The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

29 – Unintended Encounter -1-

I turned around.

A man was approaching me with a familiar smile, his hand in his pocket, walking casually.

The esteemed chief of the Nokjo Village, Ruin.

Seeing him, I thought,

“Why is Ruin here?”

It was a pleasant surprise to meet a fellow academy student in such an unexpected place, but Ruin shouldn’t be here right now.

It will be about a week before news about the dungeon spreads to the capital, and by then, adventurers will start flocking in. That’s when Ruin is supposed to join in the story. So, why is he here now?

He didn’t come here for hiking, that’s for sure.

Unable to contain my curiosity, I asked Ruin why he was here.

“Uh… Nokjo Mage, right?”

“…It’s Ruin.”

“I see. Sir Ruin.”

“I’m not a knight, I’m a mage. And my name is Ruin.”

Ruin clenched his fist.

Whether it was then or now, it seemed like he disliked me. I always addressed him by his name and title politely, so why did he get angry every time he saw me? Ruin’s personality was even worse than the tantrums of the young lady who awaited the arrival of the magical day.

What did I do wrong?

While he treated Yuria with grace and deference, he always seemed to pick on me. We weren’t particularly close at the academy, but we used to exchange greetings when we passed by each other.

– Hello, Mr. Chase~

– Are you making fun of me?

“No?” Our young lady is proud to be the top student.

“You bastard.”

“Bark.”

When we met in the hallway, we would greet each other warmly, congratulate each other on our accomplishments, and cheerfully make fun of each other’s failures. But seeing only Ruin getting angry every time, I felt disappointed.

Those were good memories.

“Oh… I heard that you ruined the young lady’s dress in the recent competition. It was a bit expensive, are you okay with that? If you’re having trouble, we can…”

“I can pay. You think I can’t even afford to compensate for one dress?”

“It’s 300,000 gold…”

“Oh…?”

“The young lady told me not to make her pay, so should I send the bill to Martab?”

“Just wait a moment…!”

I vaguely remembered the memory of comforting Ruin, who lost every day to Mihail and lay down exhausted in the training ground.

“Miss, there’s moss on the floor.”

“Oh…! It’s very big!”

“Don’t make fun of me, you bastards!”

“We’re just saying.”

“hehehehe…!”

I was happy, but why was he like that?

Ruin looked at me, savoring it.

Even though I had no intention of eating it, he clenched and unclenched his fist, getting excited. He looked like a crazy dog in heat.

[Ruin Lv. 35]

[Occupation: Academy student]

[Affinity: -77]

[Favorite conversation topics: Uria/magic recognition/dates]

[Disliked conversation topics: Inferiority towards magic/white hair/red hair/losing to junior opponents]

He’s not even an enemy of the family, so why is his affinity so low?

It hurt my heart.

But he’s still my friend.

With a welcoming heart, I extended my hand for a handshake with Ruin.

“Well, nice to meet you anyway, Ruin.”

“Nice to meet you?”

Ruin chuckled.

Am I funny, or is this situation funny?

Either way, it was clear that the laughter didn’t come from a positive place.

Ruin glanced behind me discreetly, as if searching for something. After a bit of fidgeting, he spoke with a mocking tone.

“Hey, where’s Olivia?”

“She’s at home.”

“Home?”

The village chief of Nokjo, whose confidence had waned upon hearing there was no young lady.

When we first met in the forest, Ruin was like a wet puppy, but now he stood in front of me like a guard dog.

Ruin took bold steps towards me.

You shouldn’t get too close.

I was afraid that I might instinctively push Ruin’s head to the ground.

I took a step back and maintained a safe distance.

“Don’t come closer. You might faint again.”

If I were to make someone faint, it would be better to do it after listening to Ruin’s will. Just in case there were other students besides Ruin, I might have to make them faint as well.

From Noble mtl dot com

Ruin said to me.

“Ricardo, I can tell you’re not happy to see me.”

“Is that so? What can I say? I’m really glad to see you, Ruin.”

“Is that right?”

Tch. Ruin spat on the side of my shoe.

Ruin’s white spittle barely touched the leather of my nearly worn-out shoe.

“Pfft. What’s up with these shoes?”

Ruin chuckled as he looked at my shoes, making me quite uncomfortable, like a dog marking its territory.

“Goblins wouldn’t wear these either.”

“Is that so? Well, I guess I’ll have to steal some goblin shoes.”

Ruin’s provocation didn’t get to me.

It’s not mourning or anything, but it’s strange to just pass by this provocation. If you say you are going to pass by such a simple provocation.

That’s not possession.

It’s anger management disorder.

People should know how to endure. Someone who rushes to death at a small provocation is an immature person.

No matter what provocation, the true winner and the great person is the one who endures and silently carries out their duties, saying, “It could happen.”

I looked around.

Silent.

No one was there.

“It’s a very dangerous place.”

The only things here were the elite orcs sleeping nearby and the elite goblins who were difficult to deal with.

Even if someone were buried here, it wouldn’t be strange.

Really. This friend doesn’t know caution. Do you know how dangerous it is to come to a place like this alone?

I thought while choosing Ruen’s grave.

Even if the person in front of me is not me, but Pascal, Ruen might have lived not as a person, but as a work of art.

I expressed my concern.

“Ruen.”

“Speak comfortably. You did that at the academy. Why are you acting like this since the last time?”

“Just… It’s become a habit.”

I genuinely worried about Ruen.

To the extent that I wanted to share the wisdom of life.

If you come to such a dangerous place, you should have at least one trustworthy person next to you.

That way, even if you scream and fall, you can still notify the obituary.

I slowly approached Ruen.

Now that I look closely, it seemed like there was something on Ruen’s left cheek. Disgustingly.

It’s a stubborn stain that doesn’t come off easily, I should wipe it off.

“Oh… By the way, Ruen.”

“What.”

“Why did you come here? The one who should be in the academy.”

“Oh… Because of an assignment.”

“An assignment?”

Ruin nodded.

And he didn’t forget to spout nasty words at me. He said, “Why would a expelled guy be interested in that?” I wondered how this friend would survive after graduating from the academy.

He would live like a beggar after being rejected by the female lead, that’s for sure.

After the completion, I worried about Ruin’s future.

Ruin is like a soda that smashes sweet potatoes in the novel.

In the part where the other male protagonists get ostracized by the villainesses, they say, “Yuria will handle it herself!” or “I can’t interfere with Yuria’s friend problem. Even if it’s helpless….” and take a step back.

But Ruin, whose attention quickly turns to matters related to the female lead, appears like a prince riding a white horse. He gave a word to the villainesses.

He was a character I couldn’t help but like, even if I didn’t like his appearance.

Although he was not to my taste because of his looks. Other readers even made Ruin their favorite character despite his unsightly appearance.

Ruin is consistent.

He speaks informally to people he meets for the first time.

He speaks informally even to people he dislikes.

A character who speaks informally even to people he likes.

He even shows consistency by speaking informally to the martial lord, who saved him, calling him ‘brother’. Honestly, I hoped he would get caught by the master later.

Ruin said to me.

“Oh, by the way, you asked Hanna for a reinstatement, right? Suddenly talking about reinstatement. I thought you were a crazy woman.”

“I didn’t ask for expulsion, but…”

“It’s the same to both of you, expulsion or suspension. Don’t you feel cheap asking a junior for a favor?”

If I say something nice, I might catch a deadly disease. Ruin, who wants to bid farewell to the world.

I took a step closer to Ruin.

Ruin, trembling shoulders.

Why is he so afraid when he’s not going to do anything?

I laughed casually.

“I asked for a favor because I wanted to go to the academy. hahahaha.”

“Damn.”

“So, how is Ruin’s school life?”

“I like it because you guys are not here.”

“Hm, is that so? I find that hard to believe.”

The Imperial Academy is special.

If you only graduate, you can get a job at a well-known company or family in the empire, and you can even surpass the limits of commoners and receive a noble title.

The education policy was also specialized in discovering talented individuals.

Students were able to choose assignments themselves, and if the difficulty was high, they would receive high grades. If the difficulty was low, they would receive low grades.

At the Imperial Academy, if the grades improved, they would be promoted to higher ranks.

It was a system designed to allow passionate students to achieve success.

I thought that there must be something wrong with Ruien, who had come all the way here for a mere assignment, without caring about grades like everyone else.

That’s why I didn’t provoke him.

I asked Ruien.

“Oh. Did you come because of Hannah?”

“Shut up.”

Ruien reacted strongly, trembling. It seemed like the careless comment had hit Ruien’s mental state.

I spoke as if making an excuse.

To make Ruien’s wounded heart hurt a little more, and to hope for the pain to worsen.

“No, it doesn’t make sense for a talented person like Ruien to come all the way to Hamel, which is far away from the capital. Could it be that you failed in the recent ranking competition…?”

“I said shut up.”

I touched Ruien’s painful wound even more.

Ruien glared at me.

His shattered mental state didn’t seem to recover. Ruien made eye contact with me without saying a word.

Since I couldn’t think of anything else to say, I raised my thumb and spoke.

“It’s a good choice.”

“I said shut up!”

A red sphere forcefully flew out.

Last time there were three spheres, but today there were ten, flying towards me.

Ruien had grown.

With this level of growth, I thought he could endure about ten seconds against a crow.

I naturally reached out my hand to pin Ruien’s head to the ground. I wanted to calm down my excitement a little and suggest that we continue on our way together.

But.

Just as my hand was about to touch Ruien’s head, a familiar voice stopped me in my tracks.

“Ruien! What are you doing right now?”

A woman’s voice came from behind.

A clear voice, like biting into a refreshing fruit, echoed in my ears.

“I’m sorry – my friend is upset.”

The woman behind me immediately apologized upon arrival. Unlike the haughty noblewoman’s speech, this woman approached me with a friendly, country-girl-like tone.

Ruin, who had an intimidatingly hardened demeanor upon the woman’s arrival, relaxed as if to say, “When did this happen?”

Ruin’s smile, wavering like a fool.

I lowered the hand I had reached out.

“What are you doing, Ruin? You should apologize!”

“No, it’s nothing.”

“Don’t lie!”

I thought to myself, ‘This is a big problem.’

I slowly turned around.

I didn’t want to meet like this.

Her gradually appearing smiling figure.

Her pink hair.

Plum-like lips.

With a fresh beauty, she concealed a bright smile when our eyes met.

“It’s been a while.”

I said with an awkward smile.

“Miss Yuria.”

The protagonist of this novel, Yuria, was standing before me.