TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 242
-Drip.
Red blood drips onto the floor.
The pain that should have been felt in the abdomen dissipates between tightly shut eyes, and the overwhelming sense of injustice scatters into the night breeze.
Mikhail slowly lifted his heavily drooping eyelids.
Red hair.
Black Butler uniform.
Broad shoulders that blocked his entire view.
That unique perfume scent tickled Mikhail’s nose, greeting him.
“I was worried.”
Ricardo’s low voice briefly resonated, inquiring about his well-being. Without asking a single question, Ricardo, who had silently grabbed the blade, stood steadfast like a rock.
Mikhail spoke in a trembling voice. Without even a moment to react to the news that the quest had been completed, he looked at Ricardo, who had caught the blade barehanded, and asked.
“How…”
“How, you ask? Secret Girl sent a telepathic plea for help, so I came.”
Ricardo, leaving the flustered Mikhail behind, spoke in a dark tone as he looked at The Man before him.
“Don’t we have unfinished business as well?”
“…”
“It feels like we could talk all night and still not be done.”
Ricardo’s chilling voice elicited a smirk from Jung. Despite the lack of inflection in his tone, it made every nerve in the body stand on end.
With each syllable Ricardo spat out, his voice felt like an awl piercing the skin, making Jung shake his head and burst into laughter.
“Puhaha… Puhaha! Ha… I really picked the wrong day for this. I didn’t expect the Bodyguard Knight to be here.”
“I think I picked the right day, though.”
“Ha…”
Jung cut off his sticky laughter and lifted his head. Jung’s sharply honed gaze met Ricardo’s in the air and then fell away.
“I just dropped by to say hello today. I wondered if you’d forgotten me. After all, that friend of yours is such a renowned healer. So, I thought I’d remind you someone like me exists.”
“Do you greet people with blades?”
“Hehehe… That, too.”
Hearing Ricardo’s cold voice, unlike anything he had heard before, Mikhail’s hands turned as cold as ice.
“…”
Jung awkwardly laughed and slowly stepped back.
“I was going to turn that little kid into a fool… Just babbling ‘Father, Father’ without knowing anything, and then—!”
“What a vile hobby. Makes me want to kill you.”
“…Maybe I should just do it now.”
Jung gave a chilling look at Mikhail, who was hiding behind Ricardo’s back, with a regretful smile. As if he truly wanted to carry out his threat, Jung’s words made Ricardo smile faintly.
“Are you even capable of that?”
“…”
The extending red aura began to strangle Jung’s breath. Even with the ominous red aura spreading like the open gate of the underworld, Jung showed no intention of retreating, unable to let go of the dagger in his hand.
“Everyone gets careless. Me, and you too.”
“…”
“This mister has some skills, you know.”
Ricardo awkwardly laughed and let go of the hand that had grabbed the dagger.
“Just a joke.”
He could easily kill him.
He could disable his dark magic.
[A Restriction is Applied.]
[Mikhail’s mental state is highly unstable.]
[The longer the time spent with ‘Jung,’ the more the restriction will waver.]
[If you kill ‘Jung,’ Mikhail’s awakening will be delayed.]
Because that’s not what the gods want.
Ricardo, who had been made to meet Mikhail, silently cursed the gods watching from somewhere, then withdrew the red aura he had extended toward Jung, who was licking his dry lips.
“Today doesn’t seem to be the day.”
“…I almost died.”
“You should leave before I change my mind.”
“I suppose I should…”
Jung disappeared into the darkness, glaring daggers at Mikhail as he bid farewell.
“Little kid, I’ll see you next time.”
Ricardo also bid farewell to Jung.
“Next time, I won’t let you go so easily.”
“I don’t want to see you again either.”
With those words, Jung vanished.
*
Silence filled the alleyway.
Mikhail lowered his head, staring at Ricardo’s blood-soaked hand. He didn’t know what to say. A simple “thank you” was the obvious thing to say, but the words wouldn’t come out.
Ricardo silently wiped the blood off his hand. Taking a handkerchief from the inner pocket of his jacket, he pressed it against his palm and then nodded as he slowly walked toward Mikhail.
“Are you alright?”
“…”
“Were you hurt?”
“…”
Mikhail swallowed the questions rising within him along with the night air. There were so many things he wanted to say.
Starting with the question of why Ricardo had helped him, he tried to suppress the questions bubbling up inside him, but one question left him speechless, forcing him to swallow another dry breath.
‘Why.’
Why are you doing this?
Ricardo shouldn’t have any relationship with me. He’s no different from a stranger. So ‘why’ are you doing this?
Mikhail clenched his fists, swallowing the rising doubts.
‘This isn’t like you.’
The woman who had been a nuisance at first meeting is the ‘me’ Ricardo sees now.
Not a close acquaintance, not a friend, just a ‘stranger,’ nothing more, nothing less.
Why are you stepping in?
All you had to do was turn around and walk away with your eyes closed. No one would know, and there’d be no one to blame.
And yet.
‘Why are you helping me?’
The Ricardo I remember.
The Ricardo who seeks profit without loss. The Ricardo who only showed a troublemaker’s side at the academy. The Ricardo who would coldly neglect and dismiss me.
Why….
‘Are you trying to be a hero?’
Mikhail voiced the question he had been holding inside. He couldn’t resolve it without an answer.
“Why…”
The countless suspicions he had harbored until now began to rise with a faint pulse.
“Why did you save me?”
“…Ah.”
“You’re someone who doesn’t take losses, so why save me?”
Ricardo was always like that, which is why other students disliked and despised him. Judging Ricardo by the image painted before his eyes, Mikhail clenched his fists and questioned the misunderstanding.
“That’s not the kind of person you are.”
“…”
“You’re not someone who helps strangers and asks if they’re okay.”
“…”
“So why are you acting like a good person?”
“Why… Why…?”
Ricardo let out an empty laugh and spoke to Mikhail.
“Because you’re beautiful.”
“…”
“I admit I have a severe case of gender discrimination.”
Mikhail clenched his fists and retorted.
“What’s so beautiful?”
“…”
“I’m dull and can’t even dress up properly, so what’s so beautiful about me?”
“…”
“I’m not beautiful at all. I know that when I look in the mirror. I’m unattractive and ugly. Even Devotee thinks that way. That I’m dull, fierce, and like a Man.”
Mikhail clenched both fists and shouted at Ricardo.
“Don’t lie.”
Ricardo shook his head with a small smile.
“What can I do? My eyes tell me you’re beautiful.”
Mikhail, with an incredulous expression, told Ricardo that he was truly a strange person.
“Are you really the Troublemaker?”
“…”
“The Troublemaker who caused havoc at the Academy? This feels like a completely different person.”
Ricardo smiled faintly again and spoke to Mikhail.
“I was immature back then.”
“…”
“At the time, I thought that was the best way. I believed that if I acted badly, others would like me more.”
Ricardo crouched down in front of Mikhail, tying the loose knot on Mikhail’s sneakers as he spoke in a small voice.
“And I wasn’t entirely wrong.”
Mikhail tightly shut his eyes and spoke to Ricardo.
“I still dislike you.”
“For a Disciple to say that to their Master, it’s quite audacious.”
“Even so, I still dislike you.”
“…”
Mikhail clenched both fists tightly and spoke to Ricardo, who was standing up.
-Sigh…
“Misa.”
“What…?”
“My name.”
“…”
“It’s Misa.”
Ricardo nodded with a faint smile.
“Your name is beautiful.”
*
Back at the Dormitory.
Mikhail lay on the bed, covering his weary eyes. His thoughts were tangled, and his body was exhausted. He avoided greeting the dazzlingly bright moon.
Many thoughts came to mind.
Why he had revealed his name.
Why he had told him the name ‘Misa.’
Mikhail, overwhelmed by the complexity of his emotional choice, let out a Deep Sigh.
“Sigh…”
-I was worried.
Even though he said he disliked him, why did he say such things? And what if those words were True Feelings?
Covering his eyes with his hand, Mikhail murmured in a Small Voice about the emotions he had felt today.
“I don’t understand.”
He didn’t understand what kind of person Ricardo was.
A good person.
A kind person.
A Bad Person.
Mikhail brushed his face with his hand and let out a Deep Sigh as he thought about the Ricardo who was so different from the one he had seen at the Academy.
He couldn’t tell which side was the real one. The only thing he was sure of was that his thoughts about Ricardo had slightly changed.
From the worst to just a little less than the worst.
Mikhail, frustrated by his own thoughts about Ricardo, punched the bed with his fist.
“Annoying.”
As the endless cycle of complicated thoughts and questions kept him awake—
-Ding.
The chilling sound of a ‘Ding’ echoed in Mikhail’s tired ears, as if waving a hand at him.
[Would you like to receive the Quest reward?]
Mikhail nodded in response.
And then.
The Truth he had longed for was revealed.
[Side Story: To the Original Form.]
If you.
The things that happened because of you.
On the day it all ends with one person’s responsibility.
You couldn’t bear it.
A Cold Breeze blew through.