Slurp.
Yuria slowly opened her eyes.
As the bright lights of the street trees illuminated my eyes, I frowned. Perhaps I had fainted for a moment, but what I saw was not a dark alleyway, but a street illuminated by streetlights.
A peaceful street lined with shops and couples passing by. My wrist still tingled where the large man had grabbed it, but the surrounding scenery, oblivious to my distress, flowed peacefully.
The tension is relieved.
The thought that I am now safe makes my body lose strength.
"thank god..."
People passing by are like that too.
Moving streetlights too.
Are you safe now...?
‘The streetlights are moving…?’
Yuria touched the floor she was lying on.
The floor felt soft to the touch. Turning my gaze, I saw a gorgeous pink cushion.
"uh...?"
Yuria felt ominous.
Let the worry of what might happen fill your head.
A faint rattling vibration was felt on my back.
A sharp yet relaxed voice like a stray cat came from beside me.
“It’s narrow….”
Princess Olivia, sitting with her shoulders narrowed in the corner of the cart, caught my eye.
Olivia with white hair and a black dress.
When their eyes met, Olivia turned her head towards the outside with an awkward expression.
“The weather is… nice.”
The sight of the princess speaking awkwardly while looking at the darkened sky made my head spin.
Since when has this been happening?
I came for a preliminary inspection with Mikhail and Ruin, and something happened while they were briefly shopping for gifts.
I felt sorry for the little boy who was begging, so I put the bag of gold coins in the can, and when the little boy went into the alley, I happened to see him getting beaten, so I chased after him...
ah.
As the puzzle of memories in my head began to fit together, my vision began to broaden.
-Ask!
-...That's what I have to say.
-Ask...!
My face flushed hot.
'it's crazy...!'
Only now did I notice the red-haired butler, his name Ricardo, who was pulling a cart with all his might, sweating profusely.
'Again... I caused trouble.'
Ricardo turned around, saw that I was awake, and greeted me with a small smile.
"Are you awake?"
A voice filled with worry.
It was the voice that gave me strength when I was depressed at the academy.
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience... I suddenly fainted."
"...Just leave it alone."
"I hadn't thought of that. Haha..."
Ricardo, pulling the cart, apologized with an awkward smile. He led the conversation, saying things like, "I'm sorry I left you lying in such a shabby place," and "Isn't your butt swollen?"
It was awkward.
Even sitting on a cart.
I also owe Ricardo a debt.
The thought 'again' kept lingering in my head.
'Ha... This is driving me crazy.'
I couldn't raise my head.
It was awkward too.
Because I don't know what to say.
I should have said thank you, but the words wouldn't come out. Was it my stubbornness, or the fact that the princess was right next to me?
I don't know what expression to make.
-Glance...
"Uh... uh..."
Olivia is watching me.
I can't speak carelessly.
He's giving me a look that says please don't talk to me.
As the cart passed over the rocks with a 'thud', my buttocks made a 'thud' sound.
"Ouch..."
Olivia, seeing the frown, went deeper into the corner, left the place, and timidly tapped the floor of the cart.
“Sit here….”
A sharp voice came out reflexively.
"Don't worry about it."
Olivia turned her head sullenly and muttered.
"It's my cart..."
I don't know what to say to Olivia.
Because he didn't think he could say anything nice to Olivia, who had tormented him in the past.
I didn't want to act like nothing happened, and I decided not to be foolish and forgive others after going through those two things.
I crouched on the cart and waited for time to pass.
As Olivia began to nod off, Ricardo, his red hair flowing, laid her down in the corner of the cart and said.
"Are you very surprised?"
"..."
My lips didn't move at the sudden words of comfort. Asking gently was considered cheating.
I looked at my palm without saying a word.
His fingers, fidgeting and biting his nails, were embarrassed and shy.
Ricardo smiled awkwardly and changed the subject.
"Where is your group?"
"...it's in the square."
"The square? You came in the complete opposite direction. Who are you with?"
"Mikhail and Ruin."
Ricardo was speechless.
He smiled awkwardly and muttered, "I see," as he silently walked towards the square.
When the group looking for you gradually comes into view.
Ricardo, who had been keeping silent, stopped the cart in an unoccupied area and opened his mouth.
In a small, quiet voice.
"Ms. Yuria."
"yes?"
"I'm really okay. Are you hurt anywhere?"
His concerned voice sounded sweeter than ever. He spoke so formally, yet why did it touch my heart so deeply?
I hated my heart that was beating so hard.
Ricardo sighed deeply and said.
"Every time we meet in this situation, it seems like all I do is worry."
Every time...
A question arose.
Questions about him, who always appeared like a hero in times of danger. Yuria tried to ask Ricardo, but Ricardo spoke first and answered her questions.
"Just in case, I'm telling you this, I didn't plan this."
"Ah...I know."
"It's written all over your face that you're going to die from doubt."
Yuria covered her face with her hands.
I wonder if it's that obvious.
Ricardo smiled awkwardly and reached out to me as I sat on the cart.
"Can you walk?"
"...yes"
"thank god."
I looked out across the square. Ruin, frantically running around in search of me, was visible in the distance, ready to wave. I slowly raised my hand, telling him not to worry, that I was here.
"wait a minute."
Ricardo carefully grabbed my wrist with an urgent voice. He sighed deeply as he looked at my wrist, which was covered in bright blue bruises.
My heart was pounding.
"What is this?"
"Ah... I think I got hurt earlier. It's okay."
"It's okay...!"
Ricardo's genuine annoyance rang in my ears. He took the ointment out of his palm-sized bag, placed it in my hand, and spoke bluntly.
"What's wrong with that? My wrist is blue."
Even when I was being bullied by the girls and crying, Ricardo said this.
-You were here? You run really fast.
-Why... did you follow me?
-Isn't this something precious?
I remembered the face of the red-haired butler who had picked up the pendant that the noble ladies had thrown into the pond and held it in his hand with a foolish smile.
The image of her coming with seaweed dangling from her head and handing over her mother's belongings keeps coming back to me.
-Hmph... Thank you...!
-Why are you crying again?
-...I didn't cry.
-You're stupid. Really.
Every time this happens, I get confused. Is this person really a bad person, or is he just a good person who's good at acting?
It keeps making me mistaken.
"Okay, that's enough. Don't lift anything heavy, and have Ruin give you some water to drink."
Ricardo knelt on one knee and applied ointment to my wrist. The sight of him squatting and applying ointment felt strange, but at the same time, it reminded me of Ricardo from early in the first semester.
Ricardo nagged.
Not the nagging that Mikhail or Ruin used to give, but extremely realistic nagging.
Instead of the encouragement of Mikhail, who praised him by saying, "Your reckless behavior is cool," or Ruin, who admired him by saying, "How can you have such a beautiful heart?", Ricardo nagged him in a way that would make him feel bad if someone else said it.
"Why would someone who can't even catch a single goblin go in there?"
"About the size of a goblin..."
"How can someone who doesn't even learn fireball catch goblins?"
"..."
"It was really close."
I spoke back to Ricardo. I believed I was doing the right thing. I had learned that at the academy, and I had always believed that justice was right.
Yuria took out her frustration on Ricardo.
"Still, if it weren't for me, that kid would have kept getting beaten. He might have skipped dinner tonight."
"Maybe so. I could get beaten to death, or they could take the money I begged for and I could end up crying with my mouth shut tonight."
Ricardo said it indifferently, as if it were nothing.
As if he himself had done so.
"But Yuria was almost in danger."
My fist was clenched.
Why are you worrying?
You are a bad person who has tormented me.
If it were consistent, I could hate it.
So, I got more annoyed.
It means not to confuse people.
"But it can give you hope. Hope for tomorrow. Hope that there aren't necessarily only bad people in the world. Hope that somewhere in the world, there are decent adults…!"
Ricardo said with an awkward smile.
"Still. Wasn't it dangerous?"
Ricardo turned around, looking at the brightly lit square.
As the streetlights cast a cool glow on Ricardo, Yuria swallowed hard.
"What if, in the unlikely event that Yuria is wrong?"
"What if something goes wrong?"
"yes?"
"What if I'm wrong? Isn't that what Mr. Ricardo wants, too? Isn't the Academy hoping I'm wrong, even now?"
Ricardo smiled awkwardly. His heart ached as he scratched his head and muttered, "I see..."
"But. I think it would hurt if Yuria got sick."
"yes?"
"It's just like that."
Ricardo turned slightly and pushed the cart. He slowly moved forward, resting the sleeping princess's head on the soft cushions. He spoke silently as he walked.
"And, Yuria."
Ricardo trailed off. He stared silently at the alleyway, gripping the handle tightly.
"Not all people are good."
Ricardo looked at the square.
I lowered my head and drove the cart, looking at Ruin's face as he ran towards me.
Ricardo, who was slowly walking away, spoke to me for the last time.
"Don't be a bother."
His words have many meanings.
I thought I couldn't keep it.
And at the same time, her heart pounded. Yuria asked Ricardo as he left.
"Ricardo."
"yes?"
"Are you really a bad person?"
Ricardo answered with a small smile.
"Yes. He is a very bad person."
***
An alleyway covered in night shadows.
The noisy conversation of the vagrants echoed through the stillness of the dawn.
The late-night alleyways, filled with hearty laughter and tales of heroism, were a time for people to brag about who was more trashy.
-If it weren't for that guy, I could have made a lot of money.
-Kiya~ This kid's acting is getting better day by day.
-Hyung, you need to learn some acting. I thought you'd get caught if you acted like that.
-Hahaha!! You tell me. Is the place you got hit earlier okay?
-If that's true and it hurts, you would have lost a long time ago.
They were vagrants who were after Yuria.
The story of the vagrants who started making obscene remarks about Yuria and then crossed the line was spreading.
A cold voice was heard from a corner of the alley.
"Do you think so too?"
A dark shadow loomed over the entrance to the alley. The silhouette of a red-haired man blocked out the moonlight.
The tramp pulled a dagger from his bosom. His red hair shone through the cool, sharp blade.
"I think the calculations are a bit off. Am I right?"
The red-haired man approached, dragging his sword across the floor. A sharp, cold scraping sound echoed through the alley.
"You have to do bad things while looking at your opponent. That way you can live a long time in this world."
I took up the sword.
To finalize the calculations from earlier.
I see a familiar face.
With the kid that Yuria saved.
The large man who grabbed Yuria's wrist.
Even the skinny man who was spraying medicine on a handkerchief.
A bitter laugh escaped from their frightened faces.
I looked at them and said.
"I won't kill you. I'm not that bad of a person..."
"Instead, let's close the business. It won't be enough to pay for your life."
The red hair was soaked with blood.
*
A groan was heard.
The floor was soaked with blood, and the vagrants were carrying their fallen comrades back into the deep alley.
-Thump...thump...
A new guest is coming.
A man who obscures the moonlit alley with his small shadow.
I looked at him and said.
"It's been a while."
A sub-male protagonist with silver hair and a sword.
"Mr. Mikhail."
He was glaring at me like he was looking at trash.