation I had never felt in my previous life, but the lady’s serious expression made me burst into laughter.

“Ughghghghgh…!”

What is that expression?

“Eeeek!!”

Surely she should be putting strength into her hands, but seeing the lady’s face straining, I burst into laughter and started pulling.

“You can do it.”

“Hoeeeeeck!!!”

“Now…! One, two, three…!”

After a long struggle, the fish that appeared was.

-A bear?

It was a bear holding a salmon in its mouth.

“Huh?”

“Huh…?”

At the unexpected appearance of Gomtang, we looked at each other with awkward expressions.

“Ricardo.”

“Yes.”

“Is that a fish too?”

“No, it’s a bear.”

“Eek…”

The first fishing trip with the lady ended somewhat successfully.

*

Inside a church where darkness had fallen.

“Whew…”

Elicia looked at the man who was tightly shutting his mouth while shaking the blood off her hands.

“How do you feel?”

Despite her cold voice, the man did not answer and only let out a laugh. He knew all too well what Elicia wanted.

“Aren’t you scared?”

“…Why would I be?”

“If you sincerely apologize to me even now, I can kill you painlessly.”

“Kill me? You, who believed in a false god… me?”

“…”

Elicia’s eyes began to change like those of a villain.

“When a person is this shameless, it becomes a sin.”

“…”

“Shall we start again? I think I’ve given you enough break time.”

The apostle of restraint, whose hands were bound in chains, let out a hollow laugh and spoke to Elicia.

“I have no regrets.”

“Is that so.”

“I don’t regret killing your family. I don’t regret leading you, a priest who believed in a boring god, to heresy.”

“…”

“You must have prayed to God too. Asking to kill your husband who was drunk and violent every day.”

“…”

“I saved you for a price. So you could escape that dreadful yoke.”

Elicia smiled faintly as she spoke to the Apostle of Temperance.

“Are you planning to provoke me to harvest dark magic?”

“…”

“Go on.”

“…”

“Because it sounds nice. Continue.”

Temperance, whose intentions had been seen through, spat out a chilling threat towards Elicia.

“Can you handle it?”

“…”

“It’s only a matter of time before the Pope learns of your betrayal.”

“…”

“You don’t think the other apostles will just stand by, do you?”

“I’m not afraid.”

“Heh… You really are quite mad.”

Temperance let out a sorrowful laugh.

“…Corrupting a clergyman is quite an amusing task.”

“…”

“There’s no one more suitable.”

Temperance began to speak without pause.

The reason the heretics were targeting Yuria, and the curse that more people would suffer the same tragedy as Elicia.

“When someone relies heavily on another, the range of corruption expands.”

“…”

“If it’s a clergyman who has devoted their life to believing in God, it would be even greater.”

“…”

“The moment faith turns into hatred, talents pour out…. How could I just leave it be? Don’t you agree?”

Elicia smiled brightly and spoke to Temperance.

“Keep talking.”

“…”

“Corruption is my specialty.”

“What…?”

Elicia began to smile softly.

“Why are you afraid? You must exercise ‘restraint’.”

The darkness began to deepen into a profound shadow.