298 – Revenge is Not Far Away.

It had been a long time since I had held a sword.

“…”

To move in a better direction.

When a person stays in one place, they become lazy, so I was holding the sword and meditating for my own growth.

Yes, meditation…

“Ugh…”

Meditation…

“Ugh…!”

‘Oh dear.’

I let out a deep breath and looked at the young lady, who was fidgeting with her hands. I was trying to meditate for the first time in a while, and she was interrupting me.

“Miss.”

“Mmnya.”

“I’m currently meditating.”

—

“Um. You’re doing well.”

“…”

I closed my eyes again.

Slowly recalling past events, I drifted into the space of my imagination…

“Eeeek!”

“Miss?”

The young lady gestured angrily at the air with eyes full of fury.

“Ricardo! The fly is bothering me.”

“I’ll catch it later, but for now, let’s focus on your meditation…”

“Eeeek!”

The mischievous young lady delightfully interrupted the butler’s meditation. How am I supposed to meditate with such a ruckus?

“Die!”

“Pfft…!”

I just can’t understand.

I walked toward the young lady with a small smile. No matter how important meditation is, I have a duty to protect the mental health of the young lady who is battling a fly. After all, she was a patient just a few days ago.

“Ugh…”

She has recovered quite a bit, though.

Fortunately, after Malik’s examination, the young lady quickly regained her health. Her energy returned as if she had never been sick, and her appetite had even increased. Now, seeing her holding jerky in her hand, there’s no need for further explanation.

“It’s my jerky… grrr.”

“Don’t bark.”

“No, they keep sticking to me. It’s so annoying!”

“Calm down.”

“Grrr.”

The young lady, munching on her jerky, relaxed her hair that had been standing on end at the sight of me and made a sulky face.

I smiled gently at her and suggested that she go inside and rest.

“Miss, how about resting in your room? It’s cool and there are no flies, right?”

“I don’t want to! I want to watch Ricardo.”

“It won’t be fun, you know.”

“That’s okay, I can make it fun.”

With her clear response, I awkwardly smiled and lightly swatted away the fly that was diving toward the young lady’s jerky.

– Wheeeeee.

– Scrape.

– Thud.

At the sound of ‘scrape,’ the lady clapped her hands, her eyes sparkling at the sight of the fly being split in half.

“Eeek…!”

“What’s so impressive about this?”

“Human fly swatter…!”

“Is that all the praise you have?”

“How fascinating! How do you do that?”

“…”

I picked up a wooden stick that had fallen to the ground and handed it to the lady. Then, I demonstrated the most basic swordsmanship to her.

“Now, hold it like this.”

“Okay.”

“Exhale sharply.”

“Ha!”

“Not just holding it in, you need to let it out.”

“Whoo!”

“Good. Now swing it as if you’re throwing it with a ‘thud.'”

“Haah!”

– Thud.

“…?”

The lady looked at the branch that had fallen to the ground, a question mark hovering over her head.

“It ran away.”

“…”

“Pick it up.”

In many ways, she was a lady who excelled at nothing but magic.

With the branch back in her hand, she was vigorously swinging it behind me, her enthusiasm burning as if she would someday reach the level of a sword master.

“Yikes!”

“…”

“Eek!”

I waved my hands vigorously.

“You’re having fun, aren’t you?”

Using the young lady as my backdrop, I refocused on my meditation. I was about to delve into the serious imagery now.

All the battles I had fought until now.

And every crisis I had faced, I steadied my breath.

“…”

– Die already, damn it!

– …What the hell.

– If that little brat has taken this much of a beating, he should learn to be humble. What? Look at those eyes?

The shard of glass I wielded to avoid starvation in the slums.

– Run away…!

– Hahaha…! This is so much fun. Go on, try to run away, little one.

The bloody battle with the archbishop, where I had braced myself for death.

And as I recalled the last moments of many people I had taken away with my own hands, I began to sketch the space within my imagery.

A dark and deep realm of my own.

The sword was truly difficult.

A blade that fell into the hands of a clueless novice like a key. I had no proper master, and in those days when I feared blood, I had only wielded the sword to survive.

A better future.

The disasters that would appear in the original story.

And the sword I swung to protect my loved ones could not be deemed righteous.

I was neither a hero from a movie. Nor was I a self-sacrificing hero.

I had only wielded the sword to satisfy my own selfishness. To avoid being trampled and to stand beside those who shone.

I had no regrets.

If it weren’t for the selfish acts I had committed, I would have been swept away by the winds of the novel.

The atmosphere of the story was dark.

Many people were dying in the battle with the archbishop, making it a perilous world for the supporting characters who never even got a line in the novel.

What kind of romance fantasy is this?

I would believe it if you called it dark fantasy.

Standing within the space of my imagery, I let out a hollow laugh and gripped the sword to find my direction.

For I had lost my way.

Mikhail sought the holy sword to further enhance the power of the hero.

Yuria borrowed the strength of the saint to gain dazzling radiance.

In the novel, Ruin grew stronger by acquiring a grimoire called ‘Infinite Light.’

But I…

“…”

Had nothing.

There was a limit to raising my strength through the memories of the possessed. Of course, there were many ways to become stronger than I am now, but I would eventually find myself at a dead end again. I needed to find another path.

A path where I could develop without rest.

A road where the end of strength was unknown.

Like Mikhail in the novel.

Like the Pope of the heretics.

I needed that kind of strength too, to avoid being swept away by the winds they blew.

To be honest, I wasn’t confident that I could win even if I fought Ulaf in a bloodbath again.

He was strong.

And I was weak.

I had dueled with him countless times in the realm of my mind, but still…

It all ended in my defeat. I felt many shortcomings and seemed to crave more.

There were still many hardships to overcome.

The number of people I needed to protect was increasing.

“Really…”

Even the current me is someone who doesn’t lose to others.

Yet…

I feel inadequate.

I think I desire more because the current me is even more lacking than the me that appeared in my dreams.

“Ha.”

It was difficult. This thing called a sword.

I envisioned the existence of the ‘me’ I saw in my dreams within the space of my mind.

I didn’t know much about this being.

-…

But I felt there was something to gain.

I exhaled deeply and raised my sword.

***

Having finished the battle in my mind, I wiped the sweat from my forehead and muttered softly.

“Wow… that was tough.”

The young lady, who had been swinging a branch around, tossed it at Gomtang and replied to me.

“What was tough?”

I responded with a playful smile directed at the young lady, who was tilting her head in confusion.

“I said it’s tough to satisfy your appetite.”

“Excuse me?”

“You keep eating even when you’re full.”

“Excuse me?!”

The young lady suddenly furrowed her brows at the unexpected remark and clenched her fist. She had been quietly watching, but now she was pouting as if to say, “Why are you teasing me?”

“Excuse me. Don’t tease me.”

“I’m being serious.”

“Wh-what?!”

The young lady pointed at Gomtang with her finger and said.

“Get him, bear!”

– Bear?

“Go bite him!”

– Bear.

“Excuse me! Don’t bite me! Tell Ricardo to bite him!”

“Ha ha!”

I burst into laughter.

I laughed at the young lady’s flailing gesture as she offered Gomtang her head.

And then, thinking back to the battle just now, I made a pained expression. My sword had never even touched the target.

-…

– Wow, damn.

-…

– You dodged that…?

It was a monster.

In the dream, I am.

“Do…”

Really…

“Ricardo!”

The young lady, having pulled away from the bear soup, shouted at me, who was wearing a dazed expression.

“Ricardo!”

“Ah…! Yes, did you call for me?”

“Yeah. What’s for lunch today?”

“…”

Faced with the most difficult question in the world, I let out a thoughtful “Hmm…” to buy some time. If she just said what she wanted, I could whip it up right away, but she insisted on asking the chef’s opinion.

“Indeed.”

Still, knowing the answer, I wore a blank expression. The answer was obvious.

“Shall we have paprika pasta?”

“Ugh…”

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t like paprika.”

I ruffled my hair while looking at the young lady, who was pouting her lips. Then I spat out the answer she wanted.

“You want to say we should eat meat, right?”

“Hehe…! That’s right.”

“Then why ask?”

“It makes me happy when what I want to eat overlaps with what Ricardo wants.”

“What is that flirting?”

“Hehe!”

She smiled brightly.

I stretched lazily while gazing at the sun that had risen high.

No matter how much I pondered about the sword, the answer that would come out now would be futile. After all, the conclusion would just be that I would end up fighting a stronger opponent.

‘That’s bothersome.’

I slowly moved my body to prepare lunch, putting the sword back into its sheath.

“Shall we head into the mansion then?”

“Yeah.”

—

“Are you feeling alright now?”

“Of course.”

The young lady rolled up her sleeves with a healthy smile.

“Good. Let’s show off our skills after a long time.”

I pushed the ferry No. 1 and walked toward the mansion.

*

In a dark space.

“Ugh.”

The man wrapped in bandages gritted his teeth and groaned.

“That b*stard….”

The man’s name was Wung.

He held the title of the Archbishop of Oblivion.

Wung looked at the wound on his abdomen and let out a bitter chuckle. He never expected that b*stard would betray him.

– Where are you going, Archbishop of Oblivion?

– Ah… Aren’t you the Archbishop of Greed? I thought you had returned to the embrace of the divine after failing your last mission, but it seems I was mistaken.

– It seems God still wishes to use me.

The greed-blinded fool continued to ask questions.

– So, where are you headed?

– Heh heh heh. For revenge.

– Revenge…?

– My eye. My right arm… If something was taken from me, I must retrieve it.

– Ah… I see.

– Hah…!

Wung groaned as he recalled the battle with him, clenching his fists in frustration over his own helplessness after suffering a devastating defeat, echoing through the darkness.

“Ha ha ha… Hah… damn it. I can’t even report this to the higher-ups out of embarrassment.”

Wung glared with rage, grinding his teeth.

And then.

He began to tremble with the thrill of a pleasure that could relieve this anger.

“Speaking of which… that b*stard had a cherished toy, didn’t he?”

Wung smirked, thinking of the silver-haired boy.

—

—

Now, it seems the fruit has ripened.