I Will Fulfill the Role of the Villain-Chapter 137

The three people exchanged glances after hearing Luke's words. Then, they all smiled and saluted Luke.

"Yes!"

The reply was louder than expected, and Luke flinched slightly. He had said it in an attempt to ease the tension, as the mission was already challenging enough, but he hadn’t anticipated such a sincere response.

And a salute, no less. It was a bit awkward to receive such a formal salute when he wasn't even an official commander in the army, but since the three seemed to be treating him with such sincerity, he didn’t want to nitpick about it.

"Then, shall we head back to the military headquarters?"

Jade asked. He was a member of the team specializing in Warp Magic, which was one of the reasons he had been chosen for the special forces. As he began to prepare for a Warp, Luke, deep in thought, waved his hand.

"You all go ahead. You must have a lot to prepare before we leave for Welharun, and you should take some time off to say goodbye to your families as well."

"What about you, Lord Luke?"

Paul asked, and Luke flashed a small smile.

"I don’t have anything to prepare, and I don’t have a family, so I’ll just mess around for a while."

"...What?"

The three of them asked in surprise at his unexpected answer, but Luke merely shrugged his shoulders. Then, with a casual wave of his hand, he gave them a cool farewell and headed toward the plaza. Although their gazes still followed him, Luke walked without hesitation.

When they left the palace, Luke had considered using Warp to get to the plaza, but he was reluctant to use his magic because of his hands. He had told Theo it wasn’t a problem, but he didn’t want to introduce even the slightest variable before such an important mission. That was why he was walking there on foot now.

As he walked down the path toward the plaza, he saw women hanging laundry in the scattered houses and children causing trouble nearby. Luke took in the scene one by one, moving forward. Thinking about it, this was the first time he had paid such attention to the surroundings of Twellin, even though he had lived here. He had been so focused on playing the villain that he hadn’t bothered to notice the little details.

With a relaxed expression, Luke moved toward the plaza. The more he walked, the more people he saw out on the street.

As soon as he entered the Luudrain Plaza, his steps naturally took him to the Rimes Fountain, known as the "Waterway of Beginnings," a landmark of Twellin.

Watching the cool water flow steadily from the fountain, Luke absently looked around. The faces of the Empire’s citizens, who had come to the plaza for their own reasons, all looked happy.

"...."

For all these years, the one thing Luke had prioritized as a soldier was Theo. Getting Theo appointed as Supreme Commander had been his top goal. To do that, fulfilling his assigned role was number one on his list. But underneath that, he had always carried the hope of ensuring the well-being of the Empire’s citizens.

Back then, he was so focused on achieving his primary objective that he never had time to reflect on that sentiment. But now, he didn’t have to worry about that. He didn’t have to play the villain, nor did he need to appear intentionally bad. Of course, he didn’t know how his changed behavior would be received by those around him, but for the first time, Luke felt a strange sense of liberation.

He was now embarking on °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° a mission simply because he wanted to save and help people. Sure, there was the important goal of treating his hands, but even that was strangely calming.

Back when he was a commander, facing important missions or wars, he would constantly worry about how to appear more villainous. His head would ache just thinking about it. But now, he didn’t have to do that, and it was both curious and, oddly enough, not so unpleasant.

"Huh?"

Just then, someone pointed at Luke and ran over. Surprised, Luke looked down at a girl who had attached herself to his leg.

"Pretty older brother!"

The girl shouted as she raised her head. Her loud voice caught the attention of people nearby, who looked over at them while observing the fountain.

"Ria?"

The girl was a familiar face to Luke. She had lived next door when he was in the capital, and she was the last person he had spoken to before leaving for Kairum.

"You're the pretty older brother, right?"

"Yeah. Long time no see."

Luke smiled and squatted down to her level. The clear delight in her round, big eyes made him automatically reach out and pat her head.

"You’ve grown taller, haven’t you?"

"Really? I've been drinking lots of milk lately."

She had indeed grown noticeably taller since the last time they spoke. Kids really do grow fast, Luke thought, realizing that once again.

"By the way, why are you alone?"

"My mom is over there talking with a friend."

Ria pointed toward her mother, who was engaged in conversation with someone Luke recognized. Probably getting bored while waiting, she must have wandered around the fountain before spotting Luke and running over.

"Stay near here. Don’t wander off anywhere else."

"Okay! But pretty older brother, didn’t you say you weren’t coming here anymore?"

Ah, Luke scratched his cheek with a flustered expression. He was surprised at how well Ria remembered, and it suddenly dawned on him that he had promised Ria back then that he wouldn’t return.

At that time, he really didn’t plan on coming back, but now that he was here in the capital again, he wasn’t sure how to explain himself. Most of all, he felt a sense of responsibility to satisfy the curiosity of this curious child.

"Ria."

"Yes?"

"Once you grow up, things get complicated. You never know what might happen in life."

But, being no good at making excuses, Luke ended up telling Ria the same life philosophy he had shared with Fail. Luckily, Ria seemed to take it to heart and nodded vigorously.

"Oh, right. I need to apologize to older brother."

"Apologize? Why?"

"You know... that pretty thing I gave you before."

Pretty thing? Luke stared into space for a moment before muttering, "Ah, that."

It was probably the button from his cadet uniform. He had given it to Ria when he was leaving, not wanting to keep any remnants of the past, and it seemed she had kept it.

"I gave it to someone else."

"Huh?"

"Some poor uncle wanted it, so I gave it to him. Sorry."

A poor uncle? Did she give it to someone in need of money? It wasn’t really something valuable, though. It would have been hard to even sell it for any significant amount.

"Sorry! But that uncle really wanted it."

"Ah, okay. You did well."

It wasn’t easy to give away a gift one had received, especially for a child. But Luke was touched by Ria's kind heart and gently patted her head again.

"You don’t need to apologize for something like that."

"Really?"

Luke nodded, and the joy returned to Ria’s face. Just then, he heard her mother calling from afar.

"Mom is calling. Go quickly."

"Okay."

Ria turned to leave but stopped again, staring at Luke for a while. Wondering if she had more to say, Luke waited patiently.

"Can I see you again?"

"...."

For some reason, it seemed that Ria had taken quite a liking to him ever since their first conversation. Luke hesitated for a moment upon hearing her innocent question. He probably wouldn’t have been able to answer yes before. He hadn’t had a place to settle down, and he was sure it wouldn’t be the capital.

When he came to the capital to help Theo, he had planned on solving this issue and returning to Kairum.

"...Yes, you can see me again."

"Great!"

With that, the child ran off toward her mother, smiling brightly. Realizing her last words had been, "See you later," Luke couldn’t help but smile.

People’s gazes began to gather around him as he stood near the large fountain filled with vibrant blue water, his face illuminated by the sunlight, looking much more beautiful than the landmark fountain itself.

Just as Luke swallowed his smile, he suddenly felt a presence behind him. Before he could turn around, a hand suddenly came forward and covered his face.

"Ugh, what is this?"

Recognizing the familiar scent, Luke grabbed Theo’s hand and turned around.

"It’s better if you don’t smile like that."

"Why?"

"Because you look especially pretty when you smile."

Luke’s ears turned slightly red at Theo’s sudden words. Having sighed just moments ago about how bold Theo was, Luke couldn’t help but notice how Theo wasn’t much different when it came to saying embarrassing things.

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