The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen-Chapter 299

It had been a long time since I picked up a sword.

"..."

To move forward in a better direction.

Because staying in one place makes a person lazy, I was holding a sword and meditating for self-improvement.

Yes, meditation...

"Ugh..."

Medit...

"Ughhh...!"

’Oh no.’

Letting out a deep sigh, I looked at the Young Lady, who was flailing her hands wildly. I was finally trying to meditate, but she was interrupting me.

"Young Lady."

"Mmmnya."

"I’m meditating right now."

"Mmm. You’re doing great."

"..."

I closed my eyes again.

Slowly recalling past events, I began to immerse myself in the mental image space...

"Ughhh!"

"Young Lady?"

The Young Lady, her eyes filled with fury, gestured at the empty space.

"Ricardo! A fly is bothering me."

"I’ll catch it for you later, so for now, please let me meditate..."

"Ughhh!"

The mischievous Young Lady thoroughly disrupted the butler’s meditation. With all that noise, how was I supposed to meditate?

"Die!"

"Pfft...!"

I just couldn’t understand.

Smiling faintly, I walked toward the Young Lady. No matter how important meditation was, I had a duty to protect her mental health, especially since she had been unwell just a few days ago.

"Ugh..."

Though she had recovered significantly.

Thankfully, after being treated by Malik, the Young Lady quickly regained her health. Her energy returned as if she had never been sick, and her appetite even increased. Seeing her holding jerky in her hand right now said it all.

"It’s my jerky... Grrr."

"Please don’t growl."

"But they keep swarming around me. It’s so annoying!"

"Calm down."

"Grrr."

The Young Lady, nibbling on her jerky, lowered her bristling hair and pouted as she noticed me approaching.

Smiling softly at her, I suggested that she rest in her room instead of staying here.

"Young Lady, why don’t you take this chance to rest in your room? It’s cool there, and there are no flies."

"No! I want to watch Ricardo."

"It won’t be fun."

"That’s fine. I’ll make it fun to watch."

At her confident reply, I gave an awkward smile and swiftly sliced through the fly aiming for her jerky.

-Bzzzz.

-Swish.

-Thud.

At the sound of the ’swish’ and the sight of the fly splitting in half, the Young Lady’s eyes sparkled as she clapped her hands.

"Eek...!"

"What’s so amazing about this?"

"Human fly swatter...!"

"Is that all the praise I get?"

"It’s fascinating! How do you do that?"

"..."

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Picking up a wooden stick from the ground, I placed it in the Young Lady’s hand. Then, I demonstrated the most basic swordsmanship to her.

"Here. Hold it like this."

"Mmm."

"Exhale steadily."

"Huff!"

"Not holding your breath, but exhaling."

"Hoo!"

"Good. Now swing it as if you’re tossing it lightly."

"Hyaa!"

-Thud.

"...?"

The Young Lady stared at the tree branch that had fallen to the ground, a question mark practically floating above her head.

"It ran away."

"..."

"Pick it up."

In many ways, the Young Lady was only skilled in magic.

Holding the tree branch again, the Young Lady enthusiastically swung it behind me, as if determined to one day reach the level of a Sword Master.

"Hah!"

"..."

"Hiyah!"

She waved her hands energetically.

"You seem to be having fun."

Using her as a backdrop, I refocused on my meditation. This time, I intended to delve fully into the mental image.

Every battle I had fought until now.

And every crisis I had faced, I recalled them as I steadied my breathing.

"..."

-Just die already!

-...Damn it.

-If a brat like you gets beaten this much, you should learn some humility. Oh? Look at those eyes!

The shard of glass I had wielded in the slum just to avoid starving.

-Run away...!

-Hahaha! This is hilarious. Let’s see you try to escape, kid.

The life-or-death battle with the Archbishop.

And the final moments of many lives I had taken with my own hands, I began to paint them within the mental image space.

A dark and deep domain that belonged to me alone.

The sword was truly difficult.

A blade that had fallen into the hands of a clueless novice like a key. Without a proper master and afraid of blood, I had swung the sword solely to survive in those days.

For a better future.

For the disasters that would appear in the original story.

And for the sake of protecting those dear to me, the sword I wielded could not be called righteous.

I wasn’t a hero from a movie. Nor was I a self-sacrificing savior.

Driven purely by selfish desires, I had wielded the sword to avoid being trampled and to stand beside those who shone.

I had no regrets.

Without the selfish acts I had committed, I would have been swept away by the storm of this novel.

The tone of the story was dark.

Many lives were lost in the battle against the Archbishop, and it was a perilous world for a supporting character who didn’t even get a single line in the novel.

What kind of romance fantasy is this?

You could even call this a dark fantasy and believe it.

Standing in the space within my mental image, I let out a hollow laugh and gripped my sword tightly to find direction.

Because right now, I had lost my path forward.

Mikhail had found the Holy Sword and further strengthened the power of the Hero.

Yuria had borrowed the Power of the Saintess and gained a radiant brilliance.

In the novel, Ruin had grown stronger by acquiring the Magic Tome called "Infinite Light."

But I...

"..."

I had nothing.

There were limits to raising my strength using the memories of the Possessor. Of course, there were many ways I could become stronger than I am now, but eventually, I’d hit another dead end. I needed to find another path.

A path where I could grow endlessly.

A path where the limits of strength were unknown.

Like Mikhail in the novel.

Like the Pope of the Heretics.

I needed that kind of strength too. If I didn’t want to be swept away by the winds they stirred.

To be honest, I wasn’t confident I could win even if I fought Olaf again.

He was strong.

And I was weak.

I had dueled him countless times in the space of my mental image, but still...

Every single time ended in my defeat. It made me feel my shortcomings deeply and crave strength even more.

There were still many hardships I had to overcome.

And the number of people I needed to protect kept growing.

"Truly..."

Even now, I was someone who wouldn’t lose to just anyone.

But still.

I was lacking.

Compared to the me who appeared in my dreams, the current me was still lacking, which made me even greedier for strength.

"Sigh."

It was difficult. This thing called a sword.

In the space of my mental image, I envisioned the version of myself I had seen in my dreams.

I didn’t know much about this guy.

-...

But I felt like there was something to gain from him.

Letting out a deep breath, I raised my sword.

***

After finishing the battle within my mental image, I wiped the sweat dripping down my forehead and muttered quietly.

"Phew... This is tough."

The Young Lady, who had been swinging a tree branch around, threw it at Gomtangi and responded to me.

"What’s tough?"

I turned to the Young Lady, who tilted her head in curiosity, and answered with a mischievous smile.

"I meant it’s tough solving the Young Lady’s appetite."

"What?!"

"Even when you’re full, you keep eating, don’t you?"

"Ugh!"

The Young Lady furrowed her brows and clenched her fist in frustration at the sudden teasing. It was as if she was complaining about why I was mocking her when she was just quietly watching.

"Ugh. Stop teasing me."

"I’m serious, though."

"Huh?!"

The Young Lady pointed at Gomtangi with her finger and said.

"Bite him, bear!"

-Bear?

"Bite him!"

-Bear.

"Ugh! Not me! Bite Ricardo!"

"Pfft!"

I burst into laughter.

Watching the Young Lady wave her hands around as Gomtangi nudged her head, I couldn’t help but laugh.

Then, remembering the earlier battle, I made a bitter expression. Not once had my sword managed to land a hit.

-...

-Wow.

-...

-You dodged that too...?

He was a monster.

The me in my dreams.

"Really..."

Truly...

"Ricardo!"

The Young Lady, who had pulled Gomtangi away, shouted at me as I stood there dazed.

"Ricardo!"

"Ah...! Yes, did you call for me?"

"Yeah. What’s for lunch today?"

"..."

Faced with the Young Lady’s question, which was the most difficult in the world, I let out a thoughtful "Hmm..." to buy time. If she had just told me what to make, I could’ve prepared it right away, but she always had to ask for the chef’s opinion.

"Let’s see."

Even so, I pretended not to know the answer, though it was obvious.

"How about paprika pasta?"

"Huh..."

"What’s wrong?"

"I don’t like paprika."

Seeing the Young Lady pout her lips, I tousled her hair. Then, I gave her the answer she wanted.

"You’re going to say you want to eat meat, aren’t you?"

"Hehe...! That’s right."

"Then why do you even ask?"

"Because it feels nice when what I want and what Ricardo wants overlap."

"What’s with that flirting?"

"Hehe!"

The Young Lady laughed brightly.

As I looked at the brightly shining sun, I stretched lazily.

Thinking about the sword wouldn’t give me an answer right now. After all, the conclusion would just be to meet a stronger opponent and fight them.

"That sounds like a hassle."

Putting my sword back into its sheath, I slowly moved to prepare lunch.

"Shall we head back to the estate?"

"Yeah."

"Are you feeling better now?"

"Of course."

The Young Lady rolled up her sleeves and flashed a healthy smile.

"Good. Let’s show off some skills for the first time in a while."

I pushed Fairy Unit 1 along as I walked toward the estate.

*

A dark, shadowy space.

"Grrrgh."

The man wrapped in bandages gritted his teeth and let out a groan.

"That bastard…."

The man’s identity was Yung.

He held the position of the Archbishop of Oblivion.

Yung let out a bitter laugh as he stared at the wound on his abdomen. He hadn’t expected that bastard to betray him.

-Where are you off to in such a hurry, Archbishop of Oblivion?

-Ah… isn’t this the Archbishop of Greed? I thought you had failed your last mission and returned to the embrace of God, but it seems I was mistaken.

-It seems God still has use for me.

The fool blinded by greed continued to press on with his questions.

-So, where are you going?

-Heh heh heh. To get my revenge.

-Revenge, you say…?

-My eye. My right arm…. If something was taken from me, it’s only fair I take something in return.

-Ah… I see.

-Thud…!

Yung let out a groan as he recalled his battle with him, clenching his fists in frustration as he remembered his pitiful defeat and the powerlessness that had left him crying out into the darkness.

"Hahaha… Haah…. Damn it. I can’t even report this to my superiors out of sheer embarrassment."

Yung glared with eyes burning with rage, grinding his teeth furiously.

And then.

He began to tremble, his eyelids fluttering as he thought of the pleasure that could soothe this anger.

"Come to think of it… that bastard had a precious little toy, didn’t he?"

Yung smirked bitterly as he thought of the Silver-Haired Boy.

He decided that the fruit was ripe for the picking.