The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen - Chapter 416



416 – Old Diary -5-

The words urging her to sever the roots of memory struck Olivia as achingly desolate. She didn’t know how to put this feeling into words.

[Please, forget me.]

“Why are you telling me to forget you…!”

The hand clutching the letter trembled. She didn’t know what expression to wear, faced with a will disguised as a letter.

It must be the truth.

That fool, he would have penned this letter with not a single lie. If it was Ricardo, he would have.

Even in that image, devoured by the reading…

Even in that moment, when he died in my stead, that idiot chose farewell with a smile….

“Just… why….”

So I couldn’t even run…

Just how can he be such a fool.

At the words of Ricardo’s whispered farewell, Olivia couldn’t lift her head.

If.

If Ricardo hadn’t overcome the black magic, the future me would be reading the letter Ricardo left behind.

I’d be resenting the b*stard who disappeared, taking all the blame… Or perhaps cursing Ricardo who vanished without a word, I’d stumble upon the letter and be swallowed by belated regret.

“…”

In that timeline that never came to be, I’d be cursing myself, no doubt.

It’s only because I was lucky, that’s all.

Overflowing guilt, coupled with the relentless tide surging in, kept whispering sorrow to Olivia. ‘Do you understand Ricardo’s heart?’

Tear stains on the paper wrinkled, betraying emotions hidden deep.

What situation Ricardo was in, what pain he carried, Ricardo’s sorrow, which he tried so hard to hide, remained as wrinkled tear stains, revealing emotions he had concealed.

That fool.

[Every moment was beautiful.]

To think I shed tears for an irredeemable fool.

-Scrape.

Attached to the very bottom of the letter was a small, square piece of paper. A faded photograph, where the oldest memories shone through.

-Come here!

-I don’t want to.

-Let’s take one together, c’mon!

Two little kids, laughing.

A scrawny, red-headed boy and a mischievous girl with her arm around his neck.

-Squeeze…

The moment Olivia saw the photo, she clenched her fist. She had no right to twist such precious memories with a grief that had nowhere to go.

-One. Two. Three…!

-Eeeeek!!! Smile!

-Haa…

-Click!

Olivia, tracing the smiling face of young Ricardo with white fingers, breathed a soft sigh and squeezed her eyes shut.

“Don’t do this…”

She hated that silly fool today of all days. She hated Ricardo for stirring up a pain she thought had quieted.

Because she grew afraid that Ricardo would leave her side. Knowing she’d flail, struggle just to hold onto his hand, she felt hatred for Ricardo.

Even with a better path ahead.

Even with plenty of road to walk, she wouldn’t have the heart to let him go when Ricardo declared farewell, after standing guard beside her.

-Squeeze…

Her selfish desire to hold onto him surfaced, and she hated herself.

The scariest thing is.

It was the anxiety that Ricardo, perpetually sacrificing himself, would leave her side forever.

If something like this happened again.

That fool would surely write the same kind of letter.

“A fool who knows nothing…”

Ricardo doesn’t know.

He doesn’t know how big of a person he’s become to her. For her, Ricardo’s shadow is a happier shadow than ever before, but Olivia was afraid that Ricardo’s stubbornness, leaving farewell in letters, would repeat itself again.

Because she’s a childish fool.

So many thoughts and worries descend.

Because of the will disguised as a letter.

“Don’t do that…”

Every time she looked at the words written with such force in his hand, there she was, foolishly throwing a tantrum.

[If… if I really, truly have gone far away to a place I can’t reach.]

“I told you not to…!!!”

[If I couldn’t overcome the illness and disappeared into memories…]

“What… am I to you…”

She held it all in.

Tried not to be a spoiled child….

Tried so hard not to cry this time.

[Please forget me.]

“…Please.”

Ricardo, perfectly, terribly *alive,* it was like he was already gone, and the tears just burst out.

“…”

I can’t understand it.

I can’t even guess with what heart, what buried sorrow, Ricardo wrote this letter. Stupid me, all I can do is cry over the ache of the past.

That’s it.

-Thud.

All I could do was weep like a fool.

“Hngghhh…!!”

“Sniff… don’t say things like that….”

“You’re perfectly alive, and still… Hngh… Sob… Haaang!!!”

I miss him.

Especially today, I miss Ricardo so damn much. If my legs would just work, I’d run to him right now.

“Sniff…”

I missed Ricardo.

“…Sniff.”

That moment, staring blankly at the letter, tears streaming down.

“Moo woo oong…”

The red octopus tentacle, wriggling to wipe Olivia’s tears.

“Woo oong… Don’t touch me!!”

“Moo woo oong…!”

“Don’t touch!”

“Mooo…”

Tangtangi just stared, blank-eyed, at Olivia, head tilted in a questioning sort of way.

It’s alright, don’t cry.

“Mooo…”

Olivia, sniffing, bit down hard on her lip, looking back at Tangtangi.

“Sniff…”

For some reason, it felt… comforting.

And.

-Gom.

Just like always, Gomtangi bit Olivia’s head.

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!”

*

Deep in the underground dungeon.

“Made it in three days.”

Having broken through the dungeon that showed up in the side-story, I gave a light smile, looking at the magic sword hidden in the depths.

[Hungry Dragon’s Tooth.]

It wasn’t a sword that directly impacted the main storyline, but it had such ridiculous abilities that readers were always saying, ‘Why didn’t he use this weapon sooner?’

As a reader, it felt good to finally get my hands on this rare item.

I looked at the sword, which radiated an eerie aura, with a satisfied expression, then turned towards Hanna, who was wearing a face like she was about to die, and greeted her with a smile.

“Miss Hannah.”

“…Yes?”

“How do you find it?”

Hannah, breathing in ragged gasps, barely managed to lift her head, offering a strained smile.

“I…can’t move anymore.”

“Haha… I was asking about the sword.”

“The sword…?”

Only now spotting the weapon, Hannah’s eyes lit up as she looked at me.

“You’re…giving it to me?”

I nodded towards Hannah. The other students might be disappointed, but the rapier-shaped sword was the one that suited her best.

Stepping lightly aside, I said to Hannah:

“Will you take hold of it?”

“…Gulped.”

“It’s a reward for participating so diligently in the lesson.”

Malik shot a sharp glare in my direction, seeing me praise only Hannah, but he soon conceded, clenching his fist in anticipation of what was next.

“If I listen well in class too, will I get a present?”

“I could create a special move for you, at least.”

“It had better be flashy.”

I smiled faintly at Malik’s wish and turned back to Hannah.

Curious to see what her reaction would be.

Mikhail used this sword for a time after losing the Holy Sword in the Gaiden.

The penalty inflicted by ‘Hungry Dragon’s Tooth’ was savage, a tragic sword he couldn’t properly wield, but I was certain that if one could overcome the penalty, it could be reborn as a cheat-tier weapon.

Yeah.

“Gulp…”

*If* one could overcome the penalty.

-Thwack.

The moment Hanna’s hand met the sword’s hilt. Red light shone from Hanna’s hand, and it began to tremble violently.

“…Oh.”

Hanna’s expression hardened in an instant.

‘Hungry Dragon’s Tooth’ was a sword that increased the total amount of Aura, but…

“Aura…!!!”

…it had a strange penalty of consuming the user’s Aura.

“Hsssp….!!!”

Hanna tried with all her might to stabilize the sword. She probably wanted to show me a stronger version of herself, standing tall, but this was a sword that had brought countless swordsmen to the brink of death in the original story, so resolve alone wouldn’t be enough to overcome it.

Therefore.

“That’s enough.”

I took the sword from Hanna’s hand, smiling faintly. Because from now on, I had something new to conquer.

Aura control and manipulation.

This was the subject I was going to teach Hanna.

Helping the weakened Hanna to her feet, I spoke to the students in a gentle voice. I needed to reassure them that I wasn’t just favoring Hanna.

“You’ve all suffered well, until now.”

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“…”

“No need to be jealous that I only gave a gift to Hanna. As the lessons progress, I have presents prepared for all of you.”

“…”

“You can look forward to it. I might teach you a secret art that can fell a powerful foe, or I could gift you weapons like I did Hanna. If you just keep following along as diligently as you are now, I think you’ll achieve good results.”

Turning towards the students whose faces were brightening, I added a slightly bitter remark.

“So… from now on, I plan to divide and teach you in two groups.”

At my words, clearly stating I’d be teaching the students differently based on their abilities, a subtle tremor flickered at the corners of their mouths. To divide meant to compare, after all.

“Rohan. Luke.”

“Yes!”

“You two can’t use Aura, can you?”

Rohan and Luke, flinching at my blunt question, sighed and nodded, eyes clenched shut.

“From now on, the two of you will undertake special lessons to awaken your Aura.”

“…You mean, you’re going to make us use Aura!?”

“Yes. It will be truly difficult, but by the end of the lessons, you will be able to awaken your Aura.”

Leaving behind the students with flushed faces, I turned my gaze to Hanna, Malik, and Mikhail, and continued.

“Those of you who can use Aura must now complete the task I will assign.”

I spoke.

The direction I would teach them.

“All three of you share a commonality, don’t you?”

“Common ground, you say…?”

“Common ground?”

“I…well, *I’m* not family.”

Facing their confused gazes, I spoke, my eyes fixed on the sigil etched upon Malik’s blade.

“Didn’t all three of you learn the swordsmanship of Histannia?”

“…Ah.”

I offered a small smile, turning it towards their increasingly uneasy faces.

“As you know, the strength of Histannian swordsmanship lies in its area-of-effect skills and destructive power, allowing one to contend with many.”

“…”

“The weakness, as you all are well aware…”

I lightly grasped ‘Ravenous Dragon’s Tooth’, tamed with some difficulty.

“Is the exorbitant use of aura.”

Hanna’s eyes, remembering failure, began to tremble. Even her father considered it a blade difficult to tame.

At the same moment, Malik’s eyes, Mikhail’s expression also started to falter.

A satisfying sight.

I said, with a bright smile.

“From this moment forward, you will have to clear this dungeon with this aura-draining blade.”

“…”

“With only this blade.”

Malik spoke, his voice trembling.

“Don’t talk such nonsense… How with just one sword?”

“Heh heh… Why, you just rotate it.”

“…Aha. Is that so?”

“While one person is out cold, another can use it. Problem solved.”

“…”

Malik seriously considered.

“Is it possible to withdraw.”

“It is not.”

He wanted to run.