TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 101
It was charred black.
Time seemed to have stopped. All I could see was Ricardo’s face, letting out a feverish groan right before my eyes.
As Yuria opened her eyes, she thought to herself.
That something had gone wrong.
Seeing Ricardo’s hand, burned black like charcoal, Yuria felt the emotions that had just settled down begin to crumble.
Ricardo, leaning against the wall, exhaled rough breaths. His usual strong demeanor was nowhere to be found as he let out feverish groans.
‘Huh…?’
Yuria rubbed her eyes.
Wondering if what she was seeing was a mistake.
Whether it was because of the alcohol or exhaustion, she didn’t know. But the Ricardo before her eyes was not the Ricardo she had known.
He was drenched in fatigue.
Groaning in pain.
The sight of Ricardo, bearing terrible scars, jolted her intoxicated mind awake.
‘What… What happened to you…?’
Unable to recall her memories from when she was drunk, Yuria desperately tried to piece together the forgotten fragments but came up with nothing.
Hans’s face.
The faces of the men in Black Priest Robes came to her faintly, but Yuria couldn’t remember what Ricardo had done or why he was so injured. She blamed her foolish self.
‘Idiot…!’
Finally, her vision began to clear. As her eyes, veiled in darkness, gradually adjusted, she could see the chaos around her.
The collapsed wall.
The floor scarred with sword marks.
The fallen Ricardo.
Everything around her pointed to her responsibility. Everything was in ruins except for the space immediately around her.
And.
Even the cold, lifeless corpses.
Yuria couldn’t help but be flustered.
‘Is it because of me again…?’
‘Again…’
Why does accursed karma keep piling up like this?
Filled with emotions on the verge of bursting, Yuria staggered toward Ricardo.
And.
“Huh?”
She locked eyes with a startled Ricardo.
“Ah… This is bad.”
As always, Ricardo spoke with a nonchalant smile.
“I’m sorry.”
“I messed up again.”
At Ricardo’s brief apology, Yuria’s emotions broke down.
*
It was a face she had never seen before.
Ricardo, looking so flustered.
And Yuria had never seen the always-strong Ricardo in such a weakened state.
With trembling hands, Yuria reached out to grab Ricardo’s hand.
She had to heal him.
She had to heal the terrible wound before her eyes. If she didn’t, it felt like her pounding heart would burst.
“Ahhh… Why…”
If she were to ask what had caused his injury, the answer would undoubtedly be herself, standing there unharmed.
If she could think even a little, she could arrive at the correct answer about who was responsible for the events unfolding before her.
She was the only one who remained unscathed.
Yuria looked at Ricardo with trembling eyes. Cold sweat trickled down his forehead as he awkwardly smiled and apologized.
A hand undergoing necrosis, black as night.
Yuria thought she had encountered many patients in her life, but she had never seen someone with such a severe injury.
The pain experienced when alternating between healing and necrosis was unimaginable.
A wound so severe, it wouldn’t be strange if he died right now.
Because that’s the nature of Dark Magic.
Magic that inflicts pain and takes lives—that was the sin contained in Ricardo’s hand.
Ricardo’s wound made Yuria’s heart tremble violently.
With a trembling voice, Yuria asked Ricardo if it was because of her. And… if he had gotten hurt protecting her useless self again. Yuria tried to open her mouth to ask, but Ricardo’s calm response silenced her.
“It’s nothing.”
“…”
“It has nothing to do with Miss Yuria.”
At Ricardo’s calm words, Yuria’s hands trembled. Lowering her head at his composed response, as if he had anticipated her flustered reaction, Yuria clenched her fists and spoke to Ricardo.
“What do you mean it’s nothing…”
“It really is.”
“How can it be nothing? I’m standing here perfectly fine…! Except for me, Ricardo is hurt like this…! How can you say it’s fine?!”
Ricardo, with a flustered expression, gave me the same response. He said his injury had nothing to do with me, that it only looked strange because of the darkness—a response even a child wouldn’t believe.
‘Am I supposed to believe that?’
Even if I’m a fool.
Even if I’m an idiot who only blames others.
Even if I’m someone who’s only a burden.
Hearing those words… it hurts too much.
What am I supposed to do…
The man I once loved is injured.
I hate it, I hate it so much I could go mad… But when I see his face, it feels like my heart is being torn apart. And yet, that man speaks kindly.
Seeing Ricardo lie, saying it’s nothing, Yuria felt sorrow at his hollow excuses.
Even if those words were true.
At this moment, seeing Ricardo apologizing, Yuria felt an indescribable ache in her heart.
Ricardo awkwardly smiled as he carefully rolled down his sleeve. Watching Yuria’s reaction, he hesitantly lowered his sleeve and struggled to stand, extending his hand toward Yuria.
Ricardo extended his left hand, not his right, but Yuria remained still, unmoving.
“Let’s go. It’s too late.”
Yuria shook her head.
“Get treated first.”
“You know.”
Ricardo shrugged his shoulders.
Then, glancing at his injured arm, he spoke.
“This can’t be treated.”
“Even so…”
“It’s quite an old wound. So there’s no need to worry.”
Dark Magic cannot be healed.
Attempting to heal it is illegal in itself.
The healing process was also far more difficult compared to ordinary wounds.
At Yuria’s stubborn insistence, Ricardo awkwardly smiled, withdrew his hand, and said.
“I’m sorry for showing you something so unsightly.”
“…”
Unsightly.
How could that be considered unsightly?
At Ricardo’s continued apologies, Yuria shook her head vigorously.
Ricardo, in a melancholy voice, cautiously began to recount what had just happened.
“I just ran into an assailant. They were jealous of Handsome Me.”
Ricardo, throwing out a joke to lighten the gloomy mood, gave an awkward smile when his eyes met mine.
“It really was nothing. This wound as well. Miss Yuria, you know this, don’t you? That I’m not someone who would go around getting beaten up.”
At the words “not someone who would go around getting beaten up,” Yuria’s head dropped to the floor.
‘Not someone who would go around getting beaten up…’
The words spoken by Ricardo, who had been stabbed by the dagger I threw, offered no comfort. They overlapped with his current bitter smile.
The excuse Ricardo was making now sounded like nothing more than an attempt to ease my feelings.
Finally, Ricardo glanced at the fallen corpses on the ground and spoke softly.
“The ones who were killed…”
Ricardo let out a deep sigh.
At Ricardo’s deep sigh, as if expecting I would offer sharp criticism, my shoulders trembled.
Because I no longer pitied them.
Was it because of the experience of being severely burned in the dungeon? Or was it because Ricardo was more precious to me than those who lay dead? The fate of the villains, now cold and lifeless, no longer felt pitiable.
I didn’t know what would happen in the future, but at this moment, I even felt hatred toward them.
Hesitating to answer, Ricardo lowered his gaze to the ground and spoke in a small voice.
“I did it because it seemed like Miss Yuria might get hurt.”
“…”
“I know you wouldn’t like it, but still, Miss Yuria is precious to me.”
Yuria thought about the countless pieces of advice Ricardo had given her in the past.
-Don’t meddle unnecessarily.
-It’s for your own good, Miss Yuria.
Memories of Ricardo giving small pieces of advice while taking on the dirty work himself began to gnaw away at Yuria’s emotions.
And.
Those emotions spilled out of her mouth.
“You say I’m precious…”
“Then you should take care of your own body too.”
“Why…! Why do you always get hurt alone… Why do you have to be the bad person alone? I’m your friend too. We’re friends who laugh and cry together…”
From long ago, Yuria had thought about it.
Even when eating alone.
Even when she hated Ricardo at the dormitory academy.
All of Ricardo’s actions, which had tormented her, were things she hated but also things that caused her heart to ache painfully.
Back then, she couldn’t find the reason.
She hated Ricardo.
It felt like everything stemmed from him.
But.
Now, she felt like she understood the reason.
It was because she felt sorry.
Because she couldn’t do anything for him.
Because she had only received his help… and hated him in return…
So.
She thought she had hated Ricardo a lot.
Yuria, holding back her tears, shouted at Ricardo.
“Let’s start over and become closer again.”
“…”
“Let’s forget the past… and start again.”
Yuria bit her lip tightly and said.
“Let’s be friends.”