The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen - Chapter 412



412 – Old Diary -1-

-Tick.

“Block them so they can’t get in…!”

“Right! Let’s toss Faulkner!!! That’ll buy us time!”

“S-save me!”

“Shut up! You started this, so you gotta take responsibility!”

-Tick. Tick….

“We… no, *I* was wrong! We shouldn’t have ignored the Healing faculty.”

“…Is that so?”

“My mana’s all gone, and I can barely stand. If you buff me, I’ll use artillery magic to cover you…”

“…Toss him.”

“What…?”

“If you messed up, you gotta pay with your body…! Toss him!!! We’re dying too!!!”

“Wait… just… wait a moment!”

From noble mtl dot com

[Current Time: 1:30 PM]

Looking at my wristwatch, I nodded slightly and spoke to Elysia. Enough torment, I figured.

“Shall we call it here?”

“I believe we must. The other students seem to have reached their limit as well.”

“Indeed.”

Elysia flicked her wrist, and the onrushing undead horde halted, beginning to file back into the massive gate.

-Ggrraaahh…

-Flesh meat…

-Hungry….

A horde deployed personally.

‘Enviable.’

I murmured my admiration at Elysia’s ability, commanding even giant undead and skeletons in heavy armor, nodding with a touch of envy. If I had that many troops, housework would become a breeze.

‘Still, swordsmanship has its romance.’

Shrugging, I gazed at the sky, a bright smile spreading across my face as I looked down upon the collapsed students. Scattered and fighting separately just moments ago, they were now huddled together, as if they’d never quarreled.

Even the Healing and Magic Departments, once like thin ice.

“Huff…huff… I’m alive.”

“Shut it, it’s because of you.”

“…Sorry.”

Ruin and Shuen, too.

“Firing meteors was fun, y’know… Wanna do it again.”

“Don’t talk such scary nonsense.”

“Shut it, Algae Head!”

“Haa…”

It was good to see them, breathing sighs of relief, all looking at the same sky.

The expressions of the students weren’t great, as they watched me slowly approach. But still, we got a decent result, so I figured it was alright. You gotta have a villain somewhere, right?

A small smile played on my lips as I addressed the students, my words laced with the question of whether they wanted to fight more.

“Understand?”

“Huuh… Huuh…”

“Combining your strength makes it easier to take down a strong opponent than fighting alone.”

“…”

“The ‘branch-cutting’ operation the Healing and Magic departments pulled off against an unbeatable foe? That only works with cooperation, too.”

“…That’s…”

“Haha! Of course, when your individual power’s overwhelmingly strong, it’s fine… but what I’m saying is that cooperation is that important.”

I gave the students a bright smile and said,

“Then, that’s the end of the morning class for Day 2.”

The moment the words signaling the end of hell escaped my lips, the students collapsed, slumping to the ground and clenching their fists.

“Finally over…”

“I’m just gonna go back and sleep.”

“I’m starving to death…”

I clapped my hands, continuing my parting words towards the students.

“After lunch, we’ll proceed with the afternoon lesson.”

The day stretches long, doesn’t it?

“Please…”

“Spare me…”

“Mama…”

*

Another day, the peaceful Duchy of Desmond.

“Hooom…”

Olivia, sprawled out on the floor, was enjoying the leisure the world offered, spending a lazy time.

“Haaam…”

It’s already been three days since Ricardo’s been home because of work.

“Boring.”

At first, when Ricardo left her with Abby, she was happy because she could eat chocolate as much as she wanted, but as Ricardo’s absence grew longer, boredom started to creep in on Olivia.

“Eeeeeek…”

Because playing with Ricardo is the most fun.

-Grumble…

“Hungry…”

Olivia, lying down with Gombaeng as a pillow, grabbed the jerky held in Gombaeng’s mouth and said in a low voice.

“Jerky.”

-Bear?

“Gimme.”

-Bear-bear.

“Eeeeeek…”

-Beeeaaar…

“Let’s share, I said…”

Gomtang, the bear, brazenly refusing to share the jerky his owner gave him, sparked a clenched fist from Olivia.

“It’s mine…!”

-Bear-bear…

“Eeeeeek!!!”

No matter how hard she pulled, the jerky wouldn’t come free from his mouth.

-Bear-bear.

Gomtang, as if mocking Olivia, chewed at the jerky and spat out what sounded like laughter.

“You’re a bear, for Pete’s sake…!”

She wanted to turn him into jerky right then and there, but, having vowed to be a good person, Olivia restrained herself and grabbed Gomtang’s face, shaking it.

“Gimme it!”

-Bear.

“Moon-uh!”

-Mooo?

“Snatch it.”

-Moo-woo-ooo-oong.

-Bear?

-Moo-oon!

Defeated in the pecking order squabble, Tangtangi, deflated by Gomtang’s cold stare, scuttled under the bed marked [Octopus Cave].

“…Pig Bear.”

-Bear.

“Eat and become a pig.”

-Bear-bear.

Olivia, exhaling a rough breath, spat out a burst of irritation before settling back into the dullness.

“I’m bored…”

Nobody played with her. There was nothing to do.

Reading was boring.

Abbi wouldn’t play because he was busy.

-Abbi.

-Why do you call, Olivia?

-I want to fly in the sky.

-Hmm… I think today will be difficult.

-Whyyy?

-The Imperial Court apparently wants to discuss the authority of the East.

-Abbi, I hate you.

-I hate the Emperor too.

“So bored…”

Olivia, letting out a languid yawn, rolled her body this way and that, the *gomtang* inside her rumbling with complaint. She could endure almost anything, but boredom was a different beast.

“…Can’t work too hard, you know.”

Worried about Ricardo, who’d grown busier of late, Olivia sighed and dragged her unmoving legs, squatting down by the dresser and widening her eyes.

“There aren’t any toys here…”

She’d left all her toys back at the manor in Hamel, so Olivia, with a flicker of hope, began rifling through the dresser, unearthing relics of an age unknown.

Back at the capital mansion, she’d hidden shiny pebbles and chocolate she’d sneak from Ricardo in the drawers, after all.

-Rustle, rustle.

Tangtangi, intrigued by the sight of Olivia’s backside practically *in* the drawer, poked its head out from under the bed and started gazing at Olivia’s rear.

-Mwoong?

“Nope…”

-Mwooon…

“This is no fun either…”

The most peculiar person she’d ever met.

She hadn’t encountered many people, locked away as she was in the deep sea, but Tangtangi, observing the most animal-like person she’d ever seen, stared endlessly at Olivia’s back.

Olivia, rummaging through the drawer, looked like an octopus building its burrow.

-Mwoong…

“Eek…”

-…

“Hoo-ik?! Chocolate found!

-Mwoong?

“Nom nom… Ugh… It tastes bad.”

-Mwoong…

“What’s this thing, now.”

For a good while providing Tangtangi with something to watch, Olivia pulled a small notebook from the deep reaches of the drawer and tilted her head.

“Oh…”

[Diary]

A diary I wrote when I was very young.

-It is a diary.

-Writing diaries is no fun.

-It’s no fun now, but it will be interesting to read when you grow up.

-Interesting…?

-I will write with you.

Olivia, looking at the diary she wrote in her childhood, smiled softly and began to read the old phrases. She was, after all, the kind of person who liked her own kind of memories.

“Alright.”

Olivia rolled around again and, using Gomtangi as a pillow, began to read the diary.

-Gom…

“Don’t bite me!!!”

-Gomgom…

First diary entry, of course.

[Title: Giving a Beggar a Name]

[Date: XXX Year, December 1st]

[Weather: Fine]

A blush-worthy tale.

*

[Today, I picked up a new beggar from the street.]

Fourteen years past.

A time when Olivia’s cheeks were puffed up round and full.

Olivia, whose nickname ‘Rascal’ suited her better than anyone else’s, stood before the Head of Desmond, a grimy little boy in front of her, and declared it loud and clear.

“Pa.”

“…No marriage allowed.”

“Huh? I’m not getting married.”

“That’s a relief. But who’s this little tyke?”

The Head of Desmond wore a peculiar expression, looking down at the child. Back then, he couldn’t know what purpose brought the boy to their mansion. Starting with the gaunt frame, far too thin for his age, all the way down to the bandages wrapped tight ’round his belly. Suspicious elements were stacked high, leaving him no choice but suspicion first.

His daughter had told him.

“I’ll raise him.”

Not even a puppy, but a picked-up child she wanted to raise.

Truly, he wanted to play along with his ridiculous daughter’s whim, but with so many enemies snapping at Darvab’s heels, he was ready to refuse. If they left him at the orphanage the family ran, this kid’s life wouldn’t turn out half-bad.

But.

“I’ll raise ‘im!”

“…Olivia.”

“I’ll give him food, give him water, everything.”

“That thing isn’t an animal.”

“He’s a friend.”

For the first time, his daughter had brought home a ‘friend’ and begged him, and Darbab surrendered. There was no reason to coldly refuse his only daughter’s request.

“Fine. I’ll allow it.”

“Thanks, Father!”

“I’ll talk to Rosanna.”

“Tell Mother thank you too.”

“Haha… alright.”

[The beggar said he had no name.]

Now that I had permission, I had to name the little nameless thing. Since the beggar had asked for a cool name.

If I was going to name him, he wanted something strong, like Darkleon or somethin’. But the only names bouncing around in my head were ‘Ugly’, ‘Red-Tooth’, things like that.

I said to the beggar:

“Red.”

“That’s…a bit…”

“Why? It suits, seeing as how his hair’s red, no?”

“…It feels weird on a lotta levels, y’know?”

“Hmph… picky.”

“It’s a name I’ll carry for life. It would be good to give me something… fitting, don’t you think?”

“Then, Juhong.”

“…”

It was amusing.

Having this kind of talk with this one.

Everyone else bows and scrapes, calling me a tribute, but he doesn’t yield an inch, just snaps back. It was the first time, and it was amusing.

So, I said,

“Riccardo.”

The most idiotic-sounding name I could think of.