After the duel had ended.
Michail was reflecting on his own mistakes in the darkness.
“Stop it, senior.”
He clenched his fists, thinking that if he had swung his sword just a bit faster, the outcome might have been different.
It was a battle where he had gained much.
Michail achieved explosive growth in a short time and even met the Empire’s greatest sword master, so there was nothing to lose for him in this battle.
For Michail, the battle carried no penalties. If anything, the one who benefited most from this battle wasn’t Hanna but Michail himself.
However, Michail was locking himself away in the darkness, harshly criticizing himself.
“Why did I do that? Why on earth…!”
“If I had focused from the beginning, I could have won. I wouldn’t have lost if I had avoided the smaller attacks and stayed calm.”“Why… Why…”
Michail was frustrated.
It wasn’t because he was upset about losing to a junior.
He was enraged because he couldn’t see his past and confirm whether that child had survived. He lost because of his own inadequacy.
Michail was desperate.
He had pleaded with Ricardo, desperate enough to kneel, to confirm the life of his friend, Lee Minhyuk. He didn’t care what happened to his body; all he wanted was to win.
But Ricardo, unaware of his complicated feelings, coldly replied,
“You know you can’t win with that body, don’t you?”
Michail was well aware of the gap in their skills.
He knew Hanna was stronger than him. That’s why he was so frustrated. He had worked hard and grown just as much as Hanna.
If only he hadn’t let his guard down a little, if only he had paid more attention to the minor wounds, the outcome of the battle could have been different. He hated his own incompetence.
“Please…”
Michail prayed.
“Please, just give me one more chance.”
He begged for a chance to redo the quest he had failed to fulfill, promising to do anything if granted that opportunity.
But the quest did not reappear before him. All that was left was the pitch-black darkness that blinded him. Michail clutched his aching heart, trying to soothe the bitterness.
“Please…”
Michail’s darkness was long and deep.
*
Late at night at the Magic Faculty’s training grounds.
“Damn it…!”
Standing alone in the training grounds, Ruin cursed as he stared at the unmoving target.
“Why won’t it work…?”
ain, but nothing changed.
“Damn it…! Damn it…! Damn it!”
Ever since his talent was stolen by Hans, darkness had been descending upon Ruin.
“Why won’t it work?!”
“Why the hell won’t it work?!”
“Shit. It used to work just fine before. What’s going on?!”
The reason Ruin had been able to shine, the ability that seemed invincible, was now gone. Without it, Ruin was being treated as worthless.
At this rate, he would undoubtedly be in the lower ranks in the upcoming ranking match.
He had always dismissed lower-ranked students, telling them not to even try if they didn’t have talent. But now, it was Ruin who was facing the mockery and scorn he had once dished out.
“Fuck!”
Frustrated by his inability to resolve anything, Ruin threw the water bottle he had been drinking from onto the ground.
‘Bang!’ The bottle hit the floor with a crack, spilling water everywhere. Ruin clenched his teeth as he watched the water flow out.
Everything was falling apart.
His relationship with Yuria.
His magic.
His friendships. Nothing seemed to be going right.
The sudden collapse he was experiencing was more than Ruin could bear.
Even though the Tower Master promised to find a solution, Ruin knew it wouldn’t happen instantly, so he couldn’t get his hopes up.
Ruin had been living under the delusion that he was exceptional. He had convinced himself that even without innate abilities, his intellect and capabilities would allow him to achieve results better than others.
“What kind of ‘genius of the century’ am I? I can’t even cast a proper Fireball now.”
Except when it came to one person.
Ruin clenched his fists, bowing his head as he recalled an old memory.
“I’ll destroy you today.”
“Shut up. Seriously, keep it down.”
“I’m going to beat you and take the top spot today…”
“Shut up.”
A magician with black hair.
A woman with a cruel attitude who looked down on everyone else was the first magician Ruin had ever encountered who was unbeatable.
The Tower Master could at least offer the hope of catching up someday, but she was a prodigy, just like him, who was playing in a league far beyond his reach.
Ruin still remembered vividly
How he was defeaainst it. That day, Ruin couldn’t even properly look her in the face.
It was overwhelming talent.
Her background.
Her stock of mana.
And her magical prowess—she was playing in a realm he couldn’t even begin to imagine.
He never wanht about facing those whom he had previously looked down upon. This filled him with resentment and frustration.
“Why is everyone out to get me?”
Ruin muttered as he stood there, facing the tranquil night breeze.
“I’ve had to struggle so hard just to survive, so why won’t they leave me alone?”
He venain the glory he once had. He pushed himself relentlessly, not stopping even as the hours dragged on.
As one hour, then two passed, and his mana began to run dry…
Ruin let out a bitter laugh, staring at the still-standing dummy.
“Fuck.”
There was no answer.
Darkness was closing in on Ruin.
A darkness that he couldn’t resolve was slowly eroding Ruin’s spirit.
*
At the same time.
Back at the young lady’s mansion, I was pouring tea with a pleasant smile for the man sitting across from me.
“Please, have some.”
“This is holy water.”
“Just shut up and drink it.”
Hans gazed reverently at the tea I had poured for him, offering a prayer.
“Thank you for today’s blessings.”
Although I felt a bit embarrassed by Hans’s piety, I smiled and expressed my gratitude to him for his efforts while I was away.
After all, Hans had been managing the mansion’s security in our absence.
“Thank you for your hard work, Hans.”
“It’s a follower’s duty to protect the sacred ground, isn’t it?”
“So, are you deciding to stick with the devout follower persona now?”
“I’m no fanatic. Even though the gods may be indifferent, the god I believe in grants me benefits, so I remain devout.”
“Sigh…”
I shook my head and closed my mouth.
Discussing the matter further might just drive me crazy. It was more important to find out what had happened during my absence, so I put down my teacup and cautiously brought up the topic.
“Did you feed Gomtangi well?”
“I did.”
“And did anyone visit while I was away?”
“No one.”
“Good.”
Nothing significant had happened. I had worried that a thief might have broken in while I was gone, but it seemed the Villainess’s mansion was still unpopular.
Thanks to the young lady’s reputation, the mansion had remained safe. It seemed the young lady was indeed someone the world couldn’t easily handle.
As Hans and I continued our small talk for a while, I posed a small question to him.
“Is the Academy brainwashing going well?”
“Huh?”
“I mean, haven’t others infiltrated the Academy besides you? The heretics.”
Hans pursed his lips at the mention of the past. Talking about his unclean past couldn’t have been easy.
However, this was one of the reasons I had made Hans mine, so I smiled slightly as I pressed him for an answer.
“Isn’t that the case?”
“Haha… Truly, is there anything you don’t know? What are you, exactly…?”
“Shh. You just need to give me the information.”
“Understood.”
I felt satisfied seeing Hans nod in agreement, so I took another sip of tea.
Hans carefully began to speak while fiddling with his teacup.
“During my presence, there wasn’t much progress in recruiting at the Academy. Security has become tighter, and the students have a strong sense of vigilance.”
“That’s true. But, you’re saying that progress is being made?”
“Yes, although none have been recruited yet.”
“Hmm…”
Reading the novel had already given me an understanding.
I knew how this would all play out.
I hadn’t asked out of genuine curiosity but just to confirm what I remembered. After all, the heretic recruitment hadn’t progressed at all.
So, one thing was bound to happen.
One of the archbishops who had infiltrated the academy would be caught by the students.
It was a straightforward matter.
He’d try to discover a student’s weakness and whisper deceitful suggestions into their ear, only for things to backfire disastrously.
This would occur right around the time of the ranking match, and the archbishop would be caught red-handed when executing his plan, resulting in no casualties.
Although there were a lot of injuries.
I planned to leave this event in the hands of the protagonists.
They needed the experience of dealing with the heretic on their own, without my interference, at least once. As harsh as it may seem, this would serve as a small but painful challenge.
Michail had grown.
Yuria had grown. row through that experience.
Taking a small sip of tea with a faint smile, I noticed Hans hesitating, so I asked,
“Do you have a question?”
“Ah, may I ask something?”
“Of course. Feel free to ask two if you like.”
“Are you not concerned about Ruin learning dark magic? It seems like it would be dangerous if he did.”
I chuckled softly and answered Hans’s question with confidence.
“He can’t learn it.”
“Pardon?”
“Ruin can’t learn dark magic.”
“Wha it?”
I placed my finished teacup down, brushing off Hans’s worries with a calm smile.
“No, that was just speculation. Now, I’m telling you the fundamental reason.”
I dropped a sugar cube into Hans’s teacup and smiled.
“Ruin isn’t capable of learning dark magic.”
I added with a sly grin.
“Because I made sure of that.”
When stripping someone of something, it’s always crucial to eliminate any future repercussions.
Well, if he were to dabble in dark magic, it would most likely leave him in a state of severe mental shock.
Imagine trying to fall into corruption, only to be rejected even by corruption itself…
I’ll just leave my thoughts at that.
End of Chapter.
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