TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 82
-Arrived.
My Past Self began stepping into the dark space with an innocent smile.
Yuria, watching that scene, started to be engulfed in anxiety. Because she remembered what Hans had said.
-How do you think you survived in the dungeon when you don’t even learn Offensive Magic?
‘Yeah, how did I survive…’
The deeper my Past Self walked into the darkness, the heavier Yuria’s head began to feel.
She couldn’t predict what would happen next. She couldn’t foresee it, nor could she have imagined that she would walk into a place called the Altar of Greed, filled with the stench of blood, on her own.
The only thing she could rely on was the Red-Haired Butler.
At the moment she couldn’t lift her head due to the guilt weighing on her. A voice from The Man started to echo from behind her.
-What are you doing!
Ricardo, piercing through the darkness.
Yuria, seeing that figure, started tearing up.
It was only then that Yuria realized how she had been able to make it out. She now understood that if it weren’t for Ricardo, she would have died.
Ricardo had roughly grabbed her wrist in the past.
Ricardo, panting heavily and sweating, sighed in relief as he looked at her Past Self, who had Empty Eyes.
-Oh? It’s Ricardo.
My Past Self spoke emotionlessly.
-The Ricardo I hate the most in the world.
My Past Self, saying hurtful words to Ricardo without any emotion, had an expression that showed she didn’t care.
Neither anger nor hatred nor sorrow showed on her face as she spat venomous words at This Ricardo.
Ricardo, hearing the verbal abuse, responded with an unaffected smile.
-Can you afford to hate the person you dislike the most in the world? Anyway, let’s go back. This place is too dangerous.
-Here?
Tilting her head and looking around, my Past Self smiled faintly and spoke in a Cold Voice.
-It’s my place.
-A house this big? You’ve made it.
-…I’m tired, so I’m going to rest.
My Past Self tried to shake off Ricardo’s hand and head deeper into the darkness, but Ricardo’s tightly gripping hand wouldn’t let her go.
Ricardo spoke to her in a Gentle Voice.
-How about staying out tonight? I’ll treat you to something delicious.
-No. I have to go back.
-Chocolate…! How about chocolate?
-Too sweet. I don’t like it.
-But you used to like it, Young Lady…. Anyway, let’s go back. This place is dangerous.
-I said no…! No!
My Past Self kept resisting, struggling repeatedly.
Shouting that she was going, my Past Self struggled to break free from Ricardo’s hand, resembling a tantrum-throwing Young Child.
Yuria felt a chill.
Mind Control.
She thought it wasn’t her concern, but seeing her own unfocused eyes and darkened complexion, Yuria couldn’t deny it.
That she had caused great trouble.
Hans was right.
Hans’s sarcastic remark about her grave mistakes she couldn’t remember wasn’t wrong at all.
She was relieved that Ricardo had caught her before it was too late. If he had been just a little later, she might have walked into the Altar of Greed on her own.
Yuria sighed in relief and wiped the Cold Sweat that had soaked her onto her school uniform.
Then, she looked at Ricardo from the past.
A strange student who insisted on wearing the Butler’s Attire, saying that penalties couldn’t break a Butler’s will. At the same time, the handsome The Man, Ricardo, with a striking Appearance.
Yuria looked at Ricardo with mixed Emotions.
‘Thank goodness.’
Yuria was now certain that the end of this Nightmare-like memory was near.
-We need to leave quickly.
-I said no!
-Miss Yuria.. Haa..
Ricardo tried to drag her away by force. Ignoring the words of his struggling Past Self, he anxiously looked at the exit.
At that moment, my Past Self shouted at Ricardo.
-Let go of me! You hypocritical Trash!
-Who are you, a piece of Trash pretending to be kind, to hold onto me!
-Why? Are you going to say this is for my sake too?
My Past Self, who had kept those words in her heart, was now saying them to Ricardo.
Yuria held her breath as she watched.
‘How could you say something like that…!’
She couldn’t imagine how Ricardo would react to hearing such cold words. Even though it was Ricardo, hearing something like that would surely hurt.
After all, he had come to save her.
There wasn’t a single person who would be happy to be called Trash. Yuria, lowering her head, cautiously raised it again to look at Ricardo.
-Puhaha! Is that what you thought of me? I almost died from guilt, thinking you were always smiling!
Ricardo, as always, smiled and spoke to her Past Self.
-You should’ve said so earlier. Why were you brooding over it? As Miss Yuria said, I’m a Bad Person, so it doesn’t even hurt.
Ricardo, still holding her hand tightly, spoke in a Gentle Voice. With the familiar expression she had seen back in Hamel.
-Well, since I’m a Bad Person as Miss Yuria says, feel free to insult me all you want.
-So… let’s get out of here.
Ricardo was making his usual excuses to the self who had poured out her resentment.
Yuria’s eyes widened.
‘Huh…?’
Even after hearing such cold words, Ricardo’s kind demeanor made Yuria’s heart race.
She had expected him to say some Bad Words, but his easy acceptance made her feel his warmth.
Overcome with emotion, Yuria shouted.
‘Why are you like this?’
‘Why…’
Yuria, overwhelmed with emotions, rubbed her sniffling nose and focused on the scene before her.
This was the end. If she could hold on a little longer, she would be able to return, and the thought of apologizing to Ricardo for this incident filled her with a heavy heart.
-Ah…. I shouldn’t do this. It’s been a while since we’ve had a Guest….
A voice from the Old Man came from behind.
It was the weak voice of the Old Man.
Indeed, it was the weak voice of the Old Man. But she couldn’t dare turn her head.
Because she felt she would die if she did.
Yuria’s body trembled like an Aspen Tree under the indescribable pressure.
‘Who… is it?’
Passing by the terrified Yuria, the back of the Old Man exuded a Dark Energy.
The overwhelming strength made it hard to breathe.
Even though it wasn’t real, the Fear she felt made Yuria tremble as she raised her head.
When the Old Man’s figure came into view, Yuria’s eyes began to shake violently.
-Isn’t that right, Youngsters?
White Hair.
An Old Man leaning on a black cane.
The Old Man, with Cat-like slitted eyes and Golden Eyes, was someone she had only seen in history books.
The Old Man, with a crescent Eye Smile, spoke.
-My name is Calypso. The Old Man once called the ‘Calamity of the Empire.’ Do you remember?
The moment the Old Man finished speaking, with a ‘Pop’ sound, the surroundings lit up brightly.
The ceiling and walls, drawn with complex Spell Formulas, began to reveal the original appearance of the Altar of Greed where they had been standing.
The ceiling, once filled with Sword Marks, was now spotless. Standing in the center, Calypso extended his hand with a Fishy Smile.
Golden Eyes.
A face emaciated to the point of ruin.
And the appearance of an old man wearing a Black Robe was exactly that of the Dark Sorcerer who once plunged the Empire into Fear.
‘This can’t be happening.’
Calypso, with a Fishy Smile, licked his lips as if savoring the moment, saying that he could finally leave.
Yuria was trembling with a sense of dread.
It was despair.
Even though it was merely an illusion, the Overwhelming Malice that made every nerve in her Entire Body stand on end was palpable. Unable to imagine what Ricardo must be feeling in that moment, Yuria spoke with a trembling Voice.
‘We have to Run Away…’
Reacting instinctively to the Dark Sorcerer, whose level was unimaginably high, Yuria shouted for them to flee, but Ricardo from the past sighed and muttered.
-Haa… This was supposed to be handled by the Heretics…
Saying words whose meaning she couldn’t understand.
Ricardo, speaking as if admonishing her Past Self, who had lost focus.
-Miss Yuria, pull yourself together. When I count to three, you’re going to run over there. Got it?
-Don’t be scared, okay?
-I’ll take care of everything. Just keep running forward.
Her Past Self, with unfocused eyes, nodded her head.
And then.
Calypso, with a Fishy Smile, spoke to Ricardo.
-Hmm… Such a noble Spirit of Sacrifice…. But I dislike things like that.
With those words.
With a ‘Puk’ sound, Red Blood began to flow from Ricardo’s mouth.
-Huh…?
A dagger was embedded in Ricardo’s abdomen. A familiar Dagger with a Pink Handle.
The Self-Defense Dagger, a Gift from her Father, which she still carried at her waist, was now lodged in Ricardo’s abdomen.
‘Ah… No…!’
‘Ahhh… This isn’t happening, right?’
‘It’s a Lie… It has to be…! Why would I…!?’
Yuria covered her mouth with her hands.
-Miss Yuria, why…
-…
The person who stabbed Ricardo was none other than.
Herself.
Her Past Self, who had stabbed him, was crying with an awkward Smile. Seeing the tears dripping down, Yuria couldn’t contain her Emotions.
‘Ah… No, this isn’t…’
At the sound of clapping and Calypso’s laughter.
Her Past Self’s eyes began to regain vitality.
Her Past Self, looking at the blood-soaked hands, asked.
-Ri… Ricardo?
Ricardo, with Red Blood flowing, smiled the same Smile she had seen back in Hamel and spoke.
-It’s nothing.
[Viewing has ended.]