TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 99
Yuria’s drunken question, which asked about a feeling I had never experienced before, made me feel a sense of wonder.
‘I don’t hate you.’
It was a question I should be asking.
In the relationship between Yuria and me, the perpetrator was Yuria, not me.
The perpetrator and the victim.
Even if I had been tormenting Yuria while maintaining a sense of justice, the fact that I had tormented her was an unchanging mistake.
Even if I had reduced the hardships Yuria had to endure by half, the fact that I was one of the main culprits who had given her those hardships was undeniable, and I was the one who had presented her with those hardships.
I looked at Yuria’s eyes, filled with doubts.
Yuria’s eyes, which were moist and seemed to hold complex emotions, made me lose my words for a moment.
“Why are you asking such a question?”
“…Just because.”
Yuria’s appearance, which asked a question with the reason “just because,” made me take a moment to think.
I wasn’t familiar with the feeling of hating someone, and I usually lived a life isolated from the burden of conscience, so Yuria’s question was difficult for me to answer.
I took my time and answered Yuria.
“I don’t hate you. Well, that’s just how it is.”
“…”
Yuria was tightly gripping the handle of her Beer Glass, and her thin fingers trembled as she moved her lips.
I asked Yuria a question, filled with doubts.
“Why do you think I hate you, Miss Yuria?”
“Because I made a big mistake…”
“A mistake?”
Yuria’s words about making a mistake made me think deeply.
“Did you perhaps touch my wallet or spit in the coffee you gave me? If it’s the former, it’s a serious matter, and if it’s the latter, well… I’ll spare you the details.”
“That didn’t happen.”
“Then I don’t understand why you’re asking such a question.”
Yuria asked a question in a trembling voice.
“Why…”
“Yes?”
“Why don’t you hate me?”
I repeated my previous answer.
“As I said, I don’t have a reason to hate you, Miss Yuria.”
Yuria’s expression began to crumble into tears, and her voice was shaking.
“Don’t lie to me.”
“Because of me… no, because I… I…”
Yuria repeated herself and then bit her lip.
I didn’t know what Yuria was trying to say, but it seemed like she was going to talk about something related to me.
Maybe she had found out about one of the incidents that happened at the Academy.
Perhaps it was the Girls’ Dormitory fire incident.
Or maybe she had discovered one of the lies I had told her, which I had tried to keep secret.
Since it was already in the past, I didn’t think too much about it, and I spoke to Yuria in a calm voice.
“What could I possibly hate you for, Miss Yuria?”
“…”
“Although my personality is somewhat flawed, I do know how to distinguish between right and wrong.”
Yuria was at a loss for words after hearing my answer.
She couldn’t say anything, and all she could do was mutter in a small voice, “Why are you pretending not to know… you know everything…”
The atmosphere suddenly turned into a truth game, and I thought I needed to gain something from it, so I carefully opened my mouth.
“I’ll ask a question this time. It’s not fair that only Miss Yuria gets to ask questions.”
I put my hands together on the Table and spoke.
“Miss Yuria, do you hate me?”
Yuria hesitated to answer, clenching her fists.
Even with the help of Drunkenness, which made it easier to talk, Yuria’s deep emotions were still pitch black.
It would be strange if I didn’t hate her.
The consequences of the things I had done, even if they were for her sake, were still wounds.
I thought that seeking forgiveness itself was a problem.
So,
I spoke in a voice that was close to a confirmation.
“As you know, I’m a person without conscience. Well, I suppose you could call me a villain.”
Yuria refuted my words without any hesitation, speaking in a firm tone.
“No.”
“Thank you for saying that, but Lady Olivia, who saw me at the Academy, knows the truth, doesn’t she?”
“That’s because there’s a reason…!”
I clenched my fist.
“What reason?”
“…”
“What reason could there be for you to think I tormented you, Miss Yuria?”
“It’s because of Lady Olivia…!”
“Hm.”
I thought it was time to make things a bit worse.
Honestly, I wanted Yuria to draw a clear line, so I spoke to her in a calm tone.
“Even if Lady Olivia ordered me to do something, if I had refused, none of those things would have happened.”
I didn’t say anything about how things would have been more difficult if I hadn’t intervened, as it wasn’t necessary.
It wouldn’t have been cool to say that.
And I didn’t want Yuria to feel guilty.
That was my atonement, and it was one of the few gifts I could give to Yuria as a Possessor.
So, I spoke to Yuria in a slightly painful tone.
“If I had given you a warning beforehand, things might not have been as difficult, and if I hadn’t taken Lady Olivia’s side, you might have had a more comfortable time at the Academy.”
Yuria, who had been listening to my cold words, clenched her fist and shouted.
“Then why did you help me?”
Yuria’s voice was trembling.
“You helped me in the Dungeon, in class, and even when I was eating alone, you came to sit with me! All of that was because of Ricardo, wasn’t it?”
“Was it because I was pitiful? Was I so pathetic that you felt sorry for me?”
“Or…”
“Was all of this just a scheme devised by Ricardo?”
Yuria’s eyes were shaking.
Her eyes, which held the truth, made it difficult for me to say anything.
I didn’t know what to say or how to express my emotions, and I found it hard to give an answer.
So, I decided to end the conversation in a dull manner.
“…That’s just how it is.”
“I don’t really know either.”
“Maybe it’s because I’m a bad person.”
*
On the way back home.
Yuria, who was drunk, was on my back.
I didn’t think someone who couldn’t even drink would get drunk like this.
With a forced smile, I tried to make light of the situation, but Yuria just ordered another beer and drank it in one shot, and then asked for another.
Yuria, who had become drunk, was now on my back.
“Ugh… the world is strange.”
“It’s not the world, Miss Yuria, it’s you who’s strange.”
“Ugh… my stomach is churning.”
“You’ll just have to endure it.”
Yuria’s unpleasant gesture of dry heaving made me anxious, but I couldn’t just leave her on the cold floor, so I took a deep sigh and walked towards the Academy.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been on this road, so I don’t remember it well.”
With a hazy memory of about a year and a half, I walked through the park like a monk who had lost his way.
Normally, if I followed the main road, I should have seen a sign pointing to the Academy.
But as I walked the same road repeatedly, I found myself in a dark alley.
“Hmm… is this a hallucination magic?”
I let out a deep sigh.
I felt like someone had been following me since we left the tavern.
It was very unpleasant.
They had been following us persistently, and now that we were in a dead-end alley, they were slowly revealing themselves, giving me the same feeling as when I see a cockroach hiding under a bed.
I let out another deep sigh and muttered to myself.
“I wonder if violence caused by intoxication can be considered a mitigating circumstance.”
As I looked around the dark alley, I started to see the silhouettes of people.
The Man, who was walking towards me, was wearing the Academy’s school uniform, and the others behind him had swords at their waists.
The Men, who were approaching me with an ominous aura, seemed to be led by one person.
And the leader, who revealed himself from the darkness, opened his mouth.
“Thanks for the gift. Ricardo seems to have played a pretty interesting joke, didn’t he? I thought I was going to die.”
The Man, who was wearing glasses with black frames,
I smiled calmly at him.
“Hans.”
Hans looked at Yuria, who was on my back, and said.
“Put her down.”
“You’re referring to a person as ‘her’? That’s quite unpleasant.”
A haze-like black aura started to emanate from Hans’ hand, and the dark alley was filled with pitch-black darkness.
I spoke to Hans, who was slowly approaching me.
“You dropped out, and now you’re on their side?”
Hans smiled slightly and replied.
“The grades are good here, you know.”
“I see.”
I carefully reached for Tirbing’s hilt and looked at Hans with an expressionless face.
“It would be better if you just left.”
Hans’ eyes widened as he saw the black blade.
“If not…”
I am not a good person who thinks about being kind.
I am a person who thinks carefully about the pros and cons and avoids fights that I might lose.
I replied to Hans in a calm voice.
“You’ll die.”
Hans muttered.
“Try to kill me.”
“Okay.”
The pitch-black darkness was dispelled by a single slash.
Hans looked at me with a disappointed expression.
With an expression similar to Pascal’s, Hans muttered.
“Crazy bastard.”
[Limit Break tests the limits of Dark Magic Resistance.]