TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 50
Swish.
Yuria slowly opened her eyes.
As the bright Streetlight Glow hit her eyes, she frowned. Was she unconscious for a moment? The scenery entering her vision was not the dark Alleyway but a Street illuminated by a Street Lamp.
A peaceful Street with nearby shops and couples walking by. Her wrist, which the Big-built Man had grabbed, still stung, but the surrounding scenery flowed peacefully, indifferent to her Troubled Heart.
The tension eased.
Her body relaxed at the thought that she was now safe.
“Thank goodness…”
The passing people were just like that.
The moving Street Lamps were just like that.
Safe now…?
‘The Street Lamp is moving…?’
Yuria touched the ground where she was lying.
The soft texture of the ground was palpable. As she turned her eyes to look at the ground, a flashy pink cushion came into view.
“Uh…?”
Yuria felt a sense of foreboding.
As a worrisome thought filled her mind.
A faint vibration was felt on her back.
A sharp yet leisurely Voice, like that of a Cat, was heard beside her.
“It’s cramped…”
In the corner of the Cart, Lady Olivia, sitting with her shoulders hunched, came into view.
Olivia, with her White Hair and wearing a Black Dress.
When their eyes met, Olivia turned her head awkwardly toward the outside with an embarrassed expression.
“The weather… is nice.”
Looking at the darkened sky, the awkward words of the Young Lady made Yuria’s head throb.
How long had they been like this?
She had come for a preliminary inspection with Mikhail and Ruin, but while the two went off to buy a Gift, something had happened.
Feeling sorry for the Little Kid begging, she had dropped a Pocket of Gold Coins into the Tin Can. Then, upon finding the Little Kid being beaten after entering an Alleyway, she had chased after them…
Ah.
As the puzzle pieces of her memory aligned, her vision began to widen.
-Bite!
-…That’s my line.
-Bite…!
Her face flushed hot with embarrassment.
‘Crazy…!’
Only now did the Red-Haired Butler come into view—Ricardo, the Butler, sweating as he pulled the Cart vigorously.
‘Once again… I’ve caused trouble.’
Ricardo turned back, confirmed that she had regained consciousness, and greeted her with a small smile.
“You’re awake?”
A Voice filled with concern.
The same Voice that had given her strength during her gloomy days at the Academy.
“You fainted all of a sudden… I apologize.”
“…You could have just left me.”
“I didn’t think of that. Haha…”
Ricardo, pulling the Cart, offered an awkward laugh and an apology. He steered the conversation, mentioning how sorry he was for laying her in such a shabby place and asking if her hips were sore.
It was awkward.
Being seated in the Cart.
Owing a debt to Ricardo.
The thought of ‘once again’ kept lingering in her mind.
‘Ha… This is driving me crazy.’
She couldn’t lift her head.
Partly because it was awkward.
And because she didn’t know what to say.
She wanted to say thank you, but the words wouldn’t come out. Was it because of her Stubbornness, or because the Young Lady was nearby?
She didn’t know what kind of expression to make.
-Glance…
“Uh… um…”
Olivia was gauging her mood.
She couldn’t bring herself to speak rashly.
Her gaze seemed to plead, ‘Please don’t talk to me.’
When the Cart hit a stone with a ‘thud,’ her hips jolted with the same sound.
“Ouch…”
Seeing her wince, Olivia retreated further into the corner and timidly tapped the bottom of the Cart.
“Sit here…”
A sharp Voice reflexively came out.
“Don’t mind me.”
Olivia turned her head gloomily and muttered.
“It’s my Cart…”
She didn’t know what to say to Olivia.
To Olivia, who had tormented her in the past… she felt no inclination to say kind words.
She didn’t want to pretend like nothing had happened, nor did she want to foolishly forgive someone after what she’d been through with those two.
Hunched in the Cart, she waited for Time to pass.
As Olivia began nodding off, her Red Tousled Hair fluttering, Ricardo gently laid Olivia in the corner of the Cart and spoke.
“You must have been really startled.”
“…”
At the sudden words of comfort, she couldn’t bring herself to respond. Because asking so gently felt like cheating.
She silently stared at her Palm.
Fidgeting, her fingers nervously picked at her nails.
Ricardo awkwardly smiled and changed the subject.
“Where are your companions?”
“…At the Plaza.”
“The Plaza? That’s the complete opposite direction. Who are you with…”
“Mikhail and Ruin.”
Ricardo fell silent.
With an awkward smile, he muttered, “I see,” and walked quietly toward the Plaza.
When her companions searching for her gradually came into view.
Breaking the silence, Ricardo parked the Cart in an empty area and opened his mouth.
In a small, quiet Voice.
“Miss Yuria.”
“Yes?”
“Are you really okay? You’re not hurt anywhere?”
His caring Voice sounded sweeter than ever. Though it was spoken formally, why did it touch her heart so much?
She hated her heart for beating so foolishly.
Ricardo let out a deep sigh and said.
“It feels like we always meet in these kinds of situations, where all I can do is worry.”
Always…
A question arose.
Questions about why he always appeared like a Hero in moments of danger. Yuria wanted to ask Ricardo, but he spoke first, answering her unspoken question.
“Just to clarify, this isn’t something I orchestrated.”
“I… I know.”
“Your face says you’re dying of suspicion, though.”
Yuria covered her face with her hands.
She wondered if it was that obvious.
Ricardo awkwardly smiled and extended his hand to me, who was sitting in the Cart.
“Can you walk?”
“…Yes.”
“That’s a relief.”
I looked toward the Plaza. When I saw Ruin running around in the distance, searching for me, I slowly raised my hand to wave, signaling that I was here so he wouldn’t worry.
“Wait a moment.”
Ricardo urgently grabbed my wrist cautiously. Seeing my wrist, bruised blue, he let out a deep sigh.
It tickled my heart.
“What is this?”
“Ah… I must have gotten hurt earlier. It’s fine.”
“Fine, my foot…!”
Ricardo’s genuine frustration resonated in my ears. Taking out Ointment from his Palm-Sized Bag, Ricardo roughly handed it to me and said bluntly.
“What’s fine about this? Your wrist is completely bruised.”
I remembered when I was crying after being bullied by the Noble Ladies. Ricardo had spoken like this back then, too.
-Were you here? You’re really fast at running.
-Why… did you follow me?
-Isn’t this important to you?
I recalled the face of the Red-Haired Butler, who retrieved the pendant the Noble Ladies had thrown into the Pond and handed it to me with a foolish grin.
His appearance, coming to me with seaweed dangling from his head, holding out my late Mother’s keepsake, kept overlapping with his current image.
-Sniff… Th-thank you…!
-Why are you crying again?
-…I’m not crying.
-You’re such a fool. Really.
Moments like this always confused me. Whether this person was truly a Bad Person or just someone who was good at pretending to be kind.
He kept making me misunderstand.
“There, it’s done. Don’t carry anything heavy, and ask Ruin to fetch water for you.”
Ricardo knelt on one knee and applied Ointment to my wrist. His squatting figure, diligently applying the Ointment, felt unfamiliar yet reminded me of Ricardo from the First Semester.
Ricardo nagged me.
Unlike the kind of nagging Mikhail or Ruin would do, his was extremely practical.
Not the praise like, ‘Your reckless actions are admirable,’ from Mikhail, nor the admiration like, ‘How is your heart so kind?’ from Ruin. Ricardo’s nagging was the type that would annoy you if anyone else said it.
“You, who can’t even handle a single Goblin, why did you go in there?”
“I can handle a Goblin…”
“What do you mean handle? You haven’t even learned Fireball, and you’re talking about Goblins?”
“…”
“It was really dangerous.”
I talked back to Ricardo because I believed I had done the right thing. After all, that’s what I had learned at the Academy, and I had lived believing that being righteous was the right thing to do.
Yuria vented her frustration on Ricardo.
“Still, if it hadn’t been for me, that Little Kid would have kept getting hit. They might have even gone without dinner tonight.”
“Maybe so. Or they might have gotten beaten to death, had their begging money stolen, and cried their eyes out tonight instead.”
Ricardo spoke indifferently, as if it was nothing.
As if it was just how things were.
“But still, Miss Yuria, you were almost in danger.”
My fists clenched.
Why was he worrying about me?
He was supposed to be the Bad Person who tormented me.
If he had been consistent, at least I could have hated him.
And so, I grew more irritated.
As if to tell him not to confuse me.
“But still, I was able to plant Hope. Hope for tomorrow. Hope that not everyone in the world is bad. Hope that somewhere out there, there are proper adults…”
Ricardo awkwardly smiled and said.
“Still, it was dangerous, wasn’t it?”
As he looked toward the brightly lit Plaza, Ricardo turned his back.
The Street Lamp’s light cast a cool glow on Ricardo, making Yuria gulp.
“What would you do if, by that slim chance, something happened to Miss Yuria?”
“What if something happens?”
“Pardon?”
“If something happens to me, what do you think would happen? Isn’t that what you want, Mr. Ricardo? At the Academy, even now, aren’t you wishing for something to happen to me?”
Ricardo awkwardly laughed. Scratching his head, he muttered, “That’s true…” and his demeanor made my heart ache.
“But still. If Miss Yuria were hurt, I think it would hurt my heart.”
“What?”
“I’m just saying.”
Ricardo lightly turned back and pushed the Cart. Carefully laying the Young Lady’s sleeping head on a soft cushion, Ricardo slowly moved forward, speaking as he walked silently.
“And, Miss Yuria.”
Ricardo trailed off. Staring quietly at the Alleyway where it all happened, his grip on the handle tightened.
“Not everyone in the world is kind.”
Ricardo looked at the Plaza.
Seeing Ruin running toward me after spotting me, Ricardo lowered his head and pushed the Cart.
Slowly, Departing Ricardo spoke to me one last time.
“Don’t meddle unnecessarily.”
His words carried multiple meanings.
I thought I wouldn’t be able to keep that promise.
And at the same time, my heart started pounding. Yuria called out to Ricardo, who was leaving.
“Ricardo.”
“Yes?”
“Are you really a Bad Person?”
Ricardo smiled faintly and replied.
“Yes. A terribly Bad Person.”
***
In an Alleyway shrouded in Night Shade.
The noisy chatter of Vagabonds broke the Dawn’s stillness and echoed loudly.
The late-night Alleyway, filled with boisterous laughter and Tales of Heroics, became a time for bragging about who was the bigger Trash.
-If it weren’t for That Guy, I could’ve made a fortune.
-Wow~ This Kid’s acting gets better and better.
-You should learn some acting, bro. You almost got caught because it was so obvious.
-Hahaha!! Why don’t you teach me? Are you okay from getting hit earlier?
-If getting hit hurt, I’d be dead by now.
They were Vagabonds who had targeted Yuria.
The Vagabonds’ conversation, starting with vulgar comments about Yuria and escalating into crossing boundaries, spread.
From a corner of the Alleyway, a Chilling Voice rang out.
“Don’t you all think so?”
A Black Shadow cast over the Alleyway’s entrance. The silhouette of the Red-Haired Man blocked the Moonlight.
The Vagabonds pulled out their daggers. The sharp Blade reflected the Red Hair.
“It seems like the tab hasn’t been settled yet. Am I right?”
The Red-Haired Man dragged his sword along the ground as he approached. Screech. The sharp sound of the Blade scraping the ground echoed through the Alleyway.
“You should choose your targets wisely when doing bad things. That’s how you survive long in this world.”
I raised my sword.
To settle the score from earlier.
A familiar face came into view.
The Kid Yuria had saved.
The Big-built Man who had grabbed Yuria’s wrist.
Even the Thin Man who had sprayed medicine on the Handkerchief.
A Fishy Smile spread across my face at their frightened appearances.
I looked at them and spoke.
“I won’t kill you. I’m not that much of a Bad Person…”
“Instead, let’s call it quits with your trade. Your lives should suffice as payment.”
The Red Hair became soaked in blood.
*
Groans echoed.
The ground was soaked with blood, and the Vagabonds were retreating into the Deep Alleyway, carrying their fallen companions.
-Plod… plod…
A new Guest was arriving.
The Man, casting a small Shadow under the Moonlight, blocked the Alleyway.
I looked at him and spoke.
“It’s been a while.”
The Sub Male Lead, with silver hair and a sword.
“Mikhail.”
He glared at me as if looking at Trash.