Chapter 131

I threw out a simple question.

Because I had doubts about whether the Ruin sitting before me was actually the Ruin I knew.

I tossed out a few questions he had no choice but to answer.

- Are you an idiot?

- Do you want to get hit for no reason?

- Is getting hit perhaps your preference?

That sort of thing.

Of course, aside from these normal questions, I did ask a few that only Ruin could answer, but I figured these direct statements were perfect for distinguishing the real from the fake.

Because the bastard who'd come to the estate a while ago had shown a strangely awkward reaction when he heard this kind of provocation.

As if. A delayed reaction came out, filtered through "This is what Ruin would do." So as I watched Ruin creating a flame orb right before my eyes, I thought.

This guy isn't a fake.

I'd sent the Young Lady and Gomtangi out to the courtyard. If they stayed in the estate, they'd probably hear things they shouldn't.

Just looking at Ruin's dark expression, I could sense he wasn't going to say anything pleasant.

If Ruin asks me to do something difficult like subjugating a Cockatrice, I plan to throw him out.

It feels ominous, and it's annoying anyway.

I walked to the dining table with two cups of tea, looking at Ruin's shadowed face.

Thud. Two teacups placed on the table with a sound.

Hoping he'd understand that I didn't have much time to spare for someone who'd shown up without notice, I asked him.

"Why have you come?"

"..."

"Speak. Ruin."

My gentle voice was pressuring Ruin.

Honestly, I wasn't happy about a guest who'd shown up without even a single letter.

So I pressured him even more gently.

"Didn't you come here for some reason?"

I wasn't in a good mood.

I decided to throw out a question to probe him. In my opinion, there was only one reason he'd come to this estate.

Hans.

I figured he'd come to inform me about the escape of the villain from the novel I'd barely managed to catch and hand over.

To ask for help catching the fugitive. Or to ask me to share information about him.

I didn't think the Tower Master would have told him that I was the one who caught Hans, so I wasn't bringing it up, but just in case.

If Ruin heard from the Tower Master that I'd caught Hans, I figured he'd think I was his only option.

Since I was the only person who'd caught the corrupted Hans and had clashed with him.

So I...

Opened my mouth with light provocation.

"Don't tell me another incident happened at the Magic Tower?"

"What?"

"Isn't it a place where incidents and accidents happen frequently? The Magic Tower, I mean. I seem to be hearing rumors recently that one of your disciples went down a bad path."

"Shut up."

"Hmm. Is that something to get angry about? I don't think there's anything wrong with what I said."

"I said shut up. Who the hell are you, a nobody, to dare evaluate the Magic Tower? Want to die quietly?"

"Ah... I see. I apologize for speculating."

Ruin beautifully deflected my expectations. I'd thought he came about Hans, but seeing Ruin flare up, I figured I'd barked up the wrong tree.

Then what could it be.

The reason this green-haired bastard came to the estate.

He probably didn't come because he wanted to see my face-honestly, I don't want to see a man's face either.

Well, this guy probably feels the same way.

I was starting to want to hear Ruin's story.

What reason made him swallow his lofty pride and come to this estate? I kept wondering what this green-haired bastard who hates me most could possibly be thinking to visit this estate.

I hope it's an interesting story...

Because the guest who came wearing Ruin's mask put me in a bad mood. Enough that I want to visit the heretics' headquarters right now.

So. I hope Ruin tells me an interesting story. Otherwise, I'll have no choice but to shatter Ruin's mental fortitude to vent my anger.

I asked him with cruel curiosity.

"Then why did you come? Honestly, we're not on terms to chat with smiles, are we? I don't want to see the face of a foul-tempered man either."

"Talk more nicely."

"I'll decide based on what you do."

"Seriously, you're fucking rude."

"You're worse than me."

"..."

"Stop glaring and speak. I'm getting tired of waiting."

Ruin ran his dry hand over his face. It seemed he was about to make a request that was difficult to voice himself.

When the awkward atmosphere filled the kitchen and was about to overflow beyond the living room, Ruin slowly opened his tightly closed mouth.

"Recently I saw Yuria at a tavern. She was drinking alone-Yuria, who doesn't even like alcohol."

"Hmm... I see."

"I see?"

"Why are you flaring up? I only gave an answer."

Ruin glared at me with bulging eyes, apparently displeased by my mechanical response.

"Keep talking. I'm listening."

"Hah... Right. I need to be patient."

"Thank you. So what's your point?"

"I saw something strange then."

"Something strange...?"

- Bang!

Ruin slammed down his teacup roughly and stared straight at me. Then he spat out a short, blunt statement.

With a voice heavy with emotion and filled with the petty feeling of jealousy, he said to me.

"You."

"..."

"You were there."

"I don't see what the problem is with that?"

"You... sat down next to Yuria drinking alone and talked to her like you were close. When I was about to go over."

'Ah...'

"Pfft."

I couldn't help but laugh.

To think this guy came all the way to the estate for such a trivial reason. I'd mentally prepared myself to hear some weighty request and had even thought up a polite way to refuse it, but the fact that Ruin had come to the estate over something so petty made me burst out laughing.

Silence fell.

My derisive laughter made Ruin's expression look like someone treading on thin ice, ready to crack at any moment.

"Why are you laughing?"

"It's just... isn't it funny? Coming all the way to the estate just because I had drinks with Yuria."

"Just? Did you just say 'just'?"

"Well... pfft... Don't you think this whole situation is ridiculous, Ruin? What's wrong with drinking together? And..."

I spoke to him with a sneer.

"What exactly is your relationship with Yuria that you're acting like this? I honestly have no idea."

I answered Ruin in a cold voice.

Was there anything wrong with what I said?

At my question-wasn't it ridiculous for him to come here like this when he had no relationship with Yuria whatsoever-Ruin roughly stood up from his chair and glared at me.

But.

"..."

Ruin couldn't open his mouth.

There was no flaw in what I'd said, and he still hadn't realized he liked Yuria.

Just someone who keeps bothering him.

What could Ruin possibly say when he only thought of Yuria to that extent?

See. You can't say anything.

Ruin clenched his fists tight.

Frustrated by the situation himself, all he could do was clench his fists and open and close his mouth wordlessly.

I smiled at Ruin and answered, my sneer asking why he couldn't speak.

"Don't tell me... you came here to ask me not to see Yuria anymore?"

"..."

"So I'm right. But..."

I trailed off and told him one fact Ruin was forgetting.

Something I'd felt while reading the novel.

An emotion I'd felt after being transported into the novel.

I told Ruin without hesitation.

"Don't you think you have no right to say this to me?"

"What?"

"If you're so concerned about Yuria, when she was being bullied, you did nothing and just stood by. I'm curious why someone like that is making this request of me."

"I didn't stand by, I..."

"Liar."

I smiled.

"That's a crude lie."

Really.

"Ruin."

I can't hold back my laughter.

"Do you like Yuria?"

"...Shut up."

"But, you know."

I said something a bit cruel to Ruin. It would hurt a little-no, it would hurt a lot-but it was the truth stated in the novel, the plain conclusion spoken by her favorability window, and I let it drift into Ruin's ears.

"Yuria doesn't like you."

"Probably."

I said to Ruin one last time.

"Now let me ask you something."

The question I was most curious about, carrying the meaning of an order to leave.

"Do you like Yuria?"

I threw him a question he couldn't answer.

*

Having left the estate, Ruin walked through the courtyard with a dark expression.

"Who the hell does he think he is, telling me what to do? Fucking bastard."

He couldn't get his head straight.

Originally, he'd planned to tell Ricardo not to mess with Yuria.

Because the more Yuria got involved with Ricardo, the harder things became for her. And when he saw Yuria talking to Ricardo with a bright expression at the tavern.

His insides twisted.

Ruin wanted to resolve this feeling.

The complicated emotions from Hans's situation seemed to stimulate a forgotten memory even more strongly.

If he could erase this feeling, his head would feel a bit clearer.

Honestly, he'd expected Ricardo to accept his proposal.

Ricardo had been weak when it came to matters involving Yuria and kept his words to a minimum. He'd thought Ricardo would just answer "Understood."

But Ricardo had ruined his mood with vicious words.

"Don't give me that shit..."

Clenching his fists, Ruin muttered in a small voice.

"Don't give me that shit."

He kept muttering to himself, his words filled with various emotions.

I don't like her.

She just keeps coming to mind.

It just pisses me off to see her with another guy. It's not like I have weird feelings for her.

Friendship. Yeah, it's friendship.

And.

I just need to protect her.

From Hans.

From other threats.

If he protected Yuria, she would come to like him.

Ruin wasn't in a hurry.

So.

He really wished the clueless bastard would just stop meddling.

Because the guy was no better than himself.

"Fucking hell, this is seriously shitty. What's with the estate's color? So damn childish."

Ruin muttered in a slightly raised voice. Loud enough to echo across the estate's courtyard.

And at that moment.

An unfamiliar woman's voice reached Ruin's ear.

"Hm?"

A sharp voice-the voice of the woman he hated most-responded to Ruin's muttering with a question.

"What?"

The woman who had been teaching the giant bear to give her its paw slowly turned her head, her eyes blank.

"You talking to me?"

"..."

"Are you picking a fight with me?"

White hair.

The blank eyes of the woman sitting in a wheeled chair gradually began to gleam with a dark light.

"Haah..."

Ruin hated Olivia.

"Hey."

"Hey..."

"Can't you hear me?"

At the same time.

He was afraid of Olivia.

"I'm asking nicely here."

*

- You're the Tower Master's disciple?

- ...

- Bullshit.